Podcasts about degrees west

Welcome to season 4 of the Chatham Park Podcast! In this episode we catch up with what is happening in the Gateway to Chatham Park.  We talk movie nights, concerts, markets, food, entertainment, living in Chatham Park, and also what 79 Degrees West is, and how community is being built in this development. We also hear about Northwood Landing across the street from MOSAICTo donate or help with Chatham Cares, visit their website here:https://www.chathamcares.org/www.chathampark.comwww.mosaicatchathampark.com

Varun Inamdar, Mumbai's very own chocolate prince and celebrity chef helms Singapore's newest Indian restaurant, 27 Degrees West — his first venture outside of India. His culinary expertise lies in blending traditional flavors with modern techniques, adding contemporary twists to classic recipes and bringing out the essence of Indian spices. From penning five cookbooks to shattering Guinness World Records with the world's largest mud pie and winning two National Awards, Varun's artistry has graced the palates of prime ministers, global leaders, royalty and film stars, including Barack Obama, Queen Rania of Jordan, Donald Trump, Narendra Modi and Kuwait's Al Sabah royal family. Presented by: Hongbin Jeong and Roshan Gidwani Feature produced and edited by: Nadiah Koh and Aaron Lam Do you have a story to tell on The Evening Runway show? Contact nadkoh@sph.com.sgSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Islamic State (IS) militants took control of Syria and Iraq in June 2014, the entire Yazidi population in Sinjar were immediately in grave danger. The Sunni Muslims of IS believed Yazidis were infidels and should either convert to Islam or be killed. On 3 August 2014, 5,000 Yazidis were killed on the first day of the genocide. For those who survived that night, the only escape route was to climb Mount Sinjar in the blistering heat, with no shelter or food, and pray to be rescued. Mirza Dinnayi convinced Iraq's president to supply three helicopters and began evacuating 50,000 Yazidis, who were stranded on top of the mountain in a race against time. Mirza shares his experience with Sarah Ehrlich. A 2 Degrees West production for BBC World Service.(Photo: Yazidi people escape the Sinjar mountains in August 2014. Credit: Emrah Yorulmaz/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

This week, I kick us off by going through our spaghetti-themed deals in the store this week. I got so much pasta sauce, you could sink a ship with it - but don't sink the ship with it, instead sink the ship with spaghetti and then use the sauce to eat them together. That's why it's called a deal. We congratulate this week's winner of the weekly giveaway and get ready to win again next week by subscribing to us on YouTube and leaving a comment on this episode about something you learned on the show. Sommelier Michael B pops by to tell us about the International Wine Festival on November 11th as well as some of our recurring events like Back that Glass up on Wednesday nights as well as the Wine Walkabouts occuring on the third Saturday of every month. Easy way to try some fancy wines, if you're into that. Then I am joined by the now AWARD WINNING director, Stephen Powell, who made the documentary film 98 Degrees West with friend of the show, Zamir Gotta. Zamir and Stephen are coming to the Jungle on October 21st to host the Ohio premiere of their film. Congratulations on winning best feature film at the Buffalo International Film Festival. Tickets are available on our website, www.junglejims.com

The infamous breakdowns of Chernobyl in 1986 and Fukushima in 2011 represent our deepest fears around nuclear power, yet both disasters happened during peace time. In the early days of the war, Russian forces seized Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine. The site has come under repeated fire, prompting warnings in May this year from the UN nuclear agency that the world risked a "severe nuclear accident". And this isn't a new problem. Here we tell a story with its origins in the Vietnam War and how the threat of the world's first dirty bomb loomed large. The battle over nuclear energy first came to the attention of the West in 1975, as the North Vietnamese Army advanced on Saigon during the end days of the war. Most of the world was unaware at the time that the North Vietnamese were also advancing on a new breed of nuclear reactor, gifted to the South by the US government. Not only was it technology the North's Russian allies did not yet have, it was also a source of weapons-grade nuclear fuel. As a last resort, the US discussed bombing the facility, risking nuclear fallout rather than have the technology fall into Soviet hands. To avoid humanitarian and environmental disaster on a colossal scale, and despite having literally no military experience, a physicist from Idaho called Wally Hendrickson volunteered to be dropped into the front line to remove the fuel rods from the reactor before it was over run. Still alive and well, Wally's story is just as relevant today as it was 50 years ago. The setting may be different, but right now the fear of nuclear disaster hangs over us. A 2 Degrees West production for BBC Radio 4

Park Heongjun takes us back to May 1980, when a strike in the city of Gwangju became one of the most divisive moments in South Korea's history and led to the imprisonment of activist Bae Ok Byoung. She worked in a factory making wigs and along with other female employees, went on strike to demand better working conditions. In this programme first broadcast in 2021, Bae recalls the brutal crackdown by authorities and describes the torture she suffered after her arrest. This is a 2 Degrees West production for BBC World Service. This programme contains descriptions of torture. (Photo: Labour activist Bae Ok Byoung talking to some of the workers at the wig factory in Seoul where she worked in 1980. Credit: Bae Ok Byoung)

Record Date: April 4th, 2021 #yourfavoritepodcast discuss the Derek Chauvin murder trial with Attorney Christopher Young. We sit down with teen filmmakers Thomas & Zachary Parrish and discuss their sci fi thriller 75 Degrees West, available on Amazon Prime. We discuss the awesomeness that is Godzilla vs Kong. Plus the latest breaking news and so much more!! You can catch S2T LIVE every Sunday at 2 pm EST on fb LIVE and Twitch! Follow Us!!! www.instagram.com/straightiitape/ twitter.com/S2Tontheair www.facebook.com/StraightIITape/ Music credits: The official Straight II Tape theme “The Turn” produced by Ryen David www.ryendavid.bandcamp.com/ What It Means To Me produced by Ryen David

There were strikes and student protests across South Korea in May 1980. The military government responded with a brutal crackdown in the city of Gwangju and elsewhere striking workers faced arrest and even torture. Heongjun Park has been hearing from one of those strikers, Bae Ok Byoung, who worked in a factory making wigs in Seoul. She, and the other female employees had gone on strike demanding better working conditions, but after the industrial action ended she was jailed, tortured and then blacklisted for decades. This is a 2 Degrees West production. Photo: Labour activist Bae Ok Byoung talking to some of the workers at the wig factory in Seoul where she worked in 1980.

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Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. Your host is  Kelly Molson, MD of Rubber Cheese.Download our free ebook The Ultimate Guide to Doubling Your Visitor NumbersIf you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website rubbercheese.com/podcastIf you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned in this episode.Competition ends October 31st 2020. The winner will be contacted via Twitter.Show references:www.9degreeswest.londonwww.linkedin.com/in/thompbenCOVID-19 and the enduring strength of the attractions industryThe above article was written in collaboration by Ben Thompson, Carolien Nederlof, Klaus Hoven, Luca Liboa and Raymond Oude Groen.Since recording the podcast, Ben has joined  Storyland Studios as their Chief Strategy Officer   Transcription:Kelly Molson:Welcome to Skip the Queue, a podcast for people working in or working with visitor attractions. I'm your host, Kelly Molson. Each episode I speak with industry experts from the attractions world. These chats are fun, informative, and hopefully always interesting. If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue. In today's episode, I speak with Ben Thompson. Ben is chief storytelling officer at 9 Degrees West, a strategic consultancy specialising in brand and marketing strategy for theme parks, visitor attractions, and brand homes. An IAAPA speaker, Ben has previously worked at Mars, the Walt Disney Company and Merlin Entertainments. We discuss the future of the experience economy and how organisations may need to adapt in a post-COVID world. Kelly Molson:Ben, welcome to the podcast. It's really great to have you on here. Ben Thompson:Thank you very much, Kelly. It's great to be here. Great to be talking to you and the dog today. Kelly Molson:Yes. So look, we are recording these in semi-lockdown or easing out of lockdown. So we're kind of at home, my dog is behind me. Ben Thompson:And I've left my dog Barney at home. So I'm actually in a nice quiet office. So it's all good on my side. Kelly Molson:I'm glad that you read the prep notes accordingly, Ben, well done. Well done for following instructions. So we're going to start off a little bit with a bit of a quick fire round, just to get to know you in a little bit of detail. We've spoken a couple of times previously, but we don't know each other super well. So I've got some quick fire questions for you. So, think I know the answer to this one already. Cats or dogs? Ben Thompson:Definitely dogs. Cats are rubbish. It's all about dogs. Kelly Molson:And what's top of your bucket list? Ben Thompson:Oh, my word. I think it is taking a long trip to Australia. We've got quite a lot of relatives over there. I've never been, it's one of the few continents I didn't get to go to when I was traveling the world with Merlin Entertainments. So yeah, definitely probably going to Ayers Rock, doing some of the islands getting down to Tasmania and so on. I think that's probably, yeah, I need to do that. Kelly Molson:Great choice, Ben. Do you know what actually, we got engaged at Ayers Rock. Ben Thompson:Oh, really? Oh, fantastic. Kelly Molson:Yeah, it's a really special place for us. Really, really special. Ben Thompson:Or Uluru as I probably should be should be calling it, yeah. But yeah, no, I'd love to get down to Aussie and meet up with my... My mother's brother went out there and he had five children. They all got married. I think there's about 50 Thompsons that are out there now. So yeah, looking forward to catching up with them one day. Kelly Molson:Oh, good. Well yeah, you've got a lot of people to visit out there. Sounds fab. Okay. Tell me one thing that you're not very good at. Ben Thompson:Oh, my word. I mean, how long have you got? I'm really, really impatient. I'm an ENTJ in Myers Briggs terminology, so extroverted blue-sky thinking. So I'm brilliant on the future and possibility and what could it look like? I get very bored very quickly with what I consider to be the mundane administrative tasks. And I'm terrible at hiding my feelings. So if I'm bored about something, it's written all over my face. You definitely can't air this now, this is far too personal. Kelly Molson:I'm really worried that I'm going to start looking at your face soon. And sense that boredom coming across as well, Ben, you're giving too much away. Ben Thompson:Good question. Kelly Molson:One last question. Tell me something that you believe to be true that nobody else agrees with you on. So what is your unpopular opinion? Ben Thompson:Oh, my word. Listen, these questions are really good and terrible. Okay. So I believe that cricket is the very, very best sport in the world, bar none. And I have a really solid argument as for why that is the case and hardly anybody apart from a very tiny percentage of people agree with me. Kelly Molson:Do you want to share that argument just in case we've got any listeners that share this opinion? Ben Thompson:In a nutshell, it's the ultimate combination of the individual and the team game and conditions and everything else, skills and experience sort of wrapped into one and it has different formats. You can have a really short game, like only three hours or quite a nice leisurely version of five days where you can have a draw at the end. Kelly Molson:Okay. I mean, I will agree to disagree on that one, Ben. Ben Thompson:Well, there we go. Kelly Molson:But maybe some of our listeners... Well, I mean, tell us, let us... Yeah. Tweet us and let us know if you agree with Ben, I'd love to hear. Thank you for sharing. I always like to do that. I think it's quite nice to get a little bit of an insight into people's mind. And also what I really enjoyed is that the thing that you said that you're not very good at actually showcased the things that you are very good at, which is talking about the bigger picture and the future and what things look like. And that's really one of the reasons that I have asked you to come on the podcast because you've got an incredible background in attractions and the experience economy, and it's challenging for many in that sector at the moment. And I'm really keen to get your opinion on how it's been and what you see the future to be. But could you just kind of give us what a typical project is for you, Ben? Ben Thompson:Yeah. I mean, obviously the immediate answer is there's no such thing as a typical project because every client is different and that is true. The kind of golden threads that I get involved, it's all about storytelling. I call myself a chief storytelling officer and that is what I do. I've always loved books and narrative and kind of rich tapestries. I love Lord of the Rings as a kid, I loved all of the kind of The Hobbit, all that type of stuff. And I read voraciously and as I got kind of older, I read a lot of psychology books, really fascinated by how the brain works. And Danny Kahneman is my sort of absolute number one fan in the... He wrote a book called Thinking Fast and Slow, and Kahneman worked with a guy called Amos Tversky and Kahneman ended up being a Nobel Prize winner and basically invented kind of behavioral economics. Ben Thompson:And I find all that stuff fascinating at the point where kind of story and narrative meets in a meaning, how we interpret the world around us. I think that story forms views, it forms culture, but it can also transform. So Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore talk about that they're at this stage of the transformative economy where the product is the change I see in me as a customer or a guest when I engage with your brand. And I think story has a huge role to play in creating those kind of transformative experiences. So that's sort of a big thread that runs through it. But back to my sort of personality and loving the new, I'm often working on new projects. So that could be like Tony's, which we released our beautiful video, which we produced with Storyline Studios. Kelly Molson:So this is Tony's Chocolonelies. Ben Thompson:Yeah, Tony's Chocolonely. Yeah, exactly. So that is an amazing brand that has got a fantastic story, wants to transform the industry in which it's working and wants to create a visitor experience to immerse people in that brand and to create advocates for their mission, which is to end slavery in the chocolate industry. And our role was to take that from very basic, "Okay, we want to do this and it's going to be kind of this size and it's going to be this location. Oh, and by the way, it's going to have a roller coaster." To, "Okay, how do we actually put an immersive narrative around that?" And what we've done successfully is this, it's either a great story when you stand back and you sort of, you think about it, it's so simple. Our approach to that was a three acts, heart, head, and hands. So we'd engage you with all of the joy and the fun of what chocolate is all about. Chocolate is ultimately about happiness and sharing. Ben Thompson:So we do all of that great color, great richness, texture, and so on, but then we do a twist and we go into the head, which is about saying, "What's the bitter side of the sweetness of chocolate?" It's the reality of people working on cocoa farms in West Africa, Ghana, Ivory Coast, where it's a really kind of terrible situation. Then we educate. So how can it be done differently? That's the rest of the head piece. And then we move into hands, which is all about impact. That particular brand is all about engaging people to make a difference with their decisions, with their activism, all that kind of stuff that we do. And that's where we segued into the roller coaster. So when you get on the coaster, which we're going to call something like the impact express or whatever, you're actually going to be shrunken down to the size of a bar and fired out into the world to have an impact. Kelly Molson:Wow! Ben Thompson:Not literally fired out, health and safety will be taken into consideration here. Ben Thompson:So that has been an awesome project. I have an amazing client in Brazil who are largest park operator out there, they run the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio, they run the Equis Sioux falls down in the South of the country, which is the number one waterfall in the world, they have a big aquarium and so on. And there it's all been about kind of, how do you go from being an organization that's grown through acquisition, has around 6 million guests a year, but in kind of silo style businesses. And how do you create the sort of structure that sits above that? A little bit like Merlin, where you can get great synergies, get great best practices, and a lot of that's in your world of digital and get right structures and so on. So they can get the good data, make the good decisions and so on. Ben Thompson:And we've got other projects that we can't talk about yet. Kelly Molson:Of course, there's always secret projects. Ben Thompson:Which is so frustrating. We've got two amazing, amazing clients that we're working on. One in Europe and one, a global company, but based on the East Coast where the work we're doing is just going to be incredible, but you're going to have to watch this space. Kelly Molson:All right. Well, we definitely will watch this space. And that brings me to my next question, really, because I'd like to know if you're having to advise your clients differently at this point, because we are still in the middle of a pandemic. As we sit here, it's the 1st of July, attractions in the UK can start to open safely from this weekend, if they are able to. And we're seeing a really big demand, actually. We've seen a huge demand for ticket sales for London Zoo, Whipsnade Zoo, for example. And we know that Shanghai Disney Resort sold out its capacity in three minutes. So we know that there's demand there. We know people want to go back. And what are those conversations like at the moment with your clients that are looking to open their experiences in a year from now, two years from now? Are you having to talk to them very differently about things? Ben Thompson:It's a great question. I think the first thing to say is, I'm not at all surprised that there's a massive pent up demand. And I think I've been fairly consistent with that, with my clients and stuff that I've written about. Disney have the most amazing metaphor for this, to explain why there would be this pent up demand and they call it the " Closing Window ". And as a parent of children, I can really relate to this. So the idea of the Closing Window is, if you have children, let's say you have two or three kids. You don't really want to go to the big park experience until they're sort of five or six, because they don't really get it. The rides maybe aren't quite ready for them, unless you go to Legoland of course. And by the time they get to be 15 or so, and I've got a 16 year old, so I can relate to this, parents are deeply uncool and they want to go off and do their own things. Ben Thompson:So you've kind of got maybe eight or nine summers to go and make the memories that last a lifetime. And actually, that's not that many summers, so if you take one away, you're like, "Oh wow. I just lost a really big opportunity to go and do something amazing with my family." And if you think about the experience for parents with their children in parks, basically, it's the best you ever feel in the whole year as a mum or a dad. I think particularly as a dad, by the way, because you've put so much energy into it, it can be really expensive and it's a day that you'd never have to say no to your kids, typically. At least the way I try and do it. So you feel great, right? And those memories kind of reinforce your sense of yourself and the story that you tell yourself. Ben Thompson:So that's the power of the industry that we work in, and if you close the doors on people and say, "You can't go," and then they open up again, no surprise, there's going to be a kind of a rush to the doors. I think indoor is going to be different from outdoor. I think outdoor's obviously going to have the benefit of it's going to feel safer for the more risk-averse folks out there, like my wife. But the thing about indoor is still a massive role for it. It all depends about whether you've refreshed the experience. A big part of our industry is about suspense, surprising people, "Oh, I didn't know they were going to do that. Oh, that's different from last time," or, "I want to go further into that experience than I could the time before." I think that's why escape rooms are such a great trend, because you want to do it quicker. Maybe they change a few things and it's a different experience each time. So I think for anybody who is still waiting to get open, please don't try and open with the same experience that you did last time, because I think people are going to be looking for something new. Kelly Molson:That's really good advice. I guess there are some experiences that can't open at all at the moment, and that's a huge challenge. So I read last week about the Poster museum who is allowed, they are allowed to open and the restrictions have been lifted. However, they can't make it safe enough for people to come in because they've got restricted space and actually restricted space on the postal ride that they have, the actual experience. And so it is still really, really difficult for the industry. And I guess how can you advise... I guess you can't advise them if they physically can't look at the safety implications and they can't make it safe for people to come, that's a very different story. But so your advice to attractions is to refresh what they're doing. Don't just open as they have previously. Ben Thompson:I think that's right. One of the most important things I feel is about empathy. So I engaged a few of my colleagues in IAAPA organization, in February I think, with an idea around how we might recognize our healthcare and key workers once we opened. We called the idea Healthcare Heroes, and actually a number of people have taken it on. People in China have done it, a load of the folks in Europe have done it as well. And the idea there was just simple way of... The first people who come through the doors of our attractions ought to be the people who put their lives on the line to help us during COVID. So doctors, nurses, people working in healthcare. Actually teachers as well, by the way, my wife's a teacher. Teachers get a bad rap most of the time, but they had to go back into their workplaces a long time before anybody else. Ben Thompson:I thought that was a good idea for two reasons. One, is it shows that the people who are running that organization understand and care and empathize with what people are going through. There's a sense we're all in this together. Secondly, I think it allays risk. So if you are more on the kind of cautious, risk-averse side, if you can think, well, actually these guys are going to get healthcare workers are going to come through and they'll help them check out their facilities and run the rule over their sanitation measures and so on. Then you can have a double win. Ben Thompson:So yeah, I think empathy is good, and I think just communicating with people, what you're doing and why. The guys over in Shanghai, when they opened earlier in May, I thought they did an outstanding job of just being right up front. Here are the guidelines, this is what we're following. We're not putting the full number that we can put through from the get go. I think they had the right to go up to sort of 25, 30,000 people a day, I think they put 5,000 in on the first day and then it kind of moved up to 10 and so on. And that shows a really, again, kind of a sensitive mindset. It's not all about shoving as many people through as possible to try and generate some revenue. It's a bit more caring than that. Kelly Molson:Yeah, absolutely. Again, that's one of the things that we've been talking about in the office the last couple of weeks is we talk quite a lot about getting visitor numbers through the door, we've got an ebook, Double Your Visitor Numbers. You can't do that at the moment, so you've got to try and kind of maximize the revenue of the people that can come through, but also caring about their health and safety and making sure that they are safe is the fundamental thing that you need to be hearing about when you get those visitors back through the door. Ben Thompson:Yeah. I mean, I think, again, I wrote another piece on this about guest centricity as opposed to customer centricity. I've always thought that the metaphor of the host at the dinner table is the right one for any kind of hospitality business. When you invite people to come into your home, you're treating them as if they are a member of your family. You do anything for them. You want to understand all about them, their needs, their preferences, whatever it is. I think in the article, I kind of used the example of so many of the CRM platforms where you get asked your name five times, or I have to fill in the same details, yeah. It's the equivalent of after the second course say, "Oh yeah, what's your name again?" And, "Oh, is your husband... Dave is it? Oh, James, oh, sorry." So I just think that mindset of being all about the guests and caring for them and their day will stand us in good stead. Kelly Molson:See, it's really interesting actually. I think I'm going to hook you up with a past guest who's on our season one of the podcast. We spoke to Alex Book from Arcade. So they are a big VR agency and they actually talk about not calling guests, guests, or visitors. They talk about calling them players. And it was a really interesting discussion around how you engage with them and what that kind of message is. I think that the two of you should have a chat about that. That would be... Maybe on here. Maybe on here actually. Ben Thompson:That'll be great. Language is important. One of the things Joe talks about is the idea of staging an experience. They say work is theater. It's not a metaphor. We're not saying, "Think of work like theater." They're saying, "It is theater." You go to work every day to play a role and when you have an organization that is like a theatrical production, everyone playing their parts, staging the experience for the guests, whether that's a pharmaceutical company looking after patients, or a retail organization looking after shoppers or Alton Towers or Disneyland looking after families and so on in the theme park. Kelly Molson:Yeah. So on that note actually, with Disney, we were discussing last week about the Disney magic and how they still create that feeling. I mean, it's super exciting. I've been to Disney about four or five times when I was a kid and my parents love it, and there's not one part of that experience that isn't magic. I can remember my dad parking the car, even getting on the little tram that takes you into it. Every part of it is exciting. How do they keep that up with the measures that they have to have in place now? Ben Thompson:Yeah. The funny thing about Disney, and I was trying to explain to people as you, with all the talk that we've just been talking about, guest centricity, you would think that Disney were the ultimate guest-centric company, but they're not. They're not guest centric, they're cast-centric. I went to the IAAPA Leadership Summit in March of this year just before lockdown happened, actually. And I attended a presentation and met with a lady called Chris Tyler. Chris is the operations VP at Disneyland, Anaheim, California. And she took us through the launch of Galaxy's Edge, and I'd had the kind of privilege of seeing Galaxy's Edge, both in Anaheim and in Florida and I think it's outstanding. Anyway, Chris just talked about the cast. She talked about the long lead-in to that opening and about how they invested in education, in programs to tell the backstory of the characters, the narratives, all the different movies, how they approach costuming, how they allow personalization of costuming, how they chose the staff, the cast who actually ended up taking up those frontline roles. Ben Thompson:And then the launch event that they ran, and actually they did a fashion show where the kind of key Imagineers, people like Scott Trowbridge, Chris Beaty, Margaret Kerrison dressed up in the new costumes for Galaxy's Edge for Batu, the new world, which they've created. Or should I say the existing part of the Star Wars universe which they've brought to life, because that's what it is, it is an existing part. And so, basically the philosophy is about happy cast equals happy guests. That's the mantra of the Disney Institute, which is the external-facing management consultancy part of the organization who train companies all round the world. And if you're listening, guys, I'd love to partner with you one day. Ben Thompson:But that simple principle is the reason why when you go into any Disneyland park, chances are 98 times out of 100, you're meeting somebody who is happy to be there, and they are super motivated. They believe in what Disney are trying to do, whether it's somebody who works in the janitorial department, whether they're doing the laundry, whether they're in frontline guest service, whether it's ride ops, whatever it is, they know they're there to create a magical experience and magical memories. And they're generally some of the happiest staff that you're going to find. And that, in my view, is the reason why Disney will endure, the magic will endure, because they've done a pretty good job of looking after people and they'll continue to do so. Kelly Molson:I love that. Yeah, I love that. Happy team makes for happy visitors, for sure. Ben Thompson:I mean, it makes sense, doesn't it? Kelly Molson:Yeah. Ben Thompson:So much of... Whenever I've done research on launching parks, and there's so much of... The fantastic experience comes down to staff. Probably 25% of the overall piece. It isn't the coast, it isn't the... Well, it is those things, but those guys make up so much a part... And we forget that at our peril. Kelly Molson:Yeah, you're right actually, and I can draw a parallel to one of our clients for exactly the same reason. So we work with Eureka, the National Children's Museum and their team are called enablers. And every single one of them, every time I've been, is happy. They are engaging. They are genuinely really so delighted to be there and to welcome you and to help you. And it is just lovely. And that is part of the whole experience for me, that front of house team are so incredibly caring and dedicated to the people that are coming through the doors. And that is a big part of what that makes that experience brilliant. Ben Thompson:Absolutely. Kelly Molson:Big, big question for you. So what do you think the experience economy is going to look like post-COVID? Are experiences like Tony's, for example, are they going to need to have a different focus? Are they going to need to look at things that are more virtual continuing? We've seen a lot of that during lockdown. Virtual museum tours, virtual tours, virtual experiences, is that going to continue, or do you think things are going to go back to how they were? Ben Thompson:It's a bit like the saying in the Hollywood industry, in the film industry. Nobody knows, right? You get a lot of people who'll say, "Oh yeah, it's going to be like this. The world's going to change." No, the world isn't going to change. It's going to be exactly the same. How do you say whether a film is going to be a success or not? Nobody knows. We do a lot of work benchmarking what we think are really successful brands who've understood what the transformational economy is all about, and we showcase their work. So good example, not in our industry specifically, but they are an experienced provider, Peloton. Peloton they provide the program of how you become a better cyclist. I actually think it's about becoming a better looking cyclist as well, by the way, because it's a very sort of sexy brand. Ben Thompson:The products of Peloton is wellbeing, how I feel about myself. Yes, my fitness, but my sense of belonging, being in something part of in myself, bigger than myself. My sort of competitive juices flowing and all that kind of stuff. People who love the brand, they would not lose their whatever it is, hour in the morning or at the end of the day, or whatever, for anything. It's a sort of super positive drug, effectively, if you kind of think about it like that. Now, interestingly, that's an experience that's in-home. They connect it around the world through these super cool screens and you've got people from all different parts of the world, and that's sort of the point of the online community. Ben Thompson:I'm sure though, that there's a version of that that could go from, in the home, to in a physical space with lots of other people. And a good example there would be eSports. So eSports has grown out of gamers sat in front of a screen like this, maybe one or two together, playing in multiplayer. Now you've got leagues, franchises. When the London resort launch in X number of years time down in Kent, there's talk of an eSports franchise, having their physical home. Like Arsenal or Chelsea Football Club. The equivalent of them having it there and having stadiums full of people, sort of watching the gamers. So the point is it can go both ways. We're talking about physical theme park visitor attraction, brand homes, museums being places where people go to and we're worried about will they kind of come back? Ben Thompson:Well, I think lots of good examples of organizations creating virtual digital experiences and they're obviously revenue-driving opportunities as well. So we're about to do some work with the distillery industry, they are a provider, a curator, if you will, of really, really high-end product that, unless you tell the story... So bottles of whiskey or gin or whatever that are selling for hundreds and hundreds of pounds, you're never going to buy that in Waitrose. But if you wrap a story around it and talk about the provenance and the heritage and the characters who put that together in the years and years and whatever, then I think you're going to stand more chance of being successful. And all that can be done virtually just as well as it can in a... And often more effectively with some of the latest digital technologies. Kelly Molson:Yeah, absolutely. Ben Thompson:I almost certainly haven't answered the question, but I at least hopefully gave some thoughts. Kelly Molson:Oh, I don't think the question can be answered, can it? It's impossible at the moment. It's like you say, we just don't know. At the moment we don't know what's coming in the next couple of weeks, let alone the next couple of years. So I think I really enjoyed your answer though. And distillery is something that we know a little bit about Ben, so I feel like, I feel like there might be something happening there. Ben Thompson:Okay. Let's talk, let's talk. Kelly Molson:Let's talk. Do you know what, we connected quite early on at the beginning of lockdown, and one of the things that I really enjoyed, you wrote an article, a brilliant article, actually on Blooloop. It was called COVID-19 and the enduring strength of the attractions industry. What I have really enjoyed about the content that you've been sharing and the things that you've been talking about over this period, is how unbelievably positive that you have been about the industry. And you've talked a lot about the overriding resilience that attractions have. I kind of wanted to know, that article came out right at the beginning of lockdown. If you could go back, is there anything that you would add to that now, having seen what you've seen over the past few months? Ben Thompson:Well, first of all, I collaborated. It was my idea to write it, but I collaborated with four brilliant Dutch people. And we actually... We love the idea of putting a Zoom collaboration together. Obviously, we did it on Google Docs and whatever. So Raymond and Luca and Caroline, and I've forgotten the other guy's name. Oh, I'm sorry. Kelly Molson:Don't worry. Let me know. We'll put it in the show notes. So there'll be.. Ben Thompson:Yeah, put it in the show notes. Yeah. So they helped me sort of put that together. I don't think I would change anything. If I had a bit more time, I would like to have gone more into the psychological drivers, the deep kind of reasons why... Joe and Jim have this experience framework. So you've got education, entertainment, aesthetic, which is the sort of art appreciation, and then escapism in this sort of four box grid. And then they overlay that with things like edutainment and escatainment. What I think is really interesting is why do we feel the need to be entertained? What happens when we appreciate art? In our mind, in our heart, in our soul, what's actually going on there? Ben Thompson:And often it gets down to transformations. We as human beings, I think, are always looking to better ourselves. We have an idea of ourselves that's bigger, more perfect, better than the way we kind of realize we are, and we're always striving to try and get there. And I think brands that can help that sort of journey, help me understand my ambitions, achieve some of those ambitions, contribute to the world. I sometimes think... I oscillate between thinking we're all fundamentally selfish and we're all fundamentally good. And I think the truth is we're both. Successful businesses in our industry will be those who can really create the environment where we can be our best selves. Now, I've forgotten what the question was, but... Oh yeah, would I change anything about the article. I would love to go into more of that, kind of the sort of psychological approach to it, and what psychology can teach us in the entertainment industry, but the article was way longer than we started out, so. Kelly Molson:There was a lot to talk about. Ben Thompson:Charlie Read at Blooloop would probably have got his editing pen out. Kelly Molson:Well, I'll ask him, he's coming on air in a few weeks. Ben Thompson:Yeah. Kelly Molson:We are coming up to the end of the podcast interview. I thoroughly enjoyed speaking to you, Ben. Ben Thompson:Yeah, me too. Kelly Molson:I think you've got a really great take on what things are going to be like future. I know we can't be so specific at the moment, but I think some of the things you're working on just sound so incredibly exciting, and I'm really pleased to see that there's still that kind of overriding resilience in attractions. They're going to come back bigger and stronger. We like to ask our guests at the end of the podcast, if there's a book that you'd recommend that has helped shape your career in any way. Ben Thompson:Yeah. So there's two books, actually, if I can be cheeky- Kelly Molson:You can. Ben Thompson:If you have marketing in your job title at all, or you have any responsibility to do marketing, you need to read a book called How Brands Grow. It was written about 15ish years ago by a guy called Byron Sharp at the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute down in South Australia. I had the privilege of being trained by Byron and his team when I was at Mars. It's incredibly simple concept of how brands grow, obviously, hence the title, around mental availability, so that the memory structures that sit in your mind. So if I say Coca-Cola to you, now you're thinking about the colour red and swirls and the silvery writing and the shape of the bottle with the little glass pieces, which if you drop it on the floor, it's so recognisable that every shard will look like your worst Coke bottle. Ben Thompson:That's mental availability. And physical availability is the concept of being at arms reach. Whenever the desire to purchase from that category is triggered, that's the concept. But the book kind of goes into much more depth than that. And then I think for anybody in our industry, they need to get the latest copy of Joe's book, Joe and Jim's book The Experience Economy for which I really should be on commission. So I think Joe, we need to have a word about that. I just think you can't operate in this space without having understood that. Authenticity is also a really good one, which is the followup to experience economy. Kelly Molson:That's three books, that's super greedy, but I'm really glad that you shared The Experience Economy because it is a fantastic book. And I'm sure that many of our audience have read it. And if you haven't, you definitely need to. So what we like to do is if you'd like to win a copy, I mean, Ben, this is two books. So this is a double whammy. So if you'd like to win a copy of both of those books, then if you head over to our Twitter account, and if you retweet this episode announcement with the comment, "I want Ben's books," then you could be in with a chance of winning a copy of both of them. You've just upped my costs for this podcast, Ben. Ben Thompson:I actually have several spare copies of How Brands Grow. Kelly Molson:Oh, maybe Ben will send you one, personally. Ben Thompson:So, I'll put one in the post, well thumbed. Kelly Molson:Great. Ben, is there anything else that you'd like to share with us before we head off today? Ben Thompson:I think we're good. This has been really, really enjoyable. Apart from all the skewering you did at the end and made me talk about all the things I was rubbish at. Which is good. Kelly Molson:Just trying to get under the skin, Ben. Ben Thompson:Yes, you did that. Definitely need to edit that out. No, no, it's been great. I think this is a fantastic industry. We've taken a bit of a punch, but there's no limbs broken, we'll come back stronger. We've been growing 3 or 4% Kager for the last 10 years and the industry, entertained a billion people last year, probably slightly more and strong growth across the regions. I think it's a great place to work and have fun. Kelly Molson:That is a lovely place to end the podcast to us both today. Thank you so much for joining us, Ben. It's been a pleasure. Ben Thompson:Pleasure. Awesome. Thank you so much, Kelly. Kelly Molson:Thank you. Kelly Molson:Thanks for listening to Skip the Queue. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned. Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. You can find show notes and transcriptions from this episode and more over on our website rubbercheese.com/podcast. 

This time we have calls from Jan, Guy, Richard Asher. Gis with Ben Jacobs and an audio postcard from Ken McDonald at Prospect Park. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Vera Fischer, CEO of 97 Degrees, joins VIP's Casey Hasten in a discussion about lifelong learning. We discuss the importance of learning, mentorship, professional development and more. Vera's inspiring story and incredible work ethic teach us a lesson about searching for more from ourselves and our lives. About The We Are VIP Podcast:This podcast is brought to you by VIP to add value to your job or candidate search. Each week, we'll bring you helpful tips and insights from leading professionals to help candidates land their dream jobs and help employers find better talent. Hosted by:Casey Hasten, Director of Recruiting at VIPAbout the Guest:Vera Fischer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/verakfischer/97 Degrees West: https://www.97dwest.com/About VIP:We utilize a holistic approach to support your strategic initiatives in accounting and finance. From recruiting and strategic staffing, to project management consulting, our service model offers a comprehensive solution that allows for flexibility as you navigate transformation and growth within your organization.Connect:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/270216/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WeAreVIPCompanyJob Openings and Services: https://wearevip.com

Chris and Rob chat with personal trainer and calisthenics practitioner, Ben Lynch, and photographer, Paul Ainger, all about their projects and passions and how they are using these to build community and connect with others. Search for United Calisthenics Group and 45 Degrees West on Facebook to keep up with the journeys as the projects develop. Please support us through joining the Facebook group, following and interacting with @CircularityORG on Twitter and IG, and @CircularityPOD also on Twitter. Visit the website at circularity.org (http://circularity.org/) and explore the materials there, and definitely watch our TEDx Talk! Consider supporting us by becoming a patron for Circularity at http://patreon.com/circularity.

"I had an epiphany which resulted in me taking a new direction in 2009. It took me more than a year of full time work to create an epic documentary called Secrets in Plain Sight, a densely-packed series about patterns found in art, architecture, urban design and the cosmos. " -From Scott Onstott's Bio @ http://www.secretsinplainsight.com/contact/ Topics Discussed Include: Astana, The Golden Ratio, Corporate Logos, Fractals, Art History, Abstract Expressionism, Marcel Duchamp, R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz, Vitruvian Man, Pyramids, Leonardo da Vinci,William Pereira, Minoru Yamasaki, Millenium Tower, Scientism, Max Planck,Skeptics, The Multiverse, Strategies in Advertising and Marketing,Subliminal Seduction Book by Wilson Bryan Key, The Freemasons, The Necktie, Secret Societies of America's Elite Book by Steven Sora, Masonic Sayings, Masonic Theater, Alchemy, The Secret History of the World -Book by Jonathan Black and Mark Booth, Kangaroo Rats donâ??t need water, Don Quixote, Rudyard Kipling, Transhumanism, Hermaphrodite Agenda, Beehives, Mormons, The Jesuits, The Illuminati Fable, John Robison-Proofs of a Conspiracy, The Illuminati Brand, secretsinplainsight.com hoaxbusterscall.com Commute Music: 2 Degrees East 3 Degrees West by Grand Encounter

This classic album was recorded in February of 1956 in Los Angeles and is a masterpiece of elegant understated Jazz music. "2 Degrees East" refer to the nominal leader, pianist John Lewis and bassist Percy Heath both based in New York.. "3 Degrees West" refer to the lyrical Lester Young influenced tenor saxophonist Bill Perkins, guitarist Jim Hall and brush master, drummer Chico Hamilton all based in Los Angeles. 2 Degrees etc. also refers to the title tune that John Lewis wrote specifically for this record date. The chemistry was immediately established between the participants and the date cohered. The music moves at a leisurely pace but has that quiet intensity that makes for great listening. This album has over the years become a favourite of many and is a perfect album for a warm summer night. "Grand encounter" it was!

Vera K. Fischer began her career in residential real estate, working her way up from Leasing Agent to Property Manager. She segued to Operations Manager for the first privately held Cognitive Rehabilitation clinic in Austin, Texas. In 1993, Vera launched her career at GSD&M, an internationally known advertising agency. After various positions within several Austin area agencies, Vera went client-side to Forgent Networks. There she managed and implemented a multi-million dollar marketing budget for several years. In 2004, Vera founded her agency, 97 Degrees West known as The Brand Marketing Agency. Since 2004, the agency has survived both recessions and shown significant growth since 2012. Clients include: LS Tractor USA, United Heritage Credit Union, FirstCare Health Plans and several area small businesses in real estate, oil & gas and specialty medical practices. 97 Degrees West has been the recipient of 15 international creative and marketing awards including a Stevie Award from the American Business Association. Vera is a member of the University Area Rotary Club, a member of the Advisory Board for the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Texas State University, a Mentor at Capital Factory and most recently, was accepted to the Master’s program at Texas State University in Strategic Communications. What you’ll learn about in this episode: Inside knowledge of programmatic media buying that demystifies the concept How to segment your audience for a layered approach to content delivery What you need to know about your targets to get to anyone anywhere The simple reason why it takes 24 advertising contacts before any action is taken How you can get through the clutter of the media landscape to reach your targets Why programmatic media buying can target specific users and follow them through The way to use tech to find networks based on target behavior Ways to contact Vera: Twitter: @VeraFischer97 Email: Vera@SystemExecution.com A transcript of this episode is available here: systemexecution.com/programmatic-media-buying-explained-leveraging-search-traffic

Vera Fischer is founder and CEO of 97 Degrees West — a rock solid awesome agency in Austin, Texas. The agency has been the recipient of 15 international creative and marketing awards. Vera is a member of the Advisory Board for the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Texas State University and a mentor at Capital Factory. You may remember Vera and the wisdom she shared during Episode 204 of Onward Nation. What you’ll learn about in this episode What Vera has coming up in the next 12-18 months How programmatic media buying works and why it should be important to business owners The benefits of geo-targeting ads The number of times it takes for someone to see your ad before they take action on it How programmatic can be leveraged in your marketing program How programmatic fits into the B2B niche market The power of changing ad creative based on keyword searches Why it’s easier to target to a very specific niche market Tools to help you become successful with programmatic Focusing on doing one or two marketing strategies really well How to best connect with Vera: Twitter: @VeraFischer97 Email: vera@97dwest.com Podcast: systemexecution.com

Vera K. Fischer began her career in residential real estate, working her way up from Leasing Agent to Property Manager. She segued to Operations Manager for the first privately held Cognitive Rehabilitation clinic in Austin, Texas. In 1993, Vera launched her career at GSD&M, an internationally known advertising agency. After various positions within several Austin area agencies, Vera went client-side to Forgent Networks. There she managed and implemented a multi-million dollar marketing budget for several years. In 2004, Vera founded her agency, 97 Degrees West known as The Brand Marketing Agency. Since 2004, the agency has survived both recessions and shown significant growth since 2012. Clients include: LS Tractor USA, United Heritage Credit Union, FirstCare Health Plans and several area small businesses in real estate, oil & gas and specialty medical practices. 97 Degrees West has been the recipient of 15 international creative and marketing awards including a Stevie Award from the American Business Association. Vera is a member of the University Area Rotary Club, a member of the Advisory Board for the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Texas State University, a Mentor at Capital Factory and most recently, was accepted to the Master’s program at Texas State University in Strategic Communications. What you’ll learn about in this episode: How brand and authenticity has changed from the Mad Men days Showing that your brand is authentic without saying it (and why saying you should never, ever say you’re authentic) Lessons for embracing an authentic brand strategy Paying attention to your cultural experiences and how they can impact your brand Why you need to employ a brand historian Letting consumers into the cult Making the most of lucky breaks Ways to contact Vera: Twitter: @systemexecution Twitter: @VeraFischer97 A transcript of this episode is available here: systemexecution.com/5-authentic-brand-strategy-lessons

Vera Fischer began her career in residential real estate, working her way up from Leasing Agent to Property Manager. She segued to Operations Manager for the first privately held Cognitive Rehabilitation clinic in Austin, Texas. In 1993, Vera launched her career at GSD&M, an internationally known advertising agency. After various positions within several Austin area agencies, Vera went client-side to Forgent Networks. There she managed and implemented a multi-million dollar marketing budget for several years. In 2004, Vera founded her agency, 97 Degrees West known as The Brand Marketing Agency. Since 2004, the agency has survived both recessions and shown significant growth since 2012. Clients include: LS Tractor USA, United Heritage Credit Union, FirstCare Health Plans and several area small businesses in real estate, oil & gas and specialty medical practices. 97 Degrees West has been the recipient of 15 international creative and marketing awards including a Stevie Award from the American Business Association. Vera is a member of the University Area Rotary Club, a member of the Advisory Board for the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Texas State University, a Mentor at Capital Factory and most recently, was accepted to the Master’s program at Texas State University in Strategic Communications. What you’ll learn about in this episode: Brand authenticity: what is it? What brand really means Why achieving brand authenticity means gaining loyalty Why saying your brand is authentic is never the answer The 6 strategies for building brand authenticity Ways to contact Vera: Twitter: @systemexecution Twitter: @VeraFischer97 A transcript of this episode is available here: systemexecution.com/brand-authenticity-strategies

Just 10 weeks into her maternity leave, Vera Fischer was laid off after her company went through a major reorg. Now, 13 years later, she shares how she launched her successful all-in-one advertising and marketing agency, 97 Degrees West. This episode includes Heliotrope and Shift of Currents by Blue Dot Sessions, licensed under a Creative Commons license.

Vera Fischer began her career in residential real estate, working her way up from Leasing Agent to Property Manager. She segued to Operations Manager for the first privately held Cognitive Rehabilitation clinic in Austin, Texas. In 1993, Vera launched her career at GSD&M, an internationally known advertising agency. After various positions within several Austin area agencies, Vera went client-side to Forgent Networks. There she managed and implemented a multi-million dollar marketing budget for several years. In 2004, Vera founded her agency, 97 Degrees West known as The Brand Marketing Agency. Since 2004, the agency has survived both recessions and shown significant growth since 2012. Clients include: LS Tractor USA, United Heritage Credit Union, FirstCare Health Plans and several area small businesses in real estate, oil & gas and specialty medical practices. 97 Degrees West has been the recipient of 15 international creative and marketing awards including a Stevie Award from the American Business Association. Vera is a member of the University Area Rotary Club, a member of the Advisory Board for the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Texas State University, a Mentor at Capital Factory and most recently, was accepted to the Master’s program at Texas State University in Strategic Communications. What you’ll learn about in this episode: How to stop underestimating time The three reasons why we underestimate how long it will take us to do something Why you can’t ever schedule more than one event for an evening Why you should block out your time for strategic thinking Why you need to delegate Ways to contact Vera: Twitter: @systemexecution Twitter: @VeraFischer97 A transcript of this episode is available at systemexecution.com/vera-fischer-solocast-episode-1/

Vera Fischer began her career in residential real estate, working her way up from Leasing Agent to Property Manager. She segued to Operations Manager for the first privately held Cognitive Rehabilitation clinic in Austin, Texas. In 1993, Vera launched her career at GSD&M, an internationally known advertising agency. After various positions within several Austin area agencies, Vera went client-side to Forgent Networks. There she managed and implemented a multi-million dollar marketing budget for several years. In 2004, Vera founded her agency, 97 Degrees West known as The Brand Marketing Agency. Since 2004, the agency has survived both recessions and shown significant growth since 2012. Clients include: LS Tractor USA, United Heritage Credit Union, FirstCare Health Plans and several area small businesses in real estate, oil & gas and speciality medical practices. 97 Degrees West has been the recipient of 15 international creative and marketing awards including a Stevie Award from the American Business Association. Vera is a member of the University Area Rotary Club, a member of the Advisory Board for the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Texas State University, a Mentor at Capital Factory and most recently, was accepted to the Masters program at Texas State University in Strategic Communications. What you’ll learn about in this episode: Why Vera decided to start 97 Degrees West How hiring a coach helped Vera stop making the same mistakes over and over Understanding what you can and can’t do and hiring employees to offset your strengths What Vera focuses on herself How Vera has combated the challenges of unpredictable revenue Why Vera has removed herself from 97 Degrees West hiring process The qualities “A Players” at 97 Degrees West share How Vera is able to retain employees Things Vera does to develop her own skills What Vera does to stay focused Vera’s calendar scheduling tactics that keep her organized Vera’s upcoming podcast launch Ways to contact Vera: Twitter: @verafischer97 Email: vera@97dwest.com

Vera Fischer was born in Frankfurt, Germany and immigrated to the United States. She grew up on the edge of poverty in Florida. In 1993, she landed her first position in advertising at GSD&M. After several positions in various agencies in Austin, Texas she moved over to the client side as Director of Marketing for a public software company, Forgent Networks. Three years later, while on maternity leave, she was laid off in a corporate restructuring. Vera immediately started 97 Degrees West — her own agency in Austin — the day she received the news. 12 years have gone by and they have been filled with ups and downs — but through it all — 97 Degrees West has grown to become an international award winning agency. Secret – timesaving technique Vera gets up at 5:30 every morning and eases into her morning -- start the day off in a place of calm. ONWARD! Daily habit that contributes to success Never forgo your health for your business -- Vera goes to pilates in the middle of the day, three times a week. Could have ruined your business – but now – an invaluable learning experience Vera merged her agency with another business -- and two years later her partner just left -- and Vera tells the whole story here. Most critical skill you think business owners need to master to be successful "The ability to compartmentalize is critical." Most influential lesson learned from a mentor "I'm going to do it the way I want to do it."   Final Round – “Breaking Down the Recipe for Success” What systems would you go back and put into place sooner? I knew the systems I would need from working in other agencies -- and one of the most crucial was QuickBooks. What one strategy or “recipe” would compound into big wins for business owners? You have to follow through and commit. What strategy would you recommend new business owners focus on to best ensure success? Sleep -- you have to sleep Exercise Have faith that whatever journey you're, you will get there How best to connect with Vera: Email: vera@97dwest.com Twitter: @VeraFischer97 LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/verakfischer   You can also find us here: ----- OnwardNation.com -----

Dale is back from a well earned vacation during which he visited Kansas retailers Centro Cigars and Outlaw Cigar. This week Bob and Dale are joined by Colin Ganley, editor of Cigar Journal. The featured 'Cigar of the Week' is the 22 Degrees North / 83 Degrees West cigar blended by Jesus Fuego. Keith Brown calls in on the herf line to take Bob to task about his comments on big box retailers. The 'What's My Band?' cigar, the My Father Edicion Limitada 2011, was graciously supplied by Adam Zilinski this week. Check out the live show! Go to http://www.cigarmedia.tv/live/ where the show is broadcast live most Friday evenings at 9 PM EST. Cigar of the Week - 22 Degrees North / 83 Degrees West Two Guys Smoke Shop named this as the 2010 Cigar of the Year. It comes in boxes of 20 in the following sizes: 5 1/2 x 46, 4 7/8 x 49, and 6 x 50. Here's what Two Guys had to say about this cigar: 22N/83W is the Latitude and Longitude where you will find Hacienda el Corojo, a plantation that once (1930 – 1990) grew arguably the best tobacco in the world. Today, that tobacco seed is no longer used because of its low yields and susceptiblity to disease. However, the seed still exists and is used in the entire blend of this unique cigar. 22N/83W uses authentic El Corojo seed in its entire 5-Country blend, from its Nicaraguan, Honduran and Dominican el Corojo filler, to its Costa Rican certified el Corojo binder and ending with its lush, oily Brazilian el Corojo seed Wrapper. What else have you been smokin' Dale? Don Pepin Garcia Blue label “A”- 9” x 48 Picked this A size cigar up at the Outlaw event last weekend after seeing Bill Featherston smoke one during the entire event on Saturday! I’ve raved about this blend in the Lancero size, so it was only natural to go for the gusto and try it in the longest traditional format. It made 2.5 hours of my 8 hour drive home most memorable! Spice, pepper, cedar, molasses and some tangy citrus flavors. Med-full bodied with a smooth, creamy smoke. Tatuaje Havana VI Verocu No. 5 - 4” x 40 Following the sucess of the 4 original limited release Verocu cigars, Pete released the line as an extension of the Havana VI line. Packaged in a cabinet of 50 with the traditional triple cap and no band, this is the smallest format of the Tatuaje lines, although this little stick is big on flavor. A mini spice bomb with all the savory flavors you’d expect. Also one finds a bit of floral notes on the palette and in the retrohale. All Nicaraguan blend with a Habano variety wrapper. La Casita Criolla HCB - 5.12” x 42 Corona An old Cuban brand name brought back to life by Pete Johnson, this blend (well, a blend only in the sense of Seco, Viso & Ligero) is pure Connecticut Broadleaf tobacco. The darker maduro leaves are used in the wrapper, and the other grades are used for filler & binder. Cedar, nuts and a mild licorice sweetness vary in intensity throughout the cigar in this med-full bodied smoke. Towards the end, a bit of chocolate and exotic spices become more apparent. A truly marvelous cigar that I will smoke often! All three sizes are traditional, the other two being the HCBC at 5.63 x 46 and the HCBF at 6.5 x 48. Fausto FT153 - 6” x 50 Toro The T110 blend (Nicaraguan filler & binder, Ecuadorian Habano Maduro wrapper) is now the Fausto line, but the T110 size is not a part of it since it was a limited release. Said to be Pete Johnson's strongest cigar blend, I find it well balanced and very flavorful. Indeed, it’s got some power, but not unapproachable by most. Most notable is the spiciness, pepper and subtle sweetness over a leathery core. Also in 3 other sizes: FT127 - 5 x 54, FT140 - 5.5 x 52 and FT156- 6.5 x 48. As with the La Casita Criolla, the Fausto brand is an old Cuban brand resurrected and trademarked by Pete. Gurkha Beast - 6.5 x 58 Bob talked about this cigar a couple weeks ago and I had to try it. Dominican, Honduran and Colombian fillers are surrounded by a Nicaraguna binder and a Costa Rican Maduro wrapper from the 1996 vintage. I found it med-full bodied, full flavored and medium in strength. Very high quality construction and a sweet room aroma made it a joy to smoke in spite of it’s massive girth. Dark fruit, coffee and cedar are the core flavors with some cocoa coming on in the last third. The finish is smooth and sweet. As with it’s companion cigar, the Gurkha Beauty, when I can pick these up on sale, I will, but at almost $700 for a box of 35 cigars, they’re not on my everyday list. What else have you been smokin' Bob? J. Fuego Gran Reserva Corojo No 1 Originals - Loaded with cocoa in a full bodied experience that out shines the size of this tasty cigar from master blender Jesus Fuego, and at a great price Art Deco - A sweet, slightly spicy offering from the minds at Miami Cigar & Co. I like these and yes I like the metal Art Deco box as well. Jesus Fuego's Sangro de Toro Original - Gotta love this format, 5 sticks in a paper package at a great price. Tremendous flavor - I just can’t remember what it was, but I remember I liked the slightly organic spice and leathery base. What's My Band? - Thank you to Adam Zilinski for supplying the My Father Edicion Limitada 2011's for the unbanded segment this week. Palio Cutter Contest: Steve Morgan from Alabama won the July contest and received a classic black Palio cutter. Enter the August contest now to win a silver cutter. Remember, you must re-enter each month to be eligible to win the featured Palio cutter. Do you have a suggestion for the unbanded cigar of the week? Every week Bob and Dale include an “unbanded cigar” segment in their show in which they smoke a cigar without any markings and give their honest opinions. Bob then opens a sealed envelope and discovers the cigar’s name and manufacturer. If you have suggestions for the "What's My Band?" segment, please send them to liz@cigarmedia.tv. Do you have a Cigar Review? If you call and leave a cigar review on the herf line and it is played on the show, you will receive a DogWatch Cigar Radio patch! You can reach the Herfline at 321-594-4373 - or cigar.radio on Skype. You can also send email to theshow@cigarmedia.tv. Music provided by the Figurados from their new album, "Lesson Two," and The Surfonics. Please visit our sponsors and let them know you heard about them from DogWatch! Black Dog Coffee: http://www.blackdogcoffee.net/ Cigar Tourism: http://cigartourism.com/ Esencia Cigars: http://www.esenciacigar.com/ Friends of Habanos Cigar Forum: http://www.friendsofhabanos.com/forum/index.php La Palina: http://www.lapalinacigars.com/ La Tradicion Cubana: http://www.tradicion.com/ Miami Cigar and Company: http://www.miamicigarandcompany.com/ Monte Pascoal Cigars: http://www.montepascoalcigars.com/ Palio Cigar Cutters:http://paliocutters.com/ Primer Mundo Cigars: http://www.primermundocigars.com Vanderburgh Humidors: www.vanderburghhumidors.com