LIVE From NACE Experience: More Voices, More Stories, More NACE

Kevin Dennis (: 00:00

All right, folks, welcome to day two of podcasting live with Michelle and Kevin show. Yes, but it's really called mind your wedding business. But we're special live edition here at experience. And we got to really thank Ann. Yes, are the one that's letting us do all this. She does. She and is the ⁓ the brain. She is the brains behind the entire conference without Anna wouldn't happen. Yeah. So, and before we go, you got to tell us the audience who you are and what you do.

What you do? My name's Ann Harper. the Deputy Executive Director for NACE. So NACE is my full-time job. Plus some, a little. Well, because she's got to take care of us. a lot. So that's, So for NACE, I do lots of things. This conference, of course, one of them. We have another conference. I oversee the CPCE program, educational program, and help with operations and anything else that needs to get done. All right. So we're day two in the conference. How are Yeah.

the temperature in the room, how are we doing? I think fantastic. Other than the teleprompter guy, right? Yes. Yeah, no, I think in general, yes, I think people are really enjoying all of the curated education we provided. We really work hard to really select specific speakers that meet our audience's needs. And the keynote was fantastic yesterday. I thought she did a great job. was amazing. Lei Wang was fantastic, and our audience really enjoyed the energy she brought to the opening session.

And then amazing amount of breakout speakers. have I think over 35 speakers speaking for us over these two days. So a lot of great things you get to learn here at Experience. So like the process, when do you guys start finding speakers, submissions, how does it all work? Yeah, we open up submissions in the fall. So just in a month or two. We'll open up submissions. People get to submit.

Once you we go through a process with our national committee they review first and then we work together to curate You know a lineup that will be meet all of the needs of our audience, which is a very diverse group of people so It really is a labor of love This is my tenth conference

Yeah, I think there's somebody at the door that needs to come and join us. Yeah, come on ones. Come on in Lawrence coming in Lawrence coming in Lawrence Leonard our executive director for Nays We saw him sneaking by so we're gonna pull him in I was finishing breakfast popcorn with ⁓ chocolate on it. that sounds good. Yeah, very healthy That's about what we do. Yeah, so before we start Lawrence, tell us who you are. Why are you here? I'm Lawrence Leonard executive director for Nays and what does that mean?

That's a loaded question, Kevin. Yeah, so that's the ultimate other duties as a sign job. Seriously, so my role is to oversee sort of like the business operations, the association, help the board in moving forward on the strategic plan of the association and serving our members. Love it. Yeah. All right. So we're day two. How are you feeling? We asked Dan, are we going to get your?

Day two temperature. I think it's been a fantastic conference. The energy's been incredible. We're hearing great feedback on the education sessions. They seem to be resonating with people. Again, a lot of positivity and energy. Like every conference, there's opportunities, surprises that pop out. Like the teleprompter guy. Oh. It's a sore subject, Kevin. Please stop bringing it up. Yeah. No. We don't talk about that.

But it's like we don't talk about Bruno. There may be some new missing posters in Milwaukee. Well, let's talk about real quick, Milwaukee. mean, I've have never been here and I've been blown away. This is a great it's been a fun city. It's been they've been really welcoming to all of us. So 100 percent. It's a it's a wonderful conference. They do a great job here. The hospitality community is absolutely amazing.

their new energy in the city and they're making huge investments. It's absolutely wonderful. love it. Remember it's not Milwaukee, it's MKE. well yeah. MKE. We've been working on it. We've been working on it. You were going say something, go ahead. Yeah, I was going to say I think we're just in the heart of Midwest NICE. Oh my gosh, I've never heard that, but I like that. Yes, and we've been really excited to see record numbers from the other chapters in this area. So Twin Cities, Madison, Chicago, Detroit are all within driving distance. So we've seen

record numbers from all of those chapters too. So it's great to come to the Midwest. So Madam President over here has been bragging that numbers are up. So we're up and we're getting close to where we were pre that horrible thing that happened to us, pandemic. I mean, closer. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. I think we're up about 15 % this year, up to 375 total attendees that will be attending some part or all of the conference. So it's exciting for sure. I love it. All right. So where are we going next year?

New Orleans. Woo hoo! Getting the big easy. pack your 400, is that our goal for next year? Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. I think we'll get it. I think we'll get it. Yeah. And then there's so much excitement building about around New Orleans already. Obviously, we have a fantastic chapter there in New Orleans. It's just like dying to get this conference planning moving and to support us. The early response, yeah, it's going to be through the roof. And the question is, like, not how many people?

We'll register but how many people can we allow to register? At the Marriott correct, but you know, I was asked is there Starbucks at the hotel I believe there is okay. Good job. Yeah, it's very important. Yeah, it is very important And I think the the how many are we gonna be able to register that means that we everyone needs to register early and not wait till last minute Because we're gonna be bursting at the seams

Absolutely. Now we get past the conference, then you guys get to take a breath and then where do we go from here with NACE? Yeah, I mean we have lots of exciting things we're working on. One of the things I'm working on is we're doing an overhaul of all of our online courses. We've seen a lot of demand increase for those ⁓ courses you can take whenever you have an opportunity to really help your business across all the different content areas, accounting, human resources, sales and marketing.

So we're really excited to bring those into the 21st century. It's been a few years and really make them even more approachable, easy for people to gain that content. So that's really what I'm the most excited about for the rest of year. Does planning for next year start like... Tomorrow? No, yeah. Yeah, probably next week. Absolutely. She is going to take a couple days off. Yeah, I mean, we always honestly, this is such a great opportunity to be in front of our members that I already start.

talking about what kind of things do they wanna see. Obviously spending some time with the New Orleans folks, for sure. We'll be visiting them in just a couple months, so for sure, that kicks off right away. That's crazy. That's probably a good part for you. You get to go visit a couple times and enjoy. Absolutely. Yeah, it's a fantastic way to visit the cities that I get to see. Yeah, definitely a few times and spend time with all these chapters. I really get to know the chapters I plan with very well.

She does and she finds her favorites too. And for the staff, obviously, it takes a lot of people to put this on and by the time we're done with this event, we are ready for a couple days off. But yeah, I think the term is vodka therapy. But tonight at the gala. No, that's Thursday. get back to Washington. But honestly, I know that Anne and I and everyone who helps us on a contractor level with this event, we leave just as energized.

and inspired for the next year's event, as our attendees do, to take ideas back to their jobs. We hear from our attendees of things that we can do differently, topics that we need to cover, ⁓ new things that we can incorporate into what we're doing in the event. yeah, mean, the engine never stops running. There's always, one conference is over, the other one's already starting. I love that. I do. So much is ever-changing in the event world, I feel like, right now, especially with

AI and all that stuff that's going on and such influence that you guys are hands are full. Yeah, absolutely. All right. All right. We should thank you very much. Thank you. for having us. Yeah. You're in charge. We have to have the charge. Thank you. Who's up next? I don't know. We got a line over there. ⁓ Joe's just going to volunteer. Come on over. ⁓ sounds good. We'll take we love you. Come on in.

So we're in royalty. We're with royalty right here. We're with royalty. Yes, it is. It is royalty. We're about to kick this one out and bring this. You're ready to do that, aren't you? I know you are. So are you going to be able to handle a Texans fan, though? Yeah. Oh, there's so much. According to him, they're much better than Raiders. OK, we will. All right. So so what are you excited for next year?

Oh my gosh, I'm so excited about New Orleans. Very excited about more education, actually bringing some other Southern chapters that haven't been attending conferences regularly. They have absolutely no choice because they can drive there. Looking forward to a lot of things. mean, do remember last conference in New Orleans? I know there was a Starbucks, but there was also a strip bar. I remember that conference.

Very well. We have someone in the audience that I think is excited to go to Cafe DuVon, but that's a whole other subject. I will be going with you. Hopefully that gentleman still works there. Anyway, but I remember that. All right. But your presidency now. I mean, what are you most excited for for that? Kick this one to the curb. Oh, no, we're going to be working hand in hand. Yeah, we are so excited about chartering new chapters. I think we've we've seen a wave of.

of interest and yes, possibly two more you said or no to two and then you've got this doesn't know that there's she only knows of one. I've kept one. I've kept one under the wraps and it'll come to surface next week. Maybe. I don't know. I'm just the last one to know everything. So this one's been kind of like coming to me bit by bit and I've waited till it's now ready for the next. ⁓

It's ready. And you guys were just at Central Coast. mean, Holly Holiday had such a good time with her last night. They have what 60 members 60 plus. Yeah. When's that party happening with you while we've been here? They probably got one or two. They probably. Yeah. Okay. I did promise you those numbers on Houston. Oh, because we got a little a little a little background when we went to Central Coast, Central Coast, so they wanted to be the biggest chapter. Oh my gosh.

So we said that Houston was the biggest chapter. so Central Coast is at 60. Jill promised them a pizza party when they beat the Houston numbers. The Houston numbers are 139 primary and 57 secondary. secondary is like my secondary chapter is San Diego. OK. All right. So we're getting close. 139 is the number that they're almost halfway there. They're They're almost there. Yes.

I'm ready for pizza. I'm ready for pizza. We'll be there. You know why? You get the beer. No, no, no, no, beer. No beer. It's all wine. It's all wine. Oh, it's California. It's wine and pizza. And it's Central Coast, California. It's all wine. Fair. Because I come from a wine country, right? We have like 60 something wineries. think we're all bougie. You're all bougie. I thought we were a little bougie. have 61. They have over 200 wineries in the.

Yeah, exactly. That's Kevin's face looked like. Yeah. So I need to plan for a few days. Yeah. When we do that pizza party. Okay. Yes. all have to eat at Giuseppe's. Giuseppe's. Gosh, Giuseppe's has gotten so much publicity. But it's so, it's the prosciutto. It's the prosciutto. And the bartender. Awesome. She liked the bartender. Well, what are you enjoying about conference this year? ⁓ you're getting questioned. I love that.

So for me, it's been fun to kind of be on the other side of the conference and more like having to represent the foundation and give that speech was, for me, was the most hardest part of conference. And so I was glad Was that because of the teleprompter or because of that? I'm sorry. I'm sorry. No, no. I'll be honest with you. was just, I wanted to represent the foundation well. You did. I probably read that speech 30 plus times before I gave it, but not enough to where I knew it.

I verbatim, and so when I saw the teleprompter man going during her speech, because he forgot to stop it, when you, what did you do? We don't have to beat that horse. But I'm sitting behind the man watching him do this, and so then my heart starts going. I was nervous, but anyway. So I was worried I wasn't going to represent well.

But then, you know, our opening night party, we gotta thank you guys, because that was such. fantastic. Wasn't it It was so much fun. We had blasts. You and Karen knocked it out of the park with that wall of fortune. So you really did a lot. every box. Isn't that amazing? Yes. Yes. And so, and I think we gave good opportunities for the members to give little, instead of having to buy a $3,000, $5,000 package, it was little money. Little money. up to big money. And we made more money at that, you know.

Well, other thing too is that Karen and I made a commitment to not go to our chapters and to other board members. I mean, some obviously just stepped up like Kelly, Miss Gigi. And but we really wanted the chapters to come and actually have fun and buy stuff and spend money. Yeah. Not have to, you know, gather all the donations and then come and expect to buy them back. So also when we go to our chapters for donations, then the chapter level, because then they have to reach out.

And the chapter level therefore does not get the donation for their event. So when we skip that little level, then it actually helps them as much as it helps the foundation. But the foundation did a fabulous Fantastic. I would be honest with you, all credit goes to David Cruz. He did. He the boots on the ground that got him relationships. that band was like... The band was phenomenal. I'm blown away. Because I had kept having to interrupt them and I didn't want to interrupt them. No, because they were the type of band that just rolled. They don't stop.

And so we finally, by the second time I had to do it, they would bring me, I'm like, don't stop. I'll come in and do the announcement I have to make. And then I'll jump off. And then, so the, the, the singer grabbed me at the end. goes, you were phenomenal. Like I was like, no, no, you were phenomenal. We were having this like little moment because he was able to incorporate it in. He understood the fact what we were doing. And then when the thermometer hit $24,000, our goal, like he made a big deal. Yeah. He made a really big deal about it, which was nice. was really a lot of fun. Yeah. But anyway, that's, I mean, it just.

Trying to be, it's weird being on the other side and not being like more of an attendee and you know, so but I'm enjoying it. We're having a good time. Plus, I pick on her nonstop. I like to do that. Okay, so what were your thoughts on Steve Kimball's outfit? Which night? Last night was pretty phenomenal. Did you see him last night? We were in an ethic group. Oh, that's right. Okay. were standing outside of the president's reception. We

to greet everyone as they came in. And you're standing with them. And he turns the corner, and he does a little sashay, and then he whips out his little monocle thing, and puts it out. So if anyone wants to see it, I will be posting it today on my Insta story. So hopefully, he will pick it up. Yeah, he was phenomenal. And then that night, was like, you know, well, so I was nervous. So I had to meet with David and Steve and Jennifer, our executive director, ahead of time to kind of go script for the thing. And then the whole time, I'm like,

these two guys dressed so funny. like, am gonna wear? And I was like, I'm not even gonna try, I'm just gonna be bright and just, I'm not even gonna even try to be at their level. I'm just gonna show up. That's okay. just enhances us. Yes. And I learned last night that he brings road cases of clothes. Yes, he does. Yes, he does. yeah. And he'll hang it on the lamps. Yes.

And he brings and he brings the bedazzler with him so he can bedazzle thing bad. Yeah. Yes. It's pretty impressive. It is very impressive. Yeah, I need I need somebody like that in my life. You need to I do. All right. Fantastic. Thank you. Wonderful. Thank you. Thanks for having me. Yeah, we'll see. ⁓ so technical difficulties have been the happens. All ⁓ right.

Thank you. Who's going next? Come on, Kelly. Come on down. Wow, this is fun. We got a lot of people today. We got like a line. Hello. How are you? Tell us a little bit about, so no one knows who you are. We know who you are, so you got to tell everyone who you are. I'm Kelly DeLisa, CPCE. ⁓ And I am one of the ⁓ directors at large on the national board. And what are you responsible for? Just some hard things.

Large whatever Michelle tells me to do ⁓ It is true I currently serve on ⁓ the membership committee and the liaison for that But one of the things that I wanted to talk a little bit about is tonight, right our awards. Yes, absolutely ⁓ Most submissions for the it's been submitted

for long time, right? Yes, I think we're at 137 % growth ⁓ over last year. And while we were ⁓ practicing yesterday or rehearsing for the awards, ⁓ we had the crazy teleprompter thing going with that as well.

Anyways, so we were practicing and I think I'm doing like the team event of the year and it just kept going and going to the point where we had to take turns with your partner because there's so many submissions. It's crazy. So Karen, our vice president and I are giving out like awards and we got lucky because there's like three names and then we do it. So I was like, yeah, we got it.

You got the easy one. She was in her session and couldn't go to the rehearsal. And I was like, girl, we have it. We have it easier than anybody at the awards night. So it's a long list. But that for you, because I did see you reading all those. It's a good problem to have. It really is. It is. I'm super excited because we have a new award this year. What's the new award? Well, it's a special culinary award and it is based on the legacy of Michelle Malico. ⁓ He's a San Diegan. ⁓

probably one of the founders of our chapter in San Diego and just an amazing chef and an amazing caterer. So we're super he's an amazing human. He is one of the sweetest men in the world. course. And so is he helping you give out the award? He is. He is. He's very excited. We have a couple of people that have applied, so we're super excited to give out that award tonight. it is a catering

based award, so it's for a chef-led, a chef owner of a company. So it's a very specific award and it is to focus on the culinary and the catering aspect of this. I love it. Right? It's exciting to do some stuff. it is. You know, we're I keep giving, we had Terry on yesterday, we keep, you know, Mr. Hallifane, keep giving him a bad time. Of And he's so nervous about tonight. I know. This morning I was giving him a bad time at the CPCE breakfast, like, I...

reread your speech and you need to tweak this and he's going. Amazing. Amazing. I feel like it's going to be, we're going to have a great night tonight. We are going to have a great, absolutely great night. And speaking of that, I need to go. fun. Go get ready for the night. Well, yes, I have to go get ready to get ready. ⁓ And then also we have our amazing culinary lunch. Yes, we have our culinary lunch at noon. At noon. So yeah, I'm excited.

Perfect. Thanks, Kelly. Thanks for stopping by. course. Thank you. Who's next? Who's next? Oh, what happened to Chrissy, too? Chrissy. She's like, I don't need her anymore. That's good. We got four of you. Look at this. How are you? Oh, you got to grab her. There she is. She must have hurt herself. I just said your name. Hello. How are you, sir? I'm well. How are you two? Good. Good. Good. We're good. Thanks for having me.

Oh, thanks for coming. So I'm Sergey Dallas Fort Worth chapter I serve as a co-director of membership on our chapter or on our board and yes, it's been a blast. It's my second conference Yeah, second experience. Excuse me Pleasure of attending the ball earlier this year as well. So this is your first experience. No second experience. That was one of us. Okay one of all

Anyway, no good times, though. Good times. Lots of learning. Been enjoying it for sure. ⁓ Dallas. So is Dallas. How many members do we have? Hundred and thirteen hundred and thirty nine. ⁓ yeah. Same as you. We can be. Yeah. Yeah. They had 139 plus. They have they have us beaten the secondary. I'll give them that. Yeah. For now. For now. For now. We're coming.

Again, oh, sure. Oh, for sure. We have quite a few members after today. Yeah, we've we're pretty deep. Oh, no, I don't know. But no, we have 29 members attending a conference right now. Oh, yeah. And I have a really big student initiative that we're about to go crazy on. Oh, Oh, yeah. So that's been the.

bulk of my learning is trying to figure out who I need to meet, what I need to kind of know before we move forward with bringing ushering in our students. We want to kind of create as many scholarship and opportunities for them, internships and things like that. That's great. local chapter is we would, because we had a small little hospitality school connected to San Jose State, we were the Silicon Valley chapter and we would get the businesses to buy the students or members.

Nice. Sponsor, because it's such a small dollar amount, you can get a business to buy three or four student members. And is that something that we shout out to recognize that? I love that. That's a great idea. I'm taking that home. Take it home. you. you. Because that's a good, quick way to grow the student membership. OK. And the trick is put them to work at the event. At the meetings, For sure. they can greet people, or they got to do something. Why not? The students that we have interested so far, they seem very interested in just getting their hands dirty. Yeah.

Getting right in there. a great opportunity to get to meet other people that they can eventually go work. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I always give credit to these students. mean, they're 18, 19, 20, and they're walking into especially in like a Dallas chapter. Right. You probably would have 75 people at your meeting. Oh, yeah. Easy. Yeah. And they're all professionals. all industry professionals. And some of these these students are just like they almost look like a deer in headlight sometimes. But then there's some that just walk in like they own the place. And I'm like, wow.

Ours are impressive in a way that like when I was in college, I was super intimidated by things like this. would never have walked into that. We have one, he's at Omni Dallas right now. And I'm like, I don't think he can drink. ⁓ he's crushing it. And he's here for the conference as well. He's awesome. That's great. Yeah. Shouts out to Aiden Dow.

Yeah, you're from Dallas. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You can't party with the rest of the team. Go to bed. Congrats. But back to the room. I always like to take those students under my wing when I'm at a meeting. I realize that this like their first one or their second one and they're young and they're like, I'm like, no, you're in the future. And I give you mad props for being here. And come on. Just go for a walk.

Right. Yeah. And one of the cool things about us for our meetings, obviously registration table, whatever, it's like the perfect way to get to meet whoever. Right. So I want to kind of create a rhythm of that. Hey, kid, come sit at the table, meet everybody, you know, and then walk the room. We talked about that yesterday, that like that's the perfect spot to meet everyone and get to know everyone's faces. And then they get to know you. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Well, before we let you go, tell us a little bit about your business.

yeah, so I own a family of brands. ⁓ We're kind of like the authors of fun. The first brand is Sergey the DJ named after myself. I'm a wedding DJ and I have a few associate friends that help me with all the DJ and lighting and everything. So that's my first baby started that about 15 years ago. ⁓ Four years ago I started DFW 360 boost, which is ⁓ actually.

the most popular among the brands. then last year I acquired a company called DFW Neon. We do a neon signage. so ⁓ all of those are. Yes, we do. Yes, we do. So you really absolutely. And so I can provide that. Absolutely. I cars like the people we learn. I know how to find both of you. And those are all under the umbrella of your turn entertainment holding. So I mean, yeah, that's a fun.

Yes, indeed. Thanks for stopping by. Thank you for having us. Yes, indeed. I'll see you. You might have to do the pizza party for Central. So you might have to. All right, Houston. All right. Thank you guys. All right. Take care. Who's next? All right. All right. GG, sir. And you're going to come sit by me. Oh, yeah. Oh, we can gang up on Kevin. Yes. We're to gang up on Kevin. I love that. Right. I do. Can you hear me OK? I can hear you just fine. OK.

I have to say it's very weird to talk in a microphone and not hear yourself through a speaker. That's okay. You get used to it. I've already did. I figured it out. Yesterday I figured it out. Hi. Hi. I you. I love you. Everyone knows who you are, but can you tell us a little bit about Gigi? Gigi. I got nicknamed Gigi at one of our, one of the speakers at one of our chapter meetings. Nicknamed me Gigi. But my name is Gigi. I am a CPC.

And I consider myself Kevin's and nice wife. He's my niece husband. ⁓ we're going to have to fight over that one. Yeah, that's my sister. And what do you do for not for for Nace? What do you do in your other life? My other life is I work for the Marriott. I've been in hotel business for many, many years. And Kevin and I are are kind of neighbors. He's in Livermore and I'm in San Jose. Wonderful. Yeah.

Yeah. All right. So Foundation, you're part of the donor committee. Yes. Tell us a little bit about all the work that you guys did. All the work we did this year was just reaching out to fabulous people and, you know, asking, asking and asking. And so many people did give and it's just very rewarding to be a part of that journey. you know, it's a lot of hard work and dedication. We just volunteer our time. But, you know, when you're passionate about something, it's something you want to do and you just do it, you know.

Yeah, we're unlike the National Board where we have to actually pay our way and do kind of stuff. it's, you know, we so I guess. Wow. I thought this was getting up on shelf. No, never. But the biggest is it's all about the foundation, about giving back for education and supporting, you know, the great MACE members. Speaking of students, I mean, that's the biggest reward is giving a scholarship to students. And I actually adjudicate some of the

submissions and literally they make me cry. I'm like, oh, and I'm the worst. I'm like, I want that one. That one's so good. I gotta be fair. We just give them to all. Yeah, literally, it just tugs at your heartstrings. So it's it's very it's rewarding to do and and just, you know, see these young kids grow and they're just so grateful and I love it. That's my favorite part. We're at day two of the conference. Yes. How is

I'm tired. You're tired? I can second that. I'm tired. Yeah. But you know me, I party like a rock star and I still wake up and look fabulous. That's what we gotta do. So you've been listening. I know you've been out at some sessions. What have you been enjoying education wise? Oh, of course, David. David Caruso, he's wonderful. spoke about just, you know, collaboration in with your

creative partners and just, you know, using your resources and leaving your ego out the door. You know, he could be, he's someone that you would, you know, could say he could have a big ego, but he really doesn't. He's so down to earth. It's very true. Yeah. And there's always nuggets, you know, you're always, you're always learning. think this is my, 14th conference. I missed one because I was on a cruise, but, ⁓ well, thank you. That was fun. But, ⁓ he was really close to where

Yeah, coincidentally. That was weird. Yeah, but I love just love coming to conference and bringing back all the nuggets. And I thank my director when I'm here and my GM. I'm like, thank you for, you know, letting me come and supporting me. And they're awesome about that. Well, I'm going to cut you off. And what you were saying about Little Nuggets is no matter. mean, I think this is my 15th conference and I don't care how basic a session feels or sounds.

There's always something you can take out of it. Always. That's what I love. Nuggets. Give us a nugget. Well, you know what I really enjoyed is that I can't remember her name. It's ⁓ it's Marissa, because that's my daughter-in-law's name. Marissa Jo something or other. But she is the she's a PhD on, you know, just sustainability. And the thing she spoke about, she had to become completely sustainable and get rid of plastic.

in her life in order for her to do preach, know, put her mouth where you're. Yeah. And what she had to go through, like shampoo, just bringing shampoo with her and finding, you know, shampoo that's not plastic, nothing that has plastic at all. That's different. It's very difficult. Go into the grocery store and try to buy berries and they're in plastic containers. You know, so it's just really interesting in her energy. Yeah. just change. Just it took her, you know, a while, but she also has Instagram.

Paige, could follow her on and yeah, I'd have to do that. Yeah. Yeah. She was hysterical. I loved her energy and and it was just it was a good good one for sure. All right. All right. I missed that one. That's OK. We can get her slides. perfect. Yeah. And we can have her back. We can have maybe we can have her at a chapter level. She was so much fun. Yeah. Very interesting. I almost cried because I got choked up at the end when she said, think about that straw because she went to.

She went to a hotel and they're like, no, no, no. And they automatically had plastic straws in the glasses before they filled them. And she said, can we get rid of these straws? They're like, no, we have to have the straws. And so she said, you know, think about that straw if it has your name on it. And that straw is coming out of the turtle's nose with your name on it. was like, ⁓ And they got rid of the straws. So that was a good one. That's a good little guilt trip. That was. I was like, my God.

Anyway, thank you for being here. Thank you for your leadership. stop. Thank you. Thank you. But I can't wait for New Orleans. So what happens? What happens there stays there. Let's do some of your favorite parts about New Orleans. Really, you go. I don't think I know this. You don't know. No, I don't. What she loved. I love the urban cowgirl. That bar. That was that was a lot of fun. Razzouz is another I think I'm on time at Razzouz. I'm going to stick with you next year.

If you want plenty of beads, stick with me. Sounds good. All right, y'all. I think that's a way to end that one. Who's coming over next? you're coming on my side too. How are you? How are doing, Judy? Hi. Stepping out of my comfort zone. Are you really? That was me yesterday. Like, well, there's podcasts. I guess I'm going to be here. Hey. Hey. I'm good. ⁓

Super excited. This is my fourth conference. Okay. So, ⁓ yeah, I drank the nice Kool-Aid six years ago and I haven't looked back since. Was Orlando your first one? Orlando was my first one. That's where we met. remember the late night text message. We won't tell each other. We'll keep that for later. Yeah. I'm DFIU. I'm not gonna ask. you know, we're like, Sergey said, we've got a ton here representing, what'd you say? 29?

29 like that's amazing that we're all here and that's got to be the most by a chapter I would imagine I mean I Think it is actually this year. Yeah, cuz I don't think Houston has that many well And I will give you guys credit because when you guys came to town hall we put out a challenge the foundation did to like come with like your noisemakers You're welcome. Yeah, and yeah, they brought cowbells so I designed the shirt and heard some cats and emails and then we got the shirts made and I was so proud that everyone just

We just looked United and we are, and like, I'm just so happy that we were, we showed up that way because you know, you know, I'm sticky also with the foundation. So, um, you know, I had the, um, I got the, I got asked, I feel so honored to be asked to help with campaign design and fundraising stuff for foundation. So, I mean, I did have a little bit of an insight cause I got your videos of you being a goober. Yeah. So she got to hear what.

I knew parade of giving was coming. So I told everyone at the board meeting and they were like, we have to what? And I'm like, yes, bring your flair. And then Steve brought the pom poms and cowbells. And so it was just, was, and then he blinged out his shirt. He did. love that. Well, and the best part is, is I think you guys are going to start the trend. Cause then I love that. And I think next year you'll see more chapters and we'll have to throw down the challenge again and we'll see. Right. I have to say there used to be a trend like that. And I almost want to say it was between Dallas and it was like Dallas.

maybe Orlando. But then after: 2020

Realizing what its purpose is and that you know, It's really we're working hard at that purpose and I think with the help that you've been doing with Jennifer behind the scenes kind of Yeah, the graphics and stuff, but we're really trying to educate that we educate. Yes Yes, exactly And I think we've been working hard on that this year to make sure that whenever they see me they see him and whenever they see him they see me so this way they know we hand them yeah, we've done a good job about like being together as we Vegas chapter together

board. So DFW NACE, I am the: 2025

It is a big job and I love it. actually feel like I'm learning skills that I now have a passion for and I'm trying to find work doing those things. So marketing communications, think something secondary. I'm a videographer. So I've always kind of done the marketing thing, but now I'm doing way more of it and I'm a Canva whiz. between that and having that background, I think it's just...

It's ⁓ opening doors for me and being 20 years in my career, like I think that, ⁓ yeah, getting a little bit brave and doing some things on my own as well as, you know, still supporting the company that is sponsoring me here beyond full-time, they're still ⁓ lighting, audiovisual, sound and video production. teleprompters? I'm, we, I watched that go down, yep.

It's just going to be the running joke. vendor for teleprompters if you're in DFW and they're excellent speaking teleprompters. Does the teleprompter guy play chess while you're working on teleprompters? Oh my gosh, no. No, he doesn't. All right. I'll make sure because our guy yesterday was playing chess while he was working on teleprompters. Yeah. Well, and I also just want to say that like, know, NACE conference is where you get a chance to come and work on building those connections that you already have. You know, last night we all went to dinner.

our chapter did and just, you know, that camaraderie that's built here at conference is true. Like none other. ⁓ cause when we're at our, our, our local events, we're all, you know, hurting cats and moving a lot of parts and making it go. So we actually get a time to relax and, know, let the professionals take over at the events that we're attending at conference and just become, you know, normal people, normal people and spend time together. And so, know, it's funny, love that.

that's so true because when you're on the local level we're all the ones pushing the button. have Ann and Lawrence and all these wonderful folks pushing the buttons and we get to enjoy. Steve Kimball actually said it last night, we were all dancing and we looked inside and all of the servers were like standing inside in the hallway and they're all just kind of staring at us and Steve looks at us and he goes, we're not going anywhere. This is our time to actually enjoy being a guest.

If you're going to stay there, he goes, you're going to turn the lights on and kicks all out. I'm like, pretty much. Well, and I will say you were, you were talked about this morning. sat at the CBC e-breakfast because we heard you run a very tight ship with your communication because everyone was talking about what days and what they had to do. We had a bunch of Dallas folks at our chapter and they were like, Judy runs a tight ship.

Well, and we get stuff done that way. That's you do it. It's a great way to be a leader. Yeah, it's amazing. We're having a good time. So yeah. All Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We'll see you next time. Yeah. Who's up next? Christy, you want to join us? Are you going to? She's going to pick me. Yeah. Yeah. She's going to book. We're going to book, Andrew. No. It's a sympathy sit. Oh, thank you, Christy. You're giving me a sympathy sit. Giving you a sympathy sit. I've won that.

How you doing? I'm doing okay. When I walked into Kristy's session, walked in. when you're on the NACE board, are, I mean, we have staff, but we're worker bees here. We usually have things to do. We've got people to meet. So I walked into her session, go, is the first session I've gone to in three years. No way. Yeah. It was the first session I went to in three years. And it was on AI, which when she goes, you use AI? I said, no, it scares the heck out of me. I said, so it was the best one that I could have actually walked into. That's good. Yes. Little known fact.

about me as a speaker, when I see folks that I know and respect or are in leadership, Anthony Lambados was in my room this morning, I actually internally get nervous. Why? Yeah. I would rather walk into a room of people I don't know and speak than like if someone's there, then I'm like, great. So she under. And then you brought up Megan. don't know if Megan's in the room. I'm even more.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I actually like that because I... It means I care about my craft. Correct, it really does. And I care about my audience. The thought about you getting nervous to speak actually makes me smile because I'm like, you've been doing this for years. Yeah, yeah. That's like a... Like a famous singer going up during a concert and saying, I'm nervous before I go. Like, you've been doing this for 20 years, why are you nervous when you walk on the stage? Because we care.

That's very true. Yeah, I love it too. All right. So we know who you are. Can you let everyone else know who you are? Oh, sure. I'm Christy Osborne. I'm the owner of Mountainside Media. And I do consulting for small businesses and event professionals to help them use organic and paid content to grow their business. And right now, a lot of that is AI bath.

So how to get efficiencies and save time and money using AI strategies, which hasn't really panned out the way I thought it was going to a couple of years ago. It's, yeah. In what way? Well, I'm very demanding in terms of when I, because I come from a background of market research and with algorithm changes with ads.

⁓ I have learned that the best way to target whether it's ads or organic content is through messaging. Okay. So messaging kind of makes you future proof, ⁓ from algorithm changes. Interesting. Yeah. Right. But the flip side of that coin is that you.

have to have really good messaging. And I don't always find that AI produces good messaging. yes. So it's a constant battle. But I like the opportunity to fail. Because if you don't fail, you can't succeed. And so it's this push-pull with AI. It's like sometimes I'm like, yeah, I figured something out. And then I go to that next level where I'm trying to do now I'm trying to put together agendic teams and get

workflows and automations to be supported by AI. And there's a lot of bumps in the road with that. AI scares me. I'm starting to use it a little more. girl. Hey. OK, so the hey, girl. Hey, makes me laugh after watching her ⁓ session today because of the Gen Z. ⁓ And she asked it what she looked like by putting in just some. I'm a man. She's a man with a mustache.

Like I'm like, I've always known that I've like, I've had this internal like man in me, you know, I was the AV kid, you know, walking up to the front of the room. Let me help you out with that. have to say they did. Like if, if, if you had a sibling, he would be it. Well, you do have siblings, but if you had another one, that picture would be it. Cause it is, had the picture shown. Oh yeah. It was like, part of my name is Christie? you not understand?

chat gbt hey girl hey and she called and i i think it's a she because she you know you guys are all smarter than than us men but hey girl hey calls me hey girl hey back and we have a whole relationship yes yes little known fact chat gbt is really just reflecting you back yeah yeah yeah and it's funny because lindsey in my office you know lindsey but she always gets mad at me she goes why are you hitting hey girl hey because it's we're wasting the water and all that because she goes just ask google some easy stuff and

let hey girl hey for the big stuff. Yeah, lot of people name their chat GBT. Really? Oh, yeah. That's interant names hers chatty. Oh, yeah. She just calls her chatty. What was that movie? Her. Yes. That's what I think. That's why I think that's why I think AI scares me is because I think her came out like right as that was happening. And we're like, Oh, but but chat GBT did our video like

helped write the script for our video. Okay, I'll you that. But as I said, the little nuggets when we were talking to Gigi that you can pull is human, what was the statement? Human in the loop. No, by the CEO of IBM. that AI will not replace humans, but humans who use AI will replace humans that don't use AI. That one was a really good one.

Like I was like, so we're going to I'm going to replace you because I use it. You don't. So that's how that works. Right. So you want to be next president next. I'll get you a little there. So here's a little known fact. ⁓ My first speaking engagement on the on the national stage on the national circus circus. It is a circus circus. It's just saying.

l circuit was Nice Houston in: 2017

Megan Ealy was not my publicist yet, but we were friends at that point. And I was devastated because I thought my job as a speaker was to know something. I didn't realize that my job as a speaker was to care about my audience. Right. And that sounds terrible to say. I just didn't know. You know, I just thought my job was to get up there and.

mouth words at people. And I think when you're just starting to speak and get out there, that's what you think you're supposed to do is be able to educate people because that's what you hope to get out of a speaker. it's like 20%. Right. so Megan said, listen, this happens. Sometimes you don't get invited back. It can be for a variety of things. It could be that they just didn't want your topic or whatever. But when I saw the evaluations, you know, there are some people like the math, the math major in college. That's about it.

⁓ But as painful as it was at the time, talking about failure, ⁓ that really got me focused on being able to take really technical subjects to ⁓ an audience of very busy creative people and make it exciting and make it make sense. And so I kind of attribute some of my...

When I feel successful as a speaker, I attribute some of that to my experience speaking at NAIS and then just having them say like, no thank you for the next year. You have to fail sometimes to succeed. do. It happens to the best of us. does. Yeah. See how I wrapped that right up for you. I did. Yeah, thank you. All right. Thank you. No, we're not leaving yet. ⁓ We just got you. Where else are you speaking? Because you do a lot of speaking.

You have anything else coming up? You know, these past couple of years, I have had a dad who I love very much going through his end of life journey. And so I've really pulled back. I've been very selective about where I have been. And so my next speaking engagement is wedding MBA in Vegas. in November. ⁓

Well, we're going to have to we're going to have to have a conversation because. Yeah, yeah. I'd love to do it on the air, but I think that's appropriate. That won't be done in the bar. That would be the bar. Yes. Yeah. Love it. All right. Well, I'm excited to see you. I haven't seen you in a while. Are you here for the evening? I've seen you since wedding in the last year. I've been hiding. Yeah. Brian Green. was in. Brian Green came into my room after my talk.

And he and I are... him and Renée's... You did... I did. I did a Resilient By Design, which was amazing. Very different from a big conference like this. ⁓ Very intimate. They cap it at, I think, 60 people. There's, I think, 20, 25 in Vegas. And what I loved about it is ⁓ because they're going to other people, you know, they're going to the city. They're not asking...

the folks that come to them, ⁓ the people in the room had this sort of natural comfort with each other. So there was a lot of cross talk and mutual support and things like that. So it's, think that they're filling a really important gap in the industry, you know, right? Talking about unique selling proposition. ⁓ And they're doing it successfully.

think smaller think tanks. Yeah, I love it. Yeah, that's exactly right. Like a thing. It's like a think tank. Yep. That's a good that's a good word. Yeah. See, we just had Leah Weinberg at our Tri Valley Wedding Pros and she had Renee with her. And so I got to learn a little bit about them. And it seems like they're really she said they're going to go for a couple years and really try to see how and see where it goes. Yes, I'm really excited for them. I am too. I am too. Yeah. Yeah. It's good. So that's good. Are you here for the evening? You're saying tonight? Yes, I'm staying tonight flying out at the

crack of dawn tomorrow. Okay, well at least we get to see you Get to hang out tonight. Maybe. What bar? There's a There's a few. and then the president's suite will be open tonight. Yeah. No, let me tell you something. I had to take a little bit of a break, like I said, but talking about DFW and their student program, one of my favorite things about the NACE won awards is ⁓

I was a judge, right? And I judged events one year. I also was nominated for speaker of the year, lost to one of my best friends, which was interesting. Yeah, I mean, how mad are you going to be? She's an amazing speaker, right? But then after that, I judged and my mind was blown in terms of

what some of these chapters are doing. And when I was on the marketing committee with Kay Colbo, who's amazing as well, we talked a lot about ⁓ for the NACE One Awards ⁓ nominees, ⁓ using those chapters to mentor other, not mentor, but like support other chapters for like how to do some of these like really great events.

And I remember with DFW in particular, they had the student program where they would mentor the students and the students would put on. Yes, they put on one of their events every year. And it's it is always one of the most magnificent events they do. And it's always up for an award. They're they're training the next generation. And it's just I am such a big fan of DFW. That chapter is a great chapter. We lost our chapter.

That's right. He's a member of DFW and he's also a member of Central Coast. Yeah, I They're my secondary the new chapter using these Well, so well Christy was an Indian we're talking about Central Coast and she doesn't know so Central Coast just got chartered two days ago congratulations out of San San Luis Obispo Pismo Beach that like this and the central coast I feel like they have Because they're already at 60 something members they're already like yeah, they're growing like

loved that reaction. Well, if you think about some of the chapters that are just trying to make like 20, 25 members. ⁓ no. And it's crazy because what's unique about them, they're in a unique little area and that there's no other associations around. this is and so NACE is bringing them all together and giving them structure and like, you know, giving them all that kind of stuff. Well, what was Sharon or Sharon, Shannon, Terrance chapter when?

She like isn't that central Florida? No, this is California. Coast California. This California San Luis Obispo. Yes, but you yes, like you just need to go. Golden State. just need to pop over those big mountains by you and come on down. Central Coast. Yes. So that's like slow. Yeah, Nice. We we we met there. Part of that. You should be. It's really a great chapter. I will. I'm Reno, though. Shout out to Reno. Shout out to Reno.

Sorry, Reno, but I was Reno, then I went to Central Coast as my secondary chapter. Because Reno was the closest thing to me, and then I'm like, Then I was like, well, I mean, we felt we drank the Kool-Aid when we went to the event. We really did. Yeah? Yeah. Yeah, it was good. We drank the Kool-Aid and we drank the wine. I will Drank a lot of wine. then we, yeah. 200 wineries in that area. I had no idea. I had no idea either. Yeah. Like, I thought we were all cool and Livermore with our 60-something. You were not. Yeah, we're not. No. Wow. Yeah.

Well, good. Congratulations. Wonderful to you. Well, thank you for having me. Thanks for doing this. When you talk to my sister, Megan, please tell her I hi. I will do that. Thanks, Kristy. Thank you, Kristy. Yeah, we're good. Come on over. We got five minutes. Five minutes. ⁓ I get a friend. ⁓ of course you do. Hi, how's it going? Good. How are you? It's great to be here. I'm so.

to be back at NACE. I know it's always it's like that one time a year and I'm so excited for it and then all of a sudden I'm like oh my god it's on the last day already. I know it went by so fast. It always does. I feel like we need one more day but when we put that one more day and I'm like god knows do it. I feel like it's the sweet spot. It really when you still want more right? Correct exactly yes. I tell my couples that when they're doing their wedding I'm like you don't want to dance for three or four hours. Oh no. You for like two and you want everyone thinking that they want to dance for

We were at a show earlier this year in Las Vegas and I was on the ground in Vegas for a week. that's too That is way too long to be in Las Vegas. A day is too long in Vegas. When I was on the Apple board, I had to be in Vegas for the same amount of time. like about day four, I was like itching to get out of that city. And meanwhile, I love visiting the city.

Yeah, it's it's short. It's much different. It's how I feel about New York, right? New York. The big cities are much different when you're there as a tourist than when you're there for work and event. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Yeah. All right. Well, I can introduce. I was like, we should start there. Yeah. So I'm Mallory Mullen. I'm the head of sales at Good Shuffle. We are one of the.

sponsors for NACE National Partner and we love being here, love supporting the industry and we've been pretty digital first to the last year and using this as a real jumping off point to hopefully get re-engaged and re-ignited ⁓ not only nationally but in our local chapters as well. I know a lot of vendors at least that I've come across use Good Shuffle Pro like that is one of the staples that I've seen in the industry. It's great to see. And we, you know, our joy, our...

mission fundamentally is to bring joy back into the business of events, which I think is really important and a huge theme that I've seen throughout ⁓ this experience. just every time I engage, is event people love being in events because they love a good time. And they love to help people have a good time. But when it comes to like, you know.

tracking all the things that you have to track on the back edge. I mean, I don't like doing my expenses. we're really, think, ⁓ kind of in this new area as we're re-engaging, just trying to not only provide our solution to folks, but also just be there as a resource for local chapters and how we can help support beyond our treasure, but any time and talents that people need as well. So what's, well, first off, got to, she had to speak.

She was smart. She did not use the confidence monitor. I talked to her last night at the bar. I was like, because she knows her shit and she knows what she's talking about. She's a GS here. Never got along. And so was like, I'm going to get that. Wise choice. Very, very wise choice. What's new in the world? A good shuffle. Yeah. So for the past few years, we've really been focused on supporting

the real mid-size company that ⁓ the kind of stalwarts of the industry, I would say. And what's great is at Nace this year, we announced a lighter version of the product. Where we're keeping all of the features that folks know and love, ⁓ what they find joy in using, but really for the smaller emerging businesses or solo entrepreneurs where their challenges aren't so much teams and challenges inter-departmentally.

but more so like the 18, 19, 20, 25 hats that they have to wear as a sole business owner. Yeah, that's great. It's always nice, because I used to be a small business owner. It's nice to have the tools that I see all the bigger companies use being able to be brought down to that level, because it just makes our life so much easier. Because we don't have the infrastructure of employees to help us do things. So having that and not having it cost.

more than we can afford. you know what's wild is a lot of the challenges in the business are still the same. Correct. And as we've, know, last year and earlier this year, we really expanded a lot upstream ⁓ in our product offering. And one of the things that I've always advocated for a lot internally, a good shovel is, we can't forget about the little guys. Like our job, my dream, I come from a

family of small business owners and so my heart is really in small business and I've always said we we need to make sure we always have an on-ramp for the industry and for the small business owners. they'll grow into the bigger product. Exactly. And you're just helping them get there. Yeah we're incredibly incredibly proud to be able to reach out a hand downstream and offer support there as well. That's great. Well thank you for always being a sponsor of NACE. Your name has been on

st since I joined GoTriple in: 2019

amazing trait she has. can you can name a year and she'll tell you exactly what city the. Well, Palm Springs was easy because it was my 18. know, that's what 17 was. Yes. She was like pulling out. Yeah. 16 was what? You don't need to go down this road. Maybe there should be an aspect of nice of like a nice jeopardy. ⁓ that would be fun of all of us old timers that have been forever. Not old timers. Sorry. Long time members. ⁓

my God. have a Joe and a one. That would be very scary. She also Steve Kimball. my God. I'm just going to sit in the audience on that one. No, I feel like you would be the host. ⁓ yes. Okay. Yeah. five. Okay. Doing that. love this. Perfect. Yes. Great idea. Love, love, love, love. See when we all come together, new ideas are happening all the time. So keep coming up with great ideas. know this is what, this is what happens when you put us in the same room together. Two presidents walk into a bar. Yeah. Yeah.

president walk into a podcast. I think we need to start that podcast. Yeah. Walk into a podcast. I like it. Can be the official nice podcast. I think we should be. Yeah. But then the presidents are forever going to be changing. No, no, but it will just be me. You can be the forever host. There we go. I like that. Yeah.

All right, anything else you can leave us with a good shuffle? I would just say, as we're re-engaging even on the local level, please let us know how we can support beyond our treasure, like we said. We've got an entire team of folks who have insatiable curiosity about the industry and how we can support. And we know that we design better product when we know and understand the industry. It's so true, because you get frustrated with.

like an app or whatever it is and then you just immediately discard it and move on. But if someone would get in there and tweak it and that's some of the apps that I use that I love over the years they've continued to evolve and update and get better and not stand on their laurels. I created an app and I'm done. absolutely. And I know we have a team of incredibly talented engineers who I trust with coming up with solutions, but they're only able to come up with those when we intimately understand the problems that y'all

And it probably all comes from the customers. Absolutely. I wish it did this. Correct. Yeah. keep giving that feedback, whether you're a good shuffle user or not. And at the local level, if there's anything that our team can do time or talent-wise to help support the chapters, we've got sales and customer success team members all over the US. So part of our team works in a headquartered in Washington, DC. But a lot of us, like I said,

been part of my time in Tampa, Florida. So I'm getting plugged back in with Tampa chapter. ⁓ And so yeah, just if you have a local chapter where you need help, please let us know how we can help. Absolutely. So how do we feel about the Tampa Bay Devil Rays stadium? good. ⁓ boy. Me and sports ball. I like sports ball. Sports ball.

I like sports that I like showing up in a cute outfit and getting a cocktail at the stadium. The first time and I'm going to date myself, but the first time I actually I'm not dating myself. The first time I ever heard the word sports ball was from James Filts. And now whenever it's like football season, he goes, are you watching sports ball today? I'm like, I am. I have a comment, but all.

So, but anyway, I spoke at the Tampa chapter many, years ago and my favorite thing was take, and we were at St. Petersburg. So you had to drive past the stadium to get to whatever beachy hotel I was at. And I was just like, ⁓ it's for the devil. Cause I'm a, I love baseball. So just, well, and even like here in Milwaukee, went, you go by the burrs? No, I, I thought you're, you're taking me to a game tomorrow. said, ⁓ that's right. We're going to the game anyway.

We were over at the Milwaukee Bucks Stadium is right here. I didn't know the national president, or mean the Milwaukee president works for the Bucks. And so I met her this morning and we were talking, but their stadium Not the Tampa Bay Bucks. No, no, no. Oh, okay, okay. See, my knowledge here, we're going into it. ball? Sports ball. Go sports. I just show up and hope.

Both teams have fun. There we go. I like that answer. Or when the Chiefs are playing the Raiders, it's always the Chiefs. Always bet on black. Always bet on red. I got to go with Taylor's boyfriend, Steve. Thank you! I'm losing left and right here. All I think that's probably my cue to exit. Thank you for having me. All right. We're wrapping up. got it. Yeah. I'm off to my next my next little engagement. What words of wisdom are you going to leave us with? You know, first. Oh, my gosh. No, it's not.

Five more months. First of all, I want to say thank you, because as you knew yesterday, this is my very first time being on a podcast. You've made these last two days really super fun. And I really do think we need to a podcast ⁓ now. Starting with what Anne and Lawrence were saying, this experience is so much education and so much knowledge and so much fun. And getting to see all of the members and non-members and the community together, it's always the highlight of my year. ⁓

If you are out there and you're like, oh, this looks like fun, I highly, highly recommend that you look at going to New Orleans next year, August 2nd through the 4th. Not just because it's in New Orleans. We're going to be at the Marriott. Not because it's in New Orleans and not because we're telling you to go, the... There's a Cafe du Monde. Cafe du Monde and Urban Cowgirl. Because of the connections and relationships, the networking, the camaraderie that we have,

And just also the overall amazing education that we get here. So we have fun from beginning to end and we go home with so much knowledge on top of it. It's it's well worth it. And it's going to be bigger. It's going to be bigger and better. Big easy. Everything's bigger and better in New Orleans. Supposedly. I think that was New York. Yeah. All right. But thanks, Kevin. No, thank you. All right. We're going to wrap up. Yeah, we are. Are we saying bye? Yeah, we're saying bye. Bye. Bye. Teleprompter man.