POPULARITY
They're back!! The crew that gives you more Hip-hop music in one show that can't be tracked by the Guinness World records! This week QUANTUM LEAP recognizes some anniversaries, remembers a Goose and a Jemini, and did they listen Will smith true story. New music from 4-IZE, Saba, The Village and more... Click play and take the leap!!!Follow us NOW on YouTube, iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spreaker, and more...!!You like what hear..? PROVIDE a donation on @kpft.org (DONATE button)QUANTUM LEAP RADIO broadcasting and streaming live from #HUEston T.X.Every Saturday from 4-6p.m. CST (90.1FM KPFT Houston in HD2) & Thursday 1-3a.m. CST (on the F.M. dial)Worldwide@kpft.org/listen
Send us a textThe second partar for episode Two is out! In the episode Martin Drayton and Alec continue talking about competing in slalom and boardercross events to then progressing into how martin broke a Guinness World record on the fastest time for skateboard slalom. We then moved to his time in the TV spotlight in such things as Boardstupid and other TV snowboarding projects to then to what/why he moved to Utah Park City and how the snow culture is compared to the Alps. Lastly we also go into the differences of instructing in America compared to the Alps and BASI and finish off with any updates and his life in UTAH.This episode is sponsored by snowboardteacher.com. Use the link below for 15% off the self study program.https://www.snowboardteacher.com/?affcode=374473_ar81c2syWe had also partnered up with BASI. The British Association of Snowsport Instructors (BASI) is a UK based membership association responsible for the training and licensing of snowsport instructors and coaches. If you have had a Ski/ Snowboard lesson in the UK, chances are you were taught by a BASI qualified instructor. If you teach snowsports or are interested in teaching then visit the BASI website for courses at https://www.basi.org.uk/ .Enjoy the episode, leave some feedback and contact us at snowboardinstructorpodcast@gmail.com or pop us a message on Facebook or Instagram.If you like what we do Support us @ https://buymeacoffee.com/snowboardinstructorpodWatch and RideWatch and ride is a online snowboard school that allows you to take you snowboarding to new heights.Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show
Send us a textI want you to picture 1.5 million balloons floating through the sky. The year is 1986. And it happened in Cleveland, Ohio. The stunt was supposed to save the city, but instead it turned into a PR disaster. The streets were littered, the airport was shut down and 2 fishermen went missing.It's a story of good intentions, bad planning, and one very regrettable Guinness World record. We're going up, up and away, today on Death in Entertainment!Support the showDeath in Entertainment is hosted by Kyle Ploof and Alejandro DowlingNew episodes every week!https://linktr.ee/deathinentertainment
Plus, meet the card stacker with a Guinness World record. This & more during the Midday Mic Check!
We talk to magician Cillian O'Connor who has entered the Guinness World record for performing the most magic tricks in one minute for someone under the age of 16.
In this episode of the "Giant Robots On Tour" podcast, hosts Sami Birnbaum and Rémy Hannequin interview Dan Clark, the Founder and CEO of MindJam, an innovative platform providing emotional and SEN (Special Educational Needs) support for young people through gaming, game design, and digital skills. Sami shares a personal story about how his mother, an educational psychologist, introduced him to MindJam, highlighting its impact and relevance. Dan explains that MindJam was born out of the need to support young people who feel out of place in traditional educational settings, particularly those with ADHD, autism, and other neurodivergent conditions. By leveraging popular games like Minecraft, MindJam builds trust and engages young people in a medium they enjoy, transforming therapeutic support into a more effective and engaging process. Dan discusses the inception and growth of MindJam, which started during the pandemic when traditional in-person support became impossible. This shift to online sessions via gaming platforms provided a new avenue to connect with young people, enabling them to open up and build trust in a familiar and enjoyable environment. Dan emphasizes that gaming offers numerous benefits, such as enhancing cognitive abilities, fostering social connections, and providing a safe space for expression. Despite the negative stigma around gaming, he points out that it can be a powerful tool for personal development and emotional support. MindJam has grown significantly, now with 110 mentors supporting over 2,000 young people globally, showcasing the scalability and effectiveness of this approach. The conversation also touches on the broader implications and challenges of integrating gaming into therapeutic and educational contexts. Dan highlights the need for societal perception shifts to recognize the positive aspects of gaming, counteracting the negative media portrayal. He underscores the importance of educating parents, educators, and social services about the benefits of gaming and how it can be used constructively. Dan shares inspiring success stories from MindJam, illustrating how gaming can lead to real-world achievements and personal growth. MindJam (https://mindjam.org.uk/) Follw MindJam on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/MindJamOfficial), LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/mindjam/), or Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/mindjamofficial/). Follow Dan Clark on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-clark-58533220b/). Follow thoughtbot on X (https://twitter.com/thoughtbot) or LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/150727/). Transcript: SAMI: Right, we are back again. And this is the Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots podcast, the Giant Robots on Tour series coming to you from Europe, West Asia, and Africa, where we explore the design, development, and business of great products. I'm your host Sami Birnbaum. RÉMY: And I'm your other host, Rémy Hannequin. SAMI: Let's get into it, Rémy. Joining us today is Dan Clark, the Founder and CEO of MindJam, a platform that provides online one-to-one sessions, providing emotional and SEN support for young people through gaming, game design, and digital skills. Dan, full disclosure on this one: so, about a month ago, right? I get an email from my mom. Now [laughs], this email says, "You've got to check this guy out. Go and take a look at MindJam." And I'm thinking, mom, I don't get these emails from you. This is not the normal sort of thing I'd get from my mom on your average weekday. And I know in the past, like, I've told her that I'm kind of doing this podcast thing, and I'm starting to regret, like, telling her this. Like, what is she throwing my way? But I get into some research...and maybe for some context, actually, which is helpful because my mom isn't just doing research for the podcast, my mom's an educational psychologist. So, she's been doing that ever since I can remember. I remember growing up as a kid, and that was, I mean, she assessed me numerous times. And she works, I guess, similar kind of to the children or people that you're working with, people with ADHD, autism, neurodivergent children, just often who are struggling in school and trying to find where they fit. And I start doing my research. I look into it, hit the website, hit your LinkedIn. And I'll be, like, totally honest with you: We were both just blown away by what you are doing. And this is coming not only from me, and I work in the tech industry, and I've got a history of slight gaming addictions, which we might touch on, but also coming from my mom who works on the other side and works with all the local authorities. She does the kind of tribunals that they have to do to try and get people into the right schools and kids into the right schools. And, literally, we were blown away, and I nearly got lost as well on your website. I found some kind of gaming streams that you do, and I feel almost like we missed a trick here, Rémy, because we could have done this podcast on Minecraft. It's such a nice flow, right, when you're streaming. DAN: Yeah, it makes it easier when you've got that distraction there as well. You can just chat about it. Thank you so much for inviting me on. It's a pleasure being here and, yeah, I'm glad you kind of understand what we're doing here. MindJam itself is four years old now. But I was doing things before in the pandemic, similar. But once the pandemic hit, that was the key moment where everything went online for my support with young people. And, suddenly, the light bulb came on, and I was like, this is a way in. You know, there are so many young people that are struggling, lost, feel they're stupid, and don't fit in. Yet, actually, they're amazing. But, you know, a standard way of sitting in front of them going, "Tell me why you can't go to school. Why can't you do this?" you know, it doesn't work. They don't trust that person. They've got trauma. They've been, you know, battered down by education and by health services. And so, to suddenly have someone who comes in and goes, "Oh, so you love Minecraft. Oh, I love Minecraft, too. Let's join in. Let's go in a world." And then, you can build that trust to then go, "How's your week been then?" Or, you know, and start talking, and you're just on the same wavelength. And, for me, it was something as soon as I sort of realized, it was like, this is...of course, this makes perfect sense. And then, I looked and saw nobody else is doing it [laughs]. So, I started off MindJam just on my own. At first, very quickly, we got working with lots of...in the UK, we have local authorities, which is the councils around, so seeing there is a real, you know, thing that they would work with us. So, that was great, to be recognized as actually a real service, rather than just someone playing games with kids. It's like, no, this is real. This really works. And then, it quickly got bigger than me, and now we are at 110 mentors working for us, and we're supporting over 2,000 young people all over the world. SAMI: That's incredible. DAN: It's a mission of mine, you know, we'll go more into my sort of history, but I've got two neurodivergent children: both autistic, one's ADHD as well. When you see something that you think is going to work for your child, to then suddenly see it's got, like, a two-year waiting list, which most have, it's heartbreaking, and you know it's going to be too late. So, it's always been my mission with MindJam to keep that waiting list as small as I can, but also, obviously, expanding with quality mentors and all that. So, you know, we generally tend to always say about three months before we can sort of get that support for young people. But yeah, it's something very close to my heart that I'm so passionate about and, yeah, it's been a great journey so far. SAMI: You can tell. It's so interesting because, like you say, when you find something that works for your kids. Because when I was younger, I struggled with separation anxiety a lot in school. So, I would have days when I would really struggle to go to school. During my high school period, I went to the Royal Free, which is down in Hampstead, so not too far from where I grew up and not too far from my school. And my parents...I tried to engage with a therapist. But it's almost like, I don't know if I wasn't cognitively or intellectually developed enough to engage in that way, but it didn't work. Ultimately, I did kind of one or two sessions. I remember filling in some questionnaire and thinking, like, I don't get this. This doesn't make sense. And what you're talking about, if I understand correctly, is you're coming to where the child is at. You're coming to a safe space for them, a place where they feel comfortable. It's almost like a world which is predictable. Whereas the outside world is very scary, right? Especially for people who have generalized anxiety disorder, like I said, autism. It's very challenging. And so, you come to their level, and you say, "Right, let's find a place where we all feel comfortable." And then, we can start to engage. And you say, like, you know, the pandemic was a little bit of a light bulb moment. What's been the biggest barrier then? So, you've found yourself kind of going into this and saying, right, this is something which works. It works for my kids. I want to make this available, accessible. What's been your biggest barrier to getting this off the ground and getting it working? DAN: It's the negative thoughts and the way the media portrays and education portrays gaming, basically. That has been the hardest thing is most parents are on board, but they still feel a little bit ashamed of how social media is on gaming and screen time. And they're very worried that they're not doing the right thing. And we come in a way of also educating. We educate the educators. We do training plans for schools, and for social services, and all sorts because there are so many benefits to gaming that aren't recognized. And, you know, gaming is still generally quite new. It's evolved so much in the last even 10 years. It's insane the way the characters have evolved. And the emotional nature of games now is really complex and, you know, young people and older people can get so much from them. But gaming still, in general, people are still like, "Well, get off that. Do something actually worthwhile." It's like, it's so worthwhile. There's so much, you know, strategy game you've got so much from it. And a fast-paced shooting you've got cognitive abilities. The perfect example I've got is, did you hear a couple of months ago a young lad, I think he was 13, he beat Tetris. SAMI: Yes. DAN: He completed Tetris, which is incredible, you know, it's like, oh, wow. And the first thing the newsreader said to them, the media person interviewing him went, "You should get out more." That's the way she portrayed it, rather than going, "What an achievement it is. You should get outside more." I'm literally like, what? What's going on? You know, again, this kid, you know, he's in the Guinness World of Records. What an achievement. He's famous around the world for doing it. It's like, why is that not seen as such a good thing? You know, so yeah, so that was the hard thing was especially schools, you know, they're very frightened of gaming and of change. And so, trying to help them see that, actually, if you meet a young person where they're at in something they love, then you can help inspire them and help find out why they can't deal with the things, why they can't engage with school, and also inspire them for future learning careers. Even healthy gaming comes from having that understanding of how they're gaming. So, if someone's sat up all night gaming, yeah, we all know it's not great for them. But if you just say, "Gaming's evil. Get off it. You're wasting your time. I'm turning that off," they're going to want to rebel against that. Yet if you come in and go, "Oh, wow, I can see why you were sat up all night doing that. But have you noticed that you're not as good at playing when you're really tired or really hungry?" And if you look at the top e-sports players, they're athletes. They exercise; they eat well; they sleep well. So, you know, if you embrace gaming a bit more, you can get that trust and that bond to then help inspire in other ways. RÉMY: I mean, I could talk about it for a long time. It's really refreshing to hear someone talk about video games in such a positive way and talking about the benefits. And you even mentioned strong players like athletes. It's really refreshing. And I'm wondering, how did this knowledge come up to you in the first place? So, I bet you might be someone enjoying playing games yourself. But how did you see all these benefits yourself? Because, unfortunately, it's not something we talk a lot about. As you mentioned, in the press, we hear about all the negativity. Every time there is a strong event, we blame video games, all that. And we forgot all the stories where the video games enhance people, if they have trouble or not. It can be very beneficial to a lot of people. So, how did you see this value yourself? DAN: Yeah, well, yeah, I've always been a gamer, you know, ever since Spectrum 48K, I think you had. I'm showing my age now, but it was mainly when the Sega Megadrive, and from then, PlayStation onwards were my days. And me and my brother used to have great times together on that as well. You know, it was our bonding. But then I think the biggest light bulb to me...before the pandemic, I was a teacher. And I used to teach music and ICT and computers as well, and having my children as well, and both in school connecting with the young people. Because I was a gamer, I could talk about the games that they're playing with them and to see their eyes light up...and you're on a different wavelength with that young person. They suddenly got this trust in you, and they want to tell you all about what they've done on Minecraft, or what the new season of Fortnite's about. And it was having such a beneficial effect on them and same with my family as well. We, you know, both my children are autistic, and we've got, you know, we have a lot of difficulties around that of bonding together as a family, yet our closest moments have been through gaming together. So, Mario 3D World was the first one I remember with my children playing, and we could play at all levels. So, my son was about four and, you know, he was often in a bubble, killed, and floating back onto the screen again. But, you know, we had a great time. And I was suddenly, like, looking, thinking, this is amazing. You know, nobody hears about this side of it that it's bringing us together. And so, from there, I then started doing after-school gaming clubs, so not coding clubs, nothing like that. It was gaming. And the young people they loved it. It was oversubscribed. Masses of kids came to it. We had all sorts of things from Super Smash Bros, if you know that, to, you know, to PlayStation games, Go Simulator, and everything playing. And we just had a whale of a time, and they could really relax and make friends. And, again, it was all coming from the joy of gaming together, basically. And it's, you know, as much as some people might not like it, it's bigger and bigger. It's the biggest entertainment industry now. And, you know, on the other side of it, there are so many careers in it. If your young person has an interest in gaming, see what they're interested, help it, champion it because it's, yeah, you know, there's such a future there. But yeah, that's my story, basically, and where that sort of light bulb came from. And then, I've done a lot of research into the benefits of gaming and how you can use that for connecting with young people. And, you know, so many games now have characters with, you know, emotional things going off, or, you know, you can talk about feelings even in games like Minecraft where the characters don't talk. But you can be like, how must that person be feeling there? And, you know, you can really bring in real-life situations while gaming and also have a lot of fun, which I think is super important as well, which sometimes gets forgotten about. But, you know, real life is really enhanced by having loads of fun, and gaming's fun. SAMI: Yeah. It's so fascinating. As you're speaking, I'm having this internal dilemma, right? Because, in my head, everything you're saying is true and makes sense. And I believe it, and I've seen it. And then, I probably still harbor those feelings that are almost entrenched, like you're saying, in the media with, you know, the person who completed Tetris. And those sorts of feelings are still, like, a little bit entrenched to me in terms of the negative sides of gaming. Like, I guess I grew up probably similar to you, where it was like, "Well, why aren't you outside more?" and the negative aspect of it. I spoke about this in a different podcast, which I've apologized to my parents for mentioning in public. But when I was in university, it's too late now, I also kind of developed, I would call it probably, like, a small gaming addiction. I don't know where it would sit, but I was doing all-nighters Playing Call of Duty, Modern Warfare. And so, there definitely is a negative side. But I like what you say about, well, actually, you can address that in a healthy way. But then, this week, just this week, which is quite uncanny, my seven-year-old comes, and he says, "Daddy, I really want to get an Xbox, you know, my friend's got one." And he's just starting to get to that cusp of gaming. So, in my head, I say, yeah, like that makes total sense, and I imagine the benefits and the fun time me and him could have on an Xbox. But I still struggle with those feelings of...maybe they're my own worries of, well, but what if he neglects his other stuff? What if he goes into like, yeah, with ADHD, he goes into hyperfocus, and that's all he does? How [laughs] can you counsel me out of this concern? DAN: Well, no, I completely understand, and that is where all our fears come from, especially our generation and how it's put through. But I think young people more and more connect through gaming, whereas I think when we were gamers as young, a lot of stuff wasn't online. So, we weren't playing with our friends. We were playing on our own a lot of the time, whereas it's very social now. Platforms like Roblox and Minecraft are the things that are super social, working together as a team, things like that. But also screen time, I can show you that we've got a whole list of benefits of gaming, actually, that I'll share with you because there's studies that even screen time has been proven not to be detrimental the way we're told it is. And I think we must know that through how we work. Most of us work on screens these days, so. SAMI: Yeah, that's such a point of contention in the house because we currently do only on Fridays. So, they get, like, two hours of screen time. I don't know if that's strict. I don't know where I am on that. Do you have, like, with your own kids, or how do you handle that discipline? So, let's say I get the console, right? I bring it into the house to my seven-year-old. Do I limit it with screen time? How would you approach that sort of thing? DAN: Obviously, with a seven-year-old, it's a little bit different from...mine are now 17 and 14. So, we discuss it more, but yeah, definitely, you know, have boundaries. And also, if you're worried about how they're gaming, maybe have the Xbox in the living room, so instead of gaming in their bedroom, they're gaming when you're around, and it's a shared family activity. And then, it's easier to say, "Well, we're going to be having food in a minute. So, finish up on that game." And you can have all that understanding. But I think also, you know, that other side of things of coming from seeing what they're playing. I talk to parents a lot about this, and they get, you know, they see frustrations in their young people when they're trying to get them off. But they don't realize that maybe they're playing something like Fortnite or something that's a bit more online team-based, where if they pulled them off the game in the middle of the match, it could be detrimental to the team they're working with, their rankings. You know, they could even get banned from the game for a few days, you know. So, understanding and them being able to work time management together, being like, "Well, after this game is finished, this is where we're going, you know, we've got to go out. We've got to do this," you know, there is a give and take there. And I'm not saying there isn't negatives to gaming. We need, you know, everybody needs a break as well. But, again, through the understanding of what they're playing, you can have those conversations. If you're not playing them or watching them and don't understand what the game is about, and what the joy is about, there's going to be a gap between you, you know, where the young person is going to be like, "You don't understand me. You don't understand why I want to play this." My kids, you know, we went from the other [inaudible 17:37] because they've had severe problems at school, both of them, through their neurodivergency, and gaming has really helped them both to regulate. And maybe when you're saying about yourself when you had problems, and maybe there was something else going on. And then, the gaming was a way for you to cope, that safe space to go to that was actually working in a way as a little bit of therapy and keeping you grounded, you know, as well. So, you know, there's two sides to see it. But yeah, definitely, I can understand the worries of staying up all night playing it or not doing your homework and playing it, although I have different things to say about homework. But to say it's not actually beneficial is wrong because, you know, you just got to look at something like Minecraft and the amount a young person can learn, everything from biomes, and blocks, and diamonds, or ores to actual mathematics and things. And it naturally leads onto PCs and learning how to code things and who knows where that's going to lead, to creating something completely new. So, I worry for the ones that are heavily restricted on screen time. I worry that they're being held a little bit back. You know, that might sound a bit controversial for some people. But when most jobs are digital and you're not allowed to learn, I mean, the young people I see they're so gifted at such a young age in understanding digital things that they're going to be at the forefront of the new technology. So, it's almost like, yeah, I think it should be embraced with both hands. RÉMY: There's an incredible opportunity to learn new things through video games and to be happy and to share, like you said. And I bet our audience is already quite open to video games, but we never know it. I think it could be interesting if you could provide, like, a very simple, not comprehensive list of famous games and the kind of skills and benefits they provide you. You mentioned Minecraft; you mentioned creativity. But what kind of games and skills benefits you? You could say for our audience to understand more about the opportunity that is out there. DAN: Yeah, I mean, there are so many. But yeah, so, if we look at your normal shooter game like Call of Duty, and Fortnite, and things like that, that is for cognitive ability. You know, getting those dexterity in your hands and learning those [inaudible 20:11] of pressing buttons is more than you think. It's really training that brain and getting that brain working really quick. It's proven to boost your brain power, your gray matter. It's actually proven that gaming, in general, just boosts your gray matter. I mean, we all know about doing brain training games, but all games using that brain, you know, it's much more advanced than sitting watching TV. But then if you go into more things like puzzle games, so things from your Tetris all the way through to more advanced ones like Portal or strategy games like Civilization and things, there is so much you're doing. You're boosting that brainpower, and you're thinking all the time. But then you can get into...yeah, back onto the shooter games as well, they help with spatial recognition. So, it's actually helping to spot things from a distance: dangers or things to collect. You can see them, and it actually enhances eyesight. It is proven to enhance eyesight, which is great. Decision-making and leadership skills, which is a key thing people talk about for business, is all there when you're in your team of shooters. You're playing Overwatch or you're playing, you know, any game like that. You know, there's always somebody leading or, you know, saying what should be best, seeing the best strategies in there. Problem-solving comes into all sorts so, obviously, in shooters and things again, I'd- say, but also your Minecraft. You know, you've got to create a certain thing to defeat the dragon or whatever you're doing. There's always something, or if you're building something. But then, of course, your high-end puzzle games and even things like Mario. I mean, they get so complex in the problem-solving to overcome a level. Again, the brain power, and the brain power seeing these young people that they're way more advanced than we were playing games. The games are so intricate and so hard now. One you never hear about is social skills until...I think the pandemic helped that a bit. People started to see, oh, Animal Crossing, it's a great way to connect with people. And, you know, and Roblox as much as it gets a lot of bad press, for young people to connect and play, and lot of it is almost like playground role playing play, and they're playing together. You know, there's games just based in Ikea, and they're shopping, and [laughs] things like that. It's really good for them to be doing that. And health and fitness surprisingly, of course, is in gaming. So, obviously, a lot of Nintendo Switch games are sort of standing up, you know, playing switch sports and things, but then virtual reality is huge for that. And if you've ever tried Beat Saber, that's a real workout, which is really good. But there's loads of boxing ones. There's one that kids play now called Gorilla Tag, where, oh my God, that is such a workout. I have mentees that I work with, and then we'll be like, "Oh, Gorilla Tag," an hour of that, I am exhausted. Because you're just flinging your arms around like a gorilla trying to move fast. It's amazing. SAMI: I saw a post you did recently about there's, like, a Greek mythology level on Fortnite, like, an educational aspect [laughs]. It's so funny because I remember playing God of War on the PS2, and I learned so much about Greek mythology. Everything I know comes from God of War. And so, there's also that educational aspect. DAN: Yeah, exactly. You get this deep dive into something, and you really find what you're interested in. So, I've got a kid, and he loves this game called War Thunder, which is all about planes, World War planes, and he can tell me everything about every plane and what country it's made. He can spot it a mile off. You know, "Oh, that's a Russian plane from so and so. Its weak points are here. It was built by so and so." And it's like, you're a genius, and it's all come from, you know, this game's sparked this real interest. And, you know, like I said, Fortnite brings it in, God of War, of course. Assassin's Creed is amazing for things like that, history, it goes from Egypt times. And they even now have walkthroughs in the game where...this needs to be used in schools. I don't know if schools embrace it yet, but you don't have any of this story and the killings and stuff. You just are going through history and walking through the towns and things like that, which is brilliant. The latest one for Assassin's Creed was Vikings, wasn't it? And that was brilliant because that brought in the UK and how it was when the Vikings came over. There's so much stuff. I've got a young person, and he loves this game called For Honor, which is all about medieval sword fights. And he got such an interest in weapons that he's then become a blacksmith. He's enrolled onto a college course apprenticeship being a blacksmith. He wants to be making armory and swords for movies. You know, he said like, "Look, Lord of the Rings, that's all made properly, isn't it?" I mean, that's [inaudible 24:50] SAMI: Wow. DAN: Yeah, it's amazing. One other thing that the games bring, which I think is amazing, is mindfulness as well. There's a huge thing of that. Yeah, like I said, going back to maybe yourself when you were gaming at night, and you maybe needed to destress and maybe take your mind off something, you can get into a game and almost...there's a thing called the grind in the game. Minecraft has it a lot, where you've just got to get yourself a hundred diamonds, or whatever [laughs]. So, it's like, you can almost turn your brain off and just do that, you know, and it can be so super relaxing. And you can get into this thing called flow state. A lot of driving games are like that. If you hit every corner perfectly, you're kind of just in this dream-like state where you just...everything's going well. And that brings a euphoria, too. There's so many good things. But now there's loads of games that are actually based around mindfulness. Tetris is one that's been proven for that. But I don't know if you've heard a more recent one called PowerWash Simulator. Now, this game was one of my most favorite for the last couple of years. All you're doing is washing stuff with a power washer. But the way it works, it gives you a little ding when you've cleaned something properly, like a [vocalization]. And it just...you stand back and look at your job. Honestly, it's amazing. But now Oxford University are doing a full study on it because they realize how beneficial it is to relaxing and chilling out, you know, and just making yourself just feeling happy when you need to just de-stress. It's amazing. RÉMY: I can totally relate. I remember a few years ago, I played GTA 5, and GTA 5 is the kind of game famous for arbitrary violence or all this kind of stuff we hear in the media. But I remember me playing and sometimes I wanted to play just to take a bike and to go on the road and to see a sunset. And, of course, we could argue that I can see the sunset out there, but, in a game, it's just a piece of art. At work, recently, we just had a conversation about beautiful games. So, we weren't interested in all the features or how the game would work but just how beautiful it is. And sometimes we just play video games because they're beautiful. And so, they could provide so much on the intellectual level, on the skills, but also, just as piece of art, just beautiful things made by beautiful artists. DAN: Yeah, it is amazing when you see that. And yeah, I get that completely with GTA. It gets a lot of bad reputation, you know, and story-wise, it is very adult. But, you know, it's the biggest game in the world for a reason. And, you know, like you said, you climb the mountain, you look at the view, you know, it is such a lovely thing to do. There was a game, Red Dead Redemption. I had a young lady I was mentoring, and she was situationally mute, which means, you know, she couldn't talk to anybody. She used to type her responses to me. But she loved Red Dead Redemption, loved horses. And she actually created a group from all around the world, where they would all meet her on a Friday in the game, and she would take them on horse trails. And so, this is all in the game, and she would just take them around to beautiful spots, do nice little jumps with the horses, setting up camp, you know, and, I mean, that's [inaudible 28:08]. It's amazing. And yeah, she ended up making a horse game on Roblox, and that doing really well, and her actually working for Roblox themselves. So, yeah, you know, it all inspires them to work on that. And, I think, sorry, I'm going on tangents here, but also, as you say, appreciating art. There are so many different sides to gaming. A lot of people used to think gaming is just coding, and I don't want to be a coder. That's confusing. I don't want to do that. If you look at the credits that roll on a main game, and they go on for, like, about an hour. There are so many different jobs from artists, storyboard writers, level designers, musicians. There's everything there. The coders are just one part of it. So, as I said before, there are so many career opportunities there, either starting up your own business as a self-employed person or getting involved in it. One I love...a lot of the neurodivergent people I work with [inaudible 29:07] is being a games tester. Because the first thing my son ever does is, if he gets a game, he tries to break it. He tries to find where he can walk through a wall, or something like that. So, it's like that job would be ideal for you. It's like, it's amazing. And that's a job. That's a really important job as well. SAMI: Yeah. When you talk about these stories, they are inspirational. Like, I feel like almost, like, a flutter in my heart as you talk about this kid who maybe felt he has kind of no hope or very little opportunities to actually honing in on this Viking game and then being able to go and become a blacksmith, or this other person you mentioned who's now with Roblox. Yeah, I almost wish, like, they had more publicity around them. And maybe we're kind of doing some of that work now. What would you say is your biggest success story? DAN: I guess MindJam in itself I think is just, I mean, it's way bigger than me now. Obviously, it was born from this idea of giving young people the time and the respect. They are doing something that they love to do and is beneficial. That's what I found was everybody...even when I was teaching, we used to have this connection with the kids, and I used to work one-to-one with the, you know, special education needs, young ones. And a great connection talking about gaming, and their eyes would light up. They would talk about their week, and how they were feeling, and what they achieved. But then it would always be, in the back of my mind, we need to get back onto what we're supposed to be doing and, you know, I need to tick these boxes. And there's always something wanted from them. And it's the same if they go and see a health service. There's always something that they want from that young person. Yet if you just approach them and say, "You know, let's do what you want to do." It's child-led. It's low demand, and let's see where that takes us. That's where we got to discovering about the blacksmith thing. And that's why we've got young people making albums and things with MindJam. You know, it goes anywhere. I've got one young person who shows me Tai Chi, you know, that's our MindJam session. It started off from Rocket League. So, it can really go anywhere. But yeah, sorry, going back to the big success, it is every day now I get a message saying how one of my mentors has helped a young person to help the whole family. That is just the best thing in the world. You know, this is something we've created, and we work hard. We work really hard to make sure we've got the best people. You know, and we're well-trained, and informed, and everything. To hear that it's really making such a difference, and, you know, some people say we're saving lives, and, you know, I just have to pinch myself. Me and my wife we were just like, we can't believe it really how amazing it is. But we're just on a mission now to make sure it's accessible for as many people who need it. SAMI: Yeah, I've seen some of the reviews on your website, and they're heartwarming. But, like, it kind of makes sense, right? Like, for some people, this is the only place that they feel safe. They feel comfortable. You imagine all the cortisol that's going through someone when they're in that fight or flight moment, and there's lots of stress and anxiety. And they enter into a gaming world, and they can escape. And all of a sudden, that reduces. You're dealing with a different person. You're dealing with someone who feels happy, who feels content. And then, you're opening up their mind to have other conversations, you know, like you say. I really recommend it to our listeners. Go and check out the stream. You do kind of...I've seen you've done a few episodes of streaming with other mentors. And it's fascinating to see how all of you, whilst you're playing, are in a conversation about, "Oh, how was your week? And how's that been going?" And, you know, something happened over there. And it's like, you're just in a more of a relaxed state to have those conversations. DAN: Yeah, you know, it's been used before, you know, LEGO therapy is kind of like that. You know, that's what MindJam is in a way is play therapy, but there's so much more you can do with the digital platform. And we're at an amazing age as well, where most bits of software are free. I'll click on like, you know, if they want to look into 3D modeling, it's easy to get a copy of Blender. If you want to get into Unity or Unreal Engine, I mean, there's always into...and it's all, you know, what a wonderful time. When we were younger, if I wanted to get into game design, it was so complicated. You didn't know where to start where, you know, so yeah, it's really amazing. And another thing that I love as well is the mentors that work for us. Most of them are really [inaudible 33:28]. I struggled when I was in my early twenties, and I remember seeing a counselor. And it felt like they had no idea what they were...yeah, they're reading from a textbook, you know, and I remember just really patronizing me. And I was just like, you've got no clue. Whereas I think all the mentors we have all said, "I wish MindJam was around when I was a young person." And I thought, that's the key thing for me, their empathy, their understanding. We don't have to solve it straight away. It's just being there and going, "Yeah, that is hard. Yeah, you know, you'll be okay though. And there's, you know, you're not on your own here." And, you know, I think that is...so many people seem to have to try and heal people straight away. And it's like, no, people just need time to talk, and it's the same as adults as well. Yeah, it could just carry on really to all ages really, couldn't it? SAMI: Yeah. And you've also got that buy-in, right? Whereas, you know, I think of myself perhaps going to therapy at that young age. I didn't really buy into it because I was sitting there with an adult who I didn't really know what we were doing. And I was just kind of there for a conversation. And here you've got...you're doing something that they like, and they enjoy. To put my parent and adult hat back on [laughs] because it's something I want to pick your brains on, right? So, working in the tech industry and working in coding, I've read articles about games, which kind of it says that they're more and more...you see it maybe more on the games on the mobile phone. So, they're employing, like, these kind of gambling tactics, so a lot of the stuff where it's treasure chests. And what is it? On Fortnite, it's the packs. On FIFA, it's also, like, you open up the pack and you see what players you get. So, that sort of stuff I also find scary where I feel like you have from the industry...so, whilst you're using the industry in this way, is the industry itself there to promote and perpetuate the benefits that come from games? Or are they looking, I want to get people in; I want to get them hooked; I want to use these gambling techniques, A/B testing, whatever it is? DAN: From all big companies, we get both sides, obviously. So, you got your unscrupulous ones that, oh, go for it. You loot boxes. But I think more and more, especially with young people, they're more and more aware. They're far more savvy than we are in these things. And the good one is EA with, you know, FIFA. They get review bombed because as soon as someone's putting in loot boxes and things, people are just like, you're just after our money. This is a con. It's pay to win. Mobile games are the worst for it, of course. You know, they're quick cash-making things. Again, instead of, like, saying, "All gaming is evil. We should never do it," it's being aware and being aware of what these games are trying to do, which, again, when you're looking at a young child, is having shared gaming experiences. So, you can go, "Ah, can you see what they're doing here? You know, they've hooked us in. We've played this for two minutes, and we've had free play. And now they're asking us to pay five pounds for extra things. That's a bit of a con, isn't it?" And, you know, you can actually bring that awareness, and then they're not going to fall for things like that. But at the other side of it, I see firsthand...I've luckily enough to work closely with Sony. One of their great companies is called Media Molecule. I don't know if you've heard of them. They did LittleBigPlanet, and lately, they had a game called Dreams, which is actually making games on a PlayStation, which is really cool. But they're so accessible. It's all about, you know, making everybody happy, giving people the keys to creativity, and really help making everything accessible. Again, they worked with this wonderful, wonderful artist who created characters, character designs. They'd never met her. She was so socially anxious. She never could leave her house but was actually one of their top artists that they would send the work, send the brief. She'd send this amazing art back, and then they'd pay her. They didn't have to come into the office nine till five for no reason whatsoever. And there's a lovely side, and, of course, there's a business unscrupulous side. And yeah, again, bring that education of that. This is what I think should be in schools. Instead of avoiding the whole issue, is actually talk about being toxic gamers and what that means, and how to deal with toxic gamers, and how not to be a toxic gamer yourself. For those that don't know toxic gamers, it's just people that are really, really mean to everybody, which seems to be a set thing that people do, especially to a new player. It's like, learn how to encourage people in. And there's now games coming out where they ban people straight away if they're being toxic, and it's all about helping that new player feel like part of the team. But again, yeah, let's say if this was actually brought into education, so then we learn about loot boxes and, you know, pay-to-win type games, then young people would be on that same wavelength. They would get it, either that or it would make gaming so lame that no one would play gaming anymore because it's in schools [laughs]. Like, oh, it sucks now [laughs]. SAMI: Yeah, I think that that way that you embrace kind of what gaming is and you say, well, actually, we can see that it's got a benefit. We can see that it's positive. How do we get the absolute most out of this? How can we not hide, stick our heads in the sand to the issues that might be there? And how can we then say, "Let's use this?" And I think, I mean, my mom will be listening to this podcast for sure. But I think it's something which it's quite disruptive what you're doing. I really do feel that way kind of dabbling in gaming, working as a consultant in the coding industry. I actually teach neurodivergent kids as well on the side. And I'm actually mentoring another kid in coding as well. And what you're doing, as I said at the beginning, it's mind-blowing, and we could talk to you for hours. We have a little chat on this podcast, which listeners can't see. And I asked Rémy, like, "Do you have any questions before you want to wrap up?" And Rémy was just like, "I just want to keep listening. I'm loving it." And I'm exactly...I feel like we can listen to...I think me and Rémy game and we dabble here and there as well ourselves. So, it's definitely something which speaks to us so much. But I've got to thank you so much for your time, for taking the time to jump on with us, give us such an insight into the work that you're doing with MindJam. Let's talk about the BAFTA Young Game Designers Award Ceremony Open Day. Give us some info. DAN: Oh yeah. Well, this is a lovely thing. I've luckily enough to be involved with BAFTA on this for a few years. An early success of MindJam was I was nominated as Mentor of The Year and finalist for Mentor of The Year for BAFTA in 2021. And they run this thing called Young Games Designers every year, and it's brilliant because they do...it's two sides to it. One is actually making a game, but then, of course, not all young people are ready to make a game. And, you know, so the other side is a games concept where you could just send in sketches, ideas, things like that. And that's really accessible for lots of young people we work with, of course. But yeah, in July, I don't have the date; it's early July, we have the award ceremony, which is on this Saturday. But then on the Sunday at BAFTA in London, it's an open day for families to come. You have to apply and get a ticket. I'm sure you guys can put the link on here later on. But yeah, MindJam will be there, but there's loads of game places. I think TT Games will be there who make the LEGO games. And there's all sorts of...we have D&D there. We have all sorts and talks on how to get into the industry and things like that. So, it's really a great thing to come to if you're a young person who's interested in gaming. SAMI: That's really cool. So, parents, if you're listening, save up all that screen time so you can use it. A month's worth of screen time [chuckles] at the BAFTA Awards, Young Game Designers Awards Ceremony in the Open Day in London. If people want to get hold of you, Dan, where's the best place? They've heard this. They're inspired. They feel like they've got someone who would benefit from your services. Where's the best place to get in touch? DAN: If you go to our website, it's mindjam.org.uk, and you can email us at hello@mindjam.org.uk. And I think you said this podcast is international, isn't it? So, we do offer sessions all around the world. We have mentors in America, in Australia, in Japan, all over the place basically. MindJam is universal. So, wherever you are, get in touch. And if you're interested in being a mentor as well, get in touch as well, so... SAMI: Definitely, I highly recommend. And I've already got people I can think of that I'm going to be passing your details on to. Listeners, listeners, listeners, our lovely listeners, no one likes missing out on things. Remember that flight you missed? The train that passed you by? Your partner's birthday? I've been there, by the way; I missed one recently. It's a horrible feeling. I cannot deal with you missing out on these things, but I can make sure that this feeling doesn't come about when it comes to our podcast. So, move your thumb. Yes, you, move your thumb. Hit that subscribe button. I can guarantee you, you will never miss one of our podcasts. And you'll hear amazing guests, just like Dan, as we get them in, and we have great chats together on the Giant Robots on Tour podcast. You can find notes and a complete transcript for this episode at giantrobots.fm. If you have questions or comments, you can email us at hosts@giantrobots.fm. This podcast is brought to you by thoughtbot and produced and edited by Mandy Moore. Check her out at mandymoore.tech. Thanks for listening. See you next time. Bye. AD: Did you know thoughtbot has a referral program? If you introduce us to someone looking for a design or development partner, we will compensate you if they decide to work with us. More info on our website at: tbot.io/referral. Or you can email us at: referrals@thoughtbot.com with any questions.
For the week of 7-31-2024 ALL STORY LINKS BELOW It's this special 14th episode of former Babylon Bee podcasters Adam Yenser and Ethan Nicolle. We've got Talk Down syndrome! Become a subscriber, get bonus content, and join the community at www.TheTalkDown.comSend your questions and comments to info@theTalkDown.comThe Talk Down on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-talk-down/id1745919012Follow us on X: @thetalkdown_ Let's Talk Down The Week's Top News Story 1 Google altering Trump search results to favor Harrishttps://x.com/i/trending/1818080233414955033/normal Story 2 Ohio Supreme Court says boneless chicken wings can have boneshttps://www.dispatch.com/story/news/courts/2024/07/25/ohio-supreme-court-customer-cant-sue-over-bones-in-boneless-wings/74357034007/ Story 3 Democrats Set Up Zoom Fundraiser Called “White Dudes for Harris”https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/white-dudes-rally-elect-first-female-president-rcna164208 Story 4 People unwell after woman approaches them with baghttps://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c849jvn7npyo Story 5 Barbie movie “may have spurred interest in gynecology,” study finds | Ars Technicahttps://arstechnica.com/science/2024/07/barbie-movie-may-have-spurred-interest-in-gynecology-study-finds/ Story 6 Nigerian man twerks for 3 hours, 30 minutes to break world record - UPI.comhttps://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2024/07/23/nigeria-Guinness-World-records-longest-duration-twerking/4621721753762/ MOVIE: My Penguin Friend 00:00 Introduction10:53 Google Election Interference16:23 What Is A Chicken Wing19:51 White Dudes For Harris24:08 Bag Lady26:16 Barbie GYN29:42 Men At Twerk32:23 Mid Show Promo34:47 Republicans Are Weird38:25 The Punch Down54:31 My Penguin Friend57:02 Outro Become a subscriber, watch the bonus content on Down Time and join the Discordwww.TheTalkDown.comSend us a message: info@theTalkDown.com DOWN TIME (Subscribers Only) We will explain our intro stories. Bonus News NJ man admits to decapitating seagull after it attempted to take fries from daughter: Affidavithttps://6abc.com/post/franklin-zeigler-arrested-seagull-decapitated-cape-may-nj/15081860/ Michael Jackson's Signed Drawings Go Up For Auctionhttps://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/michael-jackson-signed-drawings-auction-1235954979/
Whilst the show is on survey break, The BLB team presents Show & Tell Week! Every day for seven days a different person brings an item to show. There are brilliant revelations, awesome stories and emotional attachments. Episode 6 is Producer Scudda who brought in his Guinness World record certificate. Such a wild story. Listen Live on the Nova Player App Follow us on Instagram - TikTok - FacebookSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A McDonald's employee in Booval, a suburb of Brisbane, Australia, dried her mop under the heat lamp... over the fries! Hulu, a Disney owned company, is coming out with a show called ‘Virgin Island'. I explain what can go wrong. Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix explains how he's going all-in on his job. And what we can take away from that to use in our own lives. Random facts: Allodoxaphobia is the fear of other people's opinions. You would need to wrap yourself in bubble wrap 39 times in order to survive a fall from six floors up. The Michelin of ‘Michelin starred' restaurants is the same Michelin that makes tyres. They started producing the guide - and reviewing restaurants - in order to encourage people to drive more. William Morton, the father of anesthesia, first experimented on himself but kept falling asleep before he could describe the results. I give you a list of bizarre/dumb Guinness World records. And how not to support your loved one who's running a marathon.
Hershey faces a $5 million lawsuit over missing designs on Reese's candies from disappointed consumers. Postal worker in Ohio was caught racing a Mustang in a USPS van, hitting 105 mph in a 60 mph zone. Vermont University gave a cat an honorary degree for some dumb reason. 706 people named Kyle failed at attempting to achieve a Guinness World record in Texas. Flights to Berlin are about to skyrocket after allowing women to go topless at pools. Would it be possible to de-sexualize women's breasts?
A woman on a Southwest airlines flight decided to try and take a nap in the overhead bin. Would you skydive at 106 years old? Well, a man did that and broke a Guinness World record. Which reminded me of when I was a bull rider... for a day. A wedding was interrupted by a woman dressed as a cat, and I think that would have been a great thing to attend. There are roughly seven people in the world who look exactly like you and there is a 9 percent chance you will run into one of them in your lifetime. Mailbag: David - Has your opinion changed on who is most likely to win their respective series after this past weekend? The Dam Grill - When tying your shoelaces do you start with the right or left shoelace over the top? Keg - Colorado is the third most dangerous state in the U.S. Denver is cracking down on illegal street vendors - for a very good reason.
Nik Wallenda has become one of the most decorated aerialists in history, earning 13 Guinness World records and a plethora of other awards. He talked to Clayton about his achievements and how his faith has impacted his decision to be a tightrope daredevil!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Man arrested for stealing Jacky Robinson statue to scrap it for its metal… Mobile Home owner plummeted 25 feet into a septic tank... French man built matchstick Eiffel tower was denied by Guinness World records… & more.
Johnny Mac shares five good news stories that include the latest unusual hobbies celebrities have taken up such as beekeeping and knitting, influenced by the upcoming action film 'The Beekeeper'.An award goes to Siddhu Kshetri, a martial artist from India who throws punches at a punching bag for 55 hours, setting a new Guinness World record.Animals also make headlines with a dog discovering a dangerous gas leak in a neighborhood and a parrot escaping from a British Zoo.In a lighter note, etiquette expert Jackie Vernon Thompson resolves the age-long debate on the correct way to hang toilet paper. Celebrity BeekeepersWorld Record Breaking Martial ArtistHeroic Husky Detects Gas LeakParrot Escapes from British ZooToilet Paper Etiquette
As a child Howard grew up on the wrong side of town. Staying safe meant spending time in libraries and museums, from here came a love of learning.Who knew that small 6 year old would grow to be the world leading (official its in the Guinness World of Records) speed reader and learner.In this podcast we discover the man behind the talent and he share his top tips to get you started on your own journey of learning, and most importantly retaining the information.#collaboration #love #team #community #inspiration #personaldevelopment #business #coglo #connection
Chef Anton is an Award-winning magician who can actually teach and certify a PADI scuba specialty course using underwater magic! He uses magic to help make scuba diving concepts easier to understand, relieve anxiety, and foster better learning. Further, it helps paint a better picture of concepts like nitrogen buildup, compression and expansion, and all those core fundamentals that can be tough to grasp for new divers. Aside from making learning easier, underwater magic makes everything a LOT more fun! I was completely mesmerized during this interview. He performed REAL magic tricks right in front of me and the crew (And I promise, no camera tricks!) He's an IDC staff instructor, offering a real specialty certification for scuba diving professionals, and specialty certification for scuba diving students, along with an underwater magic starter pack. His execution is just as impressive as his welcoming, warm, and hilariously charming personality. In fact, one of his recent scuba students, Avery Fisher, not only learned how to do magic, but performed so well she literally broke the world record for most magic tricks performed underwater (38 tricks in 3 minutes)! As if that wasn't impressive enough, shes only 13 years old! See the offical Guinness World record page here: https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/commercial/2023/11/young-scuba-diver-plunges-head-first-into-new-magic-hobby-to-break-underwater-rec-761221 Chef Anton's Scuba Magician website: https://scubamagician.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scubamagician/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@scubamagician3354 ChefAnton@ScubaMagician.com See the Guinness world record holder Avery Fisher's underwater magic video: https://youtu.be/54jUjRVIZhg?si=uEnmaM85DqJM6cwR — Kenny Dyal is the host of The Scuba Diving Podcast: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kenny_dyal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweetwater_scuba Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/realkennydyal LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kennydyal Twitter: https://twitter.com/RealKennyDyal www.sweetwaterscuba.com
Get weekly tips on how to optimize your health and lifestyle routines - go to https://www.theultimatehuman.com/ For more info on Gary, please click here: https://link.me/garybrecka [link.me] Order The 1 Genetic Test That Will Give You Results For Life Here: https://10xhealthnetwork.com/pages/genetic-testing?utm_source=gbrecka Get The Supplements That Gary Recommends Here: https://10xhealthnetwork.com/pages/supplements?utm_source=gbrecka Want to know how to stay at the top of your game over a prolonged period of time? Today we have two time Grammy nominated producer DJ electric electronic dance music entrepreneur, and founder of the trendsetting record label events lifestyle company, Steve Aoki on the podcast. He is such an interesting individual as an artist, entrepreneur and biohacker. In this episode we get a real behind the scenes look at what he does to stay in optimal shape while he's on the road, what technology he uses to track his progress, why he treats himself like an athlete, and what the high feels like performing in front of a crowd. Steve also walks us through how he has created the unique experience as an entertainer that has him dominating a competitive industry, and what it looked like doing a show for 5 people before he became the Steve Aoki you see today. Tune in for what being an Ultimate Human looks like for Steve, and the collaborations he's excited for in the future as he will continue to run at this winners pace and feel great doing it. 06:00 How intellectual curiosity drives innovation and success. 09:00 What is the potential of turning science fiction into reality? 15:08 The Guinness World record Steve won. 23:00 How do you maintain peak performance in a high-intensity career on the road? 26:30 What the high feels like being in front of a crowd. 37:15 Challenges of the musician's lifestyle including maintaining a touring lifestyle. 40:30 Steve Aoki's meditation practices and devices he uses for tracking progress. 44:45 How to track and biohack your sleep. 51:15 What is unique about the DJ community and how they support each other. 54:45 How has biohacking impacted your career? 57:15 The shift from identifying as a DJ to Entertainer and how entertaining the crowd has changed over the years. 01:06:00 Are there any artists you would love to collaborate with? 01:15:00 How Steve tests new songs on live crowds. 01:17:15 What are you excited about? Follow Steve Aoki: @steveaoki Gary Brecka: @garybrecka The Ultimate Human: @ultimatehumanpod Subscribe on YouTube: @ultimatehumanpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Engage your senses and prepare to be transported with godfather of electronic music, Jean-Michel Jarre. Producer, composer, 3 times Guinness World record holder and cultural ambassador, Jean is also one of the youngest 75 year olds you'll ever hear, as Paul found out when the two spoke about his 50-year musical journey, his drive to continually look forward, and his latest creations – Oxymore and Oxymoreworks. Dive into the nuances of Jarre's unique creative process and how he reflects on his lineage, how Jarre's own iconic work, Oxygene, once faced rejection from record labels and how he drew inspiration From Pierre Henry on his latest work.Oxymoreworks is available Friday Nov 3rd here.Lost and Sound is proudly sponsored by Audio-TechnicaPaul's debut book, Coming To Berlin: Global Journeys Into An Electronic Music And Club Culture Capital is out now on Velocity Press. Click here to find out more. Paul on InstagramSubscribe to the Lost and Sound Substack for fresh updates and writing here.Lost and Sound title music by Thomas Giddins
Send us a Text Message.Vic doesn't think people are picky enough about their food. NEW SEGMENT - "Don't be that guy" Retail workers share stories of things customers do and.... DON'T BE THAT GUY.Chipotle and Netflix set to raise prices AGAINWant to be happier? Put your holiday decorations up earlier!Guinness World records has a new hottest pepper "Pepper X"Trivia: 75% of people prefer to do this at home instead of in public. What is it?Find Vic: @vicdradioFind the pod:@ilysayitbackpodFind Producer Eric@lifeofevera
If you consider yourself a serious escape room enthusiast, chances are you've heard of TERPECA, the Top Escape Rooms Project Enthusiasts' Choice Award. In Season 6, Episode 2 of REPOD, we chat with Rich Bragg, founder of TERPECA and ClueKeeper, and a former escape room Guinness World Record holder. Rich has been involved in the immersive gaming scene since he first discovered the world of elaborate puzzle hunts in the early 2000s. Rich talks about playing in Moscow while setting the Guinness World record, and he tells us about playing the “hard with pain” game mode. We discuss the “TERPECA Effect,” while talking about the impact that the Enthusiast Choice Awards has had on the international escape room scene. Not only has this project created a globally recognized reference list of the top escape rooms, it has also brought the international community together, with many enthusiasts traveling all over the world to experience these games. Rich's passion for the puzzling world crosses many genres. It's abundantly clear that he puts a lot of thought into ensuring that TERPECA is balanced, fair, and accurately reflects the opinions of the most experienced players. If you're an experienced enthusiast, we hope this episode convinces you to vote in the upcoming TERPECA season. Your opinion matters! Timestamps & Full Show Notes Episode Sponsors Thank you to our sponsors Morty, Buzzshot, and COGS: Morty Morty is a free app for discovering, planning, tracking, and reviewing your escape rooms and other immersive social outings. Morty News: Morty now features haunt attractions Morty for Android is here Special Badge for REPOD listeners: You can learn more at morty.app/REPOD to sign up and get a special badge for our listeners (works for existing users also). Buzzshot Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer. COGS COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout. Production Credits Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law Produced by Theresa Piazza Supported by Lisa Spira & Richard Burns Edited by Steve Ewing of Stand Inside Media Music by Ryan Elder Logo by Janine Pracht
00:00 - OPEN Today is the fourth and final episode of our month-long "Little Weirdo's" 4x4 Edition podcast special featuring four small, fun-to-drive and affordable used 4x4s from the 80s and 90s. 01:45 - INTRO - 1987-1989 Dodge Raider Today's small, affordable 4x4 SUV is the Dodge Raider, which was sold in the US from model years 1987 to 1989. 03:30 - By The NumbersThe Dodge Raider offered up specifications and performance that was slightly better than the other small 4x4s in this series, but it still wasn't outstanding. For example, when equipped with the 2.6-liter 4-cylinder, buyers got 109-hp and 142-lb.ft. of torque. In 1989, a V6 with 143-hp and 168-lb.ft. was available as an option. The V6 Raiders also came with a trailing link rear suspension with coil springs and shocks, rather than the 4-cylinder model's leaf spring suspension. 10:40 - Serious Off-Road CapabilityTough, body-on-frame designCapable Suspension (leaf springs for 4-cylinder, trailing arms fw/coils for 6-cyl) Short–wheel base (very maneuverable on tight trails) 11:00 - Dakar Rally Success For The Pajero 12 Outright Wins - A modified version of the Pajero (the Japanese version of the Raider) won the famous Dakar rally outright a total of 12-times. World Record Setting Performance - The Pajero also set a Guinness World record with 150 individual stage wins. By comparison, second place Peugeot had only 78-wins, so the Pajero's ability off-road was really never in question. 13:05 - What Should You Look For In a Dodge Raider?Overall condition is most important Inline 4-cylinder vs. V6 (I would chose the V6)4-speed automatic vs. 5-speed manualTypical used car things, like low miles, minimal owners, no accidents, no rebuilt title, etc.Buy one that is stock or close to stock condition. Make sure it has all the factory parts (rear bench seat)Make sure everything works (test the 4WD, locking hubs, AC, heater, fan, lights, turn signals, etc.) Find a tow-behind example – might have higher miles, but it was towed, not driven. 16:50 - Dodge Raider Price RangeGet a complete, running, fully functioning Dodge Raider. Don't buy a project! $3000 to $5000 range - Some decent examples can be found in this range with time and patience, but below $3,000 I would expect to find issue such as dents, rust, missing and broken parts, etc. $5000 to $8000 – Good solid options in this range, including some great family hand-me-downs that are undervalued for the market, but act quickly as good examples sell fast if underpriced. $8,000 to $12,000 – Really nice, near-perfect examples can be found in this range. If I were looking for a Raider, I would assume the price I eventually pay would likely fall into this range. $12,000 to $15,000 – The best examples will be found in this range, but once prices rise to this level, you have other options, including the 1997-2006 Jeep Wrangler TJ. Jeeps are more plentiful and have tremendous aftermarket support, so you might not want to pay this much for a Dodge Raider unless you just can't live without one. 23:20 - CLOSEThat wraps up this final Little Weirdo's 4x4 Edition episode on the rugged Dodge Raider - another outstanding, small 4x4 SUV from the 80s and 90s that's provides jeep-like off-road capability with a relatively cheap price. The Raider, along with the Geo Tracker, the Daihatsu Rocky and the Suzuki Samurai are the type of small, boxy 4x4 that manufacturers no...
Jordan Henderson says his goodbyes to Liverpool with his move to Saudi Arabia imminent, Manchester United close in on singing Atalanta's Rasmus Hojlund, Shebahn Aherne reflects on Ireland getting knocked out of the Women's World Cup and her sister's (Ruesha Littlejohn) disappointment and Darren Bent reveals his Guinness World record! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Steve's new band The Bagmen have dropped two new songs on Apple Music. We find out about an Aussie punk band that decided to make their mark by breaking a Guinness World's Record. Rock n roll restraining orders leads to why that Musk-Zuck fight will never happen.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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, Founder of Rubber Cheese.Download the Rubber Cheese 2022 Visitor Attraction Website Report - the first digital benchmark statistics for the attractions sector.If 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/podcast.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 in this podcastCompetition ends July 31st 2023. The winner will be contacted via Twitter. Show references: Playbook page: https://navigate.agency/blog/attraction-marketing-visitor-growth-playbook/Homepage: https://navigate.agency/Work: https://navigate.agency/work/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/navigate-agency/Ant's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonyrawlins/Anthony Rawlins | CEO Navigate Agency - founded Navigate to help tourism businesses enhance their digital marketing and attract wider audiences locally and internationally. For over 20 years, he has worked across all travel and tourism industry segments for leading global brands worldwide.At Navigate, Anthony ensures the company is at the leading edge of industry insights and trends and drives innovation and business strategy to continue delivering best-in-class growth for their clients. Transcriptions: Kelly Molson: Welcome to Skip The Queue, a podcast for people working in or working with visitor attractions. In today's episode I speak with Ant Rawlins, CEO of Navigate Agency - the marketing agency for the tourism and conservation sectors.We discuss how to position your attraction as essential, the number 1 thing all attraction marketers need to focus on this year and, a podcast exclusive. Ant shares an exciting new initiative with us, listen out for Wildling.If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue. Kelly Molson: Ant it is so nice to have you on the podcast today. I have to say, I'm so delighted that you're on because you are genuinely one of my favourite speakers to listen to. So I'm thrilled that you're on today, and I know this is gonna be a really exciting conversation. Ant Rawlins: No pressure then. Kelly Molson: Absolutely not. I always like to start with a little bit of pressure on. And that takes us very nicely to our icebreaker questions. So when you were 6, what did you want to be when you grew up? Ant Rawlins: When I was 6, it was probably pretty cliche. An archaeologist or a fighter pilot. I probably say a fighter pilot more. Kelly Molson: Is this Top Gun? Ant Rawlins: It is tTop Gun. And I'm pretty sure top gun was released when I was 6, and my brother then went into the REF. So I kinda wanted to be my brother and a fire pilot. But, you know, there you go.Kelly Molson: He got there first, basically. Ant Rawlins: He did. He did. Kelly Molson: Actually, archaeology, so that's really interesting because it does kind of fit with some of the that you've done, doesn't it? In a holistic kind of way. We'll talk about that a little bit more later. Okay. If you could be in the Guinness World of Records, what record breaking feet would you attempt? Ant Rawlins: That's really mean. I have no idea what that would be. I don't think that I'm gonna be in the Guinness book record. I've never allowed myself to entertain that. Kelly Molson: Do you have, like, a weird talent? Ant Rawlins: Not really that we can broadcast. So this is gonna sound really silly. It would be best dad. Kelly Molson: Oh. Ant Rawlins: I'm not necessarily convinced by that, but there you go. We'll see. Kelly Molson: Tough critics around, I'm gonna say. Okay. Interesting. Thank you. And if you could have 1 extra hour of free time every day, what would you use it for? Ant Rawlins: Reading. It would be reading because I really do not enjoy reading at all. I can't stand it. So I would force myself to do that. Kelly Molson: That was unexpected. I thought you were gonna tell me that you're a bit of a bookworm, but you do consume knowledge. I know that you consume knowledge because you're incredibly knowledgeable, especially at the top that we talk about today. How do you consume it? Are you more of a podcast? Do you want more audio? Ant Rawlins: Very much audio. Again, I don't enjoy reading, but I read a lot. I just find it really challenging medium through which to get information. It's very one dimensional. Whereas, actually, if you can show me documentary, I'll get a lot more info from that, but that's a huge debate. Right? So. Kelly Molson: Yeah. That's really interesting. So it's a really good answer to the question, and it would be my answer as well because I don't get time to read. Reading for me is a way of going off into a different world. Whether that's reading something historical or reading something fictional, it just takes me away to a different place for a while, and I've kinda lost that. My time has been sucked up with toddler, so I've kind of lost that a little bit. So that would be a nice time to go on in a bit.Ant Rawlins: Do you know honestly, as I said, I don't like reading, and I absolutely never read fiction. It's always non fiction. It's always work, it's always research papers or documents or business books or how to be a CEO and not throw yourself off a bridge, that kind of stuff. I rather than a lovely story. I mean, I hit previously, but Wilbur Smith and Barry, stuff like that, but I'd start at the time. So that's what I would do with my hour, Kelly. Kelly Molson: Good answer. Good answer. Thank you for sharing. Right, unpopular opinion, what have you prepared for us? Ant Rawlins: Email, either test email as well. This is not going to be a negative as it sounds. We're getting it out of the way now. We will be super positive going forward but I hate email. And I was thinking about this, obviously, running a strategic digital marketing agency. That's professional suicide saying you hate email to a certain degree. But I do hate it because it's a terrible thing. It delivers great results. But imagine your email be a letter box. And through this letter box, you get information from the government, information from healthcare providers, tax information, essential business correspondence. But also, those t shirts that you don't want, these pair of shoes. I've inherited a lot of different pots of money from foreign countries where I just need to provide my account details. And they will release 10 percent of the £45,000,000 to me. Your email, as the collater of all of this, how do you escape today? Crazy. We need a better system. Kelly Molson: You're right. You are right. I don't think this is gong to be a massively unpopular opinion. If I'm honest. I think you've hit the nail on the head there. I actually know an agency owner. Sorry, he's an agency founder and now runs an agency kind of collective support network. He just doesn't use email at all anymore. He's posted it down it. Just not it just doesn't communicate by it. He'd rather use WhatsApp or Slack or those kind of channels for it. And I think it's so hard, isn't it? Because it's like a necessary evil. Yeah. But the time that it saps away from you is just. Ant Rawlins: I know. And there's loads of productivity hats. You can activate around it, but, you know, goodness me. It's best not to do that. Yeah. And and I do apologise for being pretty tame. But, I had about a 1000 things for you, and I wasn't allowed to say any of them. One of them has my wife. Yeah. You can't say that. You can't say that. So there we go. Kelly Molson: We'll discussed those ones off air. Ant Rawlins: Definitely. Kelly Molson: Okay. Right. Founder of Navigate, Tourism And Conservation Marketing Agency, fabulous agency. Lots of wonderful things that you do for your clients. What brought you to the world of attractions, tourism, and conservation? How did you end up here? Ant Rawlins: So I studied biology at Bristol. And fairly quickly, during my degree, I realised there was no way in the planet I wanted to be a biologist. Because fundamentally, my life would be spent staring down a microscope looking at, I don't know, either sperm or stool samples, which is where a lot of biology originates or comes to at the end. So I kind of thought, “Yeah. I'm not gonna do that with my time”. So I kind of I've always been interested in in, generally, in science, I've got quite a strong science background at all my levels of science than, obviously, a science degree of Bristol. The master's in science at Bristol as well. But I kind of thought I wanted to do something on my own and and see how I could do. Ant Rawlins: And I just decided to set up a business straight out of university. I'll add a disclaimer here because I often get labeled with this being a very brave decision. It wasn't a brave decision. It was purely a logical decision. I had no money. So I have nothing to lose. Sucks. So you just go for it. What's the worst that could happen to me? Add a little bit more debt to the burgeoning student debt I had anyway. So, yeah, set up the company and off you go. It started in a different iteration. But, fortunately, as I've learned more about business and people, I've been able to direct that to the things that matter to me. And here we are now, tourism and conservation. Kelly Molson: The things that matter. It's really interesting that you set up. I didn't realise that you'd set up so early on in your career, actually. And I just come from a conversation about a very similar topic. We set up our agency when we were about 24. I've worked in various different places prior to that. I never really found anywhere that I settled. But it's exactly the same thing. There was no risk then. It was “Okay. Well, I need to earn enough money to pay my phone, put some petrol in my car, pay my monthly rent”. That's it. It's not a brave decision. It's like, I don't have any there's just nothing to lose here, so I may as well just give it a go. It's a really empowering place to because now if I was thinking about doing it again. There's a lot more risk. A lot more overhead. Ant Rawlins: It's terrifying. It's terrifying now. Those are the brave people. The ones that have responsibilities and financial commitments and go, “Do you know what? I've known this way of life for this amount of time. I'm gonna stop that. I'm gonna give it a go”. I predicted I would not have the courage to do that 10 years down the line. So I thought, “Oh, I'm just gonna do it now”. Kelly Molson: I love that. Well, I'm glad that you did because it's brought you to where we are today. And I wanna talk a little bit about where we are today. So just from the attractions perspective, it's been a bit of a weird year, hasn't it? 2023, I think. The last few years, a bit weird. Let's face it. They have kind of, a massive whammy throughout the pandemic. Can be open one minute, can't be open the next minute, restrictions, all kinds of stuff going on. And then come through all of that and are smashed in the face with economic chaos, cost of living crisis, war in Ukraine, not really understanding whether visitors are gonna be able to afford to come to them this year. Kelly Molson: And so it feels a little bit like everyone's been steering headlights and going, “We just we really don't know what to do. We're absolutely exhausted from the last 2 years. We don't know what to do”, and we know that visits are about 80 or 90 percent of pre pandemic levels. What's your take on where we're at the moment of where things are going? Ant Rawlins: I think your analysis is spot on. That is where we are. It's challenging times. We are finding organisations are taking longer to make decisions because they're cautious naturally. I'm also finding that there's a bit of a reticence to invest in kind of marketing and revenue generation. From the point of view of almost thinking, “Well, it's not gonna be great this year. So let us not spend budget on not having a great year”. It's quite upside down thinking, in my opinion. But that is what's happening. And I know this because I I speak with clients very openly and honestly. We work with quite a few businesses that we feel the responsibility to turn their fortunes around. The the organisations I love working more than anything or where they've got a big problem, a seriously big problem. Ant Rawlins: So a number of our clients last year or the year before might have had to make redundancies. Serious stuff, reduction in headcount, reduction in visitor numbers as we know it's been happening. And they just wanna get back to the levels they were or even just ride the ship so we get involved and we help them do that. And I'm proud feel a very profound sense of pride when we do that. And we do it. We're serious about doing that, and I love it. Kelly Molson: You do it really well as well. So, some of your attraction plants are really bucking this trend, and that's kind of what we're gonna focus on today along with something very exciting, which is coming later. But I wanna kinda talk about strategies and methodologies that attractions can implement right now to increase their marketing success. I think this is what they want to hear about. But can you kinda set the scene for us? So what are some of your clients achieving in terms of visitor numbers and revenue? Because you've got some really impressive stats around that. Ant Rawlins: Yeah. So I'd like to think that, our clients are kind of booking a trend looking at some of them are 10 to 15% above pre pandemic levels. Some of them are at pre pandemic levels. But then, again, some of them are below because we've just got them on board, and our job is to convert them and increase them back to where they were or beyond. And our aim is always, let's take them beyond where they were. So yeah, whenever I sit down with a client, I always look at what their targets are, then I set my own internal target of usually 10 to 15% above that. And say and Navigate, we craft the strategy to overdeliver so that, classic aim for the moon at least you'll land amongst the star strategy.Ant Rawlins: If we aim big, do a good work there, then it massively mitigates the risk that you're not gonna hit the target. But invariably, we go beyond it and it works. And what I do find fascinating at the moment is we're kind of feeling that because of the lack of impetus behind rolling out big marketing campaigns and investing in marketing because people are being very conservative with budgets. That does mean the people that we're working for, they're flying. So they're growing well because, actually, if people are holding back and we're going all in, then they're not constantly getting the visitor numbers and of revenue. It's just, stats, isn't it? It's just gonna be the case. We make more noise people see our clients more, they visit them more. Kelly Molson: That sounds really simple. When you say it and budgeted for. Ant Rawlins: I know. I know. Kelly Molson: The listeners that listen to this podcast are at all different sizes. So attractions of all sizes. And Some of them may be at those lower levels right now and starting to be, slightly concerned about what summer may bring or may not bring. What would be your advice to attraction marketers that is kind of struggling to focus on what the priority should be right now? Ant Rawlins: Yeah. That's a good question. So this isn't rocket science at all. It's quite straightforward. The very first thing attraction marketers could should do is ultimately just deliver really good digital advertising. It's the most straight line method for visitors. It really is. When I say digital marketing, yeah it's digital advertising activity. That needs to be good. It should be the best. It is the creme de la creme marketing activities that can be done with immediate impact. That's completely measurable and transparent for me. It doesn't really make sense to invest budget anywhere else. Even projects that I work on independently at Navigate my own initiatives or innovations as, we might talk about it later, we would only do digital on that. Why would we ever think of anything else? There's just simply no requirement, and we can't track it. We can't measure it. We can't optimise. Ant Rawlins: So the very first thing any attraction should do is what are they doing on digital and just do that more and do it better. And yet, despite the pandemic, believe or not, I still speak to some attractions that direct 80% of their marketing budget towards traditional marketing print leaflet, bus shelters, this and the other. Kelly Molson: Wow. Ant Rawlins: And I just I can't rationalise it in my head. I don't understand. It does not compute. Kelly Molson: That's a huge percentage. That's really surprising. I mean, I can understand some of their budget going towards it, but, you know, 20%, not 80%. Ant Rawlins: Yeah. And so when you were talking about, the growth in visitor numbers that we're delivering for a lot of clients, it's because we charge into executing a digital advertising and marketing strategy immediately and it has immediate effects. Literally month long. It's so, yeah, that's what I would do. And it doesn't matter what size you are. Because I would say if you're above 50,000, then you can implement what I'm talking about to the scale that it's required. If you are a 100,000, then 100,000 business plan and then it's viable. Anything above that, you have got the visitor numbers and the marketing investment and resource to deliver a highly effective activity that will give you the visitor numbers you want. Kelly Molson: There's something else that you've been talking about quite a lot recently, which I am a big fan of. I've quoted elements of this blog piece in numerous talks and numerous pieces online. It's about positioning and attraction as essential. Ant Rawlins: Right. Yeah. Kelly Molson: You spoke about it brilliantly at the ALVA heads of marketing meeting back prior to December. And it was perfectly timed because at that point, attraction marketeers, we knew we're looking at maybe a 15 to 20% cut in their budgets this year because of the cost of living crisis and having to look at kind of smarter ways to use their budget and smarter ways to talk about why their attraction is somewhere that people should, people need to visit, not just want to visit. Can you talk us through a couple of those pointers from that blog piece because I just think it's so invaluable to our listeners to hear about this. Ant Rawlins: Sure. So yeah, this came about actually and credit where credit's due, Richard Huntington, who's a strategy director -- Sachi and Sachi, the first put this forward when I was presenting at an event with him. And we spoke about this, and he suggested that attractions need to position themselves as essential. So all I did was, write on his coattails and say, “Alright. Well, this is how attractions do position themselves as essential”. So we come up with a various ways of saying, “This is how you should communicate in order to position yourself as essential”. And if you permit me to rewind for a moment, the reason we need to position an attraction as essential is because when reviewing the likely economic impact of the cost of living crisis on visitors, individuals, pockets. Ant Rawlins: They're ultimately gonna be putting everything apart from essential activities. This was the theory 6 months ago when we were talking about this. And, to a certain degree, we have seen this. So that's why we need to be essential because it's almost the only ring fence budget in a consumer's pocket where they go, “Okay, that's essential. I'm not giving that up.” How does an attraction do this? How does it position itself as essential? And there's a number of different ways of doing it. As you've said, you can look at the blog that we created for it. And it's really interesting. Ant Rawlins: I think one of the nice ways of maybe picking one good strategy of this apart is making memories. Because our friend Bernard Donoghue at ALVA regularly highlights that attractions are so important because they are these places that create memories. They create moments with people. And I absolutely agree with Bernard, of course. But what I think converts a memory to something essential is time. As a grandparent, it's not about you as a grandparent, not being there forever. It's about as a grandparent, those kids aren't gonna be little kids forever. They're gonna be, horrible moody grumpy smelly teenagers before you know it. Apologies to any teenagers listening to me. I'm sure you are not all like that. I certainly wasn't when I was a teenager. You've gotta just look at it a slightly different way. Ant Rawlins: And it's essential, therefore, for the grandparent to spend time with that little four year old, because she's not gonna be four next year. She's not gonna be 4 in a few years' time. Don't worry about where you are. So, surely, a day out and a memory with a grandkid at the age of four. That's such a different experience at a kid age seven because I've got both, which is so different again from a kid age nine because I've got one of them too. And, it's kinda like memories are memories at different times as well. And at this timing that you're happy, you know, you really need to try and leverage that. And if you can do that, then, yeah, it's essential, isn't it? You wanna spend time with them young.Kelly Molson: That's the one that really hit home for me, actually. So I have a young daughter, she's just coming up for 2. My parents, we've had her a lot later in life. Her grandparents are a little bit older, so they're 71 this year. And they feel this. So they feel that they have got a set amount of time to make and form those memories with that little girl. They're already planning. She's not even 2 yet. They've already said to me, “By the time she's 5, we're going to Disney. This is what's happening, we're going here. We're gonna make this big memory because we need to do that”. My dad needs to do that before he's 80. So I can't do it any later than that. Kelly Molson: So, they've got this time limit on these things. The other thing that really struck me about that blog was how you position what things cost. So there was an element in there about making comparisons between everyday things and what you'd actually spend on an attraction. So I made a comparison between paying I think it was something like £7 to park all day. This absolutely incredible attraction has the most fantastic kids play area and family area to make all of these wonderful memories. Take your kids' bike there, teach them to ride. 7 quid is 2 flat whites. Save yourself 2 flat whites a week, and you can go and do this amazing thing. And I thought that was a really strong message to push out for attractions. Ant Rawlins: Yeah. I think that we've gotta get across a value message. Again, as everybody's talking about this, I think that the marketing speak that you'll hear me say, it's not new stuff for anybody I imagine that listens to this because everybody that listens to this is good at, it is good at marketing. They've got a sense of the understanding of the principles and the concept here. So showing demonstrating value for an attraction visit is essential, and a lot of attractions. Not all, by the way, but a lot of attractions do deliver fantastic value. And so you really need to kinda leverage that because, yeah, we spend a lot more money on a lot less stuff than memories than these moments and these shared experiences. Kelly Molson: We do. And we need we need a good reminder of where our money's being spent and where it's important. Ant Rawlins: Yeah. And, again, I think there was a really good output around this. It's like, buy memory is not stuff kind of thing. It was really good. Yeah. Kelly Molson: Okay. Number one thing that all attraction marketers need to focus on for 2023. Ant Rawlins: Yes. So I've been thinking about how to kind of, distill this into one thing for you. And I believe it is to generate revenue digitally. Three words. Bear with me on this whilst I unpick it a little bit. We gotta generate revenue digitally. Now that actually covers a lot of different things. First of all, it covers digital marketing. Investing in digital to drive visitors, donations, memberships, whatever you want. That will help you generate revenue digitally. But more than that, your online shop and ecommerce growing revenue from that, which many people became pretty good at during the pandemic. That's generating revenue digitally. You can sell digital products. Many membership programs from organisations, might be a magazine which will probably immediately go into the recycling. What about digital product, so you can develop these digital products that will be essential. Ant Rawlins: That is, again, generating revenue digitally. Coupled with this, generating revenue is also kinda growing profits. Because you can actually deliver a lot of your functions now with technology in a really good way. We know how stretched attractions marketing departments are, how much work attractions marketers actually do on a daily basis, creating content here, coming up with a strategy there, firefight in this, solving that problem over there. It's crazy. When I look at the volume of work that attractions marketers do, it is massive. That there aren't any coasters in this industry that'll be working really hard. And they need to use technology to make their jobs easier or not even make their jobs easier so they can elevate the work they do rather than scrambling around doing a little bit here or a little bit there. Ant Rawlins: We should be using ChatGPT to create attractions marketing content continually for our attraction. We should be using really good email automation to solve that. And there's so much good tech out there that this will save you money and, again, grow profits, which is generating revenue for you. Finally, as part of all of this, all these bits because they're all digital, and it's all tech. They should all connect. You should be able to track. You should be able to look at this digital ecosystem you created and understand how it into links and then how you can optimise that conversion. And, again, some of the bigger conversations we're having with, the some leading kind of attractions in the UK are very much about. “Right, we've got this area that's doing this digitally. We've got this digital activity pulling this in here. We've got an opportunity to increase efficiency by implementing some tech here. How does this all work together?” Ant Rawlins: And and that's exciting. That's what we should do. And that is probably very daunting for smaller attractions, and that doesn't matter. It's daunting. Yeah. And you have to face it head on because it is only going in that direction. I guarantee it. And you will not be here in 5 or 10 years if you do not do this. It's that simple. It's inevitable to quote Agent Smith. Kelly Molson: However, however scary it might seem. It's okay because Navigate just launched something that is actually gonna help the attraction marketers perfectly with this, which is your attraction marketing playbook. Ant Rawlins: I was not expecting your segue way there. And the thing that's quite interesting about that, I wasn't expecting it. So I thought you're gonna disagree with me, which I was getting well excited about. Okay. Let's do it out em up, Kelly. Kelly Molson: Let's do this. No, I absolutely agree with this. I think you've nailed that advice there, but I think what you said about it being a really daunting task. I think it can actually be daunting for larger attractions as well, actually, because let's face it, marketing teams are small. Regardless of the size of agencies, they are really small, and they wear lots of hats, and they juggle a lot of different things. Ant Rawlins: Yeah. They're small and also the industry well, not the industry. Our society doesn't have the digital skills and capabilities that are required to capitalise on the technology we currently have. They're they're not available. We've not trained these people yet. And those people that do have those skills are incredibly short supplied comparatively. I was at the app to travel marketing conference last week and there's this company that specialises in travel recruitment called Gail Kenny. And I've kind of known him a bit there. They're good, and they gave a really decent analysis of this digital skills gap. And I just say, yeah. There's a huge issue. Anybody in digital marketing, digital advertising, CRO, CRM. All of these skills are just in desperate need across the industry. We just don't have the candidates. Ant Rawlins: We don't have people doing this because they're all taken. So it's a skills issue as well, which makes it really daunting because there are other people with that knowledge. But you're right. That's I suppose that's why we kind of created the Visitor Attraction Growth playbook in that, it's a decent sized document, you know, 50 or 60 page is that really just breaks down the kind of 5 or 6 core activities you should be looking at to grow your visitors and revenue this year. And, yeah, we've literally just said all the things we think you need to do. Kelly Molson: It's a lovely playbook, actually. And it's a really good thing just kinda take you away for an hour or so. Just kinda work your way through, work on it, put your plan together, but then come back and revisit as well. We're gonna put a link to this in show notes. So anyone listening, don't worry. You don't need to go and find it. Literally, just go to the show notes, and you'll be able to download it for there. Because, actually, it's free to download for anyone for a period of time, isn't it? Which is lovely. Very generous. Ant Rawlins: Oh, well, it is very generous. I had a battle with my marketing manager about this. And he's like, “No, Ant. We're not even gonna email gate. And I'm like, “What do you mean we're not even gonna email gate?” “Well, no. We're not. We're just we're not on a website. Click download done. I might well, hi, mate, your call.” So there we go. Kelly Molson: Lovely, lovely good people, you. Ant Rawlins: Don't thank me. Thanks Olly, the Head of marketing. It's him. It's not me. Kelly Molson: Thanks, Olly. You are a lovely person, actually. Ant Rawlins: He is. It's very easy. Kelly Molson: But talking about lovelyness, let's talk a little bit about Navigate as an agency because you have got a really good ethos in the way that you grow your agency, the way that you hire, the way that you just the way that you run your organisation. And that kinda comes through really beautifully in the fact that you've recently gained B Corp status. Ant Rawlins: Yeah. Kelly Molson: Just give us a little bit of a snippet of what B Corp means for our listeners that aren't aware of what this is. Ant Rawlins: B Corp is ultimately a movement of businesses that have kind of agreed that the nature of doing business needs to better. And, therefore, we assign certain standards on ourselves in doing that business. So, for example, we have to have specific environmental policies. We have to show improvement in that. We have to have certain culture. We have to have a certain mentality towards our team and treat our team in a certain way. It's governance, it's environmental impact, it's social impact, and it's rigorous. It takes 2 years to become a B Corp. And we literally got it a few weeks ago. And, yeah, it's great to be one. I mean, if you look at some of the, I wouldn't say, coolest, but I think they're cool. Ant Rawlins: Because that's what I think cool is being successful and being good for me. That's cool. So if you look at them serious brands, people like Patagonia and what have you. The kind of, the darlings of a good business, invariably, you'll find that a lot of them are B corps or on that journey. And I I'm very proud of of being a B corp, and at the same time, it's not an external thing for me. I think quite a few people use it as a “Oh, we're the B corp, so buy something from us”. That I mean, that's a bit ridiculous in my opinion. I think that it's about saying, “Well, listen. Going forwards, business needs to do better. It needs to better. It needs to hold itself the highest standards”. Ant Rawlins: There are multiple ways businesses can be profitable and make money. And all I'm saying is on top of that, you need to apply being good with it. And I think it's one of the fundamental requirements we have to impose on ourselves because we won't have a planet in about 200 years time if we don't. I mean, we will have a planet. We just probably won't be very happy on it, and it won't be very happy. Kelly Molson: I know this is, I mean, you've talked about it from a business perspective, but I know that this is a bit of a passion area as well, especially around kind of sustainability and being outdoors in nature. And, actually, I mean, I'll put this on the in the show notes, but Ant sent me, he emailed me a picture. He emailed it to me. So he doesn't hate email, really. He emailed me this wonderful picture of himself this week out on a walk whilst listening to the podcast. Ant Rawlins: Don't share that.Kelly Molson: It was such a great photo. Okay. I might share this photo. I'll put it Twitter. It was a fabulous photo where it's outside in nature. But, look, this is you. Like, you are what you talk about. It's you personified. Everything that you love is all around nature and being outside and being connected to the environment and being sustainable, and that really does across in the way that you run Navigate, also the personal projects that you have. Now you mentioned earlier that you have your own kind of innovative projects on the go. You've got something quite exciting to talk to us about today, which is a podcast exclusive, people. He's not talked about this anywhere, and Ant talks a lot. He really does. This is a new thing. He's not discussed this with anyone. So I wanna hear about it. Ant Rawlins: Well, I have discussed it with a few people. It's not been broadcast, Kelly. Just actually, some of the people listening to this podcast, I know who they are, and I know them. And you know them, and we know them. And, actually, they're gonna be like, “Wait a minute. He spoke to me about that.” So I've got the caveat. Some people know. Okay. But, no, it's not been announced on the industry yet. It's not been broadcast. We've not launched it yet. Yeah, it's exciting. As you can tell, it already started increasing the speed of my conversation. So, yeah, do you what did you want to just dive in? Kelly Molson: I wanted to dive in because I say that I didn't know about this prior to this conversation, and I'm really excited about it. This is something that I am gonna use. And I'll tell you what, I'm gonna use it daily. So I'm really excited about it. I need you to share it with the podcast. Ant Rawlins: Alright. You're so kind. Okay. So, yeah, we've created what we think is quite a disruptive business for the industry. And when I say disruptive, well, yeah, in a really, really positive way. I consider it a conservation technology business is how I see in my head is what it is. And in its simplest form, it's a mobile app. What we've done with our app Wildling is we've created an app that collates all of the UK's great nature places in one format, in one place. And we geolocated that information so that you, Kelly, can go to this app on a Saturday morning when it's a lovely day or not a lovely day, whatever because nature's ready, whatever the weather. You can go to the app. You go, “What am I gonna do today?”Ant Rawlins: And you can look at it and it'll geolocate all the nature places that you can go and visit near you. It gives you the facility's information, the visitor information that you'd need, the opening times, gives you directions, and then there's more. So in the first instance, It's a free to download app. We want everybody in the UK using this. We want it downloaded everywhere. We've got a pretty mega network of people are already gonna broadcast this when we launch. I think that the total email they size is about fifty million people so far. I'm gonna get emailed this by our part. Place. Yeah. It's a bit mad. Kelly Molson: But email's okay, folks. Not rubbish. Ant Rawlins: Yeah. It's a bit mad. Oh, and, also, I came up with this idea with Tim Smith. So Tim, who created Eden Project, it won't be here without him. You know, me and him have talked about this for 2 years. We've been working on it together. We've been speaking about it 2 years, and he's guided me a lot on where we can go with this. So, yeah, he's a legend, and he's my kind of my industry hero, really. But Yeah. So myself and team just thought it is. It's collectivising nature. It's all these great nature places you can go. And it's solving a problem that I had, Kelly. Ant Rawlins: 6 years ago, I moved to Dartmouth from Bristol, and I wanted to find out all these great places near me. And I had to go to about 20 different websites, and the information then was, a bit rubbish on some of them. Some of the mad images, some of them didn't, some of other visitor information. I couldn't tell. So this way, I've got my app. Wherever I am in the country, I can find nature reserves from the RSPB, English Heritage, National Trust, Forestry, England, all these great nature organisations with nature places and 20 seconds more. Our aim here is to put £1,000,000,000 into nature over the next 15 to 20 years. £1,000,000,000 into protecting native nature in this country. Ant Rawlins: And the way we're gonna do this is the way that it should be done because people won't care. They won't protect what they have an experience. That's Adam Brewer's line, and it's true. So we want to get them into nature. And when they're there, because they've used our app to get there. We're gonna be able to actually communicate with them given the information of that specific place that they are. But also suggest they might want to donate to help protect that place. And we can do it when they're actually in the environment or just shortly after they return. It's not, a random email on a Wednesday evening when you've not been to a forest for 3 weeks. Ant Rawlins: It's when you're there, when you're having that time, we're gonna be able to prompt you to tap to love nature and then send those funds out to the fantastic nature organisations that we'd be having this country to help them continue their good work. So, yeah, £1,000,000,000 15 to 20 years. That's what we wanna do. Kelly Molson: It's such a good idea. That's a good idea. I love it. I'm genuinely buzzing about this. So this is all of the lovely things that I like to do. And I think like, you kind of you know what's on your doorstep. But you don't know enough of what's on your doorstep. We are really lucky. We live just outside Cambridge. We've got 3 or 4 National Trust places around us that we spend a lot of time. But, also, we spend a lot of time there. Right? You're looking for new things, and you don't always know the first place to go. You might kinda know some of the bigger things that are around. We've got Bedford Forest 45 minutes that way and, I don't know, Brooksbourne Woods another 40 minutes that way. But what really is here? Kelly Molson: What can I do to support these brilliant things and keep them moving and keep them conserving the natural environments that were that are around us. It would be something that I genuinely would use. And I can't believe no one's done it. It's one of those ideas that you go, “Does this not exist? Wow.”Ant Rawlins: There's a reason nobody's done it. It's because it's been a pain in the ass, if I'm honest.Kelly Molson: A labour of love?Ant Rawlins: Getting all the content, getting it all done. There's a reason it's not been done, and it's because it's a hell of a lot of leg work. But, you know, yeah, there's just so many beneficiaries of this that I'm really happy about, first of all, and everyday people thinking, “What can I do today, Joe?” “Alright. We'll go there. Get outside”. We know it's better for them. We know we know it makes us healthy. We know it gives us perspective. We know that, what's going on in various different parts of the world doesn't need to affect our day right now today. Ant Rawlins: We know we can go away and escape from it all, and it's not always Netflix and bills and this and the other, there's more to the world than it gives us perspective everyday people. But the challenge people have is always it just seems really difficult for them. When I speak with one of the organisations that we do through Wildling, it's really the interesting the number of people that will go on a day out to nature, go to a Forestry England place or a National Trust location or somewhere like that, park up in a car park, and then sometimes just stay in the car park. Or have their picnic, like, 10 meters from their car. The distance people go from the from the point that they actually get into these nature places is very small. Whereas me, I park in and just zoom out. I'm like, right, how far come from this car park point can I get and go and explore? But there's a fear it doesn't feel easy. It feels unnatural. This is what how ironic that being in nature feels unnatural to us. And so our app needs to do one thing. It just needs to make nature easy for people, and that's what it's doing. Yeah, as well, of course, protecting it because we'll want people to donate afterwards. Kelly Molson: I see. Ant Rawlins: But, yeah, in the final point I'll make on it, Kelly, because you know talks. I know you've got me on this one. I'm sorry. I think it's also gonna be pretty big for domestic tourism in general because you're right. On your doorstep, you can find out what it is. But do you know what, Kelly? Maybe you've always wanted to visit Norwich. Maybe you've always wanted to visit there, and you like --Kelly Molson: One of my favourite places. Ant Rawlins: There you go. Yeah. I'll get an Airbnb, and then I'll use it. I cannot find all these great places around me. The fact is wherever you are in the country. You're gonna find these places are with the volume of places we have on here, you're never gonna be more than a few miles away from a really great nature place that you can go and visit. So, again, it's free. It's for everybody. Final point, I was speaking with Josh Croft, who's their CEO of UK Inbound the other week, and Josh is a great guy. And he said from an inbound tourism point of view, he thinks it's gonna be really big as well. He thinks that people coming into the UK using this app to it explore our natural environments, it would be fantastic. Ant Rawlins: And one of our clients actually does bring about two million people into the UK per annum. And we know from the analysis and research that we've done that some of the primary reasons, particularly when entering the northern part of the UK, is for nature. And a lot of them, heading then they head up to Scotland and around Yorkshire. But, one of the draws which I was a little bit surprised about. One of the draws of Europe near European visitors into the UK is nature and natural environments and wildlife. So, yeah, it's great for inbound tourism as well. As domestic tourism, not to mention it's making us all healthier. Kelly Molson: That's really interesting, isn't it? Like, having everything in one place, I hadn't thought about how useful that would be to tourists to the UK. They haven't got to slightly like you were doing, spending hours on 20 different websites trying to find all the different things around you. They literally go to one app, and it's all there. It's genius.Ant Rawlins: We're not we're not stopping in the UK, Kelly. I'll tell you that. Kelly Molson: I mean, I know this was coming.Ant Rawlins: Yeah. Yeah. We're not stopping it because I want to use this app for me when I don't really know much about France. So I wanna get over to France. I don't wanna be able to use my app to find all the fantastic nature places that I can go and, experience there. I'm in Germany, I'm in Spain, and so on and so forth. Kelly Molson: What I really love about this is it's a wonderful example of you're you know, it's the combination of the passions that you have and the skill set that you have in the agency as well. And it's just it's an absolutely perfect design or what you can do to support nature, but, you know, what you can also do to help the attractions from the tourism organisations that you work with as well. So it's just brilliant. How can we find out more about it? So it's not launched yet. How do we find out more about it? How can our listeners get involved? Ant Rawlins: Well, I'm pretty confident that when it's launched, any people are connected to Skip the Queue podcast will probably get a lovely email from Kelly. It's here to download. So that solves our audience here. Yeah. It will be ready soon. I mean, it'll just be available on the App Store. It's called Wildling, and we're gonna be there in a few weeks. Okay. Well. Kelly Molson: What we'll do, we'll put a link to as soon as it's launched, we'll put a link in the show notes again. And, yeah, look, listeners, you will definitely hear from me about this. I'll be all over social media with it. Maybe email because I don't mind a bit of email, but definitely Twitter. Maybe some LinkedIn. This is brilliant. So this might be an interesting question for you because we normally end the podcast by asking our guests to recommend a book, but you don't read that much. So do you have something that you would like to share with us? Whether it's a book, a podcast, an audio book, what would you like to share with that listeners? Ant Rawlins: Do you know what? I will recommend a book and to end and probably just, correct the blemish on my character, Kelly. I do read a lot, but I hate it. So that's the difference. And I'm happy I'm missing it. There you go. It's it feels slightly sadistic in the end, really, reading, but there you go. The book I would recommend is called The Almanack of Naval Ravikant, and I think it's amazing. It's pulling my favourite book. Kelly Molson: Reason why? Ant Rawlins: I mean, Naval Ravikant, a bit of a legend. I mean, he is incredibly successful, but his book is really succinct short advices. It's a collection and expansion of tweets that he've created over time. And he splits the book into 50, 50, 50 percent is kind of wealth creation and all that kind of stuff. And the other 50% is happiness. And it just expands these points, but it's just so digestible. Each little nugget is “Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. We should do that. I should do that.” So so I love it. Just I don't I do not need fifty pages to tell me something when five words will do. And so I love it for that reason. The Almanack of Naval Ravikant, I it's pretty good. Kelly Molson: This is a book absolutely for me. And has not been recommended on this podcast as well. We're building up such a great list of recommendations from our guests. That's a good one. Okay. I'm gonna put that on my list. Listeners, if you wanna win a copy of that book, you know what to do. Head over to our picture account, retweet this episode announcement with the words if I want answered, and you might be in with a chance of winning it. This has been such a great chat. Thank you. You've given such good advice to our listeners. We will put all of your contact details in the show notes. So if any of our listeners wanna get in touch and talk about some of the things we've discussed today. I know that you're always super help happy to talk to people. Kelly Molson: We've put the marketing playbook download in the show notes too. So, honestly, go and get a copy of that. I'm sure that Olly's not gonna let you have it for free for much longer, so grab it while you can. Before you have to give him an email. Ant Rawlins: And if you don't mind, Kelly, I'll be invoicing point about always happy to speak to people, but particularly have to speak to people of in a bit of a fix. I'm more than happy with the half hour count saying to you guys, do you know what? We'd be doing this, this is where I would go by the you just if it helps.Kelly Molson: There you go. Look. They're such good guys. Look at them. Ant Rawlins: I've learned this from my business partner, Simon. He's the nicest guy. Simon Jones is the nicest guy. I'm not very nice compared to him, but he just super nice. Kelly Molson: Yes. He is very nice. Ant Rawlins: There's a lovely industry. You know, there's a lot of nice people, isn't there, which is great. Is why a lot of us here probably know each other. We've spoken to each other, and we like each other. Kelly Molson: It's a lovely place to be. As is as you Skip the Queue and now, you'll Skip the Queue of them tonight. So well, welcome to the even lovely, a little segment within it. So thank you. It's been lovely to chat. You're a superstar. 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.
Mike Bausch is Owner at Andolini's Worldwide Restaurant Group, a Guinness World record holder, and Author of Unsliced. Mike Bausch strives to keep giving back within the restaurant industry and has accomplished just that through his experience as a restauranteur, thought leadership, and more! Tune in to this week's episode to discover how to apply his experience as a restauranteur and eye for growth. On this episode, you'll learn from Mike about:The worst response you may receive from a guest/whyKnowing your ideal customerManaging SEO and the initial searchMore!Thanks, Mike!
In January, 2023, Erchana Murray-Bartlett set the Guinness World record for running the most consecutive marathons. She ran 150 marathons in 150 days and raised money for Australian wildlife along the way. Erchana started at Cape York, which is in the northern tip of Australia and ran along the coast all the way down to Melbourne.Connect with Erchana: Instagram Tip to Toe website Wilderness Society website Episode partners: Pre-order Shelby Stanger's new book, Will to Wild Stream Space Oddity on Amazon Instant Video, iTunes, Google Play, and Vudu
Ed Sugimoto is a 2nd-generation Japanese-American from the island of O'ahu. He is the owner and founder of VH07V, also known as Aloha Revolution which is a rotating collection of shirts, caps and sweaters for men and women. The VH07V logo which spells Aloha upside down, when worn is a subtle reminder to keep aloha in our hearts. Before starting his entrepreneurial journey, he worked at Spectrum as assistant online editor, online editor and wireless manager for 23 years. In 2011 at the Rice Fest, he set the Guinness World for the largest Spam Musubi at 286 pounds and broke his own record the following year at 628 pounds. He hold the world record for largest Loco Moco. In this episode we talk about starting Aloha Revolution, setting two Guinness World Records, being Asian in Hawai'i, supporting local, and so much more. Enjoy! Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/kamakadias Watch on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/Hawaiiverse Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hawaiiversepodcast/ Shop local on https://hawaiiverse.com/
Aloha Friends, it's Robert Stehlik. Welcome to the third season of the Blue Planet Show. I started this show a couple years ago in my home office, in the garage during the pandemic, just to get to know other wing foilers find out more what drives them, what inspires them. And as always, I like to find a little bit more about their background and just get to know them a little bit better and learn for my own benefit. And I'm stoked to be able to share it with all of you. I get people coming up to me all the time saying I'll watch your shows all the way to the end. So I'm one of the 5% that watches the whole thing. So stoked to hear that. And I know many of you are also listening to it as a podcast while you're driving to the beach or going foiling and getting stoked or just listening to it while you can't go in the water because it's too cold, or you're traveling or whatnot. Stoked. Always to hear that kind of stuff, super stoked. And today's guest is James Casey, who also has a great podcast. So if you haven't listened to that, it's all about downwind foiling. You should check it out. And he also has a coaching club that you can join to learn about downwind foiling. He's an amazing athlete. He holds the record for the most kilometers foiled in one day. And a great coach for any of you who want to get into downwind foiling. And he also invented the sport of winging upwind and then deflating and foiling downwind. Really cool stuff that he's doing and pioneering also designing and testing equipment and so on. Without further ado, here is James Casey. Okay, James Casey. Welcome to the Blue Planet Show. Yeah. Thanks so much for having me. I've watched a bunch of these shows and yeah, it's cool to be on here myself now. Yeah. And I've been listening to your shows while I'm driving and getting stoked and motivated to do more downwind foiling. So thanks for doing that. A lot of really good information on your show. And I want to get into that, like Doman foiling, your Casey crew or the coaching crew, and then also the Moloka race, and then your announcement about joining Code foils and all kinds of stuff. Your record 213 kilometer record on a foil all that kind of stuff. But before we get into all those things, let's talk a little bit about your background. Let's go into a little bit like where, where you were born, how you grew up, and how you got into water sports and all that kind of stuff. Yeah. So yeah, James Casey. I was born in Sydney, Australia, and it's basically the east coast. And my mom and dad both surfed as a kid. They took me out surfing and like a boogie boarding first and then surfing. And I think I got my, I remember vividly actually gave you my first surfboard when I was like, probably a bit of a late starter compared to people nowadays, but I was like 10 or 11. I got like this PCUs, four Finn, super nineties board, skinny nose, like super pointy, heaps of rocker. But that was my first board. This was just one of my dad's old boards that he didn't use anymore. Yeah, this is your board now. You can, you can take this here, this out. And yeah, pretty much surfed all through my teenage years. I competed in like board riders, so I was I won the juniors movale board riders season sort of competition. But then I got 18, 19, I started getting worn in my rugby union. So I was playing a lot of rugby. Played for the, I guess the local club, the Ringer Rats, and was, I played a couple games in first grade, but I was basically just too small to be to be, following that dream as a, as an athlete in rugby. I was also competing against basically , who's now the Wallabies captain, Michael Hooper. So like in people who watch rugby would know what I'm talking about. But yeah, I was playing rugby against him a lot, so rugby was always, I was always second field to him, but I just loved it. It was great camaraderie and that sort of stuff and, but I was still juggling my rugby and surfing and basically as a rugby player you're pretty big and bulky and so it's not the best for surfing. But I got into standup paddling in my sort of I guess it was, I don't know the exact date, but I was. Pretty young. I was probably like 14 or 15. We, we were in Hawaii and I sprained my ankle kite surfing. And wait, so when, how did you get into kite surfing? Yeah, I was thinking that when I said that. Gotta explain that, . So I got into kite surfing. I used to go to Maui a lot. Basically my dad was a wind surfer and basically every July we'd go over to Hawaii to f as a family holiday to windsurf. And I was learning to windsurf and then all of a sudden all these kite around and I'd just nailed for windsurfing, I'd nailed my like water starts. So on the small sort of wave riding board, I was water starting, I was just starting into wave riding. And then I cut my foot on the reef out at uppers at Kaha. . And so I was outta the water for a bit and when I was outta the water, my brother, younger brother and sister learned to kite surf and then I was all fired up. I wanna learn to kite surf, it looks easier and you're on a smaller board. And so basically going backwards, I guess windsurfing my dad, cause he windsurf, he took us out in the lake a lot. Just a local Naraine lake. And we'd learned to windsurf on a big, we used to call it the island. Just a massive, it was a starboard, I think a massive starboard and you can get three people on it. It was super stable for us kids as well. So we did that. Then, so then I learned on a smaller board, wave, wave sailing and never really nailed it. I one or two trips down to OA and then Hawaii was almost there and then I cut my foot outta the water for a week. Then went to kite surf and kite surfing was what we loved to do as a family. Like my brother, my dad, and myself would all go out kite surfing at home and then me when it was sick. But yeah, then I sprained my ankle. Kite surfing this one time. I guess it was, it must have not been July cause there was some waves. Must have been, winter. And there were heaps of good. It was good surf that year too. So I cut my foot so sprained my ankle kiting and I couldn't pop up on a surfboard like, like regular surfing because my, an basically res sprained my ankle. So we went to the local shop what's it called? High Tech in Maui. And we rented Hawaii Paddle Surf, like standup paddle board. Cause we'd seen lad do it, we were in hook keep and Lad was doing his helicopters and that looks pretty cool. Yeah, we went down the hike. So can you, do you guys sell these salmon paddle boards? Yeah, we got a couple. So we rented two of those and we're actually staying at like near Mama's Fish house. , and there's a few reefs out there and basically, When there's no wind. We managed to score some really good sessions out there on the standup paddle board, just like glassy and like four to six foot kind of thing. And I was on a standup paddle board on these outer reefs and it was like, oh, this is pretty legit. And on the standup paddle board was easier because you're paddling out to his outer east and instead you're comfortable. So I'm like, this is cool. So he went home and St. Paddling wasn't really a thing yet. Went home and the local shop, I came in Sydney WSS boards. Sam Parker had, didn't have any production boards, but he did have a custom one that he, a local builder had built him just basically a big longboard. And so we grabbed that off him for a week and just was roughing out on that. No ankle is now better now. So it was just like, it was just cuz we liked it. And basically we, when the stock came in, we bought one, but be between that we were I actually grabbed my dad's windsurf board and we'd never paddled, so we had a rake and we cut the prongs off the rake, the plastic rakes, and we were paddling around the local spot on this windsurf board, like a smaller windsurf board had the full sandpaper deck. So we got all, got smoked rashed up on the stomach. But yeah, that was, and then, basically once the production stuff was out in Australia, we were riding it, but I was never really competing. So like I did all this is all like, 13, 14 or whatever, what's that sort of age? And so I was paddling it, but I didn't know there was competitions and my brother worked in the local shop WSS boards. And there was, I went to one competition at Long ra and I wasn't really, it was fun, but it wasn't really something I was motivated to, to pursue. We did a race, actually the fir, my first s race was Movale to Collary, which is like eight Ks. and it was a nice little northeast Lee Breeze. My I'd never paddled a race board before my brother working at the shop had organized a board for my himself, my dad and me. And there was two 14 footers and 1 12 6 and somehow I got stitched up and was put on the 12 six. So we're doing the race and it's all like a little down window. We just cruising cause we don't know how to race. We're just paddling like we are surfing, looking for little bumps to catch. And all of a sudden this storm comes through and we're about halfway through the race, we're at the back cause we're this cruising and this hail it starts hailing on us. So we, the massive storm, the wind was northeast hailstorm comes through the winds now south. And so we're all lying on our boards paddling into the winds like prone style. And because I had a 12 six I could keep it pointed into the wind easier. I wasn't getting blown around as much. So I, I remember vividly beating my brother. And he was all off it because he is oh, it was because you were the shorter board. It was easier for you to, paddle into the window. Mate, a shorter board should go slower. So it was, the competitive spirit was always there, but I didn't touch another race board for a very long time. So that was that was interesting. That was a not the best start to to the whole racing stuff. It wasn't until my now brother-in-law Grant Hardiman got into ums racing that I really got into thes racing stuff. But in the meantime, I was stop surfing heaps. So I still stop surfed a lot when the waves were small back home, I'd stop surf heaps, wasn't really competing, but just loved it. On the small days and you can then, you can just pedal out. The same as in, in Maui were ping out to these outer reefs and surfing waves by ourselves rather than sitting in the pack of 20 or 30 on a shortboard waiting for that one that came through. That's a muddled history, . Once I got into this, I actually got into the subs surfing, went down to an event in Marula it, so called the Maru Classic. Quite a famous event here in us here in Australia. Anyway, yeah had like guys like Rob Robby Nash come over in the history of it all. And, but I met two, two good friends now, JC Schara and Toby k Cracknell and Kai Bates as well, actually, and Sam Williams. And those sort of four people got me into the competitive side of s cause I didn't even know like the, a PPP world tour or the whatever it was called before that. I didn't know what it, I didn't know what it exist. I didn't know you could compete on a standup paddle board. I didn't know there were races. I just was just doing it for fun. Wasn't really in the scene. So they, I went over to Hawaii, did the sunset event trials, got into the main event and basically from there Tristan was like, oh, you've qualified for the whole tour now if you wanna come to Brazil and France. And I was like, oh, this is pretty cool. So I rallied. And, you I'd just finished uni at this time, so I was like, okay, I've got a bit of time. I haven't really locked myself into a job yet. So I just did that for, two, three years competing on the, the sup surf and race circuit doing, Molokai to Oahu and a bunch of races in did a few races in Europe, did a few surf events in Morocco and Hawaii and France, and went to the wave pool in Abu Dhabi. And yeah, it was a pretty cool, time and then Brun, I was doing that until Covid hit and then now Covid hit up. We basically, it's all, it all stopped all the racings on the stop stuff. And yeah. So here's I wanted to share this video. This was oh, sorry. Definitely. This was when I first met you that this was like at the mall. Mochi race. And you had a yeah, it was you and Marcus. Yeah. Marcus harder with Yeah. Talking about the dugout. I was just curious about it and interviewed you and that. So this was in 2016, was it the first time you did the mobile Kai race? This is the second time I did it. Yeah. This is the second time I, yeah and it was my third season competing, like racing over in Hawaii, but I didn't get in the first year to to do Molokai. Cause I hadn't done enough races, basically. And that. And you were one of the first guys to use the dugout in the Molokai race, I think too. Or, and you did really well with it, right? So everybody started being curious about the dugout boards. Yeah, so dugout boards were, pretty common on 14 foot boards. But for for the unlimited boards, Not many people were using them. So yeah, it's probably good to talk about this. I was writing for JP and basically JP had said, oh, we don't make unlimited boards. You can get, one made from s i c, you can get one made wherever you want. And basically the year before I used a s I see. And Marcus had spoken to Matt Knowledge and said, oh, I think I can make something faster than your s i c what do you think? And he was like, yeah, Matt was keen. And then I got caught winded oh, if you are getting one, Matt, he was my like, sparring partner. I was like, I want one too. So we both, paid Marcus to design a board for us. And deep sort of made the boards and yeah, these are the first, unlimited dugouts that that we'd used. and basically it certainly caused a bit of a stir in Hawaii when people saw him. It was like the world's biggest bathtub when they filled up. But Yeah, it was, they were super quick and, this relationship with Marcus, stems all the way through, like within us and Simon son over the following year. And and then I, won Moloka in 2019 on a board that Marcus and I actually built like in, in his backyard. And and that was the last, that was the last time the race was held. So you're the defending champion, theoretically. . Yeah. Look, four years, , I only have to race once. Yeah. So yeah, no, it's it was a little project that for sure. Yeah. So I just wanted to share that. That's a classic older video. Yeah. Awesome. Yeah. That's the main, yeah. Marcus is now all clean cut too. He is. Got his hash and he is shaved and he wouldn't recognize him. . Yeah. And just so I'm in the background, so are you staying at his place right now or? Yes. I'm just, I'm over here in wa I was just cause we've just we're working together now with fun code foil, so it's been set started there that year deep that's, and then sent over and now with code foils and so it's pretty cool. But yeah, I marks my good mates and yeah, I'm over here in wa I was just doing a foil camp up in Exmouth and so I've flowed back down. get back to your history though. Okay. So then you started doing the kind of the racing and also computing as a subs, surfer subs, surfery competition. . Yeah. Yeah. my, my best result in the subs surfing stuff was the second place at Sunset. I lost a ca vaz , but it was basically I got the, it was a good year for me. Like the surf was good, my ball was good. And that was, yeah, second place and that was, I was pretty stoked. And that year I won the overall race and surf sup champion, there wasn't an official world champion sort of thing, but it was like a thing they're trying to award, overall athletes, not just thes athletes, not just the races race athletes, but the overall. So I think that was 20 must have been like 2016 kind of time where I won that sort of thing. And that's probably the biggest, sup sort of world champion sort of thing I've done in that. But yeah, I did all that until until Covid hit really, I was doing all the s sub surf events and a lot of the supp race events and then foiling came out. It stalled the momentum, with the sup stuff because foiling the reason I got into the sup racing was because I I'm a surfer first, so I've always, I've, I still surf short boards longboards foils now, obviously and standups. But surfing was where it all started. And when I got into sap, competing in standup was all about s surfing and downwind racing, because to me, downwind racing was like longboarding out to sea and you're just trimming the whole time. So it's kinda like the longboard sort of style. . And then when the foils came out and you were, I started down winding them pretty early. I was like, this is like short boarding out to sea. I'm not long boarding anymore. I'm like, we are surfing now. And so that to me was like a real light bulb moment. And a lot of people are like, oh, you don'ts race anymore. And I'm like, oh, I still do the local events. Like I, I was at the Aussie champs last year and still do a bunch of the local events. But yeah the foiling is and the downwind foiling especially is mind blowing honestly. It's it's pretty crazy. And I guess my foil history I started, I actually met Alex Aue when I was over in Maui for a ppp race event. And I was introduced him through the Spencers. So Jeffrey and Finn were testing ups to go for stuff Me. Oh Jimmy, you gotta meet Alex, you're gonna love this foiling stuff. And so I was actually staying with Vinny and Vinny Martinez and j Jake Jensen. And we were all in a house together. Cause we're doing a race and because I was introduced to Alex basically, but Vinny and I were both slopping boards and so we only had one foil set up. Cause Alex lent us a board and a foil, like one of the original cars. And we were out at Kaha lowers trying out then a bunch of other spots between there and who keep and just if one of us was on the fall, the other one would be on like a bigger surf up just filming each other with a GoPro. And we were just trying to get the shot of us flying above the water. And that was the, and as soon as we left there, we were like, man, I said to Alex, I gotta buy one, like when can I buy one? And he's, okay. That must have been like a sep September sort of time of year. It's 2016 and then maybe it was 2017 but around that time and I ordered probably the first go fall to ever arrive in Australia, It arrived in like November just before the event, the ISA event in Fiji. And I remember going over there, I was over there to race the distance race on the standup, but I brought this foil with me and on the, when we were all surfing cloud break and whatnot in between the events and I was towing behind the boat. on the drive out on my gofoil set up. And people are losing their shit. Oh, everyone's having a go. And that was the start of, the foil brain and the downwind stuff. And yeah, it's been a cool, it's been a whirlwind four years, since then, or I guess five years, six years since then. But yeah then I was, and I heard like the first time you tried to do a downwind foil downwind, was it with the ca foil? Yeah, so it would've been just after I got from Fiji, I went over to Western Australia and there's a race called King of the Cut and all those, so it's really good downwind run cause the, you get these sea breeze and it's like super consistent. And basically one day we went out with my square JP board and the gofoil and must have been, the board must have been like seven two by 26, but a square not like the boards nowadays had this kind of pointy tails and stuff. Pointy noses, not long and skinny and . We went out the Mandra run and we paddled, A friend of mine, Matt and I we were swapping boards, so one of us on the foil set up, one of us was on a race board stuff. And basically we did the run I think is about 10 kilometers, 10 or 11 Ks. We did half the run and we swapped out and I got up twice, which looking back, I'm actually pretty stoked, could get up. I got up twice for about a total of like maybe 50, 60 meters up on Foil . And I was like, man, this is hard. Cause we'd seen Kyle Leni do it on his, longer board. Oh, he must just need a longer board longer skinnier board at that time. And cuz Kai was on a sorn off race board, it's 12 foot kind of thing. It's funny how in the foiling world everything just comes back, right? So like and then, cause now we're going back to that, but this was in 20, it must have been 2016 or 17. . But anyway, it doesn't really. And then I said to Alex, I think I need a bigger foil. So he sent me over the original malico the blue one that isn't curved down. It's like a flatter one. It was actually ahead of its time because it was it was higher aspect, than the macOS were. And like when I got that one, I got home and I did a downwind run from maybe I was, anyway I started downwind once I got that foil and once I had that bigger foil, I was getting up pretty much straight away because of my my, my sort of s racing and downwind knowledge. I could read the bumps well enough and was powerful enough to get up and foil and once up, I think I was just chasing bumps and it was, yeah, it was sick, but I had the, yeah that one definitely humbling moment where we got five Ks and 50 meters of foiling, , so yeah. Yeah, . But even for you, it wasn't easy to get started, but yeah, no way. No way. But the right equipment makes a big difference for sure. Yeah even just the slightly bigger foil was the biggest, the difference for me. I think I was still on the same board more or less. I can't remember my first successful downwind run actually because I definitely had gone to Maui again and I did a downwind run with Finn and Jeffrey on a prone board. We went from Kua to Sugar Cove and we were paddling into waves and then falling around. And then Alex had this 10 foot, it was like a square board. It was a like just a, he called it the aircraft carrier. It was super long and he'd just put a little bit more rocker in it. Yeah, super light. And I paddled that thing up easy and once I was up I was like, I was good to go thing. Cause the downwind knowledge I had from racing standups just translated straight across. But I remember that first run of that big board and it was like, oh, this is pretty cool. , this is pretty epic. Boiling down wind is, As I said before, short boarding and like surfing down the coast rather than, trimming on the longer, unlimited or 14 foot stops. Six. Wait, did you say you were prone foiling on a 10 foot board? Is that what it was? Nah, so I was, I was, I'll stand up, I'll stand up paddling on that one. Yeah, that was the aircraft carrier. It was like nine or 10 foot. long, long, but it was like square. It literally it was like this shape. Yeah. The early kma boards were like that too, right? That's at the time everyone thought that's how you get it as short as possible by just cutting off the nose and tail and like its square . Yeah. Yeah. It was interesting that one Alex made actually and, and it was it was like looking back at it if he just refined that shape. It was long and it it wasn't super skinny. It was probably like 25 or 26 wide, but it was like eight foot and just it was square for stability while going. Narrow for speed and long for speed. Looking back, like there's a lot of things that led us to, the latest design that, Dave has famously invented, the Barracuda style boards. Yeah. And then you're still a team writer for Sunova, right? So when did that relationship start with Sunova? So just that video you shared before was the year after? So it was it was just as when I got my Go Foil I started on JP boards, so that was November. And then the following year, January, February, I signed with Sunova. And the first thing I did was like, okay, we need to get on, we need to make foil boards because foiling is where it's gonna be. And so I went over to Thailand and we tested a bunch of staff and we drew up with Bert Berger. He was over there and Marcus was back here. So we didn't, but Bert and I drew up our first sort of, Foil board range, and it was long, they basically weren't thick enough. So I, my first s foil board that I did with them was seven two by 24 and a half, which like is a pretty good dimensions looking back like how it's aged. But it was super thin. Yeah. So it was only like, it was only like 80 liters or something. And for me it was fine. But I remember going, starting on that and then Marcus took over designing the FOIL awards cause he was head starter foiling too. And it made sense cause he understood it. And so we basically the rails on Bert's board were like super pointy like this. Yeah. And then Marcus just made him thicker and had the, added the chime in and that extra volume allowed us to go shorter. And a bit narrower. Yeah. And a bit narrower too with the same sort of volume. But yeah, I guess our the Sunova relationship was, has been, is epic. , we're still designing a bunch of boards. We've got a bunch of prototypes coming. And yeah, there's, because I persuaded them to build these foil boards, I said, ah, and then I built like a, created the Casey brand. They're like, okay we'll put the Casey logo on it. And, it's your job to curate the design with Marcus and make sure you write the design specs and the, the website, outline, explain to people what it is. So yeah, that relation relationship with Suno has been really good. And obviously like racing, they were helping me fly around the world and travel and and the stop surfing stuff. And yeah, it's been a very healthy relationship with the boys in Thailand. The over. . Yeah. And then for, regarding the foil, so I guess you were writing for Gold Foil and then at some point you tried a whole bunch of different foils and you ended up writing for access. So how did that ha all happen and what was yeah. Sorry. I was writing for Gofo for five years so Gofo for five years and basically, started with the Kai and then the MACO came out and then the EVA and the maico 200 and all that sort of stuff came out. And then the GLS came out, which was like mind blowing cuz they were these higher aspect things. Then the P 180 and basically I've all the way up to the RS and the GT wings. I was a part of the team and it was just, yeah, it was, I was just craving a bit more input in the design process because go for guys are just like fully Maui based and they've got a pretty good test team in Maui. They've got Dave and they've got. Jeremy Rigs and they got, Alex himself is great at testing too, so they didn't really need me. And unless I was there, and when I was there, I was heavily involved in the testing stuff. And remember vividly testing shimming the tail wing. We were out, off or out of Kalu Harbor in Alex's boat. And Connor and I were both testing some Damon wings for the, there was an oli, the Oli race was coming up. And so we were testing like how to shim, like basically we're tuning our foils to get 'em as fast as we could for the race. And unfortunately that year the wind was blowing like straight on shore, so it was just a course race. But the race we did was they dropped us out outside basically between uppers and lowers at Kaha. And we raced all the way back into shore. And I remember that, was that where there was a huge surf too coming in or was that huge surf? Yeah. Yeah. And a few guys, I think I got up last. , but I think Austin climber fell off in the surf This got maxed out. You got a bomb coming through and it was a, that was a pretty cool race that was just like full, like figuring it out, yeah, and it was a bit murky water coming through. I hit something coming in through at the end, but it was sick. It was a cool race. But yeah, so we I'd worked a lot with Alex and Alex was literally I've got a house over in Maui and my family is a house over in Maui and he's actually, we actually share a boundary with Alex. We're not direct next door neighbors, but like over the back fence, like Alex is our neighbor, so it's oh, cool. There's a pretty cool relationship. When I was in Maui, like last time I was in Maui Alex had literally picked me up and we'd go, okay, we're gonna go test this thing, James. Come on, let's go. And yeah, it was super cool to be doing that. But the problem was when I wasn't in Maui, I couldn't test anything and I was only really in Maui, maybe one or. once or twice a year, and only really for maybe a total of three weeks. So I just, I was craving more input in the design and pushing the envelope to race the wings. But also I guess with my coaching stuff I wanted to be able to, have input to help people learn to. So yeah, about 18 months ago, I, announced I was leaving Gofoil and tried a bunch of different foils. was trying lift stuff, I was trying uni foil stuff access Armstrong. What else did I try? I felt like there was some cloud nine stuff too. And basically I, and I spoke to 'em all and basically the access guys were really keen to work on a range of foils with me. And basically in the last 18 months with access, I reckon I prototyped. probably 50 sets of gear, wow. It was kinda like, be careful what you wish for , because then my job was like, one of the things they sent out six different towel wings. They didn't tell me what they did, but they said, go out and try them and tell me what you feel. And basically little examples like that. And, so we tried a bunch of different stuff and it was an awesome relationship with Evan and Adrian. And I was on the phone to Adrian after every session. And that was exactly what I craved, like with Gofo, I did the same thing, but I only spoke to Alex every now and then. Cause I only got prototypes every, once or twice a year. Whereas with access, I was getting like every month they were sending out a box of gear and saying, test this stuff for us, test that for us. And it was epic. And if fast forward to now, I guess I'm, I've just announced that I'm working with basically a few mates of mine, Marcus, Ben, and Dan. And. basically creating our own brand, which is super exciting. Working with Code Falls and look, if this hadn't come up, I'd definitely still be working with Access because there was, there's basically, there's no bad blood with access. Like we're there we're still mates. Adrian's actually coming up. I'm just gonna miss him in Perth, but he's coming over and I've left a bunch of gear for him cause, given some of the gear back and yeah, they want me to come over. Adrian wants to come over to New Zealand and do a downwind foil clinic and yeah, but they were cool, especially like going know when I told them about when I told them about joining code about a month ago, they were obviously a bit upset, but they were super cool and they're like, they were stoked for me that we, that I was creating my own thing. So they weren't they weren't angry at me, and the beauty is we're still mates I guess. So it's it's cool. But as I said, like the relationship with Code Falls was really good. So it's, I'm sorry. Talk a little bit about that. So code photos, like who's behind it and what's the business plan and so on. Yeah, so basically Marcus and Ben basically ha they're brothers. They, their Batard brothers and they've been designing their own or basically in the sunova range. Marcus has been doing all the foil and stuff boards for a while and Ben Tark has been doing the same for one and basically for them to be working together. It's pretty cool cuz they've got some seriously good design brains and yeah, they just, they asked me did I wanna be a part of this company they're building and yeah, I was like, yeah, let's do it. Because I've worked with Marcus for, I guess five or six years now and I've known Ben for a bit longer and Basically the plan is to, just create foils for, for sorry, the dog's just done a fart. the plan is stinks, stubby . The plan is to create foils that that we want to use, you know and that I can teach with too. Cause my coaching business is super important thing too. So at the moment we've just had one, we've had two prototypes. Basically we've got a sort of surf wing and think it's around eight 50 square centimeters. And we've just had a prototype race wing that literally, I've only tried it twice, two or three times now, and it's been. Really positive. Like the whole philosophy I guess behind it is we want our stuff to be stiff and solid and the mast and the connection to the base plate, to the mast, it's all one. But like the connection point is overbuilt, but it feels so nice and stiff. And then likewise the master to the fuse. The fuse is thick and so that's, I'm seeing if I have one actually I've got a mask just here. I can show that. Yeah. Why don't you show us? Is it all one, you said it. The fuselage and front wing and tail wing are all one piece. No. So the don't think I've got a, a tail wing or No, there's none around to you. They must markers, must took it . But yeah. Yeah. Show the mask. So yeah, you can see like the, see how that's pretty chunky down the bottom here. But we just find it adds extra stiffness. And even the base plate's pretty, pretty chunky too. Uhhuh . And then the connection to the. , this is a thicker it's just like probably 30% thicker than the, like most other brands. , just, this just allows more Fuse to get onto. So that makes the fuse a bit chunkier. Yeah. What we found straight away was that it was just super stiff, even though like our first prototype, but everything was just so well connected. So yeah. The base plate things that I was talking about and then the fuse connection was just super solid. And that to us was a really important thing coming out with a brand now and like after seeing a bunch of brands, work on certain things, then realizing their mask is a bit stiff, isn't stiff enough. And having the connections to the front fall or the rear fall a bit, basically don't want any flex. So having that able to see what other fall brands have done, we've learned from that and basically created a pretty. Pretty what I'm loving, especially in the surf, the eight 50, it's super well connected and a lot of people, so is it, is the fuselage like aluminum like the access foils or is it more like the lift flows where it's like a front piece together with the Yeah, it's yeah, more like the lift and uni foil sort of stuff. How it's just like the front one goes on and then the fuse bolts on. Like a lot of people are comparing it to the cab, how it's on the angle, so Oh, you kind, yeah. So it's it's a super snug connection. , I can't, there was one just on the couch there, but Marcus just took off with it. No worries. Show on the shop . But yeah, we're super So you, so are you actually a partner in the business or a team writer and r and d? Or like how does that work? Yeah. More of a partner not just team riders, which is why it's like an exciting. Sort of project. So there's, we're building a brand up from nothing, so it's, yeah, four. then, so Marcus is, designer Sonova. Ben was a designer of one, no, is the designer of one. And then Dan, he's actually a, he lives three doors down and he's an architects builder, but he's really good at basically drawing everything up and making it all, so the designs, he puts it into software that makes the, it can blend everything so super clean and, slick looking connections. And he's actually, he's been working the hardest of late trying to get all the files ready to build. It's been a, it's been a, it's been a busy month, that's for sure. Yeah. And that's why you're in Perth right now? I was actually over here to do a foil camp up in Exmouth, and I extended two days before and two days after, just so I could catch up with the team and. and, talk about a lot of things and get some footage and just work on all things code as, as well as do a bit of work up the coast here. Just, it was good timing, it wasn't planned, it was just good timing. Cool. Yeah, like when we look at Australia on a Globe or something, it looks like a small little island, but to fly from Sydney to Perth is like a six hour flight or something, like three time zones, or what is it, three or four time zones? Yeah. Yes. It's, I think it's a four and a half, five hour flight, depending on the winds. And yeah, it's a, it's three hours difference. Yeah. So back home when I chat to my wife, she's, at home now it's nine o'clock here and it's midday in, in Sydney. So yeah, it's a big country. It's a big country, that's for sure. Yeah. I haven't been over and during Covid we actually couldn't fly to Perth Bec because. Everything was locked down, so it was, yeah, it's it was almost like a new country over here in Western Australia for a while. Yeah. Everything, everything went yeah. Starting new for company, with like access, they have so many different foils and design, like shapes, like different, so many different wings you can choose from and stuff like that. So starting a new company, I guess one of the hard things is the tooling costs are pretty expensive. Every time you make a new wing you have to make a mold for it and all that. Yeah. And then if it doesn't work, you have to like toss that mold and make another one or whatever yeah, exactly. Yep. It's not easy. Yeah, it's not easy at all. Yeah. The plan for the Rangers at the moment is we've got our surf wing all round, surf wing and downwind wing, which is the eight 50. So I've been surfing and down winding it , and it's been unreal in terms of size, it's. , I feel like the area's not that good a guide. Cause we all know the one 20 probably surfs a bit bigger than what, or down winds a bit bigger than what the area is. . But it's, it, this eight 50 feels somewhere between the one 20 and the one 70. Probably like a one 30 or one 40 sort of size. If you were to compare in the lift range in the access range, it feels like an 8 99, so that's the kind of size that the one we have now. And we've got plans to build one bigger and one smaller , at the very least. And we're probably gonna go at least two bigger. So probably have five or six foils within that range. And then we're gonna do an, a race range, which we are busily working on now to get ready for mochi because it may only be March, but it takes time to build molds and test stuff. And so we've got our first one here and we've it, it's great, but there's things we can improve upon it. So we're back to the drawing board and try to make it, better. And then we're gonna do like a more of a, lower aspect sort of style foil for basically bay runs, small, slow surf and just a sl a foil that goes slower so you can so especially for me when I'm teaching, I want, I wanna fall that I can teach with that isn't going so fast that it's like scaring people, and it doesn't have to be a really big foil to go slow. You can make us foil that is still like compact, that goes slow. So we they're the kind of the three rangers that we're working on. But really we're just focusing on getting everything released and the launch date, I guess for shops to, to have these code falls in shops for the eight 50 and I guess, and that's first surf range is or the all round range is the 1st of June. So that's what we're working towards, which doesn't seem that far away. For us, but for everyone else, we're like, oh, June, that's like March, April, may, June. It's three months. But I think Robert, you probably know it, it takes more than just, the stuff is good now. We're just getting stuff, ordering like our, the manufacturing and logistics and stuff. Yeah, just three months is not a long time. Not at all. So three, four months. Yeah, we're pushing hard, but it's and obviously we're hoping to have to release the bigger and smaller wings in that range. But it probably won't be till after June. So the first one will be the eight 50 that sort of slightly bigger than the lift one 20 sort of size 8 99 axis sort of size. And then the rest will come after that. But yeah, baby steps because it all, the need a cost a bit, but it takes a lot of time too. So it's, yeah, it's been a. Spend a bit of a journey already. Just I'm only one, officially one week in . Cool. And then what about boards? Are you con gonna continue with Sonova making, like the Casey labeled boards or that, or are you gonna make code foil boards also, or? No, at this stage we're gonna, like Ben still works for One Ocean Sports and Marcus and I still work for Sunova. So it just, it makes sense for us to stick with them, for the, yeah. For the time being because it's we've got great relationships with Ben's got a great relationship with Jacko at one and Mark and I have a great relationship with, Tino and Dylan at Sunova. We don't wanna, we don't wanna break that relationship and Sure we've got good products and we're super happy with how it's all working. As is and the foils, are they made at the Sunova factory or where are they made? The fos are made in China. Yeah. So they're, that we've different factory, the Sunova. Don't really do carbon fiber. I guess they're more of the bolser and polonia skins, which for a foil doesn't really work. . Yeah. It's a, it is a very specialized manufacturing process and yeah. Definitely not simple. You have to have Yeah. Get everything right. Especially like to make the mass stiff and torsional and all that, all that kind of different kind of things to consider. But anyway, yeah. Cool. Congratulations. That's pretty exciting. Yeah. Super exciting. It's been, and let's talk about the Moloka race. Since 2019 we haven't had it. And then this year it's gonna be on July 30th, I think. And I got to see the list of people for the for the foil race. And it's a pretty, pretty impressive list. A lot of people are entered. Yeah, including you and Kailan and a bunch of other really top top writers are doing the foil race, so I almost feel like that's gonna be like the main event, almost like the down one foiling, yeah. But yeah, talk a little bit about that. Yeah. Obviously 20 Montana wanna 'em a stand up and uh, basically that was my goal. That was when I first started stop Racing, my goal was to win Malachi to Oahu when I was stoked to be able to do that. And I dedicated to my dad who's now passed away. And that was a really emotional, experience to be doing that. But I feel like to me, like a lot of people are like, oh, you gotta do it again. Go back to back on the s And to me, I feel like it's almost not that chapter's done, but it's like I've achieved what I wanted to achieve on the standup. Not only that, since I started racing mochi on a sap, like the first year I did that, there were 15 to 20 big names. And probably of those we five people could have won it. The previous year, the year I won, there were probably only like probably five or six people that were like really racing it com like super competitively with a win. And of that sort of five or six, there was probably only two or three or four that were real serious contenders. So it, what I've seen is the s downwind supp racing has declined a bit, or a lot. Yeah, for sure. Like all the guys that were downwind, downwind, standup paddling are now supp foiling or just, prone or they're downwind foiling now. So to me the sport that I was interested in has shifted to foiling, so for me, the foil stuff, it was even in 2019, I was foiling like a lot. And for Malachi, I put my, gave myself a bit of a foil band and Marcus was foiling and training for the foiling and He was like, come on, Jimmy, come on the phone. I'm like, nah man, I just gotta, I just gotta tick this off. I gotta win this race on the standup and I just wanna, I wanna get that done. And yeah, I'm stoked I did that because then it wasn't on for 20 20, 20 21, 20 22, and it's just come back in 2023. I could have been I could have been, still wanting to win it on a standup and, not having it mean for a while. They were talking about maybe doing the the foil event on a Saturday and then the paddle and prone event on the Sunday. If they would do that, would you do try to do both or would you just Only on foiling? Oh, I'd focus on foiling, but like the factors on the day before, I'd do both because I'm over there, so I, and I still have all my gear over there. It's all ready to go. The only thing is the extra cost. The moloka to a race is not a cheap event, and an escort boat is super expensive. And hard to find. That's one of the biggest challenges I think like this year especially. Cuz during the pandemic, a lot of the escort boats got out of the business or they, sold their boats or got into fishing or doing other things and then, yeah. So it's actually gonna be really hard to find escort boats for all the competitors I think. Big time. Yeah, absolutely. So yeah that, I'm lucky enough, I've got the same boat captain and Andrew he actually hit me up. He goes, I got a few people asking you doing mochi cuz people are hitting me up to do their escorting on it. Your first, you won it last year so last time we did it. So you are, you're my first guy and he is like, and he goes, and I hope you're foiling . Cause obviously for a boat it's quicker on a foil. Yeah. You need a fast boat to it, . Yeah, exactly. So yeah. Yeah. I signed up to do it on a wing foil this year, so I'm excited to, to be wing foiling. Yes. It's so cool that they did a wing event too. I assume. The wings should win. Like the wings should be the quickest really. But it'd be interesting to see how they go on the final bit. That up win leg could be pretty, there'd be a bit of tacking going on, and if there's no win, yeah. Going into the finish is gonna be tricky. But for you to, for you guys too, going into the wind with a Yeah, it's the same. Yeah, it's, yeah. And the foil board's gonna be super cheeky yeah. But yeah, last year we had that blue water race where jack hole came in like third overall I think the first two finishers were wing foyers and then he came in third, so he beat a lot of wing foyers on the standup foil board, yeah, pretty fast. Cuz you can go straight down wind versus on a wing, you have to angle more, a little bit angle off. Yeah. Yeah that's a big question. Can you go quick enough over further distance to, to beat the sub guys? We're going more direct I guess, but Yeah, I think you said you did the king of the cut with where there was wingers and standup foyers, a king of the cut race or something. Yeah. I haven't done it when there's wingers because it wasn't on last year and the year before. In 2019, winging wasn't a thing, wasn't a, what, people weren't racing. So the last time I did King of the Cup was 2019 and then Covid hit, so we couldn't get over here. And then when everything opened up last year, end of 2022, the King of the Cup wasn't on anymore. Basically all the volunteers, but they couldn't get enough volunteers together. But have you competed in any doman races that have both wingers and standup foil? I don't think I have actually. Yeah. I don't think I have. Yeah. I haven't competed again or rice against. It'll be interesting to see. Yeah. Who's faster . Yeah. You would think, definitely like with the Wing, you do have an unfair advantage and you can probably use a smaller, faster foil, yeah. But yeah, I think it, I think there's Yeah. A lot of, yeah. Yeah. A lot of animals that go into, I've had the Marcus about this, and he did the race when speaking of the cup when there were wingers and foyers and the wingers smoked them, not only because they were from the start, they were up and going. But smaller foils, they're using small foils. They're using big wings, like big sails and yeah. They're just, , they're moving. Yeah. The wings were quicker, even though they were having to go a little bit further distance. They were faster by, by fair bit, actually, five, 10 minutes I think it was. Okay. That's good to know. Yeah. Cool. So yeah, I think that's gonna be super exciting. We're gonna try to interview some more people that are in that race and yeah, it should be fun to be part of it, the first time they're doing wing foiling too, yeah. So actually, have you done much wing foiling or just more focused on down winding and surf foiling? Yeah, more focused on down winning and surf oiling. But I, I've done the, I guess the stuff the wing that I do is mainly around wave riding. So I'm, and not even heirs. So I'm, I do a few, hes, but I'm not a trickster. Like I don't, I'm I'm not as interested in the big jumps and the flips as I am, like the calves and, the re-entries and the cutbacks and that sort of stuff. So to me winging, winging is like poor man's towing, it's like toe falling cuz you can to toe yourself into the wave and then you just drop it in the back end and you're just surfing like you would anyway. So it's And then talk a little bit about I know you've done like upwind on the wing and then deflate and then just go down one with the wing under your arm or something like that. Or put on your back. Yeah. The wings is, talk a little bit about that. It's such an epic tool for that. So in Sydney especially, we get a lot of days where the wind is in winter we get offshore breezes, so it's like howling like 30 knots offshore. And we can go into sort of harbors or bays or river entrances and we can like big river entrance and we can what we do is we wing up wind, like five ks up wind, which is like almost 10 Ks cuz you have to z and zag up wind. You attacking. And then I'll I, in what a lot of guys were doing was they were going on onto the shore, deflating their wing on a beach, rolling it up, putting the backpack, and then paddling up. And I was like, why are we doing this? Why don't we just deflate it on the water? So I started deflating on the water wrapping up trail on the backpack. It was a bit wet, bit soggy, but it was still doable. . And then I was like why am I sitting down and doing, why don't I just deflate it whilst en foil? So I deflate it whilst en foil and then hold it under your arm until you stop. And then you've got your paddle on your back knee. You pull that out once you're ready. But yeah, and then I was chatting with mate and I'm like cuz it's this run we do it's in a river and basically there's a national park so you can't drive. It's hard. It's like a bit of a, it's like a two or three K hike to get to the beach that you'd start at. . So instead of going there, we actually just start at the finish point and we wing up wind and then we do our pack down, however you wanna do it. And then we'd go like most of the way back to the finish. But you can go, there's two options you need to pull in to this little bay where the car is, where you can go around this headland and there's like, it's just a peninsula, so it's a sand spit and you can go around the other side so you get like an extra three or four kilometers. So I guess two, three miles of down winding and it's just it's like a kilometer. Upwind back to the beach. And so what I was doing was I was de like doing my deflate, like wing up wind deflate at the top of the run, and then I'd wing all the way down to the bottom of the run and I rigged up this soda stream bottle so I could use press a button and it reinflated the wing whilst I was up on fo. So instead of sitting down and pump, I was actually pumping up the wing. Prior to this, I was pumping up the wing of the water. Yeah. And I'd I sort do it that way. But yeah, the soda stream bottle is pretty sick. So you also don't have to carry that big pumper around, right? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly right. Yeah. But I heard someone say that the carbon dioxide is like not good for your bladder or something like that, that they used to do that with kites and it wasn't good for the bladder or something like that. Have you had any problems, like with your bladders or anything like that from the, I've only done it like three or four times. The soda, I use a soda stream bottle and I just rigged that up. So it's just a big, like a big CO2 canister. And yeah, I'm sure it's not great for it, but it was I still pump up on the water a lot of the time because to set up the Soda Stream bottles is a pretty specific thing, whereas I can just grab my pump and a dry bag and I'm good to go. , whereas the soda stream, gotta, you gotta attach it onto the boom and, have the hose. And it was just a cool it was an idea that Matt made of on Grant Perry and I worked on for a little while and yeah he, he's on a, he's on an E four, so he filmed it all. It was a pretty cool little clip. Yeah, it still has a lot of function, but yeah, the biggest thing that we noticed was when you did the co2 the wing itself got really cold. So the CO2 was a really super cold air. And it like sort frosted the now the outside of the. The canopy or the inflatable edge of the stratt. Yeah. The leading edge was like, freezing around the belt, probably especially, yeah. Yeah, exactly. So I'm not sure how good it is for the long term . I haven't tested it enough times to know, but I've done it four or five or three or four times and it was fine. Prob actually probably four or five times. It didn't it didn't blow anything up. We tested it on land first because we were worried about that. What's gonna happen here? But yeah, it was sweet. It was sweet. Nice. There's I'm sure there'll be like, there's, I feel like there's a bit of a, there's a bit of a potentially a cool market in that, like if you can cuz winging down wind is epic. Yeah. But it takes a bit of wing management. So like I find it easier to downwind with a paddle than I do with a wing. Cause once I have the wing and I'm like letting go of it and it's just, flagged out, it's behind me. , it's all in front of me, I've got, if I change directions, , there's a bit of technique to either, you either swap hands or you've gotta bring it behind you and drop it down behind you and try to, it's there's a bit of, there's a bit of admin to, to keep the wing out of the way and not yes. To be able to go the same lines. Cuz what I find is when I'm wing it, I'm gonna cut across the wind a lot more than I would when I downwind. Even if I've just got flagged out to go straight down wind, the wing wants to blindfold you, essentially. So that's where it came from. The whole deflate thing. I I love the downwind thing, but, and I winging up wind was the free shuttle, but the downwind part, I was like, man, this wing just doesn't get, doesn't get outta the way and back home I'm using a four or five meter wing most of the time when I'm down winding. It'd be easier with a two or a three obviously. it's even easier for you to stay Flighted. . Yeah. What I've been doing for if you're doing, if you're racing downwind, what you can do is just put the wing up over your head and have it almost level so that if you're going faster than the wind, straight down wind it's just of been neutral over your head, so that works pretty well too, but it's, yeah, but it's not really, your sounds get tired. Yeah. Your arms get tired, right? Yeah, not so much cuz you can't really stay in that po you can do that when you're on a good bump and you go really fast, straight down wind. But then once you of come off the bump and you catch the wind again, so you bring the wind, bring it back down, wind, wind back down and stuff like that. But yeah, that makes a lot of sense for like speed going down wind, because you're like, I was thinking too, like the electric pumps are getting pretty good, like battery powered electric pumps. I wonder if you could set up something like that, but then you have they probably can't get wet, so be hard to make that waterproof. So yeah, I've had so many people hit me up and say, oh, you should try this electric pump. And I'm like, yeah, but electric I'm in the water. Like it's going to get wet. If I fall off all of a sudden that's 30, 40 bucks down the drain and electricity and water is something I don't really wanna be too close to. Yeah. Yeahium battery and stuff. Yeah. Yeah. The other, I think even better options, you just get a decent pump. Like electric pumps are great, but like you get good pumps that, like hand pumps instead of the ones we stand on and get hand pumps. Yeah. And you can just pump it up. It doesn't take that long. And a lot of the time I'll just deflate the leading edge and leave the middle strut inflated. So it's just pumping up the leading edge. So it's not the end of the world. And water in a pump is a lot less. It's less worse, it's less bad than water in a electric pump . Yeah. And you can make 'em pretty small to the hand pumps maybe. Yeah. Actually it's cause you definitely don't want something that you have to push against your board or something like that cuz it's like everything's moving around. It's more almost like you want two handles that you can push together or something like that. Yeah. Accordion style pump. That'd be pretty serious. Yeah. Oh, there you go. . Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think, I just think it's all coming. It's all part of the evolution and I think I was probably people think it's a bit, hard to do or whatever, but I promise you any wingers out there who wanna learn a downwind like and downwind like we do on a sap or. it's way easy to learn to daylight your wing than it is to learn to paddle up . I guarantee you. Yeah. There's this guy, Paul, that he wants to do like channel crossings and stuff like that. And like one of the risks is that your paddle breaks, right? So he's thinking as a backup, he's gonna take a wing and a pump with him, so that just paddle breaks or you can't, the, you can, as long as there's wind you can, wing with it, so yeah. I think a better backup plan is the hand paddles. Have you guys seen those? Oh yeah. They just, you can, cause they're much smaller, like a wing and a pump gets pretty heavy. And that's gonna, that's gonna limit your ability to paddle up, which is probably gonna increase the chances of you breaking your paddle Cause the more you're paddling and the more weight you have to paddle. That's the biggest disadvantage of the deflate downwind. Is that once you wrap it all up and put it in a backpack, The extra weight of the wing, like it's probably maybe five or six kilos. So it's a lot of water weight too, if it's still wet, right? Yeah, it's a lot of water weight and so I've actually done some of my fastest ever like downwind runs when I've had the wing in my backpack because the extra weight, I can just go faster, but it's way harder to get up. Oh, that, that's an interesting point actually. And I wanted to talk about that as well. And cuz Dave Klo also says in the down windows, when he is going fast, he likes a little bit heavier board just for better, more momentum and stability and more. Yeah. And I found that too actually, that sometimes weight is a good thing and lot of people I talk to is no weight is never good. You just wanted the lightest gear possible, you and it totally depends, like in my experience that's not really true. But what, how do you feel about weight in the board and the foil and so on? Like you said, like wearing weight on your back actually helps with going faster. Yeah, no big time. So the only thing is so Dave, for example, if it's only 10 knots, Dave being heavier compared to me will have a harder time getting up than I will if we're on the exact same foil. If Dave gets up and then, so let's change it up. So let's say it's a really windy day and Dave and I are on the same foil, the same setup, exactly the same, but he's heavier. Once we're up on foil, he should be faster. Ju just based on, and this is not taking into account how you read a bump or how you do all that, and you're pumping ability or any of that. But just on the, if you were going in a straight line together then, and you're next to each other on the exact same bump, Dave should be able to go faster than I can in big conditions, but in smaller conditions on the same foil. If he's slightly under foil, I'm just right, then I'm gonna go quicker. So the weight is a big thing and it's a hard thing to plan for because look, you're not gonna, you're not know for mochi, Oahu, the start of the race is generally a lot lighter than it is at the, in the middle. . So if I'm to, if I'm to wait my board for the start of the race, I'm gonna have a harder time to paddle up. But if I can get up with that heavier board, it's gonna be better for me in the middle. . But the other thing with Malachi is you got the off wind at the end. So you, I think for a race like Malachi where there's lots of different conditions, there's definitely an advantage for the lighter guys and lighter equipment, but not in the middle of the channel, just for the beginning and end. Yeah. Because for the middle of the channel, a big guy can probably make up a lot of ground on the guys that are smaller, but they've gotta be able to get up early and then foil as far as they can, as close they can to the finish. So it's interesting, there's a few things going on fo I can't wait to get into this foil racing because I've done a bunch of downwind fall races here in Australia, but mainly against surf skis in ri canoes and a few mates who are learning. I have, the best race I've had has been over here in Western Australia against the all the WA crew and Marcus and then Z Westwood, but there was heaps of seaweed, so it was like, it was who could foil through the seaweed best and bit of a like, it it was like a obstacle course, but yeah, I'm looking forward to getting outta Hawaii and getting some. Some good rising and good conditions for sure. Should be fun. Yeah. Not too much seaweed in Hawaii, but yeah, sometimes I've noticed like just a little tiny thing that stuck on your foot makes a big difference in your speed, so huge. Yeah. Yeah, I was just thinking the way too, like I remember, back in the windsurf racing days, like slalom racing and stuff guys would wear like weighted jackets, like weighted life jackets so they can hold a bigger w sale basically, yeah. So that's another interesting thing, like yeah, where you wouldn't think that it doesn't really make sense, but when you're using he heavy equipment sometimes it's wow, this is nice, yeah. Anyway, but uh, you've seen the, to the to foil guys do it a bunch too lids on a big weighted heavy board putting lead, lead weights on their boards and stuff like that. Yeah. And that just means they can get away with a Basically going faster with the same foil, because I think especially in the toe falling and stuff, we're just in the, tip of the iceberg. There's a whole bunch of stuff that's gonna be like, basically I think toe oil is gonna be a lot smaller than what they are, so you shouldn't have to weight it up. You should just be able to use a smaller foil. But at the moment, the foils have too much lift, and we've gotta weight our gear up to make them work. So it's, I just think the fo they aren't enough. There aren't enough iterations of it yet. I think it's similar to also, it's similar kind of to having a longer fuselage. It's less pitch sensitive. So if you have a heavier board, it balances out that pitch sensitivity, yeah. True. Lightboard will just, Harder to control the pitch and the heavier board just has so much momentum that you don't have to make as many adjustments, it's like more comfortable ride in a way, absolutely. Absolutely. But there, I think there's something to it, I, I would say lighter is not always better. That's what some people think, but it's not true. Yeah. I don't, I feel like for what most of us are using, like in, in smaller waves the lighter stuff is epic. Cuz a light set up is gonna be really reactive. . But when you start to get too much power and too much speed and that's when you want the heavy stuff, that's when you wanna dull everything down. Yeah. It's like having a nicer suspension or something, like a smoother, smoother ride or something like that. I don't know. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. All right let's talk a little bit more about equipment, like the foils. What have you learned from riding all these different foils and and what, now you're developing the quote foils, like what, what kind of things are you trying to put together and what, I guess when you're down with foiling, you're always trying to create a foil that's easy to pump up on and then fast and easy to control at the maximum speed or, has a high top end speed. So how do you do that? What's, how do you achieve that compromise? Yeah, so I guess if we talk about the range, like we've got our, like the planned range for co, the planned range for code foils is a race wing, which is obviously gonna be super as high aspect as we can get it because we want to be going, be able to go really slow and really fast. with the one foil, like for a race like mochi, you start in pretty much, no bumps. It's like howling offshore, but it's, there's no fetch in the middle. So at the beginning you need that foil that can paddle up easily, and then in the middle you wanna fall. That can go fast cause you're out in the middle of the ocean. There's a lot of stuff going on. And then at the end of the race, you've got an upwind pump. So like you need a foil that can pretty much do it all. And that's what we see a race wing is, I, it's something that it doesn't necessarily we don't want it to turn really well. Like we prefer to add another, two kilometers on the low end and two kilometers on the top end, rather than have it be able to do really nice roundhouse
I hope you enjoyed last week's chat with Don Reichelt, who has been crushing it in the ultramarathon world. Please go back and check it out if you haven't caught it yet. We talked about Don's ups and downs running at the Leadville Trail 100, about his relationship to David and David's continued influence on him to this day, about learning the process to taking big jumps in his running abilities, the benefits he's noticed from his vegetarian diet, and challenging himself to run some really hard races. In part two, we talk about living and training in the boonies at 9600-feet elevation near Fairplay, Colo., how to start running on a non-motorized assault treadmill, which is a lot harder than you'd think, and then his Guinness World record attempt at 12 hours, 24 hours, and 100 miles on that kind of treadmill at a Life Time Fitness in midtown Manhattan. Being in NYC, it was a lot more chaotic than Don had expected, so it took some problem-solving to stay focused. Focus was especially essential throughout the night in a non-changing environment. It's really fascinating hearing how the whole event went down. Don ran to support the Life Time Foundation, which supports educating schoolchildren to develop better nutritional practices, something that he is passionate about. Don then talks about the huge goals he has in 2023, including the Firecracker 48-hour run, the Cocodona 250, and Javelina, with an eye toward getting a ticket for Western States. He's also a coach, and he's gotten to be quite generous sharing his workouts and helping the running community. He shares lots of useful insights in this episode, so I hope you enjoy this terrific chat.Don ReicheltFacebook @Don ReicheltInstagram, YouTube, TikTok @runwithdonBill Stahlsilly_billy@msn.comFacebook Bill StahlInstagram @stahlor
Welcome to February 21st, 2023 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate big buns and Fat Tuesday. In 2018, Wolferman's Gourmet Baked Goods in Oregon wanted to find a way to celebrate their new 5 pound cinnamon bun. They decided that the best way to do that was to create an even bigger bun; over 1,100 pounds bigger. That's about the size of a full grown cow! Wolferman's broadcast a livestream of the process, much to the delight of foodies around the world. Once it was completed, this delicious monstrosity used 350 pounds of flour, 378 pounds of cinnamon sugar and over 13 dozen eggs. The Guinness World record holder was sold, piece at a time for charity at the Medford's Annual Pear Blossom Festival. Celebrate National Sticky Bun Day by going over the top. If you've ever tried a king cake, you know that there's a prize baked inside: a tiny, plastic baby. This odd custom began as a way to choose the king or queen of Mardi Gras celebrations. For years, the item baked into the cake was a crowned king's head, which symbolized the three kings who had visited the baby Jesus with gifts. However, this became a problem during the French Revolution. The monarchy saw the heads as a thinly veiled threat. And since royalty during this time had become less popular, commoners were all too happy to swap it out with a baby. When king cake made its way to New Orleans, porcelain figures were used, until a baker ran out and needed a replacement. He found a plastic version and that is the standard to this day. On Fat Tuesday celebrate with your favorite treat and enjoy the last hurrah before Lent. I'm Anna Devere and I'm Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Show Sponsor: www.LaShamanaFaby.com Lee lives in Devon and was a serving Royal Marine for 24 years. After coming through three operational tours of Afghanistan unscathed, Lee lost his right leg after being hit by an engine block as he was helping a motorist who had crashed into the central reservation of the M3 in Surrey in 2014. Although his right leg was severed in the impact, the serviceman's training kicked in and he was able to instruct bystanders on how to tie a tourniquet and help paramedics to save his life. In 2015 Lee set-off to row 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean in just a rowing boat. The Row2Recovery team of four injured veterans had just 3 legs between them. In February 2016, some 46 days, 6 hours and 49 minutes later they rowed into Antigua and the record books as the worlds first physically disabled crew of four to row any ocean. Following this, Lee became the world's first physically disabled person to row from mainland Europe to mainland South America solo and unsupported. Lee Spencer, The Rowing Marine, broke the able bodied record by an astonishing 36 days and also broke the record for the longest solo and unsupported ocean row by a physically disabled person, a total of 3 Guinness World records. Lee's next challenge is The Triathlon of Great Britain, the Rowing Marine, will embark on his toughest challenge yet. He will swim the English Channel, cycle from Lands End to John O' Groats and climb the three highest peaks in England, Scotland and Wales (including a full Marathon) – combining the three classic challenges in Britain into one enormous challenge.
This is the first of two parts of a very fun conversation with one of the really impressive relatively-new stars of the ultraendurance world, Don Reichelt. After pretty much his debut doing Leadman in 2015, Don has plunged headlong into running long distances and doing everything he can to embrace finding out how far he can go in the sport. He has moved to a house at 9600-feet elevation near Fairplay, Colo., and has outfitted his place with a workout space, ice plunge barrel, sauna, and more. When he first broke out, he won the Lean Horse 100-miler and ran a blazing 13:16 at Tunnel Hill. He has won the 52-mile Coldwater Rumble in Ariz. the past two years. His most recent achievement was breaking the Guinness World record for running 12 hours, 24 hours, and for 100 miles on a manual treadmill, which is quite a bit more challenging than a motorized one. In this first part, we talk about Don's ups and downs running at the Leadville Trail 100, about his relationship to David and David's continued influence on him to this day, about learning the process to taking big jumps in his running abilities, which I think is quite educational, the benefits he's noticed from his vegetarian diet, and challenging himself to run races like the Keys 100 in Florida's humidity, and the Badwater 135, where he surprised a lot of people in finishing third in his debut. His focus and his curiosity to see how far he can challenge himself is truly inspirational. Plus, he's a super nice guy, so I hope you enjoy this great chat.Don ReicheltFacebook @Don ReicheltInstagram @runwithdonBill Stahlsilly_billy@msn.comFacebook Bill StahlInstagram @stahlor
Guess who's back? In their first EVER joint interview, I'm joined once more by property power couple Gemma Sharples and Steven Green, the stars of Channel 5's Rich House Poor House - a truly incredible couple who epitomise the discipline and mindset required to become the version of yourself. Nothing is off limits in this no holds barred interview. Not only do we discuss Steven and Gemma's incredible achievements over the past year but also how Steven, notorious for his positive mindset, almost backed out of his Guinness World record attempt after publicly declaring he was quitting. Known to thousands as Mr and Mrs Discipline, Gemma and Steven constantly push the boundaries of what is possible. Having become multi-millionaires through their property empire, they are now on a mission to positively impact our education system and change how we perceive mental health as a society. Their compassion, resilience and partnership have been the foundation of their success so far, and they are only just getting started. **Make sure you watch until the end for a WORLD EXCLUSIVE ** KEY TAKEAWAYS Finding your limits can be a sobering experience, but it's always possible to push past them if we can tame our mindset and reframe the challenge. Never accept defeat, even when you think you're finished. You're always capable of more. It requires an invincible mindset, but we are capable of things beyond what is accepted to be possible. There are always far more reasons in life to fail than there are to succeed. Success is a question of working out what's important to you, mapping out your time accordingly, and making sure you live a life of self-fulfilment. Those who achieve greatness are brave enough to visit places within themselves that they may never have thought possible, and who are willing to push themselves. It's about being comfortable with being uncomfortable. BEST MOMENTS 'I'm so focussed on the vision and where I'm heading, that I sometimes forget what's happened a week ago!' 'If you are able to stay in that pain zone for a couple of hours, you come back out the other side, which I now know is the "going beyond"' 'You can make money, or you can make excuses, but you can't make both' 'It comes down to being willing to fail, and being prepared to go to a place that you've never been before' VALUABLE RESOURCES On A Mission - https://omny.fm/shows/on-a-mission Biz On Fire - https://www.bizonfire.com Gemma Sharples LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/gs-bizonfire/?originalSubdomain=uk Gemma Sharples Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063831390498 Steven Green Website - https://www.stegreen.co.uk/ Steven Green Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ste.green.propertytrainer/?hl=en Steven Green LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevengreenproperty/ Steven Green: Going Beyond (YouTube) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgJXONs0ruo ABOUT THE HOST Not so long ago, life was barely recognisable for Ellie McKay, raising three children under five, battling post-natal depression, facing redundancy and walking into the job centre to claim benefits with a double pram, no confidence, and wracked with insecurities. Fast forward to today, and life looks very different. Ellie committed to turning her life around for herself and her family. Following this commitment, she got to work and has now built multiple successful companies, as well as having created a multimillion-pound property portfolio from a standing start. Ellie is now on a mission to make a positive impact and add value to others through her podcast which has attracted phenomenal guests worldwide. The show is specifically to help those trying to reach their full potential through its inspirational and motivational content, as well as challenging conventional wisdom to discuss all the “hot topics” in a relentless pursuit of the truth. CONTACT METHODS: Website: http://www.elliemckay.com LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/ellie-mckay/ Facebook: Facebook.com/ellie.mckay.3150 Instagram: https://instagram.com/ellie_mckay_official?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= OAM Instagram: https://instagram.com/onamissionshow?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/EllieMckaySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Welcome to Cyrus Says CnB presented by Volvo Car India with petcare partner - Heads Up For Tails!On Cock & Bull today, Cyrus is joined by Abbas & Sparsh. Today, Cyrus - our in-house social scientist, is talking about how chewing gum & peeing at the same time can affect your peeing performance. In the show: Producer Sahab Sparsh makes his debut, Cyrus talks about the discipline that army people have, Abbas shares why he thinks that men are more emotional & unhinged than women, and some talk about an*l beads might also have happened. Topics discussed: Gurugram villagers make authorities construct broken roads overnight at gunpoint, John Cena sets a new Guinness World record by granting 650 Make-A-Wish wishes, and Supreme Court live streams its hearing on Sena VS Sena. Tune in for this and much more!The sustainability story for the day powered by the XC40 Recharge comes from the wall street journal, which has revealed that automakers making electric cars had no idea that the new technology would be so well-received by customers worldwide.Today's HUFT Pet Tales Story is about the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which has inducted a dog squad of eight female Labradors for security operations on the Delhi Metro - This has increased the total number of canines with the force to 60.Connect with Volvo Car India on:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/volvocarsin…Twitter: https://twitter.com/volvocarsinYouTube: https://youtube.com/c/VolvoCarsIndiaConnect with Heads Up For Tails on:Website: https://headsupfortails.comInstagram: https://instagram.com/headsupfortails?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadsUpForTails/YouTube: https://youtube.com/c/HeadsUpForTailsOfficialCheck out Cyrus Says merch:ivm.today/3PLKo1mYou can follow Abbas on Instagram at @abbasmomin88You can follow Sparsh on Instagram at @sparsh.shikhar.sinhaStream the podcast on major platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, & Google PodcastsDo send in AMA questions for Cyrus by tweeting them to @cyrussaysin or emailing them at whatcyrussays@gmail.comDon't forget to follow Cyrus Broacha on Instagram @cyrus_broacha (https://www.instagram.com/cyrus_broacha)In case you're late to the party and want to catch up on previous episodes of Cyrus Says you can do so at: www.ivmpodcasts.com/cyrussaysYou can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and improved IVM Podcasts App on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS:https://ivm.today/ios
William Burnett is the Director & CEO at InFLAUX, a former Australian Military service member who was medically discharged, took his diagnosis and turned his health around by finding breathwork and becoming a master breathwork coach training under the best in the world. This year on the 7th of September he will be stepping off to run across Australia and will be completing this by running an Ultra Marathon each day for 81 days setting 10 new Guinness World records and highlighting the limits we can push our bodies to through holistic approaches to health & healing @themind.mechanic @survivetothrivenation @warriorangelsfdn @wpnwear @fractelrunning @altrarunningau @theflexbeam @hvmn Watch on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3opNURn - - - - - - - - - - - - SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS Good F*cking Design Advice - 10% off with code UNITY - www.gfda.co Combat Flip Flops - 25% off with code UNITY - https://combatflipflops.com Brass & Unity - 20% off with code UNITY - http://brassandunity.com Daisy May Hats Co - 15% off with code BRASS - https://daisymayhats.com Mid-Day Squares - 15% off with code KELSIE15 - https://www.middaysquares.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - SHOP B&U Jewelry & Eyewear: https://brassandunity.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - Follow #brassandunity - - - - - - - - - - - - - CHARITY Honour House - https://www.honourhouse.ca Vet Solutions - https://vetsolutions.org Heroic Hearts - https://www.heroicheartsproject.org Warrior Angels Foundation - https://warriorangelsfoundation.org All Secure Foundation - http://allsecurefoundation.org Defenders of Freedom - http://defendersoffreedom.us The Boot Campaign - https://bootcampaign.org
http://www.two-wheels-round.com/#/http://www.two-wheels-round.comHey, let's follow her progress, and put fuel in the tank with her donation request athttp://www.two-wheels-round.com/support.html#/There is a definite thread connecting the 44 episodes on he podcast. That thread is sometimes described as competence, or it has been properly described as a Lifetime of Adventure.This episode puts us onto the "backseat" with Bridget McCutchen. A warning to Listeners; hang on tight and bring a map!!World politics have delayed the official kickstart, but she has been on the road for a couple weeks and by August 29 she might be in Mexico. Bridget plans to join me for another episode from Tierra del Fuego before she heads north to Brazil and then into Europe!Support the show
Our incredible podcast guest today, Kate Strong, is a powerful athlete, woman, vegan, and so much more. Kate has been smashing stereotypes around athletes for years now after she began training for a professional athletic career in her mid 30's. Kate has now secured three Guinness World records in a grueling challenge on a static bike. As if that's not enough, she is also a World Triathlon Champion, personal coach, and did a TEDx talk titled ‘Do What You Want and Get Away With It'. Kate dove headfirst into self-transformation and change in her life years ago. She hasn't stopped growing and striving to change the world ever since and brings her honest and enthusiastic energy to the show. Kate shares her personal journey with us and keeps it real, acknowledging the good times as well as the difficult ones. We hope that you walk away from this episode inspired to live as consciously and authentically as possible! What we discuss in this episode: - How Kate got into cycling, running, and swimming coming out of a toxic relationship - When Kate got lost in the woods but found inspiration in the strangest of places - How she came to veganism and how a plant-based diet changed her body and performance - The steps that she took to make the switch away from dairy - What 24 hours on a bike was actually like, challenges and all - How women often hold themselves back and how they can change that - The change that Kate is making in schools - What protecting the planet means to Kate and how she's changed her habits due to climate change - Kates advice on living more authentically - What challenges she is taking on next Links: - Katestrong.global - Kate Strong on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/katestrong01/ Connect with Switch4Good - YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ2toqAmlQpwR1HDF_KKfGg - Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Switch4Good/ - Podcast Chat Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/podcastchat/ - Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/switch4good/ - Twitter - https://mobile.twitter.com/Switch4GoodNFT - Website - https://switch4good.org/ - Use code SWITCH for 25% off your order at MaxinesHeavenly.com - Purality B12 Deal: https://puralityhealth.com/liposomal-b12/ to buy one B12 and get one free plus 35% off the rest of Purality's products.
This week we welcome JP Decosse, also known as “Big Papa Thumbs” from Little Big Thumbs. Fact(s) – We have 3 ridiculous Guinness World records this week: The longest jump on a unicycle (295 cm), the most handheld lasers lit simultaneously (295 lasers), and the most people filling in their eyebrows simultaneously (295 people, organized in the shape of two The post 295 – with Little Big Thumbs, JP Decosse – The Family Gamers Podcast appeared first on The Family Gamers.
Danny is an anthropologist and adventurer who is building a reputation for setting ultra-endurance world records across a range of sports. After competing at a national level as a sprinter, footballer, canoeist, and rower at both high school and university, Danny discovered adventure when he attempted to row across the Atlantic Ocean as a 22-year-old. Since then, he celebrated the completion of his Ph.D. at Cambridge University by spending 6 months cycling from Mexico City (Mexico) to Ushuaia (Argentina), set 7 official Guinness World records for exploration when he rowed across the Arctic Ocean, and set 2 new ultra-endurance swimming records for swimming. Today, he's talking about his latest swim, when he set a new FKT of 41 hrs 7 minutes for swimming the full length of all 13 publicly accessible lakes in the English Lake District.Instagram @TheWorldBeAPlaygroundBorn in Utah's Wasatch Mountains, Gnarly Nutrition is committed to educating and inspiring athletes at all levels. Gnarly provides honest, effective and great-tasting nutrition that is NSF Certified and NSF Certified for Sport. Gnarly's full line features science-backed products free of hormones, GMOs, proprietary blends or anything artificial. Add Gnarly Nutrition to your training regime to ensure successful sends. Get 15% off your first order by using the code gnarlyadventure15 at gognarly.com.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/adventure-sports-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Austin Tichenor was a guest on the Folger Shakespeare Library's Instagram Live series Shakespeare Lightning Round, a hugely fun format where guests from all corners of the Shakespeare world answer rapid-fire questions about all aspects of Shakespeare. Host Ben Lauer, the Folger's Social Media and Communications Manager, hurls thirty rapid-fire questions at Austin, who reveals his favorite prop, his favorite Midsummer mechanical, and his favorite Shakespeare ghost; which Shakespeare moments have made him cry; how the RSC set a Guinness World's Record; his favorite Shakespeare play he's never got to work on; and how not getting #SnakesOnAPlane trending is such a missed opportunity. In the words of Shakespeare himself, strap in. (Length 23:14) The post Shakespeare Lightning Round appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.
Joining Jeff Thompson and Pete Lane in the Blind Abilities studio once again today is Dan Parker. This is Dan's third visit to the Blind Abilities studio, this time to share his ultimate achievement: winning the Guinness world land-speed record for a car with a blind folded driver. Dan tells his most recent, remarkable story about how he designed and built a state of the art race car which he took to Spaceport America, in southern New Mexico, at the end of March and proceeded to drive the vehicle at a World record speed averaging 211 mph. Dan speaks of his numerous grueling hours, days and months raising attention, funding, and practicing for this event, learning to use a sophisticated audio guidance system to help him stay on track along the runway, his... Read more Check out Dan Parker's web site: www.TheBlindMachinist.com.
Home to Guinness World records- the longest single line of moving bicycles at 1,186; and the fastest four-person, twenty four-hour, 1,670 kilometer (1,037 mile) relay, the cycling and adventure travel community in Bangladesh is thriving. In this episode, Fahadul Islam tells us about BD Cyclists, a non-profit social community that aims to promote healthy living and reduce traffic congestion and pollution by encouraging locals to get on a bike and pedal. I had the honor to stay with Fahadul and his family during my five week cycling trip in Bangladesh in 2017. It was there I learned the true meaning of friendship and hospitality. Be sure to visit Bangladesh for the adventure of a lifetime. To find out more about the cycling community in Bangladesh, visit BD Cyclist's Facebook Group or contact Fahadul Islam on Facebook. You can support the podcast by subscribing and leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcast app. Email me at george@intrepidglobalcitizen.com if you have an inspirational adventure story you'd like to record or reach out to share your thoughts and feelings about any of the episodes. You can purchase my book Unhinged in Ethiopia: Two Thousand Kilometers of Hell and Heaven on a Bicycle about my adventure in 2019 across Africa's most mountainous country here- https://intrepidglobalcitizen.com/
HELP ME GET MY LEGO IDEAS PROJECT TO 10K VOTES!LEGO Ideas Amethyst Geode!Please support Ukraine in any way you can. If you'd like to help Click Here to DonateI'm back and ready for some Bricking News. This past week we had to say goodbye to my buddy Khal. We shared an amazing 6 years together and I will never forget my little orange friend. This week's Bricking News focuses around LEGO Star Wars. Lots of things for the Skywalker Saga and May the 4th is just around the corner! I can't believe it's almost May! A new Guinness World record is set and the modulars celebrate 15 years! Crazy how time flies. The Muppets are free!Skywalker Saga - Hoth Skywalker Saga free play issuesSkywalker Saga Dioramas - Hachiroku247th graders STEM competition!5 speed manual transmissionfast build record RMS Titanic15 years of LEGO ModularsBuilder's Journey PlaystationViking 3 in 1May the 4th gift with purchasesUCS LandspeederNew character packs for Skywalker SagaCheck out the new website! Back2Brickpodcast.comSupport the Podcast through Direct. me/back2brickDesigner interviews are posted every Monday!Bricking News is posted every Friday!Have a question? Want to be a guest? Send me a message!InstagramCheck my pages out!Back 2 Brick Links!Back 2 Brick Podcast is not an affiliate nor endorsed by the LEGO Group.LEGO, the LEGO logo, the Minifigure, and the Brick and Knob configurations are trademarks of the LEGO Group of Companies. ©2022 The LEGO Group.
Update on the Russia invasion and Brittany Griner being arrested. Missle attacks in two countries overseas. Covid-19 back on a rise. Guinness World record for highest Tea Party and plenty other weird news. Opinion on the idea of creating "I Am Legend 2" and athletes vs fans. Last but not least, love advice from Enzo Da Cupid. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lorenzo-biggs/message
The Mass Turbulence Podcast By The Smoky Mountain Ghostbusters
This week we talk with Robert O'Connor who is the current Guinness World record holder for Ghostbusters collectables. Not only is he a world record holder he uses that platform to help others who are contemplating or have had loved ones commit suicide. If you would like to have your group featured on our podcast you can contact us through Facebook or email us at smokymntghostbuster@gmail.com You can visit our website at smokymountainghostbusters.com If You Know Someone in Crisis. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. Don't fight the battle alone reach out.
DJ interviews Guinness World's Faster Reader, Howard Berg. We discuss methods to reading faster and how Howard became the fastest reader in the world. Guest: Dr. Cathy Owens-Oliver. Website: www.BergLearning.com Email: Howard@BergLearning.com Super Reading Secrets (Book):https://amzn.to/3ucCfKM YouTube: https://bit.ly/3AXChb3 Instagram: @howardspeedread Facebook: facebook.com/BergLearning LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/howardstephenberg/ LinkTree: linktr.ee/Howardspeedread Host: David 'DJ' Lloyd, Jr. YOUTUBE: https://davidlloydjr.com/YT INSTAGRAM: https://davidlloydjr.com/IG FACEBOOK: https://davidlloydjr.com/Fb EMAIL:
131: "It's really exciting to be introduced to books that are pertinent to our culture and to be able to discuss them in community." A book club invitation with Jen, Nani and Caitilin Damacion Surprise! In celebration of the holiday weekend, we bring on returning guest Caitilin Damacion to invite you all to the Tsismis with Jen and Nani (TJN) Book Club! They share the significance of discussing a book together vs. reading independently, Jen and Nani's growth since they started co-hosting together, and give a sneak preview into their book discussion of Little Manila Is in the Heart: The Making of the Filipina/o American Community in Stockton, California by Dawn Bohulano Mabalon. Listen to the continuation of our conversation on TJN Ep. 017: "These women literally spent and risked their lives to do this work. We owe it to them and to ourselves to take an interest." Initial impressions of Little Manila is In the Heart https://www.buymeacoffee.com/p/787075 (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/p/787075) Join our book club by buying us a minimum of one cup of boba at http://www.buyusboba.com/ (http://www.buyusboba.com/) Participate in the book club discussion by purchasing a copy of Little Manila Is in the Heart: The Making of the Filipina/o American Community in Stockton, California by Dawn Bohulano Mabalon at https://www.amazon.com/Little-Manila-Heart-Community-California/dp/0822353393 (https://www.amazon.com/Little-Manila-Heart-Community-California/dp/0822353393) Subscribe to our newsletter to get notified of our next book club get together: http://eepurl.com/cO0bif (http://eepurl.com/cO0bif) Connect with Caitilin Damacion at https://caitilindamacion.com/ (https://caitilindamacion.com/) or listen to her previous episodes with us: TJN Ep. 015: "The pinoys have only one objective: to marry someone with economic security." Discussing America Is In the Heart by Carlos Bulosan with Caitilin Damacion https://www.buymeacoffee.com/jenandnani/015-tjn-exclusive-the-pinoys-one-objective-marry-someone-economic-security (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/jenandnani/015-tjn-exclusive-the-pinoys-one-objective-marry-someone-economic-security) TFAW Project Episode 089: "My politics are informed, first and foremost, by my identity as a Filipino American woman." Bonus Episode with Caitilin Damacion and Dr. Aileen Orlino Dinkjian https://www.tfawproject.com/episode/089 (https://www.tfawproject.com/episode/089) TJN Episode 001: [Archived] Anti-Asian Hate Roundtable Discussion with TFAW Project & Friends https://player.captivate.fm/episode/4b63217d-ece2-426d-8d18-d16c045672b3 (https://player.captivate.fm/episode/4b63217d-ece2-426d-8d18-d16c045672b3) -- Read what's new with our show: https://mailchi.mp/4cbcd6c91e48/tfawproject (https://mailchi.mp/4cbcd6c91e48/tfawproject) FREE ONLINE COMMUNITY: Receive the latest stories and life lessons from our community by subscribing to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/cO0bif (http://eepurl.com/cO0bif) WE ARE NOW ACCEPTING GUESTS FOR 2021! Apply today: https://forms.gle/6cyCnXdNQMDznFt58 (https://forms.gle/6cyCnXdNQMDznFt58) ABOUT US: Welcome to the Filipino American Woman Project - A Podcast Show that shares stories and life lessons told by individuals living (or have lived) in America, that are of Filipino descent and identify as female or non-binary. UPCOMING BOOK: Special thanks to the Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies at UC Davis for the opportunity to present our academic paper, Pinay Podcasters: Building a Self-Sustaining Community Through Storytelling, Collective Healing & Learning, and Collaboration. The initial draft is now available! Read more at http://pinaypodcasters.com/ (http://pinaypodcasters.com/) RECOGNITION: December 2020, we were nominated and received an Honorable Mention at the Asian American Podcaster's Inaugural Golden Crane Podcast Awards. August 2020, Jen Amos participated as a speaker on behalf of TFAW Project for PodFest Global, which now holds the GUINNESS WORLD...
Wayne Kurtz has 26 years of senior level experience in financial services industry including operations management, marketing/sales, fiscal planning, M&A, P&L management. He has been recognized for articulating vision and direction, turning around poorly performing divisions, guiding joint ventures, and establishing strategic alliances and advisor/consultant to capital raising for entrepreneurial ventures. He is CEO of the O1 Challenge, LLC and CEO of Green Trail Investments, LLC and partner of Carr & Associates Family Advisors. The last two years while in London he was Chief Commercial Officer with an agriculture investment company (project based in Brazil). Wayne's responsibilities includedexecuting long-term strategic/tactical plans, leadership,and strategic partnerships, to achieve company specific goals. Prior to the time in London, Wayne was President & CEO of Karlsberg International Insurance Corporation based in Belize. Wayne's responsibilities included execution of long term strategic/tactical plans along with overall management and operations of the company. Typical clients were family offices and UHNW individuals. Also, his experience included a Senior Vice President role of Fortune 500 company – Aon Hewitt – Executive Benefits division, responsible for the Northeast region and working with the management team and board of directors of global Fortune 1000 clients. Prior to that, his experiences included general securities principal and the director of client development and management for a national benefits consulting firm and senior director of the tax and financial services practice for a “Big Four” accounting firm – Arthur Andersen, LLP. He owns several tax consulting practices in Ohio and PA and advises family office clients in the Bahamas and California. Wayne has a BS degree in finance and math from Robert Morris University and a Master's degree in taxation from Duquesne University. He also earned a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation from The College of Financial Planning. Wayne is an accomplished global speaker on tax, finance and alternative investments. His Master's Thesis on “The Tax Aspects of Life Insurance” was a national award winner by the US Tax Fraternity/Deloitte along with publication in several tax journals. Wayne has taught finance and tax courses as adjunct faculty at The University of Pittsburgh and Robert Morris University. He is a 29-year passionate endurance athlete and founder of The Rhodes Marathon. He is the author “Beyond The Iron”, “Never Have to Say, I Wish I Had – 30 Days to Goal Achievement”, and “Stronger ThanIron” (the story of the Guinness World record Triple Ironman event in Lake Garda, Italy) He is the founder of two non profit foundations, Run for Books Inc. and The O1 Foundation for inter city children and the life benefits of travel and literacy. https://www.wayne-kurtz.com/ https://www.transamtri.com/ Coffee Sponsor: Lanel Gramatica Follow us on Instagram: @TheMorningSpotlight Email us at: themorningspotlight@gmail.com www.themorningspotlight.com For title insurance inquiries contact Mike at michael.ham@ctt.com Buy Mike a Coffee!
Tommy Tallarico is CEO & President of Intellivision Entertainment, a name many of you may recall from a prior era. 40 years ago it was a household name as a pioneer in the video game industry. Tommy and team have built on its legacy to bring back its simple, affordable family-focused games and entertainment. They are launching under the Amico name, which means "friend" in Italian. Tommy has over 30 years of gaming industry experience in virtually every role – designer, producer, writer and even head of music and video. He's also an accomplished musician and even holds some Guinness World records. He has an amazing vision for the company, and energy and excitement to see it succeed. We talked a lot about his entrepreneurial process on the show as well. Enjoy Tommy's enthusiasm in this Operate Podcast conversation. And thanks to show sponsor, Hunt Club. They help you find the best talent for your company, from their network of thousands of referral partners.