Welcome to the Live with Sondra podcast where
we dive deep into business, tech, and entrepreneurship.
Hosted by me, Sondra Shannon, CEO of GateMaster
Technology. Each show, we explore the latest
trends in ticketing attractions and guest experience,
helping you stay ahead of the curve in this ever
-evolving world of attractions and events. Whether
you're an industry expert or just getting started,
this show has insights to inspire and empower
you. Today's episode is sponsored by GateMaster
Technology, your trusted partner for ticketing
and attraction management solutions. Let's get
started with the show. And we are live. Welcome
to the Live with Sondra show. I'm your host,
Sondra Shannon. And this is where we share stories
of business leaders and the people who support
them. All right, let's roll the video. All right.
Thanks for watching that intro video. I have
to just thank my team. That's brand new. It's
the first day we're premiering that. I hope we
did a good job. I know it looks good because
I'm very proud of them. I have the best team.
And this show would not be possible without them.
I know this is not the normal way to start the
show, but I was super excited about sharing that
with all of you today. But let's jump into this
conversation. We're going to be talking today
about community -powered economies. a new era
for attractions, and in a world where technology
and storytelling collide, today's guest is showing
the industry how to move beyond transactions
and into transformation. We're going to have
a focus on music, gaming, and tech. And first...
I have to do my due diligence and give a special
thank you to our sponsor. Today's episode is
brought to you by GateMaster, the all -in -one
ticketing and attraction management software
trusted by industry leaders. From point of sale
to guest management and mobile ordering, GateMaster
helps attractions run smarter, not harder. So
whether you're looking to streamline operations
or elevate your guest experience, GateMaster
has... something for you. So you can learn more
about GateMaster at gatemaster .com and tell
them you were sent live with Sandra. Live with
Sandra sent you. So let's talk about today's
guest. Jay is not only the founder and CEO of
Coexist, she's also a Grammy winning recording
artist. an internationally recognized speaker
on AI ethics and representation in games. With
over a decade of experience, she's become a visionary
in building inclusive gamified economies that
drive loyalty, engagement, and impact. Whether
she's on stage, in the studio, or designing community
-powered ecosystems, Jay brings unmatched creativity,
strategy, and authenticity. And a fun fact, She
never goes anywhere without her water jug, which
she credits to helping her be disciplined, optimized,
and balanced. I love that. So get ready to rethink
what's possible in your attraction, theme park,
or venue because Jay is about to break it down
on how gamification, tech, and community are
shaping a new era of unforgettable experiences.
Please help me welcome Jay to this powerhouse,
to this show. Jay, welcome to the show. Hi, how
are you? Hey, everybody. I'm so glad you're here.
And I'm curious, you know, is there anything
else? I know I love bios, but I also love hearing
directly from you. You know, what is what is
that thing about you? I love the water. I love
the water because that is like my fifth one.
I should have the water next to me. Yes. So what
was the question? just i you know tell us about
you tell us i you know i love hearing stories
of how people get their start if you don't mind
sharing a little bit of that i know that's outside
of what we're talking about but i think it's
important for people to have reference on who
you are It's, you know, it's a journey. I have
a lot, a lot of stuff across my socials that
talk about this journey because it's a pretty
inspiring one. But I mean, this short version
is I moved to New York for music. I've been playing
video games since I was four. I studied electrical
engineering in college and I really just wanted
my worlds to coexist. So, you know, music, gaming
and tech were society kind of places boxes. And
the reality is, is I am not a monolith. And honestly,
no one person is one thing. So building worlds
and infrastructure that highlight polymaths and
multifaceted people allowed me to live in my
most authentic place. And so really, that's that's
where I am just from grassroots movement and
community building to now, you know. three story
Times Square spaces and in a nationwide scale,
the focus is really just growth and progress,
but it's always incremental, you know, especially
when you're being intentional and authentic.
Yeah, I love that. I love that. And I and I resonate
with that being multifaceted because I find myself
to be actually one of my. One of my it was one
of my speaking, my speaking coaches, because
this did not come naturally to me. This was that
I had a vision for, but I knew I had the right
people to help me. And it was so funny because
one of my speaking coaches always calls me the
Renaissance woman. She's like, you got everything.
And, you know, I that's not necessarily by design,
but it is to your point that we are so many things.
Yeah, I really am excited to talk to you about
all of this. Where should we get started with
your journey? Wherever you would like. I mean,
I love that we're talking about community powered
economies because one, I think it's really important
for maybe people, businesses to understand the
importance of what it means to have a community
power economy in terms of their relevance, their
significant, their collective demand and buying
power, just the circulation of value. So we can
start anywhere. I think there are some things
about gamification. It's always exciting as people
are always like, what is that? So you've got
to dive anywhere you want. You know what? Actually,
I think what I'd love to hear from you is just
kind of and just so our audience has clarity.
You know, we talk about community powered economies.
What is the gist of that that we're referring
to? And I'm a big believer that in business we
create our own economies. So I really love this.
But would you mind just kind of breaking that
down? Yeah, I mean, for from my perspective,
I look at it as a circulation of value in a community.
You know, there's resources, knowledge and opportunities.
They circulate faster. And this kind of circulation,
it builds resilience. Right. Because the community
really supports itself, if you will. But it also
accelerates wealth creation. And for us, that's
a really big part of at Coexist, what our ecosystem
is built off of. It's creating this feedback
loop, right? Communities are built in focus.
At the inception of whatever it is. So how this
expresses itself, you know, there are different
organizations where when you see programming,
the company will be programming everything. Well,
for us, we never over program things because
that's how we maintain the authenticity. We understand
that we need to create spaces where the voices
of the people to hear and see and learn information
that they need to be visible here. So there's
this talent kind of ecosystem. And then like,
you know, as a result, businesses that tap into
the feedback loop, you know, they iterate faster,
they test smarter, they reduce the risk of bringing
new ideas to market. Yeah, I 100 % agree. You
know, in technology myself for the last 25 years
and working to build systems for attractions.
Now, we're probably not on the, we're probably
on the more boring side of the tech because we're
not doing the gamification. And I know that I
want to get to that. But what we are building
is payment systems like unnecessary evil. But,
you know, you know, according to some business
owners, in my opinion, like it's going to make
a job easier. Right. You know, when you start
looking at some of the payment tech that's out
there or the FinTech that's out there, I mean,
it's not the most exciting part of business,
right? However, one of the things I love about
what you said is we really looked at what is
it that our partners or our customers needed?
What are the challenges that they're bumping
up against? We listened to them. I actually had
somebody come to me and say, you know, we're
going to. give you this much investment dollars
but you're gonna have to do it this way and turned
it down because i recognize that like i need
the parks to tell me what they need yeah not
an investor not that not that there isn't it
that isn't a strategic move to some degree that's
not what i'm saying here it's just that's where
we've remained as a company is really focused
on the community so this is such an important
conversation for me especially with where you're
coming from and i'm really I'm curious how you,
when we talk about ecosystems and gamification,
you know, kind of what are some of the core principles
that can directly be applied to attractions to
boost either guests or maybe even employee engagement?
That's a big one. Yeah. And you know what? It
actually kind of goes back to when you're mentioning
FinTech. Believe it or not, I always think about
gamification. Anytime there's ever tech involved,
whether it's FinTech, EdTech, all of it, AdTech,
because really gamification just has to do with
reward and incentive and progression and achievement.
That's like kind of it. It's like a cheat code.
Right. And so. when we're thinking about and
when we you know we're very b2b as well so we
partner with a lot of companies that they're
just trying to increase the engagement or you
know justify a return and so gamification really
just unlocks the human psychology of what makes
a person want to do something, i .e. what incentivizes
them. And then once they actually do it, we reward
their engagement. And so we just do that digitally,
but we also do it in physical space. So the unique
thing about like coexist, right, is we always
focus on the non -binary. So it's not just one
or the other. It's not just physical or digital
space. It's physical and digital space, how they
coexist and how we gamify it. So a lot of the,
you know, businesses, when people are existing
in a real world. So the gamification for us is
what is that crossover integration? How do we
take what you've built, whether we're creating
an API and we're integrating something into it
that's going to reward their engagement, to then
when they are existing in their life, how we
make it crossover so that they can feel that
reward in real life as well. So it allows you
to be wildly innovative and very creative. So
we get to take things that might be boring, like
FinTech, that are necessary. give it a little
extra, you know, oomph and make people feel really
rewarded that they chose that particular, you
know, business or experience or product. Yeah,
I love that. And I think that it's, you know,
even just for me, I've been going on these walks
every day. I have a new puppy. So, you know,
and actually it's good for me. I need to be walking
every day, but I have this new puppy that's keeping
me busy and got to walk like two miles a day
or he destroys everything. As puppies do. But,
you know, it was interesting. I started tracking
my walks. And sure enough, I get these little
basic badges. I mean, maybe they're not huge
to other people. But to me, I'm like, I got this
badge today. I got this badge today. So I totally
recognize what you're saying in terms of incentives.
Now, granted, I didn't even know I was going
to get the first badge. Once I got the first
badge, then I was. Right. Exactly. Yeah. It's
true. And I love that you said that because I
think it's important that we don't, like even
all of this stuff ties in together, right? So
when you think about the community powered economy,
what you should never do, no one, is diminish
what makes you feel good. Like no one knows that
you needed that badge today. Sometimes we just
need to know that, you know what? I looked for
it. I walked, I was tired. I did it. And then
I got this celebration that I did it. That reward
is what. It's what the whole gamification is
built off of. And that's why when it's done the
right way, it really helps businesses. It catapults
their innovation to next levels because they're
tapping into something that, quite honestly,
is hard to quantify. How good you feel, right?
Yeah. Oh, I do not disagree. I think that so
many of us are not celebrating those small wins
enough. Yeah, for sure. And especially when we
look at. personal, professional, even financial
goals. We should be celebrating those things.
That's something, it's interesting. I never thought
of, it's something that we do in our company.
We meet with every single team member and talk
about their personal, professional, financial
goals. And we celebrate those things together.
But I never thought about it until just this
moment, how that is somewhat gamification, right?
To a degree. We celebrate each other. No, it
definitely is. And it's been huge for our culture.
I agree. So I really I really love that feedback
there. You know, how does building a strong community
around attractions lead to increase? You know,
how could it lead to both an increase in revenue
and increase in loyalty? Yeah, I mean, it's literally
what you said. So I think some of the healthier
communities and even the cultures and the ethos
is in certain workplaces. If you're gamifying
something, you're automatically considering the
need of someone. Or otherwise, how do you even
know what's going to drive engagement, right?
You have to at least tap into that person on
some level. So I think that directly corresponds
to what makes a person do it more. Like right
now, you can mention that you went on this short
walk and you got this badge exponentially increased.
Well, now you have an incentive to do more. So
as we continue creating partnerships, you're
really kind of taking some level of maybe, you
know, scarcity. There's a time limit for you
to do it now and the exclusivity of what's going
to be unlocked. Right. So I think one of the
more fascinating things about gamification is
we're taking something so infrastructural, like,
you know, just take a game and it's like. There's
so many different type of games. There's video
games, board games, card games, tabletop games,
right? Casual communal games. What makes one
person gravitate to an experience over another?
That psychology is paramount in understanding
how you're going to structure the type of innovation
a business focuses on. An example is, so in the
gaming industry, 200 plus billion dollar industry,
but mobile gaming is the largest generated over
a hundred billion. Interestingly enough, for
a lot of people, 65 % of mobile gamers are women.
Exactly. And so it's like, one, from a representation
standpoint, it should make businesses think.
So if women are consistently. their phones and
they're using these mobile devices and what is
it that's driving their interest wherever they
are if they're on the train like if you're in
a city like New York or in San Francisco or you're
waiting on something this is how you're spending
your time it directly correlates to what your
ad tech should really be considering what you're
promoting and then so there are a lot of analytics
and a lot of data that help the businesses better
serve the needs of their consumers. And even
more importantly, like their targeted consumer,
just by understanding what's driving this type
of gamification. Is it the game in and of itself?
Is it how the game is rewarding the consumer,
like the person that's engaged in it? What about
this retention is making them come back to this
game when there's so many different type of mobile
games? Mind you, they're being monetized. People
are spending money. on these games, you know?
So I think, yeah, that perspective is interesting
and directly correlates with the community that
the consumer needs. Yeah, you know, it's interesting.
My mother is always playing a game when she's
hanging out. And I never considered her a gamer
until just now. I mean, she's like... almost
70. Right. But it's to your point, you know,
when I think about all the women that I know
that are playing games, plus, you know, a lot
of women are in these positions, maybe in their
homes where they're the person who's taking kids
to sports and all these things and doing a lot.
I mean, I know myself, I'm doing a lot of waiting
around and that is something that might pass
that time. Right. But also, you know what? i'll
tell you my daughter just told me today she was
like yeah so -and -so asked me to play a game
like that's also the way to win her heart right
like you want to be her friend you got to play
games with her and so you know it's it's that's
the community part i agree so you know from your
perspective you know and you mentioned a little
bit about the the outer reality, the game reality,
and then what did you call it? The outside world.
oh the crossover integration crossover yeah you
know i'm curious because i i actually did a show
on a company that was doing an augmented reality
uh they basically do an augmented reality park
in santa monica but i'm curious you know from
your perspective what role do you see augmented
reality playing into future of events and attractions
like i i For me, I see a world and maybe it's
already there because I'm not that cool and going
to festival music festivals as often as I would
like to. I, you know, where there's going to
be huge crossover in these things. For sure.
So one, there's an entire Netflix docuseries
called The Future Of. The entire fourth episode
is gaming and it's highlighting us. and all of
the tech that we build using AR. So when I think
about AR, there's so many things. First of all,
you're layering digital storytelling in physical
spaces. So there are attractions that can embed
interactive narratives into their existing environments.
And so imagine like pointing your phone or your
AR glasses at the landmark or the ride or the
exhibit, and you see the characters, the animations,
the hidden storylines that come to life. This
turns a passive observation, like just looking
at a mural or a statue into an active exploration.
And so one that, I mean, that directly, that
allows people to also personalize their guest
journey. You can just, create really immersive
live experiences. And this is, there are a lot
of, you know, for businesses like revenue and
sponsorship opportunities that can come from
that. But it's also something that is, again,
even when we think about just the consumer, the
accessibility and the inclusivity of that. AR
enhances accessibility because it provides this
multilingual translation or like a sign language
overlay, I like to call it, that makes the attractive
more inclusive and it broadens the audience reach.
So I think that... alone even that's not even
involving the gamification part of how ar how
we can see it in our real lives yeah well it's
interesting when i had that show um and and he
was he was telling a story about how this one
dad came to him and said you know sure i mean
we're still in ar you know virtual reality however
it was the first time that he had actually played
with his son Oh, he couldn't get him to do, you
know, because and in some ways, you know, there's
a lot of parents who don't want their kids on
technology all the time. But this is where we
are today, in my opinion. I mean, this is where
we're going. And if you want to be with your
children, sometimes you got to be with them where
they're at. And so it's such an empowerful, an
incredibly powerful story. And I think we are
seeing some of what you're talking about, like
with Disney. when before epic you you could hold
your phone over and when they had the i don't
know if you've ever been to um uh the downtown
that they have at universal studios in orlando
prior to epic opening you could hold your phone
over and and i never considered what you're saying
but you can hold your phone over and it would
show you the rides moving and telling the stories
of the different world And it just completely
changed the experience if you engaged with it.
And it's really, really cool to see that this
is where we're going. And that kind of brings
me to another question. How can technology -driven
approaches help attractions better manage their
operations and staff? Because we're talking about
these big parks that are doing incredible things
from the... guest perspective but when we look
at like maybe in park management and operation
do you have any thoughts on that yeah i mean
i i think there has to be like a mutual value
creation yeah the best activations benefit everyone
involved so the the attraction like the location
whoever the company is the partner and then the
guest um and i think The gamification of something
like this is just people want a personal experience.
You know what I mean? And so people connect deeply.
Again, that's that non quantifiable part that
we were talking about earlier. People connect
deeply when the experience feels like it's for
them. And so I think like you can have a streaming
service that partners with like a theme park
and you let the guests choose between. different
kind of content journeys. They can choose the
environment they want, no matter where they're
standing. They have this unique AR overlay that
allows them to feel like they can interact with
a partner's brand identity. And even if you're
standing next to me, we have two different experiences.
So I think, interestingly enough, I'm telling
you, I think that psychology, and it's a really
big part of gamification, and it's something
that... It's probably too discounted, which is
why you never want gamification to feel like
it's just, I don't want to say, I'm not like
saying negatively about a loyalty incentive program,
but gamification takes it to another level because
you're acknowledging that there's a desire for
loyalty and that the incentive is necessary.
And so in understanding that dynamic, you have
to tap into the desire for this very personalization
through partnership, right? Yeah. I think there's
a social amplification, especially since we're
in this age where social platforms are everywhere.
So the most memorable experiences are always
shareable. So you take like a brand, like you
can take a watch brand. Like we're working with
a lot of watch brands now. They're sponsoring
like a interactive installation where the guests
can actually pause time. And they're in a slow
motion, you know, experience like we always kind
of wanted this. You're giving this matrix energy
so that the social amplification actually continues
to further disseminate whatever that personalization
was that was originally created in their content
journey. That's really cool. And, you know, it's
funny because have you written in one of those
Waymos yet? I have. I like them. Now we're tying
in the music and the tech with this thought.
For some reason, this has popped up in my head.
I love the Waymos. Probably the biggest thing
is because when I get in, it's playing my jams.
Oh, nice. I don't know if you've seen that part.
You can program the app so that as soon as you
get in, it's already playing your music. I like
that. And yeah, I'll tell you my, uh, it's, it's,
my favorite is artist. I don't know if you, I'm
always afraid to share music with people because
you're like, everybody has a different taste,
but Miguel, I love Miguel. Uh, wait, Miguel.
Oh, like, of course. Yeah. You know, uh, he's
had a couple like uh instagram but i'm an old
school fan he's amazing amazing r &b artist he's
actually he's on the level with a really good
friend of mine so he's incredible you should
always share music with people if they don't
like it that's fine but you still put them on
yeah you're right you're right because music
is like I really love music, but for some reason,
like his music calms me down. It makes me happy.
I love hearing it. I get in my Waymo and it's
playing and it is just like, it's really like
you said, the loyalty. Cause I could call an
Uber, but if I know there's a way, I'm like,
this thing's going to have my name ready to go.
It's telling, talking to me. It's I get in and
ask me if I like to keep this music. And I'm
like, heck yeah, I like to keep it. That's why
I put it there. Right. So, you know, you're opening
my mind a little bit to how even that is somewhat
gamification, right? Because it's the personalization
piece that you're mentioning that keeps people
coming back. It sticks with you. Yeah. And you
can count on it. Yeah. Right? You can count on
it not to mess it up. You're not going to be
in a car with a chatty cat. Yeah. You know, cause
there's the Uber, there's a feature that says
you want like a quiet, quiet, warm, you know?
So it's kind of nice to know that you can, you
can, and that's the incentive, by the way, the
reliability is the intensive. When you get in
there and it happens, that's the reward. Yeah.
Now, as far as the way most go, I felt very safe
in them. Okay. I don't know if you did what I
did. I did. What was weird is the other drivers
around. Oh, really? Yeah. When you pay attention
to them and how they're interacting. That was
that's the part you got to get used to, I think.
Yeah. I thought one of the things I thought was
particularly interesting was how cautious they
are when parking. Right. So it's like they. And
I think my friend, she was saying, they don't
put you in front of the door. And I'm like, well,
there's a car parked there. So it's mindful enough
to know that it can't. Yeah. I mean, I saw, I
saw one, I was in LA a couple of weeks ago and
I saw one get stuck in a hotel, like lobby area
where they were dropping off and it had taken
kind of a wrong turn, but you know, it was pretty
fast that the team popped in. gotcha sent it
back on its way it was just a minor inconvenience
but that was an interesting feature too because
it it knew it was stuck and it had a weird like
roundabout thing that it had gotten itself into
okay but it was inside of a inside of a hotel
parking or the in the hotel i have a question
for you yeah did you get on a waymo plane or
a boat you know i I don't know. I was actually,
it's funny that you asked that because I was
in Cambridge for a symposium and they're bringing
together all these innovative thinkers because
you mentioned like accessibility. So there's
some, I'm on a team that is, one of the co -founders
is Chris Martin from Coldplay and we're working
on, you know, an ultra accessible. project that
is his one of his passions and his partner emmanuel
and and we did a symposium and it's interesting
that you brought it up because one of the guys
that was there was somebody who was working on
a uber plane over for planes and the next phase
is something like that i definitely don't want
to be the first person on it right right that's
kind of like I was not the first person on a
Waymo. They had been around for quite a while
by the time I got in one. But, you know, I'm
not opposed to it because, like you said, I feel
like they're very cautious. I felt like it was
very precise, which was interesting. The Uber
for planes is interesting because does that mean
that they're basically just shifting pilots?
Well, it's basically, you know, you go on and
you your phone and you say, hey, I need a. plane
flight today and a pilot yeah it was wild it's
wild but you know as as you probably know tech
and with tech and gaming i mean where we're going
in i think a short amount of time is is pretty
pretty crazy interesting i'm gonna be thinking
about that some more yeah just tell me about
this and i'm like yeah actually someday i hope
to need an uber For a private plane. I'm not
there yet. I still fly commercial, but that's
actually, you know, we talked about goals. Right.
That's going to be one of my, that's one of my.
The PJ. Yeah. One of the things I got to celebrate
someday. I love it. Just because I fly a lot.
You know, I. Yeah. I'll tell you, I spent last
year, I spent three months. in a Marriott. So
that doesn't count all the times I wasn't in
a Marriott or an Airbnb. I'm just off of what
Marriott said. And so you travel that much and
I'm sure you probably do. You know, these comforts
mean a lot, right? Right. Speaking of Marriott,
Annie, you were talking about gamification. I
was just going to say that. Exactly. Bonvoy does
a really great job at gamifying within their
own, their closed ecosystem for sure. Yeah. I
hit my lifetime this year. Yeah. Oh, wow. Look
at you. Okay. Yeah. Anyways, we could talk about
all these things forever, but you really have
opened my eyes to how those things that Marriott
is doing. Right. Waymo is doing are not only
personal as personalizing the experience, but
also bringing in. the technology that allows
them to gamify the experience or allow people
to earn things and get recognition for earning
those things. It's true. Believe me, I love saying
I'm a lifetime. I think I'm a lifetime. You know,
I mean, so nice to walk in there and know that
you have that and you earned it. It's true. And
other hotel conglomerates like are actually following
suit because they want that. They want the same
kind of continuity that. that because that's
a memorable experience when you go there right
and they upgrade you to the suite or they say
oh you have a free spa or whatever like that's
creating a invaluable experience like you just
leave the guests with something to continue and
making them want to stay partnered with that
ongoing that is really invaluable it's enough
to make you pay more for a hotel because you
know you're going to be rewarded for it right
and sometimes it's worth it because i'll tell
you when i was in london last month i was staying
uh I was staying in a Marriott in Canary Wharf
every night. If you were a certain level and
above and drinks, and it was just so nice and
convenient because by that all day, I want to
be back, relax, and it's just there and ready
for you. So it's almost like the comfort of home
because you're not, dinner's ready, right? Well,
so, Jay, you know, I think you're really honing
in for for the audience, especially those in
attractions that this personalization is super
important. Having a gamified experience, not
only for their customers, their guests, but also
for their team is an important part of. creating
community. And I really love that. I've not I've
not had anybody express that the way that you
did on the show today. And so when just if I
may just ask a couple of more questions, you
know, how can we use the principles of partnered
activation that we might have to explain to the
audience what you mean by that to create memorable
experiences for guests? Well, so, you know, interestingly
enough, I know everybody's talking about it,
but there is an opportunity to integrate some
AI tools in the personalization, using them to
analyze the user behavior, which is really, really
important. So like the locations that they visited,
the offers that they've redeemed, the time of
day, the frequency, and then tailoring those
offers and promotions that individualized users
are more likely to engage with is a great way.
for, one, you to use an existing tool instead
of building one, which is usually of value to
companies, but also suggesting things that are
relevant. We know this is really like some targeted
marketing, but if a user often redeems a certain
kind of food discount or like surface food -oriented
offers. that they never see, you know, these
are personalization things that allow them to
be focused. There's also smart triggers, right?
So rather than like, so a lot of this is in some
of the tech that we build rather than static
geofences, which understand where you are on
the map and then direct you to kind of like hot
spots. There are tools that can actually help
you decide when and where to trigger your notifications
or offers. But it's like this predictive modeling
moment, which is very, very common in gaming.
Ways to just be super efficient. I think a lot
of companies can sort of model some of what we're
doing in gaming after their own experiences of
personalization. In gaming, there's tech where
you know you need to build a forest. And you
have four different type of trees. Well, you're
going to use predictive modeling to replicate
all of those trees, right? And then you're not
using now AI as a replacement for the artist.
You're actually using it to enhance the artist
because the truth is the artist doesn't want
to create four or 5 ,000 of the same trees. So
they're now leveraging this tool, right? So I
think these are things that... our opportunities,
and especially since I talked to so many companies
about how to use AI in order to gamify their
economy, it doesn't take away from the personalization,
which I think is very important. Yeah, I love
that. And I totally see what you're saying. The
artist creates, but like you said, who's going
to want to do that 5 ,000 times? Right. Probably
even more. Yeah, the artist wants to be creative.
So if you give them a leveraging tool that's
more efficient, then now they can focus their
attention on something else. But the companies
can use that same type of personalization to
understand the user behavior and better know
how to suggest things that are relevant to augment
their experience. Yeah, and you know, it's interesting.
We've had people from marketing companies kind
of talk about that personalization, but I think
people don't understand how do I get that? And
how do I get the data? that allows me to do it.
And it's interesting predictive modeling that
you mentioned, you know, what a, what a great
tool to use to do that. So that, yeah, go ahead,
please. No, no, no. I'm just saying that's, that's,
that's a lot of the tech that we build because
that data is really important to controlled behavior
and rewarding engagement. Yeah. And, and I, I
wonder, you know, based on your expertise, you
know, what is. What is one piece of advice you
have for attractions looking to build this kind
of innovative infrastructure? I mean, and so,
you know, you talked about predictive modeling.
You talked about getting the data. You know,
what would be maybe some advice that you would
give the audience today? Partner with us at Coexist
because we're doing it. We're doing it every
day. Like we literally we use. So, you know,
interestingly enough, AI is not new in gaming.
It's just it's the idea of it being so consumer
facing. But reward economy design is something
that we focus on in any type of virtual currency,
which is in every single game. So we understand
just this value of. and need for people to not
lose sight of their human experience but there
is one a way to use ai to leverage it so that
you can augment it and make it even more efficient
but then also the gamification for us and like
what we specialize in is really creating the
type of experiences that make people want to
engage and the acquisition of data as they are
engaging and that is so valuable to these businesses
but you have to partner i do i implore companies
actually to partner with companies and agencies
like ours because our focus is authenticity so
we want to be able to one have our customers
like trust us and confiscate information that
matters not just a bunch of randomized stuff
right because it's not as usable and it doesn't
help you curate a more optimized experience for
them the next time Right. And I'm sure like the
data that you're helping these businesses get
also helps them make much better decisions about
where they're going and what they need to do.
So I think that, you know, one, I want to thank
you for having and starting a company that helps
companies bring this into their purview and make
it a reality for them because. Being in technology,
I can tell you data is a very tough subject for
people because they don't know how to get it
or what to do with it and whether or not they've
got the right data. Correct. Correct. One of
my mentors who I met with just probably about
a month ago, he was on a stage and he was saying,
you know, do you think that people make the wrong
decisions because they are bad people or they
want to do something wrong? No. And he was primarily
talking about businesses. They're making the
wrong decisions because they don't have the right
data. Yeah. And so I think this is so huge. And
I really appreciate you bringing data into it
because it's such a big topic of conversation,
especially in the attractions right now. How
do we leverage this data to make the guest experience
better? Correct. And then the part that I think
is really distinctive of what we focus on is
after we've done that. how do we make the consumers
feel rewarded for providing the information we
needed to cultivate a better experience for them
so it works cyclically yeah i love that it's
it's interesting the transfer it's a you said
in your you said it was a rather than being transactional
it's transformational data absolutely yep love
that Well, hey, we're wrapping up here because
of time, and I really appreciate you giving me
time. Of course. I'm much into the music part,
and I just wanted to maybe just hear from you
a little bit about Journey with Music, and it's
just hearing that you are a Grammy award -winning
artist is... Right there, yeah. You're the first
person I've ever met with one of those, so I'm
so excited. I have a few friends with those.
You know what? I just actually met someone and
I held my first Oscar for the first time. So
that was cool. I was like, this thing is heavy.
You know, I just, I feel like once you're an
artist, you're always an artist because it's
just, it's who you are and it's how you navigate
the world. It's how you express yourself. And
I think anything that stifles the creativity
makes you feel like less of an artist. So for
me. I just wanted to really be a part of a world
that allowed innovation to go wild, but at the
same time create impact. And I think we live
societally in a place where oftentimes they're
so binary. You're either doing this, it's like,
oh, you're working for a nonprofit and you're
going to create impact. Oh, you're an artist,
though you're not technical. And I just really
wanted to disrupt all of those preconceived notions
because we have a left and a right hemisphere.
They're not severed. Shout out to Severance.
We love it. But we didn't choose the procedure,
right? So it's really, for me, my artistic perspective.
Mind you, I studied electrical engineering in
undergrad. So I've always needed them to coexist.
But I think approaching even tech as an artist
allows. myself and a lot of my team members,
because we do talk about, we're non -neurotypical,
are neurodivergent people. We talk a lot about
neurodivergence in gaming. And so these industries,
they deserve conversations from non -neurotypical
minds because the perspectives are... analyzing
and processing information differently. We're
viewing it from a different perspective, never
compromising the human experience. And I think
as an artist, there's always this vulnerability
that you're living through because I'm creating
music for me, but I'm lending it to you. I'm
basically telling you all my business and every
song that I'm writing in hopes that at some point
in your life, it resonates and can do something
that empowers you or makes you feel included,
like you're not alone. And I think... having
that just very human approach makes you empathetic,
even in business, even in tech fields. And I
think it's just a very valuable quality to possess.
And I like how I see it resonate in different
aspects of my life, even professionally as a
non -artist. Yeah, I love that. And I love that
you are so many things that really resonate.
And look, hey, if you'll let me hold yours, I'll
let you hold mine. Oh, yes. Wait. I did get,
this is a, this is a brass ring for best new
concept, which actually was for gamification.
Oh, I like it. I love that. Which that one, you
know, I'm just going to, I haven't told very
many people this, but this thing went with me
everywhere. I don't know about you when you got
yours. No, I mean, for attractions. Right. But
I love that. Well -deserved because you were
you were that girl. Oh, well, same. I just appreciate
you sharing your brilliance with us today and
really good information. I hope that the people
listening really take to heart what you're saying
about how to build community gamification. I
think this is where we're going. I think this
is. so innovative what you're doing. And I do
hope they connect with you. In fact, I want to
connect with you about how we can do that for
Game Master because you've certainly convinced
me. So thank you for being on the show. And if
somebody does want to connect with you, what
would be the best way to get a hold of you? Yeah,
so I'm Letta J Music on everything, L -E -T -T
-A J Music on like every platform. But you can
also find me on LinkedIn. I'm J -A -Y -E, Letta
J Watts. And so hit me up. Let's have some amazing
conversations and discuss how we can coexist.
J, thank you for being here today. I look forward
to seeing you. All right, guys. Well, that was
a great conversation. I love the idea of using
gamification to create community, to create loyalty
with our guests, to personalize the experiences.
We're seeing that in some of the bigger and like
big brand attractions. But I do believe that
somebody like Jay can help many of you who don't
see yourself as a Disney or Universal, but are
still creating these amazing experiences, leveraging.
you know, organizations like Jay's that can help
you do this, create your own ecosystem and create
this type of engagement with your guests and
maybe even your team, whatever, wherever you
need this type of loyalty and engagement. So
I just really want to thank you for watching
today. Thank you for being a part of our conversations.
Love the chat. And last, before, lastly, before
we go, I do have to again. thank our sponsors
gate master the all -in -one ticketing and attractions
management software trusted by attraction leaders
for nearly 35 years it's crazy to say that it's
been a very long time but as jay was saying you
know this thing was built by a community of people
like you who are running attractions and trying
to move your businesses forward so you know i
do hope that uh You will give GateMaster a shout
out or at least a connection. You can reach them
at GateMaster .com. And again, thank you for
listening to today's show. If you're watching
live, leave us a comment. Hashtag repeat if you
are watching us on repeat. And if you are listening
on the podcast networks. Thank you for listening
today. We appreciate your support. And I appreciate
the team behind the show. It takes a lot of people
to make something like this happen. And I do
want to thank them. I think I'm each and every
day, but especially here, want to give them a
big shout out for all that they do. We'll see
you guys on the next Live with Sondra show.