Leading With Heart: Ricardo Hicks on Mentorship, AV Production, and Building Thriving Event Teams

1
00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:03,720
Welcome to the Event Pro show, your ultimate guide to the world of corporate

2
00:00:03,720 --> 00:00:07,360
events. Whether you're a corporate event planner, experiential marketing

3
00:00:07,360 --> 00:00:11,040
pro, producer, technician, or anyone involved in creating exceptional

4
00:00:11,040 --> 00:00:14,560
events, this podcast is your go to resource for valuable insights,

5
00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:18,240
expert tips and inspiring stories from the industry's leading professionals.

6
00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:22,560
Well, welcome to the Event Pro Show. I am your host, Seth Mackey

7
00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:26,240
and I am joined with one of my favorite people in production

8
00:00:26,320 --> 00:00:30,090
right now. I will get into his bio in a second,

9
00:00:30,090 --> 00:00:33,890
but I, I today we're going to talk about a subject that, that's near

10
00:00:33,890 --> 00:00:37,730
and dear to my heart. Selfishly, it's my favorite part of

11
00:00:37,730 --> 00:00:41,410
corporate events. We're going to talk a bit about av, but also a little

12
00:00:41,410 --> 00:00:45,090
bit more than that. My guest today, Ricardo, has really

13
00:00:45,090 --> 00:00:48,730
has a heart to help people and especially see

14
00:00:49,050 --> 00:00:52,850
young people thrive in our industry. So there's some really cool things I want

15
00:00:52,850 --> 00:00:55,610
to get into. I'm going to intro our guest

16
00:00:56,610 --> 00:01:00,290
today, Ricardo Hicks is an audio visual executive with over

17
00:01:00,290 --> 00:01:04,010
20 years of experience in the field. His experience started in college as

18
00:01:04,010 --> 00:01:07,490
an intern at a major recording studio. This just sounds cool,

19
00:01:07,490 --> 00:01:11,210
Ricardo. That's like, yeah, I worked at a major recording studio. He,

20
00:01:11,210 --> 00:01:14,890
he has worked as a recording engineer, hotel manager, as

21
00:01:14,890 --> 00:01:18,130
well as in business development and many other things.

22
00:01:18,770 --> 00:01:22,370
Everywhere I go, if people know Ricardo, they love Ricardo and

23
00:01:22,370 --> 00:01:25,650
he's, he's done all sorts of things. He's also served as a mentor to many

24
00:01:25,650 --> 00:01:29,080
audio visuals professionals. Welcome to the show, Ricardo

25
00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:32,480
Hayes. Thank you for having me. It's a big pleasure to be here.

26
00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:36,240
Absolutely, absolutely. We always have a good time when we hang out and

27
00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:40,400
we would even do this if nobody was listening. We've done it many

28
00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:43,120
times without people listening. That's right.

29
00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:48,280
I always like to kick off. You know, we've done several of these

30
00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:51,520
now and kind of my favorite starting point question is,

31
00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:55,480
so think back when you were a kid, you know, maybe an early memory. What's

32
00:01:55,480 --> 00:01:59,270
the first event that you can remember attending? Like it's some

33
00:01:59,270 --> 00:02:02,950
sort of large format gathering event thing. Yeah,

34
00:02:03,190 --> 00:02:06,790
I really discovered what that was about. About 30

35
00:02:06,790 --> 00:02:10,510
minutes ago. It landed on me and it was

36
00:02:10,510 --> 00:02:13,590
impactful. I thought it was another thing, I thought I was going to say the

37
00:02:13,590 --> 00:02:17,310
Lauryn Hill concert when I was in college. Right. That I got

38
00:02:17,310 --> 00:02:20,950
tickets to. I was working in a hotel as a night

39
00:02:20,950 --> 00:02:24,800
auditor, made friends with the bus driver and you

40
00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:28,600
know, I wasn't asking for anything but he liked me and you know, yeah,

41
00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:31,440
he gave me some tickets and left them at the desk for me, I guess

42
00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:35,040
that was probably the first time I realized I was decent at

43
00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:38,720
relationship building. Right, right. You know, I didn't want anything from

44
00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:42,560
him. But I'll take it back to probably when I was 13

45
00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:46,240
years old and it was when we went to

46
00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:50,650
Jim and Tammy Faye Baker's place

47
00:02:50,810 --> 00:02:54,490
in Fort Mill, South Carolina. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

48
00:02:54,490 --> 00:02:58,090
okay. And a conference there. Right. That was probably.

49
00:02:58,170 --> 00:03:02,010
That was my first experience with a big church conference outside of my home

50
00:03:02,010 --> 00:03:05,570
church. Right, right. Which was a pretty decent sized church where there was always

51
00:03:05,570 --> 00:03:09,130
production around there. Right. But that was my first

52
00:03:09,130 --> 00:03:12,410
experience. It was a beautiful resort type facility that.

53
00:03:13,210 --> 00:03:17,050
That went to a youth conference there. And it was. Yeah. Pretty

54
00:03:17,050 --> 00:03:20,480
eye opening. Right. It still wasn't the point where I thought I would. Wanted to

55
00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:23,560
get into this industry, but that was my first

56
00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:27,600
conference experience. Right. That's amazing. Currently still

57
00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:31,360
standing, by the way, because that's. I live. I actually live in Fort Mill and

58
00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:35,120
it's still there. It's not the same group, but it's definitely

59
00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:38,440
still there. And I think it's funny

60
00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:42,360
even now, especially now, how many people

61
00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:45,960
have their first experience, production experience is in

62
00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:48,550
some sort of training church or religious environment.

63
00:03:50,230 --> 00:03:53,990
And my mind's the same. I remember being a really little

64
00:03:53,990 --> 00:03:57,710
kid busing with my parents into a Billy Graham

65
00:03:57,710 --> 00:04:01,430
crusade at a. At like a big stadium, you know, And I don't

66
00:04:01,430 --> 00:04:05,230
remember much about it except just this massive environment. Just massive

67
00:04:05,230 --> 00:04:09,070
environment. Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. So it's funny how the church is

68
00:04:09,070 --> 00:04:12,070
impacted, I think always impacted arts,

69
00:04:13,410 --> 00:04:16,650
you know, for hundreds and hundreds of years. But it's just really interesting that's still

70
00:04:16,650 --> 00:04:20,370
happening. A lot of production people coming out of the church and influenced by

71
00:04:20,370 --> 00:04:23,250
the church. So that's very cool. The production and

72
00:04:23,890 --> 00:04:27,690
musicians. Yeah, musicians. But Lauryn

73
00:04:27,690 --> 00:04:30,690
Hill was probably more fun. Yeah. I'll just say that

74
00:04:31,410 --> 00:04:35,010
it was exciting. Yeah, absolutely. So fast

75
00:04:35,010 --> 00:04:38,210
forward, when was the first time you remember wanting to be involved

76
00:04:38,780 --> 00:04:40,380
in events like as a career?

77
00:04:43,500 --> 00:04:47,260
Of course. And I'll say when I said major recording studio.

78
00:04:47,260 --> 00:04:50,140
I like to. Both of us are audio guys, so I at least like to

79
00:04:50,140 --> 00:04:53,940
let people know this was. It wasn't my bedroom. It was a.

80
00:04:53,940 --> 00:04:57,260
It was a place that people would come in book time. Right. And it had

81
00:04:57,260 --> 00:05:00,780
been established like an. Actual business with invoices and everything.

82
00:05:01,980 --> 00:05:05,780
Right. You know, talking to a fellow audio. So, you know, let me say

83
00:05:05,780 --> 00:05:09,610
major with the lowercase no. It was a nice studio though. But

84
00:05:10,570 --> 00:05:14,290
I would say that, you know, after getting the technical

85
00:05:14,290 --> 00:05:18,010
acumen, I'd already accidentally had the customer service and the

86
00:05:18,010 --> 00:05:21,810
hotel experience. By working night audit. Yeah, Hotel.

87
00:05:21,810 --> 00:05:25,370
Right. You know, and I'm getting this degree in electronic music.

88
00:05:26,170 --> 00:05:29,690
And you know, who knew that three years after

89
00:05:29,690 --> 00:05:33,050
graduating I would move to Atlanta? Going through my uncle's Rolodex

90
00:05:33,370 --> 00:05:36,710
and see something that says presentation services,

91
00:05:37,030 --> 00:05:40,750
Audio visual. And I'm like, what is this audio visual? I was at a small

92
00:05:40,750 --> 00:05:44,310
hotel, so there was some AV there, but it had like three breakout

93
00:05:44,310 --> 00:05:47,430
rooms in it. Yeah. You know, so I didn't really, you know, they had to

94
00:05:47,430 --> 00:05:50,870
pull down screens. So that really wasn't an introduction to just technology.

95
00:05:51,030 --> 00:05:54,750
Being in a hotel, I mean, Greensboro, North Carolina, I wasn't

96
00:05:54,750 --> 00:05:58,590
really. I wouldn't put the two together. Right. Until I moved to Atlanta, major

97
00:05:58,590 --> 00:06:02,070
market for audio visual. And saw that car and call

98
00:06:03,010 --> 00:06:06,610
the number. I said, listen, this is my experience. I have recording studio

99
00:06:06,610 --> 00:06:08,130
experience. I have

100
00:06:09,970 --> 00:06:13,130
customer service experience. Not sure if you can use somebody like me. He said, hey,

101
00:06:13,130 --> 00:06:16,330
you have a suit in a car. I was like, yeah, this is on a

102
00:06:16,330 --> 00:06:20,130
Friday. I said, yes, but my suit and car was in North Carolina.

103
00:06:20,370 --> 00:06:23,570
So I had to take my aunt's buddy pass and

104
00:06:24,050 --> 00:06:27,690
go to North Carolina. Fly. She was a flight attendant. Yeah,

105
00:06:27,690 --> 00:06:31,410
yeah. And drive my car back with my suit to show up on a Monday.

106
00:06:31,570 --> 00:06:34,750
Just to get to your new job. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Um,

107
00:06:35,310 --> 00:06:39,110
so it was at that point where, you know, it's like, oh man, this

108
00:06:39,110 --> 00:06:42,790
is a big intercontinental hotel where I was there to do like a. Hey,

109
00:06:42,790 --> 00:06:46,550
you familiar with this? It's a four channel mixer. No, but I know signal flow

110
00:06:46,550 --> 00:06:49,390
and this, that and the other. Right. You know, I can pick it up and,

111
00:06:49,390 --> 00:06:53,150
you know, I had the customer service. So it was like, it

112
00:06:53,150 --> 00:06:55,990
was like a standing interview to see if this guy can, you know, has the

113
00:06:55,990 --> 00:06:58,870
technical acumen and the customer service and we can put them in front of our

114
00:06:58,870 --> 00:07:02,690
high end clients. Right, right. And. And

115
00:07:02,690 --> 00:07:06,370
I knew I could pass the test. And now being in the industry, industry

116
00:07:06,450 --> 00:07:09,250
so long, I understand what they were doing. It's like, okay, does he look good

117
00:07:09,250 --> 00:07:12,610
in the suit? Can he talk well and does he understand the technology?

118
00:07:13,090 --> 00:07:16,610
Okay, we can have him in this high end hotel doing, you know, and we

119
00:07:16,610 --> 00:07:19,330
can teach him the stuff that he doesn't know. And so that. But I would

120
00:07:19,330 --> 00:07:22,050
say at that moment, that's when I knew it's like, man, I could do this.

121
00:07:22,450 --> 00:07:25,690
And that was an environment where you could kind of dig in and get your

122
00:07:25,690 --> 00:07:29,220
reps in as a tech, like the day in, day out. But the other

123
00:07:29,220 --> 00:07:32,700
50% you're mentioning and are especially corporate events is

124
00:07:32,780 --> 00:07:36,460
interacting with people and reading people, all

125
00:07:36,460 --> 00:07:40,260
those, like, soft skills that you definitely have to

126
00:07:40,260 --> 00:07:43,420
have in the environment that we operate in. It's. It's funny,

127
00:07:43,900 --> 00:07:47,700
you know, the. When you think back, it doesn't make sense always at the

128
00:07:47,700 --> 00:07:50,380
time, but when you think back, you're like, man, that was, that was really where

129
00:07:50,380 --> 00:07:54,220
my, you know, I learned my chops, you know, on

130
00:07:54,220 --> 00:07:58,070
both sides of that. So. And it's very apparent. But you are, I think,

131
00:07:58,070 --> 00:08:01,870
naturally you have those skills. They just got lucky when

132
00:08:01,870 --> 00:08:04,910
they hired you. They got, oh, man, I like that, man. You make me feel

133
00:08:04,910 --> 00:08:08,510
good. You're not the typical hire, I'm

134
00:08:08,510 --> 00:08:12,350
sure, you know. Yeah. Now that I've gone through this and doing the hiring, you

135
00:08:12,350 --> 00:08:15,990
know, I like, you know, you go in and you're looking for. It's like,

136
00:08:15,990 --> 00:08:19,590
man, can I find somebody that's had both by the time they're 23?

137
00:08:20,070 --> 00:08:22,870
Technical acumen and customer service is kind of.

138
00:08:25,220 --> 00:08:28,660
So, I mean, you, you said you couldn't have segued that any better because

139
00:08:29,460 --> 00:08:32,340
you are an AV expert. No doubt

140
00:08:33,060 --> 00:08:36,740
we could geek out about technology, but I think

141
00:08:37,700 --> 00:08:40,420
the events industry as a whole, and for, I think

142
00:08:41,700 --> 00:08:45,420
listeners of this show, a lot of people might be operating

143
00:08:45,420 --> 00:08:49,140
small businesses and dealing with similar issues.

144
00:08:49,220 --> 00:08:52,740
So a lot of, A lot of people are service providers or

145
00:08:52,900 --> 00:08:56,100
they're in a planning team and they, they have to develop staff,

146
00:08:56,900 --> 00:09:00,420
they have to find talent. I mean, this is kind of a common theme and

147
00:09:00,420 --> 00:09:03,460
we're all showing up at the same event, you know, so, like, at the end

148
00:09:03,460 --> 00:09:06,820
of the day, we all drive to the same venue and we're doing similar things.

149
00:09:07,860 --> 00:09:11,700
But you speak a lot about training and mentorship. So, like, how do you,

150
00:09:11,940 --> 00:09:14,500
how do you approach mentorship? Because I think

151
00:09:15,540 --> 00:09:18,740
this is why I think it's unique when I talk to you is some people,

152
00:09:18,820 --> 00:09:22,660
like, they put listing on. On. Indeed. And then they just look at resumes.

153
00:09:22,900 --> 00:09:26,600
I think when you, you're like, yeah, but you

154
00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:30,440
can develop people, you know, you just have to find people to develop. So what's

155
00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:34,160
your approach on that? Yeah, that's loaded. And I will

156
00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:37,840
say now that, you know, I'm super passionate about this area,

157
00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:41,840
and I wouldn't recommend this to somebody that's not like

158
00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:45,360
super duper passionate because you get super duper frustrated.

159
00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:49,040
Yeah. And even somebody that's passionate about the training and development

160
00:09:50,410 --> 00:09:54,130
is, is. It can be frustrating for me at times. You

161
00:09:54,130 --> 00:09:57,930
know, you know, I've, I've second guessed myself

162
00:09:58,330 --> 00:10:00,810
on. On some things and some approaches

163
00:10:02,250 --> 00:10:05,130
maybe moving talent too fast,

164
00:10:05,850 --> 00:10:08,730
you know, from you know, from one position to another.

165
00:10:10,410 --> 00:10:14,250
And it's not a perfect science, I guess I,

166
00:10:14,330 --> 00:10:17,960
I would say that. And you have to always, you know,

167
00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:20,920
I feel like I have good talent around me

168
00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:23,320
to support me, to help me

169
00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:28,600
in the process. Piece of it. Right? Yeah. So I'm on the

170
00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:32,520
hunter side where, you know, I go out and get business, but I'm also

171
00:10:32,520 --> 00:10:35,960
on the development side where I'm trying to develop, develop

172
00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:39,760
talent and develop leaders. Yeah. So that gap in

173
00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:43,000
between is like a process, right? Yeah. And,

174
00:10:43,980 --> 00:10:47,780
and sometimes it gets difficult to find the people that can do

175
00:10:47,780 --> 00:10:50,940
all of those things you want them to do and embody

176
00:10:51,340 --> 00:10:55,020
and, and there's some pruning sometimes, you know,

177
00:10:55,020 --> 00:10:58,220
it's like, okay, sometimes it's okay that

178
00:10:58,380 --> 00:11:01,900
somebody that you're training or mentoring cannot step up into

179
00:11:02,380 --> 00:11:06,100
more, more leadership role. Right. Maybe just, you know, not just

180
00:11:06,100 --> 00:11:09,520
they may be an A1, they may be a V1, they

181
00:11:09,680 --> 00:11:13,520
may be an AV generalist and sometimes you may

182
00:11:13,520 --> 00:11:16,880
want more for a person than they want for themselves.

183
00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:20,960
Yeah, I, I, you know, you've been talking and I, I feel like first of

184
00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:24,760
all, A, a good lesson, it's messy if you're going to do

185
00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:28,520
this, it's messy. But, but B, I, I

186
00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:30,560
have, I've noticed the same thing where

187
00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:36,230
what you want and how you approach a career path is

188
00:11:36,230 --> 00:11:39,950
not, is not always the same as someone you're looking at. I

189
00:11:39,950 --> 00:11:43,430
had an experience where there was a guy I knew in production and

190
00:11:43,430 --> 00:11:47,110
super talented technician and I, I

191
00:11:47,110 --> 00:11:50,710
try, I was trying to move him up into being a project manager and

192
00:11:51,030 --> 00:11:54,870
handed him like, hey, I, I want you to do this. You can be a

193
00:11:54,870 --> 00:11:57,550
project manager. And where I was at the time, that was a, that was a

194
00:11:57,550 --> 00:12:01,190
promotion. And I don't, I was

195
00:12:01,190 --> 00:12:04,670
just naive in it, you know, thinking, because I'm thinking through my own paradigm, you

196
00:12:04,670 --> 00:12:08,520
know, and, and he was like, no, I don't want to do

197
00:12:08,520 --> 00:12:12,040
that. That's not what I'm interested in. And it wasn't that he was lazy

198
00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:15,680
or he was, he couldn't do, you know, he couldn't follow through on things or

199
00:12:15,680 --> 00:12:19,400
wasn't motivated. That just wasn't what he wanted. And he was happy

200
00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:22,720
where he was. And that was kind of eye opening for me because I'm like,

201
00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:27,040
okay, you know, it sounds obvious, like not everybody is me.

202
00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:31,080
Oh, that's a great lesson. Yeah, it sounds

203
00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:34,480
obvious. But like I said, you know, because I'm so much a people person.

204
00:12:35,100 --> 00:12:38,940
Yeah. I'm always, and I'm always a future

205
00:12:38,940 --> 00:12:41,940
looking at the future I'm looking at three years from now when I see a

206
00:12:41,940 --> 00:12:45,580
person like I'm already seeing where they can be in a year, in three

207
00:12:45,580 --> 00:12:48,940
years and five years. Yeah. You know, I'm not telling them,

208
00:12:49,660 --> 00:12:52,100
but I can see it. It's like, okay, they may be able to get from

209
00:12:52,100 --> 00:12:55,500
here, but then wherever I may see them at that three year mark,

210
00:12:55,660 --> 00:12:59,500
that may be just where they want to sit for the next 10 years. Right.

211
00:12:59,980 --> 00:13:03,780
And I have to come to grips with that reality sometimes. It's like I just

212
00:13:03,780 --> 00:13:07,560
want to sit here instead of just pushing. Push where I'm, you know,

213
00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:12,120
they're not a whole lot of people that are obsessive about

214
00:13:12,680 --> 00:13:16,200
once you get into a field or whatever, AV or whatever. Right.

215
00:13:16,360 --> 00:13:20,160
I'm one of those guys that's like pretty obsessive. Like, yeah, I

216
00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:23,920
want to be the best. I want to be. And keep pushing, keep

217
00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:27,240
pushing. But I always, but I also want to learn

218
00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:31,480
from people that are parallel and higher. Right.

219
00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:35,160
And I just always thought that that was the way for everybody

220
00:13:35,730 --> 00:13:39,450
and that's just a way of life. And it's just, it's just not a whole

221
00:13:39,450 --> 00:13:42,770
lot of people that are extra excessive, obsessive like that.

222
00:13:43,090 --> 00:13:46,930
Right. And, and I say it's obsessive with a positive because I want to

223
00:13:46,930 --> 00:13:49,170
see the best in people and get the best out of people and get the

224
00:13:49,170 --> 00:13:52,610
best out of myself. Right. So it's not,

225
00:13:53,410 --> 00:13:57,250
you know, that's, that's just the way I'm wired. And when people don't,

226
00:13:57,730 --> 00:14:01,530
don't meet you there, sometimes it's okay. Sometimes people just don't want to meet.

227
00:14:01,530 --> 00:14:05,330
Sometimes people just want to chat. Yeah. Is that just that

228
00:14:05,330 --> 00:14:08,930
part too? It's like, okay, I just want to get paid. Not

229
00:14:08,930 --> 00:14:12,010
interested in, you know, being a director

230
00:14:12,570 --> 00:14:16,410
or a vp. Yeah. It's not what drives them. It's not what

231
00:14:16,410 --> 00:14:19,449
drives them. Yeah. And, and like learning that, that's okay too.

232
00:14:19,930 --> 00:14:23,610
Yeah, that's great. That's what you want. Okay, cool. I'm here for you.

233
00:14:23,610 --> 00:14:27,370
That's great. I support that. Yeah, yeah. Because I tell people all the time, like,

234
00:14:27,450 --> 00:14:30,950
you know, at this point I probably trained, brought in or trained 20, about 25

235
00:14:30,950 --> 00:14:34,350
people in this industry and varying levels of success.

236
00:14:36,350 --> 00:14:39,790
And I want to give, like, I want to give listeners a perspective of that.

237
00:14:39,790 --> 00:14:43,470
Ricardo started his business six years ago. Is that right? Five,

238
00:14:43,470 --> 00:14:47,030
six years ago. Yeah, yeah, six, six years ago. Yeah. And so not only is

239
00:14:47,030 --> 00:14:50,630
he running a startup and having to think about acquiring

240
00:14:50,630 --> 00:14:54,390
clients and, and all the things that come

241
00:14:54,390 --> 00:14:57,200
to, you know, running a Brand new business.

242
00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:01,760
You're weren't, you weren't just like hiring people. You were in your

243
00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:05,360
mind through all this, you're bringing people in and, and growing people.

244
00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:09,240
Like, it's a different way of thinking. It's not. People aren't just

245
00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:12,840
like some line on your P and L. You are. You're

246
00:15:12,840 --> 00:15:16,320
actually thinking that individual, I want to grow them and

247
00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:20,240
train them and that they're the best version of themselves. It's just a total

248
00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:24,050
different approach to a startup. I think it is. And it's

249
00:15:24,050 --> 00:15:27,850
a different kind of lift too. And it's been rewarding. I want to say that

250
00:15:27,850 --> 00:15:31,690
it's been very rewarding. But. But, you know,

251
00:15:32,410 --> 00:15:36,130
I always tell anybody, man or a woman, like, you

252
00:15:36,130 --> 00:15:39,810
owe me nothing. Like, you can go from this to another

253
00:15:39,810 --> 00:15:43,450
AV company or to another career. I just want you to want it to be

254
00:15:43,450 --> 00:15:47,050
able to be said that while you were here that

255
00:15:47,770 --> 00:15:51,570
you became better in several areas. Right? Yeah. And we

256
00:15:51,570 --> 00:15:55,330
supported that. And for the most part, that's, that's what we are. A

257
00:15:55,330 --> 00:15:57,730
lot, a lot of, A lot of people freelance for other companies. I have a

258
00:15:57,730 --> 00:16:01,410
couple that work full time for other companies that I brought into the industry. And,

259
00:16:01,970 --> 00:16:05,770
and it's great. But, but yeah, so just, just

260
00:16:05,770 --> 00:16:09,410
understanding that people have, you know, they have their own lens and they have their

261
00:16:09,410 --> 00:16:12,850
own way of seeing themselves progressing in life and then just

262
00:16:12,850 --> 00:16:16,610
respecting that and then understanding when you need to bring that.

263
00:16:17,220 --> 00:16:20,940
Now I'll say for, for Tech Factory, we brought in a

264
00:16:20,940 --> 00:16:24,180
young man named Timothy Wright that I went to church with for

265
00:16:25,460 --> 00:16:29,260
15 years and his resume popped up in. Indeed. Like, this is one of those

266
00:16:29,260 --> 00:16:32,660
rare positions, like, oh, you know what, it's time to go to. Indeed, 35

267
00:16:32,660 --> 00:16:35,700
resumes. His was the best one. And I'm like, hold on, I know this guy,

268
00:16:36,260 --> 00:16:39,980
I know him well. And immediately all the other

269
00:16:39,980 --> 00:16:43,340
resumes, like, there's no reason to reach out to anybody. He was the best resume

270
00:16:43,340 --> 00:16:46,500
and I know him and respect him, brought him in. And it was a game

271
00:16:46,500 --> 00:16:50,300
changer because it took a load off of me and Lakina, which, you know, I'm

272
00:16:50,300 --> 00:16:52,460
not going to go too far with that because I know there's a question leading

273
00:16:52,460 --> 00:16:56,220
up to that, but Keena is my managing director, happens to be my

274
00:16:56,220 --> 00:16:59,860
wife, but we'll unpack that a little bit later. But he's taking a load

275
00:16:59,860 --> 00:17:03,380
off and, and our processes

276
00:17:03,780 --> 00:17:07,620
have, you know, it's like our processes are not new. These processes are

277
00:17:07,620 --> 00:17:11,470
the same. They were here before he got here. Right. And he's

278
00:17:11,470 --> 00:17:15,030
just putting Feet to the fire. And when we're gone,

279
00:17:15,270 --> 00:17:18,710
it's like, no, this is the way we're doing this. And we finally have

280
00:17:18,710 --> 00:17:22,270
somebody that's. That's executing in that

281
00:17:22,270 --> 00:17:26,070
area, and it's changing everything. Right. Because we don't

282
00:17:26,070 --> 00:17:29,670
have to do that. And the other things go out and hunt, find business,

283
00:17:30,070 --> 00:17:33,350
h. You know, hr, payroll, and all of those things. So

284
00:17:33,910 --> 00:17:36,670
I'll stop there because I don't want to go too far. I think that's a

285
00:17:36,670 --> 00:17:40,350
great example of what your hotel friends on your first job

286
00:17:40,350 --> 00:17:44,170
found in you. Right. Sometimes you just find amazing

287
00:17:44,170 --> 00:17:47,930
people right out the gate. Absolutely. I went to Indeed this time. Like, it wasn't

288
00:17:47,930 --> 00:17:51,010
like, oh, man, let me find somebody I know. He just went to Indeed. And

289
00:17:51,010 --> 00:17:54,410
it is somebody I know, somebody I respect and somebody that I know can fill

290
00:17:54,410 --> 00:17:58,250
this slot. And not only that, I'll say this. The.

291
00:17:58,250 --> 00:18:01,410
The. The. The heavy lift of training from the ground up

292
00:18:01,970 --> 00:18:05,610
for us gives us the culture that we definitely

293
00:18:05,610 --> 00:18:08,770
wanted from day one in the mission and vision of the tech factory. So

294
00:18:09,320 --> 00:18:12,440
it helps us to, like, man, we set a culture, and if we do bring

295
00:18:12,440 --> 00:18:16,000
somebody in, they have to fit this

296
00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:19,760
culture and they have to fit it fast. Because I will not let

297
00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:23,240
you disrupt it. Yeah. Because it means a lot

298
00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:27,560
experience. It doesn't even matter about the experience. Like, you're going to

299
00:18:27,560 --> 00:18:31,320
have to run up against this and fit this culture, and we're all

300
00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:35,120
going to know if you don't fit it. It's not just me and Lakina. We

301
00:18:35,120 --> 00:18:38,640
will know that there's a disruptor full time here. We have to do something about

302
00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:42,030
it. Yeah. I think that idea of you have to guard

303
00:18:42,030 --> 00:18:45,830
culture carefully in a company or it can get. It can get

304
00:18:45,830 --> 00:18:48,910
out. Like, if you. If you just focus on talent

305
00:18:50,110 --> 00:18:53,630
but allow other deficiencies to remain,

306
00:18:53,790 --> 00:18:57,550
it can be incredibly demotivating to an entire team. Absolutely.

307
00:18:57,630 --> 00:19:01,230
And it's also, without words, communicating what's really important,

308
00:19:01,390 --> 00:19:05,230
you know, if you don't guard that culture. So you mentioned Lakina.

309
00:19:06,010 --> 00:19:09,770
You also have a lot of experience in family

310
00:19:09,850 --> 00:19:13,370
in your business. And I know this, this can be a sensitive

311
00:19:13,450 --> 00:19:17,210
topic for a lot of people, but I think it's an interesting topic because,

312
00:19:17,210 --> 00:19:20,810
again, we. We thrive in an industry of a lot of small

313
00:19:20,810 --> 00:19:24,570
businesses, and inevitably you have family involved.

314
00:19:24,730 --> 00:19:28,450
And so obviously family is important to you both in your

315
00:19:28,450 --> 00:19:32,250
personal, professional life. Do you have any tips on working

316
00:19:32,250 --> 00:19:36,010
alongside family in a small business? Because the only tip that I

317
00:19:36,010 --> 00:19:39,720
know that I've read is don't work with family in a

318
00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:43,520
business. But you obviously have figured out how to make that

319
00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:47,120
work. And so what are some, what are some tips, man? What are some

320
00:19:47,120 --> 00:19:50,880
secrets? So if, if you, if you're

321
00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:54,280
hiring family, I would say hire a family. That

322
00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:58,600
you would hire them if they weren't a family member. Right. They bring

323
00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:01,960
something to the table. Yeah. That the business needs.

324
00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:06,120
Right. Looking as my wife and managing director, I didn't bring her on full time

325
00:20:06,120 --> 00:20:09,400
until year three and I knew I wasn't going to bring on full time until

326
00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:13,160
I had four. Like it was five of us full time. Right. So

327
00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:16,840
she was like the sixth full time employee. And.

328
00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:20,840
But the reason it works well for us because she literally is

329
00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:24,040
better than me in certain areas,

330
00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:28,160
you know? You know, whereas, you know, I can, I can fake a lot

331
00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:31,600
of areas in business and I can make it work and,

332
00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:35,120
and push it along, but you can't, you know,

333
00:20:35,360 --> 00:20:39,160
can't pretend that we're 10 in every area. 10 out of 10.

334
00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:42,520
Like, you know, there's some areas where I'm a 4 and, and

335
00:20:42,520 --> 00:20:45,840
Lakena is a 9, 10. And it just works. And

336
00:20:46,240 --> 00:20:49,200
I, I watched her. You. We've been married. This is, we're coming up on 20

337
00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:52,800
years next month, actually. Congratulations. Thank you, man.

338
00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:57,940
And there's been a respect for, for our craft. She was a

339
00:20:57,940 --> 00:21:01,660
project manager for AT&T for years. She worked from home almost from the

340
00:21:01,660 --> 00:21:05,060
time. Yeah, pretty much the whole time we've been married, she worked from home.

341
00:21:05,620 --> 00:21:09,100
And she's always had a job. She was with AT&T or an

342
00:21:09,100 --> 00:21:12,580
affiliate for pretty much her whole career. And she was a

343
00:21:12,660 --> 00:21:16,020
ridiculously high performer. Like, I'm talking about

344
00:21:16,020 --> 00:21:18,660
laptop. Going into labor with our last child

345
00:21:20,740 --> 00:21:24,180
and getting it done and making no excuses like,

346
00:21:24,590 --> 00:21:28,190
okay, you know, baby, it's such and such happening. There's such and such

347
00:21:28,190 --> 00:21:31,910
happen. Like, you know, okay, we're good. Like, let's take, take

348
00:21:31,910 --> 00:21:35,470
some time and relax. But, but taking it seriously, none of our children

349
00:21:35,550 --> 00:21:39,070
were in daycare that we had together. We had three kids.

350
00:21:39,470 --> 00:21:42,790
They had to know how to sit quiet, you know, until they were 4 or

351
00:21:42,790 --> 00:21:46,550
5, you know, 5 years old, because mom is on

352
00:21:46,550 --> 00:21:50,390
a conference call that. And it just, it just

353
00:21:50,390 --> 00:21:53,970
worked. I saw that diligence with her day in a day and not

354
00:21:53,970 --> 00:21:57,690
cheating the company. Yeah, it's easy to try to figure out, oh

355
00:21:57,690 --> 00:22:00,770
man, I could cheat them. You know, I can skirt a couple of hours here,

356
00:22:00,850 --> 00:22:04,210
a couple hours there. Never did that because I'm family.

357
00:22:05,170 --> 00:22:08,850
Never did that working for AT&T or those affiliates, working

358
00:22:08,850 --> 00:22:12,650
from home. And when I saw that, and I knew that. I respected

359
00:22:12,650 --> 00:22:16,250
my craft to that level. It made it. It made it great for. For us.

360
00:22:16,250 --> 00:22:19,530
And I knew it could work because I wouldn't get out of her way. Yeah.

361
00:22:19,530 --> 00:22:23,050
And that doesn't mean we don't agree on. On things all the time. Like,

362
00:22:23,370 --> 00:22:26,930
you know, and sometimes even with the crew, like, we're like, okay, well, I

363
00:22:26,930 --> 00:22:30,770
disagree, you know, whatever, but we. A decision still has to be made. But

364
00:22:30,770 --> 00:22:34,290
they know there's respect. Sometimes we. We banter in front of the crew a whole

365
00:22:34,290 --> 00:22:37,970
lot. You know, they'll see the husband, wife banter, but they know it's, you

366
00:22:37,970 --> 00:22:41,730
know, it's. It's all jokes and sometimes it's a little seriousness

367
00:22:41,730 --> 00:22:45,490
in the joke. Yeah, yeah, but. But they know. They.

368
00:22:45,490 --> 00:22:49,170
They know we're professionals. So I've had my sister working here. She

369
00:22:49,170 --> 00:22:52,970
worked here for a year, and she got our processes, you know,

370
00:22:52,970 --> 00:22:56,690
our project management processes to. To a certain level. And then she

371
00:22:56,690 --> 00:23:00,250
went back to being a contractor. I stole her from healthcare. And it was great

372
00:23:00,250 --> 00:23:03,130
to have her for that year, and I. I thought I would hold onto her

373
00:23:03,130 --> 00:23:06,730
for a couple more years, but she got us to a certain point

374
00:23:07,210 --> 00:23:11,010
and it was great. And we brought it. We brought in another project

375
00:23:11,010 --> 00:23:14,570
manager after that. And my uncle is driving for me. You

376
00:23:14,570 --> 00:23:18,330
know, he's driving to California as we speak from. From here. It's a long

377
00:23:18,330 --> 00:23:22,010
drive. And that was a period of separation with us. A year and a

378
00:23:22,010 --> 00:23:25,690
half. It's like, listen, I know you're my uncle, but, you know, I know you

379
00:23:25,690 --> 00:23:29,330
well, and you have to follow rules. And me and Lakena, you know, we have

380
00:23:29,330 --> 00:23:33,050
corporate rules. We don't have mom and pop rules around here, and we never have.

381
00:23:33,370 --> 00:23:37,090
So if we can just keep it straight with everybody and have the

382
00:23:37,090 --> 00:23:40,090
tough conversations. And I have a lot of friends that work for me, friends I've

383
00:23:40,090 --> 00:23:43,720
known 20 years. It's like, okay, now listen, I know you're texting me, so

384
00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:47,440
you're coming in late, but you have to include Donnie Laquino on this. I

385
00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:50,880
don't need this text message. Right. And then you get an office, and we might

386
00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:54,720
work on building the case together, work on some technology, but I draw

387
00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:58,520
those lines. I draw those lines. Yes. You're one of my best friends. I trust

388
00:23:58,520 --> 00:24:00,760
you with my life. But this is the person you need to tell. You're going

389
00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:04,600
to be off tomorrow, not me. So what. What I'm hearing is, I

390
00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:08,360
mean, you just got to set real boundaries. And, you know, this is a person

391
00:24:08,360 --> 00:24:12,080
I would hire real. And you need to bring your A game to

392
00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:15,640
work. And we have the same rules that everyone else plays by

393
00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:19,680
at the company. And if you can do all that, then, then you

394
00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:23,480
can have a job here. But you're not given any like family,

395
00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:28,360
family benefit or letting things slide because they're family at the company. And

396
00:24:28,360 --> 00:24:32,200
I, I think that's like, super insightful is it's just

397
00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:36,000
easy when you bring family into business to have

398
00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:39,850
different rules. And again, it, that's a

399
00:24:39,850 --> 00:24:43,610
culture thing. If, if you're doing that, it's communicating something, whether you're

400
00:24:43,610 --> 00:24:47,330
saying it or not, that's communicating to everyone else that, oh,

401
00:24:47,330 --> 00:24:51,090
this, this person's family. So that doesn't apply. So

402
00:24:51,090 --> 00:24:54,450
that's just the way it is here. What are you going to do? And that

403
00:24:54,450 --> 00:24:57,850
can be an unhealthy thing, for sure. Very much so. And I can, that's one

404
00:24:57,850 --> 00:25:01,650
thing. I can assure you that nobody would. It's not possible that they can say,

405
00:25:01,650 --> 00:25:05,440
they can say something about us. Negative, I'm sure. But to say that we treat

406
00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:09,040
family and friends any differently, there's no room. Nobody could

407
00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:12,760
possibly say that. Right. Because we

408
00:25:12,760 --> 00:25:16,400
just don't play those games. We just happen

409
00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:20,199
to give opportunities to people that we feel like, can feel

410
00:25:20,199 --> 00:25:23,960
this gap and then we treat everybody with respect. That's it. I

411
00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:26,960
love it. I love it. Well, you know, I got to ask you at least

412
00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:30,410
like one AV question. Sure. So

413
00:25:30,970 --> 00:25:34,770
I might have to. I'm going to switch gears just

414
00:25:34,770 --> 00:25:38,370
for a second here. So there, there are some event

415
00:25:38,370 --> 00:25:41,930
planners listening. So how can event planners set up their

416
00:25:41,930 --> 00:25:45,490
AV partners for success is a straightforward

417
00:25:45,490 --> 00:25:48,330
question in your mind. You work with a lot of planners,

418
00:25:49,050 --> 00:25:52,690
same thing as, as me. And sometimes there are things you

419
00:25:52,690 --> 00:25:56,420
wish that they did, that if they just

420
00:25:56,420 --> 00:25:59,260
did it this way, it would make it a lot smoother. You know, the process.

421
00:26:01,020 --> 00:26:04,300
Tell us openly everything that you, that you want,

422
00:26:05,580 --> 00:26:09,140
that you want to get. Not just from a technology standpoint, but, you know, of

423
00:26:09,140 --> 00:26:12,860
course, I know we'll get here in another question. But,

424
00:26:13,020 --> 00:26:16,780
you know, maybe you're up against different concessions and things from,

425
00:26:16,940 --> 00:26:20,660
from the hotel and, you know, just putting all the cards on the table up

426
00:26:20,660 --> 00:26:24,500
front because you and I, you know, we do a lot of

427
00:26:24,500 --> 00:26:27,740
quotes and we just want to, whether we're going to win or lose, we want

428
00:26:27,740 --> 00:26:31,540
to get there as fast as we can. And I don't mind even educating you.

429
00:26:31,780 --> 00:26:35,540
Yeah. When we lose, when you're going to go somewhere else, I don't

430
00:26:35,540 --> 00:26:38,940
mind giving because that's just the type of person that I am. It's just my

431
00:26:38,940 --> 00:26:42,180
nature to make sure that anything that I've learned, you know, that I can pass,

432
00:26:42,260 --> 00:26:45,220
pass it on, you know, And I believe when you're that type of person,

433
00:26:45,860 --> 00:26:49,550
it circles back around and rewards you, you know,

434
00:26:49,550 --> 00:26:53,390
and, and it has, it's been a, a constant cycle of rewards. You

435
00:26:53,390 --> 00:26:56,230
know something, it doesn't feel good losing. I like to win every, you know, every

436
00:26:56,230 --> 00:26:59,390
RFP that I get. You want to win? I want to win.

437
00:26:59,710 --> 00:27:03,550
Yeah. I want to win every last one of them. Right.

438
00:27:03,790 --> 00:27:07,590
And look, I'm crazy enough to think I can win every last one. Yeah, right.

439
00:27:07,590 --> 00:27:10,390
You kind of have to be. You got to have to have that like crazy

440
00:27:10,390 --> 00:27:13,790
optimism. It really makes no sense at all if you think about it. But

441
00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:17,440
like, like, like NBA and NFL players, like I'm here to win a

442
00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:21,000
championship, like, you know, or a boxer. Can you beat him?

443
00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:24,800
Yes, I can beat him. You gotta believe first before it happens. What,

444
00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:28,600
what are we doing? Yeah, but, but

445
00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:32,240
we also have to be, you know, gracious when, when, when

446
00:27:32,240 --> 00:27:35,920
we, we get the loss and then respecting the craft enough

447
00:27:35,920 --> 00:27:39,760
to say, you know, here's some, something that, that can probably help you because

448
00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:43,200
we found this in discovery. But yeah, just putting all the, you know,

449
00:27:43,510 --> 00:27:47,150
you don't have to be so protective, especially if you've done your homework on

450
00:27:47,150 --> 00:27:50,750
the person that you're talking to. Right? Yeah. If you've done homework on

451
00:27:50,750 --> 00:27:53,990
Seth and Ricardo. Right. You know,

452
00:27:54,390 --> 00:27:57,990
we have some content out here. We have speaking engagement things we've done.

453
00:27:57,990 --> 00:28:01,830
We've, we're respected in the industry. Right. You don't have to, don't have

454
00:28:01,830 --> 00:28:05,670
to hide. You can send me another AV company's line

455
00:28:05,670 --> 00:28:09,190
item quotes with the pricing blacked out. Yeah, it

456
00:28:09,190 --> 00:28:12,990
doesn't, I tell clients all the time, it doesn't inform my pricing. Black it all

457
00:28:12,990 --> 00:28:16,670
out and send it to me. Right? Yeah, it's fine. But at least it gives

458
00:28:16,670 --> 00:28:20,070
me line by line. This is what was provided for you in

459
00:28:20,070 --> 00:28:23,590
2024. And it lets me see, okay,

460
00:28:23,750 --> 00:28:26,710
I might have put a 12K projector on here

461
00:28:27,270 --> 00:28:31,110
on this 16 foot screen. But the other AV

462
00:28:31,110 --> 00:28:34,790
company put a 20K projector on the 16 foot screen. Right.

463
00:28:36,310 --> 00:28:39,910
Or they might have put an 8K projector and you're saying, oh man, your price

464
00:28:39,910 --> 00:28:43,760
is how it's like, listen, you know, they had an 8K projector on a 16

465
00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:46,680
foot screen, you know, is that ideal? No.

466
00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:50,520
Did it pass for you? Maybe it did,

467
00:28:51,560 --> 00:28:55,280
but the question would be, is like, hey, did you notice that the screen, if

468
00:28:55,280 --> 00:28:58,640
you're doing imag you might as well forget it. Like we kind of getting techy

469
00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:01,640
right now. But 8k on a 16 case,

470
00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:06,040
16 foot screen, the imag is not going to look good by any stretch

471
00:29:06,040 --> 00:29:09,560
of the imagination. And this is where you get into that education

472
00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:13,680
piece. Education piece where you're, where you're really circling around

473
00:29:13,680 --> 00:29:17,460
is like if you're working a reputable provider, there are certain

474
00:29:17,460 --> 00:29:21,100
things you should be able to expect is this when they, they

475
00:29:21,100 --> 00:29:24,180
price out and they present what they do whether you choose them or not. First

476
00:29:24,180 --> 00:29:27,460
of all, there's respect in it and you're gonna, you'll get education

477
00:29:28,100 --> 00:29:31,820
where you ask and they will come alongside and help you

478
00:29:31,820 --> 00:29:35,500
and you'll be better for it whether you choose them or not. And that's, I

479
00:29:35,500 --> 00:29:39,180
think that's the way that you run your business and the

480
00:29:39,180 --> 00:29:42,720
way that it's kind of the philosophically the way we feel about it

481
00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:46,480
too because we're in such a cyclical business, it's too small.

482
00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:50,480
Everybody kind of knows everybody and we're all kind of out for each other's good.

483
00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:53,320
So I might not work with you this year, but I might work with you

484
00:29:53,320 --> 00:29:56,200
next year or you might go somewhere else next year. So it's just in our

485
00:29:56,200 --> 00:29:59,600
best interest really to crazy enough

486
00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:03,400
treat everybody with respect and I mean like give you the

487
00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:06,880
respect you deserve so you can. Do that and still want to win.

488
00:30:07,610 --> 00:30:11,290
Yeah. All the business, there's, there's room for both.

489
00:30:11,770 --> 00:30:15,290
But you have to be people like you and I are

490
00:30:15,450 --> 00:30:19,250
and run the ship that way where we're passionate about

491
00:30:19,250 --> 00:30:23,050
the craft, we're passionate about our people and we're passionate about

492
00:30:23,850 --> 00:30:27,330
you as a client and want to make sure you have those outcomes that you

493
00:30:27,330 --> 00:30:31,130
need. Right. Yeah. You know, it gets into what we are our topic that

494
00:30:31,210 --> 00:30:34,660
we're going to be talking about in a, in a few months. Right? That's right.

495
00:30:34,660 --> 00:30:38,260
That's right. Yeah. Ricardo and I are going to be speaking

496
00:30:38,340 --> 00:30:42,020
at wec, which is the World Education

497
00:30:42,580 --> 00:30:45,780
Conference. Right. Is that. I get that right. With MPI

498
00:30:46,260 --> 00:30:49,620
International, which we're really excited about. And two sessions.

499
00:30:50,100 --> 00:30:53,300
A couple sessions. And this is a hot hot button

500
00:30:53,940 --> 00:30:57,660
question. My last question for you. It's really in house AV always

501
00:30:57,660 --> 00:31:00,420
comes up and you have a unique perspective on it because

502
00:31:01,460 --> 00:31:05,140
you've provided good service from the hotel and

503
00:31:05,140 --> 00:31:08,700
now you provide it from outside the hotel side. And I. What I've come to

504
00:31:08,700 --> 00:31:12,420
believe too, like about in house av, I don't

505
00:31:12,420 --> 00:31:16,180
think there is any good or bad AV per se, like not inherently

506
00:31:16,180 --> 00:31:19,380
evil or anything. I Think there's a purpose for both

507
00:31:19,380 --> 00:31:22,740
offerings. It's just what are you trying to accomplish? But

508
00:31:23,220 --> 00:31:26,020
what are some ways that you found to work like

509
00:31:26,580 --> 00:31:30,330
alongside in house AV instead of just circumventing them?

510
00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:34,440
So you have a client that is working in a venue that you need

511
00:31:34,440 --> 00:31:38,160
to work at to some degree within house. That's just part of the

512
00:31:38,160 --> 00:31:42,000
requirement and it is what it is, you know. So how do you, have

513
00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:44,720
you been able to turn that into maybe a positive or

514
00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:48,560
alongside kind of getting alongside that in house partner?

515
00:31:49,040 --> 00:31:52,840
Yeah, that's a great question. Sometimes

516
00:31:52,840 --> 00:31:55,040
there's an opportunity with certain breakout rooms,

517
00:31:56,310 --> 00:31:59,990
maybe depending if there's going to be some streaming involved. We know that's

518
00:31:59,990 --> 00:32:03,710
a little bit, a little bit different, right. You might want

519
00:32:03,710 --> 00:32:07,430
to just work with your production partner that you're bringing in, but

520
00:32:08,070 --> 00:32:11,790
you can think of registration areas, VIP holding

521
00:32:11,790 --> 00:32:15,350
areas where we might get a tv, a projector. So

522
00:32:15,350 --> 00:32:19,070
sometimes it's, it's a little better, you know, and you can talk to

523
00:32:19,070 --> 00:32:22,920
your, your, your client about this as well. It's like, hey, why don't we

524
00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:26,480
let them have these, these three breakout rooms? But if you're streaming these

525
00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:30,240
three, we'll take on these three in

526
00:32:30,240 --> 00:32:33,920
the general session. Right. Gives them a, a little bit of income.

527
00:32:33,920 --> 00:32:37,719
It also gives you a little buy in with the AV company if you

528
00:32:37,719 --> 00:32:41,320
need something last minute. All right. When I'm going into these venues, you

529
00:32:41,320 --> 00:32:45,000
know, I am meeting, you know, I listen. Sometimes

530
00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:48,800
we've taken 100, 150, $200,000 off their plate, all

531
00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:52,590
right, and, but I go in and I introduce myself

532
00:32:52,590 --> 00:32:56,270
and, and bring the humane side to it. It's like, hey, I'm Ricardo, you

533
00:32:56,270 --> 00:32:59,310
know, actually started my career in house, you know, this, that and the other.

534
00:32:59,790 --> 00:33:03,150
And once they, you humanize the situations. You know,

535
00:33:03,790 --> 00:33:07,630
I walked away from conversation just sincerely just wanting to meet somebody and

536
00:33:07,630 --> 00:33:11,430
talk to them. And then, man, anything you want, you can, you know, just let

537
00:33:11,430 --> 00:33:14,830
me know you can get it. You know, sometimes I got free stuff I've gotten

538
00:33:15,270 --> 00:33:18,990
discount on, man, I need a screen, I need a, I need a, some extra

539
00:33:18,990 --> 00:33:22,590
panels of drape. But you know, just going in

540
00:33:22,590 --> 00:33:26,390
and just humanizing the situation, it's like, okay, listen, we were

541
00:33:26,390 --> 00:33:30,190
selected. But you know, we know as an in house person like you,

542
00:33:30,190 --> 00:33:33,830
you're still going to get your check, you know. Right, right. And we still may

543
00:33:33,830 --> 00:33:36,950
need you for something, you know, whether it's the breakout rooms, pop up equipment or

544
00:33:36,950 --> 00:33:40,630
whatever. So it's better to go ahead and rip the band aid.

545
00:33:41,110 --> 00:33:44,910
And I would say pretty much 100% of the time when I've

546
00:33:44,910 --> 00:33:48,590
gone up front and meeting these people and doing this, we've

547
00:33:48,590 --> 00:33:52,430
had zero issues. So I think

548
00:33:52,430 --> 00:33:56,230
that's the tactic. And honestly I think I need to preach that to my team

549
00:33:56,470 --> 00:34:00,070
more. I do it and I've talked about it with my team, but. And

550
00:34:00,310 --> 00:34:03,670
I'll let you speak because it sounds like you're about to say something, but I'll

551
00:34:03,670 --> 00:34:07,390
finish this after you talk. Well, I

552
00:34:07,390 --> 00:34:11,110
just am like this recurring theme with you, which is

553
00:34:11,110 --> 00:34:14,809
probably why we're friends. Turns out in all facets

554
00:34:14,809 --> 00:34:18,169
of life, if you treat people with respect, they respond

555
00:34:18,169 --> 00:34:21,049
accordingly. It's nuts.

556
00:34:21,769 --> 00:34:24,969
It's easy. You know, I have my

557
00:34:24,969 --> 00:34:28,768
worldview and I just, I've milked that

558
00:34:28,768 --> 00:34:32,489
book, the good book. Everything is

559
00:34:32,489 --> 00:34:36,249
worth, like I just believe what's in it and you know, and.

560
00:34:36,249 --> 00:34:40,030
Treat people that way. Milk it and, and

561
00:34:40,030 --> 00:34:43,710
I think, you know, that's been, been very helpful

562
00:34:43,710 --> 00:34:47,310
for me in all of life. Right. And look, it's not all

563
00:34:47,310 --> 00:34:51,110
roses. Like, you know, it's. But when you're down,

564
00:34:51,190 --> 00:34:54,790
like, you know, you still have that foundation that says, okay,

565
00:34:54,790 --> 00:34:58,310
this is how I respond when I'm down. Yeah.

566
00:34:58,470 --> 00:35:01,750
But like give a quick example when,

567
00:35:02,790 --> 00:35:06,590
when the pandemic hit down. That was

568
00:35:06,590 --> 00:35:10,270
right after my first year. Like my second year was going to be like, it

569
00:35:10,270 --> 00:35:14,030
was going to be a great year, you know, and I cried some real

570
00:35:14,030 --> 00:35:17,870
tears, you know, in April, you know, or March.

571
00:35:18,190 --> 00:35:22,030
It was rough and I really had to wake

572
00:35:22,030 --> 00:35:25,790
myself up and it's like it came to me. It's like, well, everybody's in this

573
00:35:25,790 --> 00:35:29,590
position. Every AV company is in this position. You know,

574
00:35:29,590 --> 00:35:33,240
everybody in the events industry, like, you know, and outside of the event,

575
00:35:33,240 --> 00:35:36,280
all in the same. So what are you going to do?

576
00:35:37,560 --> 00:35:41,280
You know, so for me it was like double downing on like, okay, what

577
00:35:41,280 --> 00:35:44,960
can I learn? Okay, and learn the streaming thing. And then the phone

578
00:35:44,960 --> 00:35:48,640
started ringing and I, you know, you just had to learn something new

579
00:35:48,640 --> 00:35:52,480
and go full fledged into it. Well, okay, so if people want

580
00:35:52,480 --> 00:35:56,040
to find out more about Tech Factory, which is Ricardo's wonderful company,

581
00:35:56,360 --> 00:35:59,680
how could they, how could they find out about your business? Sure, sure. Go to

582
00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:03,320
Tech Factory T E C H Factory productions with an s.com

583
00:36:04,800 --> 00:36:08,640
and check us out there. You can fill out a form

584
00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:12,280
for anything you may be wanting to do. We do virtual events, we do live

585
00:36:12,280 --> 00:36:15,760
events, hybrid events, pretty much the same thing LEMG does. And

586
00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:19,719
you know, we play, we play nice in the sandbox together. Right. You know,

587
00:36:19,719 --> 00:36:23,280
because you know, the client, the client

588
00:36:23,520 --> 00:36:27,240
production company match is not, you know, it's a thing to

589
00:36:27,240 --> 00:36:30,800
it, right? You know, finding that match for you and your organization.

590
00:36:30,960 --> 00:36:34,720
We're not the right match for every organization. Tech factories, not

591
00:36:34,720 --> 00:36:38,240
an LEMG may not be the right match for every organization, but

592
00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:42,680
we use each other as resources and we, we definitely run our

593
00:36:42,680 --> 00:36:45,920
companies in a way that we want to do the right thing at all times.

594
00:36:46,320 --> 00:36:50,040
And for those very reasons and the others that Ricardo talked about, I

595
00:36:50,040 --> 00:36:53,840
would always recommend Ricardo and Tech Factory. They're a great company, great

596
00:36:53,840 --> 00:36:57,660
group of people that care, care about, about what they do, good at what they

597
00:36:57,660 --> 00:37:00,100
do. So I will always recommend them.

598
00:37:01,700 --> 00:37:04,620
I appreciate it, man. I appreciate it. And thank you for being on the show.

599
00:37:04,620 --> 00:37:08,260
This has been fantastic, a great conversation. I knew it would be,

600
00:37:09,300 --> 00:37:13,100
but we're gonna have to have you back. Yeah, man, absolutely. I appreciate the

601
00:37:13,100 --> 00:37:16,740
opportunity. Yes, sir. Well, thank you listener, for

602
00:37:16,740 --> 00:37:20,180
joining us. Be sure to follow us on your preferred podcast

603
00:37:20,180 --> 00:37:23,980
platform, whatever that might be, and we will see you next

604
00:37:23,980 --> 00:37:27,020
time. The Event Pro show is a production of

605
00:37:27,020 --> 00:37:30,820
LEMG video by Nick Barrett, audio

606
00:37:30,820 --> 00:37:34,420
and post production by Prince Thompson. You can learn more about us

607
00:37:34,420 --> 00:37:36,420
at LEMG Live.