Wednesday, June 4- This episode is a mashup of Coffee w/ Jim & James and the UPSCO web series, Connections for Life. Enjoy!
Episode Transcript:
Ted Peet: [0:10] Hi everyone, and welcome to Connections for Life, your gas utility weekly updates show. As you guys can tell, we got a couple extra faces in the crowd with us. Today is going to be our ideation of a mash‑up with Coffee with Jim and James and UPSCO’s Connections for Life.
Jim Schauer: [0:31] Hey, it is great to be here. This is a very special Coffee with Jim and James episode, too. When I think about this, I think about how Starsky met Hutch, how Cagney met Lacey, how Daryl Hall met…met…Whatever that guy’s name was. I’m not sure, Darryl…
James Cross: [0:48] Oates.
Ted Peet: [0:48] Oates.
Jim: [0:49] But anyways…yeah, that’s it. That’s it. But anyway…
Joe Serrett: [0:52] Do you have any references that are relevant from like the ‘90s, 2000s?
Ted: [0:56] 90s forward?
James: [0:59] That’s what I’m looking for.
Joe: [1:01] We’re like…All right. Got it. Perfect.
Ted: [1:01] Perfect. Perfect.
Joe: [1:02] Go ahead, Starsky.
Jim: [1:03] So anyways, it’s great to be here. I think what we should do, you know, we have a lot of familiar faces amongst us here, but maybe a lot of us don’t know each other as in‑depth. So James, I’m going to hand it over to my partner. And why don’t we some intros just to get to know us a little bit more as people, not just as the energy industry that most of us know us as. So James, take it away my friend.
James: [1:27] Thanks, Jimmy and thanks to UPSCO’s guys for letting me join today. I don’t know who that is…
Chad Cuvo: [1:35] Thank you guys.
James: [1:35] But you may want to think about it.
[1:38] And also, Jim, you said it was Episode 2. I know they all blend together when we we’re in pandemic, but. I don’t know what episode this is, there’s a bunch of them.
Jim: [1:47] I’m sorry mistake. Yep.
James: [1:49] My name is James.
Ted: [1:50] We got no clue how many episodes we’re on, either, just so you know.
James: [1:53] I understand that. Well, my name is James Cross. I’m the VP of brand at EWN. I’m also a dad, a husband, a teammate at EWN. Honestly, my passion is in bringing the…My background didn’t really put me in this industry in the beginning but, kind of like what we say in Texas, I got here as fast as I could, right?
[2:13] Ao I’m an IT nerd at heart, and and I’ll probably always be. I was in IT for a long time, but kind of seeing how I could lend my skill set to this industry has really, you know made a difference for me.
[2:26] So. I’m also a terrible golfer.
Ted: [2:28] Hey, me too.
James: [2:30] I don’t know if you can relate.
Ted: [2:31] Join the club.
James: [2:32] I’m probably an equally terrible fishermen, but neither stop me from having a good time doing it. Guys, I’m super pumped to be here.
Joe: [2:40] That’s awesome.
James: [2:40] Thanks for letting us mash this up today. Joe?
Joe: [2:43] Yeah, so yeah, cool. Awesome. Obviously we’re super excited for you guys to have, to have you guys on board.
[2:52] It’s, it’s interesting. I know how this has all materialized, right? You know how we started from from, from this beginning…
Chad: [2:58] Started from the bottom, now we’re here?
Joe: [3:00] Yeah.
Ted: [3:01] He just referenced Drake. Oh my gosh, there’s the 2000 reference for you, Joe, that you needed.
Joe: [3:06] I don’t even know who that is.
Chad: [3:08] That’s Priceless.
Joe: [3:09] I know. So anyways, but for those of you that don’t know me, I’m Joe Serrett. I’m the Business Development Manager at UPSCO, been there for about 10 years. Much like James, I’m a father to three little girls. They’re near and dear to my heart.
[3:21] And this whole COVID thing’s just been kind of crazy. It’s been an interesting change of pace in how we do business and how we work and, you know, it’s kind of brought some things back to reality, I guess is a good way to put it.
[3:35] So it’s good to have familiar faces and friends, and to see you guys every week. You know, used to do it in person, but having the ability to do it here and sharing the stories with everybody’s been great.
[3:45] So that’s it. I mean you guys, most of you guys know me, or at least have heard of me in stories so I’ll pass it along to whoever’s next. I think it’s Chaddo, maybe.
Chad: [3:54] I’ll go next. So, my name’s Chad Cuvo, obviously. I’m the Apple, app, here we go again, Appalachian Regional…
Joe: [4:02] Chad can’t say Appalachian.
Chad: [4:03] You’d think I wouldn’t be allowed to have the job if I can’t say the word. I’m the Appalachian Regional Sales Manager for UPSCO.
Joe: [4:11] One more time.
Chad: [4:12] I’ve been…nope.
[4:13] I’ve been in the industry, scary as it is, since I’m 20 years old, for about 20 years. Always based around the utilities, a little bit. I grew up essentially working my first 7 or 8 years in a coating facility in Pennsylvania, pipe coating facility that we sold pipe to, or essentially sub‑coating, to all the utilities.
[4:34] And eventually moved over to this side. I’ve learned a lot since I’ve been at UPSCO for about 6 years now.
[4:40] Like you guys, I’m also a father. I have a son and a daughter. My son got drafted in the OHL. He’s a heck of a hockey player.
Ted: [4:46] Woo!
James: [4:46] Congrats.
Chad: [4:46] I hope one day…
Joe: [4:48] Logan Cuvo, for everybody that doesn’t know, that’s his name. You’re gonna hear him again. He’s amazing.
Chad: [4:53] Hopefully. So, and I have a daughter who’s awesome too, who’s 13. So, it’s like Joe said, COVID’s really kind of changed the dynamic of everything and I’ve, I’ve actually been able to become kind of a dad a little bit more than I would have been able to…
Joe: [5:08] 100 percent.
Chad: [5:09] I haven’t been home for more than a week in about 12 years, like at a clip, and now I’ve been here for eight.
Joe: [5:14] There’s always a silver lining, right?
Chad: [5:16] There really is.
Joe: [5:16] Silver lining. It’s been cool.
Chad: [5:18] Yes, and I, you know, it’s crazy. It’s, and it’s awesome to be in this industry. Other than that, I wanted to pass it over to Jim. I always love what he has to say.
Ted: [5:27] Yeah, no pressure after that intro, by the way.
Jim: [5:32] You know me, since I’m shy and timid I don’t like to speak a lot, but over the next 45 minutes…I’m just kidding.
[5:40] Executive Director of Strategic Alliances. Yes, Ted, that is a lot on my business card and it really means I do a lot of what we’re doing right here, connect the dots. Friends, I have thousands of friends in the energy industry.
[5:53] I’ve been in the energy industry for 20 years. It started actually in my family, with my great‑grandfather the oil fields of Oklahoma, that are actually part of that.
Chad: [6:05] Oh, that’s awesome.
Jim: [6:06] So that goes back way generations.
Joe: [6:08] Texas Tea.
Jim: [6:10] Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. So, I am a father. I’m a grandfather. I am a fiancé.
Chad: [6:19] That’s a fancy word for you there.
Joe: [6:22] Congratulations, I didn’t know that.
James: [6:23] It was almost as hard…That was almost…
Ted: [6:26] I knew that. I knew that.
James: [6:28] as Appalachian.
Joe: [6:30] Yeah, right.
Chad: [6:31] It’s gonna be weird when he has a different last name, isn’t it?
Jim: [6:35] Maybe make a shameless plug, because she’s been in the industry for longer than me, for 21 years.
Chad: [6:40] Yes. Yes, she has.
Jim: [6:41] Tammy Bomia with NRI ClockSpring. Yes, that is true. We are engaged.
Chad: [6:47] Is this a public coming out? Is this a public coming out party? Jim Bomia?
Joe: [6:55] The comments are exploding.
Ted: [6:57] It’s going viral right now.
Jim: [7:01] I did, hey, I did that at a conference one time. I was at some conference and I announced it, and all of a sudden her phone started to blow up. She was a thousand miles away and she’s like, and all of a sudden my phone, she’s like, “What are you doing?” She’s like, “I’m getting phone calls and texts from like…”
Chad: [7:14] Wait until the Internet gets hold of it.
Joe: [7:16] Yeah, right. No, that’s awesome. That’s really cool. Congratulations, you guys.
Jim: [7:21] Thank you. Thank you.
Joe: [7:22] Pass that along to Tam, too. As you know, we’re, we’ve been good friends with Tammy for a long time.
Jim: [7:27] Yeah. Yeah, they’ll everybody knows her, so, it’s, she’s well ingrained and well respected in the industry and it’s great to have her as a partner. We do a lot of fun stuff together.
[7:36] We like to do things outdoors, work in the gardens, you know, just, you know, when we’re not working we like to just kind of enjoy God’s gifts to us, so.
James: [7:45] That’s right. That’s right.
Joe: [7:46] I think we’ve all taken notice a little bit more, too, of those gifts.
James: [7:50] I think she’s walking on that beach back there.
Chad: [7:53] Yeah. Yeah.
Jim: [7:56] I think she’s on a video call too, knowing her. So anyway…
Chad: [8:00] That’s the way to do it.
Jim: [8:02] Let me hand it over to Ted. Go ahead.
Ted: [8:04] All right, so my name is Ted Peet. I have been, I’m I guess, the the infant in the industry in the giants that I’m surrounded by here. I’ve, I’ve only been in the industry since September 2018. Prior to that, I, you know, I had five or so years in manufacturing, sales, after 10 years as an electrical contractor.
[8:27] And, you know, I spent, I spent my early years after high school in the United States Marine Corps. I happened to gain a bum knee injury in that, and that, that made the contracting career get a little short, but it was God leading me to the path that I had to be on to get into this industry, because I’ll tell you what, when you join the energy industry people, if you’re looking for a career that is sustainable and that is so much fun to be a part of, I have enjoyed, like I’ve found my home for the rest of my career.
[8:57] And I know that, so I can’t say enough about it. While I’ve only been in here 18, 20 months, whatever it is, it is great. With that said…
Joe: [9:06] Ted, we got to let you know, we’re going to have to let you go today.
James: [9:10] This is really, this is an intervention.
Ted: [9:12] This is an intervention, oh gosh, again?
Joe: [9:15] This is your fourth intervention this week, yes.
Ted: [9:18] I think that means I have an issue.
Joe: [9:20] Well, mostly you have us as friends, but yes.
Ted: [9:24] That’s my biggest issue. It makes you a really insecure person when you gotta talk to somebody like that and you’re, “Hey, Joe. Can I get feedback on this?” [inaudible].
[9:35] But no, I’ve been, I’ve been in the industry since September of 2018. I started out as the Upstate New York Regional Sales Manager with Chad, and then I’ve actually now as of the end of 2019, I took over our utility contractor division, and I’m the manager of our sales team that services utility contractors.
[9:57] My personal life, I am a husband of a wonderful, wonderful saint named Eileen, who put up with my formative years of being an idiot, and being a young dumb Marine.
Chad: [10:10] I forgot about, to say that about Lindsey, damn it.
Ted: [10:12] Yeah, she’s a saint too. You got it.
Joe: [10:15] You can’t now.
Ted: [10:15] Now you’ve just…Hey, I can’t wait. I’m sharing this entire video, just so you know.
Chad: [10:20] That’s terrible. I’m sorry.
Ted: [10:20] Yeah, so we have two wonderful children. We have a 13 year old son, Nicholas, who is a good little basketball player and pretty great kid overall. And then I have my pride and joy, my little baby girl, my 12‑year‑old daughter Christina, who pretty much has had me wrapped around her finger since the day she was born.
[10:41] She is a superb runner who I love just following her around the country as she runs all over the place.
Chad: [10:50] She’s actually ranked too, right, Ted?
Ted: [10:51] That she is. She is. She’s one of the best 12‑year‑old girls in the nation. She’s top 300. Yeah, I think she’s 271 in the nation.
Chad: [11:00] That’s cool.
Ted: [11:01] I’m again, very, very blessed with all the things God’s given us again. Again, I don’t know too much else, really, about what people don’t…I’m not that interesting anymore. I’m kind of old and boring now, but.
[11:13] What we want to get into…
Chad: [11:14] You should move on. That means you should move on.
Ted: [11:17] Yeah. Thank you. What we’re gonna do now is tell why we all got together and are doing this mashup.
[11:22] And, because with two different industry, or two different companies within the same industry, both of us kind of had a similar idea of like, “Hey, we’ve got to make sure we stay relevant. We got to make sure that we stay in front of our customer base. That, whether they are getting product, or getting information, or getting things specifically from us, we want them to still see Chad, and still see James, and still see Joe, and myself, and whatnot.”
[11:47] So we created this little show and we really had no idea, was it going to be training? Was it going to be, was it going to be casual? What’s it…And it’s more, I mean…
Chad: [11:56] I’m not sure we knew what it was.
Ted: [11:59] I’m not sure we know what it is now.
Chad: [11:59] Yeah. We kind of, kind of add things in there. And, you know, I think…You know, whenever I talk to you Ted and Joe, which I do every week, you know…
Ted: [12:09] We talk a little more than once a week.
Chad: [12:11] Well, yeah, you’re right, but we talk about the word “connections,” and Jim uses that word a lot. And, you know, Connections for Life is UPSCO’s tag line, number one, but as we get into every one of these meetings, or whenever we have somebody on, they used the word connections constantly.
[12:26] And it’s because we are connecting the dots, and Jim when you came on our show last week, and you had this idea for this mashup, it’s literally taken two different sides of the industry. What UPSCO does is nothing like what, what you guys do, but they relate.
Joe: [12:43] It’s all interwoven.
Chad: [12:44] They relate so well and the people relate, and the the stories relate. And I think that’s, that’s the whole point of our show, is to try and connect those dots for people. Not even so much for the products we’re selling, or the customers we’re trying to stay in front of.
[12:57] But I just, that’s how I feel, and I know Joe feels the same way. And he I know he literally probably would say almost the same things.
[13:04] So Joe if, you know, I know we want to talk a little bit about where our shows came from. You and I and Ted kind of came up with the idea, so give us your thoughts too.
Joe: [13:13] Yeah. I don’t know. I, you knuckleheads said that you guys wanted to start taping your faces so I said, “Yeah, let’s go,” right? So here we are.
Ted: [13:20] No, I originally didn’t want to be on camera. I just wanted to like direct the thing and that way…
Joe: [13:24] Yeah, well we couldn’t figure out how to blur you out and have that’ll happen, so here you are.
Chad: [13:28] We can do it now, though.
Joe: [13:29] But, but no, I mean, it was, it was, again we…As you guys said and you, you guys summed it up perfectly. I don’t have to really add much to it. It’s just, we don’t know what it is. We don’t know what it’s going to look like. We don’t know what if it’ll continue.
[13:41] You know, we have some ideas of, once we go back to work, what that looks like and how we can kind of change and add things to, to make it relevant and interesting, you know. And that’s really what we’d like to do also, you know, I mean as interesting as I think am, I don’t think people want to tune in for 15‑20 minutes just to listen to me babble on so I, you know, the content is really important as well.
[14:01] And it’s tough. It’s tough to get the content, right? You know, you kind of struggle with it. Like, “What are we going to talk about this week?” Because we just did it the other day and everything kind of, you know, slowing down, there’s not a whole lot going on, right?
[14:14] So you’re kind of digging for stories, and information, and people, and conversations. Honestly, I think the coolest thing about all this, man, is that I get to talk to my friends, that I probably normally wouldn’t have been talking to, if I wasn’t doing this.
[14:29] You know, I have so many guys that I see, and girls, that I see on the trade show kind of circuit.
Ted: [14:36] The loop. The scene.
Joe: [14:36] You know, we kind of chase each other around the country, right. And, but we’re just, we’re friends, and it’s cool to get to see all you guys again. So, I mean that for me is, you know, talk about the connections piece, it was more of a friendship thing for me and being able to just, you know, just keep communicating with the people that I care about and that are important to me. So that’s, that’s kind of my two cents.
James: [14:56] Joe, you kind of hit on what, what I was going to say about ours.
Joe: [15:00] Yes.
James: [15:00] Ours honestly started. Yeah, you know that so I’ll just…
Joe: [15:04] First time ever. First time ever.
James: [15:07] One time. You wasted it.
Joe: [15:09] One time, at band camp.
James: [15:11] This actually started for us because, honestly, every morning Jim and I would get on a phone call. And we try to say that during every episode, Jim and I, because it’s the weirdest thing ever. We would get on a phone call…
Ted: [15:23] Yes to the teenage boy sneaking in the back room and Chad’s waving him off. Yes.
James: [15:27] Get out of here.
Ted: [15:28] Yes. That’s why the show is great guys.
Chad: [15:30] Real life.
Ted: [15:32] It’s your real life, right there. That was great. You were trying to move the camera, wave him, it was awesome. Sorry, James.
Joe: [15:40] James, what were you saying there?
James: [15:42] Obviously, we’re live. We won’t even edit that out.
Joe: [15:45] No, absolutely not.
Chad: [15:46] I don’t even know how to edit.
James: [15:50] So Jim and I used to get on a phone call every morning. When this pandemic started, honestly it was more therapy than work‑related, it seemed like. And, and I was telling Jim, I said, “Man, we just got to get out there. There’s so many people that feel exactly the way we do.”
[16:06] And the conversations always went down a path, and it was honestly just about how we were feeling, and what was going on, and you know the struggle of it all. And I said, “Jim, let’s just get on.”
[16:19] You know, he’s trying to overthink it a little bit like, “We gotta…This thing, we got to do all…”
Ted: [16:23] We did that.
James: [16:24] And I was like, like “Jim, let’s just get on a Zoom call and record it.” And we just talked.
Joe: [16:28] See what happens, right? Yeah.
James: [16:29] Honestly, I would say the need kind of turned more into therapy and, you know, just being here today, in the prelim of this whole thing ‑‑ for those that don’t know, that happens every time before these calls ‑‑ and then the actual call, you know to talk about it on the show, I think it helps me. It helps my mentality. I know it helps Jim. I’ve seen it, and hopefully it helps others.
Ted: [16:56] You talk about the pre‑call. Like, one of the funniest things we had happen was, like, in one of our pre‑calls we forgot to prep the guest. And we were like, listen, when we say goodbye and stuff, you don’t have to hang up, right?
[17:07] So, so, yeah. We’re done, “Thanks for coming on the show guys,” and I hit the Stop Record button, right, and they hung up. They were gone. I was like, “Wait a minute.” That’s not how it’s supposed to work.
[17:18] These prelim calls, we had to figure all this stuff out. It was great stuff, right there.
Joe: [17:22] No, I do. I just want to add to yours, James. Like, it is. It’s like a cathartic thing, you’re right. I mean, every day I get on the phone with, with Chad. I mean, it’s almost always Chad, and we talk about what’s going on, and about our day.
[17:34] And a lot of it’s just BS, but it’s, it’s keeping you in a relationship and talking and, instead of just staring at the walls, you know. And for us, people that are out…
[17:44] Like, I always joke and I hope this, anybody finds some humor in this, but I always joke that I was, I’m not allowed to go in the office because I’m an outside dog. I’m not allowed indoors, right? That’s, and that’s how we are. We’re outside dogs, so to have to be chained up inside and all the time, it was really difficult the first few weeks for a lot of people, specifically…
Ted: [18:03] I’m a peacock. You gotta let me fly.” Name that movie. No? Oh my gosh, “The Other Guys.”
James: [18:10] I thought Jim probably would know that.
Ted: [18:13] The Other Guys, Mark Wahlberg. “I’m a peacock. You gotta let me fly.”
Jim: [18:05] Was it ‘80s or ‘90s?
Chad: [18:11] Jim, Jim I can see, I can see you really thriving off of that conversation and this type of thing, as we all do, but you even more. You’re just such an outgoing, such a such a guy that loves to be around other people and to learn about other people.
Joe: [18:32] You’re an outside dog and you, like, you know, that’s just, it’s tough.
Jim: [18:35] Yeah, and you’re absolutely right, and I praise and give, you know, thanks to James for helping me with this.
[18:43] Because you’re right, Chad. I live my life on the road in front of 5, 10, 50 people, having conversations, connecting the dots. Somebody comes up to me, “Hey Jim, do you know anybody that does this?” “Yeah, yeah, I do.”
Chad: [18:55] You’re a switchboard.
Jim: [18:56] The switchboard, you know, and that comes back because that’s what this industry is based on. We keep saying connections and relationships, and it really is true. The people that have been in this for a long term, and Ted you’re going to have a wonderful long career in this…
Ted: [19:11] Till Joe fires me.
Jim: [19:12] Yeah, well.
Joe: [19:15] I don’t have the, I don’t have the power. Or you’d be gone already.
Ted: [19:21] Threaten me with a good time.
Jim: [19:24] Having those relationships and having those interconnections, I can’t tell you, like every day James is like…Like last night. Somebody said, “You know anybody at blah‑blah‑blah pipeline?” I’m like, “I used to,” or this, or that, or [inaudible].
[19:36] And it makes you feel good when you can help them, because, you know it may seem like a micro example, but when you start to put the pieces of the puzzle together, micro were you’re helping a lot of the industry move in the right direction up, it is very fulfilling and it is a very relationship‑based industry.
Chad: [19:54] A great way to put it.
Ted: [19:56] It’s crazy how small it was to me.
Joe: [19:58] It’s a it’s a really big small industry, right?
Ted: [20:00] Like, it’s global but like, if you talk to certain people in different parts of the country and you’re like, “Hey, do you know a guy for this?” “Well there’s four guys in the country who are amazing at that, and they are ba, ba, ba, ba,” and everybody knows them. It’s like, “Wow.”
Joe: [20:12] It’s a small industry.
James: [20:14] I don’t know if you guys ran into it, but you know, one of our struggles in the beginning when we did it, we were like, “Who on earth is going to want this show?”
Chad: [20:24] Right. [inaudible] watch that.
Ted: [20:26] We’re still figuring it out.
James: [20:29] Yup. And after we put out the first one, which really was just me and Jim talking, right, just therapeutically, we were flooded, Jim was flooded with calls. You know, I was…
Joe: [20:39] Yeah, “I want to get on. Come on, can I get on? Yeah, we did too. It was nuts. Like, who wants to talk to us, right? Like, it’s crazy, but…
James: [20:47] I felt like I pulled the wool over someone’s eyes.
Joe: [20:51] That’s a good way to put it.
James: [20:52] I don’t know what we’re doing. Obviously we don’t know what we’re doing, here we are, but…
Joe: [20:57] But I think it’s, I think there’s, I think there’s some genuineness and that, you know, and I think people can relate.
Ted: [21:04] Did we just have a hat change?
James: [21:06] Represent
Chad: [21:07] Figured it was about halfway through, give a little representation.
Ted: [21:10] That’s good stuff right there.
Joe: [21:12] Little tire pump there.
Jim: [21:13] I’m just going to say, though. Hold on a second. The idea is that that wasn’t planned, Chad wearing that hat. He got that at a conference some time back, liked the hat, has it in his arsenal in Ohio.
Chad: [21:27] The best part is, I didn’t ask for the hat, I took it.
Jim: [21:29] I got the EWN hat. I like it, and that goes back to James, our brand guru.
Chad: [21:34] You do a fantastic job James. Seriously, you put out some amazing stuff. We always, that’s, your, if there’s anybody…I, I’ve been doing this…
Joe: [21:42] You looking for any part‑time stuff?
Chad: [21:44] I’ve been doing this for 10 years, James, and I go to trade shows a probably 10, 12, 15, I don’t even know how many times a year, and I don’t take anything home from the shows.
Joe: [21:53] Me either.
Chad: [21:54] But I have this.
Joe: [21:56] Seriously, the only stuff I take is your stuff.
Chad: [21:59] It’s crazy.
James: [22:00] It was kind of funny. When I joined EWN and assumed that role, you know, we did what everybody else did. We had the standard hat, standard logo, you know, polo at the, like what Jim’s wearing right now, no offense.
Joe: [22:15] The bowling shirt.
James: [22:17] That was it, honestly. But as we started talking to people, especially internally, it was like, we couldn’t even get our own people to buy, I mean, to wear our own stuff. And I go, “Well, let’s make stuff that we want to wear.” And then, funny enough, once we did that, everybody else wanted to wear it too.
Chad: [22:32] I want one of those hats.
Joe: [22:34] You guys have really cool stuff, yeah.
James: [22:37] Hopefully my boss is watching.
Joe: [22:40] We should get a Coffee with Jim and James on one side and then our, all of our idiot faces.
Ted: [22:44] Ours will be just stick figures.
Joe: [22:46] I’ll draw mine in Sharpie.
Ted: [22:50] I like the idea of Larry, Moe, and Curly on the coffee mugs, and then our [inaudible].
James: [22:56] So, guys, we talked…We gave the intros, we talked a little bit about how we got here. What about moving forward? How do you guys see this thing moving forward? And, and what does it look like?
Joe: [23:09] I’m glad you asked that.
Ted: [23:09] Joe, you go first.
Joe: [23:11] That’s what I was thinking. I was like, “Let’s all like prognosticate a little bit and see what we think.
James: [23:16] How do you see this six‑person, I mean five‑person show moving forward?
Ted: [23:21] I quit,
Joe: [23:24] As far as the show standpoint, you know, we did talk about some ideas, like doing some, like when we go to trade shows, doing some like live conversations and recording those.
Chad: [23:33] How about a live podcast?
Joe: [23:34] Yeah, yeah, right.
James: [23:36] Yup.
Joe: [23:36] And then we talked about doing, maybe going to some…You know, because we do have a contractor division as well. And they do a lot with the tooling and equipment, and a lot of on‑site things, so we had discussed maybe doing some videos and things that we could snip in and kind of educational as we roll that out.
[23:52] I think it’s kind of limitless. We don’t really have any…
Chad: [23:55] The tough part is, if we start going back to regular, you know, our regular, our regular scheduled programming it’s a tough thing to do, so what we’ve been trying to do is still trying to get a lot of information.
[24:07] Trying to bank interviews, and we are, we have to keep going. We can’t stop now. We’ve grown so much momentum that it would just be, it would be stupid to stop.
Joe: [24:17] Plus, it’s too much fun.
Ted: [24:18] It is a lot of fun.
Joe: [24:20] Let’s be honest, I have a ball with this.
James: [24:22] I’ve had more fun today than a lot of days, I won’t lie.
Ted: [24:26] The banter that we get with our, within the people in our company, or within people in the industry, like there’s some folks that I never spoke to or anything like that, that were like, “You guys are killing on that show. It’s so, it’s fun to watch,” and this, that, and the other. I’m like, “Really?”
Joe: [24:38] I’m sure that it’s happened with you guys. I had people reach out to me, and be like, just, “That’s awesome.” You know, people that aren’t even, like in the natural gas industry and I’m like…
[24:46] Chad; It’s almost like a normalcy thing, too. It’s kind of, you know, I’m sure it’s for you Jim, like you said, you’re out there, you’re seeing 5, 10, 50 people. We are the same, too. We did, but all we did was take this show and try and provide what we would provide people, in front of them, through a show that anybody can get that information that we would try and share.
[25:08] And I think that’s the same thing you guys have done, especially Jim, you are, you are, and take this as one of the best compliments you could get from me, a switchboard of the industry. And that’s what we kind of call it, and that’s what we all aspire to be.
[25:20] I mean, I don’t aspire to be a great sales guy. I’ll be a great sales guy…
Joe: [25:24] Thank God.
Chad: [25:24] if I can lead people.
Jim: [25:27] I appreciate that comment, and that compliment.
Chad: [25:30] I was gonna keep going. No, Jim. You cut me off now. I gotta go, Joe.
James: [25:33] Jim, how many…Jim, how many connections do you have on LinkedIn?
Chad: [25:37] I know how many.
Jim: [25:39] 7,600 and some. Something like that.
Joe: [25:44] How many did you pay for?
Chad: [25:46] Only like 7,395.
Joe: [25:49] See, I only have I have like 400, I think. I don’t…
Chad: [25:51] But Jim…
James: [25:52] But after this episode, guys.
Chad: [25:54] No, I know. Jim, Jim’s…You are, you are a switchboard, and take that as the best compliment that any of us could probably give you. It’s a really unique thing to be around long enough, and to know enough people, end users as well as suppliers, and things like that, to be able to put those pieces together.
[26:16] That’s always a neat thing, and interesting.
Joe: [26:19] I have to ask you guys, where do you guys see your show?
Chad: [26:22] Yeah.
Joe: [26:23] Like what do you see, you know, a month, or three months, or a year down the road looking like?
James: [26:27] Probably cancelled after the…
Joe: [26:29] Expired.
Chad: [26:30] The pilot didn’t get, the pilot didn’t get picked up.
Ted: [26:36] What are you going to do with all the swag you guys bought? The cups, the t‑shirts, the hoodies…
James: [26:40] Yeah, when the money starts pouring in I think we’ll just, you know, lay low and probably move to Florida.
Joe: [26:46] When the sponsors, when this monster start showing up?
Jim: [26:50] Are you gonna move in with me, James, or…
Ted: [26:54] You’re going to move to New York, James is gonna move to Florida.
James: [26:56] No. No, I think what you guys said is right along the lines of what we’re talking about. You know, at some point we hope and pray we’ll be back out there in the wild. And those to me seem even easier, right? You can just go live, right?
Joe: [27:14] Yeah.
[27:15] James; I think that those are slam dunks. As we’ve seen clients and more people get involved in watching these, you know, I think the ideas kind of stem from from those conversations, whether it be, like you said, provide…I mean, we’re training company, so it’s easy for us to supplant that stuff in there as needed. Jim, what do you think?
Jim: [27:40] I would agree with that. I really like the idea of, me being a social person, what you know, I think Joe hit on, was you know, being at conferences and being able to do an impromptu right away.
[27:50] You come up with some great conversation, say, “Hey, we should record this, or we should go live because this, somebody could use this information.” Could be a three‑minute live.
Chad: [27:58] Yes.
Joe: [27:58] And those conversations are happening all over the place.
Jim: [28:01] I mean, I would like that to be part of my arsenal because, again, if I could be that switchboard and record something real quick and then disseminate it out, that work better for me, you know?
Ted: [28:12] Isn’t that great, how technology allows us to do that now? I mean just, if you think about…
Joe: [28:18] Kind of.
Ted: [28:20] I mean just, in the not‑so‑distant past, you know, like when did the first iPhone come out? ’06, ’07? Like, think about where technology has brought us now, where we can be at each other’s fingertips in seconds, globally. I think it’s amazing.
Jim: [28:35] Absolutely. It’s gonna keep getting better, though, Ted. It’s going to keep getting better and easier. We’re going to be able to utilize it a lot easier. As far as the show, too, I want it to go on. Our coffee series I think will evolve and enhance and grow into more…
Joe: [28:52] Brunch.
Chad: [28:52] Wine brunch.
Jim: [28:53] We won’t seek it, it’ll seek us, meaning…
Joe: [29:02] That’s right.
Joe: [29:02] It’ll actually progress, all of a sudden James will be like, “Hey, we should do a thing on blank.” “Yeah, that’s a great idea.” [inaudible]
[29:11] I think if we just let it flow and let it go, good things will happen. It’s carried us, and again, I don’t know, we’re at a dozen episodes? 10? 11, 12?
Ted: [29:22] It was two when we started. I’m just saying.
Joe: [29:24] That’s how long we’ve been recording this.
James: [29:27] It feels like nine, this one.
Joe: [29:29] Yeah, right. cool. I mean, like, I don’t know.
Ted: [29:34] I think that’s great, guys. I think we’ve kind of covered what we wanted to cover with this mashup.
Chad: [29:38] I think we need to do it again in a month or something.
Joe: [29:41] Maybe a quarter.
Ted: [29:42] Let’s get some feedback. Let’s get some feedback from the, have people comment and, and subscribe and all, and those things, and let us know what they want to see us talk about or act like, or do something, pick on, you know, “Joe pick on Ted some more,” something like…
Joe: [29:55] I, I was thinking that maybe we could do some like, like, I don’t know, maybe like some giveaway or something like, you know, based on like we have some…
Chad: [30:03] James can give me his hat.
Ted: [30:04] Yeah, sweet hat.
James: [30:06] How about, how about this. We’ll, I’ll give away five of these hats, just in the comments. I’ll send you guys some.
Ted: [30:14] OK.
James: [30:15] That’s a start, right?
Joe: [30:17] I do, too.
Ted: [30:18] I’ll give away five of the hat Joe’s wearing.
James: [30:19] How about that backpack behind you, Ted? I mean, that’s nice.
Ted: [30:22] Yeah, we can get you one.This was this was actually from one of our principals, who I got to shout out. Awesome. Machine Builders of Wisconsin sent me this. They’re one of our connections. They are phenomenal organization. This was the great Christmas present.
Chad: [30:39] It’s not a Home Shopping Network. Can you put the bag back?
Joe: [30:39] I didn’t, I didn’t even get one.
Chad: [30:42] Thanks, Vanna.
Ted: [30:43] Here’s one from UPSCO.
Chad: [30:45] We got to come up with something good. We could really use a branding manager, James.
Jim: [30:51] I never get anything. I think, all I do is give, you know.
Chad: [30:55] You got a shirt.
Ted: [30:57] It’s reward, you get rewarded for that with fulfilling feelings.
Joe: [31:00] You have a shirt.
Jim: [31:01] I really do.
Ted: [31:03] It’s the thought.
Joe: [31:03] All right, you goofballs.
Ted: [31:05] Guys, this was great. For Connections for Life, for Coffee with Jim and James. I think we had a great time here today. We look forward to hearing from the viewers. All right?
Joe: [31:16] Yeah, you guys have anything? Parting shots?
Chad: [31:19] Don’t let them go.
Joe: [31:20] Anything over there, Jim or James?
James: [31:23] It was fun, man. We appreciate you guys, and what you’re doing out there. Keep doing it, and we’ll do the same.
Chad: [31:28] You too, guys, please.
James: [31:30] Yeah, any way we can help this industry, God bless it, and God bless you guys.
Joe: [31:34] Yeah, and most importantly, guys, love you and cannot wait to see you soon in person.
Jim: [31:38] In real life.
Ted: [31:39] Yes. I’m excited.
James: [31:42] I agree.
Ted: [31:42] All right. Have a good one.