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How To Buy NFTs What is a Non-Fungible Token NFT How To Make Your Own NFT Best NFT InvestmentsEpisode SummaryGFunk.eth aka Comicman joins us for an exclusive interview! Learn about the MetaHero Universe, PUNKS comic, and more!Twitter follows!GFunk: https://twitter.com/Gfunkera86Pixel Vault: https://twitter.com/pixelvault_PUNKS Comic: https://twitter.com/punkscomicMetaHero Universe: https://twitter.com/MetaHero_MetaHero Identities are a collection of heroes, villains, and mutants native to the MetaHero Universe. The Core Collection consists of 146 fully-matched MetaHero concept characters, including two special mints, collaboratively designed by project creatives Chris Wahl and Odious. Generative MetaHero Identities (max supply of 9,678) can be minted at any time by redeeming MintPass #1, the signature NFT reservation system developed by Pixel Vault.https://opensea.io/collection/metahero-generativehttps://punkscomic.com/Hosts:Chris KatjeMazhttps://bitclout.com/u/mazFollow The Roadmap on Twitter!Disclaimer: All of the information, material, and/or content contained in this program is for informational purposes only. Investing in stocks, options, and futures is risky and not suitable for all investors. Please consult your own independent financial adviser before making any investment decisions.Unedited Transcript:What's up everyone. Welcome to the roadmap. Benzingers new NFT show. Last few episodes. We've had some great interviews, some great teams, the Vogue collective robotics, the dos pound owning force, crypto dads, dizzy dragons, suck doc, and more. We also did an NFT giveaway. Definitely stay tuned for more NFT giveaways in the future.We've got a great show today. A great interview. Pixel vault, founder G funk. Joining us guys. This is the roadmapAll right, guys, you heard me say at Benzinga is new NFT show covering the latest news headlines and top interviews from top projects in the NFT world. If you're new here, we currently air Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:00 PM. Eastern time. We're working on getting more shows going. Uh, we we've got an exciting show coming up today.Before I talk about that, I want to bring on my cohost mass, mass. What's going on, buddy. Chris, a exciting episode today. It feels like we haven't been here in a while. It's been a week since we did our last show, but today's episode is going to be amazing. I'm doing great. Yeah, we've got a great week planned.And before, I mean, for those of you who follow Benzinga on Twitter or read the articles, you probably already heard who our interview guest is on Thursday. If not, we'll talk about that at the end of today's show, but we have two of the biggest NFT projects out there. Both joining us this week. I mean, one week to catch two of these big projects.So if you're new here, go ahead. Smash that like subscribe to Benzinga his YouTube channel. That's where you're going to get notifications. When we're live. You're going to hear all about our great guests. So mass, uh, before we bring on our guests, let let's talk a little bit. Who do we have coming on the roadmap?Yeah. So we have G funk AK the comic man joining us today. And you know, I've been in the space for a couple months and I hear his name all the time, nothing but good things, you know, love the pixel bolt, project, love what they're doing with the planets. And just, there's just so many things to talk about, which, you know, I'm excited for that.And, uh, yeah. So yeah, I feel great. I mean, this is one of those projects where yeah. If you, if you're, you've been in the NFT space for a little while, if you're not completely new, you've likely heard of pixel vault, punks comics, Mehta hero. You've heard those names right. Well, today we're going to dive into the background, right?How did those come to be? And what's ahead. I mean, you talk about NFT projects that could have lasting value and lasting pixel vault is building, I mean, an entire NFTE ecosystem. I am so, so excited to get into the, and for anyone, you know, here in the chat, we're going to be taking questions for G funk.And if we have time at the end of the interview, one of the things we're doing on the show, right? Mass is asking questions right from the chat. So feel free, drop those questions in a me mass, and the producers will try to get to those, you know, at the end and pull up some of our favorite questions. So you never know what's going to get, but mass, I know there is a ton of people here excited and ready to hear from the man himself, chief funk.But before we bring him on, we have this trailer that we made to get everyone hyped. So everyone out there mash the, like, sit back and get ready to hear about pixels. Let's goall right. Hyped, right? It's time. I mean, hopefully everyone hyped up. We're ready to go. We we've got a great show. So without further ado, let me bring on to the roadmap. G funk, Hey, what's going on? What's up man. Loving the walk-in music. I appreciate that. We made you a hold for a whole trailer and everything.I mean, that's how big this episode is. We appreciate you coming on. Um, again, as Matt said, you know, one of those names in the space that is very familiar, you know, to anyone who's been following NFTs for awhile. So we have respect for you and we are so excited to talk all things pixel vault today. So let's dive into some questions.So I'm going to kick it off here, you know, G funk before we get in to pixel vault. Uh, let's hear a little bit about your experience in the NFT world before you created pixel. Yeah. So I've been in crypto since 2014. Um, I'm an entrepreneur in real life. And so a lot of those gains, uh, unfortunately were a bit muted.I was, as I was, uh, taking profits on the way up. And I started to get exposure to the NFT space at the end of last year. Um, I got really into top shot, started to get into crypto punks, pretty similar, uh, pathway into the NFT world is I think a lot of our collectors have had, um, and I have a background in the entertainment space.Um, so you know, very familiar with developing IP. And I saw this opportunity that, that, uh, was starting to become clear early this year that certain people on Twitter were starting to develop personalities. You know, whether they be beanie or G money guys like that, where they had these avatars and we're starting to kind of connect their personal brands to them.But at that point in time, nobody had, had really started to develop IP in a traditional sense behind. And so that was the birth of pixel vault. Um, it's basically a business designed to, to drive intellectual property drive value, to NFTs, which are otherwise, obviously stagnant on chain. Um, so that was sort of the birth of the comic in the run.Run-up there to that first Christie's auction, uh, very exciting time. Uh, and yeah, I mean, it it's crazy how much has happened in the last six months or so, but, uh, super happy to be here and see all the progress that has been made. And, uh, only up from here, I think that's right. And it's hard to believe it's only been, you know, sick like that.And I mean, it seems like a lifetime, um, with all this stuff that has been created. So one of the things, when we talk about NFT projects, a lot is artwork, right? And. That you have Chris wall, a former, you know, Marvel, DC and other artists. Uh, how did that relationship come to be? And how involved is Chris wall on the current and future?Yeah. So that's actually a really funny story. So, um, when I approached beanie with this idea, uh, for the punks comic, he actually just sent out a tweet saying like, basically money is no object. Like we want the best artists in the world. Uh, we're thinking of developing a project. I don't know if he mentioned, uh, that it was, uh, like a comic book based on crypto punks or not, but, um, yeah.And Chris was one of the people that responded to that tweet and, uh, I just started talking to him and looking through his work. Um, obviously he's been a part of, a lot of great projects, but tank girl is sort of like what he's most notable for and very quickly and looking at his work, I just knew it was the perfect fit for, uh, what we were trying to create with the punks comic.And yeah, he, he's the, he's the chief comic artists moving forward. Uh, we have issue two well underway. We have a large corporate partner that's, uh, As much as I love them slowing the process down a bit. So, uh, issue two is currently planned for sometime in November. We'll, we'll see how the dates change. Uh, but yeah, Chris is very much a big part of the future of pixel.Awesome. Yeah. And we're going to show some of those images here throughout the interview. Love the artwork. I know there's a lot of big fans out there as well. W you mentioned that this, you know, six months, so it's when punk's comic first launched, it was not a fast sellout, um, you know, something we're seeing now in the NFT space.So what was it like in the beginning? Was there always a belief, you know, that this project would sell out and find an audience? Yeah. So, I mean, you know, for sure I believed in the vision, right. And I think that time has, has really paid dividends to the people that understood the. But I think still today, you know, I mean, if you look at the planets, there's still supply available.Granted, we, we intentionally designed it to, to make it available to anybody that wanted to join the community. But I think you're really seeing people focus on kind of this like lotto scratcher field. Right. Everybody wants those rarity traits and it's all PFPs and stuff that seemed to be selling out instantly.Now, regardless of if the project is moving the community forward, you know, I think, unfortunately you're seeing like a lot of copy paste type stuff happening, but, uh, with that said, you know, with, with great risk comes great reward. So yeah, it took like five weeks for the comic to sell out. Um, but really sort of building on this idea of a quote unquote decentralized Disney is like this buzzword you'll hear, um, Giving the community, the opportunity to have fractional ownership in these underlying 16 crypto punks that we're actively developing story around.Right. Um, as we succeed the community succeeds. And I think that just as sort of an overall theme for web three, that that's going to be very powerful and be a really disruptive force within traditional media. And, you know, as things have progressed over the last six months starting to approach these traditional media partners, um, you know, it's been, it's been interesting, the reception, and I think that a lot of them are fearful of being the next blockbuster, right.Blockbuster didn't want to adapt to the Netflix model. So, um, there's actually been a pretty great willingness so far with, uh, major media partners to, to start exploring, developing this IP in the traditional sense. But yeah, I mean, yeah. Trying to blaze new frontiers. I think this is the way things are going.And, um, you know, the people that have believed have been rewarded so far, but certainly some sleepless nights along the way. I totally love that, man. Um, can you walk us through the decision to make a burning mechanism for the comics? Yeah, so, um, at the time I don't, I don't think really anybody was doing this, but sort of a core proposition of pixel vault is this idea that when you're collecting the, the end result of your collection is very much going to be a result of your own decisions.So trying to create as many 50, 50 toss up decisions as we can, you know, are you somebody that, uh, leans into risk? Are you risk averse? You know, do you love the comic? Do you like gaming? Um, all sorts of decisions that I think ultimately reflect the choices of the individual, the risks they want to take.How they see their collection shaping how actively they want to be engaged in the community. Right? The game that we're building is very much going to be a community built project with all these Dows. So, you know, we, we like to introduce as many decisions as we can and, you know, some people love it. Some people hate it.It's certainly, uh, a frequent complaint I hear about pixel vaults is that it's, it's too complicated. And so, you know, I take that, I take that criticism to heart and I'm going to try and find ways to make things more clear. Uh, but certainly, you know what, we've tried to do weekly spaces. We're trying to lay out everything very clearly on the website.But, uh, I really liked this sort of like Willy Wonka nature of pixel hall. Um, I think it makes it a lot of fun and it's really built a very strong community, but you know, it's not going to be for everyone. You have to sort of be engaged with things of Walt to, to get and catch everything that. Exactly.Yeah. You're building a whole universe around it, which is awesome. So speaking to that ma meta heroes, uh, how close to a game are we? Yeah, so, I mean, the game is going to take quite a bit of time, um, with that said we're looking to stagger it intelligently so that, you know, people aren't waiting two, three years to see any sort of game development.Um, so sort of this first look and first, uh, action with characters, we're looking to hopefully be about a year out, but you know, it it's really too early to confirm any sort of timeline because we're, we're really actively engaged right now in the process of, of working with different game development studios.So, um, myself and the virtual knot and a couple of other members of our team are taking, you know, a handful of meetings every week with, with different game dev shops. And, uh, there are a couple that stick out, uh, hopefully more news coming on this in the near future. You know, leveraging some of our own contacts and, uh, our team's experiencing game development.And then also the relationship with WME, they're opening some doors that actually have a meeting with, um, our rep in, in gaming with WME tonight. So just continuing to look for potential partners. And, uh, certainly we're going to bring on a lot of experienced individuals in game dev. So it will not just be our, our team right now of 18, or we're either going to be hiring probably a team of 50 or working more likely with an experienced in dev shop.So, um, still too early to commit to timelines, but, uh, you know, we have the resources that we need and the expertise right now on the team. And we'll be hiring a few other key individuals on the team, uh, to execute on this. So very exciting. Um, but still, definitely early days in that love that though. It's coming though.Right. So that's awesome to hear for sure, for sure. In the beginning when you were launching punks comics, was this always the plan to create this, you know, world and game around the meta heroes? Yeah, so the, the games sort of developed over time, but there was always this idea to expand, uh, the universe of IP that tied in with the comic.So if you look at like early days of DC and Marvel, right originally comics were just humans, right. And then with the introduction of Superman and then eventually Batman, et cetera. Now comics are pretty much synonymous with superheroes. So beginning in issue three, we're going to sort of merge the two worlds of punks comic and medic hero.And there's the potential that there may be some offshoot comics as well. But, um, yeah, I, I think it's going to be really fun seeing the, those two worlds intertwined and, uh, in the interim, we're going to be releasing this project called origin stories, which will be, you know, every two to four weeks, we'll be sort of like.Like a backstory on maybe a more minor character, uh, origin stories, being a nod to origin city, which is where the headquarters of the pixel vault is, uh, in crypto voxels. So, um, that's going to let us sort of interact with the community more frequently, really build the IP, um, in a serious way as we look to develop, you know, animated series and whatnot with traditional media partners.So, um, I think that that's going to be a really beneficial thing as we build out the comic and the lore there. Uh, and you'll see a lot more backstory on the heroes and the pumps themselves love that. Can you share any details on how different heroes will be utilized in the game? Uh, specifically speaking of, you know, ones from different planets, uh, any advantages or disadvantages, disadvantages that the.Yeah. So, uh, the virtue Mount has talked about this quite a bit. We don't want to create a situation where it's like a pay to win mechanic. We want to reward, uh, our early collectors in a way that it distinguishes the character in game and maybe provides like a very minor benefit. But, um, you know, there are also intelligent ways that, you know, maybe they earn at a, at a higher rate.So with the, the play to earn mechanics that are becoming popular, that you see with ACCE and stuff, you know, maybe the identities and sidekicks, uh, are able to have, you know, a small advantage in that realm as well. But overall, you know, you can think of it as like a skin, like a very, um, high level notable skin, uh, being sort of, uh, at the, at the very forefront of developing this game.Um, As part of that, right. We wanted to tie them to these planet tokens because for these original identity holders, it's not just about driving value to their identity and Ft. Right. They're also very much an owner developer participant in the game itself. So as the game succeeds, so to do these early NFT holders, so it was important for us to sort of tie those together so that it wasn't kind of like a diluted experience as we expanded the game verse and whatnot.But, um, yeah, try trying to make it so that future entrance can, can still get into the game and have fun. We don't want to take the fun out of it, or it won't be a success. So, you know, there's a balancing act there, but I think having these early holders also have Dow tokens is a sort of an important aspect in, in balancing the reward system there.Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, one thing we've noticed teas lately, and I'm sure you've seen this G funk is that the NFT space is moving so fast and people are, you know, looking for news updates on a daily cycle. They want, you know, the next big project they want the immediate reward. So what is it like, you know, to take the long route here building with one of the largest teams in NFT is when the NFT world is kind of moving more to the short term side of things.Yeah. I mean, it's tough and I I've been tweeting a lot about this in the last couple of weeks. I mean, you're seeing like a lot of really prominent NFTE sort of personalities talking about being burned out in. You know, it's real. I mean, I feel the need to sort of like constantly be providing updates and, you know, people put a lot of time, effort and money into this project.Right. So I take that extremely seriously, but you don't really want to be building, uh, a business worried about the floor price of an NFT. Right. So, um, you know, the people that bought punks comic right, as it sat there on the shelf for five weeks, ultimately it's, uh, you know, 50, a hundred X on, on their original, uh, purchase.Right. So, you know, if ultimately you try and sort of block out the noise and understand that there are going to be peaks and valleys in every cycle and try to just keep like a mid to long-term viewpoint on this. Um, you know, right now the floor is down, right. Uh, across most projects and, you know, I have people.You know, messaging me all the time, sort of in a panic, but it's like, you know, if, if they knew the meetings I was taking every day, I'm sure they wouldn't be panicking. Right. But like, that's also not how you run a business. So, um, you know, just, just, I think patients will be rewarded. Uh, certainly the partners that we're working with are working at like a breakneck pace for these traditional corporations, but it's not like how NFTs work.So trying to balance it, trying to give people sort of like a peek behind the curtain, as much as I can. Um, while remembering, you know, it's about the long game don't give into the FID, just like keep building, but it's hard. Uh, Yeah, definitely. Um, so, you know, you mentioned that people who bought comic, you know, saw a big return, right?50 X, a hundred X. And with that said, it may have priced some people out of, you know, the pixel vault ecosystem. So there was the recent planet launch. Why was it important to offer access to people who maybe missed out on comics and pixel vault before, you know, the opportunity to buy into the planets at the lower tier?Yeah. So I mean, as much as we love rewarding our existing community, and we've done that a bunch of times already, uh, you know, expanding into this game versus, I mean, ultimately there will need to be hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people in this game burst to be for it to be truly successful.Yeah. I don't think you're, you're seeing, I think you need to connect meta mask to see like the updated numbers, but, um, Yeah. So, I mean, we wanted the price to be low enough for new people to join the community. Uh, obviously that was a very common question. I would get on Twitter discord, like, Hey, I'm interested.But you know, I think at the, I think right now, like the comic has seven and a half feet or something. Right. Um, it's a ton of money. So, um, you know, pricing the lowest comic or the lowest planet at 0.5, either giving them the opportunity to get now two different planets, right. Whatever they meant. Plus Jupiter, if you follow it along with that story and lower that we developed there, uh, that was, that was kind of fun on Twitter.Um, but yeah, two planets and ultimately two sidekicks, again, all of these original participants in the ecosystem, we wanted them to, to ultimately have a character that they could use engaging. You know, if you're taking the time resources, effort to build the game, like you should probably have a character.So, um, yeah, I mean, for 0.5 east, you can participate in two different planetary Dows and have either two different sidekicks or an upgraded sidekick, uh, with the burn mechanism there, you know, ultimately companies need to grow. Uh, we can't always just sort of reinforce the existing community. So we tried to have like a huge supply again, to avoid gas wars, to let anybody that wanted to get in in, um, and then find like interesting ways to create a deflationary supply with that Jupiter mechanic.And then ultimately whatever doesn't sell we'll, we'll be taken back to the uptown, which is sort of this like central governance mechanism for the game. And the community will decide when they want to sort of release future trenches for, for funding, the development of the game. Perfect. You mentioned side.Is there, I want to talk a little bit about this. So, um, can you share any update on the timeline for when sidekicks will be released and talk a little bit about leveling we'll work, um, with being able to burn kicks? Yeah, so the sidekick mint pass will be coming soon. So that'll probably be the first couple of weeks of November.So similar to what we did with the generative identities, you'll first get them in pass, um, to the community based on what you're holding. Uh, and then later you'll be able to burn that and then pass for your sidekicks. Um, so the sidekicks themselves, I would say are probably not until Q1 of next year. Um, given the larger supply of sidekicks, uh, it's going to take some time.Uh, we, we do have like a fun way to interact with the community coming up in the development of these sites. Um, and then to your point, there's also going to be this fun sort of deflationary mechanic where you'll be able to level up your sidekick. So right now the concept is five different levels of sidekicks and we haven't finalized the total burn counts, but whether it be one to five minute passes or one to 20, um, there's a chance we, you sort of scale it, interestingly there, but, um, yeah, again, creating an environment where the community shapes the ultimate, uh, experience and ecosystem, uh, is, is really important to us.So seeing, you know, how people want to play it, right. Do you want five low-level sidekicks or do you want one premium? So it'll be fun to see where the final numbers end up. I assume, um, you know, the, the maximum supply was something like 115,000. The way we're creating it was to try and get down to somewhere around a 50,000 number, but, you know, we plan and the community does what it will.Uh, so it's, it should be interesting. Awesome. Uh, one thing that, you know, pixel vault, uh, become known for is adding surprise value to mentors. So, you know, we saw punks comic mentors get a mint pass for a, met a hero, met a hero, met pass holders, had the opportunity to win a free core hero. Um, you know, and now the planet mentors also getting a free Jupiter planet and sidekick.Can you talk about, you know, why this is important and how it adds value to those early adapters? Yeah. So, I mean, from, from a price perspective, obviously every time we, we reward the community, obviously the price of everything reacts. Right. So, so that's awesome to the existing community, but from more of like a structural standpoint, right?Like. As we release things into the community, who does it make the most sense to, to have those items go to, you know, ultimately a lot of them will sell in the secondary and take some profit along the way. And in turn that expands the community to those people that are picking it up on secondary. But you know, you really do want to reward those people that are actually helping you build the thing.Um, again, turning back to those five weeks of sleepless nights where I was like, well, you know, did I make a mistake? Um, yeah, I was literally all in with everything I owned, uh, to launch this project. Uh, and then some honestly, so, you know, it it's, it's been a wild year, but like I take these people's support, like incredibly seriously and to heart.So, you know, wanting to see the community sort of succeed alongside the project just makes sense, providing these reward metrics. And also, you know, it defeats kind of like the gas wars and the bonding and all of that. So finding interesting ways to here and there expand into a public sale, but for the most part, trying to reward existing community and we have some more stuff up our sleeve, but I'm going to leave people to speculate.Nice. So G funk Dow is a term that we're hearing in NFTs a lot lately. Um, I'm curious to hear, can you tell us a little bit more about the Dow and the pixel vault, you know, like when will voting begin and, uh, you know, where are they being set up? Yeah. So, uh, so the, the founders dial, right, which is sort of our art Val, but really kind of like a, a core community of like long-term collectors.I mean, I don't really know that any NFT project was, was interacting with a Dow in that way when we launched it. But certainly you're seeing them like everywhere now. And I mean, our, our game vers, you know, they're, they're 10 they're alone. So, um, I don't, I don't know if you've been following sort of the drama with the moon, the moon bird, but 17 people, uh, tried to interact directly with the contract, ended up burning their comics, just poof gone.Uh, and that's like 30 K a pop. So, uh, that will be the first use case for, for voting for any of these Dows, uh, we're going to get the moon voting up and ultimately the community of token holders for the moon will decide, you know, if they want to make them whole with this supply, we've set aside of 17 moons.Um, and you know, I have some opinions in that. You know, most of these people weren't flippers, right? They were just like sort of panicked that they were going to get locked out because the button wasn't working for a couple minutes, I was telling them like, just wait, it's fine. You'll be okay. But you know, people will do what they will.FOMO is a hell of a drug. So, uh, we're going to get this vote probably initially using a mechanic, like snapshot. And then ultimately we're going to, to develop like a custom UI experience across all of our Dows and that's something the virtue not has spoken about a lot. Um, so that's something that's going to be built sort of in conjunction as, as we're building out the game verse, but probably initially, um, snapshot through our website and, uh, and then more of like a custom build over time.But, uh, I would say that all of them should be up in the next few months. Um, they all have already been established. Uh, from a legal standpoint with R R from Fenwick and west who have done just like an awesome job given sort of the unique nature of these 10,000 interacting with one another. But from a, from the technical implementation standpoint, that's going to be, um, like a primary focus after we get staking out for, for the Medicare identities and the comic here in, I dunno, roughly the next two weeks.Nice. Do you see the discord community for the Dows, uh, being able to expand to more channels for more complex coordination and projects in the future? Sure. Yeah. So we just recently opened up a planetary channels. Uh, so we had only ever had two channels, sort of the main, uh, non gated channel. And then the things about founder's Dow channel, which you had to have the founders token to get in.Uh, and now you can get into these gated, uh, you know, earth Pluto. Um, so, you know, we see a lot of interaction happening there. Um, but ultimately, you know, we would like it all to be built into sort of like a cohesive voting experience. I mean, with what you see with snapshot, I mean, there are, there are ways for the community to interact there, but it's, it's all a bit limited.Right. Um, Erin and we're early days. I, I actually think what Snapchat has is really great, but finding ways to make it a more social experience I think is going to be really important for Dows moving forward. Um, so, you know, we're going to try our hand at that. I am sure there will be, uh, more products and services that come along on the way, but, uh, trying to find ways to allow the community, to like really interact in the decision-making is going to be hugely important in the development of the game among other things, uh, We're going to try our hand at that, but at the outset here, there'll be snapshot.Right. Um, there's a lot of game theory around picks of all products, you know? So how do we explain the punks comic, the fund, the founder's Dow, uh, you know, a Metta here on the planets to someone that is just joining the NFT world. Like what's the best way. Yeah. I mean the rabbit hole is deep here, so this could take a second, but, uh, I would say that it's, it's a project based around IP, right at its very core.What picks of all aims to do is develop IP in the web three environment in a way that not only will the company succeed, but so will the community. And along that journey, um, your faced with choices for how you want your collection to, to be tilted. Do you want to have exposure to this very unique collection?And participate more broadly along with, you know, 5,000 of your closest friends and really everything takes them all. That's the founders. Now that was the choice to burn the comic for the founders now, or, you know, do you want to have more of a direct control over some Lords as it relates to the IP in the punks tokens, right?These factionalized 16 crypto things. Well, that would be staking the comic and some of the people in that route, it wasn't even so much that they wanted the punks tokens, but they really wanted this physical. So there's the physical comic that will be shipped. Uh, and the fulfillment for that is going to start probably in early.Um, so if you can state the comic, you can collect your physical and, you know, we hope that to be like a really cool collector's item. So I'd say staking and, you know, ownership over, uh, really everything as it pertains reward wise is, is directly going to you. Uh, that would be the comic route. Then you also recently had this opportunity to burn for the moon Dow.And the moon Dow is, is sort of the same concept as the founders now, but applied to the game verse, right? So this is again, this like really loyal community of supporters who had to make this choice to burn a seven and a half east comic that they also were probably holding for quite some time. So we see the moon functioning in kind of like a similar.Not necessarily governance because they're all equal, but kind of like, uh, having a really long-term perspective for the overall benefit of the game and the universe, um, that was the choice to burn the comic for the moon. And then each of these planetary Dow tokens, you know, you have direct exposure into the ultimate success of a gaming platform that we're trying to build together.So, you know, you see products like sandbox, right? Uh, you see a lot of teasers. I, I think they're releasing soon, you know, not convoluted hopefully, but, um, ultimately all of those rewards flow back to sandbox and in a mocha, right. Um, here, what we're building together will actually flow back to the community.So I think it's a really cool sort of technological and sociological experiment for the power of what web three can do, uh, Dow. Um, three NFTs, really trying to leverage all of these technologies in a way that I think is pretty clearly the direction for the future, but just doing it at kind of like this early stage in their development.And then the medic heroes obviously are a really awesome way to actually be able to play in that game, but also participate in kind of like the comic ecosystem, given everything that we're doing there to, to develop the IP with, you know, traditional media partners, whether it be like a Netflix or a universal or, or whomever, we ended up deciding to partner with, um, you know, trying to get like an animated series.That's, that's distributed more broadly to bring, you know, hopefully new people, not only into NFTs, but into the technology. Um, building value behind that IP. Uh, so that's kind of like the happy medium, I would say is the Medicare regenerative identities, because you get to participate in both the game, but also kind of the traditional IP path of the punks chronic well said, man.And the game theory is what makes NMT so fun. So I'd love to hear how, you know, there's so much game theory here. Um, let's kind of switch a little bit, so, you know, let's talk a little bit about, you know, if you've been in the NFC space for a while, you've most likely heard of beanie, you know, so is anybody watching, how did your relationship with the beanie start and how's your relationship currently?I know he is now an advisor to picks the vault. Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, none of this would have been possible without him. I mean, I I've talked pretty publicly that I in crypto as of last November, so less than a year ago, I had 20. Right. Uh, and, and now we have like this very successful business. So I'm like really grateful that, that he saw the vision of what this could be.Um, he put up something like $3 million in assets to make the founders now and all that collection of punks possible, which was really kind of the core of what the comic was. Right. We needed these fractionalized punks in order to sort of build this story, this decentralized Disney kind of project, um, and how we met, I mean, uh, in kind of like, I think he had just made a trade with prank C uh, on Twitter.Like he had only like a hundred, 200 followers. Uh, and I messaged him the, the original interaction didn't go very well. Uh, you know, he was kind of a Dick and, but I stuck at it. Like, I thought that he knew some things and I was trying to learn at that point in time. Uh, and, you know, we sort of built a friendship, um, and then sports cheetah, Preston, another one of our original partners.Um, he and I had had, uh, started to buy some NFTs together early this year. We had a crypto punk together. Uh, and then we decided we wanted to buy this, uh, this oiler beats. Oh, gee, I don't know if any of you are familiar with oiler beats, but um, really cool economic model. Uh, and you know, it's popped up here and there, we're actually planning to use some of that model, uh, with issue two and some of our collectible covers, but it was like this, this huge project that was kind of like the hot project of the moment.Um, each of these OGs generated a royalty, right. And I think the first four days before they announced. Series two of enigma. Uh, we made like Tenny 70, 75, 8 in royalties, just off holding this NFT in, in four days. Um, so, uh, Preston and I decided that we wanted to buy this OJI from beanie beanie was selling it for a hundred eighth because he wanted to buy the LP one.And, uh, it was my anniversary with my now fiance, then my girlfriend. And, um, we, so we're at dinner and beanie has decided, okay, like, he'll, he'll do this deal with Preston and I for a hundred eighth. Um, and like Preston's on a zoom with beanie I'm at dinner. Uh, for my anniversary, I have the email that I need to send to beanie my phone dies.Uh, I'm like up at the, uh, Like the, the front desk, trying to get them to charge my phone and, and Preston and beanie are just like, you know, chatting on, on zoom. Uh, obviously trying to keep the deal alive because, you know, beanies, uh, beanie is a pretty tough negotiator at times. So he was like, all right, well, like if you can't do the deal, then like it's off, it's off.Um, and so Preston was like keeping it alive and, uh, we ended up making the deal with him. Ultimately, I don't really know how, how that's turned out. At one point in time, we got an offer on that, whether it be for like 368th or something, we still hold it right now. But, uh, that was the start of the relationship really between, uh, Preston beanie and myself.And it was during kind of those conversations that we, we started talking about this idea of building IP behind these crypto punks and, and that's how really we got his investment into the project. And the rest is this. Love it. That's always wild times. Yeah. Yeah. Love them or hate them. You know, Beanie's an awesome person to keep an eye on.I always loved his thoughts. His tweets always keep me entertained and speaking. It's never boring. That's for sure. Speaking of tweets, he tweeted something earlier today, which we'll pull up on the screen right now. Uh, and that's going to lead me to my next question. Is your BGL D thing? Yes, exactly. So, well, yeah, so I, I had not spoken with him prior to him tweeting this.So, you know, when, when blue had come out, um, you know, I, I think it's like a very fun community, right? Uh, there's a lot of like really positive people in the blue community and the BGL D thing. There was like a conversation that beanie and I had had about, okay. You know, maybe if, if blue holders or BGL D hold.They had started to like come into the pixel vaults ecosystem and, you know, they were contributing a lot. So I thought, okay, you know, like let's find a way that maybe we can welcome them into the ecosystem and you'll see my tweet there. Um, and then the BGL D dev rubbed. Right. Uh, and that, that had nothing to do with beanie.And I know he takes, he takes a lot of, uh SMACtalk. I don't know if this is a PG channel. Uh, but yeah. I mean, people talk a lot of trash to him on Twitter about BGL. And I know that he had nothing to do with that. Rugging, I mean, he still has like, I know 5 million tokens or something, but, uh, I don't know if we'll ever do anything with BGL GLD, you know, frankly, I don't really want to associate with BGL D because of that rug.Um, but the bloop community, I, I liked, uh, I think there's good people in the blue community. So, you know, I would like to find a way for us to do something nice for them since I, you know, at that point in time when I said it, you know, I mean it, and I'm a man of my word. So, uh, I would like to find a way for us to do something for them since a lot of them have now become like really long time supporters of the project that I interact with a lot in discord and on Twitter.So, you know, if we can find a way to do that in a way that's like true to pixel vault, you know, we're not going to be doing any sort of like weird blue type text, uh, stuff, but something true to rip, uh, where. We can somehow reward them and, and welcome them into the community. I'm all for it. But, you know, the thing would be GLD is, is unfortunate because I know a lot of people thought when it was high and then that dev rubbed like, like the entire, the entire reserve of Eve.So, you know, it's, it's kind of a tough spot because I know he, he really cares about the people that sort of like followed his advice and, you know, granted, he says it's worthless, but you know, I, I know he really cares about the perception of the project and I know he wants to see it succeed. So, you know, if we can do something to, to, you know, work with that community in a way that's true to pixel vault, you know, I'm, I'm happy to do it, but I doubt it'll be through BGLB.It would more likely be just like something in partnership with glutes. Um, But it would be something like that's like actually just like a pixel wall project that maybe we can reward blue folders with. Got it. Nice. So, yeah, we'll definitely keep our eyes on that. Um, you know, speaking of, you know, following, uh, how do you manage to discord?You know, there's such a big following for the pixel community. Uh, you know, how often are you in the discord as well? Yeah, so, uh, I would say I'm pretty active in the discord granted, like the last few weeks, I, I haven't been able to interact a ton. Um, but I do, anytime people tag me, I do try to answer, but, uh, Podemus is, is our community manager.He he's like a Saint he's in there all the time fighting the good fight, uh, dealing with the fighters. Um, So, you know, he leads a team of like really amazing, uh, community mods. We have too many to name right now, but I love you all. Uh, and yeah, I mean, I think that the, that the discord is like an amazing resource because the project is so complex and we do have so many different things happening at a given time that if you're not in the discord, I can see how people get lost, you know, so finding ways to improve our communication, you know, these weekly spaces, um, I was thinking of maybe having something on the website where it's kind of just like a running list of updates, because I mean, if some of these things, if you tweet it, I've seen beanie do it before.And it was like 25 tweets long or something trying to explain what was happening. So I don't really think that's the way, but, you know, finding ways to have a running update on our website and through Twitter is important and, you know, definitely. Head into the discord. I mean, if you can get a founder's doubt token, I know the price is down right now.I mean, I'm biased, but seems like a really good deal to me, the alpha and just that channel pays for itself. I mean, we have people that started with like one Ethan now have bought board apes and punks and stuff just off the basis of the different projects that they're flipping in, in the founders now channel.So it's a really vibrant community and there, uh, love those people. I, I highly suggest getting in that channel if you can afford it. I agree. Love it. So one of the things we we've talked about, you know, in reference several times during this interview was a deal that pixel vault signed with w M E so that's something we're seeing more and more now in the NFT space we saw, uh, you know, crypto punk's parent company signed with UTA.So I guess my first question here is, you know, uh, how soon will we see announcements on the TV and film side of things for monetization? You mentioned that things, you know, are you, you know, you're constantly talking, is that something that's going to be communicated, you know, through the founders discourt first?Or will it be, you know, public information through press releases with these potential media partners? Yeah. So, um, I would say that that's really my primary focus right now is finding us a game development partner and a partner for developing the IP. Um, For example today I met with like a really amazing, uh, former top level executive at universal and Dreamworks.And he's interested in coming on and sort of leading a team to, to actually develop the IP into an animated series, feature film, et cetera. So, you know, we're speaking with, uh, the who's who of, of Hollywood trying to develop a team, my personal background, I've worked in the entertainment space, but more of like support services, so communications, uh, financial tools, et cetera.So I very much know what I don't know. And if we're going to be successful in developing this IP, I think we really need a seasoned, uh, production, executive producer type person. Um, so I'm actively taking meetings in that regard. And then shortly thereafter we'll be working with, um, I would be working with that person to try and find us, uh, a seasoned television or.Uh, which has obviously different than a comic writer, but, um, you know, they're all going to need to be very much intertwined together. Right. So, uh, actively building out the creative team and, uh, yeah, I mean, I I'm, I couldn't be more thrilled with the conversations that are going on behind the scenes and, uh, you know, to all the flutters, like good luck, uh, cause I'm building.So, uh, you know, I'll be here, rain or shine, uh, bear market bull market. Uh, it takes a while it's not going anywhere. So, uh, really, really excited for what the future is going to have love it. So, uh, you know, you mentioned your media background, so I'm guessing that w M E was not the only, uh, rap considered here.What did that process look like? And maybe, you know, why was w M E picked over some of these other talent agencies for pixel. Yeah. So, uh, we took meetings with just about everyone. Um, uh, well I guess all of the large players, uh, in the agency space, we didn't speak to UTA, uh, who represent larval labs just because, you know, ultimately we're going to be developing kind of like a similar IP.I really don't know what they're planning, but, um, we spoke with all the other major players and I wanted to get a sense for sort of their vision for the space. And, um, you know, I was also really impressed with CAA. I know they're doing a lot to, to build out kind of like an NFT division, but ultimately what really sort of differentiated WME for me.Um, so Chris Jackman, he, he's kind of like, um, a leader in strategy for WME. Um, and first off to have like a CSO. Your call, your first meeting shows like some of the degree of, um, you know, seriousness with which they're taking your project. So, you know, having senior level executives on all of our initial calls was, was really impressive to me that they, they take the time and effort to do so.And he's actually stayed like very highly engaged. So it's not just like a lip service that they're paying you off the bat, uh, too with WME. Um, you're not really just dealing with one agent you're dealing with subject matter expertise, uh, across a variety of verticals, right? So we have someone who is in like legacy publishing, whether that be comics, books, et cetera.We have someone whose sole responsibility is television. We have film, we have, uh, like digital media. We have a gaming agent. You really have like a team of people that are going out and developing business for you. And, uh, while our team is now 18 people strong. I mean, having all of these people whose whose sole incentive is to develop business for you.I mean, that's the only way they make money. They don't collect a check from us otherwise, uh, is really powerful. Right? So I think having subject matter experts makes a difference, but really sort of the key, uh, and touching again on this conversation with Chris, uh, in strategy for them, they don't look at pixel vaults as an NFT business, which I think pretty much everyone else.Yes, NFTs are sort of the, the core of our business and what will allow us to differentiate ourselves from traditional media players. But ultimately we're an IP business leveraging kind of next generation technologies, right? We're still approaching IP in a way that is very similar to what these legacy institutions are doing, but we're doing it in a way that actually benefits the broader community, develops the IP for the benefit of all, uh, and sort of this collective mind, uh, of our community, all working together to develop this IP, I think is going to be tremendously disruptive to, to sort of like legacy institutions.Um, I mean, you've seen, uh, Amazon and Netflix already disrupt what the traditional studios were doing. And I think this is the next logical progression of where that's going. And, uh, I, I touched on this a bit earlier. The, the opinions are different now, even in these legacy institutions, like nobody wants to be blockbuster, you know, they don't want to be disrupted again by the Netflix and Amazon of the world.So people are taking our conversations very seriously. I think there's a lack of, of new IP. I mean, you know, the, the Harry potters and, um, you know, game of Thrones of the world have really been few and far between, uh, over the last, I'd say decade or two. I mean, Harry Potter now came out, I don't know, 25 years ago.So you're seeing, um, a lot of, sort of repeat. You know, fast and the furious one to eight, 10, right? Exactly. I mean, they're cool. Like they're fun movies and $300 million movie is nothing to scoff at, but, um, there's a, there's a shortage of IP. And I think that you're going to see these traditional media players starting to look at the NFT space as kind of like these niche, but very strong and loyal communities where actual new IP is being developed, whether it be us or dates, et cetera.Um, cool cats, you know, some of the other leaders in the space. I think, I think all of us are going to be successful in, in one way or another in developing and disrupting some of these traditional business. Awesome. You know, so one of the things we always try to do on here, we already got a ton of information from you.Some updates on the timeline, you know, you're talking about taking meetings and all that different stuff, but I always try. So my question is, can you give the Benzinga audience one sneak peek detail about the Metta hero universe that hasn't been revealed anywhere yet?Well, I mean, I would say that that was like a pretty big, uh, hint that I just dropped a minute ago. Right. Uh, bringing on, uh, an executive to, to develop this, this Medicare IP. It, uh, obviously it's going to tie to the pumps because it all works together, but you know, someone. Uh, sort of grew up under Steven Spielberg in the very early days of Dreamworks and his led like multi a hundred million dollar projects being interested in, in leading our IP.I mean, if that's not bullish for our project and the space more broadly, I don't know what it is, but people see the value in what's being created here. And, uh, you know, this, this was the first, the first like big meeting, uh, bringing someone in house. But, uh, uh, I mean, I, I couldn't have been more impressed with that, with that call.And I think it's really indicative of the direction that, um, you know, these conversations are going to go with WME. Making introductions across a variety of verticals tonight, I'm meeting with their gaming department. So, uh, yeah, really excited. But I think that if, if, if that meeting that I just spoke about is any indication of sort of the other people that we're talking to in, in traditional media to develop the project.Like, you know, there, there are, are big household names that are, that are looking at, uh, developing the medical IP. So very, very bullish on the future. Perfect. We, we love the hints here. I love that. And the way you painted that too, you know, I just, you know, it's, it's so clear. I can see it in my head. Now we've seen a lot of, you know, YouTube and influencers take on movie roles to get more viewers.I can totally see that happening with NFTs where, you know, the IP is going to be so important for, you know, to drive such a large audience. So, dude, I'm so excited for. Yeah. I mean, you know, as the IP succeeds in the broader media, obviously that returns value to the NFTs, but also we're definitely going to be finding creative ways to give exclusive content to NFTE holders, uh, you know, participation in events.Uh, you know, there there's a whole host of different ways, but, uh, you know, focusing on, uh, driving kind of like the mainstream attention. While, uh, you know, making sure to reward that kind of like initial community of builders will be our focus moving love that. Uh, so between punks comic Mehta heroes and the planet sales, uh, pixel vault has done over 48,000 Ethereum in volume, top 12, all time on open seat with about over four with about over 5,000 unique holders.Um, so what advice? Yeah. Secondary, what advice would you have for new projects launching today? Right. So in a market that's, you know, getting oversaturated, it's such a fast moving market, uh, what advice would you give to someone that wants to, you know, join that FTE community as a creator? Yeah, so, I mean, I first off, I think, you know, hearing those secondary numbers, I mean, I, I'm sure that stood out to groups like WME, right?If you're in a legacy business and you're seeing how much more effectively things can be monetized in a web three environment, I mean, you'd be stupid not to pay attention in terms of. Uh, new projects, new collectors. I mean, I think everyone that, that has found the most success has brought something unique to the table, right.While yeah, you can probably make like $3 million doing like a copy paste project that, you know, fades into oblivion in a few days, if you're doing something unique and actually dedicated and involved with your community and, and, you know, looking at things from like a long-term mindset, right. Again, I'll point to the cool cats and board apes.Like I, I know for sure that those are teams of founders that like take the longterm success of their projects seriously. Uh, just like we do. So, you know, I think it's pretty clear, uh, when, when evaluating these projects, what, what people's intentions are. I mean, even if it's not a rug or something, even if the people like.You know, well-intentioned and the founders are in chat. If really all they're doing is another, just like random PFP, you know what what's going to differentiate that long-term like, why is the market going to appreciate that project in one year, five years, 10 years. Right. So I think focusing on creators that are bringing something new and unique to the table, whether that be tech or, you know, vision for what can be done with the IP, uh, or even just have like a really unique community of supporters.Um, I think that's sort of like the key, the key when evaluating new projects and what will, what will make successful teams moving into the future? Love that. So we've seen a picks of all cool cats, bore. Dave's a lot of these projects that started a couple months ago, you know, they've become blue chip. Do you have any projects that you like right now that are on their way there, or that are fairly new or that you've seen so far in the last couple weeks?I don't mint a lot of projects these days. Um, I'm just like way, way too busy to even follow the mania. Um, but like, I've been following a handful of, uh, like photography projects. Um, so, uh, obviously twin planes was really awesome and now, you know, uh, Justin's kind of like blue chip, uh, Dave, uh Krogman I always mess up his last name would drive.I mean, he, he, I didn't know it at the time, but he talked about how pixel vault and punks comic and like the weird mechanics were sort of inspiration for some of the things he was doing there. And then, uh, like where my vans go or whatever that guy that is just like taking pictures at like insane Heights and stuff.Um, yeah. That's, I mean, those, those pictures make me nervous. So I think that you're going to see. A new crop of, oh, a cat simmered. I want to say her last name is, uh, with like sort of the outdoor landscape things. And she did like a really cool project. I don't know, a couple months ago where the winner would get to do some sort of like cool outdoor excursion with her.So I, I think photography is going to be a thing that you're, you're seeing, uh, gain a lot of traction here. Um, you know, hopefully it's not just PFPs into oblivion, but I mean, again, it doing new things that inserts risk, right? Like if you could just do a copy paste PFP and make $3 million, like, like why do a comic that's going to sit there and nobody is going to get for five weeks, right?Yeah. You have to have the vision. So again, you know, find founders that really believe in what they're doing and are doing something unique. I mean, yeah. Look at these photos. It's so. Uh, I, I was looking, I mean, it's already really expensive, so I kind of missed the boat. Um, but yeah, I heard, I heard some of his backstory, I think he's like former special ops or something.Um, yeah, so he, and he's just climbing these things with, with like no harnesses, nothing. So, you know, more power to this guy. I, I hope, I hope he stays safe, but pretty cool collection of photos. I love that. Awesome. Well, G funk that did it for questions from myself and mass and some of our Benzing a team.Uh, if you've got a couple minutes, we could try to rattle through some chat questions real quick. Um, I know we're already past three here, so only if you have time, um, we'll try to go fast here. So we had a question from Teresa. She said, well, the opportunity to win a core ever come up again, outside of the mint pack.Oh, okay. No, uh, ever come up again. Yes. In November, the core giveaways will start again. Um, but no, you will need a med pass to get those cores. However, we do have kind of like a, another sort of core, like project coming up, that's tied to the planets. So, uh, you know, that's going to be something that the community can speculate about, but, uh, ODS and Chris are, are very much in the weeds there.So that's going to be really cool and tied to the lore of the planets. There won't be as many, but a really cool set of characters. So yeah, finding new ways to reward collectors, but know that that original set of 146 cores is only going to be going to the mid pass holders, which I think there's like, I dunno, 4,000 or so.Awesome. And then you, you mentioned snapshots before we did get a question from yogis in the chat. When will this, uh, pixel vault set snapshots be taken? So just any comment on maybe the timeline or how that will be communicated to everyone. Yeah. So we're going to be taking the planet snapshots for the sidekicks, uh, like the first week of November in terms of the sets.So the, the sort of Genesis set being tied to the giveaway of the earth tokens. So again, that'll be like first week or so of November, and then kind of that, that like longer term sort of dangling carrot for the sets with the ultimate conversion, to a doubt, a public Dow for pixel vault itself. Uh, I mean, that's gonna take some time, you know, couldn't take a year, but the plan is for next year to formerly convert, to adapt.And similar to what Sr did, where, you know, existing holders, people that have participated in the community to work, to reward those people. The PV Dao token will not be sold anywhere. So it's just going to go back to our original collectors and they'll have a stake in how the business is run. So, uh, really excited for, for that ultimate future.Um, and that's sort of like the long-term benefit of these sets. Awesome. And then we have power the game currency. Uh, the question from Ben is will that be public or only available in the pixel vault ecosystem? Well, so, I mean, ultimately you'll be able to trade it like on, on sushi or whatnot. Um, but it's not a token that will ever be sold.So, uh, it's, it's going to have a specific allocation to the identities. It will, there will be an allocation to the sidekicks, which will be also good, but not as good as the identities. Um, and then. Uh, the remaining tokens are going to flow to the uptown, which is sort of the governance mechanism for the gaming platform.And that will decide, uh, based on a vote of the planets, um, how, and when they want to distribute the rest of those tokens, there will ultimately be a billion pound tokens. Um, and we'll be releasing more information here pretty soon, uh, because state game for, for the identities is going to start probably in the next two weeks.Nice. So we have a question from Scott here who, uh, he's asking, you've mentioned, you know, the burnout being real and then another T world, uh, do you take personal days off? And if you do, how do you keep your mental health strong, you know, throughout these crazy times and then if T space? Yeah. Uh, unfortunately I, I, I mean, I've basically taken no days off.I don't, I don't think there's ever been a day since this started, that I've unplugged. Uh, even, even the trip where I got engaged. I mean, I was like working that morning, so, you know, I try and find, uh, bits and pieces here and there where I can unplug for a few hours. I know beanie gives me, uh, a lot of grief over, you know, tweeting about sports, but, you know, even if I'm working right, if I'm watching sports, it gives me kind of like a little bit of a way to unplug.And so I, I find that to be kind of like a useful mechanism to unplug, you know, get out, hit a bucket of golf balls, um, you know, exercise, you know, do you gotta do things to unplug, even if you're not going to unplug for extended periods of time, but that's it. I, I totally get that. You know, some people need to step away for, for more time than that.And certainly I'm a. It feels like I've aged like 50 years in the last six months. But, um, yeah. I mean, finding some time in your day to unplug, I think is important, but I mean, with, with how fast this is growing, I, I really can't step away even for a day, so yeah, it's crazy. But they're trying to push through.Yeah, no, I completely get it. Uh, definitely want to just get some movement and stuff. Some balance is always healthy, but yeah. Another question from Scott here. Yeah, exactly. Another question from Scott here is, uh, he's curious to know, has any of the team met in real life? Uh, you know, given that NFT communities largely exist on Twitter and discord?Yeah. So. Preston, who again was, uh, was one of the founders of punks comic. Uh, he and I met on Twitter about, uh, 10 years ago. Uh, but then have since become like in real life friends, um, I have met some, like other members of the community in LA. We had like a meetup. I met, uh, Justin Arsano hunter, um, you know, Jacob, uh, the NFT attorney, like a big group of people, uh, in LA there's, there's actually like a pretty tight knit group of people there.But for my, my pixel vault team, unfortunately we haven't had the opportunity to, to meet yet in person. Uh, I do have a ticket for NFT NYC and the virtual, not he, I got him a ticket as well. I don't have a flight or a place to stay yet, and I'm not a hundred percent sure I'm going to make it. But, uh, that would be, I

Brian Fanzo - How Artificial Intelligence is Transforming the World Siri… begin podcast Alexa… where my Amazonians at? Cortana? You still around? Tay… why do you hate people? Friday? Jarvis? Ultron? SKYNET?!?!?!   “AI will accelerate the end of ownership.” Today, we don’t own movies or music anymore—we subscribe to Netflix or Spotify. Tomorrow, we won’t own products anymore—we’ll subscribe to them. Tien Tzuo, CEO & Founder, Zuora   We will see the focus shift from AI to 'AI-driven' results as companies look for real business impact from AI tools. The technology will be less important than the business insights it delivers” Sean Byrnes, CEO and co-founder, Outlier   I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do HAL 9000, 2001: A Space Odyssey   What the hell does any of that even mean?   In this episode of InSecurity, Matt Stephenson has a chat with Brian Fanzo about the impact of Artificial Intelligence on the larger world. That means large corporate enterprises, brands you recognized and everyday regular folks like you and me. What kind of impact is AI going to have on you? Stick around and find out.     About Brian Fanzo Brian Fanzo (@iSocialFanz) is a proud dad of three girls under the age of 10, a Pittsburgh loving sports fan, a self-proclaimed change evangelist which makes sense as the one constant in this pager wearing millennial’s career has been change. He is a proud geek that majored in computer science who then found his niche of “translating geekspeak” with a unique background that includes working 9 years for the DoD in Cybersecurity, 2 years at a booming cloud computing startup and the last 5 years an entrepreneur and CEO of iSocialFanz. Brian’s DoD career includes leading a team of 30+ developers & trainers with a mission of training, implementing and developing solutions that empowered the different branches of the military to share and collaborate leveraging social business tools their cybersecurity policies and procedures. If that doesn’t sound tough enough his role included 2 trips to Afghanistan & 3 to Iraq while also briefing the joint chiefs of staff at the Pentagon. Brian discovered his love for workshops, training and speaking while at the DoD for which he leveraged in his next job as the Technology Evangelist of a booming datacenter startup based out of Phoenix Arizona was known as IOdatacenters. Brian has a diverse background beyond the Department of Defense bit… he is currently the founder of iSocialFanz which has helped launch digital and influencer strategies with the world’s most iconic brands like Dell EMC, Adobe, IBM, UFC, Applebees and SAP.   The role of technology evangelist was one that Brian designed at pitched the CEO himself, as it was a role that two of his idols Guy Kawasaki at Apple and Robert Scoble of Microsoft, later Rackspace mastered creating cult-like followings while connecting internal and external community for the company. Brian had the luxury of reporting to the CEO with a dotted line to both the CIO & CMO where he was able to be the face of the brand speaking and evangelizing the IO data center and cloud solutions at the largest technology events in the world including Amazon ReInvent, VMworld, Gartner Symposium, CES and many more. In 2014 while still at IO Brian received his first of many social business awards as he was named Top 25 Social Business Leader of the future by the Economist and IBM. Brian leveraged the visibility and opportunities afforded to him with this award to travel to Ted Talks and the world’s largest technology events as an influencer, speaker and the personal brand of iSocialFanz.   Brian hosts two podcasts (FOMOFanz& SMACtalk), has traveled to over 70 countries and has spoken at many of the world’s largest events including SXSW, Social Media Marketing World, CES, Mobile World Congress. Oh… and… Brian is a semi-professional poker player who isn’t afraid to leverage his fast talking skills to read your body language and spot when you’re bluffing.   There’s not much we can do about that snapback hat… we’ve suggested all kinds of different fitted solutions but we still keep seeing that damn snapback.    About Matt Stephenson Insecurity Podcast host Matt Stephenson (@packmatt73) leads the Security Technology team at Cylance, which puts him in front of crowds, cameras, and microphones all over the world. He is the regular host of the InSecurity podcast and host of CylanceTV   Twenty years of work with the world’s largest security, storage, and recovery companies has introduced Matt to some of the most fascinating people in the industry. He wants to get those stories told so that others can learn from what has come   Every week on the InSecurity Podcast, Matt interviews leading authorities in the security industry to gain an expert perspective on topics including risk management, security control friction, compliance issues, and building a culture of security. Each episode provides relevant insights for security practitioners and business leaders working to improve their organization’s security posture and bottom line.   Can’t get enough of Insecurity? You can find us at ThreatVector InSecurity Podcasts, iTunes/Apple Podcastsand GooglePlayas well as Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud, I Heart Radioand wherever you get your podcasts!   Make sure you Subscribe, Rate and Review!

On this episode of SMACtalk Daniel Newman and Brian Fanzo start the conversation off discussing recent cybersecurity breaches but this leads into a much bigger discussion on privacy and transparency posing a lot of unanswered questions...    We would love to hear your thoughts on the topic.... post on twitter using hashtag #SMACtalk and @DanielNewmanUV or @iSocialFanz will jump in the conversation! 

Marketers aren’t marketing in 2019 without technology but sadly most marketers don’t think of themselves at technologists but even more troubling aren’t doing the research to understand the emerging technologies that will massively disrupt the industry over the next 10 years. A recent Digiday survey found that 9% of marketers consider themselves fluent in blockchain…  This mindblowing stat was the inspiration for this episode of SMACtalk hosted by Daniel Newman & Brian Fanzo. On this episode they discuss: Are you an analytical marketer? Are you a marketer that loves change? Why aren’t we linking data between PR, Marketing & Sales with AI? Do marketers understand the impact of blockchain on the future? How can marketing leaders stay up to date with emerging technology? Why are marketers still measuring and reporting on data of the past. Blog posts referenced in this show: Digiday Research: Marketers lack understanding of emerging technologies Harvard Business Review: The Era of “Move Fast and Break Things” Is Over Hit up Daniel & Brian on Twitter and let them know your thoughts on this episode or simply tweet with the hashtag #SMACtalk @DanielNewmanUV:  www.twitter.com/danielnewmanUV @iSocialFanz: www.twitter.com/isocialfanz

We're kicking off the new year of #IDIODC with an amazing guest outside of the training world. But everything he does represents the signposts directing us towards the future of learning. Brian Fanzo, better known as @isocialfanz, is going to talk with us about the importance of video. He is often asked to keynote marketing events because the marketing community is often driving innovation faster than the L&D industry. But what most people don't know is that Brian comes from OUR world. He's a training professional turned social media rock star. You don't want to miss this wide-ranging conversation around social media and video, and why your learning strategies need to take advantage of video. Brian Fanzo inspires, motivates and educates businesses on how to leverage emerging technologies and digital marketing to standout from the noise and reach the millennial and generation z consumers. He has a diverse background working for the Department of Defense in cyber security, then as a technology evangelist at a booming cloud computing startup and is currently the founder of iSocialFanz which has helped launch digital and influencer strategies with the world’s most iconic brands like Dell EMC, Adobe, IBM, UFC, Applebees and SAP. A proud pager-wearing millennial and Dad of three girls, Brian hosts two podcasts (FOMOFanz & SMACtalk), has traveled to over 70 countries and has spoken at many of the worlds largest events including SXSW, Social Media Marketing World, CES, Mobile World Congress. Brian has also made it to the 2017 Digital Marketing Influencer List by Onalytica (5 - Top 50): #10 2017- TOP 50 SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS. You can learn more about Brian on his LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfanzo/ Become virtual friends with the IDIODC gang on twitter (and remember you can always stay in the loop with the #IDIODChashtag): Brian: @iSocialFanz https://twitter.com/iSocialFanz Brent: @BSchlenker https://twitter.com/bschlenker Chris: @Chris_V_W https://twitter.com/Chris_V_W Brent Schlenker is dominKnow's Community Manager. Chris Van Wingerden is dominKnow's Sr. VP Learning Solutions. Want to join us live? Follow us on Crowdcast: https://www.crowdcast.io/dominknow Interested in learning more about dominKnow? Sign up for our next live platform demo to learn why we do powerful eLearning-authoring best. (And get a free 14-day trial after you watch the demo!) https://www.dominknow.com/demonstration.html

Brian Fanzo, the Millennial Keynote Speaker, Change Evangelist, Social Media Influencer, and Podcaster joins the show to share his journey from cybersecurity in the Department of Defense to international keynote speaker. Hear how to stay ahead of the curve with new technology, the most exciting tech trends for the next few years, how to translate skills across industries, and even tips on reading body language from Brian’s career in the World Series of Poker. Connect with Brian on your favorite social media platform at @iSocialFanz, at brian@isocialfanz.com, and his podcasts FOMOFanz and SMACtalk

In this episode of SMACTalk, Daniel Newman invites IBM Automation (Client) GM/VP Gene Chao to share his insights on how Customer Experience is being impacted by Automation. On the show, Gene is asked the following questions. Do you have a story as a consumer to share about how automation optimized a recent customer experience for you? Or what the organization could've done better? (could be a blind reference)What are some of the pitfalls organizations must avoid when it comes to automation being part of the customer experience? What are good ways to overcome them?   What do you view as the key factors to automation successfully optimizing customer experiences? What's the one thing you advise clients to pay attention to? To avoid complacency? To be prepared for?   When we think of customer experience and automation, people tend to think of chatbots - but are there other types of automation solutions we should consider? Packed with insights, Gene helps companies understand the ways that Automation is going to change the way people interact with companies. This isn't just customers, but employees too. But the positive thing is that automation isn't going to displace, but rather drive better experiences and a stronger movement toward upskilling the workforce to help companies transform as quickly as modern technology.  Don't miss this episode packed with insights for marketers, technologists and business leaders. 

On this edition of SMACTalk, Co-hosts Brian Fanzo and Daniel Newman invite special guests Ginger Shimp and Jeff Janiszewski from SAP to talk about innovation in content marketing.  While so many B2B companies struggle to evolve beyond traditional funnel marketing, Shimp and Janiszewski share how they have taken traditional funnel methods like white papers, lead generation and social media, and utilized new tactics like audio books white papers (http://sapinnovate.me/reports)and podcast-inspired storytelling (www.searchingforsalai.com) to shake things up AND to challenge the thinking and traditional marketing practices of their colleagues throughout SAP.  Don't miss this great conversation. So much to learn here about a highly successful SAP campaign that helped launch their new digital intelligence platform SAP Leonardo, while helping more than 25 of their BU's drive custom content to their end customers and channel partners. All of this and more, on SMACTalk!  

In this episode of SMACtalk, Daniel Newman and Brian Fanzo welcome guest Steve Rudolph of Pegasystems. In his role at Pega, Steve leads the industry market group covering telco and all the industries it touches, from insurance to financial services. In his role, he focuses on how to create value in customer relationships by using data effectively. During the podcast, Daniel, Brian and Steve discussed the need for today’s industries to embrace AI and machine learning in advertising to ensure positive relationships with their customers. Many industries, including telco, have gotten stuck in the “tyrannosaurus rex” method of marketing—direct marketing—even though it’s clear traditional segmenting approaches are no longer effective. In fact, it often leads to outcomes that are bad for both the marketer and the customer. Customers are irritated that they get hit with ads that aren’t relevant—and marketers are frustrated that they aren’t getting the results they need. Why does that happen? Steve notes that traditional segmenting is good for averages, but not for individuals. Using AI can help companies make smarter use of customer segmentation by combining data about their real-time actions taken by the customer (performing a search for keyword or product) with historical information from them pulled across channels. This allows companies to market in a way that doesn’t feel like marketing, and it helps hit customers at the time they’re most willing to buy. Who is responsible for leading this change? Steve says today’s digital heroes are the forward-thinking executives focusing on ways to increase customer lifetime value, not just marketing impact. Just like we build CX journey maps, we need to use AI, omnichannel data, and marketing to plot our services, sales, and marketing touchpoints. For instance, providing the right services puts people in right frame of mind to buy. We must begin with the end goal in mind—incorporating CX and UX to build a seamless and positive experience for customers. While many people are afraid of AI, Steve feels that when use it effectively – to create value for our customers – most won’t even realize they’re encountering it. Ultimately, AI won’t just be used to sell, but to make our customers’ lives better. A year from now, Steve hopes we will be using AI to enhance every service we interact with on a daily basis. AI itself isn’t quite perfect yet—and it still has some hurdles to cross in terms of transparency and trust. But in the end it remains an incredible tool for allowing almost every industry move with their relationship with customers forward.

Top Social Media Marketing Influencer CEO of iSocialFanz Brian Fanzo He's a millennial keynote speaker who has worked with the department of defense in cybersecurity, he's helped launch digital strategies with brand's like Dell, Adobe, Applebees, IBM, you name it! Brian Fanzo Top 10 Social Media Marketing Influencer Brian Fanzo founder of iSocialFanz Today's guest is one of the top 10 social media influencers in 2017 according to Onalytica stats. I would like to welcome Brian Fanzo. - Father of 3 girls all under the age of 8 - the host of 2 podcasts - Been to over 70 countries He is on youtube, huge on Twitter, halfway to maxing out LinkedIn connection limit, Tumblr, Instagram, Facebook, etc Brian Fanzo has the "Caos is the new normal" mentality Here are some of the points Quin Amorim asked about: - Storytelling at the NSA - Spoke at Social Media Marketing World - That's one of the worlds largest events - How nervous are you before going on stage - How do you prepare for the stage? - Apple beest story 1 billion page views - What are your favorite platforms for marketing besides FB who we know is the 500 lbs gorilla Brian Fanzo inspires, motivates and educates businesses on how to leverage emerging technologies and digital marketing to stand out from the noise and reach the millennial and generation z consumers. He has a diverse background working for the Department of Defense in cybersecurity, then as a technology evangelist at a booming cloud computing startup and is currently the founder of iSocialFanz which has helped launch digital and influencer strategies with the world’s most iconic brands like Dell EMC, Adobe, IBM, UFC, Applebees and SAP. A proud pager-wearing millennial and Dad of three girls, Brian hosts two podcasts (FOMOFanz & SMACtalk), has traveled to over 70 countries and has spoken at many of the worlds largest events including SXSW, Social Media Marketing World, CES, Mobile World Congress.   Brian's Books: Jab Jab Jab, Right Hook - Gary Vaynerchuck Youtility - Jay Baer Know exactly what to say - Phil Jones

In this episode I am joined by Brian Fanzo, founder of iSocialFanz, to talk about engaging with millennials in your marketing and video. Brian inspires, educates and motivates businesses on how to leverage emerging technologies and digital marketing to stand out from the noise and reach the millennial and Gen Z consumer. iSocialFanz has helped launched digital and influencer strategies with the world’s most iconic brands like Dell, Adobe, IBM, and SAP. He has 2 podcasts, FOMOFans and SMACTalk, and has traveled to over 70 countries to speak in many of the world’s largest events including South by Southwest, Social Media Marketing World, and Mobile World Conference. In this episode Brian’s story and what led him to the world of digital marketing and social media, particularly his interest in exploring how millennials and Gen Z are engaging on these platforms The problem with reaching Millennials today How brands can strategically approach the idea of building relationships with prospects in their channels Relatability as the future of marketing Examples of what big and iconic brands are doing right and wrong How experience plays a part in marketing to millennials What Brian says to convince companies to invest on hard to measure strategies and help them understand how these will sell their stuff Thinking strategically and investing time and effort to use video The message of Brian’s upcoming book, Push the Damn Button, and the impact he wants to have in the world through that Learning by doing and making mistakes Creating content and video that is valuable to companies with many regulations How people who push the button make mistakes Brian’s advice in using platforms to reach your target audience Links mentioned in the show (http://www.isocialfanz.com/fomofanz/) (http://www.isocialfanz.com/smactalklive/) (http://www.isocialfanz.com/) (http://www.twitter.com/iSocialfanz) (http://www.facebook.com/iSocialFanz) (https://www.instagram.com/isocialfanz/) (http://www.snapchat.com/add/isocialfanz) (https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfanzo) (https://www.youtube.com/c/BrianFanzo) Free Foundations Video Course (http://engagevideomarketing.com/episode62) (http://engagevideomarketing.com/itunes) Support this podcast

In this Intel-sponsored episode of SMACTalk, Daniel Newman leads a show focused on the visual cloud. Joining Daniel is Lynn Comp, Vice President of Data Center Group and General Manager of the Visual Cloud Division Network Platform Group at Intel. During the show, they discuss what Intel is doing in the realm of the visual cloud and what we can expect in the future. Lynn focuses her time on helping cloud services be transformed. She talked about the visual cloud including visual workloads that are processed on the cloud and consumed remotely, resulting in horizontal make-up. She mentioned that a lot of enterprises want their subcontractors to be able to view their 3D models, but not the whole model itself. So, remote access is critical for intellectual property. Lynn mentions that individuals aged 18 to 49 tune into YouTube more often than they do TV. This is a worldwide trend that is exciting and pushing the visual cloud forward through the delivery of things like Comcast and other similar broadcasters.  Lynn discussed how video marketing is becoming more and more common, especially for small to medium-sized businesses. The best way to work with this tech is to learn what the most effective solution might be for the network that they have. With the visual cloud, there is no single design point. Instead, there are multiple points, creating a better hook to increase conversions. The visual cloud gives developers more opportunities in their business models, workload placement and the user experience as a whole. Lynn explained what Intel’s strategy is for the visual cloud. Intel is taking a “software acceleration” approach, being in the market with software such as the Media Server Studio and Web RTC, which is a way to conduct streaming. Continuing on this acceleration, they will soon be open-sourcing DLDT or the Deep Learning Deployment Toolkit and OpenVino to help unleash innovation and make it easy for solution providers to find the right solution and deciding where to put it. Will they need to place it in the cloud or the edge? She also shared that Intel will also be opening up access to Scalable Video Technology and working with Google and others in the industry. By open-sourcing these capabilities, Intel believes they can unleash even more innovation. Lynn further explained that it doesn’t matter how optimized your solution is, if you don’t have the ability to move between the different design points. With Intel, you should have access to the same software that is scalable across all solution points. Instead of broadcasters needing to rip and replace their infrastructure, they can upgrade their hardware seamlessly through software. Lynn discussed how the whole broadcasting industry is making the switch from black box equipment to software-based architectures to be cloud ready. As the cloud makes 5G possible, it also leaves space for flexibility with the software to find visual cloud workloads.  Daniel wrapped up the show by asking what the real outcome will be in investing in the visual cloud. Lynn explained that to some extent, everyone has the opportunity to be a creator. They can show their passions and talents to a wide audience using YouTube and other broadcasting tools. It isn’t just a passive experience anymore. We’ve unleashed the user’s creativity to create channels, broadcasts and communities that didn’t exist in the past.  

  In this IBM sponsored episode of SMACTalk, Daniel Newman goes solo on hosting duties and leads a show focused on the future of automated work. Joining Daniel for the discussion was Mike Gilfix, Vice President of Digital Business Automation at IBM, a software that digitizes business operations and provides them with intelligence around digital labor to upscale their business. The show focused on how technology such as automation, AI, data and machine learning is going to make companies more successful and productive. During the show, Mike shared how IBM is making use of automation to improve their customer service touchpoint by changing the way they support their clients. They found that time to resolution of an issue is a main driver behind customer satisfaction. By leveraging automation technology interaction through chatbots and more, the process is simplified, creating a better customer experience.  Mike also discussed some of the biggest trends he is seeing around the realm of automation for work. First, there is a revolution happening in businesses today around knowledge work. This revolution is creating tons of changes in the way technology supports what they do and the way they conduct their processes. Technology is helping knowledge workers be more effective and better at their tasks, helping them make decisions and freeing up more time for innovation. This trend is driving new things such as robotic process automation and decision management. It’s changing the way people work and is here to stay.  Both Daniel and Mike shared how AI and automation technology will not steal jobs from employees but will instead likely create new opportunities. To get there, executives must think about the transition and how they can help employees make the leap into a new position with new responsibilities. Organizations will need to help change the culture of fear surrounding automation within their teams through communication. Mike made the point that we’re not anywhere near running out of work to do. In fact, most businesses have large laundry lists of work they want to complete and not enough people to do it. Automation will help businesses get done what they want to get done by creating capacity. One of the challenges for businesses is getting automation to work and minimizing failure. Mike discussed how most organizations don’t know where to start. They’re looking for the concept but have chosen basic technology to get them there. There is an opportunity to open up their eyes to the possibilities and see the true potential of automation. There’s also an opportunity here to help IT teams leverage technology to its full potential, aiding in operation changes within business. Mike emphasized that automation will benefit both sides of the spectrum in both revenue generation and cost basis. If businesses want to improve their reach with consistency, accuracy, personalization and transparency, these things require automation technology. The tech will enable a new level of scale in businesses. New revenue generating opportunities will follow suit, allowing these businesses to become more competitive in this technology-centric world. To learn more, read Daniel Newman’s recent blog post for IBM, “4 Exciting Things About the Future of Automating Work.”  

SMACTalk Live at VMWorld with Intel In this special Intel sponsored episode of SMACTalk, Daniel Newman leads a show focused on digital transformation while attending VMworld 2018. Joining Daniel is Lisa Davis, Vice President and General Manager of Digital Transformation and Scale Solutions, Enterprise and Government for Intel’s Data Center Group. During this podcast, Daniel speaks to Lisa about what Intel is doing to further digital transformation and how data will make it all happen faster. During the show, Lisa discussed how Intel talks digital transformation, mentioning how it sometimes becomes an overused term. Every company today is a technology company. To remain competitive, you need to use technology to move faster and drive more meaningful insights inside your business. Digital transformation is all about enabling businesses to compete in a tech-centered world. Lisa gave us an example of Ford—who is no longer just an auto-manufacturing plant. Instead, they are a mobility service provider. Every company is transforming themselves into this technological world. No matter what business you’re in, you are a tech business at the core. And for each business, digital transformation should be a top priority. In this episode, Daniel and Lisa both discussed what digital transformation means to business systems. It all comes down to data and building a digital transformation system depends on it. Whether the data is from a software or a database, it should be leveraged to move businesses forward faster than ever before. Digital strategies are connected to business strategies and should be aligned with data strategies. All three should be aligned to one another for success. At VM World, VMware’s multi-cloud environment was a big focus. Having a hybrid cloud strategy is all about workload and data mobility. Lisa discussed how seamless orchestration and flexibility as an organization to drive insights for data is what Intel supports in this new environment.  Daniel mentioned how 90 percent of the world’s data was created in the last 12 months. Data is growing exponentially. Technology has to support the digital transformation and cannot be done without it. Furthering this point, Lisa discussed Intel Select Solutions, a partnership with VMware. The whole purpose of the tool is to help organizations adopt tech faster, simplifying the integration of the new technology to form a data-centric environment. Intel performs tests, benchmarks and validates reference architecture so customers don’t have to. It simplifies the process and helps customers modernize their environments faster. During the show, Lisa shared how to make the cloud work and how collaboration is key over competition. An ecosystem of partners needs to work together to help customers adopt technology. It’s all about easing the complexity of the environment. As a former CIO, Lisa has 26 years of experience being the customer. Understanding what customers really need, she helps Intel further their customer-centric approach and experience, both keys to success. As a last point, Daniel and Lisa discussed the future of the data center being the hybrid cloud which will bring about so many new opportunities for businesses and CIOs. The more data businesses can put next to their computing power, the more problems they can solve. And the ability to process data faster and store it in larger quantities is going to change the face of data.     About Lisa Davis Lisa M Davis Vice President and General Manager for IT Transformation, Enterprise and Government Data Center Group, Intel Corporation Areas of Expertise: Disruptive Technologies, Women in Tech, Supply Chain, Higher Education Technology, Federal Government, Cyber Security Industry Experience: High Tech, Higher Education, Federal Government, National Security, Intelligence, and Defense Twitter: @LisaM_Davis                          Lisa Davis is vice president and general manager for IT Transformation in Intel Corporation’s, Enterprise and Government Data Center Group where she is responsible for growing Intel’s data center business and working alongside enterprise and government CIOs to create IT transformation strategies for their organizations. Lisa joined the Data Center Group from Intel’s IT Group where she led and developed the IT architecture and integrated technology solutions supporting Intel’s world-class global supply chain, HR, Finance, and M&A IT. Davis is a three-time Chief Information Officer and has led four technology transformations over the course of her 30-year career in technology. Prior to Intel, Davis served as Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Georgetown University, and held a variety of technology leadership roles in her 26-year career in the Federal Government. As a member of the Senior Executive Service she was the CIO of the U.S. Marshals Service in the Department of Justice, as well as CIO of the Counterintelligence Field Activity in the Department of Defense. Throughout her 30-year career in technology, Lisa has been a champion for women in technology and leadership – channeling that passion into leading professional development initiatives for women. She serves on the board of Mirantis, as well as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and a number of non-profit boards. Lisa holds a bachelor's degree in computer engineering from Syracuse University, and a master's degree in human resources management from Golden Gate University, and is also a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP). Find her on twitter @LisaM_Davis or LinkedIn.      

In this special Intel sponsored episode of SMACTalk, Co-Host Daniel Newman goes solo on the hosting duties and leads a show focused on what to expect from Intel at VMworld 2018, starting August 26 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Joining Daniel for the discussion was Jake Smith, Director of Data Center Technology at Intel Data Center Group, where he focuses on Xeon Scalable Processors and Optane Persistent Memory product lines and how those products can be integrated with technology like VMware. During the show, Jake shared that Intel first began working with VMware in 2002 with efforts to reduce latency via new tools and scalable usage models like ESX, MSX, and VMware Cloud. In that time, they’ve developed technology that has sped up the process of launching virtual machines (from buying, provisioning, and developing) from months to minutes to seconds, which will drive digital transformation moving forward. In the past, for instance, companies could launch new apps just every 90 days, which put a cramp in their ability to digitally transform. Now using virtualization, they can deploy apps simultaneously, allowing users to make the most of the technology being created. At Daniel’s request, Jake discussed Intel Optane in-depth, explaining the importance of persistent state memory (PMEM), which allows a virtual machine to keep running even if the power goes out with no need to reset. It reduces boot times and increases performance with scalable memory up to 3 terabytes per socket. Jake emphasized that Optane would allow a company to move an entire database into memory, putting it within 18 microseconds of the user. The difference is like using a cached history of data, rather than opening a new site.  Daniel and Jake discussed that technology like Intel’s Optane is what will allow AI and machine learning to do the work they’re meant to do because ultimately AI and machine learning are only as good as the machines that can manage the data. Using Optane, data can be trained fast enough for companies to use it in real time—be it an autonomous vehicle or facial recognition software.  Jake shared the example of picture recognition working not in 11 seconds but 1 second. The technology would work quickly enough that you could be offered a coupon to The Gap as soon as you walked into the mall. Optane helps provide the architecture that can deliver this level of intelligence—a nexgen virtualized database. For the non-techy listeners, Daniel emphasized that Optane is about creating more storage and more access to virtual machines – making it easier, faster, and more affordable for companies to use AI and machine learning technology. Jake also emphasized that Intel’s goal is always to create a better TCO (total cost of ownership) and lower transaction cost for its business users. What Intel will preview at VMworld: Intel Select Solutions; optimized hardware solutions – CPUs, chip set technologies filled with virtual technologies; hyper threading; VSAN non-volatile memory architecture; Optane data centers with persistent memory technology; hybrid cloud environment solutions; workload optimization for hybrid cloud environments. The goal is to reduce as much latency as possible in CPU, networking silicon, SSD silicon, and memory silicon. What Intel is working on outside of VMworld:  Accelerated FGAs; custom chips that accelerate V motion; and the concept of “enterprise reassurance.” Enterprise reassurance means building compatibility generation over generation so that businesses know that investments in tech will carry over year to year. Update/Correction: (18:42) In the podcast, Jake Smith suggests that Raj Hazra would be in attendance at VMWorld 2018 to discuss Enterprise Reassurance Solutions. Raj Hazra will not in attendance, but the topic will be covered by Intel Staff at the event. 

Today on SMACTalk Brian and Daniel welcome a new partner effort with IBM Call for Code welcoming David Clark, CEO of David Clark Cause and Angel Diaz, IBM Vice President.    It isn't often enough that developers are recognized for the work they do. Sure, they have built those pesky apps that help us order books, coffee and listen to our favorite music anywhere we have internet connectivity. However, too often we hear about the negatives of programmers and developers. Those that are building code to steal our data or use it maliciously to irritate us with ads we don't want ad interruptions to our experiences.   David Clark, who has worked on causes with the great Mohammid Ali and Nelson Mandela asked a different question. As a non-technical person, he wanted to know how could technology and code be used for good. With this, and a partnership with the UN, a large venture capital firm, and IBM, Call for Code was born.    In this episode of SMACTalk, David and Angel share with the community all about the Call for Code project. They discuss the current state of the project, the successes to date, the movement and how it is impacting society as a whole and then they peek into the future of the movement.   With early focus being on how code can be developed to help natural disasters, something that effects billions of people worldwide, the project is off to a great start. So far, there are code days aka hackathons going on in nearly 100 cities and interest that goes well beyond that for more. For those interested in learning more or participating as a developer or just as a social activist, there are ways for all to get involved. For more info:    www.callforcode.org   We hope that you will check out the movement, share the podcast and get involved. It's social good meets big tech at its best and we can't wait to see all the great ideas and projects that developers worldwide create in the coming months. 

In today's episode of The Art of Passive Income, Mark and Scott talk with Brian Fanzo—iSocialFanz.com. Brian is a pager-wearing millennial rock star who is known as a change evangelist. He went to school for computer science, then worked for the US Department of Defense for 9 years in cyber security and social business and traveled to 45+ countries, three trips to Iraq, two to Afghanistan and had a team of 32 team members. While he loved the job, he is passionate about driving change and the government isn't quick to change so he left that industry and went to the tech space where he crafted his dream job as a technology evangelist. He did that for three years until he decided to do what he called his craziest journey of all, he became an entrepreneur! Brian created iSocialFanz and is a keynote speaker doing about 50 events a year. He works with brands on how they can tell their story and leverage new technology like Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook Live to create stories and experiences. His focus is to reach the Millennial/Gen-Z customer. He also hosts two podcasts—FOMOfanz and SMACtalk. Join us now as we delve deep into why you need to cut the fluff, deliver the message and create experiences and stories to capture the attention of the Millennial and Gen-Z customer when it comes to today's marketing. We go over: What defines a millennial and what type of story that resonates with them Cutting through the distractions to get a message across in a way that will be impactful In an era of change, what's NOT going to change? Plus, so much more! Find out why you shouldn't focus on what you do, but why and how. And, why Brian says, “the most powerful thing you can say on video, especially live video, is, ‘I don't know.' ” Listen in as Brian shares a ton of valuable information with us today. And no need to adjust your listening speed, Brian's default is 1.5x! TIP OF THE WEEK Mark: Learn more about Brian by going to his website at iSocialFanz.com. Scott: Check out the Chrome plugin Blade. It's great for creating nice email signatures. Brian: Check out the app Flipboard. It's great for content consumption, curation, and crafting. Isn't it time to create passive income so you can work where you want, when you want and with whomever you want?

On this episode of SMACtalk, Brian Fanzo and Daniel Newman discuss the impact of Artificial Intelligence on the retail space including how Starbucks is leveraging data analytics and AI.  They also breakdown the impact of GDPR but don’t worry this isn’t a full episode on GDPR because as we can all agree we’ve had enough of GDPR for the moment.   Discussed on this episode: Do today’s consumers realize that A.I. is already impacting them every single day? What impact with the GDPR changes have on AI? How will consumers demands of AI change in 2018? “Nobody will ever complain that you’re helping them too much or providing too much value!” Articles referenced in this episode: Starbucks: Using Big Data, Analytics And Artificial Intelligence To Boost Performance https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2018/05/28/starbucks-using-big-data-analytics-and-artificial-intelligence-to-boost-performance/2/#19cc302e5531 Stitch Fix: The Amazing Use Case Of Using Artificial Intelligence In Fashion Retail https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2018/05/25/stitch-fix-the-amazing-use-case-of-using-artificial-intelligence-in-fashion-retail/#54cb012a3292 State of Digital Transformation Report https://futurumresearch.com/futurum-2018-digital-transformation-index/ S.M.A.C.talk the podcast launched in 2014 and over those 3 years hosts Daniel Newman and Brian Fanzo have covered topics that included Big Data, Digital Transformation, Social Selling, Data Center Migration, Millennial Marketing, Digital Marketing, live streaming video, customer experience and everything else impacting today's technology world. SMACtalk became much more than just a podcast as every episode is live streamed via Facebook Live and Periscope while also going live to technology events such as Mobile World Congress, IBM developer conference, CES, SXSW, HP Discovery, SAP Sapphire and other technology events.  Past sponsors of the podcast include IBM, SAP, SAP Store, Avnet, Adobe and currently Cisco. Hosted by Brian Fanzo @iSocialFanz and Daniel Newman @DanielNewmanUV Visit Dan’s speaker page at: www.DanielNewmanSpeaks.com Visit Brian’s speaker page at: www.iSocialFanz.com/Speaker Host emails DNewman@broadsuite.com Brian@iSocialFanz.com

In this episode, Daniel and Brian discuss the data from the 2018 Digital Transformation Index from Futurum Research.  This report goes in depth with over 1000 responses to understand how companies are adapting to new technologies but also explores leadership, innovation, and culture as it pertains to companies being prepared for digital transformation and shifting consumer demands.  Some specific topics covered in this episode include:  Leaders and Laggards of Digital Transformation Who in the organization is leading Digital Transformation  What are the biggest hurdles to companies achieving their Digital Transformation goals What technologies are companies most comfortable with today Which technologies will be the most important in the next 12-18 months And much much more.  Join us for this data-rich, hot stove topic AND if you want to connect more in-depth with the research, it is available free to our listeners.  https://futurumresearch.com/futurum-2018-digital-transformation-index/ -- S.M.A.C.talk the podcast launched in 2014 and over those 3 years hosts Daniel Newman and Brian Fanzo have covered topics that included Big Data, Digital Transformation, Social Selling, Data Center Migration, Millennial Marketing, Digital Marketing, live streaming video, customer experience and everything else impacting today's technology world. SMACtalk became much more than just a podcast as every episode is live streamed via Facebook Live and Periscope while also going live to technology events such as Mobile World Congress, IBM developer conference, CES, SXSW, HP Discovery, SAP Sapphire and other technology events.  Past sponsors of the podcast include IBM, SAP, SAP Store, Avnet, Adobe and currently Cisco.   Hosted by Brian Fanzo @iSocialFanz and Daniel Newman @DanielNewmanUV Visit Dan’s speaker page at: www.DanielNewmanSpeaks.com Visit Brian’s speaker page at: www.iSocialFanz.com/Speaker Host emails DNewman@broadsuite.com Brian@iSocialFanz.com

What does it take to build relationships and grow business online to offline and back to online.  Lots of people talk about living your life and being yourself including me but what does that mean and how does upping your t-shirt game relate to this discussion.  I break down some comments I received at the Social Shake-Up Show last week and share why a brand emailed me to speak at their event because of my cool “You’re Killing Me Smalls T-Shirt.”  I also answer the following questions: What are the key’s to authenticity? What role does consistency play in personal brand building and storytelling? Should everyone wear t-shirts now? Can you be yourself in a shirt and tie? How you can make sure there’s no disconnect in your story and your first impression! Want to learn from iSocialFanz: Want to learn from my playbook, learn how to embrace digital and tell your story to be discovered and grow your brand.  Check out my course #BeYourself  http://BeYourself.live - Use code FOMOFanz to get $50 off Want to hire me to keynote your event or host your conference email me at Fanzo@iSocialFanz.com Follow BRIAN FANZO AKA iSocialFanz ON SOCIAL AND LIVE VIDEO: Facebook Live: http://www.Facebook.com/iSocialFanz Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/isocialfanz Instagram: http://www.Instagram.com/isocialfanz Linkedin: http://www.Linkedin/in/brianfanzo Podcasts: FOMOFanz: http://www.FOMOFanz.live SMACtalk: http://www.SMACtalk.live Want to hire me to keynote your event or host your conference email me at Fanzo@iSocialFanz.com Want to have me as a guest on your podcast please include the target audience, average episode downloads and length of interview recording when emailing Fanzo@iSocialFanz.com

SMACTalk special episode with SAP's Paul Pessutti, Global Head, Travel and Transportation Industry Business Unit Transportation companies have done a pretty good job at operational efficiency; however, the threat of new entrants is a forcing factor to push into customer-centric innovations. For instance, shippers could use blockchain to provide greater transparency into the journey of goods from factory to customer receipt. Increasingly, customers expect personalized services when they travel; however, providers have struggled to keep up with customers’ imaginations and expectations. Now, with new technologies, travel companies have an opportunity to leverage live data to connect with travelers in the moment. -- Innovation itself isn’t the entire challenge – pockets of innovation can be found in most any company, from the wildly successful to those that have failed spectacularly. The real challenge is being able to innovate at scale across an entire organization, all while creating a mechanism for those innovations to be shared, sustained, and to drive value back into the core of the business. In this series of podcasts, we’ll explore how you can make that happen in your business. Listen in on these talks from your fellow innovators to discover how to embrace digital transformation and become a disruptor in your industry. Learn More: https://fm.sap.com/campaigns/CRM-US17-1LE-LSMACTLI/index.html

In this episode of SMACTalk, Co-Host Daniel Newman goes solo with Intel VP and General Manager, Caroline Chan to discuss the quickly evolving state of 5G as well as the growth of Edge Computing.  This brief, but jam packed episode explores not only how these mega trends are impacting the future of technology, telecommunications and work, but Chan also provides an inside view from Intel as to their strategy to support the growth of these technologies as they become more and more a part of our lives.  Other topics discussed include product releases and news from Mobile World Congress 2018 in Barcelona, Spain.  This episode was sponsored and it has been brought to you in part by Intel. For more information about Intel's Edge and 5G strategy, visit their network transformation hub by clicking here. 

SMACtalk launched December 18th, 2014 as an anti-niche video podcast show where hosts Brian Fanzo & Daniel Newman shared their thoughts and interviewed experts on the massive technology trends: Social Media, Mobility, Analytics and Cloud computing.   Fast-forward to Jan 2018 for episode 100 and so much has changed around the platforms the hosts have used to push the podcast live not to mention the interviewing skills of the host while other things have stayed the same since the start. On this episode Brian and Daniel take a look back at the early days of the podcast and discuss some of the behind the scenes stories that happened when broadcasting this show live at Mobile World Congress Barcelona or the 20 hours of SMACtalk from the Superbowl.  They also discuss the impact S.M.A.C. technologies have had on new mega trends like artificial intelligence, blockchain, internet of things and wearables.   Everyone here at SMACtalk are beyond excited that we made it to episode 100 but as you’ll learn on this episode, we have only just begun and both Brian and Daniel have big plans and ideas including more guests, new brand sponsors, new live event broadcasting and if everything works out a more consistent publishing of the shows for you our audience. We want to thank you for coming on this journey with us for the first 100 episodes and we truly hope you’ll join us in talking SMAC for the next 100 episodes. Ideas for the show, sponsor requests? Email: DNewman@broadsuite.com or Fanzo@iSocialFanz.com Twitter: @DanielNewmanUV or @iSocialFanz You can watch the shows live at www.Facebook.com/SMACtalkLive

These days the way we shop is changing more than ever before. We have smart speakers that we can talk to, “Alexa, order paper towels, oh and grab me a burger from Wendy’s as well.” And voilia, in comes your paper towels and Grub Hub delivers you lunch. Of course, this is just the power of shopping in the home. What is even more powerful is how these in-home experiences, mobile experiences and in the store experiences are all coming together. In the next few years, we will see technologies like IoT, Blockchain and Real Time Data and Analytics influence even more change in how we shop. Companies will know us better than ever before and they will be able to personalize to our needs. The outcomes will be so spot-on that consumers cannot even complain about the trade off of privacy because the convenience will be so invaluable. Brands will know what we want, when we want it, where we need it and more just by leveraging the data we input and provide every day just by going through our routines. Scary awesome we may say. And what about drone deliveries? We think stuff we order online gets here fast now, well it’s possible to get even faster. On this week’s episode of SMACTalk, we had SAS Software’s Dan Mithcell join us. Dan is a Principal Industry Consultant and Connected Consumer lead at SAS Softwre. In this episode, some of the topics and questions we covered with Dan included: What are the major drivers of adoption? In what ways is IoT a necessity? An opportunity? Describe the kinds of things can retailers do now with IoT that they couldn’t do before? What do the major capabilities retailers need to plan for to be ready for the 'Analytics of Things? Are there some data management and security challenges of IoT in retail? What are some of the organizational and other non-technological challenges? What are some key things that retail executives and technologists need to know and do to drive business value with IoT? Be sure to download and tune into this episode of SMACtalk brought to you in partnership with SAS Software (Link). We promise it is full of learnings that all business leaders can leverage in planning the future of their organizations. 

2017 was an interesting year in technology and digital marketing but will it lead to great innovations through digital transformation in 2018 or will 2018 be the year innovations flat line.  This episode is a must listen to show as you might be surprised by Daniel Newman and Brian Fanzo's predictions for 2018 and beyond.  Before you can talk about the future you must analyze the past and on this episode, Daniel and Brian spend much of the show discussing and in many cases debating the good, bad and ugly of 2017 that ultimately leads to some interesting predictions from both of them on what 2018 will hold.   From a debate about Apple, to the future of Facebook, to a debate on what trends will capture the enterprise technology space in 2018, this predictions and recap episode is guaranteed to be unlike any other you'll listen to this season. As always we are beyond thankful for another amazing year with the SMACtalk family and sponsors and have even bigger plans for 2018 and beyond.

The world we live in today is no doubt full of change infused with innovation and new technologies but for many, this is overwhelming or leads to repetitive failures across their business organization. I believe technology isn't scary, change is often presented in the wrong way and go about implementing our version of success in a way the puts too much emphasis on the technology and not enough on the people, the mindset or the need to create a scalable process. On this episode, I break down my four T’s for successful change and the order of the T’s is most important. I believe 2018 Will be the year that businesses who are doing great things and value the great employees and the customer experience we'll shine especially those built on the foundation of trust, training, transparency, and technology. Link to SMACtalk podcast episode I mentioned on the show: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/social-media-mobility-analytics-cloud-tech-show-smactalk/id953547333?mt=2# Link to #Podcast Chat mentioned on the show: https://twitter.com/HashtagsPod Enjoyed this episode? Watch Live: As always you can listen to the show on any of the podcast apps and make sure to follow the host Brian Fanzo better known as @iSocialFanz on both Facebook Live & Periscope so you can watch the shows LIVE each week.

Today the FCC voted along partisan lines to repeal regulatory provisions we had come to know as “Net Neutrality.” The purpose of Net Neutrality was to ensure an open internet where all users can enjoy the same quality of access.  We believe the FCC’s decision will put too much power into the hands of a few companies, and ultimately weaken the innovation ecosystem that relies on a free and open internet to grow and thrive. Most of the services we enjoy today, like Netflix, Facebook, Uber and Amazon, could have only flourished under the types of protections that net neutrality guaranteed. Without these protections, the next generation of disruptors and innovators may find themselves shut out by a good ole’ boys club of incumbent companies holding the keys to the internet’s fast lanes. I shudder to think of the impact that stifling the next wave of innovation and startup capital might have on the US economy, to say nothing of our hindered ability to compete globally for top digital talent. Not sure what Net Neutrality is or how it will impact businesses and the future of work.  Listen to this episode of SMACtalk as Daniel and Brian take a deep dive into the topic that had the live audience watching on Facebook Live passionately engaged and inspired to take action!  Full blog post: https://futurumresearch.com/net-neutrality-how-did-we-let-happen/ New York Times Post: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/12/technology/net-neutrality-fcc-tech.html

  In just the past few years we have seen extraordinary change in the connected vehicle space. Companies like Tesla are launching new vehicles that don’t only provide thrills to drivers with their incredible speed and efficient electric motors, but they are also more connected than ever before with their ability to create usable data that can connect drivers and passengers more closely with their surroundings. In the next year, we will see a tidal wave of change come as the launch of 5G nears and this new technology finds its way into new vehicles. This technology will enable data streams to flow between vehicles, roads, buildings, cities and those tasked with making all of the aforementioned more safe and efficient.  There are also massive opportunities for vehicle data to be used beyond just smart cities and infrastructure, but also to reshape industries like auto insurance by making concepts such as usage based insurance possible to deliver a more personalized program and price. This is just one of many ways that the data can be used in a world of intelligently connected vehicles.  On this week’s episode of SMACTalk, we had SAS Software’s Lonnie Miller join us. Lonnie is a Principal Industry Consultant and Connected Vehicle Guru at SAS. In this episode, some of the topics and questions we covered with Lonnie included: How does analytics really help automotive companies who want to exploit their connected vehicle platforms? There’s a lot of talk about UBI (usage-based insurance). What are some implications on auto insurance services with a growing # of connected vehicles? What analytically-oriented technologies help connected vehicle strategies?    Be sure to download and tune into this episode of SMACtalk brought to you in partnership with SAS Software (Link). We promise it is full of learnings that all business leaders can leverage in planning the future of their organizations. 

Special cross-over episode....  Episode 95 of SMACtalk was so full of fire I wanted to bring the full episode here to FOMOFanz. My co-host Daniel Newman and I begin the discussion talking about the value of Facebook and how it's changed in its value for businesses but also entrepreneurs spending time on the platform.  The live audience listening on Facebook Live then took the conversation in a much more dynamic direction as we started discussing business value and priorities of entrepreneurs and making sure VALUE is something we all examine on a regular basis!   Hope you'll enjoy this special episode!  “Organic Facebook is now the office water cooler. Nothing more.” This episode started out discussing this claim co-host Daniel Newman made about the trends he’s been seeing lately on Facebook. As Daniel and co-host, Brian Fanzo began to discuss the changing landscape of Facebook and all social media channels for that manner the discussion took an interesting turn invoking a wide range of emotions and comments from the live video audience that you can read about below.  This episode might be a bit of a change of pace from the traditional SMACtalk discussions but the underlying foundation of this discussion can be translated across every aspect of your business today! More of Daniel’s Statement here:  It has truly returned to its roots of being purely a place to BS and talk about politics, family, sports, and news, but compared to the time that many people spend on it, it has almost no business value. Here is an easy way to tell. If you share something on FB that is closely connected to your work, what kind of engagement do you get? Now, share an article about your kids or politics and see what happens. If I share an article about cloud, semiconductors or IoT, I get almost nothing. If I share a picture of my kids I get a day or two of endorphin rising notifications. Over the past couple of months I've spent much less time here, but I've actually become a better customer to Facebook because instead of using it Organically, when I share business related things I put paid behind it so the content reaches a very targeted audience that could potentially consume what I'm trying to share/sell/spread. Furthermore, I've realized that the time I spent here and the "Influence" built here has no correlation to the work I do nor does it for many others. This has since been further proven as I've never been busier with client work when I was spending less time being distracted by a few interesting discussions and a littering of mind-numbing self-serving opining and a sprinkle of self-promotional content that makes me further understand why people don't want to see such content from me. Also, studies have shown it takes 25 minutes to return to work following a distraction. As a partner in multiple businesses, I find this troubling to consider how those constantly being lured in by these distractions are able to produce at even a fraction of their potential. This maps to a conversation about the future of work and compensation that will have to wait for another day. Now, having said that, Facebook is a perfectly great place to have the water cooler talk. It is nice to spend time catching up on world events and having the chance to debate them and do it in volume. However, I seriously doubt many people are able to look at their time spent here critically and come to the conclusion that there is a good return on their investment of time. Facebook is great to reach an audience, but really this is a paid vehicle, not an organic one. If you aren't selling MLM, then most client acquisition won't take place here and you would be better suited to make your connections on LinkedIn or Twitter or a more specialized group setting that has more targeted audiences.  And yes, I realize some people will not agree with me. Some may even lecture me as to why I'm wrong. I'll hear about the many great relationships that have been built here (and those are important too). But I would also suggest that odds are some good things would have happened for those people had they spent the same time on other networks or at risk of sounding crazy, that time spent working.  Okay...I could go on and on, but I'll stop here. And I'll come back to look at some point, but not until I'm done with stuff that makes the hay.  Next look for a barrage of pics of the kids and dog. Because that is what people really want to see here

We all are hearing about the impact that IoT and Analytics are having on the way we shop, however, by the time the consumer is seeing the impact of these groundbreaking technologies, they have already potentially had a major role in how the products and services were made and brought to market. This is because we have entered an era of the "Connected Supply Chain," and while many consumers don't fully grasp how this impacts their life, it does, in a big way. In this exciting episode of SMACtalk, co-hosts Daniel Newman and Brian Fanzo sat down with Roger Thomas who is the Principal Consultant for Connected Supply Chain at SAS Software. This conversation gives listeners an overview of the connected supply chain and helps business leaders get a handle on what leading companies are doing with their supply chain, how they are embracing technology to take their business to the next level and how companies can plan to embrace what is possible thanks to Analytics and IoT.  §  What are the latest IOT developments that supply chain leaders need to take note of? §  How do you avoid the traps of the ‘IOT science projects’ which fail to deliver value to the business? §  How should supply chain leaders structure their IOT initiatives to create a competitive advantage for their business? §  What roles can IOT play in supporting your organizations IBP and S&OP initiatives? §  What key metrics should supply chain leaders be watching to measure the effectiveness of their supply chain IOT initiatives? Be sure to download and tune into this episode of SMACtalk brought to you in partnership with SAS Software. We promise it is full of learnings that all business leaders can leverage in planning the future of their organizations. 

“Organic Facebook is now the office water cooler. Nothing more.” This episode started out discussing this claim co-host Daniel Newman made about the trends he’s been seeing lately on Facebook. As Daniel and co-host Brian Fanzo began to discuss the changing landscape of Facebook and all social media channels for that manner the discussion took an interesting turn invoking a wide range of emotions and comments from the live video audience that you can read about below.  This episode might be a bit of a change of pace from the traditional SMACtalk discussions but the underlying foundation of this discussion can be translated across every aspect of your business today! More of Daniel’s Statement here:  It has truly returned to its roots of being purely a place to BS and talk about politics, family, sports and news, but comparatively to the time that many people spend on it, it has almost no business value. Here is an easy way to tell. If you share something on FB that is closely connected to your work, what kind of engagement do you get? Now, share an article about your kids or politics and see what happens. If I share an article about cloud, semiconductors or IoT, I get almost nothing. If I share a picture of my kids I get a day or two of endorphin rising notifications. Over the past couple of months I've spent much less time here, but I've actually become a better customer to Facebook because instead of using it Organically, when I share business related things I put paid behind it so the content reaches a very targeted audience that could potentially consume what I'm trying to share/sell/spread. Furthermore, I've realized that the time I spent here and the "Influence" built here has no correlation to the work I do nor does it for many others. This has since been further proven as I've never been busier with client work when I was spending less time being distracted by a few interesting discussions and a littering of mind numbing self serving opining and a sprinkle of self-promotional content that makes me further understand why people don't want to see such content from me. Also, studies have shown it takes 25 minutes to return to work following a distraction. As a partner in multiple businesses, I find this troubling to consider how those constantly being lured in by these distractions are able to produce at even a fraction of their potential. This maps to a conversation about the future of work and compensation that will have to wait for another day. Now, having said that, Facebook is a perfectly great place to have the water cooler talk. It is nice to spend time catching up on world events and having the chance to debate them and do it in volume. However, I seriously doubt many people are able to look at their time spent here critically and come to the conclusion that their is a good return on their investment of time. Facebook is great to reach an audience, but really this is a paid vehicle not an organic one. If you aren't selling MLM, then most client acquisition won't take place here and you would be better suited to make your connections on LinkedIn or Twitter or a more specialized group setting that has more targeted audiences.  And yes, I realize some people will not agree with me. Some may even lecture me as to why I'm wrong. I'll hear about the many great relationships that have been built here (and those are important too). But I would also suggest that odds are some good things would have happened for those people had they spent the same time on other networks or at risk of sounding crazy, that time spent working.  Okay...I could go on and on, but I'll stop here. And I'll come back to look at some point, but not until I'm done with stuff that makes the hay.  Next look for a barrage of pics of the kids and dog. Because that is what people really want to see here As always we live stream the podcast recording on Facebook Live and this topic had the audience fired up.   You can checkout some of the comments below and watch the full Facebook Live video below. Jane Stewart · 36:40 I hope everyone is REALLY LISTENING

In this episode of SMACtalk, captured live at Intel Shift, host Daniel Newman sat down with Amir Khosrowshahi. Amir, who quietly revealed that he is cousin to the new Uber CEO, is also quite impressive in his own right as he made a significant Silicon Valley exit when his former company, Nervana was purchased by Intel. Amir is now the CTO of the AI Products group at Intel and he shared with SMACtalk a number of tremendous insights on AI. First, he painted the picture of how AI will be utilized in more commercial applications. He backed that up with giving CTO and tech leaders inside the enterprise a roadmap for deploying AI and perhaps just as important, Mapping AI strategy to be able to compete in the future as AI continues to proliferate. Lastly, Khosrowshahi touched on how Intel is differentiating its AI strategy from the competition. Check out this exciting discussion and get your “Geek” on with SMACtalk. Amir Khosrowshahi, VP & CTO, Artificial Intelligence Products Group, Intel Amir Khosrowshahi is VP and CTO of the AI products group at Intel. He was previously co-founder and CTO of Nervana, a startup acquired by Intel last year. He has a BA and MA from Harvard and PhD from Berkeley.

Who in the world would eat bugs? On Purpose? If you ask our SMACtalk Host Daniel Newman, the answer would be no one, but if you talk to “Foresight Extraordinaire,” MIT Ph.D. Mitch Joachim, he says there is a problem that we are trying to solve and from a sustainability standpoint eating bugs may have its place. Before you jump or grab your silverware, the context is far more enticing than just bug eating, but the real direction of the conversation is how can thinking outside of what is normal provoke us to solve new problems. In this fascinating episode of SMACtalk, Newman gets Joachim to share the whole “Bug” story and much more about how to keep your business from being disrupted. Don’t miss it, download now! Mitchell Joachim, Co-Founder, Terreform ONE Mitchell Joachim is a leader in ecological design, architecture and urbanism. He is a founding Co-President of Terreform ONE in 2006. He earned a Ph.D. at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MAUD Harvard University, M.Arch. Columbia University. Mitchell is an Associate Professor at NYU and EGS (European Graduate School). He previously taught at Columbia University, Syracuse University, Parsons, Washington University, and the Frank Gehry Chair at University of Toronto. He was formerly an architect at Gehry Partners, and Pei Cobb Freed. He has been awarded fellowships at TED 2010, Moshe Safdie Assoc., and Martin Society for Sustainability at MIT. He won the Zumtobel Group Award for Sustainability and Humanityy, the History Channel and Infiniti Excellence Award for City of the Future, Time Magazine Best Invention of 2007, Compacted Car w/ MIT Smart Cities and a Bronze Medal at iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) for Gen2Seat. His project, Fab Tree Hab, has been exhibited at MoMA and widely published. He was chosen by Wired magazine for "The 2008 Smart List: 15 People the Next President Should Listen To". Rolling Stone magazine honored Mitchell in "The 100 People Who Are Changing America". In 2009 he was interviewed on the Colbert Report. Popular Science magazine has featured his work as a visionary for “The Future of the Environment” in 2010. Mitchell was the Winner of the Victor Papanek Social Design Award sponsored by the University of Applied Arts Vienna, Austrian Cultural Forum, and Museum of Arts and Design in 2011. Dwell magazine featured Mitchell as one of "The NOW 99" in 2012.

  In this episode of Intel Shift on SMACtalk, Daniel Newman speaks with Scott Hawkins, Executive Director of Marketing at Lenovo. In this show, captured live at Intel Shift, Newman and Hawkins dive into the biggest trends in IT Transformation and how companies can become more knowledgeable of these trends in order to improve business outcomes. Other topics covered throughout the conversation include a discussion around the challenges of IT Transformation and some specific ways companies can overcome those challenges. Also highlighted is Hybrid Cloud, The Culture of Transformation, Importance of Agility and even a sprinkle of AI. What is for sure is that there is much to be learned from the experience of Lenovo and their ongoing partnership with Intel. Tune in and download this high energy episode of Intel Shift on SMACtalk. Scott Hawkins, Executive Director, Worldwide Marketing, Lenovo Data Center Group As Executive Director of Worldwide Marketing for Lenovo’s Data Center Group, Scott is responsible for strategy and execution of brand, demand, and sales enablement programs for the data center systems and solutions portfolio. Scott has 19 years in the technology industry spanning brand management, product marketing, communications, and operations. He joined Lenovo in 2014 and holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from the Cameron School of Business, University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

In this episode of Intel Shift on SMACtalk, Daniel Newman speaks with Armughan Ahmad, Dell’s Senior VP of Hybrid Cloud and Ready Solutions. In this fast paced conversation Newman and Ahmad discuss Dell’s recent IoT announcements at their IQT day in New York City. Ahmad shared how Dell is making a massive investment in their IoT Group and what this will mean for customers and consumers as this investment is rolled out over the next three years. Additionally, this conversation sheds a light on the rapid expansion of Dell Technologies and points listeners in the right direction of better understanding the impact of the rapidly growing Edge Computing and how it will tie into current Cloud Strategies. For this and so much more, download and listen to this don’t miss podcast from Intel Shift. Armughan Ahmad - Senior Vice President and General Manager, Hybrid Cloud & Ready Solutions Armughan Ahmad serves as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Hybrid Cloud & Ready Solutions at Dell EMC, where he leads solutions and technology alliance teams globally that deliver innovative Hybrid Cloud, Software-defined, High Performance Computing (HPC), Big Data and Analytics, and Business Applications workload solutions for large enterprise, public institutions, small and medium business customers and partners. Prior to joining Dell, Armughan served as Vice President at Hewlett-Packard, where he led the growth of HP’s Enterprise group, delivering converged and secured infrastructure solutions through partner channels. Previously, Armughan held executive management roles at 3Com, Enterasys, Cabletron and other technology firms ranging from $10M start-up’s to $100bn large corporations delivering hardware, software and services solutions for vertical industries globally. Armughan is a graduate of Sheridan College, where he studied computer science. He serves on numerous non-profits boards as a passionate promoter of third world economic trade and development initiatives.

In this episode of SMACtalk Live at Intel Shift, SMACtalk host Daniel Newman interviews Intel Executive Lisa Spelman. In this first live recording from Intel Shift in New York City, the upbeat discussion covers a wide variety of topics from futureproofing your business to IT workload planning to the shifting of IT budgets. Spelman sheds light for the SMACtalk community on how to plan for technological change in your organization. If you are thinking about how to plan for IT project and Business Transformation success, tune into this don’t miss Episode of SMACtalk Live. Lisa Spelman, VP & GM, Intel® Xeon® Products and Data Center Marketing, Intel Lisa A. Spelman oversees all outbound marketing activities for Intel's Data Center Group, including product launches, social media and go-to-market activities with equipment manufacturers and software vendors, technologies and solutions and performance marketing. Her team is also responsible for Intel’s data center channel business. Spelman joined DCG in 2014 after five years in Intel’s IT organization, culminating in her role as director of client services. Earlier in her Intel career, she held positions in finance, server product and brand marketing, and sales for a multinational customer account. She joined Intel in 2000 as a financial analyst supporting Intel’s server business. Spelman earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in finance and marketing from the University of Washington.

On this episode of AMPUP Your Digital Marketing, we sit down with Brian Fanzo, founder of iSocialFanz and host of the podcasts FOMOfanz and SMACtalk. Brian talks fast and tweets faster and his philosophy #ThinkLikeAFan has powered many first of their kind storytelling campaigns for various companies leveraging the power of a variety of social platforms. He likes to push the envelope when it comes to digital marketing and we get a small taste of his fast-talking ideas in this interview.

What role will transparency and authenticity play in our digital future?   We often hear leaders especially marketers use the terms transparency and authenticity follow it up with phrases like “I hate that word” or “I know it's a buzzword but.”  In my opinion, this not only takes away from the validity of these two powerful personality traits but it also sheds a light on the person who is talking about those terms. On this episode, I apologize for not pushing a new show live the last couple weeks and I try to share my thoughts on this topic based on some very interesting debate and conversation I've had on stage and off during my last six keynote presentations. We will be back on schedule starting October 9 Recording each and every one of these episodes on Facebook live and periscope at 4 PM Eastern time.   Want to learn from iSocialFanz: Want to learn from my playbook, learn how to embrace digital and tell your story to be discovered and grow your brand.  Check out my course #BeYourself  http://BeYourself.live - Use code FOMOFanz to get $50 off Follow BRIAN FANZO AKA iSocialFanz ON SOCIAL AND LIVE VIDEO: Periscope.TV: http://www.periscope.tv/iSocialFanz Facebook Live: http://www.Facebook.com/iSocialFanz Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/isocialfanz Instagram: http://www.Instagram.com/isocialfanz Linkedin: http://www.Linkedin/in/brianfanzo Podcasts: FOMOFanz: http://www.FOMOFanz.live SMACtalk: http://www.SMACtalk.live Hire Brian Fanzo: Want to hire me to keynote your event or host your conference email me at Fanzo@iSocialFanz.com

In this episode of SMACtalk hosts Brian Fanzo and Daniel Newman speak with SAS Industry Leader Marcia Walker about Smart Factories.  With IoT and Analytics, manufacturing and the smart factory in particular have a massive opportunity to maximize productivity and minimize downtime.  Walker shares how boundless new possibilities exist on the shop floor and gives our listeners a run down of how things like predictive maintenance, service automation and augmented reality can be applied to smart factory to deliver improved business outcomes.  Tune in to this exciting episode of SMACtalk to learn about not just where Smart Factories are headed, but the opportunities that exist today. We promise you will come away inspired and entertained as to where this exciting industry is heading.    Disclaimer: This episode was sponsored in part by SAS. For more on Connected Factory, check out our in depth coverage here.    What is SMACtalk?  S.M.A.C.talk the podcast launched in 2014 and over those 3 years hosts Daniel Newman and Brian Fanzo have covered topics that included Big Data, Digital Transformation, Social Selling, Data Center Migration, Millennial Marketing, Digital Marketing, live streaming video, customer experience and everything else impacting today's technology world. SMACtalk became much more than just a podcast as every episode is live streamed via Facebook Live and Periscope while also going live to technology events such as Mobile World Congress, IBM developer conference, CES, SXSW, HP Discovery, SAP Sapphire and other technology events.  Past sponsors of the podcast include IBM, SAP, SAP Store, Avnet, Adobe and currently Cisco.   Hosted by Brian Fanzo @iSocialFanz and Daniel Newman @DanielNewmanUV Visit Dan’s speaker page at: www.DanielNewmanSpeaks.com Visit Brian’s speaker page at: www.iSocialFanz.com/Speaker If you want to have SMACtalk live at your event like Dan and Brian did at Superbowl 50, HP Discover, SAP Sapphire in 2016 email DNewman@broadsuite.com Brian@iSocialFanz.com

Today on SMACTalk Brian and Daniel discuss the iPhone 8 and iPhone X launch that took place a few weeks back. The question of the day, is Apple iterating, innovating or just plain imitating.    Tech thought leader Shelly Palmer, wrote this past week...   Imitation is not innovation. The iPhone X (pronounced iPhone ten) is basically a Samsung Galaxy Note 8 (which is basically a Samsung Galaxy S8 with a pen and an additional camera) which is basically a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 (which is its own story). And the Note 7 came out a year ago. Not only is Apple unapologetic about its blatant imitation of Samsung. The company took the artistic liberty of claiming that the iPhone X’s features were “amazing,” “incredible,” and “new.”   https://www.shellypalmer.com/2017/09/iphone-x-imitation-not-innovation/   Both Brian and Dan agree that Apple has built its legacy on simple to use, beautifully designed devices, but the question of whether or not this is still their differentiator has come into play.    Is Apple still easier to use? Are their devices more beautiful than the competition?    The bottom line is that it is hard to discern anymore whether or not Apple truly holds a competitive advantage. Daniel likens the current state of Apple to the Steve Ballmer led Microsoft that followed Bill Gates retirement as CEO of the company.A strong supply chain company that often creates a challenging environment for its suppliers, yet no matter what, they still claim a huge market share and yield massive profits keeping shareholders happy.    The jury is still undecided, but more and more Apple Fans from Palmer to Scoble to both our hosts are now questioning whether Apple still has the magic or if they are running out of the sauce that made them the "innovative" company they are so well known for being today. 

We made it, halfway to 100 which is kind of like celebrating a half birthday which my daughters love to do and I decided to do on this episode 50.   On this episode I shared my favorite apps and tools for consuming, curating & sharing content as well as the places I'm spending my time focusing on like Linkedin, AR/VR and artificial intelligence... Focus of this episode: Why I numbered my podcast with 3 digits and my commitment to you the listeners. I live stream my podcast on Facebook Live, Periscope and syndicate it to C-Suite Tv, why and what value does that provide my sponsors and me as a podcast host? Connecting Great People with Great People to do Great Things! Inspiration for my new segment that will be titled “Know more than your friends!” You don’t need permission to take action Consuming, learning and being in the know is important but don’t let it become what prevents you from taking action on what you’ve learned or know.  I share my story of how this crushed me when launching my first podcast SMACtalk 4 years ago. 5 Tools/Apps/Networks I use to consume my news to embrace my FOMO Alexa - Amazon Echo “Flash Briefing” You can add FOMOFanz to your daily news brief here! “Cure Your Digital Marketing FOMO! FOMOFanz Flash Briefing” My favorite news brief subscriptions: Daily Tech Headlines, Reuters Now, NPR Hourly News, ESPN Flash Brief, Cheddar, Gary Vee 365 and Mic. Twitter Moments Subscribe to my Flipboard and let me do the curating work for you here! Flipboard.com/@iSocialFanz Flipboard - Digital magazine for consuming content I care about Bullish on Linkedin, finding massive business value and great for consuming news that matters to my targeted community. Loving Linkedin Video, Here is a link to the video I mentioned on this episode! Linkedin I think of Facebook as 3 different networks: News Feed, Messenger & Groups. Facebook Groups Other Links mentioned in the show: Michael O’Neal host of Solohour Podcast Episode I was on this month with Michael that was an awesome 90 mins of insightful conversations.  Listen here FOMOFanz episodes mentioned: Caleb Maddix Episode 0023 Amy Landino Episode 035 Content Overload Episode 049 SMACtalk Podcast cohosted with Daniel Newman Have a suggestion for my “Know more than your friends” segments where I’ll interview 2 to 3 experts on certain topics make sure to email me with who you’d love to hear from or maybe what topics you’d love to hear debated at Fanzo@iSocialFanz.com I know on this episode I use the phrase “Take this one piece of advice” 10 times but I hope you can tell I was fired up and wanted to bring you as much value as I could and share all of my secrets for staying productive while embracing FOMO.

As digital transformation and innovation drastically shake up the technology and culture needs of today’s businesses, the question must be asked.  What does the CMO role of the future look like? Brian Fanzo and Daniel Newman discuss this and more on this episode of SMACtalk.   S.M.A.C.talk the podcast launched in 2014 and over those 3 years hosts Daniel Newman and Brian Fanzo have covered topics that included Big Data, Digital Transformation, Social Selling, Data Center Migration, Millennial Marketing, Digital Marketing, live streaming video, customer experience and everything else impacting today's technology world. SMACtalk became much more than just a podcast as every episode is live streamed via Facebook Live and Periscope while also going live to technology events such as Mobile World Congress, IBM developer conference, CES, SXSW, HP Discovery, SAP Sapphire and other technology events.  Past sponsors of the podcast include IBM, SAP, SAP Store, Avnet, Adobe and currently Cisco.   Hosted by Brian Fanzo @iSocialFanz and Daniel Newman @DanielNewmanUV Visit Dan’s speaker page at: www.DanielNewmanSpeaks.com Visit Brian’s speaker page at: www.iSocialFanz.com/Speaker If you want to have SMACtalk live at your event like Dan and Brian did at Superbowl 50, HP Discover, SAP Sapphire in 2016 email DNewman@broadsuite.com Brian@iSocialFanz.com

Niche vs Generalist, the debate that seems to pop-up yearly inspired Daniel and Brian to take a very personal and transparent look at their own careers as millennials and although they both are generalists they found success in unique focused pivots. Brian posted to facebook (see link below) a comment about having a niche being a smart play that exploded with 200+ comments and it inspired multiple videos and blogs by friends and fellow thought leaders so tackling this topic on SMACtalk was a no brainer.   Sit back and enjoy as Daniel and Brian hold nothing back sharing in detail their successes as well as lessons learned both as employees of brands and entrepreneurs.   Daniel shares his most successful pivot, going all in on digital transformation with his book Building Dragons and making it the staple of his speaking and online content. Brian explains the motivation for his Facebook post and why most companies that reached out to hire Brian in 2017 wanted a generalist or evangelist but the company culture and leadership wasn’t of the mindset to make that type of role successful. Questions asked and debated on this episode: If you have a niche does it make sense to ever pivot to becoming a generalist? When labeled something like “A Marketer” how do you change that? Why generalists must be able to answer the question “What value/problem do you solve?” Can a successful entrepreneur find a home within a brand or company in 2017? What do companies need to do to set themselves up to hire a generalist? Solopreneur vs Entrepreneur - What must a generalist do to be successful as each? What are your thoughts?  Follow SMACtalk on Facebook or use the hashtag #SMACtalk to let our host know your opinion on the topic and the questions being asked. Want to learn more about the hosts checkout their speaker pages at: Brian Fanzo:  www.iSocialFanz.com/Speaker Daniel Newman: www.DanielNewmanSpeaks.com Links mentioned: Niche vs Generalist Facebook post by Brian: https://www.facebook.com/bfanzo/posts/10159083771455405?pnref=story

On this episode of SMACtalk hosts Brian Fanzo and Daniel Newman talk everything Amazon from retail competition to technology advantage to debating if Amazon is too big to fail.   This past week Amazon made two more big moves in retail by signing agreements with Nike and Sears to be able to sell their products online. For Amazon, the illusiveness of certain name brands has been one of their few achilles heels. People have long known that buying name brands from Amazon and their partners was often risky as everything from clothes to diapers were all potentially “knock-offs” given Amazon didn’t have direct brand relationships. This week the first domino fell as Nike reached an agreement to allow the sale of Nike products on Amazon. This will likely lead to more brands succumbing to the pressure and setting up similar sales agreements with Amazon. Given the way people shop and buy on Amazon, this wasn’t an if, but a when, and it appears the when is now. Every episode is recorded LIVE on Facebook Live: Facebook.com/SMACtalkLive WHAT IS SMACTalk? S.M.A.C. stands for Social Media, Mobility, Analytics and Cloud and over the two years Dan and Brian have covered topics that included Big Data, Digital Transformation, Social Selling, Data Center Migration, Millennial Marketing, Digital Marketing, live streaming video, customer experience and everything else impacting today's technology world.   Visit Dan’s speaker page at: www.DanielNewmanSpeaks.com Visit Brian’s speaker page at: www.iSocialFanz.com/Speaker If you want to have SMACtalk live at your event like Dan and Brian did at Superbowl 50, HP Discover, SAP Sapphire in 2016 visit http://SMACtalk.Live or email DNewman@broadsuite.com Brian@iSocialFanz.com

Chandra is taking over the podcast! In this teaser, she talks about the new interview format, shares a sneak peek into her interview with erstwhile SMACtalk hosts Marita and Lisa, and asks for Canadian midwifery students to send in their HOT TIPS, SOS struggles and BIG LOVE shout-outs. To send yours in, email an audio recording or plain old email to nationalstudentmidwives@gmail.com with the subject heading PODCAST Music Attributions: Six Flags by Roger Plexico, CC BY-NC-SA http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Roger_Plexico/No_Mans_Land/Roger_Plexico_-_No_Mans_Land_-_09_Six_Flags https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Rise and Shine by Audiobinger, CC BY-NC http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Audiobinger/~/Rise_and_Shine_1696 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ SFX Attributions: Outtake Beep-1k.wav by Slappy13, CC 0 http://freesound.org/people/slappy13/sounds/151779/ https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ Lighting Match Sound by Mike Koenig, CC 0 http://soundbible.com/983-Lighting-Match.html https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ Morsecode - SOS MAYDAY - 988 Hz Tone.wav by Daytripper, CC BY http://freesound.org/people/daytripper/sounds/329436/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ kiss_female_byMondfisch89.ogg by Yudena, CC BY-NC http://freesound.org/people/Yudena/sounds/377601/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

In this week’s episode of SMACtalk, hosts Brian Fanzo and Daniel Newman had the opportunity to speak with Pega CEO, Alan Trefler. Known for his “Pull no punches” approach to business, Alan makes for the perfect “SMAC” guest because he’s going to take questions head on and leave the audience wanting more. At Pegaworld, we found out that Mr. Trefler isn’t only the CEO at Pega, he is also a chess master who can engage in 20 simultaneous chess matches while enjoying a beer and having a chat with his customer and partner community. Impressive Alan! In this show, we talked about a topic that Alan is uniquely passionate about, and that is the challenges of enterprise software. Knowing today’s importance on having tools that drive businesses forward, the Pega CEO believes that companies cannot risk investing and implementing software that is more hype than substance. We agree with this, but needed to make sure that this provocation from Alan wasn’t hype itself. This is where the interview came into play. During this episode, Alan provided insights on the following questions and a few bonus questions that you will have to tune into to learn more about: At PegaWorld, you mentioned the delusional behavior out there about software, specifically around cloud, AI, and bots. What is the industry getting wrong and how can it get back on the right track? How can organizations “get real” and cut through the hype when it comes to these technologies? You also discussed that many organizations aren’t getting it right when it comes to their end-to-end technology. How can organizations fully connect their organizations in a practical way? You have been quoted saying that software is being built “wrong” these days. What do you mean by that and what should companies be doing instead?  A lot of the recommendations you are making have as much to do with culture as they do with technology. How do you build a great culture to succeed with digital transformation and the shifting customer landscape?  What do you envision the future of software, apps, and CRM looking like? What will drive the biggest change to business (at Pega and beyond)? Throughout this episode of SMACtalk, Tom takes on the challenging questions that many of us are wondering about the role of the CMO in today’s enterprise as well as how that may change into the near future as Digital Transformation continues to shape industries. Following another successful #Pegaworld in Las Vegas, this show was a timely episode to learn more about the challenges and opportunities for software in your business and getting inside of the mind of CEO of one of the fastest growing software companies in the CRM and Customer Intelligence spac. Want to learn more?  Tune in, check it out and enjoy the episode! Disclaimer: This episode was sponsored in part by Pegasystems. To learn more about Pega, visit them at (www.pega.com)

When we picture authority or thought leadership or expertise, who is it that we picture?  In the digital world today does becoming an author or writing on Forbes or tweeting a bunch on a hashtag mean someone is an authority on that topic? On this episode hosts Daniel Newman and Brian Fanzo are fired up to talk about the short cuts and unicorn rainbow selling tricks that many have used to convey they have authority and why this has to be stopped.  Not only do they breakdown what is currently wrong with digital influence and self proclaimed thought leadership today. They share ideas and best practices to arm us the consumers so we can avoid being tricked by the fake news version of authority and thought leadership in today's digital world.  Every episode is recorded LIVE on Facebook Live: Facebook.com/SMACtalkLive WHAT IS SMACTalk? S.M.A.C. stands for Social Media, Mobility, Analytics and Cloud and over the two years Dan and Brian have covered topics that included Big Data, Digital Transformation, Social Selling, Data Center Migration, Millennial Marketing, Digital Marketing, live streaming video, customer experience and everything else impacting today's technology world.   Visit Dan’s speaker page at: www.DanielNewmanSpeaks.com Visit Brian’s speaker page at: www.iSocialFanz.com/Speaker If you want to have SMACtalk live at your event like Dan and Brian did at Superbowl 50, HP Discover, SAP Sapphire in 2016 visit http://SMACtalk.Live or email DNewman@broadsuite.com Brian@iSocialFanz.com

In this week’s episode of SMACtalk, hosts Brian Fanzo and Daniel Newman had the opportunity to speak with Pegasystems CMO, Tom Libretto. Joining Pega just under a year ago, Tom is a seasoned marketing executive with a strong track record in driving results for the enterprise market. Tom has a strong background in driving fast moving marketing teams within the agile workplace to help tie together sales and marketing teams to meet the objectives of rapidly growing enterprises.    A topic near and dear to our heart, not only did we talk about the shifting CMO, but really the entire shift within the C-Suite to accommodate new roles like the Chief Digital Officer and the Chief Customer Officer as well as the challenge of a large number of CEOs that are still not prioritizing digital transformation.   During this episode, Tom provided insights on the following questions and a few bonus questions that you will have to tune into to learn more about:     Nowadays, there are many buzzwords to describe the shifting workplace, but this has happened because the rate of change has become so fast. Explain: What is an “Agile Enterprise,” and why must companies become one?     CMOs, more and more are taking the reins of digital transformation inside the enterprise. Do you as a CMO agree with this? What happens to the CMO/CIO partnership?     Yet, still nearly half of CEOs do not see Digital Transformation as a board level concern. How can this impact digital transformation inside of a company from hiring to customer experience?     Let’s talk B2B and Enterprise versus B2C. Is there still a line? As a CMO how different is the role of an enterprise CMO from the CMO of a consumer brand?     CMO Tenure has continued to shorten, what do you attribute that to and how do we reverse that trend?     Do you believe that the CDO role will continue to grow and how does that align with the CMO in the age of Digital Transformation? Throughout this episode of SMACtalk, Tom takes on the challenging questions that many of us are wondering about the role of the CMO in today’s enterprise as well as how that may change into the near future as Digital Transformation continues to shape industries.  With just one week until #Pegaworld in Las Vegas, this is a great time to learn more about Pega and the future of the CMO. Still interested? Tune in, check it out and enjoy the episode! Disclaimer: This episode was sponsored in part by Pegasystems. To learn more about Pega, visit them at www.Pega.Com

Since being diagnosed ADHD at 31 years old I've made it my mission to be transparent and upfront about the impact of being diagnosed has had on me personally as a Dad and my entrepreneurship journey.  I firmly believe that as we become more transparent as a digital culture the value of owning our own individual vulnerabilities will be directly linked to our individual success as well as our relatability to the community. I've always enjoyed being the champion of the outcasts, tapping into my ability to debunk myths and disrupt the status quo by allowing people to stereotype or have a preconceived notion of who we are or what we’re about only to prove they couldn't have been more wrong. During my BeYourself keynote I share that I was diagnosed ADHD and currently take adderall I usually get 1 of 3 responses: WOW, I can’t believe he just shared that so openly with the world! Yeah I think everyone has a little bit of ADHD especially entrepreneurs That makes sense Brian has all the signs of someone with ADHD.  Interestingly enough being diagnosed with ADHD at 31 years old had a massive impact on me and it isn’t for the reasons you might think.  I believe what ADHD taught me is what all leaders who have found success discover at some point in their career.   As I shared on this episode my BeYourself: Monetizing Your Personal Brand course is the playbook I used to grow my brand from less than 3k in 2013 to over 300k in 2017.   Over 75k people watched the live streams of FOMOFanz.  Join the live show on Facebook Live, Periscope or YouTube. Watch this episode here: https://youtu.be/nKkjFpJ-NoM www.Facebook.com/iSocialFanz www.Periscope.Tv/iSocialFanz www.Youtube.com/Stee1rz Links Mentioned in this episode: Favorite Podcast App: OttoRadio FOMOFanz on OttoRadio: OttoRadio.FOMOFanz.Live SMACtalk on OttoRadio:   OttoRadio.SMACtalk.Live Faster Than Normal Podcast by Peter Shankman on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-faster-than-normal-podcast-add-adhd-health/id1087851721?mt=2&ign-mpt=uo%3D4# Blog post for Faster Than Normal https://www.fasterthannormal.com/ftn-055-an-adhd-millennial-with-brian-fanzo/ 2016 Interview I did with Ahna Hendricks on ADHD https://www.facebook.com/ahnarhendrix/videos/951920918232885/?permPage=1 Screw Your Productivity Hacks! #BeYourself https://medium.com/digital-change/screw-your-productivity-hacks-beyourself-bbc454dd2e77  If you’re interested in having me speak at your event or create a workshop for your company please email me at Fanzo@iSocialFanz.com and make sure to visit www.iSocialFanz.com

On this episode of SMACtalk Daniel and Brian are on the expo floor of the Sapphire Now event where they were hired as both analysts and influencers to do work with SAP and some of the SAP partners.  The discussion is focused around the future of digital journalism and the role of analysts and influencers and bloggers as brands look for authentic ways to reach their audiences do they need to restructure who they use and how they value them.   This episode was recorded live on Facebook Live which you can watch here:https://www.facebook.com/SMACtalkLive/videos/1919871028292980/   As always we appreciate you listening and sharing the podcast on social media and with your friends.