WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.800 Is this a honeybee we're talking about or is 00:00:01.800 --> 00:00:02.580 it a yellow jacket? No, this is an aggressive 00:00:02.580 --> 00:00:06.599 yellow jacket. Ooh. If it were an aggressive 00:00:06.599 --> 00:00:09.580 yellow jacket, I might be able to take it. If 00:00:09.580 --> 00:00:12.500 it's a honeybee, the answer is no because I'm 00:00:12.500 --> 00:00:15.099 highly allergic and I would have to be doing 00:00:15.099 --> 00:00:19.120 an EpiPen every single day. Okay. Yeah. Damn. 00:00:19.300 --> 00:00:22.739 I don't think my body could take it. So yes to 00:00:22.739 --> 00:00:27.809 pain, no to asphyxiation. Welcome to Under Embargo, 00:00:27.949 --> 00:00:30.309 the podcast that says the quiet part out loud 00:00:30.309 --> 00:00:33.250 about PR, communications, and the chaos in between. 00:00:33.969 --> 00:00:36.570 Hosted by two of LinkedIn's most connected comms 00:00:36.570 --> 00:00:39.850 pros, Becca Chambers, a no BS corporate comms 00:00:39.850 --> 00:00:43.350 exec with raging ADHD, and Pari Hedrick, founder 00:00:43.350 --> 00:00:46.469 of tech PR firm Crackle PR. This show brings 00:00:46.469 --> 00:00:49.630 it all. Real talk, sharp insights, and the kind 00:00:49.630 --> 00:00:51.909 of industry truth they don't put in press releases. 00:00:52.130 --> 00:00:56.250 No fluff, no filters, no f***s given. This is 00:00:56.250 --> 00:01:02.070 Under Embargo. Let's get into it. All right. 00:01:02.109 --> 00:01:05.590 Welcome to today's episode of the Under Embargo 00:01:05.590 --> 00:01:08.409 podcast, your favorite communications podcast, 00:01:08.530 --> 00:01:10.890 obviously, with your favorite unhinged podcast 00:01:10.890 --> 00:01:16.590 host. I am joined, as always, by PR's most opinionated 00:01:16.590 --> 00:01:19.689 thought leader, Perry Hedrick, founder of Crackle 00:01:19.689 --> 00:01:25.819 PR. And I'm Becca Chambers, CMO at Scale. Today, 00:01:25.939 --> 00:01:28.400 we have a guest that I've actually known for, 00:01:28.480 --> 00:01:32.140 let's go with many years. And I'm going to give 00:01:32.140 --> 00:01:34.480 him a slightly longer intro than usual, just 00:01:34.480 --> 00:01:36.540 because I know enough about him that I can do 00:01:36.540 --> 00:01:39.359 it without having to do any research. But before 00:01:39.359 --> 00:01:42.620 I do, let me just quickly introduce Ian Bain. 00:01:43.060 --> 00:01:45.659 Ian, say hello to the audience. Hello, audience. 00:01:46.019 --> 00:01:48.439 There you go. Now I'm going to give you your 00:01:48.439 --> 00:01:55.680 long intro because the, let me start. Headline 00:01:55.680 --> 00:01:58.159 for today is Ian is currently the Executive Director 00:01:58.159 --> 00:02:01.000 of Strategy and Communications for the San Mateo 00:02:01.000 --> 00:02:04.340 County Office of Education. That is a mouthful, 00:02:04.340 --> 00:02:06.719 by the way, as far as title. What's the acronym? 00:02:06.819 --> 00:02:16.340 Do you know the acronym? E -D -O -S -N -C for 00:02:16.340 --> 00:02:21.340 the SMCO. I'm the comms leader. The strategy 00:02:21.340 --> 00:02:26.650 bucket is everything else. SMCO. Love it. Okay. 00:02:27.590 --> 00:02:29.889 But what makes Ian interesting, I mean, that 00:02:29.889 --> 00:02:31.770 also makes Ian interesting, but what also makes... 00:02:31.770 --> 00:02:35.889 God. But what also makes Ian interesting is over 00:02:35.889 --> 00:02:38.469 the last 20 years, he has had this incredibly 00:02:38.469 --> 00:02:43.289 ranging career arc that spans politics, tech 00:02:43.289 --> 00:02:46.090 communications, both on the in -house side and 00:02:46.090 --> 00:02:50.330 the agency side. And then now this public... 00:02:50.889 --> 00:02:52.889 policy, I don't know what we call this, public 00:02:52.889 --> 00:02:56.770 affairs, communications, whatever role on the 00:02:56.770 --> 00:02:59.969 public side, which is super interesting. And 00:02:59.969 --> 00:03:02.830 this is where everyone should really appreciate 00:03:02.830 --> 00:03:06.770 this personal intro. Ian was once my boss 100 00:03:06.770 --> 00:03:11.310 years ago, actually like 15 years ago, when I 00:03:11.310 --> 00:03:14.310 was just a baby communicator in an exec comms 00:03:14.310 --> 00:03:18.520 role in my first ever tech job. And not only 00:03:18.520 --> 00:03:22.120 that, Ian was also the mayor of my town. And 00:03:22.120 --> 00:03:24.620 that's Redwood City, by the way, in the Bay Area, 00:03:24.800 --> 00:03:27.520 which is not only where I live now, it's where 00:03:27.520 --> 00:03:30.659 I grew up. And I have a hundred year long family 00:03:30.659 --> 00:03:33.780 history in this town. So this, you know, this 00:03:33.780 --> 00:03:36.000 town means a lot. And Ian was the mayor of this 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:39.240 town. So it is this cool connection. Plus, he 00:03:39.240 --> 00:03:42.759 was mayor during a time that. The Bay Area was 00:03:42.759 --> 00:03:45.699 Redwood City specifically was going through a 00:03:45.699 --> 00:03:48.699 little boom town because we're right smack dab 00:03:48.699 --> 00:03:52.259 in the middle of Silicon Valley. So all of that 00:03:52.259 --> 00:03:54.819 to say, I'm really excited to have you on the 00:03:54.819 --> 00:03:58.800 show, Ian. You obviously have been my friend 00:03:58.800 --> 00:04:01.719 and my former colleague, former mayor, and now 00:04:01.719 --> 00:04:04.759 you are a current podcast guest. So with that, 00:04:04.759 --> 00:04:07.199 let me ask you my very first question, which 00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:12.080 is. Why all of the things? Why the path from 00:04:12.080 --> 00:04:17.379 agency to in -house to becoming a mayor to now 00:04:17.379 --> 00:04:21.480 working with the Department of Education? That's 00:04:21.480 --> 00:04:24.060 a great opening question. And you neglected to 00:04:24.060 --> 00:04:26.560 mention that I knew your grandparents before 00:04:26.560 --> 00:04:29.519 I knew Becca. I think you were also her jujitsu 00:04:29.519 --> 00:04:33.560 teacher, if I'm not mistaken. My spiritual guide. 00:04:33.720 --> 00:04:37.139 No, sorry. Sherpa. I mean, you know, that's a 00:04:37.139 --> 00:04:39.639 really open -ended question. And I'll just say 00:04:39.639 --> 00:04:44.360 I'm someone who gets bored very easily. And so 00:04:44.360 --> 00:04:46.579 I've always got to be doing something. You know, 00:04:46.579 --> 00:04:48.959 my grandmother was the same way. And I just, 00:04:49.019 --> 00:04:52.139 I feel like, you know, one job is never enough, 00:04:52.319 --> 00:04:57.459 right? So. Amen. So you were doing multiple jobs 00:04:57.459 --> 00:04:59.800 because you did the mayor thing while you were 00:04:59.800 --> 00:05:01.800 there. I mean, in all seriousness, though, I, 00:05:01.920 --> 00:05:04.939 you know, I grew up. learning that giving back 00:05:04.939 --> 00:05:07.939 to your community was a noble thing to do and 00:05:07.939 --> 00:05:11.899 i've always done that so even as i pursued my 00:05:11.899 --> 00:05:14.180 career in corporate communications i felt like 00:05:14.180 --> 00:05:16.600 it wasn't enough i wanted to give back to my 00:05:16.600 --> 00:05:18.519 community i wanted to be able to see the difference 00:05:18.519 --> 00:05:23.180 that i was making and so i managed to do a lot 00:05:23.180 --> 00:05:26.579 of things using creative time management so before 00:05:26.579 --> 00:05:29.079 we get too deep into the bio and the and the 00:05:29.079 --> 00:05:32.699 q a i must ask you because becca put the gone 00:05:32.699 --> 00:05:34.839 on the mantle, so we need to discharge it. How 00:05:34.839 --> 00:05:38.560 was she as an employee back in the day? Becca 00:05:38.560 --> 00:05:42.120 was awesome. I mean, we hit it off immediately. 00:05:42.480 --> 00:05:44.620 I mean, it took us a while to piece together 00:05:44.620 --> 00:05:47.920 that I knew her grandparents, but... You know, 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:50.839 Becca was doing presentations, executive communications, 00:05:51.060 --> 00:05:54.759 and I appreciated, again, her attention to detail 00:05:54.759 --> 00:05:57.899 and just, you know, her eye for what good design 00:05:57.899 --> 00:06:00.860 looks like. And I actually think I learned some 00:06:00.860 --> 00:06:04.199 things from her. She was great to work with. 00:06:04.300 --> 00:06:07.240 Not to mention my winning personality, obviously. 00:06:07.339 --> 00:06:09.459 And her humble demeanor, which is really, really 00:06:09.459 --> 00:06:13.879 key. Very. Those go without saying. A quick aside 00:06:13.879 --> 00:06:16.220 here again about Becca, and we'll get back on 00:06:16.220 --> 00:06:19.180 track. So in the intervening years, you've probably 00:06:19.180 --> 00:06:22.480 come to learn that she's neurodivergent and talks 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:24.939 about her challenges with the types of things 00:06:24.939 --> 00:06:27.259 that I experience, having the same kind of affliction. 00:06:27.279 --> 00:06:29.959 Did you know or were you aware back then about 00:06:29.959 --> 00:06:33.779 those? proclivities or does it make sense in 00:06:33.779 --> 00:06:37.480 retrospect? Yeah, it makes more sense in retrospect. 00:06:37.759 --> 00:06:40.939 I'd say probably not a lot of us knew a lot about 00:06:40.939 --> 00:06:44.500 neurodivergence back then. But, you know, I think 00:06:44.500 --> 00:06:47.860 we've learned a lot as a society. And, you know, 00:06:47.879 --> 00:06:50.680 I have members of my family who are ADHD. And, 00:06:50.699 --> 00:06:54.019 you know, so, yeah, I mean, I can see that about 00:06:54.019 --> 00:06:57.480 Becca. I see some of those things in myself as 00:06:57.480 --> 00:07:00.060 well. So I think that's part of the reason why 00:07:00.060 --> 00:07:03.209 we hit it off. Perfect. Neurodivergent people 00:07:03.209 --> 00:07:06.329 do tend to love other neurodivergent people for 00:07:06.329 --> 00:07:10.970 what it's worth. Anyway, carry on. So can we 00:07:10.970 --> 00:07:13.509 talk a little bit about the landscape where you 00:07:13.509 --> 00:07:15.790 physically are? So you guys, Redwood City, heart 00:07:15.790 --> 00:07:17.949 of Silicon Valley. I've lived out there for many, 00:07:18.029 --> 00:07:20.110 many years. I've been gone now for about 10 years. 00:07:20.389 --> 00:07:23.209 I'm curious to know what you're seeing from just. 00:07:24.379 --> 00:07:26.779 a day in the life in that part of the world. 00:07:26.839 --> 00:07:29.560 You know, when I left about 10, 12 years ago, 00:07:29.620 --> 00:07:31.620 it was still pretty jamming on the tech scene. 00:07:31.740 --> 00:07:34.639 Everybody was pretty bullish and buoyant and, 00:07:34.680 --> 00:07:36.740 you know, social media was just kind of really 00:07:36.740 --> 00:07:38.839 coming on strong. And then we had this sort of 00:07:38.839 --> 00:07:41.480 colossal dip in the tech scene. We had Salesforce's 00:07:41.480 --> 00:07:44.319 issues downtown. What's the, what's the vibe 00:07:44.319 --> 00:07:47.480 out in that part of the world right now? Well, 00:07:47.560 --> 00:07:51.040 that's a big question as well. So like Becca, 00:07:51.139 --> 00:07:53.779 I grew up in this area, primarily on the peninsula, 00:07:53.980 --> 00:07:56.019 lived in the East Bay for a little bit. And so 00:07:56.019 --> 00:07:59.639 when I was growing up, this was kind of a normal 00:07:59.639 --> 00:08:01.860 place, or at least I thought it was, where not 00:08:01.860 --> 00:08:05.300 everything revolved around tech. My dad happened 00:08:05.300 --> 00:08:07.560 to be a computer programmer, which is what brought 00:08:07.560 --> 00:08:10.959 my parents to California. So I've always kind 00:08:10.959 --> 00:08:14.399 of been tech adjacent, aware of it, but it didn't 00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:17.139 really explode the way that it did. kind of took 00:08:17.139 --> 00:08:19.540 over our economy until i think probably in the 00:08:19.540 --> 00:08:22.500 90s yeah so you had people in my neighborhood 00:08:22.500 --> 00:08:25.100 growing up who their parents were of all professions 00:08:25.100 --> 00:08:28.160 and then that kind of like went away and then 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:31.120 everybody was in tech and then um you know like 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:34.460 you said the tech uh industry is kind of going 00:08:34.460 --> 00:08:36.220 through some changes right now and i and what 00:08:36.220 --> 00:08:39.779 i'm seeing is kind of a return to a variety of 00:08:39.779 --> 00:08:42.919 different professions. I mean, I was in the tech 00:08:42.919 --> 00:08:44.960 world until recently. I just joined the County 00:08:44.960 --> 00:08:48.659 Office of Education in March after kind of reaching 00:08:48.659 --> 00:08:52.120 a crossroads in my career and asking myself whether 00:08:52.120 --> 00:08:55.700 I wanted to stay in the tech world. And it's 00:08:55.700 --> 00:08:58.639 been really refreshing to see, you know. the 00:08:58.639 --> 00:09:00.879 other side where you're not in the tech world. 00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:04.360 So, you know, the community has changed. I'd 00:09:04.360 --> 00:09:06.740 say, you know, from the standpoint of being on 00:09:06.740 --> 00:09:08.600 the city council, watching this big development 00:09:08.600 --> 00:09:11.820 boom that Becca alluded to, that boom has really 00:09:11.820 --> 00:09:14.379 slowed down. And, you know, there are still buildings 00:09:14.379 --> 00:09:17.840 being constructed, but we have a glut of office 00:09:17.840 --> 00:09:20.000 buildings on the market. There are many buildings 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:22.759 that are empty right now. And still more being 00:09:22.759 --> 00:09:26.240 built in real time. It's crazy. The construction 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:28.899 that was approved 10 years ago is now getting 00:09:28.899 --> 00:09:32.570 done. Everyone works from home, so there's nobody 00:09:32.570 --> 00:09:34.669 to occupy them. I think there's going to be a 00:09:34.669 --> 00:09:38.129 return to office. There seems to be, at least 00:09:38.129 --> 00:09:40.129 with developers, a prevailing view that we're 00:09:40.129 --> 00:09:42.370 on the end of some pendulum swing. We're going 00:09:42.370 --> 00:09:44.309 to swing back and then everybody's going to come 00:09:44.309 --> 00:09:46.970 back to the office and buildings are going to 00:09:46.970 --> 00:09:50.529 fill up again. We'll see about that. I think 00:09:50.529 --> 00:09:52.230 some of the construction we're seeing right now 00:09:52.230 --> 00:09:55.149 is hospitals and other types of buildings beyond 00:09:55.149 --> 00:09:57.879 just tech offices. But you know what there's 00:09:57.879 --> 00:10:00.100 not enough of is housing because the Bay Area 00:10:00.100 --> 00:10:02.980 is very expensive to live. There's never enough. 00:10:03.440 --> 00:10:05.440 And it's not the type of housing. The type of 00:10:05.440 --> 00:10:07.340 housing that's being built is not the type of 00:10:07.340 --> 00:10:10.879 housing that people are looking for. Also, to 00:10:10.879 --> 00:10:14.480 answer your question earlier, Perry, like. the 00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:17.580 pandemic totally changed the Bay area, like totally 00:10:17.580 --> 00:10:20.440 changed, you know, went from San Francisco was 00:10:20.440 --> 00:10:22.620 the place to be to nobody wanted to be in San 00:10:22.620 --> 00:10:25.419 Francisco anymore. I think that has, there is 00:10:25.419 --> 00:10:28.740 a shift back now, but it's like, because so many 00:10:28.740 --> 00:10:31.039 people moved away from the city, not everybody's 00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:32.940 going back, but there's a whole rush of new people 00:10:32.940 --> 00:10:35.139 coming into the city. So I do feel like we're 00:10:35.139 --> 00:10:40.159 kind of, and I think it's AI, this new kind of 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:45.210 energy that is reflective of, old san francisco 00:10:45.210 --> 00:10:49.169 i think but it's like in the early days and um 00:10:49.169 --> 00:10:52.470 i have yet to determine if that's a good thing 00:10:52.470 --> 00:10:54.870 or a bad thing and we may be in this ai bubble 00:10:54.870 --> 00:10:57.669 so we'll see it's hard to know what changes are 00:10:57.669 --> 00:11:00.169 permanent and what are temporary too i mean yeah 00:11:00.169 --> 00:11:02.070 yogi vera once said the hardest thing to predict 00:11:02.070 --> 00:11:05.009 is the future right yeah well there's that i 00:11:05.009 --> 00:11:07.769 happen to believe that the pendulum won't swing 00:11:07.769 --> 00:11:10.690 back in the way that it was ever just because 00:11:11.409 --> 00:11:13.669 It's like once you see something, you can't unsee 00:11:13.669 --> 00:11:16.690 it. You can get some personal. When you have 00:11:16.690 --> 00:11:19.029 a taste of personal liberty, you understand it's 00:11:19.029 --> 00:11:21.509 delicious. And if you don't have to go into the 00:11:21.509 --> 00:11:23.309 office five days a week, you tend to not want 00:11:23.309 --> 00:11:25.809 to do that anymore. But isn't it like anything 00:11:25.809 --> 00:11:28.429 where like when we're going through a transition, 00:11:28.509 --> 00:11:30.750 we tend to go to the extreme, right? It's like. 00:11:31.340 --> 00:11:33.360 One or the other. And what we're really doing 00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:35.519 is we're just kind of like it's all kind of settling 00:11:35.519 --> 00:11:37.720 out now. Well, there will be some people in offices, 00:11:37.860 --> 00:11:40.720 some people not like we're not there yet to the 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:43.139 settled out version of that. But I don't think 00:11:43.139 --> 00:11:44.960 it's going to like swing one way or the other. 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:47.519 I think it's just going to kind of like all of 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:51.299 it will be part of the landscape, you know, the 00:11:51.299 --> 00:11:54.210 new norm. The new norm. So tell us about your 00:11:54.210 --> 00:11:58.610 day job now, Ian. Walk us through what a typical 00:11:58.610 --> 00:12:00.090 week looks like for you. You don't have to get 00:12:00.090 --> 00:12:03.269 too granular, but give us like the big rocks. 00:12:04.139 --> 00:12:07.259 Yeah, so the big rocks are I oversee our communications 00:12:07.259 --> 00:12:09.759 team, which is a small team that does things 00:12:09.759 --> 00:12:12.919 like press releases and updating the website 00:12:12.919 --> 00:12:16.019 and more recently doing a lot of video about 00:12:16.019 --> 00:12:18.279 the programs that the county office does. Because 00:12:18.279 --> 00:12:20.919 prior to joining the county office, even though 00:12:20.919 --> 00:12:22.580 I knew the superintendent, some of the board 00:12:22.580 --> 00:12:24.299 members, I couldn't tell you what the county 00:12:24.299 --> 00:12:26.980 office did. And so I'm spending a lot of time 00:12:26.980 --> 00:12:29.000 getting the word out about what we do and how 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:31.470 we're supporting schools. especially in this 00:12:31.470 --> 00:12:34.049 time when local education is more important than 00:12:34.049 --> 00:12:37.950 ever. Come back to that piece. I also oversee 00:12:37.950 --> 00:12:40.750 the environmental literacy team. So that's a 00:12:40.750 --> 00:12:44.190 team that teaches teachers how to teach environmental 00:12:44.190 --> 00:12:47.769 literacy to kids. We work with a nonprofit called 00:12:47.769 --> 00:12:50.190 10 Strands, and we developed a statewide curriculum 00:12:50.190 --> 00:12:55.559 on environmental literacy. And and then the strategy 00:12:55.559 --> 00:12:58.200 part of my title, I think, refers to a few things. 00:12:58.259 --> 00:12:59.740 So first of all, I advise the superintendent 00:12:59.740 --> 00:13:03.440 and the board on a number of issues. And that's 00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:06.259 where my elected experience comes in handy, because 00:13:06.259 --> 00:13:08.299 both our superintendent and the board are elected. 00:13:08.539 --> 00:13:10.759 And that creates some interesting dynamics that 00:13:10.759 --> 00:13:13.740 I think I'm uniquely qualified to help navigate. 00:13:14.340 --> 00:13:16.580 And then, you know, again, I like to refer to 00:13:16.580 --> 00:13:19.379 the strategy bucket as kind of like. other duties 00:13:19.379 --> 00:13:21.440 as a sign like basically whatever the superintendent 00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:24.220 needs me to do kind of gets lumped into the strategy 00:13:24.220 --> 00:13:28.100 bucket but um i do think uh i was gonna ask you 00:13:28.100 --> 00:13:31.340 what what are the the bureaucratic layers like 00:13:31.340 --> 00:13:34.820 uh relative to the corporate world i'm not looking 00:13:34.820 --> 00:13:37.320 for you to throw your your current gig under 00:13:37.320 --> 00:13:39.440 the bus in any way but my understanding is generally 00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:41.320 it's a little harder to get things moved through 00:13:41.320 --> 00:13:45.970 is that accurate it's it's different And this 00:13:45.970 --> 00:13:48.070 is the first government agency that I've worked 00:13:48.070 --> 00:13:50.149 for full time. We talked about the fact that 00:13:50.149 --> 00:13:52.169 I served part time on the city council, but I 00:13:52.169 --> 00:13:54.669 wasn't an employee of the city of Redwood City. 00:13:54.990 --> 00:13:57.830 So as a government agency, you do need to think 00:13:57.830 --> 00:13:59.710 a little bit differently, particularly when it 00:13:59.710 --> 00:14:02.830 comes to spending money, because we're accountable 00:14:02.830 --> 00:14:05.149 to the taxpayers, which is a big part of the 00:14:05.149 --> 00:14:06.950 reason why I want the taxpayers to know what 00:14:06.950 --> 00:14:08.769 we're doing and the programs that we're running. 00:14:09.870 --> 00:14:11.629 but yeah there are a lot of little things that 00:14:11.629 --> 00:14:13.990 i kind of took for granted in the corporate world 00:14:13.990 --> 00:14:16.929 like for example uh you know taking a colleague 00:14:16.929 --> 00:14:19.889 out to lunch and expensing it Here, we can't 00:14:19.889 --> 00:14:21.529 do that. If I go out to lunch with a colleague, 00:14:21.649 --> 00:14:23.870 we split the bill. It comes out of our pockets. 00:14:24.590 --> 00:14:27.110 I have an employee. You go together and forage 00:14:27.110 --> 00:14:30.129 for berries and eat them together. Yeah. Yeah. 00:14:30.210 --> 00:14:32.389 Well, you know, I understand it. It's, you know, 00:14:32.409 --> 00:14:35.690 it's taxpayer money, especially at a time when, 00:14:35.730 --> 00:14:38.309 you know, education is under scrutiny. You know, 00:14:38.330 --> 00:14:40.090 we have to be very careful about that sort of 00:14:40.090 --> 00:14:43.610 thing. But in terms of the bureaucracy. Again, 00:14:43.870 --> 00:14:46.490 it's different, but I think if you have the right 00:14:46.490 --> 00:14:48.309 personality, you know how to push things forward, 00:14:48.409 --> 00:14:51.250 how to drive projects, you can push through a 00:14:51.250 --> 00:14:54.860 lot of that. For example, when I came here, I 00:14:54.860 --> 00:14:57.039 heard a lot about how our website wasn't very 00:14:57.039 --> 00:14:59.259 good and we needed a new website. And it was 00:14:59.259 --> 00:15:02.360 some old technology, really clunky on the back 00:15:02.360 --> 00:15:05.059 end. And I approached it the way that I would 00:15:05.059 --> 00:15:06.600 in the private sector. And I said, OK, I'm going 00:15:06.600 --> 00:15:08.379 to get three vendors to pitch me. I'm going to 00:15:08.379 --> 00:15:10.620 invite people into those pitches. I'm going to 00:15:10.620 --> 00:15:12.720 ask a bunch of questions, kick all the tires 00:15:12.720 --> 00:15:15.019 and everything. Working closely with our IT department, 00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:19.970 we got, by the time I joined, to the time we 00:15:19.970 --> 00:15:23.309 launched your website was four months and people 00:15:23.309 --> 00:15:26.870 who didn't come from the private sector who were 00:15:26.870 --> 00:15:28.590 working here at the county office are like how 00:15:28.590 --> 00:15:32.299 did you do that yeah I mean, even in the private 00:15:32.299 --> 00:15:34.279 sector, that is a highly impressive timeline 00:15:34.279 --> 00:15:36.379 as somebody who's building a website right now 00:15:36.379 --> 00:15:39.600 and continue to delay my launch date. Well done. 00:15:39.740 --> 00:15:41.600 I take it back. I misspoke. It was five months. 00:15:41.720 --> 00:15:45.480 But still, that's light speed when it comes to 00:15:45.480 --> 00:15:50.620 a government agency. And I think it's finding 00:15:50.620 --> 00:15:54.889 the right people to partner with. What do you 00:15:54.889 --> 00:15:56.389 need to do? Which hurdles do you need to jump 00:15:56.389 --> 00:15:58.730 through? And kind of like looking ahead and thinking, 00:15:58.769 --> 00:16:02.570 how do I get ahead of that? You know, and I think 00:16:02.570 --> 00:16:04.809 it's, you know, a part of it is just the culture 00:16:04.809 --> 00:16:07.029 I came from where, you know, everybody was hard 00:16:07.029 --> 00:16:11.250 driving and fast moving. Well, that actually 00:16:11.250 --> 00:16:13.169 leads me to one of my questions that I had for 00:16:13.169 --> 00:16:16.809 you. And what has been the biggest mindset shift 00:16:16.809 --> 00:16:19.929 or the hardest thing to kind of learn or relearn 00:16:19.929 --> 00:16:22.860 or change about? the way that you work because 00:16:22.860 --> 00:16:24.960 you have this long career and now you're doing 00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:28.799 something completely new the hardest thing well 00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:31.659 you know i think um so first of all everyone 00:16:31.659 --> 00:16:34.080 i work with has been super nice and welcoming 00:16:34.080 --> 00:16:38.220 i'd say the hardest thing for me is that branding 00:16:38.220 --> 00:16:42.610 is not well understood at the county office and 00:16:42.610 --> 00:16:45.610 so i've had to do a lot of education about you 00:16:45.610 --> 00:16:48.389 know why we need to do things a certain way use 00:16:48.389 --> 00:16:51.889 certain colors look and feel logo placement and 00:16:51.889 --> 00:16:53.629 that's just not something that comes naturally 00:16:53.629 --> 00:16:57.149 to people who have grown up in education and 00:16:57.149 --> 00:16:59.730 so there's there's been a lot of education about 00:16:59.730 --> 00:17:03.139 why we need to do these things and why i tend 00:17:03.139 --> 00:17:05.579 to focus so much on things that maybe don't seem 00:17:05.579 --> 00:17:08.480 that important to to some folks around here i 00:17:08.480 --> 00:17:10.539 think i can envision almost like a parks and 00:17:10.539 --> 00:17:13.039 rec type show that you guys can do where you're 00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:15.420 the corporate you know outsider joining the uh 00:17:15.420 --> 00:17:19.480 joining the government group and the clash and 00:17:19.480 --> 00:17:22.460 the hilarity that ensues A whole episode just 00:17:22.460 --> 00:17:25.400 on vendor procurement. Maybe I'll write a TV 00:17:25.400 --> 00:17:28.259 show about it. I mean, I'd watch it. Talk about 00:17:28.259 --> 00:17:32.039 AI in your world. So obviously AI is eating the 00:17:32.039 --> 00:17:34.799 world, but in corporate America in particular, 00:17:34.980 --> 00:17:37.640 government, not so much. They're typically slower 00:17:37.640 --> 00:17:40.619 to adopt and all that. What's the posture like 00:17:40.619 --> 00:17:43.559 where you work? Are you using AI? To what extent 00:17:43.559 --> 00:17:46.799 is there sort of fear about it? What's the story? 00:17:47.660 --> 00:17:49.619 That's a lot of questions rolled in. Let me ask 00:17:49.619 --> 00:17:53.509 15 more real quick. Let me just say that, you 00:17:53.509 --> 00:17:55.450 know, so I think, you know, so the county office, 00:17:55.509 --> 00:17:57.930 part of our role is, you know, we don't oversee 00:17:57.930 --> 00:18:00.670 the school districts, but we guide the districts. 00:18:00.750 --> 00:18:04.069 And so we have a role to play in teaching classrooms 00:18:04.069 --> 00:18:08.190 how to use AI. We have a role in teaching classrooms 00:18:08.190 --> 00:18:10.609 about our teachers, school districts about school 00:18:10.609 --> 00:18:12.609 safety and how to prevent some of the abuses 00:18:12.609 --> 00:18:17.109 of AI. And I also personally use AI as a tool 00:18:17.109 --> 00:18:19.309 in things like some of the videos that are on 00:18:19.309 --> 00:18:22.420 our website. And just a couple of examples of 00:18:22.420 --> 00:18:25.940 that. I'm working on a video about paraeducators, 00:18:26.019 --> 00:18:28.220 like what is the job of a paraeducator and why 00:18:28.220 --> 00:18:30.380 would you want to do that job? And that's a bit 00:18:30.380 --> 00:18:33.259 tricky because if you're not familiar with paraeducators, 00:18:33.339 --> 00:18:35.640 they work with kids who have significant disabilities, 00:18:35.839 --> 00:18:38.119 which, you know, it can be a hard job. So you 00:18:38.119 --> 00:18:40.240 don't want to scare people off, but you don't 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:42.640 want to glamorize it at the same time. So I basically 00:18:42.640 --> 00:18:44.299 I started with a job description and I started 00:18:44.299 --> 00:18:46.900 working that into a video script. And I'm going, 00:18:47.019 --> 00:18:48.740 you know what, I'm really struggling with this. 00:18:49.019 --> 00:18:51.140 And I put it through AI and I said, turn this 00:18:51.140 --> 00:18:53.380 into a two minute video script. And when it came 00:18:53.380 --> 00:18:56.839 back, it was actually. pretty good and so i i 00:18:56.839 --> 00:18:58.880 massaged it and then i put it through another 00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:02.299 tool an ai voice generator tool and that voice 00:19:02.299 --> 00:19:05.099 came back as you know really good and so now 00:19:05.099 --> 00:19:07.940 i've got a voiceover for a video that is in production 00:19:07.940 --> 00:19:11.339 and that's enabled us to really speed the process 00:19:11.339 --> 00:19:15.200 of telling the story about what we do and that's 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:17.440 how we kill video production in america gang 00:19:17.440 --> 00:19:22.240 we have we have an in -house multimedia designer 00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:26.230 and he's awesome. And so we collaborate and his 00:19:26.230 --> 00:19:28.170 job's not going anywhere. Yeah, I tease, but 00:19:28.170 --> 00:19:30.309 that is really cool. I like what you do. What 00:19:30.309 --> 00:19:32.930 tool did you use for your voiceover? I used a 00:19:32.930 --> 00:19:37.190 tool called 11 Labs. Yeah, 11 Labs. Yep. And 00:19:37.190 --> 00:19:39.710 the AI voices just keep getting better and better. 00:19:40.130 --> 00:19:42.650 Totally. I originally used it as a tool just 00:19:42.650 --> 00:19:45.509 to kind of draft videos and go like, okay, how 00:19:45.509 --> 00:19:48.210 does this sound? and then we would pay a service 00:19:48.210 --> 00:19:50.750 called voice talent now to do a human voiceover 00:19:50.750 --> 00:19:53.190 and so you know we would do like there's one 00:19:53.190 --> 00:19:55.609 on our home page about the county office that's 00:19:55.609 --> 00:19:58.349 a human voiceover but some of them we've actually 00:19:58.349 --> 00:20:00.549 done that and go you know what the ai voice is 00:20:00.549 --> 00:20:02.750 actually better than the voiceover we paid wow 00:20:02.750 --> 00:20:06.970 so some of them are ai some of their are humans 00:20:06.970 --> 00:20:10.170 and i uh you know i challenge you to tell the 00:20:10.170 --> 00:20:13.369 difference that's yeah are you in the are you 00:20:13.369 --> 00:20:16.170 in the office every day I come to the office 00:20:16.170 --> 00:20:19.569 every day. So the county office has a policy 00:20:19.569 --> 00:20:22.170 that after six months, you can work one day a 00:20:22.170 --> 00:20:24.970 week remotely. But since I live in Redwood City 00:20:24.970 --> 00:20:27.190 and the county office is here in Redwood City 00:20:27.190 --> 00:20:29.730 in the shores, I just come in every day. It's 00:20:29.730 --> 00:20:33.640 just easier. Do you constantly run into people 00:20:33.640 --> 00:20:37.299 that you knew from being mayor? As a matter of 00:20:37.299 --> 00:20:40.980 fact, well, so I knew our superintendent when 00:20:40.980 --> 00:20:43.740 she was running for superintendent. And I was 00:20:43.740 --> 00:20:46.039 actually vice mayor at the time. And we sat down 00:20:46.039 --> 00:20:48.579 and it was a competitive race. And a lot of my 00:20:48.579 --> 00:20:52.000 colleagues were endorsing her opponent. But I 00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:53.960 sat down with her and said, you know, she's the 00:20:53.960 --> 00:20:55.859 right choice. I asked her a bunch of tough questions. 00:20:55.980 --> 00:20:58.319 I interviewed her, never thinking I would be 00:20:58.319 --> 00:21:01.200 working for her in the future. And then I also 00:21:01.200 --> 00:21:03.759 knew, again, several of our board members. And 00:21:03.759 --> 00:21:06.259 turns out I also know some people here in the 00:21:06.259 --> 00:21:08.880 office who I'd worked with when they were principals 00:21:08.880 --> 00:21:11.700 at local schools or one person worked in the 00:21:11.700 --> 00:21:13.380 HR department in the city of Redwood City. So 00:21:13.380 --> 00:21:17.420 I came in here knowing a handful of people. It's 00:21:17.420 --> 00:21:20.049 good to be mayor. You know, it doesn't hurt. 00:21:20.309 --> 00:21:22.630 And the most important thing about this job is 00:21:22.630 --> 00:21:25.150 because part of it's externally facing, I go 00:21:25.150 --> 00:21:27.130 to events, I speak on behalf of the county office. 00:21:27.410 --> 00:21:29.490 I already know all of our board of supervisors. 00:21:29.609 --> 00:21:31.890 I know many of the school board members and city 00:21:31.890 --> 00:21:35.549 council members. And so that gives me a big advantage 00:21:35.549 --> 00:21:40.009 doing those. What's the relationship like with 00:21:40.009 --> 00:21:42.210 the local media? I would imagine that's under 00:21:42.210 --> 00:21:44.509 your purview, too. And can you talk a little 00:21:44.509 --> 00:21:46.150 bit about what that sort of ebb and flow is? 00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:48.599 Yeah. And, you know, that's another advantage 00:21:48.599 --> 00:21:50.519 I have is because I worked with a lot of the 00:21:50.519 --> 00:21:52.839 local media when I was on the city council. Yeah. 00:21:52.900 --> 00:21:54.900 And then, of course, you know, I just know about 00:21:54.900 --> 00:21:57.920 media relations in general. And so I have those 00:21:57.920 --> 00:22:01.500 relationships. I recently sat down with the editor 00:22:01.500 --> 00:22:03.279 of one of the papers and we talked about all 00:22:03.279 --> 00:22:05.279 the things that he was interested in. I talked 00:22:05.279 --> 00:22:07.740 about all the things that we were doing and they've 00:22:07.740 --> 00:22:10.279 given us some really good coverage on programs 00:22:10.279 --> 00:22:12.460 that really weren't getting coverage before. 00:22:12.559 --> 00:22:17.279 Are you pitching them? Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, 00:22:17.299 --> 00:22:19.700 I'm selective about the stories I pitch. So, 00:22:19.779 --> 00:22:22.779 for example, in April, we won a Green Achiever 00:22:22.779 --> 00:22:25.480 Award from California Green Ribbon Schools. And 00:22:25.480 --> 00:22:27.640 that's for all the sustainability work that we've 00:22:27.640 --> 00:22:30.500 done. And so we had a big celebration here at 00:22:30.500 --> 00:22:32.660 the county office. We had a couple hundred people. 00:22:32.740 --> 00:22:35.220 We had the state superintendent come. And so 00:22:35.220 --> 00:22:37.200 I called up the reporter and I said, hey, we're 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:39.980 having this big to do here. And so we got some 00:22:39.980 --> 00:22:44.339 coverage on that. And we recently did an e -bike 00:22:44.339 --> 00:22:47.460 safety handbook. And so I called several local 00:22:47.460 --> 00:22:49.660 reporters. We got lots of stories out of that. 00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:51.680 I like to say we got lots of mileage out of that 00:22:51.680 --> 00:22:57.079 story. So, yes, I'm practically – That must have 00:22:57.079 --> 00:22:59.220 been one hell of a press cycle. You know what 00:22:59.220 --> 00:23:02.019 I'm saying? Thank you. Awesome. My wheels are 00:23:02.019 --> 00:23:06.339 turning now. You should do PR. You guys put the 00:23:06.339 --> 00:23:08.779 brakes on it. But, yeah, I mean – Like I said, 00:23:08.839 --> 00:23:10.660 prior to joining the county office or interviewing 00:23:10.660 --> 00:23:12.519 for the county office, I didn't know about a 00:23:12.519 --> 00:23:14.859 lot of these things. So I'm really passionate 00:23:14.859 --> 00:23:16.880 about getting these stories out there so people 00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:22.819 know the good work we're doing. When we worked 00:23:22.819 --> 00:23:25.079 together, we worked in cybersecurity, which is 00:23:25.079 --> 00:23:30.160 just a cluster F of crisis comms on a regular 00:23:30.160 --> 00:23:32.460 basis. We also worked at McAfee when John McAfee 00:23:32.460 --> 00:23:36.900 was murdering people and stuff. Crisis is in 00:23:36.900 --> 00:23:41.460 our blood at this point. What does crisis comms 00:23:41.460 --> 00:23:44.819 look like in the public sector in your current 00:23:44.819 --> 00:23:51.009 role? Part of what we do is we work towards safe 00:23:51.009 --> 00:23:54.369 schools and communities. So after the tragedy 00:23:54.369 --> 00:23:57.490 at Sandy Hook in 2012, county leaders came together 00:23:57.490 --> 00:23:59.670 and said, you know what, we've got to come up 00:23:59.670 --> 00:24:02.109 with a series of protocols for all the bad things 00:24:02.109 --> 00:24:04.809 that could happen on a school campus. And so 00:24:04.809 --> 00:24:07.230 the county office has really led the way and 00:24:07.230 --> 00:24:09.089 we've developed something we call the Big Five. 00:24:09.250 --> 00:24:11.970 So those are things like shelter in place, lockdown. 00:24:13.019 --> 00:24:15.079 All sorts of things like that. And we work very 00:24:15.079 --> 00:24:17.519 closely with local law enforcement and school 00:24:17.519 --> 00:24:20.279 districts and city council members to ensure 00:24:20.279 --> 00:24:23.099 that everyone's following these protocols. And 00:24:23.099 --> 00:24:25.960 now we're exporting those to other communities 00:24:25.960 --> 00:24:28.220 like Monterey and Marin have adopted these as 00:24:28.220 --> 00:24:30.579 well. So, I mean, I think you can imagine the 00:24:30.579 --> 00:24:34.519 scenarios. I'd rather not get into what we. can 00:24:34.519 --> 00:24:37.019 anticipate or prepare for here. But, you know, 00:24:37.019 --> 00:24:39.079 let's just say I feel like we're better prepared 00:24:39.079 --> 00:24:42.440 for those emergencies, God forbid, than other 00:24:42.440 --> 00:24:44.500 communities across the nation have been in the 00:24:44.500 --> 00:24:48.650 past. other than those like major events that 00:24:48.650 --> 00:24:51.970 we shall not name for sake of sanity are there 00:24:51.970 --> 00:24:55.289 like day -to -day like crises that pop up in 00:24:55.289 --> 00:24:57.970 your world or is it really just kind of the big 00:24:57.970 --> 00:25:01.490 things you hope never happen well no no big crises 00:25:01.490 --> 00:25:03.869 like the founder being a person of interest in 00:25:03.869 --> 00:25:08.799 a murder investigation Yet. But no, you know, 00:25:08.839 --> 00:25:11.440 we do have, you know, small things that come 00:25:11.440 --> 00:25:13.119 up or I won't say small things, but there are 00:25:13.119 --> 00:25:15.680 things that happen on school campuses that, you 00:25:15.680 --> 00:25:18.500 know, they can blow up and turn into some big 00:25:18.500 --> 00:25:21.859 thing. One of the schools in our district, they 00:25:21.859 --> 00:25:24.220 actually did work with an anonymous reporting 00:25:24.220 --> 00:25:27.339 tool to say, hey, there's a student who's threatening 00:25:27.339 --> 00:25:29.500 violence. And they went to that student's home 00:25:29.500 --> 00:25:32.299 and they actually did find weapons in that home. 00:25:33.640 --> 00:25:38.920 So we do deal with things like that. I'm hoping 00:25:38.920 --> 00:25:41.880 every day that we don't have a major incident 00:25:41.880 --> 00:25:45.380 that we have to deal with. But we have had some 00:25:45.380 --> 00:25:47.900 issues like that that we've had to deal with. 00:25:48.140 --> 00:25:49.940 I have one follow on and then Perry, I'll shut 00:25:49.940 --> 00:25:51.119 up because I know you've been trying to get a 00:25:51.119 --> 00:25:56.079 question in. Anytime there is some newsworthy 00:25:56.079 --> 00:25:59.259 event in a school in your county, does that go 00:25:59.259 --> 00:26:01.970 to you? Is that how it works? So some of the 00:26:01.970 --> 00:26:04.049 districts have their own school communicators. 00:26:04.069 --> 00:26:06.970 And we work very closely with those communicators 00:26:06.970 --> 00:26:09.210 coordinating messages. And they know that I'm 00:26:09.210 --> 00:26:12.289 here for them as a sounding board. But they operate 00:26:12.289 --> 00:26:15.230 independently because their boards are elected 00:26:15.230 --> 00:26:17.369 and then they appoint their superintendents and 00:26:17.369 --> 00:26:18.869 the superintendent chooses the communicator. 00:26:19.009 --> 00:26:22.329 In smaller districts, they don't have school 00:26:22.329 --> 00:26:26.880 communicators. So those districts, they... rely 00:26:26.880 --> 00:26:30.059 on me more heavily. And so my predecessor, I 00:26:30.059 --> 00:26:32.400 know during COVID, they were calling her office 00:26:32.400 --> 00:26:34.500 constantly asking for guidance on communications. 00:26:34.900 --> 00:26:38.940 So it hasn't been quite that active. It's more, 00:26:38.960 --> 00:26:41.519 you know, we're in a good place right now where 00:26:41.519 --> 00:26:43.579 thankfully we're not dealing with an ongoing 00:26:43.579 --> 00:26:46.640 crisis. We're trying to help the schools and 00:26:46.640 --> 00:26:48.920 the districts get the word out about what they're 00:26:48.920 --> 00:26:51.500 doing and helping them become better communicators 00:26:51.500 --> 00:26:54.920 with their communities. So I'm going to enjoy 00:26:54.920 --> 00:26:58.000 that as long as it lasts. If, God forbid, things 00:26:58.000 --> 00:27:00.440 flip and we have to deal with a crisis, they 00:27:00.440 --> 00:27:04.119 all know that I'm here for them. So I was wondering, 00:27:04.240 --> 00:27:07.200 you talked about teaching kids environmental 00:27:07.200 --> 00:27:11.140 literacy and you talked a lot about, you know, 00:27:11.160 --> 00:27:13.779 preparing people for the future. I'm wondering 00:27:13.779 --> 00:27:19.410 what your view of is of some. sort of AI literacy 00:27:19.410 --> 00:27:22.369 in the early years. And it's a reoccurring theme 00:27:22.369 --> 00:27:24.970 on this podcast where Becca and I talk with a 00:27:24.970 --> 00:27:26.710 lot of different people about how, in our view, 00:27:26.849 --> 00:27:29.750 people coming out of school are generally woefully 00:27:29.750 --> 00:27:31.809 unprepared for the reality that's going to smack 00:27:31.809 --> 00:27:33.970 them across the face in corporate America, where 00:27:33.970 --> 00:27:37.029 AI is just dominating everything and people at 00:27:37.029 --> 00:27:38.730 the junior levels are getting kind of wiped out. 00:27:38.930 --> 00:27:41.650 Well, how do you how do you view some sort of 00:27:41.650 --> 00:27:44.430 AI literacy at the younger levels, given that 00:27:44.430 --> 00:27:46.250 there's also ethical concerns that you have to 00:27:46.250 --> 00:27:50.200 grapple with? Yeah. Again, this is a huge topic 00:27:50.200 --> 00:27:52.240 that you could slice and dice a number of different 00:27:52.240 --> 00:27:56.440 ways. I do think that students need to have at 00:27:56.440 --> 00:27:58.740 all ages an understanding of what the tools are 00:27:58.740 --> 00:28:02.180 and how they should be used. And so I think there's 00:28:02.180 --> 00:28:04.220 a role for the county office to provide more 00:28:04.220 --> 00:28:07.000 guidance to the districts. I mentioned we did 00:28:07.000 --> 00:28:09.000 that e -bike handbook. I think we have the opportunity 00:28:09.000 --> 00:28:12.140 to do an AI handbook. But the problem is, like, 00:28:12.180 --> 00:28:13.579 how do you slice it? Because you can look at 00:28:13.579 --> 00:28:15.779 it through the lens of curriculum. You can look 00:28:15.779 --> 00:28:17.740 at it through the lens of school safety. You 00:28:17.740 --> 00:28:20.319 can look at the lens of, you know, tools you 00:28:20.319 --> 00:28:23.799 can use. So I can envision, and I'm not speaking 00:28:23.799 --> 00:28:25.599 for the county office when I say this, but I 00:28:25.599 --> 00:28:27.700 can envision a scenario where teachers in the 00:28:27.700 --> 00:28:30.839 classroom... have a kid write an essay in the 00:28:30.839 --> 00:28:33.380 classroom. And then they say, okay, now run that 00:28:33.380 --> 00:28:35.700 essay through AI and see what it comes back with 00:28:35.700 --> 00:28:38.279 for refinement. And then on top of that, they 00:28:38.279 --> 00:28:40.839 say, okay, like now refine it based on the AI. 00:28:41.220 --> 00:28:43.859 And I think that could teach kids how to use 00:28:43.859 --> 00:28:47.200 tools effectively and also learn from it. Because 00:28:47.200 --> 00:28:49.380 I do believe that kids could learn by doing that 00:28:49.380 --> 00:28:51.940 process and then come out of the schools knowing 00:28:51.940 --> 00:28:54.720 how to use certain tools. Like when it comes 00:28:54.720 --> 00:28:58.099 to writing, for example. But, you know, at the 00:28:58.099 --> 00:28:59.720 same time, there's also the angle of, you know, 00:28:59.740 --> 00:29:02.319 we got to teach kids how to use it responsibly, 00:29:02.500 --> 00:29:05.519 which is, you know, I think that's an even bigger 00:29:05.519 --> 00:29:07.799 challenge, which is, you know, there are, you 00:29:07.799 --> 00:29:11.440 know, face swapping tools and things like that. 00:29:11.880 --> 00:29:13.859 Kids will, you know, they'll make things that 00:29:13.859 --> 00:29:16.400 are inappropriate to, you know. to blackmail 00:29:16.400 --> 00:29:19.920 another kid and you know that's a that's a harder 00:29:19.920 --> 00:29:22.680 issue to tackle yeah i almost view it as like 00:29:22.680 --> 00:29:25.799 a like an ai survival guide that maybe encompasses 00:29:25.799 --> 00:29:28.980 the best of all those buckets right where we're 00:29:28.980 --> 00:29:31.079 we're we're arming you for what you are likely 00:29:31.079 --> 00:29:33.480 to encounter in the world but we're also sort 00:29:33.480 --> 00:29:36.480 of safeguarding you against the potential pitfalls 00:29:36.480 --> 00:29:39.220 that you just described Well, survival guide 00:29:39.220 --> 00:29:42.000 may even be a better word for it. And, you know, 00:29:42.039 --> 00:29:44.539 I think, you know, the other thing to consider, 00:29:44.640 --> 00:29:46.740 too, is how it's going to impact jobs in the 00:29:46.740 --> 00:29:49.880 future, because it is taking away a lot of entry 00:29:49.880 --> 00:29:52.880 level jobs, particularly in tech. And that's 00:29:52.880 --> 00:29:54.900 where, you know, I think we've come to a realization 00:29:54.900 --> 00:29:57.380 as a society that, you know, not all jobs are 00:29:57.380 --> 00:29:59.869 in tech. Part of what we do is career technical 00:29:59.869 --> 00:30:03.309 education, where we teach kids skills in different 00:30:03.309 --> 00:30:05.369 industries, like, you know, let's say the maritime 00:30:05.369 --> 00:30:08.069 industry. We've got a port in Redwood City and 00:30:08.069 --> 00:30:09.930 there are a lot of jobs associated with the port 00:30:09.930 --> 00:30:12.609 that don't necessarily require a college degree. 00:30:12.750 --> 00:30:14.569 Those are things kids can learn in high school 00:30:14.569 --> 00:30:18.109 to sort of future proof themselves against, you 00:30:18.109 --> 00:30:20.029 know, all the jobs that AI is going to take away. 00:30:20.710 --> 00:30:23.170 You know, I hate to be pessimistic about that, 00:30:23.230 --> 00:30:25.400 but I think we're. we're on the verge of like 00:30:25.400 --> 00:30:28.559 some real major market changes and we don't fully 00:30:28.559 --> 00:30:31.579 understand what that's going to be yet. I also 00:30:31.579 --> 00:30:35.740 think that's why it's important that AI is a 00:30:35.740 --> 00:30:38.279 conversation in school. It can't just be like, 00:30:38.359 --> 00:30:40.900 we can only teach kids how to be safe with it. 00:30:40.980 --> 00:30:43.039 Like you have to teach them how to use it because 00:30:43.039 --> 00:30:45.859 otherwise they will be left behind. Like they 00:30:45.859 --> 00:30:48.140 should be the ones innovating in that space. 00:30:48.220 --> 00:30:50.500 The way that kids were the ones innovating with 00:30:50.500 --> 00:30:53.299 coding back when I was a kid and developing all 00:30:53.299 --> 00:30:57.460 the first, you know software programs and then 00:30:57.460 --> 00:31:00.359 um social media right like i think there's just 00:31:00.359 --> 00:31:02.160 all of these waves of things that there is like 00:31:02.160 --> 00:31:06.700 a ton of bad that can come and so us adults are 00:31:06.700 --> 00:31:09.099 like oh no but if you give the kids the tools 00:31:09.099 --> 00:31:13.900 and the guard rails and freedom i guess to uh 00:31:15.259 --> 00:31:18.559 I think they will actually probably be the ones 00:31:18.559 --> 00:31:20.980 leading the way in AI safety because they will 00:31:20.980 --> 00:31:22.779 understand it better, you know? You know, and 00:31:22.779 --> 00:31:25.180 I think hand in hand with learning the technology 00:31:25.180 --> 00:31:28.980 needs to be ethics. You know, we need to teach 00:31:28.980 --> 00:31:32.420 our kids right, wrong. And I do think there's 00:31:32.420 --> 00:31:34.539 a role for schools to play, not just abdicating 00:31:34.539 --> 00:31:36.440 that to parents and say, oh, parents know right 00:31:36.440 --> 00:31:38.180 and wrong. It's like they don't always know right 00:31:38.180 --> 00:31:39.839 and wrong. Well, because they sure as hell don't 00:31:39.839 --> 00:31:42.559 know AI the way kids do. It's tough to be the 00:31:42.559 --> 00:31:45.079 arbiter of morality when you don't even know 00:31:45.079 --> 00:31:47.589 what they're talking about or using. Yeah. So, 00:31:47.670 --> 00:31:49.890 I mean, I think that like teaching kids ethics 00:31:49.890 --> 00:31:51.869 at the same time you teach them about technology 00:31:51.869 --> 00:31:54.650 could possibly have some really positive benefits, 00:31:54.769 --> 00:31:56.829 especially if those kids, if they want to go 00:31:56.829 --> 00:31:59.109 on a career in coding, if they want to help influence 00:31:59.109 --> 00:32:01.490 this future of AI. You know, I mean, I think 00:32:01.490 --> 00:32:02.970 that's what we need to communicate to them is, 00:32:02.990 --> 00:32:06.029 you know, look, AI is still young and we have 00:32:06.029 --> 00:32:07.809 the opportunity to influence it for good or bad. 00:32:07.930 --> 00:32:11.049 And you want to be on the side of good. How do 00:32:11.049 --> 00:32:14.670 you think AI is going to affect the communications 00:32:14.670 --> 00:32:18.009 industry writ large in, let's say, even five 00:32:18.009 --> 00:32:22.190 years? Well, I think it's already impacting communications 00:32:22.190 --> 00:32:25.269 jobs, again, particularly on the entry level. 00:32:25.349 --> 00:32:27.710 But I really think on all levels, there are companies, 00:32:27.930 --> 00:32:30.650 particularly less sophisticated tech companies, 00:32:30.750 --> 00:32:32.069 who are going, you know what, we don't really 00:32:32.069 --> 00:32:34.509 need a comms person because I can just... crank 00:32:34.509 --> 00:32:37.230 out a press release. How long is that going to 00:32:37.230 --> 00:32:39.470 last though? Like that might be like a bandaid 00:32:39.470 --> 00:32:41.650 right now, but it's not effective. And at some 00:32:41.650 --> 00:32:43.950 point people are going to stop doing things that 00:32:43.950 --> 00:32:46.009 don't work. Right. Yeah. You're preaching to 00:32:46.009 --> 00:32:47.710 the choir. That's why I said less sophisticated 00:32:47.710 --> 00:32:51.970 companies. I think, you know, we, they, you know, 00:32:52.619 --> 00:32:55.019 good, strong companies, we know they have effective 00:32:55.019 --> 00:32:58.240 communicators like us in -house who understand 00:32:58.240 --> 00:33:00.079 more than how to just write a press release. 00:33:01.200 --> 00:33:03.559 And, you know, also, you know, teaching the executives 00:33:03.559 --> 00:33:06.599 how to communicate better themselves. You know, 00:33:06.619 --> 00:33:08.700 I think that the companies who do away with their 00:33:08.700 --> 00:33:10.539 comms team are going to really pay the price 00:33:10.539 --> 00:33:13.119 in a couple of years. You know, they'll just 00:33:13.119 --> 00:33:15.339 be natural selection that takes place because. 00:33:16.039 --> 00:33:17.500 they're not going to get their messages out the 00:33:17.500 --> 00:33:19.220 way that they need to no i think that's right 00:33:19.220 --> 00:33:21.660 and i think the uh the data are pretty clear 00:33:21.660 --> 00:33:24.160 that some of the most happening brands right 00:33:24.160 --> 00:33:26.859 now especially in tech they're bringing some 00:33:26.859 --> 00:33:29.339 of the best reporters and comms pros in -house 00:33:29.339 --> 00:33:31.279 right now because yes they're using these tools 00:33:31.279 --> 00:33:35.279 but they're using really really talented, professional 00:33:35.279 --> 00:33:39.539 communicators and writers to tame the machines, 00:33:39.740 --> 00:33:42.839 essentially. So they use them as tools, which 00:33:42.839 --> 00:33:44.759 is what they are. But the humans are going to 00:33:44.759 --> 00:33:46.819 ultimately shape the direction of the company. 00:33:46.940 --> 00:33:48.599 And I think that's a trend that's going to increase, 00:33:48.720 --> 00:33:51.259 not decrease. And to your point, the less sophisticated 00:33:51.259 --> 00:33:55.279 companies, they're whistling past the graveyard. 00:33:55.400 --> 00:33:58.319 If they're just outsourcing everything to Claude 00:33:58.319 --> 00:34:00.759 and ChatGPT, they're in for a very rude awakening, 00:34:00.859 --> 00:34:03.099 is my view. That's a great way of putting it. 00:34:03.200 --> 00:34:08.320 Oh, thank you. See? Okay, can I ask you kind 00:34:08.320 --> 00:34:10.280 of, I mean, it's along these lines and it's one 00:34:10.280 --> 00:34:14.980 of those, I guess, big questions that you can 00:34:14.980 --> 00:34:18.159 only ask people who have had big careers. So 00:34:18.159 --> 00:34:22.000 if you were going to, and you probably do give 00:34:22.000 --> 00:34:24.840 advice to somebody who is early in their career, 00:34:24.860 --> 00:34:27.440 pretend you're talking to me, the young Becca 00:34:27.440 --> 00:34:31.519 that was in her 20s when you were my boss. But 00:34:31.519 --> 00:34:33.880 now, what is the advice? Because the advice that 00:34:33.880 --> 00:34:35.780 you would give 15 years ago is totally different 00:34:35.780 --> 00:34:37.639 than advice you would give now, I assume. What 00:34:37.639 --> 00:34:41.320 is the advice to the comms person for what to 00:34:41.320 --> 00:34:46.599 do to be successful in their career? That's a 00:34:46.599 --> 00:34:53.110 good question. I would say. diversify your skills. 00:34:53.349 --> 00:34:56.909 Like don't just be a good writer, like learn 00:34:56.909 --> 00:34:59.230 graphic design, learn how to use all the tools 00:34:59.230 --> 00:35:02.670 to do all these things and understand the intersection 00:35:02.670 --> 00:35:04.889 of how everything comes together to create a 00:35:04.889 --> 00:35:07.309 great marketing program. Even just like within 00:35:07.309 --> 00:35:09.469 communications, like understand all the other 00:35:09.469 --> 00:35:11.710 functions, growth marketing, product marketing, 00:35:11.750 --> 00:35:14.829 like know your stuff. Like, you know, if you 00:35:14.829 --> 00:35:17.940 know your stuff, it comes through. And I'd say 00:35:17.940 --> 00:35:19.960 the other thing is probably like understanding 00:35:19.960 --> 00:35:22.440 at least a little bit about psychology, like 00:35:22.440 --> 00:35:24.880 know how to read people, know how to understand 00:35:24.880 --> 00:35:28.739 what their needs and desires are and and learn 00:35:28.739 --> 00:35:32.360 how to tie your skills to their needs. I tell 00:35:32.360 --> 00:35:34.840 people who are interviewing, it's like people 00:35:34.840 --> 00:35:37.039 don't care about you and what you've done in 00:35:37.039 --> 00:35:38.900 your career and your accomplishments, your awards. 00:35:39.019 --> 00:35:40.840 They care about what you're going to do for them. 00:35:41.400 --> 00:35:43.380 You know, and so I always tell people that it's 00:35:43.380 --> 00:35:45.920 like, understand, ask them, like, what are you 00:35:45.920 --> 00:35:48.039 looking for? And then you tie your skills into 00:35:48.039 --> 00:35:50.639 that. Well, that kind of goes into the psychology 00:35:50.639 --> 00:35:54.619 piece. That is true for any transaction, right? 00:35:54.840 --> 00:35:57.280 Anything. I want you to be on my podcast. What's 00:35:57.280 --> 00:35:58.840 in it for you, right? You're not just going to 00:35:58.840 --> 00:36:00.619 do it out of the goodness of your heart. Like 00:36:00.619 --> 00:36:04.250 you are going to get some sort of. lift, content, 00:36:04.510 --> 00:36:07.670 something fun, joy from seeing our faces. I'm 00:36:07.670 --> 00:36:09.570 just doing it because I love you, Becca. Joy 00:36:09.570 --> 00:36:11.710 from seeing your face in particular. It's the 00:36:11.710 --> 00:36:15.869 joy. Yes. Anyway, I say that cheekily, but it's 00:36:15.869 --> 00:36:18.630 true that, and that's the advice I give to people 00:36:18.630 --> 00:36:21.050 who are like, how do you get people to have a 00:36:21.050 --> 00:36:23.210 coffee talk with you or whatever? And it's like, 00:36:23.210 --> 00:36:25.869 you don't just ping them randomly and say, hey, 00:36:25.889 --> 00:36:28.429 can we have a coffee talk? It's like, you have 00:36:28.429 --> 00:36:33.869 a... you create value for that person so that 00:36:33.869 --> 00:36:35.750 they can create value for you. And I think in 00:36:35.750 --> 00:36:38.369 your role, that's like the best thing anyone 00:36:38.369 --> 00:36:40.829 can do, especially in a comms role where people 00:36:40.829 --> 00:36:42.690 minimize you and think that you're just like 00:36:42.690 --> 00:36:45.210 the words or shapes and colors person when it's 00:36:45.210 --> 00:36:48.179 like. But I can actually add value to your life. 00:36:48.280 --> 00:36:50.760 And here's how. Yeah, you can't just be the make 00:36:50.760 --> 00:36:55.860 that pretty person. Is there a job that you desperately 00:36:55.860 --> 00:36:59.619 wanted in and actively tried to get and didn't 00:36:59.619 --> 00:37:01.460 get? Was there a heartbreak that that happened 00:37:01.460 --> 00:37:05.579 to you professionally? You mean like a company 00:37:05.579 --> 00:37:08.719 that I wanted to work? Any job at all? Anything 00:37:08.719 --> 00:37:10.119 that you were like, damn it, that would have 00:37:10.119 --> 00:37:13.119 been like ideal for me. Well, I mean, there have 00:37:13.119 --> 00:37:14.880 definitely been jobs that I've interviewed for 00:37:14.880 --> 00:37:17.780 that I really, really wanted and sometimes came 00:37:17.780 --> 00:37:20.980 close to getting. But then in retrospect, I realized. 00:37:21.849 --> 00:37:25.210 I dodged a bullet there. I think I can know some 00:37:25.210 --> 00:37:28.170 of what I'm talking about. Totally dodged some 00:37:28.170 --> 00:37:30.630 bullets. Yes. You know, so I mean, there's not 00:37:30.630 --> 00:37:32.829 one that I look back, like I didn't interview 00:37:32.829 --> 00:37:34.730 with Google in the early days or anything like 00:37:34.730 --> 00:37:37.510 that. So there's nothing where I go like, you 00:37:37.510 --> 00:37:39.210 know, darn, I missed out on that opportunity. 00:37:39.550 --> 00:37:42.630 I mean, I do wish that I'd gotten into certain 00:37:42.630 --> 00:37:44.849 companies and been able to reap some of the financial 00:37:44.849 --> 00:37:47.489 benefits. I've never had the opportunity to go 00:37:47.489 --> 00:37:50.369 through an IPO, for example. And I have worked 00:37:50.369 --> 00:37:53.989 for pre -IPO companies that just never, never 00:37:53.989 --> 00:37:57.809 really went anywhere. So, you know, it's like 00:37:57.809 --> 00:37:59.510 I don't look back and go like, I wish that had 00:37:59.510 --> 00:38:02.130 happened or this had happened. I'm actually just 00:38:02.130 --> 00:38:04.590 kind of happy with where I am right now. Would 00:38:04.590 --> 00:38:07.070 you do more politics? Like you did the mayor 00:38:07.070 --> 00:38:09.809 thing and that is an elected official, right? 00:38:09.929 --> 00:38:12.230 You had to campaign. And the reason why Ian knows 00:38:12.230 --> 00:38:14.469 my grandparents is because my grandparents were 00:38:14.469 --> 00:38:17.190 small business owners in Redwood City for many 00:38:17.190 --> 00:38:21.610 decades. And so he was out doing the rounds and 00:38:21.610 --> 00:38:23.730 meeting all of the small business owners to get 00:38:23.730 --> 00:38:26.909 them to donate to his campaign and support him. 00:38:27.190 --> 00:38:31.909 So would you do it again? Well, I'll just say. 00:38:32.570 --> 00:38:34.449 I'm one of those people who believes in never 00:38:34.449 --> 00:38:38.230 say never. I have no plans to run for office 00:38:38.230 --> 00:38:41.469 in the future. Certainly, I'm not going to run 00:38:41.469 --> 00:38:43.630 for city council again. I've been there, done 00:38:43.630 --> 00:38:45.650 that, spent many years in the council more than 00:38:45.650 --> 00:38:50.239 I want to say. A couple of years back, one of 00:38:50.239 --> 00:38:52.639 the local papers was floating my name as a candidate 00:38:52.639 --> 00:38:55.980 for county supervisor. And I got a lot of calls 00:38:55.980 --> 00:38:58.179 from people, including people who are on the 00:38:58.179 --> 00:39:00.599 board of supervisors saying, hey, would you consider 00:39:00.599 --> 00:39:03.159 this? And I thought about it for a minute, but 00:39:03.159 --> 00:39:05.969 actually. at the time, felt like it wasn't the 00:39:05.969 --> 00:39:08.489 right time in my life. I was actually doing well 00:39:08.489 --> 00:39:11.730 in my corporate career. And, you know, frankly, 00:39:11.929 --> 00:39:14.309 the county supervisor position didn't pay what 00:39:14.309 --> 00:39:18.070 I was making. And so I had to weigh my options 00:39:18.070 --> 00:39:19.969 in terms of, like, you know, taking care of my 00:39:19.969 --> 00:39:22.550 family's needs versus, like, my interest in serving 00:39:22.550 --> 00:39:25.369 in public office. And so, again, never say never, 00:39:25.469 --> 00:39:29.670 but no plans at this point. Well, I will vote 00:39:29.670 --> 00:39:32.210 for you when you decide to run again. I appreciate 00:39:32.210 --> 00:39:38.019 that. Okay. I'm going to pivot us to our rapid 00:39:38.019 --> 00:39:40.599 fire questions, which Ian, I don't know if you've 00:39:40.599 --> 00:39:42.380 watched or listened to our podcast. We do this 00:39:42.380 --> 00:39:45.739 at the end of every show. We ask mostly the same 00:39:45.739 --> 00:39:49.199 questions of everybody. Although this time I'm 00:39:49.199 --> 00:39:52.420 adding a new question because I have a new one 00:39:52.420 --> 00:39:54.019 that I think is relevant that I'm going to add 00:39:54.019 --> 00:39:56.380 starting today, moving forward. But then Perry 00:39:56.380 --> 00:40:00.139 asks a unhinged question that I don't even know 00:40:00.139 --> 00:40:02.639 what it is. He's going to bring it. And I apologize 00:40:02.639 --> 00:40:05.460 in advance for whatever it is. How dare you? 00:40:05.800 --> 00:40:09.699 So first, easy ones. You get to erase one corporate 00:40:09.699 --> 00:40:13.619 buzzword from existence. What is it? Corporate 00:40:13.619 --> 00:40:18.119 buzzword. I don't know. Maybe take that offline. 00:40:19.400 --> 00:40:22.460 Yeah, nice. That just sounds like you want to 00:40:22.460 --> 00:40:26.119 fight with someone. Let's take this offline, 00:40:26.260 --> 00:40:28.500 bro. I catch myself saying that. I'm like, oh, 00:40:28.539 --> 00:40:32.110 God, stop it. I cringe when I say a lot of the 00:40:32.110 --> 00:40:34.869 things, which I do all the time. Okay, you're 00:40:34.869 --> 00:40:37.349 going to give a presentation in front of 50 ,000 00:40:37.349 --> 00:40:41.550 people. What's the song you walk out to? Oh, 00:40:41.570 --> 00:40:45.610 that's easy. The theme song from Shaft. What's 00:40:45.610 --> 00:40:48.010 the theme song from Shaft? Oh, yeah. What do 00:40:48.010 --> 00:40:51.750 they say, Shaft? Isaac Hayes. Yeah. Oh, my God. 00:40:52.530 --> 00:40:56.070 That's interesting. Why that one? Because he 00:40:56.070 --> 00:41:01.019 is one cool cat. Ah, nice. Like nothing says, 00:41:01.179 --> 00:41:05.300 you know, coolness and swagger than that. That's 00:41:05.300 --> 00:41:09.019 a good one. Okay, I like it. Okay, if you had 00:41:09.019 --> 00:41:12.760 to do a TED Talk on anything other than communications 00:41:12.760 --> 00:41:18.400 or politics, things you worked in, what would 00:41:18.400 --> 00:41:22.039 it be? Okay, do I have to be an expert in this 00:41:22.039 --> 00:41:25.829 subject? You're going to get up and do a TED 00:41:25.829 --> 00:41:28.690 Talk. I don't know. You know what? I mean, I 00:41:28.690 --> 00:41:31.210 can see, like we talked a lot about AI. I can 00:41:31.210 --> 00:41:35.429 see use cases for applying AI to solve the world's 00:41:35.429 --> 00:41:37.650 toughest challenges when it comes to climate 00:41:37.650 --> 00:41:40.969 change, when it comes to foreign wars, you know. 00:41:41.010 --> 00:41:44.349 And I would love to talk about, you know, what's 00:41:44.349 --> 00:41:47.809 possible if AI were applied in the right way 00:41:47.809 --> 00:41:50.730 to change the world. I like that. That's like 00:41:50.730 --> 00:41:57.550 existential. Yeah. um okay you only get to use 00:41:57.550 --> 00:42:00.570 one emoji for the rest of your life which one 00:42:00.570 --> 00:42:05.170 uh you know um i probably do the thumbs up more 00:42:05.170 --> 00:42:08.269 than i should um i think i probably the one i 00:42:08.269 --> 00:42:10.510 use probably the most is just the basic smiley 00:42:10.510 --> 00:42:13.349 face i think like you know let's let's just have 00:42:13.349 --> 00:42:16.449 a basic smile and smile. You're a vanilla emoji 00:42:16.449 --> 00:42:19.670 user. And also very optimistic too. Like most 00:42:19.670 --> 00:42:22.150 people are like, I use the melty face or I use 00:42:22.150 --> 00:42:24.909 the poop emoji. You're like thumbs up and smile. 00:42:25.449 --> 00:42:28.590 I'll be honest. Yeah. I'm not an emoji guy. I 00:42:28.590 --> 00:42:33.030 only had one. I just use the basic smiley. Basic 00:42:33.030 --> 00:42:37.329 bitch emoji user. Okay. This is my new question 00:42:37.329 --> 00:42:40.949 for rapid fire questions. And what is your favorite 00:42:40.949 --> 00:42:44.489 AI tool of the moment? Of the moment, I'm going 00:42:44.489 --> 00:42:47.849 to go with 11 Labs. That's the voice tool that 00:42:47.849 --> 00:42:50.010 I use. And they've just got a lot of different 00:42:50.010 --> 00:42:53.769 types of voices and they're very realistic. And 00:42:53.769 --> 00:42:57.389 it's fun to, you know, to hear what it says. 00:42:58.610 --> 00:43:00.650 Solid. Put the words in its mouth and it'll say 00:43:00.650 --> 00:43:05.469 it. And with that, I will hand it over to my 00:43:05.469 --> 00:43:08.530 unhinged. uh co -host yeah well this is the most 00:43:08.530 --> 00:43:10.869 important question of the podcast i think you 00:43:10.869 --> 00:43:13.949 can sense the gravitas um that's about to come 00:43:13.949 --> 00:43:17.789 your way so here's a hypothetical for you you 00:43:17.789 --> 00:43:21.429 are free to enjoy 25 million dollars in cash 00:43:21.429 --> 00:43:24.429 no taxes taken out you can take it put it right 00:43:24.429 --> 00:43:26.349 in your bank and walk away right off into the 00:43:26.349 --> 00:43:28.789 sunset enjoy it for the rest of your life in 00:43:28.789 --> 00:43:33.300 exchange for one time per day Every single day 00:43:33.300 --> 00:43:35.760 of your life until you die, you will be stung 00:43:35.760 --> 00:43:40.900 by one bee. And not only that, you don't know 00:43:40.900 --> 00:43:42.820 when it's going to happen. It'll happen maybe 00:43:42.820 --> 00:43:44.460 when you're sleeping, maybe when you're in the 00:43:44.460 --> 00:43:48.059 shower, maybe when you're at work and it'll be 00:43:48.059 --> 00:43:51.320 filmed. The sting will be filmed and you'll be 00:43:51.320 --> 00:43:53.500 covered. So there's no weirdness, but it'll be 00:43:53.500 --> 00:43:55.760 filmed and your reactions will be posted on Instagram. 00:43:55.880 --> 00:43:58.000 Every time you're stung once a day, it'll be 00:43:58.000 --> 00:44:01.599 up on an Instagram that is wildly popular. I 00:44:01.599 --> 00:44:04.780 almost feel like the latter part makes you want 00:44:04.780 --> 00:44:06.900 to do it more because at least there's like a 00:44:06.900 --> 00:44:09.119 positive outcome. You will be captured getting 00:44:09.119 --> 00:44:11.820 stung uncomfortably as hell one time per day 00:44:11.820 --> 00:44:14.659 until you die. And every day will be posted on 00:44:14.659 --> 00:44:16.659 Instagram on a dedicated channel that is watched 00:44:16.659 --> 00:44:19.239 by millions. You're creating excellent content. 00:44:19.500 --> 00:44:22.099 I mean, yeah. You're answering for him. Let him 00:44:22.099 --> 00:44:27.360 answer. I'm just, I'm adding context. And is 00:44:27.360 --> 00:44:29.059 this a honeybee we're talking about or is it 00:44:29.059 --> 00:44:30.159 a yellow jacket? No, this is an aggressive yellow 00:44:30.159 --> 00:44:34.550 jacket. If it were an aggressive yellow jacket, 00:44:34.849 --> 00:44:37.610 I might be able to take it. If it's a honeybee, 00:44:37.769 --> 00:44:40.389 the answer is no, because I'm highly allergic 00:44:40.389 --> 00:44:43.829 and I would have to be doing an EpiPen every 00:44:43.829 --> 00:44:48.309 single day. Okay. Yeah. I don't think my body 00:44:48.309 --> 00:44:51.909 could take it. So yes to pain, no to asphyxiation. 00:44:52.510 --> 00:44:56.210 So you would get stung, surprise stung, every 00:44:56.210 --> 00:45:00.369 single day for the rest of your life. I've been 00:45:00.369 --> 00:45:03.829 stung by yellow jackets. It's manageable. If 00:45:03.829 --> 00:45:06.250 I got stung by a bee, that would be a different 00:45:06.250 --> 00:45:08.530 story. My body wouldn't be able to take it. Now 00:45:08.530 --> 00:45:10.210 I understand why you have the shaft theme song, 00:45:10.289 --> 00:45:12.690 because that's pretty badass. I'm not going to 00:45:12.690 --> 00:45:14.150 get stung by a bee every day for the rest of 00:45:14.150 --> 00:45:16.289 my life. That's not worth it. I don't even think 00:45:16.289 --> 00:45:18.429 I would take it if somebody was going to like. 00:45:18.980 --> 00:45:22.099 Scare me every day. Like I don't like being, 00:45:22.599 --> 00:45:24.360 you know, like I don't even think I would take 00:45:24.360 --> 00:45:26.059 it then. It's like not worth it for me to have 00:45:26.059 --> 00:45:28.800 my nervous system. But imagine that. I mean, 00:45:28.800 --> 00:45:31.079 I'm thinking of starting just an Instagram page 00:45:31.079 --> 00:45:32.539 of just people getting stunk. I think that's 00:45:32.539 --> 00:45:37.420 hilarious. I mean, that's what AI is for. You 00:45:37.420 --> 00:45:39.699 could just have Sora make you videos all day 00:45:39.699 --> 00:45:41.800 long. It's aggressive. It hurts, but no one's 00:45:41.800 --> 00:45:43.519 going to die as long as you're not allergic. 00:45:43.659 --> 00:45:46.320 So it's funny enough and just sadistic enough 00:45:46.320 --> 00:45:49.400 to be catchy. Well, there you go. That's your 00:45:49.400 --> 00:45:54.199 next business, right? Wasp influencer. Although 00:45:54.199 --> 00:45:58.519 I did go down a deep dive of people who go and 00:45:58.519 --> 00:46:01.659 like remove infestations from people's houses 00:46:01.659 --> 00:46:05.500 and stuff. Those are crazy cool videos. You should 00:46:05.500 --> 00:46:07.320 watch them if you haven't, where they go and 00:46:07.320 --> 00:46:10.880 they like pull off like roof panels. And then 00:46:10.880 --> 00:46:13.840 there's like these massive, massive like, you 00:46:13.840 --> 00:46:17.530 know. Feet long beehives and they find the queen 00:46:17.530 --> 00:46:19.449 and pull them out. They are so cavalier about 00:46:19.449 --> 00:46:21.050 it too, these people. I've seen these videos. 00:46:21.150 --> 00:46:22.630 I've gone down the same rat hole. I'd be like, 00:46:22.710 --> 00:46:25.389 oh my God, how are you doing that? The whole 00:46:25.389 --> 00:46:27.510 time you're watching it, you're just like, oh 00:46:27.510 --> 00:46:29.389 my God, oh my God. Because not only are they 00:46:29.389 --> 00:46:31.250 doing this with the bees, they're like, you know, 00:46:31.289 --> 00:46:33.369 hanging off the side of a building while they 00:46:33.369 --> 00:46:35.849 do it and like eating lunch. It's crazy. Yeah, 00:46:35.869 --> 00:46:39.239 I'll pass on that job. Yeah, well. You have too 00:46:39.239 --> 00:46:41.940 many other jobs. Yeah, especially jujitsu. You 00:46:41.940 --> 00:46:48.159 got to diversify, but not that much. All right, 00:46:48.159 --> 00:46:51.400 Ian, I'm going to give you the final word. Is 00:46:51.400 --> 00:46:54.079 there anything you would like our viewers slash 00:46:54.079 --> 00:46:58.320 listeners to know or take away? Be kind to each 00:46:58.320 --> 00:47:00.860 other. You know, life's too short. And, you know, 00:47:00.860 --> 00:47:03.940 we're all in this together. How about that? Smile 00:47:03.940 --> 00:47:13.070 emoji and thumbs up emoji, my man. Thank you.