Episode Transcript
[00:00:23] Speaker A: We made it.
[00:00:24] Speaker B: To say we get here early is an understatement. They're still running the carpet Zamboni.
[00:00:30] Speaker A: We had to get registered.
[00:00:31] Speaker B: We did. We made it. We circled this place all night last night until finally we could land flooding. We heard we missed all the excitement.
[00:00:42] Speaker A: I know the annual Amp conference and expo started off with a splash.
[00:00:48] Speaker B: Oh Jim would be so proud. If you haven't realized it's a sometimes Ashley event. But we are. We're here behind the scenes in the existence hall at the Amp annual. And looking around, we already see so many of our friends here in just a bit. Actually we're going to interview the CEO, Mister Allen Thomas for the podcast and then we're going to pop around this exhibit hall and check out some of these cool halls. I'm looking at the Dairyland lounge right here in front of us. Full on arcade. I mean, I'm not even joking.
Lots of innovation here. Are both of our first times here at AMP.
[00:01:28] Speaker A: Yep, absolutely.
[00:01:29] Speaker B: It says so right on our beds. And we have the dots if you.
[00:01:33] Speaker A: Know, you know, already seeing some friends. We know. We got the AI team back behind.
[00:01:38] Speaker B: Us, which was part of the chaos yesterday.
They're such an awesome group. They were already laughing about it this morning.
Mesa over here, we're sitting in the tree, anti corrosion material.
Shout out to Jody Ruthledge if you know her.
Sorry, they don't even know. We're just kind of camping out. So hey, stay tuned, we'll bring some stuff on.
We just started like five minutes. Okay.
We are blessed today to be at the amp annual conference and expo. And I'm speaking with the CEO, Mister Allen Thomas, who we became friends on LinkedIn here recently and now we're best friends. Thank you, Kyle. Absolutely. Thanks for having us. I was excited to come out. I've heard great things about this event for a long time. We have a lot of friends in this industry, so being able to come in here and see is right behind this. The hall's going on, the expo is cranking off. You got to be excited about this event.
[00:02:40] Speaker C: Super excited. We have two records. We have the highest number of exhibitors. This year we're at 381 walters and we had over 6000 attendees.
[00:02:50] Speaker B: 6000 people. That's a lot of folks. I think I saw everyone over on last night.
So we heard, so we heard. Kudos to your team. I know sometimes we deal with adversity in our industry. Nothing new. It sounds like we were meant to be here, right? But your team turned it around and what a story to tell for years to come. It's going to be a blast.
So I wanted to talk to you a little bit about kind of how you got here. Right. So CEO here, I hear, right out of here. Right? I know, right? Or this week maybe. So congratulations on that. I know you've put a lot of work in there. How did you end up here? And then this is a short show.
[00:03:32] Speaker C: You know I have four thoughts, right?
Just divine appointment is what I want.
It's been the best professional year in my life to serve this great association.
Extremely tight group around the world, extremely knowledgeable group, and they have a really good message and we want to advance it.
At the end of the day, what our membership does is to keep the world safe, keep our assets operating as they should. Assets like bridges, planes, trains, ships, all that.
They don't get the credit they deserve. And the good news is they're not enough for the credit there to make sure that we protect assets and protect humans.
[00:04:17] Speaker B: There are a ton of passionate people in this industry. There's no doubt about it. You're being one of those.
It must be neat to come to a gathering like this, like you said, record setting in so many ways, but also to look around and see your staff and the committees and all the folks that pour time and effort and money into this machine. Right, if you will. How proud are you to see all this happening this week?
[00:04:45] Speaker C: Proud is understatement. Proud Papa. I'm more humbled than I am. I'm proud for them. And we have twelve overriding committees and then hundreds of subcommittees under that, and thousands upon thousands of volunteers globally that fill those committees and bring the subject matter expertise to the industry. And they use AMP as the platform for that. So it's always remarkable to see how that machine works.
All volunteer led and volunteer driven.
That's what's really amazing, to serve a group like that.
[00:05:20] Speaker B: Absolutely. I cheated a little bit before I prepped on the prep is, yeah. But I took a glance at the strategic plan that's laid out for AMP, and two of the key kind of goals, or maybe milestones near the bottom was around knowledge and the workforce. Will you talk a little bit about why that's so important right now for this organization?
[00:05:44] Speaker C: Sure. The first one being knowledge. We are the thought leaders of the industry. And AMP has the largest repository of documented and undocumented knowledge and information as relates to asset integrity, materials protection, materials performance, from cathodic protection to coatings to offshore to wind to pipeline to aerospace.
And we want to make that repository accessible to the world. We're investigating ways of using AI to facilitate that. We have a new content management system that's being rolled out at the end of this year. But what we're really excited about is the workforce development piece. In fact, our board of directors has recently just voted and agreed to pursue a strategy around workforce development. We're still in the strategy formation part of that, but we've identified that it's so important to the industry that we're going to separate it out as a single entity that has a sole focus, a sole purpose, a sole board of directors that focuses exclusively on how we elevate this industry and how we attract more people into the industry, and then most importantly, how we train, qualify, and educate them.
[00:07:00] Speaker B: You're speaking my love language. I'm telling you that hopefully this year. Yeah. So that's part of the reason that we do this podcast, too, is to tell the stories of people all throughout this industry, right? Because I haven't always been here. I've only been here eight years. I got here as fast as I could, right? This is my first amp show. All right. Looking around, very excited. So I have your ear for just a second, and I would love to know, and I think I know the answer. But what excites you the most about what's going on here at amphibian in and around?
[00:07:38] Speaker C: I share this with our staff.
There's too many things to list in your program. And again, thank you for having us. It's important for us to be able to share our message, too.
Our board of directors and leadership have made remarkable decisions this year that will impact the future of your organization for years to come. The thing that really excites me, though, other than being able to help manage that and shape that and work with our passionate staff, we have about 200 people, employees worldwide, that love this mission, love the organization. But when I get to go visit a country, meet with our chapters, and meet with our volunteer leaders, and I get to hear a story about a person who took out a loan or has saved up as much money as they could to achieve one of our professional certifications, because it literally changes their life and it changes their quality of life. It changes their family's quality of life, and they look back to amp as that source of that change. That, that's the real deal there.
[00:08:45] Speaker B: When you get.
[00:08:46] Speaker C: They're in tears and they're telling you how much they appreciate, you know, what you do for them. But in reality, it's, you know, what they do for us and what they do for the industry is where the real, the real magic happens. So I love to hear that story never get told. I hear in India, I hear it in Asia, here in the Middle East. I hear it in Latin America. Of course, in the US, it's always great to get that.
[00:09:10] Speaker B: Yeah. And you can see that here with like, job fairs. And I told our taxi driver on the way over, on the way in from there for he said something. He was griping about having the drive in the weather. And I said, maybe you should come by and check out the conference. Right. There's plenty of jobs out there. And so in the same breath, I'd be remiss not to ask you what keeps you up at night?
[00:09:37] Speaker C: Well, again, that short program. Right, right.
I'm going to be honest with you. There's not a lot that keeps me up at night.
We have a incredible leadership in our boards of directors. Our staff, as they proved yesterday, can pivot on the die. There's nothing nicolas excitement. I mean, there's, you know, there's. Those things are outside of your control. But yeah, I would say I'm the kind of person, I have insomnia more because of the things I'm excited about.
[00:10:05] Speaker B: I know. That's good. That's a good reason.
Well, hey, I appreciate you having shout and being on.
Hey. For my aunt. We'll be back.
Actually, we have, like, we've bumped into so many people that we know from our other part of life. Not just the corrosion side. And Kevin is one of those. Kevin, I know. We were on a call not too long ago. It's cool that we got to meet up. Do me a favor. Anybody back home that might not know who you are, who you're with, go ahead and introduce yourself.
[00:10:39] Speaker D: My name is Kevin Klossmeyer. I'm the vice president of server use field services integrity management side of the business. So I've been involved in corrosion control for 29 years. So a lot of experience in industry.
[00:10:53] Speaker B: Very cool. So we're at the AMP annual conference.
Heard this morning directly from the CEO that there are over 6000 people here, which is a ton of people for our industry. A great show. Have you been out here before?
[00:11:09] Speaker D: I have been to about five of the amp shows over the years. Different parts of the country.
Historically. This is about the turnout that they get.
[00:11:19] Speaker B: It's really good.
[00:11:19] Speaker D: They've done a nice job.
[00:11:20] Speaker B: Yeah, it's a very great event.
[00:11:22] Speaker D: It brings the industry together.
[00:11:24] Speaker B: Yeah. And you've been here long enough. You know that upstairs and just around here, there's a lot of learning and growing going on. I'm sure you've learned a few things while you've been here.
[00:11:35] Speaker E: Yes.
[00:11:36] Speaker D: And I think really the whole concept for us and for the industry is to share our industry knowledge and to gain industry knowledge from other people, from our peers. That is the main goal. And then it wraps in for us. It's a pipeline safety issue. So all that we learn, all that we can grasp, all that we can share relates back to pipeline safety.
[00:11:57] Speaker B: Yeah, it's great you say that, you know, pipeline safety is everything. And for a lot of us, what we're out talking about is the fact that pipeline safety doesn't stop really at any time. You know, and you don't just put on a pipeline safety hat. It's something that doesn't, you know, our cultures that we built. I know you guys are passionate about it.
[00:12:17] Speaker D: Yes, we are very passionate.
[00:12:19] Speaker B: Well, if you could say one thing to the people back home that might motivate them to come out to amp, what would you say?
[00:12:26] Speaker D: I think the main thing is just the to increase your knowledge of the industry, to share with the professionals here and then also to gain a little more understanding too. Because we work in a regulated business for the most part. And I think it's important to gain that understanding as well. The regulations have been around since August 1, 1971. And it's important, you know, I'm an older guy, I get that. Allegedly young people coming into the industry and it's nice to be able to share that with them.
[00:12:58] Speaker B: That's a great message, Kevin. Appreciate you. Appreciate you. It's good to meet. Hey, we'll be back, Cody. We. We are like LinkedIn friends. So we're like best friends, basically. We're just talking about it.
[00:13:15] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:13:16] Speaker B: So it's neat to see somebody in person. We commanded your space earlier for the intro. No one was here, James. Yeah, we sat down and we said we had asked for forgiveness. But do us a favor. For those that don't know you, please introduce yourself and who you're with.
[00:13:31] Speaker A: Sure. Jody Rutledge, regional sales manager, Trenton Corporation.
Here with our global team with the guys from. Thank you, James. Go ahead and give the spiel.
Been enjoying time with our global team, seeing customers and getting to see the folks from our industry.
[00:13:48] Speaker B: We were talking about some big show. I heard it's record breaking. 6000 people here. Over 6000. So get ready. If you haven't seen them all, you will. Today.
A big exhibit hall.
How many years have you came here to this show?
[00:14:07] Speaker A: Thanks for asking, James. This is actually Trenton's 75th anniversary this year. So. Got started in the late forties, early fifties, and have grown since then. Thankfully, my 6th year with Trenton, 12th year in the industry.
[00:14:22] Speaker B: Wow. And you've been to this show before?
[00:14:24] Speaker A: Yes. So we come annually to the AMP conference.
[00:14:28] Speaker B: This is our first time, actually, behind the camera, so we're taking it all in. It's such a great. So much innovation in here.
If you were trying to motivate people to come out and check this event out and see what all is going on, especially here in the hall, what would you tell them?
[00:14:45] Speaker A: Right. So our.
[00:14:46] Speaker B: I.
[00:14:46] Speaker A: You feel like, and I think you would agree to this, our industry is so relationship based, and there's such a resource for people to come and be educated on new technology, historical technology. So if you're in the asset integrity corrosion space, this is the place to find out the information.
[00:15:03] Speaker B: It's the place to be.
[00:15:05] Speaker A: It is.
[00:15:05] Speaker B: All the cool kids. I have to ask, because we're standing in front of this intentionally. Tell me a little bit about what's going on here. I mean, this isn't just eye candy, is it?
[00:15:16] Speaker A: No, it is. It's just to attract people in. Right.
So this is our wax tape two material. This is one of our proprietary tapes service. Life on this is anywhere between 30 to 40 years. We got a series of outer wraps that work in conjunction just as a mechanical protection to the wax tape, and then inner coat and guard wrap, which is a hot heated liquid wax that firms up. So a lot more detail we can go into. But great company to be a part of. And really, our motto is, how can we help? So stop by, say hello, and we'll have a discussion on what you'd like to take a look at. That's it. Thanks for saying hello.
[00:15:57] Speaker B: So nice to meet you.
[00:15:57] Speaker A: Likewise.
[00:15:58] Speaker B: Hey, we'll be back.
Can you do that?
Cole, I feel like for a few conferences, you were in my world, right?
[00:16:13] Speaker E: Yeah.
[00:16:14] Speaker B: And then the last two times I've seen you, I feel like I've been in your world, if that makes sense. AI world obviously was dead on your event, but also here in amp. You guys are at home, aren't you? Yes.
[00:16:26] Speaker E: This is probably our biggest event that we put on outside of our own AI world. I mean, not to. Yeah. Not saying anything gets. Damn. This is probably the biggest event that we put on outside of AI world.
[00:16:40] Speaker B: I know that. Well, before we get too far down the road, let everybody know who you are and who you with. Yes.
[00:16:46] Speaker E: So, my name is Cole Finney. I'm a product marketing manager at American Innovations.
[00:16:51] Speaker B: Sometimes I feel like everybody knows you.
You had us out back in November. Was it November at y'all's event, AI World last year in Austin, which was an awesome time. But I'll tell you, while we were there, we met so many people that now I've seen two, three times since the great people over at Mesa and bass over there. Just amazing, folks. I was at the fort, ill. I slapped the mic again.
I was at the Fort Worth stockyards for the short course. Right? Great group there. So again, seeing you here, you, you gotta be proud of this team. I know last night didn't go as planned. A little bit. There was a little bit of rain.
[00:17:37] Speaker E: Showers indoors, a little bit of some no cost water feature going on.
[00:17:41] Speaker B: Yeah, it's funny, we were in the air. Ashley and I were trying to get into town and we were circling, trying to land. Big storm here, obviously. And you sent that video. And my reply to you was, rain is just pouring down on there airstream, this one. And I said, did y'all seriously put in a water feature? It looked like it was playing. Yeah. And you said, no, it was not.
[00:18:07] Speaker E: Courtesy of New Orleans herself.
[00:18:10] Speaker B: Hey, but in adversity, I saw your group, Ashley, and I saw your group turn it into. I mean, it is what it is, right? What are you gonna do? The group here at the convention center of freeman, also the amp team as a whole, everyone kind of came together. I think it says something about our industry.
[00:18:32] Speaker E: It really does. I mean, everybody's here to make sure everybody has knowledge transfer. You feel comfortable in this industry? There's wanting to get more people joining. So Amp is here for y'all. And so they proved that for us yesterday. Same with Freeman. And I mean, we make. We just make it through adversity.
And of all the people that happen to, having a roof over the head makes it a little nicer.
[00:18:55] Speaker B: I know it could have been a lot worse. Well, hey, appreciate you kind of indoctrinating us into this industry.
We're here 6000 people. Is there anything that you would say to folks back home that might inspire them to come out to amp next year?
[00:19:12] Speaker E: Well, I mean, really, Amp is the place for. I mean, it's a lot of cathodic protection, but for coatings, if you're in corrosion, Amp is the place to be. There's a lot of very smart, very talented people in this industry.
I mean, the amount of people you meet used technicians, non technicians, data side, it's hard to match. I mean, there's so many people here that just can transfer all the knowledge of this industry that needs to be transferred.
It's hard to beat outside of Am.
[00:19:45] Speaker B: There's a lot of great people and you're one of them. Appreciate you, brother.
[00:19:48] Speaker E: Thank you, James.
[00:19:48] Speaker B: Hey, we'll be back.
We're walking through the hall and we run in. We've never met in person, sir. This is it right here. It's a moment. Comes up behind, shakes us and says, hey, they'll let anybody in here. Which is true.
Hey, for anybody who doesn't know you, which I can't imagine, introduce yourself to people back home. Sure.
[00:20:11] Speaker F: I am Jim Kunkel. I'm a certified protective coding specialist. I work for international paint access and Abel. And I am a major fan of coffee with Jim and James.
[00:20:21] Speaker B: Oh, what a profession.
[00:20:22] Speaker F: And Ashley.
[00:20:23] Speaker B: Sometimes, Ashley. We're making it a thing this year. We're right in your backyard. Man in amp. Right? Yeah. Welcome. You. You have to be impressed by what we understand is a record breaking show on two accounts. Both the exhibit hall and we're over 6000 people here.
How long have you been coming to this event?
[00:20:45] Speaker F: So over almost 15 years now. Yeah, 15 years through SSPC days international now I am, yep.
[00:20:53] Speaker B: So it has to mean a lot to you to come here. There's a lot of learning that goes on right upstairs and even in the back here and at every booth. How much have you learned from your years of involvement here?
[00:21:06] Speaker F: Well, I think what I've learned a lot about is where the industry's kind of heading. Like yesterday, the keynote speaker talked about artificial intelligence and about how it will be applied in coatings and corrosion. And, you know, from my background on digital transformation, that is really important, I think. And I learned a lot not only in the new technologies that are here, but also best practices standards and also to new opportunities for coatings and corrosion.
[00:21:33] Speaker B: No doubt. No doubt. Well, we're talking kind of back to the audience back home that maybe hasn't come out to an amp event before.
Maybe is on the fence, wondering, should they come out, what would you say to those folks might inspire them to join us next year?
[00:21:49] Speaker F: Yeah. What I think if you work in or support the coatings and or corrosion industries, if you're not participating with AMP and that could be anything from a chapter to a regional conference to the main conference like here in New Orleans, that you are totally missing out because there's such a transformative change happening both in codence and corrosion, and you're missing out. So you need to be here. You really do. And participate.
[00:22:16] Speaker B: Yeah. And you can learn here, but also you can get involved. There's a lot of committees and a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes. This is a big organization, a lot of ways to get involved. Have you been involved like that for years?
[00:22:30] Speaker F: Yeah. So for years, you know, I started working off with, working at Legacy SSPC, the merger with NAce, working for about a year with AMP. Now I work with International paying Axo Nobel. And, you know, another message I would send it if you're a professional salesperson, that this is a great event to really work, meet new contacts, your prospects, I'm sorry, your clients that you have and develop new business. And as I, you probably saw it published in the last blog, my message to salespeople is that your company is spending thousands of dollars to send you here. You better maximize the ROI and don't sit in the booth, don't twiddle your phone and talk to people and get selling.
[00:23:14] Speaker B: Yeah. There's a lot to learn in this hall, a lot of great connections. You're one of them. Appreciate you, brother.
[00:23:20] Speaker F: Thank you.
[00:23:20] Speaker B: Always appreciate meeting someone in person that we know met on LinkedIn a long time ago. You've been a huge supporter. We're a huge supporter. Oh, I slapped the mic. Such a professional of yours, your work as well. So I appreciate the work you do. Yeah.
[00:23:36] Speaker F: And I just want to say that I do appreciate coffee with Jim and James and Ashley.
[00:23:41] Speaker G: Not.
[00:23:41] Speaker F: Not sometimes, always Ashley.
[00:23:43] Speaker B: That's a pickup right there, so. All right. Hey, we'll be back.
We're at amp.
Ran into this guy.
[00:23:56] Speaker G: New Orleans.
[00:23:57] Speaker B: How many years you've been coming down?
[00:23:59] Speaker G: This is my 16th annual conference.
[00:24:01] Speaker B: Are you being serious?
[00:24:02] Speaker G: Yeah.
[00:24:03] Speaker B: You start when you're 2010 to 2009.
[00:24:07] Speaker G: Yeah, I was ten years old. No, I'm gonna be 40 this year, but, yeah, 16th annual conference.
[00:24:14] Speaker B: It's a long time. You were learning. You've been learning a lot. There's. There's a lot of learning goes on.
[00:24:19] Speaker G: Plenty of learning that goes on, especially right here in these exhibit halls.
[00:24:22] Speaker B: This is where the magic happens.
[00:24:24] Speaker G: This is where the magic happens. This is where all the new technology in our industry comes out. Everyone brings out their best, but, yeah, the exhibit hall is the way to go. There's also, of course, all the white papers and educational technical presentations, all the.
[00:24:40] Speaker B: Breakout sessions, which are great.
[00:24:43] Speaker G: Knocking them. I love them. Still hoping to get a spot to be able to speak at one of those one year.
[00:24:48] Speaker B: Well, we all have to have goals. You heard it here first, Jared. There's a few people back home, maybe don't know who you are, who you're with. Do us a favor.
[00:24:56] Speaker G: Jarrett Relsfield. I am with Mesa Services.
I've been here for a little over two years now, but previous to that was bass engineering, about 13 years with that group. And in January of 22 we were purchased, acquired by Mesa. And so here we are, living the dream.
[00:25:19] Speaker B: Big event. I heard. We just interviewed Alan Thomas and he told us this is a record breaking year in exhibiting and in attendance. Over 6000 people here.
You have to be pumped to see all these people milling around. You guys have been involved here a long time and this is like, you know, the end all, be all. Each year.
[00:25:41] Speaker G: Every year is a record year. It feels like every year it gets bigger and bigger.
It's probably the second or third time I've attended here in New Orleans.
But again, it's the big show, right? This is the big show. This is where everyone from across the world shows up and you get to have some pretty unique conversations and learn about what situations, what problems they're having and if we've got the right solution for them.
[00:26:08] Speaker B: If you don't remember, Jarrett was actually. You're like the Coco co host.
[00:26:13] Speaker F: Yes.
[00:26:14] Speaker B: Of coffee with Jim and James.
[00:26:15] Speaker G: Still waiting on that phone call of hey, Jim's out. I need Jarrett.
[00:26:19] Speaker B: This might be your moment. You know, you could slide in with sometimes, Jarrett, but you, you had a great show. You know, when we, we put that one out, it was something new. We had never done, handing the mics off and trusting someone in it, and we haven't ever done it since.
But the truth is that sometimes we can't capture the story that needs to be captured. And I would say I went back and listened to it because I kind of, I got out of there, man. I took a break when you were recording, but be able to come back and listen to, I just wanted to say thank you because you really did capture that story. And hopefully we motivated a ton of folks that maybe didn't see themselves in this industry or maybe haven't found themselves in this industry yet. And kudos for that.
[00:27:08] Speaker G: Absolutely. And I'll be the first to tell you, I never envisioned myself in this industry either. I grew up with those two guys as, you know, dad, really in Mister Jim Bass. But you know, I never, never took the time to really figure out what they did for a living and until I was probably 24 or 25 years old. So I'm glad I did when I did.
You know, they've been in it their whole lives and it took me a long time to figure it out. But I'm glad I'm here.
[00:27:34] Speaker B: It was a great story. Appreciate you sharing it with us. Good seeing you, man. Go explore. I will. I will. I know you brought something. And so, for those who hadn't seen.
[00:27:46] Speaker G: This guy, the one of our earlier.
[00:27:49] Speaker B: Interviews, there were only three or four people.
[00:27:53] Speaker G: James was wearing his don't trip hat, which is a.
[00:27:56] Speaker B: His tribute to Magnolia. Yeah.
[00:27:59] Speaker G: And so, stumbling around, I happened to see this thing and I thought, you know, there's only one guy that's going to need this and it's going to be this guy.
[00:28:06] Speaker B: So.
[00:28:07] Speaker G: Yeah. So if you haven't seen his home podcast. His home podcast, he's got a nice wall behind him, full of art. And so I figured, you know what, what better place than to hang this thing? There you go.
[00:28:18] Speaker B: Pretty cool, brother. I appreciate you. Good to see you. Hey, we'll be back.
Well, this is a long time coming. We. I'm trying to think when Jim ran into you, maybe it was one of these or a regional.
[00:28:33] Speaker H: I think it was. It was through someone else even. Who said, you need to connect with Jim and James?
[00:28:39] Speaker B: Probably Tammy. Yeah, I think it was Tammy Beaumont.
[00:28:43] Speaker H: So this is the first in person meeting.
[00:28:45] Speaker B: Yeah. So we went back and forth on email a bit and we just couldn't pull it off. We were all busy. Right.
Do me a favor. For those that don't know you, please introduce yourself who you are and who you're with.
[00:28:58] Speaker H: Great. Yeah. I'm Kaylee Durham. I work with Dairyland Electricity Industries. We're based in Wisconsin. I am up in Minnesota. So I did try to enunciate that a little bit more. Minnesota.
[00:29:09] Speaker B: Jim would be proud.
[00:29:11] Speaker H: And I'm our evp of culture and formation.
[00:29:14] Speaker B: And that's where we connected because at the time, I was the chief culture officer, so we. That's really. You don't hear those titles out. Well, you don't. You do now. Yeah, I think we pioneered that.
[00:29:25] Speaker A: I think so.
[00:29:25] Speaker H: Nice work.
[00:29:27] Speaker B: The work happens in the trenches.
But we came across your booth and realized that this was where we needed to be. As it goes on behind us, it is the arcade lounge. Right. Tell me a little bit about what inspired this design here for the team.
[00:29:47] Speaker H: Sure. Yeah. So I'll say over the last roughly five to six years, we've been really, really trying to explore how do we take something that has been part of our identity for a long time, but pretty covert, which is kind of the sense of business as a force for good. Our founder was very committed to the idea of generosity, but is a very private person. And I think about at that five, six year ago mark, we felt like there is such potential to take the next step of intentionality for ourselves, but also invite our team, our industry, into impact. And so we wanted to have a space that is kind of dedicated to exploring that with our industry.
[00:30:26] Speaker B: And I like how so there's a big element of fun. There's a claw machine behind us. Ashley behind the camera, just won basketball over here. There's video games. But all of this is kind of driving towards a donation as well. Right. You want to talk a little bit about that? Sure.
[00:30:45] Speaker H: Yeah. So when you enter the space, you get blue tickets, and red tickets are yet ahead. So the blue tickets, we will make the donation on behalf of attendees, and they just get to choose which of three nonprofits, one local to New Orleans, another that's across the US, and then yet another that has kind of global reach. So, yeah, I think that element of fun is something that we all really enjoy, but it's. It's been neat to do something where people are already participating. They don't have to pull some, you know, bills out of their wallet.
[00:31:16] Speaker B: And also, you said something about that all the games that are here are being donated at the end.
[00:31:23] Speaker H: Yeah. After the conference, we'll donate to the local nonprofit all of the arcade games, Papa shots.
[00:31:29] Speaker B: That's amazing. And so that sounds like. And I'm just guessing here, but it sounds. Sounds like a real extension of y'all's culture there, their land, which, obviously is in your charge. So tell me a little bit about what that means for you. What. You know, everyone kind of has their own definition of what culture means, but for you, what does that mean?
[00:31:52] Speaker H: Yeah.
[00:31:52] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:31:53] Speaker H: I'm sure you've been asked that philosophical questions. Well, it's neat. We just kind of formed a culture group when we're exploring that as well. I mean, I think that culture is a lot of what you feel when you enter a space. There's always a culture. It's just, how are you being intentional about forming that in alignment with your values and what you desire? And so I think it's. It's what we feel, how we behave, the norms and rhythms that we say, this is part of our identity, or this is what's acceptable to us.
[00:32:25] Speaker B: I know that part of our mission here with the show is kind of letting people tell their story of how they ended up sitting right here. Right. We're in the middle. Vamp. 6000 people here this year. Record breaking.
How did you find yourself here? It's only a 30 minutes show, so.
[00:32:47] Speaker H: What do I scrape off?
[00:32:49] Speaker B: Chat chibi that I.
[00:32:51] Speaker H: So I joined the industry by saying, never.
I will never join the family company. To be quite honest with you, I have a real heart for folks experiencing poverty and injustice and suffering. And so I thought nonprofit is the way to do that and really have impact in the world, and I think that that is certainly a way to do it. I think I've also been on my own journey of seeing what business has to offer, and I think. I think so many people are longing to have a purposeful life, meaningful work.
[00:33:28] Speaker B: I think you can have both.
[00:33:29] Speaker H: And you can have both. Exactly. And so it's been, I think, a really exciting challenge, not without some fumbles along the way, but to try to figure out how do we do this as a company? We have a product that increases safety, but how do we also think about safety for our team members as they interact with each other and as we engage with our local communities in volunteering or giving development.
[00:33:56] Speaker B: That's great. So help me. Your second generation, third generation. Third generation.
That's no weight there on your shoulders.
[00:34:06] Speaker A: I know.
[00:34:06] Speaker B: No pressure.
[00:34:07] Speaker H: Is that what I feel when I wake up?
[00:34:09] Speaker B: That's what that is on my chest? No, it's a. Yeah, I'm sure there is a lot of expectation there, and we're a family company as well, and so those dynamics. But at the same time, when you're really doing something for your last name, you know, in a way, and really bringing it sounds like you're doing great work here.
I'm sure you're proud. It's neat to be here in the spotlight and have fun and do it. But this is the day to day stuff, is the stuff we have to wake up and do every day. So kudos, because it shows. Yeah.
[00:34:43] Speaker H: Well, thank you. And I've really appreciated your example, specifically from afar.
I think this is really exciting work. I think it's fun to be kind of pioneering that in some ways, and it. It benefits people.
[00:34:55] Speaker B: You need a support group.
[00:34:56] Speaker H: Yeah, seriously. Right. But truly, I will say it's been fun to increase this network of people thinking about these things and even to be reminded I'm not the only one. There are other people I can learn from them I can share. If there's something I've picked up along.
[00:35:09] Speaker B: The way, I speak on the topic. And one of the things I finish with is basically that if you want, people always ask, how do I get this started at where I'm at? Right. Look around. There's probably someone doing it all by themselves, right?
[00:35:25] Speaker H: Yeah.
[00:35:25] Speaker B: So if you start talking about it, you'll be surprised what you'll find. Kaylee, thank you so much. Thanks for finally linking up with us. Hey, we'll be back.
We were cruising down the halls and this guy LinkedIn messages me and says, hey, you gotta come by. I got something for you. And so, of course we came by. We don't mess around when we hear about gifts. Where are you in? Oh, yeah. What's the scoop?
[00:35:55] Speaker G: So we're with true solutions. And you talked to James bug a while back?
[00:36:00] Speaker B: Yeah, probably 18 months ago, maybe. No joke. Been a while.
[00:36:05] Speaker G: Well, our marketing person's like, make sure to catch them. We got some gifts for you, so if you want to open that bad.
[00:36:11] Speaker B: Boy up, well, while we're waiting, go ahead and let everybody know who you are and who you're with.
[00:36:16] Speaker G: Yeah. So, my name is Tyler Schlazelman. I'm with true solutions. We're a data collection iPad app geared towards amp compliance, but also API compliance, like 510, 500, 7653, 751. All those phone numbers, NDT stuff, UtM, TPT, BT, all the t's.
[00:36:35] Speaker B: All the t's, all the t's. Look at that. I assume they're both the same. Yeah, I think so. And I think it's only fair, actually, that the other one's yours because Jim's not here. It's not works. I love it. Hey, man, I appreciate you.
We're here at amp. Big event. Just over 6000 people here. Biggest one ever. How's the event been for y'all so far?
[00:36:58] Speaker G: It's been great. It's been great.
[00:37:00] Speaker B: It's good. A lot of foot traffic.
[00:37:01] Speaker G: Yeah, the big talking points from the head speaker was talking about AI and stuff like that, which is kind of good for us, to be honest.
[00:37:11] Speaker B: Right up your alley. Yeah, yeah.
[00:37:12] Speaker G: So everybody's like, we want to use AI, but they have paper reports. It's like, how are you gonna. They don't add up. They don't add up.
[00:37:20] Speaker B: Yeah, it's hard to get chat GPT to read paper these days. You go, you gotta digitize it. That's awesome, man. You guys are providing good stuff. We're trying to motivate people back home that maybe have never been out to these. There's a lot of learning that goes on in these sessions around also in these halls. There's so much innovation like you talked about. What's something you might say to those folks back home to motivate them to come out?
[00:37:45] Speaker G: Man, just walking around you're gonna not only find crazy, awesome people, but you're also gonna walk by. Get that jab in there.
[00:37:55] Speaker B: I'll pay you later. Yeah, that's fine.
[00:37:56] Speaker G: $10. But you also walk by booths where you're like, I've never heard of that, or, that's interesting.
And.
[00:38:03] Speaker B: Yeah, no, Ashley and I were just talking about it.
Part of what we do when we're here is try to learn from each booth and paint in this industry. Right? Yeah. Pun intended.
Hey, brother. Nice to see you. Thank you for the gift. Let everybody know back home we appreciate them. Hey, we'll be back.
Nothing is quite as embarrassing as going back to someone, get a really good interview with. And you're like, hey, we, like, fake that again. And it's never as good.
[00:38:37] Speaker I: No, no.
[00:38:41] Speaker B: We are. We are live from amp annual conference. Big show today. 6000 people are here in attendance. And I run into Jordan. How you doing, sir? Good to see you. Always good to see you. Do us a favor for those that don't know you let everybody know who you are and who you're with.
[00:39:00] Speaker I: I'm Jordan Grudy. I'm with Magneto special anodes. I've been in the corrosion industry for about 15 years. And different roles, and. Just super happy to be here.
[00:39:08] Speaker B: Yeah, we talk about this show. You've been to this show before?
[00:39:12] Speaker I: Oh, yeah.
[00:39:13] Speaker B: Many times.
[00:39:13] Speaker I: Every year.
[00:39:14] Speaker B: Every year. So you know the value that goes on here. From a training perspective to learning. There's sessions going on upstairs and everywhere. So many sessions. How much have you learned from coming to these amp events?
[00:39:28] Speaker I: I'd say amp events are probably the absolute number one place. That I'll learn the most in my career. When it comes to just technical knowledge. But I think one of the most overlooked parts of these shows. Is the exhibit hall floor itself. Which a lot of companies. And they're trying to get new business.
[00:39:44] Speaker B: But we're right in the heart of it right now.
[00:39:46] Speaker I: Right as I was bringing up new corrosion techs, I would always bring them to the national conference. Because this floor is where you learn about everything new that's coming out. You get to put your hands on new technology and ask random questions. And the people manning these booths really know their stuff. And know what they're talking about. It's not just a glitzy trade show where you're gonna go pick up a bunch of pens. You're actually gonna learn what's going on in the industry, what's happening with different companies out there. And what products they've got.
[00:40:13] Speaker B: So you are you are with someone. I asked you. So, tell me more about who you're with now. What are you guys doing and what brings you out to this show?
[00:40:23] Speaker I: So, the company that I'm with now, Magneto, is an Anode manufacturer. And what we make are titanium anodes with a mixed metal oxide on them. Those are used in impressed current cpu's systems around the world. So, we're a manufacturer. We're out here talking to a lot of the companies that install these systems that design the anodes, and just trying to help them out design anodes that meet their needs. So, we're on the. On the very, very back end now, where I used to be on the front end of design and technical work.
[00:40:52] Speaker B: Makes sense. Makes sense. We're trying to motivate some folks back home. Maybe they have never been out. What would you say to folks that might entice them to come out to amp next year?
[00:41:03] Speaker I: Oh, man.
Just in terms of coming to this show, you can't put enough value on the people that you meet. The networking that goes on here.
Everybody that I know at this show that I've known for 15 years has a smile on their face when they see you. And I know my competitors, I know everybody in the industry from networking at things like this. It's such a great opportunity. And once you're networked in, after you've been to a couple of these, you can go to work anywhere in this industry easily.
[00:41:34] Speaker B: Jordan, thanks for coming on with us. Thanks for talking about Amp, and we'll be back.
[00:41:39] Speaker C: Thank you.
[00:41:45] Speaker B: Okay, we have seen it all today.
[00:41:48] Speaker A: It's been a day.
[00:41:50] Speaker B: We're sitting in the amp lounge. I guess it's like the. I don't know. We're liking couches.
[00:41:57] Speaker A: It's a pretty big space.
[00:41:59] Speaker B: Alan Thomas said we could do whatever we wanted. I heard him.
[00:42:02] Speaker A: He said he had snacks for us.
[00:42:04] Speaker B: He said on Mike's, he said, you can go in the back. There's an office space you can work in. He said, basically, we could do whatever we wanted, which is probably a lie.
[00:42:13] Speaker A: Yeah, that'd be a stretch.
[00:42:15] Speaker B: There's somewhere in between is probably the truth there. Great guy, though.
[00:42:20] Speaker A: Yeah, very nice. I enjoyed meeting him.
[00:42:23] Speaker B: Yeah. It was a great way to start this show and to get to sit down with the captain himself. And it's to hear people talk about him. It's interesting to think that he has only been here not even a year. He'll be a year this week or next week. Week. So he's making an impact, inspiring some people. It's pretty cool.
[00:42:49] Speaker A: Yeah.
The other thing we learned today is it's very different being at a show this magnitude with no home base.
[00:42:57] Speaker B: We have no home base today. How many steps they borrow and stole from everyone? Yeah, probably about fifteen k, I would guess. By the time the day wraps.
It's winding down here, at least for us. Like we said, we don't have a home base. So we're just kind of mooching off everybody, stopping in, saying hi, interviewing some folks and then we're. We're back at it again. Back in the plane tomorrow.
[00:43:23] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:43:24] Speaker B: I'm headed to Oklahoma City. We're going to be at the Oklahoma excavation safety conference.
[00:43:30] Speaker A: That is a mouthful.
[00:43:31] Speaker B: It is one of the longest domains in the history of the world. But MG knows that. I told him.
[00:43:37] Speaker A: He owns it.
[00:43:38] Speaker B: No, we, we're gonna be doing the show live. We, me and MG actually doing the show live there on Thursday all day. And then I'm gonna catch a flight home and then we got a little bit of time and we'll be back here in New Orleans again for global excavation Safety Council with Mister Scott Landis. I saw him last week in Canada of all places. He's excited for that event. I'm excited for that event.
[00:44:08] Speaker A: I'm excited for that. The second line is that what we determined it was called? I'm excited to see that.
We'll be here a little bit longer next time. So really get to see New Orleans.
[00:44:18] Speaker B: Yeah. We're gonna try to sneak in beignets in the morning at Cafe DuMont. Yeah, maybe a cafe au lait and the spirit of Sukitry from Targa.
We will enjoy a little bit more time here in the morning and then head out. But great being here at AMP record. Setting up 6000 plus people in attendance.
Glad that we could be a part of that. We broke records. You're basically a Guinness pickle. World record.
[00:44:50] Speaker A: Good event. I learned a lot. And man, some of the technology out here is crazy.
[00:44:56] Speaker B: Some of the stuff we don't even know.
[00:44:58] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm not even sure.
[00:44:59] Speaker B: So there's robots.
There's all kinds of tech in here. We also saw a lot of friends.
It's weird sometimes to come to what we think is a new space for us more so, and run into a bunch of the same friends that we see all over.
But that's, that's been. It's been good for my heart because sometimes when I come out I just don't know. I'm like, we're not going to know anybody, right? We knew a lot of people. A lot of people stopped us.
So that says we're doing the good work.
[00:45:32] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:45:33] Speaker B: That's what we keep telling them.
[00:45:35] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:45:35] Speaker B: And Ashley got a big old bag of swag.
[00:45:40] Speaker A: I mean, some of it's yours. Let's be fair.
[00:45:42] Speaker H: Fair.
[00:45:44] Speaker A: But it's a cool bag.
[00:45:46] Speaker B: So, yeah, we miss Jimmy. We know he's doing the good work in Florida.
We'll meet back up with him down the road. But it's going to be you and me here in New Orleans, here in a couple weeks, and then we'll be at Aga. We'll be all over.
[00:46:02] Speaker A: I'm excited about that one, too. And CGA. Yeah.
[00:46:05] Speaker B: Lots on the docket.
It's been great being here at AMP. We appreciate everybody, appreciate Jennifer getting us on the docket here, allowing us to come out, reaching out.
Appreciate the staff here. Great event run very professionally. Probably the largest event I've been to since world gas years ago. So neat to see it all run, despite the flooding and everything. They turned the whole place around.
[00:46:35] Speaker A: Yeah, but we even talked about that. You can't even tell unless somebody pointed out where it was they had it.
[00:46:40] Speaker B: So people were eating there today, cleaned.
[00:46:43] Speaker A: Up and moved around. You wouldn't even know it.
[00:46:45] Speaker B: So thanks to our friends at American Innovations for letting us chill with them this morning. And then the great folks at Mesa Bass Engineering over there, that collabo group there, Mesa let us basically just squat there. We used their booth to record the intro and some intro stuff this morning, and then we also just left all of our stuff there like we live there.
Hey, we appreciate you guys back at home following along. Until next time.
