Hey guys, welcome to Good News York. It's Tuesday
Newsday again. We're gonna, it feels like that
was like yesterday. Yeah. Wasn't it just Tuesday?
Funny you say that when I was prepping for Tuesday
Newsday. I was like, wasn't Tuesday Newsday like
two days ago? Yep. But no, time flies. Hey. Time
flies. Especially when you're having fun. And
we are. And we're kicking off this Newsday with
a guest. Yeah, Greg Ordon. Welcome to the show.
Welcome. Photographer extraordinaire. This was
the strangest morning for me because I came in,
I was told we're getting headshots done. Okay.
And I was just like, sure, sounds great. Well,
I met Amanda, our new, what's her job title?
I don't wanna say the wrong one. She's our operations
person. Operations person. Her first day, my
first day meeting her, and I said, nice to meet
you, and then we hopped in a car, me, her, and
Danny. And we got pictures taken together. There
you go. And it was awesome. It was a very unique
experience. I can't wait to talk about it. This
guy's, he's a real deal. So just to be clear,
you went to his place. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, sorry.
Yeah, we went to his studio. Yeah, yeah. Tell
me a little bit. Tell me about the studio. Well,
it's funny because when you pull in, it kind
of has the effect, it's a big parking lot with
like a horseshoe of doorways. Almost like a motel,
but it's all business there. I said if I was
scouting for a film, it'd be a great scene for
a shootout. But there were no shootouts, goodness.
You went inside, gorgeous studio. You're part
of Retro Game Con. So there was a lot of really
cool stuff as far as Retro Game Con, but the
studio, this was the real deal. And I was telling
him... You know, when I do impressions of photographers
and I'm trying to be funny, I do the whole, like,
look left, give me something sassy. Close up.
Look sexy. Pretend you're holding the subway
sub. Sing into the camera. Do TLC, preferably
Scrubs. I want you to sing that. Yeah, he was
very... Greg, you're a very hands -on, very...
That's what you want from a photographer. Yeah.
And that's what he gave us. He wants one direct.
Yeah, he wants one of those direct. I need direction,
so. That can take control. Enough of Mike's review.
Greg, tell us a little bit about your business
and what you do and the type of folks that you
help. So I'm a portrait headshot photographer.
That's kind of what I've settled in as far as
photography. About 20 years ago, I was kind of
a generalist as a photographer. I would shoot
anything and everything just to make a buck.
And the problem with that is, as you know, When
you're generalist, you compete on price. So you
don't compete on skills. You compete on the next
guy, your competitor, because he's going to charge
$50. Well, I'm going to charge $25, because you're
trying to get that business. And problem is it's
a race to the bottom. And so about three to four
years ago, I did a soul searching. I said, I
don't want to be a generalist photographer. I
want to actually niche in a couple fields, and
that's it. and get very good in those two fields.
So basically, all I do right now is events, and
I do portraits and headshots. And I've spent
probably the last year and a half really focusing
on headshots, gone to several workshops. One
of them is with Peter Hurley in New York City,
and really learning his style, his technique,
and how he gets the headshots that he does, because
that's a style that I really like, and it sets
me apart from other photographers. Again, it's...
Allows me to charge what I charge without having
to apologize for it or yeah have it be the first
part of a conversation Usually the first part
for me is I like your work How can we work together?
What is it? What is it about a headshot specifically
that? You're able to dig deep into you know What
is it about that that you found interesting and
how do you make it unique? Kind of for folks
that aren't familiar with the style you've referenced
so for me again And I'm compared to an event
photographer. An event photographer, say if I'm
there for two days for an event, I'm shooting
thousands of photos and I have an interaction
with someone for about 10 seconds. Gotcha. And
then I'm on to the next part of that event to
try to capture the event as a whole. So I don't
really get a chance to get to know people, get
to talk to people. And that's the one thing I
really do enjoy. As a headshot photographer,
you have no option. Like, you have to kind of
get to know someone. You have to kind of get
into their psyche a little bit. You have to converse
with them and be able to have a conversation.
But also, you have to kind of be a counselor
to them. Like, you know, most people don't like
a camera pointing in front of them. Sure. And
usually, it's a negative reaction they have because
they usually have some sort of serious high school
portrait or high school portrait comic. Right.
Or they said, hey, you know, come into the studio
here, sit on this, you know, rackety chair, you
know. do a weird pose, and then a couple flashes
later, you're like, okay, next. It was always
jam the fist. I was talking about that. Punch
yourself in the face. My brother and I, my mom
took us to see her, and I can only explain it,
the only memory I have is, it was in gymnastics,
the horse that they vault over. It was like that,
but with carpet on it. The weirdest bench. And
it was just very unnatural. And to put some context
to it, I was obviously making a joke earlier,
you know, making light of how intense he can
be. But it is what you want from a photographer.
No, it's that personality that he's... Yeah,
and I've worked with... I've gotten headshots
done in the past. And this was the first time
I worked in a studio of that caliber, but also
with someone who took my joke and made it a reality.
You know, he was like, hey, give me this. I will
say... He wanted me to, his thing is to have
your neck forward, like this, right? But literally,
this, so it feels very unnatural. But he assured
me that, I'm telling you, it feels weird, and
then you look at the picture and you're like,
oh, I don't look like that, but it feels very
weird. So I mean, if you wanna go to a photographer
that's gonna give you the absolute top of the
line experience, Greg Ordon, this is the guy
right here. That's incredible. So Greg, tell
us a little bit about who and why do people get
headshots, you know, who's, who's the target
audience for this and, and why are they getting
them? Uh, for me, my target audience is really
corporate America and basically pretty much anyone
that needs to update a headshot. You know, I
kind of target LinkedIn quite a, quite a bit.
Uh, but it's really anyone that wants to elevate
their brand and, or I, as I call it, like level
up their brand. Um, a lot of people on LinkedIn
have selfies. They have, you know, a photo they
cut themselves out of, out of a group photo.
Cause that's the best photo they found themselves.
or they'll try to take a photo of themselves.
Like I get that a lot. Like, hey, I, you know,
I try to have a photo taken of myself with my
own camera against a wall and I can't get it
to look like your photo. So they call my studio
to get that type of work. And again, it's those
types of people, people that also, the ones I
really enjoy working with are the ones that say
that they don't have, or they can never get a
good photo of themselves. Like they just, you
know, Part of being a photography part is easy.
Like, you know, it's taking a photo. That's,
that's easy. It's a technical, right? It's a
technical thing. You know, once you have the
technical side out of the way, now you have a
human being in front of your camera that has
all their issues. They have, you know, you know,
self -loathing, they, you know, talk about them
down about themselves or, and so part of my,
part of what I do that I think I do very well
in is. I can be empathetic. Like, I know how
that feels. I have had those same feelings myself
when a camera's pointed at me. And trying to
get into their head space, you know, basically
be a counselor to them, listen to their issues,
too, and not just take a photo like, oh, this
is the best photo for yourself, right? Like,
you know, it's not about me at that moment. It's
about the person in front of my camera. And so
when I'm shooting stuff, you're seeing it in
real time. You're seeing the photos come on the
screen, and it's a chance for both of us to evaluate...
what the images look like, you know, what I can
do to be better, what you can do to be better.
And it's also being frank with them, like, you
know, not trying to pretend to not say something
because, you know, you're afraid to hurt their
feelings, but actually be direct. Like, hey,
you know, you're not tilting your head correctly,
or, you know what, when you're smiling, you know,
one side of your face is smiling, but the other's
not. And so when people can see that stuff in
real time, they start reacting to it. And when
it's also not being done in a mean or judgmental
way, I'm just here to help you out. And the trust
barriers or the barrier that they have starts
to go down. And they start to trust the process.
They trust me. And I trust them, too. So at the
end, if you see images from someone that first
came in the studio to right before they left
for this final session, night and day. you know,
expression changes. And they become real expressions.
They become a real response to something instead
of like, oh, I don't want to respond in front
of this person because I'm afraid of how I look.
And to back him up, he is not afraid to tell
you. In fact, at one point he said, stop, give
me less trying to look like Frank Sinatra. Oh,
no, let's go less serial killer here. My favorite
part, though, is when you first got behind the
camera and you went, ooh. Well, that's a bad
start. I never said that before, but just kidding.
No, I know. But no, it's great. And you want
someone that direct, you know? Yeah. Because
you did make me end up, you know, feeling comfortable
and feeling more confident. And that's what you
want from your photographer. That's awesome.
Greg, let's talk a little bit about just the
basics of how it works. So how long is a session
and how far in advance should people book if
they got a big event coming up or I need a new
business card? What's your advice along those
lines? So as far as the last part of that, as
far as how far in advance they can book, I can
pretty much work with anyone. I can try to fit
them in a schedule, but my studio does book up
pretty fast a week. So the quicker they know
about it, the better. Just call and say, hey,
I have an online scheduling calendar that I use,
but sometimes it's already booked. So if they
can't find time, just call me and we'll figure
out something. As far as the turnaround time
on the photos, from the time they... get shot
to the time I deliver. It's about a day, two
days. Oh, wow. So it's pretty quick for them
to get them in hand. Like actually the photos
I took of you and Amanda, I had those. They're
pretty much done. I already sent to Danny there
for a view. But as far as the process and how
long a session is, it really varies on the person
and the human in front of me. It's, you know,
some people I've had CEOs come in that are camera
ready that understand that process that have
a training. So they warm up pretty quickly. They
don't, you know, they don't have two hours to
spend. They have 10 minutes, but they already
understand what's going on. So they kind of follow
direction with that. I also have people that
come into the studio that don't have any camera
experience. They never had a camera pointed in
front of them, but in a negative way. And now
that person, it takes time to again, break down
their walls to get past their... their own barriers
to get images out of them that resemble who they
are. So that could take 10 minutes. It could
take 20 minutes. I've had clients take an hour,
hour and a half. And again, it's just patience.
So this part of the session fee that I charge,
I don't have a time limit on it. It's just how
long it takes to get it done. I have people bring
them multiple outfits, multiple looks. So sometimes...
Guys and women are the same, like they have clothing
that they feel comfortable in and clothing they
don't feel comfortable in. And sometimes when
they come in for a headshot, they bring the stuff
they are uncomfortable in because that's the
image that they think they're supposed to be
looking at. And say, hey, we're going to take
those images, we're going to get those out of
the way, let's try some other things. And you
put them in comfortable clothing that best represents
who they are, their personality starts to change.
So it's kind of listening to their needs, but
also kind of being direct. At some point, my
job is to take the pressure off of them. They're
not there to have me ask them questions. They're
there to have a picture taken and have some direction
given to them on what to do. So again, that can
take 20 minutes, 10 minutes. Gotcha. I love that
part of your business model, I guess. is you
don't put a time on it. And I think from a creative
standpoint, I think that's good. I think it's
important because from someone who now was one
of your clients, I don't feel inclined to have
the pressure of, you know, because like you said,
you might be working with someone who's not comfortable
in this, and now you add a time limit and they
start thinking, I gotta, so I don't know if you
took that into consideration on purpose, but
I think that's great that you do that. And that's
just part of, you know, going through the workshops
that I've gone through and just also shooting
a lot of people that you start realizing that
people are, everyone's different. I don't have
the same person that comes in the studio act
the same way. So you have to kind of, like here,
every time that someone comes into your studio,
you kind of have to figure out how they act and
kind of mimic it a little bit. Because clients
like that familiarity. So if someone comes in
all quiet and timid and they're like, hey, welcome
to the studio. They're going to be like, Hold
on a second. Yeah, you know, but again if someone
comes in all You know wild full of energy. I
have to match that energy, right? You know, yeah
So and again, but you also have to kind of push
back on the energy to like, you know Okay, save
that for the session. We're gonna you know But
it's just really varies on the people on the
person that's in front of me I got you and like
said, it's you know I really care about what
I do with the clients to and part of what I do
is also Really like to lift them up like it's
not you know never about me. It's about the person
in front of me And that's that's really what
I'd like to do and that love that and that goes
into we had a conversation at your studio about
AI and you know AI is great for a lot of things
specifically post -production But I said I am
from a firm believer, and you'll never be human
interaction, and that's a perfect Oh, yeah of
the way you're reading your your clients reading
the room knowing what to say and how to say it.
You're not gonna get that with AI. Or even the
way I watched him touch up the photos after.
This isn't like we're choosing a filter on Instagram.
I mean, these are nuanced. There was one Matt
that said armpit something. I was like, there's
an armpit filter? Like, it's very nuanced. And
you're not gonna get that with... With a I mean,
I guess that is AI but but you know what I'm
saying. It's just the the human element of it
is so important Yeah, well, I mean when you think
about Photographs or marketing a branding anything
like that a headshot is the most human thing
you could have So, you know if there was ever
a place to To save the technology for you know,
at least after the shots are taken. It's your
personal brand. Yeah, and What I tell people
too is you know if they're on the fence on investing
in this is when you're on LinkedIn looking at
other people's profiles, the statistic of someone
that stays on your profile is about three seconds.
You have three seconds to capture their attention
from your profile or they're moving on. So if
your profile is not up to snuff as your competitors,
you know, sorry, not sorry, but they're gonna
go on to the, you know, it's an impression first
platform. So what you're saying is I should just
find a better -looking person to use in my photos.
Stop it. We talked about you, actually. Oh, Jesus.
Here's another reason why this guy's so great.
He was talking about wardrobe, and he said, look,
Matt lives in hoodies. And he's like, that's
fine. He's like, and we'll take a picture in
that hoodie. Like, we'll make it look good. I
was thinking about it. Capture that's who you
are. That's your brand. So it's good. It's awesome,
man. It's awesome. Greg, how do people find you?
We should probably tell people. They can find
me on LinkedIn. They can find me on Instagram.
LinkedIn, just look at, I think, Greg Ordon,
O -R -D -O -N. I think Instagram is CNYHeadshots315.
My website's gtophoto .com, which is in the current
stages. Make sure we put that up on the screen.
Current stages are being rebuilt, but it's good
enough for what I need it for right now. It'll
get you there? Yep. Awesome. And then my portfolio's
up there, so. That's awesome. They can also take
a look at that work, so. That's awesome. And
they also go to headshotcrew .com. If they look
for photographers in Syracuse, New York area,
they'll see my profile there. And that's actually
where a really good body of my work is. Oh, wow.
And the top notch images that I have up there.
Greg, do people typically come to you on an individual
basis, or do you have companies that say, hey,
we need to get a bunch of our folks? headshots
sort of thing. So I have both. So basically I
do have the individuals, but then I also have,
you know, their marketing people or the communication
people that reach out and say, Hey, we need to
get group headshots for our employees. And can
you come on site? And that's the, you know, so
my entire studio that you saw, I have a traveling
version of that that basically can go on site.
Basically set up, you know, in a 10 by 13 space
pretty much and get those types of headshots
that I got to show you. So that's great. That's
awesome. We had a great time, man. Thank you
for having us. You guys will see the photos.
The results. I think we have footage, too. Danny
took a lot of footage, so it was a great time.
Mike's LinkedIn traffic is going to skyrocket.
Look out. People are going to spend four seconds
on my LinkedIn now. Not three. You've got to
beat all the algorithms, buddy. You know this.
I'm excited. Did you guys get pictures of Danny,
too? No. Actually, I've got a picture of Danny.
I know. I think I actually... I noticed that
on your profile as I was zooming through, like,
hey, I know that guy. Yeah. But awesome. Mm -hmm.
Mm -hmm. Greg Ordon. I'm excited. Is it just
Greg Ordon photography, or? Oh, gtophoto .com.
gtophoto .com. That's it. That's it. Greg, thank
you so much for joining us. You're welcome. Thanks
for having me. And for having us at your place.
We've got some other team members who weren't
there today, including myself. And we're going
to send them to you sooner than later as well.
All right. Can't wait. I'm excited. Makes you
guys look like rock stars. That's great. Before
you go, though, turn your head to the left. Chin
forward. Arms out. He's trying to get some payback
here. Thanks. You're welcome. And we will be
back with all of the news. Tuesday Newsday. All
right, not all the news, but some. Some of the
news. We'll give you some news. Yeah. Next. We're
back! Oh, we're back. It's Tuesday Newsday. It's
Tuesday, Newsday, officially. On Good News York,
we are back. Great, thanks for having our buddy
Greg stop by earlier in the show. Greg Worden.
Take some great photographs of the team here.
It feels like it's four o 'clock in the afternoon,
because we had a busy, you know, I showed up.
The only way I know it's Tuesday is because I
just bought a new clock that's in front of us
that has the date, or the day. It has the time,
the date. The only thing that pisses me off,
my OCD, is it's Celsius. There's gotta be a switch.
There's gotta be a switch. Yeah, it's wonderful.
We're really moving on up. By the way, shout
out, I walked in and we have a new operations
manager, whatever her title's gonna be. Amanda
is now part of the team. I've never met somebody
and then right away got in a car and went and
got headshots done with them, but I highly recommend
it because if you really wanna get to know someone,
go get headshots done with them. She's very lovely.
So welcome to the team, Amanda. I wanted to mention
that. This is like one of those jobs where you
got the work crew and they just stuff you all
in a truck. Yeah, crew cab. I figured out what
that meant when I bought a truck. It's a crew
cab. I'm like, that sounds cool. Did it include
the crew? Yes. That was the hard part, because
I had nowhere for them to sleep. But we figured
it out, air mattresses and stuff like that. Shout
out, it's our friend's birthday. Phil. Phil Farda.
Yay! That's all I got. I don't have a cell phone.
Happy birthday, Phil. The funniest man in the
315. I love him. It's his birthday today. Yeah.
So we celebrated his birthday actually this weekend.
We went out with a bunch of folks and I want
to talk about this because we, to celebrate,
we had some food at a great restaurant in Utica,
but then we went to this new... pinball arcade
business in Marcy. Oh, I didn't know you went
there. Yeah. Two Cousins, it's called. Now here's
a funny story. While I was there, I actually
ran into one of my cousins. That's fucking...
That's a true story. And you want to talk about
truth in advertising. I mean, this place really
nailed it. But... That's unbelievable. Sorry,
my head's exploded. So it's called Two Cousins.
That's the name of the business. You went there,
and unplanned, you ran into one of your cousins.
Yeah. So there were two cousins there. It's true.
This is unbelievable. My cousin Carrie and her
family, yep. But anyway, we were there. Don't
go to Dick's Sporting Goods. Jesus. It's fine.
That was good. So we were there for Phil's birthday
party. We brought a group of people and it was
really cool. So how the place works is it's an
unlimited play. You can either buy an hour or
you can buy... Forever I guess well that day
so I think it was like $15 for an hour 25 bucks
or unlimited play There's no quarters. There's
none of that. So all the machines you just walk
up and play a game, which is pretty cool That's
awesome. They had a really good number of machines.
So There was a good crowd I mean we brought ten
people and there was a good number of people
in there but still there was always at least
one machine available you could walk up to and
play a game you didn't have to really wait and
You know, I don't know that we played all that,
we only played for an hour. And I don't know
that I hit every machine, so. You tried. Yeah,
I tried to, as much as, there's a few that I
really liked, you know, when you play a couple
games on them, but really in a place like that,
it's like, just move on and give other people
a chance, but also try all the different ones,
so. Is this, so is it? Is it more of an arcade
feel, or is it more of a bar room? Yeah, so that's
a great question. It's definitely not a bar.
They don't have a bar, is my understanding. They
did have a separate room where they had some
food, pizza, and stuff like that. But in the
main area, it is, I guess you'd say, a lot like
kind of an old school arcade. So they had the
games around the perimeter of the room. In the
middle of the room, they had an air hockey table,
foosball table, some seating, where you could
just sort of hang out. Strictly pinball, or do
they have other arcade games? They had just a
couple other games. Everything else was pinball.
It's kind of like when you go to, like, a seafood
restaurant, they throw a couple chicken dishes
on the menu just to make everybody happy. I mean,
I think that's their main focus is pinball, which
is cool as hell. So, is there... So, I mean,
I consider myself a bit of a gamer, and, I mean,
if you were a 90s kid, you definitely loved arcades.
Is there... I've never really thought about this.
Is there, like... the holy grail of pinball machines?
You know what I mean? Like, is there one that's
like the Babe Ruth rookie card? I'm sure there
is. But you don't know which one. As much as
I've enjoyed playing, in the last month I went
to Vegas, I went to the Pinball Hall of Fame
there. I'm not like a pinball aficionado to that
degree. I bet there is, though. I'd be interested
to find that out. Yeah, if we get them on the
show, we'll have to ask them. Because I'll tell
you what, what I really loved the most when I
was at the Pinball Hall of Fame, and same here
at this place, they had a couple... in this vein
were the very old machines. The machines from,
like, the 70s. And the reason why is they're
just, they're a little different. You know, some
of them are actually totally wood. And they're
definitely more simple, but I don't know. I found
them to be a lot more fun. And they had a few
of those kind of classic ones. You know, they've
got the space characters that's in classic 70s
cartoon -style character, and it's a... I don't
know, to me that's kind of fun, so. No, it's
absolutely awesome, and I wonder, I'm curious
to know, like, do you think that maybe you would
have been, like, do you think you went to Two
Cousins first and then went to Vegas? Like, because
you went to, like, you went to Vegas, you went
to, like, this. The Mecca. The Mecca, and then
you went to Two Cousins, and I'm not sliding,
you know, Two Cousins by any means, but did that
take away from it? Not at all. What was funny
is I happened to, so I bought a... Pinball Hall
of Fame shirt when I was in Vegas. And I wore
that when we went there. And I told my wife,
watch, I'm gonna look like a ringer walking in
with these. And sure enough, we walked through
the door and the owner of the place came up to
me and started asking me about it. He hadn't
been there, so he was asking me what they had
to offer and how it was set up and stuff like
that. It was kind of cool. But no, I don't think
it, obviously the one in Vegas has immensely
more machines, but. Like I said, we played for
a good long time and didn't hit the same thing
twice. So I think that was a pretty solid experience.
There's a handful of arcade games that are, I
mean, huge nostalgia to me. And it's probably
based around the Sanger Town Mall in Utica, New
York, because that's where I grew up. But I also,
you know, I remember going to bowling alleys.
My mom was in a bowling league. Right next to
the theater at the mall. Right around the corner
from Taco Bell. At some point, they had another
one across the hall. It sort of came and went.
But the core one was that one that had been...
It was the best. But I would say, for me... That
is an arcade. Yeah. Oh, yeah. And I asked, is
there a Holy Grail of pinball machines? For me,
there's a handful of Holy Grails of... Just straight
arcade games. Yeah for me. It's like when I think
back to my chat I think of the Aerosmith gun
game member the Aerosmith. Okay, you know I'm
talking about made no sense like why they threw
Aerosmith in this gun shooting game I loved the
Ninja Turtles Where you could play four players
as a class that was a classic I would say WrestleMania
WrestleMania kind of same deal. You could play
four across Um, I know I'm missing one. That's
a real... There were the classics like Mortal
Kombat. Yes. Street Fighter. I see, like, there's
always some kind of Terminator shooting game.
Yep. Yep. Street Fighter. Um... I don't know.
Danny's the king of retro games. He's also ten
years younger, though, so... You got any input
on this, buddy? Yeah. Is there any particular,
like... arcade machine that's really well -known.
Yeah, one of them is The Simpsons. Yes, I was
going to go there next. That's an iconic arcade
one. It's the four -player Simpsons one. You'd
see Soul Calibur in there, along with the Mortal
Kombat arcade cabinets. I feel like in a good
arcade, you would want to see a Donkey Kong arcade
cabinet and a Miss Pac -Man and a Galaga combo.
I feel like that was very common back then. He's
hitting all the hits. He is hitting all the hits.
There's one, I want to ask Danny, you might know,
down at Three Lives downtown, kind of the gamer
bar, if you haven't been there, we're talking
about a slightly different place now, but downtown
Syracuse is totally cool. They had this one though
that was a Japanese game that I personally wasn't
familiar with, but apparently was super... hot,
very, the arcade Japanese game to play. Do you
remember what it's called by any chance? Hope
it was. Was it 1941? It's like, no, no. Oh, Jesus.
No, literally, there was a game called 1941.
It's something that anime kids know well. And
I wanted to make a Pearl Harbor joke, that's
obvious. And I'm not one of them, so I just,
I don't know if you know what it looks like.
I don't know off the top of my head. We're gonna
have to... I'm not kidding you, it might be 1941.
Add them to the list of, because that's one of
the coolest places in Syracuse. We need to...
Do some cool stuff with that. I do I do remember
there was always I feel like every arcade I went
to There was this shooting game that really wasn't
that good, but every arcade have it. That's the
Terminator one No, I feel like if it was I would
have loved the Terminator. It was um you're thinking
of time splitters time That sounds right. Yeah
time splitters. Was there a pedal you stepped
on? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah There was like six
or seven time splitters The greatest one I ever
played was down near the city. My mom's family
was close to the city. This was in the 90s It
was a, and you gotta remember back then this
was, this was like mind blowing. It was a, so
you watch this video where you were in the wild
west with this old guy who was a prospector and
he was kind of the host of the game and you would
go through this town and you would shoot the
old school, you know where they go, and then
they fall. But it was live video and it was just
the coolest, like now I see all the games and
it's so outdated, but that was one I wish, I
forget what it was called, but we need to find,
I'm gonna put this out there right now. We need
to find a gaming sponsor who would cover the
costs, and will aggressively advertise their
brand, of course, but cover the costs for us
to do some dedicated arcade content. Like, I
want us to travel to some of the unfortunately
few, or maybe growing number, as we're talking
about. Two Cousins just opening up. I feel like
this may be, maybe this is something coming back,
but we should do a sort of road trip. tour -style,
because there's a place in Old Forge that's kind
of a classic old arcade that's pretty cool. Yes,
near Enchanted Forest. Yeah, oh yeah. There's
a bunch of these random places that still exist.
Sylvan Beach, my parents lived there. They still
got that? Carousel with all the arcade games,
oh yeah. Yeah man, that place. Legendary. But
something like that, I would love to do and really
highlight some of these things and find that
out. That would be great. I know there's gotta
be one of these, or a few of these, kind of holy
graham, holy grail. Grail. There's also a ton
of, because you know, back in my drinking days,
there are a ton of dive bars everywhere in this
country, but definitely in New York State. You'll
find some random gem arcade games in a dive bar.
You'll be like, how is this here? It's funny
you mention that, because I was gonna say, This
is not necessarily an arcade game, but if you
want to talk about the really well -known OG,
it's going to be Shuffle Golf. Oh, I was going
to say Shuffle Board. In the bars, though. Oh,
you're talking about Golden Tee. Golden Tee.
Golden Tee. Hell yeah. Not in the arcades. No.
But in the bars, it had a massive, massive following
in tournaments and... I bartended for so many...
People would get in fights over that game because
it was... It had a modem. So you could, I mean,
you could play, like, your score uploaded to,
like, a worldwide leaderboard, and these guys,
man, these regulars took it so seriously. Yeah.
You know? They figured it out. One guy had a
meltdown because he put the wrong initials in
for the leaderboard. Oh, wow. Yeah. And he had
no one to fight but himself, so he just took
it out on everyone else. Right. It was great.
They were one of the only, really, of that style
game that sort of embraced that. connectivity
at least at that time. You're absolutely right,
they were one of the first. That's pretty wild.
And you're right, if you saw golden tea, gold
tea, I think it's golden. I think you're right,
golden tea. If you saw it in an arcade. I said
Topgolf, that's the actual golf course. Yes,
it has the same allure. It doesn't have the same
allure as when you see it in a bar. It belongs
in a bar. Right. You know? I thought you were
gonna say shuffleboard. I love an old school
shuffleboard in a bar. Like the real deal. Remember
they had the electronic bowling? You know, the
Shep Hort -style bowling that was like the puck
you'd... They had the back room at Brownies,
remember that? Uh -huh. I will die on this hill.
The absolute best bar room game is the plastic
dome hockey, USA versus Canada. That, to me,
is for infinity. It's one of the greatest games
you can buy. I don't care what age you are. I
just came across one in Canada not long ago.
We went to Niagara Falls over the holidays. And
they had one, and I could not believe it. I shit
my pants. And not because I was excited, I have
IBS. But I also played that game, and it was
great. You know what I'm talking about, the plastic
dome. Yeah, yeah. And they got the... It's just,
it's magical. And on that note, happy birthday,
Phil Fardas. Happy birthday, Phil. You want to
hear about some news? Please. All right, here's
the good news. Actually, this isn't real. So,
Matt, and I'm so glad you don't know about sports.
I'm nervous. No, no, no, because I want your
take on this because you have a very unbiased
take. You don't follow sports. It's true. Long
story short, there was a quarterback that was
supposed to go in the first round, okay, and
he's Deion Sanders' son. Do you know who Deion
Sanders is? Sure. Have you heard the name? Deion.
Okay, he doesn't. But, yes, yes. So he's one
of the most famous athletes of all time, one
of the greatest football players of all. It's
his son. Okay. Here's the problem. He sucks?
He doesn't suck. He's not that great. Fair enough.
And he's as cocky as his father, if not more.
He ended up sliding to like the fourth, I think
the fifth round, which is insane. And it became
this huge... That means everybody passed over
him. Everybody passed over him. It became this
very controversial thing on social media between
media and fans. Some people thinking it was a
racial thing. Some people thinking it was unfair.
Some people thinking... Is it that folks just
assume because he's a Nepal baby like this, he
should just get his spot? That's kind of where
I err on the side of things. I think there was
a... You know this is a business, right? You
know the team that can win. The juice wasn't
worth the squeeze. When you draft him, you're
going to get an above -average player, but you're
going to get a media circus. You're going to
get his father tripping. There's a lot. But they
turned it into this whole debate. But something
that happened during the draft that was crazy
was right around the fourth round... a video
surfaced online where two kids, they look like
they're college -aged, pranked him. And what
happens with football players is they keep their
phone handy, right? You call them and tell them
you made the team or something? Right, so when
you get drafted, usually the GM of the team calls
you and says, hey, buddy, we're gonna take you
next, right? So these college kids got his phone
number, took a video of themselves calling him.
and telling him, hey, we're from the Saints,
we're gonna draft you, just kidding, you gotta
wait longer. And then video surfaced of the other
side of him picking it up and the poor guy's
excited. Turns out, the kids that made this call,
he's the son of one of the Atlanta Falcons coaches.
And his dad left the lap, because nobody's supposed
to - He got the number. He got the number. Because
you can't, I mean, only GMs would have his number.
So now the Falcons are in trouble, the coach
is in trouble. Here's my take. 15 -year -old
me thinks it's fucking awesome. It's a little
funny. Yeah, it's a little funny. Older Mike
thinks, man, that's kind of shitty, so I'd love
to know your take on that. Well, so here's the
first thing. A, for the kid, it's real shitty
because... It is. ...of what he did to his dad.
For really no other reason, right? Like, that's
one of the things, and of course kids never think
about this, but, you know, you pull a prank,
you get caught, ha -ha, whatever, but... The
fact that you know where you got that and you
know that that's going to reflect on somebody
else, that's shitty. It is shitty. Of the kid,
right? The least he could have done is like,
you know, fine, get that number to somebody not
connected somehow. I don't know. Or don't film
your face. But yeah, yeah. The other side of
that is, you know, I guess I could see to some
degree it's funny, but you're also fucking with
this dude that's... You know, this is the biggest
point in his career, and you're gonna mess with
him. It's not really... That's not fair. It's,
uh... This is a prime example of when I say,
and I think I've said it on this show, I thank
God we did not have this kind of social media
when we were in high school. I would have been
dead or arrested. I would have done the dumbest
shit. I mean, he's just a college kid being a
college kid, you know? But not cool. I'm genuinely
sort of torn on the idea of pranks in general.
You know... We all joke around, and I think that's
great. Sure. But, like, when you had things like,
uh, Punk'd. Yeah. You know, in some of those
shows, and you'd see, some of them, a lot of
times, they made it very convincing that a real
thing was happening. Justin Timberlake cried.
And, yeah. Remember that? People really react,
or they take a swing at you. Yeah. And, you know,
like... I did a lot of pranks in high school.
I don't know. Like, I put fake poop in the carrots.
You know, little jokes here and there are one
thing, but I don't know. Then one time, I crisco'd
the auditorium by those kids. the auditorium
walkway and this kid, Jeff, slipped and hurt
his back. I feel bad. What's the... Yikes. So...
What's the consequence? What's gonna happen?
Well, it's under investigation. So, I feel bad.
I honestly, at this age, I feel bad, like you
said, for the dad who's a coach. In the grand
scheme of things, like, there was a fucking phone
call. That's not... It's gonna... It'll be over
in two days. People are gonna forget about it.
But, yeah, that... But it was pretty wild to
see that happening live. And man, yeah, that
went viral real quick. A lot of clicks for ESPN.
A lot of clicks for ESPN. They probably should
pay that kid's legal bill. Yeah, it was pretty
wild. I had something else I wanted to say about
it, but I forgot, so I guess it doesn't matter.
All right. But yeah. What else we got? Well,
there's my coffee. Good thing it was empty. For
you hunters out there, It may be time to consider
changing the age limit for hunting in New York
State. The youth turkey hunting season for kids
in New York, currently in New York State, it
allows for kids to hunt for turkeys before the
regular season starts in May. All right, the
hunt - Just for kids portion of the season. I
guess so. Now, the hunt will be held over two
days on the 26th and 27th of April, which happened
two days ago, right? Eligible hunters are youth
from 12, 13, 14, or 15. Holding a hunting license
in Turkey permit kids have to have an adult with
them, okay? But in many other states the minimum
age required for youth hunting is much lower
than New York State for example bordering states
like Pennsylvania Start kids out before 10 years
old according to Pennsylvania hunting laws kids
can hunt as young as seven So I you know, I don't
know at this point there does not seem to be
any action toward lowering the minimum age requirement
in New York State, however There are some hunters
that feel they want their kids to start a little
younger, and I don't know, you know, that's a
tough call. Um, yeah, I don't know that we need
to. I don't know if we do either. It's the year
2025. Yeah. I get that, like, and I got no problem
with hunting. No. Um, and I have no problem also
with, you know, firearm safety, and even at that
younger age, um, I don't know if there's any
law that says you can't begin to teach firearm
safety, maybe even target shooting, things of
that nature. Sure. Do they need to be hiking
around in the woods with a firearm at that age?
I don't know. I just don't know if I necessarily
see the value in that. Yeah, you know, I used
to be very against hunting when I was younger
because I have this whole scenario where I was
like, I love the art of hunting. You don't want
to kill Bambi. Well, kind of, yeah. I love the
idea of hunting. I think it would be amazing.
But then I have this part of me that goes, but
what if I shot this deer and he was just on his
way home from work and he was going to see his
baby deer and I just shot him? because Mike wanted
to and to eat some venison. But then I hit a
deer multiple times with my car and had to pay
for it and I'm like, fuck them. And I was like,
guns a blazing, go get them, boys. Truth be told,
as many hunters will tell you, deer are actually
sort of like giant rodents and there's a little
bit of population control that's really... No,
it is a real thing. Also, venison tastes really
good, honestly. But I'm personally not a hunter
myself. Again, I don't have anything against
it, but I've just never... been super interested
in that part either. At the same time, a lot
of people are. It's a lot of family tradition.
It's a skill that I think we definitely don't
want to lose, because I forbid there might come
a day when we need it to survive. But again,
I just don't know what the value is in having
a 10 -year -old take down his first... You want
to hear something wild. Turkey, I guess, in this
case we're talking about, not even deer. You
want to talk about times changing. Now, this
had to be 1996, 97, I don't know, 95, whatever.
I feel like that wasn't the times. Herkimer High
School in Mohawk Valley, that's where I grew
up. This is a true story. I remember multiple
times on hunting day, the principal would let
the kids in Herkimer that hunted... Hunt, and
then as long as you had a note, you would come
in after you hunted in the morning. Here's the
wild part. They didn't want you to keep your
guns in the car, okay? So the principal would
wait at the side door, and you would bring your
firearm in the school. Holy shit. No bullshit.
I'm assuming unloaded. And he would walk you
to your locker so that you could safely put it
in your locker. Now, if you think about it...
Seriously? I swear to... I swear. I don't know
why I knocked on wood. That made no sense, but
I swear to God. And looking, now remember this
is the 90s. I don't want anyone emailing Herkimer
School. This isn't going on now. I'm assuming
it made, it kind of was, this was before Columbine.
Well, you're securing it the same way they would
in other. It was before Columbine, before all
that stuff. It was honestly safer. for him to
watch you put it in the locker than just leaving
it out in the car. It's just a wild concept.
But we are so, so, so far removed from that.
We've gotten to the point where there's been
teachers, and maybe even there's one story I
feel like might have been a principal, was going
hunting after work, had his gun secured, unloaded
safely in the trunk where it should have been
way out in the parking lot, but mentioned that
fact that he, you know. And he got arrested and
all these things, like he brought a weapon to
school to cause some sort of harm, you know?
That's wild. It is wild. And I also remember
my neighbor was a hunter. And he had an old school
Ford Bronco, which, god, it was gorgeous now
that I'm looking back. And he had this thing.
It almost looked like a roller. Was his last
name Simpson? No, it was a white but it would
so in the back, you know how like it was like
a hatchback. Yeah Yeah, we're so in the back
This roller was attached to the back seat and
then you would pull it and it would cover The
the floor and it was so you could put your guns
in there So and it was the same color as the
upholstery so it would look like there was nothing
in there So you could hide your gun gotcha I
think but again, these were all I guess just
to store your gun technically but which actually
Now I know why OJ owned a Bronco. Put the knives
in there. Anyway, this is so weird that I have
to talk about it. It's great. All right. But
when else is the Syracuse Regional Airport going
to get some lovin' for the award they won for
snow and ice control? Yeah. Come on. That's right.
The Syracuse Regional Airport, operator of Syracuse
Hancock International Airport, has won an award
for snow and ice control efforts. They won the
Balkan Post Award for Outstanding Achievement
in Airport Snow and Ice Control for the Small
Commercial Airport Agency. Listen, I don't mean
to cut you off. No, it's fine. If there was ever
an award to win and be proud of in central New
York, you nailed it. It is this one. It really
is. Because I thought you were going to give
us another award for how much snow got, you know,
the golden snowball or whatever that bullshit
is. This genuinely deserves recognition, and
I'm excited to hear about it. And the reason
I pulled it is because it's such an obscure award.
I mean, obviously... You need to give out more
of these. I'm citing CNY Central. That's where
I got the story. So they did get some love on
it. But I was like, no one else is talking about
it. And I want to shout out to our airport crews
that keep us safe. To be considered for this
award, right here behind us, an airport must
display excellence in the following areas. Now
they give you criteria. Damn. Degree of in -depth
preparedness, including a comprehensive snow
and ice control plan, equipment readiness, personnel
training, safety awareness. Effectiveness of
snow and ice control program, examining how well
the program kept aeronautical areas safe, on
and on and on. Timeliness and accuracy of communications
and post -storm activity, including cleanup.
Wow. I just like that they keep track of this
shit. Because you ever sit on a plane, especially
in the winter, and you're watching them de -ice
and you're going, Are we gonna die today? And
it's good to know that they know what they're
doing. They keep the runways clear. They keep
the runways clear. Skidding like we do on the
roads. Shout out to Hancock and the crew there.
We love you guys here at Good News York. Last
but not least, this story has fascinated me only
because I want to know what he could have done
to deserve this. Despite his recent induction
into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame... Matt,
I am sad to inform you that Chubby Checker will
not perform at the New York State Fair in 2025.
Chubby was not invited back, said his manager.
She said, unfortunately, Chubby Checker. It's
like a fat shaming thing. Could be. A fan favorite
and staple at the New York State Fair over the
years will not twist again like he did last summer.
That's godawful. Fans, friends, and local media
were hoping to see him at his annual show this
summer. Fair representative told his manager
that Chubby was not invited back. Here's the
thing. They don't tell us why. So that begs the
question I'm asking you. What are the some things
that Chubby Checker could have done to not be
invited? There's another story that came out
that said they're booking this new act this year
called Fit and Healthy Checker. Chubby Chess.
Chubby in New York State. We know that's false.
Here's the thing. I mean... Who gives a shit?
That's kind of what I was thinking. Like, not
to knock, you know, and obviously he's still
alive, so there's gotta be people still alive
who go to see him, but I can't imagine there
are that many. Well, and what, I mean, what's
he gonna perform? Retire. Twist over and over?
Can I ask this question? I have an answer, actually.
When the fuck did retirement become a horrible
thing in the United States? I don't, I do not...
Where is this idea that in... You know who knows
God forbid you know something could happen in
this guy had a very successful career, but you
know maybe maybe he genuinely needs to generate
the income, but I I don't know like We got it.
We got to make these people I saw a video recently
a Frankie Valley Mm. Oh, God. I know exactly
where he looks like a Chuck E. Cheese puppet.
He looks animatronic -like. They pumped him up
on everything they possibly could so he would
just stand there. It's awful. And it's like...
Come on, man. They're doing incredible artists
a disservice... I'm gonna ruin this. ...to show
him this way. Here's the thing. You are not wrong.
It's the old, you gotta know when to hold them,
know when to fold them, right? There's athletes
that people go... I think you should have retired
three years soon. I mean this in every aspect
of life. But, especially politics. I will ruin
it by telling you, musicians, the reason you're
seeing really, really old musicians, like Art
Garfunkel wasn't touring and now like he played
at the state theater years ago, that's because
in the music business, albums aren't monetary
anymore. They don't have... You used to be able
to record an album, and then you would make what
they call mailbox money, right? You're making
money while you're asleep. Residuals. Every time
somebody buys it, they play it on the radio,
whatever. Bands and artists now make all their
money on touring and merchandise. So when the
mailbox money starts running out for Chubby Checker,
he's got to get his chubby ass onto the tour
bus, and he's got to perform to make money. And
I mean, I can't prove that that's why he's touring,
but I mean, that's the logical... But... I got
something else that's gonna make you feel like,
who gives a shit even more? I don't even think
he wrote. I have to look that up. I don't think
he wrote Twist. So it was written for him. A
lot of famous artists have it. It was like when
Benny Mardonis would play... I don't know. I
feel like... Cino. Love lived, doesn't it? I
don't know the guy's personal situation, and
I certainly don't want to knock him, because...
No, no, no! We love you, Chubby. It seems like
if you're successful in life... A, I wonder if
at that point he ever thought he was never gonna
live this long. You know, so I don't even make
my money last till I'm 100. Is he gonna twist
again? That's on 100, and now suddenly you're
like, I'm broke and I'm 100. But like, somewhere
along the line, I feel like there should be some
sort of financial advisor and a plan that makes
sure that you don't have to go to work at that
age. So in other words, you're saying you want
a 401K for musicians. You know, just some kind
of intelligent planning so they could try to
avoid that situation. You know what I mean? All
right, listen. And you hear about it. You hear
about, like, professional athletes, you know,
professional wrestlers that, multi -millionaires,
and that are all now broke. Oh. You know, a sad
story. Fogarty, John Fogarty, I mean, he's fine
now. He got ripped off badly by his management.
There's a lot of those stories. Well, I mean,
there's stuff like that, and that is even less
that you can blame the artist, but... Yeah. I
don't know, man. There wasn't as much transparency
as now. Yeah. I mean, now, Wu -Tang Clan has
a residency in Vegas. I mean, what a time to
be alive, huh? That is awesome. That is awesome.
So on that note, I'd love to end the show on
some more positivity. Oh. So there are very few,
and we've... We've shouted out a couple and we'll
continue to shout out more. There's very few
sort of serious content creators in central New
York right now. And I don't mean there aren't
a lot of people making podcasts. We're helping
a huge number of companies start their podcasts
here at Growth Mode Content, but companies like
us creating shows sort of as a full -time business
are few and far between. And we mentioned - Our
friends at, what is it, 315? Yeah, we mentioned
Love Living Local. That's it. 315. Again, I still
don't know those folks, but they have reached
out to us. We're going to have them on the show.
And we'd love to see that. And there's some other
folks. And I recently came across this podcast.
I've been hearing a lot about it. I believe it's
called Captivate CNY. Oh, with Alex? It's from
Alex, who started the CNY Woman's Network. She's
phenomenal. She is putting in the full -time
effort. to really build a strong and successful
podcast and I really want to give her a shout
out because she most recently did An episode
that I think if you want to figure out what she's
got going on It's the one to check out because
she recently did an episode where she kind of
tells her story It's just her it's not a guest
and she goes into what she did how she got there
and where she's taking it and I gained nothing
but respect for her listening to that episode
because her story is awesome. And one of the
things that that I admire so much is one of these
things that people give me compliments for and
I feel uneasy about, which is that she's just
doing it, right? There's so many of these entrepreneurs
we talk about and we see out in the world that
they've got great ideas and big dreams and all
these other things, but you gotta just do it.
You know, at any level. And that's what she's
really stuck or knocked out on. On multiple occasions,
and if you listen to that show, you'll hear...
that she's just taking those steps necessary
to give the thing a shot, and it might not work,
but it is for her. And she's doing a great job
in heavily integrating that content creation
and podcasting, which obviously I'm nothing but
a fan of. Yeah, and to further that, you know,
first of all, I have a young daughter. She's
pre -teen. And I look to women... in the media
industry, well, in all industries, but in media
like Amina Kimes from ESPN and, you know, and
Alex from right here in Syracuse as kind of like
a bar of like, see that? You can do whatever
you want. And I mean, look at these strong, independent
women, like, you know, representing women and
doing their thing and doing it well. Right. And,
you know, the other thing, I'm so glad you brought
this up because... You know, I think there's
this sense of competition in every industry,
right? Like, oh, you guys must hate that there's
other podcasts in through. No! The more, the
merrier. When you think about that, what a silly
concept, right? It's the dumbest. Like, we have
our own thing. They have their own thing. And
we're all better together. And I'm not trying
to sound kumbayash, but one of my friends, owner
of the Ithaca Ale House, shout out, John, taught
me years ago. There was tons of restaurants moving
in the neighborhood. And I go, oh, man, that's
tough for you, huh? He goes, no, it's great.
He goes, more restaurants, the better. It's more
foot traffic, more people, more options. 100%.
But even more options, how is that better? Because
they all work together. You gotta eat every day.
Yeah. And you can't eat the same thing every
day. That's right. And the same goes with content
creation podcasts. And you're absolutely right.
And just one of the things that I will say that
I truly admire about Alex in that podcast is
she's very, very much pro Syracuse, pro local
area, which we love. And like you said, it's
so silly because it's not like we're TV shows
that are on at the same time. We don't have to
pay attention to ratings. It's not the way this
modern content world works. You go to Netflix
and they got a million different shows. They
don't compete against each other. You also have,
we do an hour long show. She does an hour long
show. You got, you know. 20 more hours in your
day to listen to other content as well. There's
room for all of us. And by the way, just supporting
this concept and getting the idea. And the last
thing I'll say about her and I'll let you finish.
No, no, I keep interrupting. Is that one of the
things that she mentioned that really just made
me smile from ear to ear is she mentioned how
great of a tool her podcast is for networking
and connecting with business people that she
wants to connect with on a business standpoint,
aside from the content. And this is a concept
that I've talked about ad nauseam. It's something
that we've talked about extensively with all
our current and even prospective clients of growth
mode content that are making that. And the fact
that people are taking advantage of that and
realizing that opportunity like she is, that's
a message that I want everybody to hear. So back
to what we were saying, the fact that there are
other people locally killing it. spreading the
good word about what organic content can do for
them is just awesome. And hats off without taking
my hat. Hats off to Alex, and hats off, I'm just
gonna say, have you, her set, the way... She's
got a different one in this new episode. Oh,
she does. Also looks great, but yeah, it's...
But I mean... Just does a top -notch job all
the way around. From the decor to the lighting
to the quality, it's... Tip of the cap will throw
the link and like I said, she's got a whole there's
a considerable number of episodes She's been
going for a couple of years, but this particular
one that is I think the newest Will link to it.
I think just is a great she did a fantastic job
of giving the idea who she is what she's doing
Which is awesome. What's the name of the show
if they want to I want I don't want to screw
it up I want to say it's captivate CNY. We probably
should have looked at nothing close to that.
Sorry Alex You'll find it left my notes in the
other room. So I'm reasonably sure that's what
it's called, though, so if I get it right, I
feel like I should get bonus points. Sounds right.
But anyway... Well, I think that's it, pal. Yeah,
let's... Tuesday news day. Shut up for a minute.
Shut it up. Send this to the editors. Send it
to the editors. Well, we will be back tomorrow.
We do have guests coming in, I think. What do
we got tomorrow? Let me take a look real, real
quick. Sorry, I just hadn't hit that yet today.
Stick around we do have in the next coming weeks
We've got some really great guests coming up
and you've got Matt and I Matt Mazer Mike Brindisi
here on Good News York Have a great rest of your
Tuesday. Thanks to Danny Rodden the board and
Danny Cipoti Thanks again for Greg for stopping
by the show. Greg Ordon photographer again CNY
headshots 315 is his handle on social media gtophoto
.com So yeah, thank you Greg. Peace out