Networking, Mentorship, and a Preview of CD/NLA Dallas 2025, with Chris Weiss

Episode Transcript
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James Blain (00:26):
Hello everybody and welcome back to a other exciting
episode of the Ground TrainStation podcast.
Really excited about today'sepisode.
I have got Ken Lucci, my co-hostwith me, couldn't be more
excited to be doing it togetheragain.
Just another amazing Friday.
Ken, say hello to everybody.

Ken Lucci (00:42):
James, I've missed you terribly.
you've been missed in the lastfew podcasts.
I've tried to do my level best,but I don't have your, your
broadcast savvy.
So I'm so happy that you're heretoday.

Well, and, and for those that don't know, I think I
speak for both of us.
When I say we love doing theepisodes, Friday's kind of our
big thing, but when we do thosesolo episodes, it always kind of
feels like something's missing.
And I, yeah, I, I couldn't bemore excited.
And not only that, we've got areturn guest, so we have someone
that's used to our shenanigansthat's ready to absolutely knock

(01:17):
it outta the park.
Today we've got Chris Weiss fromTRO for Griffin.
Welcome back to the podcastChris.

Chris Weiss (01:22):
Thank you gentlemen for having me.
Appreciate it greatly.

So

Ken Lucci (01:26):
I feel a little bit under though.

I gotta tell you, so, so for those of you that are
listening in your car right athome, Chris is wearing a
beautiful baby blue suit jacket.
He's got a beautiful White Pressshirt.
You know, Ken and I are incollared shirts, but we, we just
don't cut the mustard when itcomes to the look that Chris is
sporting.

Ken Lucci (01:45):
there's a level of ua Ebola on that side of the, uh,
it looks fantastic, so

It, it really looks sharp.
You're looking good, Chris.

Thank you.
Thank you.
I'll have to give, I have togive a shout out to Jason Sharon
now.
It was, uh, his custom tailorthat, that put this together for
me.
So big shout out to Jason.

Nice looking out.
Jason.

Ken Lucci (02:05):
Really?
Okay.
So at the last show I was wear,I was wearing a suit and I was
lamenting the fact that I didn'tlike the way it fit.
And Jason Chernow touches thecollar and he is like, he says
to, and then only the way,Jason, can I, I'll introduce you
to my tailor.

you

Ken Lucci (02:23):
So now I see, I see.
It's worthwhile.
Absolutely.

It is.
I mean, I, I always get suits,custom fit but not custom
tailored like this.
This was bespoke really nice.

something to be said, right?
I got really lucky when I was,when I was in my early twenties,
one of my best friends that I, Icame to know very well as a
tailor, right?
And was mom owned tailor shop.
And I will tell you, as soon asyou start wearing suits that are
actually tailored, it's likeputting on a well-fitting glove.
It will ruin every other suitfor you, but the way you feel,
right?
I can just see it on Chris rightnow, the way you feel.

(02:58):
When you've got a sharplytailored suit, it, it changes
something.
It really does.

That's

Ken Lucci (03:03):
Yeah,

Jason said the

Ken Lucci (03:04):
Remember 85, 5% of the battle in coming to work is
how you look.

Yep.
How you look impacts how youfeel.
We, teach that all the time tochauffeur.
If you don't look the part, ifyou're not sharply dressed, you
don't feel sharply dressed, itwill change how you feel just by
how you think you look and howyou actually look.

Ken Lucci (03:23):
A hundred percent.
Well, welcome again, Chris.

Thank you.
Yeah.
I must admit, I don't, I don'tdress like this every day, but
for you gentlemen.

Oh boy.
Here it comes.
Flattery will get youeverywhere.
so we're, we're really excitedto have you back because that
means that showtime again, andthis for a lot of us is a very
exciting time of year.
So, Chris, push outta ourmisery.
What, what are we so excitedabout?
What's coming?

well, this venue for our, you know, upcoming
Dallas fall show is just afantastic venue that, it's
Gaylor Texan.
And we did a show there comingoutta COVID in 21 and it, was,
um, a medium sized attendanceversus what our normal
attendance is.
So super stoked to do this as afull run, full attendance,

(04:11):
probably double what thatattendance was.
And this is out of the Gaylordproperties that we've hosted
events at.
This is my favorite.
has a, great nighttime venue.
Uh, it's just.
You know, a super convenient,uh, location, you know,
regarding just 10 minutes fromthe airport, maybe 20 minutes
from downtown Dallas, andeverything's all under one roof.

(04:34):
I'm excited to be back at thisproperty in particular.

Oh, it's, it's a great, great

Ken Lucci (04:39):
and the schedule looks great.

Yeah.

It's solid from beginning to end.
I mean, we, we, uh.
Something that is new for thisshow is we have limo anywhere on
Saturday doing a full day ofsessions and, you know, user
group meetings.
And so that enabled us to theneven free up more time on the
schedule on Sunday, Monday, andTuesday to just light it up with

(05:04):
just really killer content.
Um, the education committee, theshow education committee
co-chaired by again, JasonChernow and Carl Gunther.
Has just absolutely crushed it.
this year in particular, we, wehave hired more outside speakers
and expertise than we normallydo, and it really shows on just

(05:25):
a, a super robust schedule.

Yeah.

Ken Lucci (05:28):
hundred percent.
I mean, we, we.
Listen, the schedules are, arealways great, but this is a,
pretty critical year and one ofthe sessions that caught my eye
was the results of, or theimplications of the big
beautiful bill on our industry.
And, and everybody has to knowit.
They, they, if they don't,they're missing out on, you
know, one of the, the only giftsthe government gives business,

(05:50):
small businesses, which isdepreciation and, but I think
that the read on that is gonnabe.
Incredible.
and I know that, you know, MikeRose, was instrumental in the,
in the shuttle program, shuttleoperations.
And if you are going to, ifyou're going to get your
business to the next step, hasto be by delivering the next

(06:10):
level of service That might beoutta your comfort level.
now, but the opportunities arein every single market.
So this is definitely the placeto pick up that kind of
education.

Yeah.
and that session, the bigbeautiful bill is being
moderated by Becky Laramie, whois not only.
Uh, very successful operator upin the Boston area, but she's
also an accountant, so, um, Shegets the numbers and the speaker
that, she's gonna be moderating,this session is, is gonna be
really enlightening and, andsuper dialed in.

Well, and the fact you've got two people there,
right?
And, and let's just, I've alwaysknown her as Becky from Boston.
So Becky Laramie will always beBecky from Boston to me.
But you know, Becky by herself.
Could lead that could teach you,that could simpl.
I mean, she's got a way withexplaining things and the way
she teaches people things.
I have learned tons from Becky,right?
Every chance I have to sit andhang out with her, there's tons

(07:07):
to be learned there.
So the fact that it's not justher, she's moderating that
session means that that's gonnabe an absolute powerhouse.
I mean, that is going to beinvaluable.

it will be.
And, and she's presented for usbefore on taxes.
She's, you know, a valued partof the show education committee,
and she just, yeah, she crushesit every time,

Ken Lucci (07:26):
She's dialed in on tax.
That's, that's definitely so,and the other piece of it is
talk about the mentoringprogram, is that all subscribed
fully?

well, the mentoring program's not, full yet.
It, it typically doesn't fill upuntil post Labor Day.
And, and we also usually leavesome empty spots for people who
say they didn't see all themarketing that you have to
preregister and they get to theshow and they didn't register.
So we know that's always gonnahappen.
So, you know, we leave a fewspots open.

(07:55):
Typically by, you know, 30 daysout from the show, all of the
spots are filled.
There's, you know, a handful ofmentors that are filling up
pretty quickly, some of thebigger names, and it's just an
incredible experience everysingle year.
The feedback we get from theattendees who, who are there,
the mentors and everyoneparticipating is, uh, equally

(08:19):
positive mentors.
We'll say that they get as muchout of it as the, you know,
mentees who attend.
And we've been running thisprogram for, I wanna say, a
dozen years now.
And, you know, every time that Ithink that there might be some
shelf life to it, just, everyoneelse sees it differently and

(08:39):
says, this is just a, a, a jewelthat we have to keep into the
program.
And, you know, we tweak it everyso often to try to keep it
fresh.
The concept of state, prettymuch the same for the last dozen
years.

But I gotta tell you, it comes up almost every
episode.
Ken, I don't know that we'vedone an episode yet.
Where mentorship in one form oranother hasn't been brought up.
I think we hear time and timeagain that the most successful
people in the industry are theones that are networking, are
the ones that have mentorship,are the ones that find people

(09:11):
within the industry to help themmove forward.
Ken, I don't, I don't know thatthere's anything that we found
throughout this podcast that ismaybe even at that level of
importance.

Ken Lucci (09:21):
No, I mean, I, I'm a firm believer, number one in,
mentors in life as well asmentors in business.
And, uh, definitely think CEOgroups are critical.
20 groups are critical, but youknow, these conferences take it
to another level.
The conferences.
And it's funny, I was talking toan operator.
He happens to be from Dallas andhe booked 30 minutes with me and

(09:45):
I, and he wants to know how togrow his business.
He's a one to five car operator.
I think he said he has threevehicles or four vehicles.
And I said, listen, you know, weare, we do a financial reviews
and profit analysis.
You might, it, the program mightbe a little bit too big for you.
Are you gonna go to the, theOctober show?
And he said, geez, I, I didn'trealize it was in Dallas.
And, and, and I I'm with youChris.

(10:05):
I, I see the marketing.
So I sent him the registrationand, and I said, the best
possible thing you can do is, goto the conference with an
agenda.
If you get specific questions,you're asking me how do I grow
my business from one to three tofive cars, get it to the next
level.
can walk around and find ahundred people more qualified

(10:27):
than me at the show, at theconference to teach you that.
I've seen, look, I've beenaround this in for, since, I
don't know, 2005, 2006.
The conferences are at adifferent level now.
To me, the education sessionsand the quality of the education
and the time.
No one in this industry has anexcuse for being left in the

(10:48):
dark unless they want to be.
This is a very sharing industry.

I was gonna say this.
I was just gonna say that, Ken.
So we're talking about thementor program.
We purposely do that on Sunday,the opening day of the show, so
that for the remainder of theshow, you've kind of built this
foundation of, you know, peoplethat you can rely on, lean on,
um, attend events with,especially for the newbies in

(11:13):
the first timers who, um, youknow, the, the show can be
overwhelming and intimidatingtoo.
So that first day they get anopportunity to not only get a
mentor, but there's anotherseven or eight people at the
table of all different shapesand sizes, and, you know, years
within the space.
And they build this littlenetwork as the event starts.

(11:34):
And, you know, it's just provento be invaluable.
like I said, we've been doingthis for about a dozen years and
there are groups from years agothat still keep in touch with
each other.
you know, as their table groupthat they, you know, still
communicate, still ask eachother questions, and it just
built a lot of relationshipsover the years.

So, Chris, you know, I, I think we might have
some listeners that have eithernot been involved in the mentor
program or, or maybe hearingthis for the first time.
you know, we've, we've kind ofdanced around it, like they know
what we're talking about.
I'd love if you can kind of giveus, you know, if you are brand
new, if you're hearing about thementor program for the first
time, what does it look like,how do they get into it?
And then what happens in theactual room?

Okay.
Yeah, so we set it up where we.
Put together a roster of roughly25 mentors, and we give, all of
our attendees the ability tosign up.
You have to pre-register for itfor a specific mentor, and each
mentor has a table.
And at that table it's roughlyanother seven or eight people.

(12:36):
So it might be eight or ninepeople total at the table, 10
max.
And you have this opportunity toask questions, pick the brains.
Share information, tips, tricks,nuances, you know, mistakes.
good, the bad, the ugly withother operators that are of

(12:58):
maybe the same size, differentsize larger than you.
It's, it's a, you know, it's agiant mix and everyone learns
from each other.
So not, not only are youlearning and building this
relationship with a mentor.
Who you can lean on for, not,you know, the length of the
show, but then well, wellbeyond.
But you're building these,relationships with others and,

(13:21):
you know, you have this greatopportunity to, just constantly
pick their brains.
And as, as you said, this is anindustry that just loves to
share.
And it's something that I, everytime I see, you know, someone
who has the first time attendeebadge at the show, that's the
first thing I will tell them is.
You don't realize just howwilling everyone in this

(13:43):
convention is to shareinformation, and if you just
introduce yourself and start upa conversation you're guaranteed
to, get valuable information andadvice from people who you just
wouldn't expect It's everywhere.
It's in every corner of theshow.

Ken Lucci (14:01):
And if you see somebody and meet somebody at
the show, you see'em as aspeaker.
They're usually also at thecasual events and at the bar at
night, and you ask'em specificquestions.
You know, the mo, the mostimportant thing to me is you, if
you have four or five key issuesyou're concerned with write'em
down and.

(14:21):
Ask different people how they'redealing with it, you're not in a
vacuum, you're not all alone.
And that's something in thisindustry that doesn't happen in
other sectors.
It just doesn't.
And it's, I get a call the, theother day from a, from a coach
builder.
Who said, listen, you know, oneof my customers is struggling
with pricing this new vehiclethat I sold him.

(14:41):
You know, can I have him callAnd I'm, of course you can have
him call me.
Absolutely.
Get on the phone with the guy.
The, and you know, the guybought it.
He seemingly, he, you know, hemight have a plan, but I said,
listen.
Here's what I recommend, but youalso have to come to Dallas.
You have to talk to peoplewho've got the same kind of
vehicles and develop a marketingplan and a business plan.

(15:04):
I can help you on the cost, Ican help you on the pricing, but
really what is your plan to movethis vehicle?
So, you know, at the end of theday, you get out of these
conferences, what you put intothem.

Yeah, it's not unlike the gym.
You know, you join up for a gymmembership and you don't go,
you're not gonna get much out ofit.
But, you know, if you go and,and you maximize it and you
really, take advantage of allthe opportunities.
these shows are building blocks.
Not only is it, you know, thenetworking great and at every
corner and you have this, youknow, ability to build

(15:37):
relationships.
But back to the educationalprogram and we cover so many
different topics that are,completely relevant to your
success.
And you know, whether it'sfinding profit leaks or it's a
session on AI or it's a sessionon, distracted driving where we

I was exci.
I was excited to see that one.

really pumped for that session in in particular
because, you know, everyonethinks that they can multitask
and you know, handle their phoneor their food and, and still
drive and still be safe.
But, all of the studies andevidence prove the absolute
contrary and.
we're gonna have all of thatdata at the event.
So it's, it, it's gonna befantastic.
I'm, I'm actually lookingforward to that session as much

(16:19):
as any of them.

Ken Lucci (16:21):
we sent out a, survey to our clients on some specific
subjects just to tease thesurveys that we're gonna be
doing together.
We'll talk about that later.
But 75% of'em, of all operatorsof all size say the biggest
concern is the cost of insuranceand the two are, connected at
the hip.

Inter.

Ken Lucci (16:40):
it's intertwined the safety aspect and the changing
driver behavior.
Quick true story, I put camerasin my car.
I had a situation where it wasroad rage incident, and James, I
didn't cause it.
So just anyway,

That's shocking.

Ken Lucci (16:56):
and the cam and the guy says to me, do you want a
camera inside the car?
I'm like, sure.
I was shocked the number oftimes I looked down.
The number of times I look atthe dog, the number of times I
look at my phone, if I hear itping you can't change the
behavior unless it hits you inthe face.
And the worst thing to do is togo through life saying, well, I
haven't had an accident.
I'm not a distracted driver.

(17:18):
I was shocked.
And it's, direct connection withthe fleet insurance crisis, and
everybody in the industry has tobe hyper-focused on safety and
how to improve the driversafety, but also change bad
behaviors.
So I think it's critical.
The other one that hit me wasthe how do you get out of the

(17:39):
driver's seat go from a drivermentality to an owner mentality.
Leading your company.
Leading your business.
I think that, you know, I'vestarred the ones I'm gonna sit
in on because they are, thatcritical.
I see so many smaller operatorsthat are still have the driver
mentality.
They don't have the ownermentality.

(18:02):
They're not focused on thingsthat an owner should be doing.
So to say the schedule is actionpacked?
Is, is absolutely, yeah.
That's an understatement.

That, that topic becomes a bit of a trap.
You know, when you, when youstay behind the wheel and you
know, if, actually surprisinghow many, larger and successful
operators still are behind thewheel from time to time.
It, it, it surprises me.

I think, I think it's really important to note
here that a lot of this isintertwined and a lot of this
is, is also balance related.
You know, if, an owner is goingout behind the wheel, once every
six months or once a year at acertain point, that's good
because they keep that link backto where they started, what's
going on ground level.
'cause as someone that dealswith training and operations,

(18:47):
I've seen both sides of thespectrum.
I've seen the ownership that is.
Not working on the business'cause they're in the business
driving every day.
But I've also seen the ownershipthat got out from behind the
wheel has gotten so do are downthe road that they almost start
to kind of forget what it's liketo be behind the wheel.
And so I think there's a reallygood balance that you have to

(19:10):
draw there between stayingconnected to every role and
every employee in the company.
And understanding that all ofthese things are intertwined.
You know, Ken made a great pointabout the distracted driving
Look, if you've got issues withdistracted driving, if you've
got issues there, part of thatalso comes back to that owner
mindset of, okay, I've gottamake this a focus for the

(19:31):
company.
If you are focusing too much onany one area and you're not
watching the bigger picture asan owner.
That can be just as dangerous.
So I think a lot of these arereally linked in a way that as
ownership, as management, you'vegotta be able to manage and
focus and be able to of work oneach area one at a time and

(19:52):
cycle through them.

Ken Lucci (19:53):
a, it's a balanced schedule too.
It's not, it's not.
I think, you know, this year'sgonna be interesting.
I, I'm looking forward to Vegasas well.
and before we go any further,what, can you tease the dates?
Do you know the dates yet?

Yeah, of course.
They, they were, in mid to lateFebruary, but we had this
opportunity to push them awayfrom UMA, which we were right on
top of each other last year.

Oh yeah, that was a tough one.

Yeah, it was inconvenient for everybody.
And so it's March 1st throughthird, and we're at the MGM,
which everyone's excited thatwe're back there again.

Ken Lucci (20:30):
Absolutely.

And, the floor plans is already out.
We've pretty much finalized a, arough schedule, not, you know,
with the actual sessions in yet.
But, yeah, with, uh, this showbeing, you know, only, uh, you
know, a four month or soturnaround from the fall show,
we're pretty deep into italready.

Ken Lucci (20:49):
I like the difference in vibe though.
I think I like the vibe of thefall show.
I mean, obviously we're, we'redoing, uh, the intro to the
state of the industry, but tome, Let's, talk a little bit
about that.
The state of the industry is, myintro is gonna be a little bit
different this year because I'mgonna be pulling data from a new
program that, chauffeur drivenand driving transactions is

(21:12):
doing Monthly we're gonna besending out surveys to operators
to try to figure out thesentiment, not only just the
sentiment, but true data ofwhat's going on in the market,
in each market.
so we'll be talking a little bitfurther about that.
We're gonna do a press releaseon that.
We'll be talking about thehighlights of the first surveys
that are gonna go out.

(21:32):
I always find the fall is a goodtime to get a pulse for what's,
going on for the year.
And then also everybody'santicipating at that time you're
anticipating the next year,which is slides us right into
Vegas.

And, and Vegas is, and obviously it's, it's our,
you know, most highly attendedshow.
it has a, a, a largerinternational contingency, but
the fall show is a little bitmore intimate and, you know, you
just get a little bit moreopportunity to connect with
people than, than you do inVegas.
Vegas.
It's moving fast.

Ken Lucci (22:05):
It is a whirlwind.

It's a whirlwind and you, you've got one eye on
the person you're talking toand, and one eye on the, the
periphery and everyone elsethat's, uh, kind of cruising by
and the schedule's so jam packedjust don't get as much intimate
time as you do on the fall showI would say that that's the
biggest difference and we try tokeep the programming slightly
different too.
The, the mentoring program isreally a, a false specific event

(22:30):
and, and by design.
yeah, you know, we host a womenin the industry networking
event, typically in the fall.
And, you know, we, we try tokeep the shows a little bit
different so that they're notexactly the same.

but you nailed it.

Ken Lucci (22:42):
yeah, they, they, both of them.
You hit the, you hit the nail onthe head.
The, the Vegas show is moreinternational and you get a more
drinking water, from a, uh, afire hydrant mentality because
there's so much going on.
Just that everything.
one of the other, things I sawhere that I think that a lot of
us in the industry need to getback to focusing on is, you

(23:03):
know, going from just.
Average to excellent.
And it's actually the title,consistency transforms Average
to Excellence.
And if you wanna talk about thebest competitive differentiator
that we have against anycompetitor.
Whether it's a newbie in thebusiness who's pricing wrong and

(23:26):
offering his price is too low,or the biggest competitors in
the TNC space or the aggregatorspace, consistency and superior
customer service protects youover price every single time.
So I, I'm looking forward to it.
I mean, there's, I've starred a,a bunch of the schedule to make
sure that I don't have anyconflict so I can sit in because

(23:47):
I get a lot out of these things.
to me it's also gauging theaudience.
I don't know how you can takeyourself seriously and invest in
a, an industry without going tothe shows because it is your
best education.

It's building blocks.
I mean, it's, a crash course.
Like where else are you possiblygonna get that this, you know,
this type of content you know,crammed into a, multi-day
period, you know, getting theopportunity to meet so many
people, Also decompress, blowoff steam.
We have, you know, a couple ofreally fun parties.
there's also lunches included.

(24:24):
Breakfast is included.
We got open bars at, at a bunchof different events.
So it's just super well-roundedto not only learn network, but
you can, you know, blow off alittle steam too.

Well, and I think one of the key things, at least
for me when I started attendingthe shows is you also have to
think about this concept that.
You are bringing all of thesepeople that have reached all of
these levels of success in theindustry.
Right?
I remember I was sitting in asteakhouse one night, some of my
mentors, right?
Charlie and Athena had taken meout and I'm looking around the
table and you've got some of thelargest names in the business,

(24:58):
right?
Between the people at this onetable.
You've got a huge chunk ofbusiness.
You've got an incredible wealthof knowledge.
And I just remember thinking tomyself and and looking across
and going.
Almost any answer you couldpossibly think of in business is
probably sitting at this table,right?
Anything that you could come upwith, and this is one of the few

(25:19):
times that you've got everyonethere together at the table
sharing all of those things,right?
And I can tell you.
the first couple times that Iwent to shows just sitting at
that dinner table or being at anevent like that and not saying a
word I, I mean at that point,you know, brand new to the
industry, you might not haveanything to contribute yet.

(25:40):
But I just remember sittingthere and mentally taking notes
and trying to absorb and takingas much as you can.
And it really comes down to, andwe've talked about this in the
past, the mindset that you haveto have.
Going into these events, there'sso many people that come in
with, Hey, I want to pitch.
Hey, I wanna tell my story.
Hey, I wanna do this.
But I have found that a lot oftimes when I have gotten the

(26:02):
most value is when I'm quiet andI listen and I'm able to absorb
and take in kind what's aroundme.
And I think that's somethingthat you just, you are not going
to get at anywhere in your localmarket.
You're only gonna get that at aNational Lever show.
You're only gonna get that bybeing there.

Ken Lucci (26:21):
You know what it's like.
It's like being in the NationalRestaurant Association and
having the president of.
Outback Steakhouse walkingaround and being able to ask him
questions.
Every network operator's there,every owner goes 999 out of a
thousand people.
If you said, you know, I'd liketo pick your brain for 30
seconds.
Can I do that?
Or, I have a quick question foryou.

Even competitors.
It's

Yeah.

Ken Lucci (26:45):
Absolutely.
Now, James, you brought upsomething.
If I'm, relatively new to theshows, I think the worst thing
you can do is shove yourbusiness card in people's faces
and it, expect them to send youbusiness.
Maybe there's an entitlementkind of mentality that carries
over from the rest of society.

(27:06):
It doesn't work that way.
It doesn't work that way.

It's the exact same right now.
I'm gonna be a little crass fora second, right?
Just'cause I want to get thispoint across.
Imagine if you walked up tosomeone and said, Hey, nice
shoes, let's go home together.
And then tomorrow morning we'llget married.
Like,

Ken Lucci (27:21):
doesn't, that doesn't work.

yeah, exactly.
Now, if you're,

Ken Lucci (27:24):
didn't work for you and your wife?

look, look, you play the law numbers, eventually
you'll get something right?
But my, my point here is youthink of doing that and other
aspects of society and it'slike, well, that's stupid.
Why would you do that?
Time and time again, I seepeople that will just shove a
card in your hand, Hey, I'm indc.
Call me.
Who the hell are you one?
Like, I have no idea who youare.

(27:46):
Why would I call you?
Right?
There's, there's.
You've got to take the time toinvest in getting to know
people, getting to find out whothey are, and then yeah, you
can't just walk up to someoneand go, here's my card.
Call me now.
To a certain extent, there is alittle bit of time and place
because if you are at anaffiliate central event.

(28:08):
Your, your whole reason forbeing there is that's your
elevator pitch.
Hey, I'm James.
I'm here in Kansas City.
I have, you know, x, y, Zcompany.
You know, that might be whatyou're doing at that event
because time and place dictatesit.
But trying to get as many cardsin the hands of an as many
different people as possible isnot gonna build an effective
brand.

(28:28):
It's not gonna build areputation.
You have to genuinely want tobuild connections and
relationships and get to knowpeople and earn.
Their trust and respect, notthink that just putting a card
in their hand is gonna get it.
Sorry, you put me on a soapboxhere.
That one drives me

Ken Lucci (28:43):
So the Affiliate Central, you bring it up for
anybody who hasn't been there.
The affiliate, central GlobalPartnership Forum is 1145 to one
30 on Tuesday, and it, it's agreat place to meet people and
maybe give a just a 30 secondsof who you are and introduce
yourself to me.

(29:03):
More than anything, it's to findout.
Who is sending business in yourarea and perhaps queue up future
conversations.
You cannot sit there and have a10 minute conversation about
your capability.
Do I think you should have abusiness card?
Would I be impressed if you gaveme.

(29:25):
a uh, rack card.
I'd actually be a little bitmore impressed with your, if
your business card had a QR codeon it where I could see it.
So all I'm carrying is thebusiness card.
But that forum also, it is agreat place to see where all the
network businesses, it's a greatplace to see who's looking for.
Who's looking for providers, butto your point, James, they're

(29:49):
not gonna, if they have threepeople in their Kansas City list
that A and a B and a C, wherethey have one, two, or three,
and they're rotating, they'renot gonna throw you on their
list sight unseen.
So it's a good introduction forfuture communication.
Um,

And that is, that is actually one of the few
events that we do at both showsbecause it's just so powerful.
And the Vegas one is a littlebit larger in scale because we
have a, a larger internationalpresence.
But even the fall shows,affiliate central forum is
massive.
And yeah, sometimes it's alsoabout finding partners as

(30:25):
opposed to getting the affiliatebusiness.
So it really cuts both ways.
And know, like the mentoringprogram, it's been running for
over a dozen years and it just,gets better.
it gets larger in scale.
We've, we've actually had to adda little time to it.
Especially in Vegas because youcan't even get around the room.
It's so jam packed and robustit's, uh, we call it like the

(30:49):
staple of the show.
the content, the networking, youknow, those are the anchors.
But the one event that runsthrough, all shows that we do is
the affiliate event.
it makes a difference.

And I think one of the key things, right?
You know, and this is reallyimportant to understand, it's,
it's easier when you think aboutit kind of like a vendor.
If I went to the show and wentto every single person said,
Hey, I'm Pax training, you needtraining, here's my card.
Right?
That doesn't make a lot ofsense.
Now, if I'm at my booth andsomeone comes up and says, Hey,
I'd like to learn abouttraining, great.
I'm James.

(31:21):
Guess what?
I'm still not gonna be like,here's my card, buy my.
Great.
Tell me about, you know, whatyou're looking for.
Tell me about how we can helpyou.
Again, trying to build arelationship.
I think it's really important.
For people that are doingAffiliate Central to understand
you are in that same space.
When you are at your table atAffiliate Central, people might
be looking for someone in yourarea or they might be looking

(31:43):
for affiliates, but when theycome to you, you still wanna try
and say, Hey, you know, great.
You know, my name is James andwe do this, and you know, tell
me about what you do.
Tell me about what you'relooking for.
Because the best partners.
Are not the ones that wannashove the card in your hand and
say, Hey, I wanna do the work.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Hey, how do I become a goodpartner for you?

Yeah.
And, and, and that's why we doit more than once a year because
it just gives that repetition tocome back and, and either meet
new people or, you know,reinforce that you're committed
to this space and that you'renot, you know, a fly by night.
You're here to stay.
And, and yeah.
And maybe an operator, you know,a large scale operator in a

(32:26):
large market might have theirone, two, and three in, in other
cities.
You just never know what couldhappen and you never know how
you could get on that list.

Yeah.

Ken Lucci (32:36):
And it's your opportunity to pick up a
business card and build your owndatabase of future prospects.

So let me ask you, Chris,'cause I'd love to get
your opinion on this.
If you are going to theaffiliate central event, whether
you've been there before, firsttime, hundredth time, how does
someone get the most out of it?
And I'd love if you can give itto us from the standpoint of if
you're working your table or ifyou're in there, you know, and
obviously vendors aren'tallowed.
So Ken and I have been watchingfrom the sidelines, so since

(33:06):
you're in there, we'd love tokind of be able to have you lay
this out for us of how do youget the most value and provide
the most value from each side.

I would say that it.
You need more than one person,you know, for starters.
So you know, at your table,especially, for the Vegas show,
it just gets so intense.
You'd wanna have two people, atleast at your table.
I would also of course, suggesthaving a third person.
Or if you only have two people,then it would be one person at
the table and the other personwalking around the room making

(33:38):
connections.
Doing it in a strategic way,it's challenging to get to every
table.
So, you know, ahead of time wepublish the list.
Everyone, you know, has a senseof who's gonna be there, who's
got tables, and you could kindof, you know, go around and
spearfish, you know, target thepeople that you want to target
an effective way is to divideand conquer.

(33:59):
and then also, of course, youhave to have enough, person
power at the table.
Minimally.
One, it's always better to havetwo because if you're engaged in
a conversation, someone couldwalk up, it could be a really,
you know, good potentialaffiliate and they might not
stand there for five minuteswhile you have a conversation.
So, you know, it's nice to havethat backup and so, you know,

(34:21):
that way you can, um, you know,just take advantage of all the
opportunities that that arethere, because genuinely there
is a thousand plus people inthat room all looking to do the
same thing.
Either build their network orget more inbound affiliate work.

Right short but meaningful.

yeah.

Ken Lucci (34:39):
and slow and steady wins that race.
I, sometimes I'll talk to peopleright after the event and it is
too over.
overwhelming for them, but itshould give you a pretty good
idea of who's doing the globalwork.
If you are looking to be aprovider in a specific city, but
never forget that just becausethey have two or three people on

(35:01):
the list.
There may end up being a mergeror an acquisition where they
need a provider because thatprovider is, you know, out of
business or there's a change inthe marketplace.
But also you may add a piece ofequipment that their primaries
don't have.
my perspective on affiliate, haschanged 180 degrees since I
started doing what I, I do in18.

(35:23):
I didn't do a ton of affiliatework in Florida, and part of it
was I had a really badexperience with a, a, a big
network that, that, the companyI bought, they, they let the
bill.
rack up a big bill and it was alittle bit difficult to get
paid, but I made the mistake ofthrowing the baby out with the
bath water.
Well, looking back at that, thatwas probably one of the most
critical mistakes I made becauseyou cannot get to true

(35:46):
efficiency on your own.
And if you are building a nicebusiness in your marketplace and
your vehicle is leaving theairport empty every single time,
or your vehicle is down forthree hours in the middle of the
day, the affiliate work, Takingin quality affiliate work is an
exceptional way to buildefficiency, to improve your

(36:09):
profitability, right?
Because if you can do one or twomore trips a day.
you're adding to the efficiencyof your equipment, you're adding
to, the profitability of theday.
The revenue per day.
So it's a critical piece of thebusiness.
the other thing I'm seeing on,on the schedule.
Is some nice sales and marketingstuff.

(36:31):
In other words, some prettyquality, market techniques that
drive results, sales techniques,how to use LinkedIn.
that's kind of anotherfrustration of mine is when I
hear people, well, I'm, I'mspending 4,000 a month on PPC
and it's not working.

Just handing it right to Google.

Ken Lucci (36:49):
Right, and no offense, I mean, you know,
Google owes Waymo, so there'sanother reason why necessarily
you don't wanna do that all thetime.
But I'm happy to see that It'sreally well-rounded.
I was talking to Doug Schwartzthe other day and he was telling
me how great it it, it's comingtogether and it does.
It looks great.

This might be the, the most well balanced agenda.
I think we've had in a very longtime and I, I mean that in a
great way in terms of what wehave.
We've had great agendas in thepast, but I think just in terms
of where the industry is goingand key metrics, I think anyone
that, doesn't spend the time onthe education years missing out.

Agreed.
I mean, we, take a lot offeedback from surveys as to what
to deliver within the sessionsand you know, one of the things
that we.
The feedback that we got is moreoutside expertise, more outside
speakers, and so we reallydecided to dial that up for the
show.
And, this is, uh, kind offoreshadowing for what you can

(37:45):
expect in the future as well.

Ken Lucci (37:48):
an operator called me the other day and said, you
know, I'm thinking about buyinga very specific kind of a
vehicle.
He's thinking about buying a jetsprinter.
And I'm like, look, I do haveclients that have them, but you
know, within 60 days he, he'sgonna buy it at the show.
I said.
If it were me, I would look atpeople who already have the jet.

(38:09):
ask the, the manufacturer who'salready bought them and set up
some times to talk to them at atthe show, you know, and pick
their brain about how theymaximize the revenue of that
vehicle.
Sure.
I will get you a couple ofcustomers and ask if they'll
spend some time with you, butyou are literally going to be in
the fishbowl.

(38:30):
There, you're going to be thereand you should ask the guy
selling you the equipment.
Who else has got one like it?
And set up multipleappointments.
that's the other thing is as anoperator and a vendor, these
shows take a lot of preparationto get the most out of them.
You just don't

You.
Yeah.
You can't just show up.

Ken Lucci (38:50):
You have to have an agenda of what you want to
accomplish.

For sure not only with picking the sessions that
you wanna attend, because someof'em are concurrent, also
deciding who you wanna see, inthe affiliate event.
But then when you get to theshow floor, it's the same thing
if, if you don't have an actualplan.
It might be challenging to getto every single vendor there.
So, you know, you have to have astrategy and you have to make

(39:14):
sure that you're, you know,checking off the most important
places that you need to be andthen, you know, filling in the
gaps afterwards.

Ken Lucci (39:22):
And I, I never refuse, and I know James, you're
the same way.
If somebody contacts me beforethe show and says, you know, I'd
really like to spend 15 minuteswith you.
Well, first of all, it's not onthe show floor, right?
Because, you know, we, we both,we both are next to each other a
lot of times, and we'll see thelines forming, but I'll always
make appointments with people,kind of off to the side in a

(39:44):
quiet area.
It's a tremendous opportunity todo that.
So that if you've wanted to talkto, another provider, hey, make
the appointment in advance.
Make sure you have the cellphone numbers of people that you
want to talk to, to get the mostout of it.
You know, I hear a lot that,the, the conference is
expensive.
I'm just gonna go to a, youknow, maybe a lesser state show

(40:06):
or, something else.
And like, there's just no,there's no comparison and return
on investment.

Well, and it's, it's time and place, right?

Ken Lucci (40:14):
It's totally time and place.

I think.
the other thing though is youhave to understand the
differences in scale and thedifferences in what you're
getting, right?
So I will share with, with youguys and with our listeners this
year, almost every single month.
I have been on the road for twoor three shows almost every
month of the year, and what yousee at the local level is a lot

(40:37):
more local regionalized issues.
They're working on things thatdon't make sense to tackle at
the national level.
What's happening at your localairport does not make sense for
them to have a big discussionon.
At the national level.
So you have to think of what youare getting from each level and
your representation.
So if they're local, regional,city, state issues, that's where

(41:02):
your local association is gonnatackle it.
When you're at the nationalshow, you really have to pull
back and think big picture.
You have to kind of be lookingat all of it.
And it goes back a little bit tokind of what Chris said earlier
about the two different shows.
When I'm at a Vegas show, mymentality, my feel, my.
I know that I have to be shortand intentional and I'm gonna

(41:23):
touch more people.
Whereas in Dallas, I can spendmore time.
But look, there's been times I'mhaving conversations at
airports.
I was in Minnesota, earlier thisyear at an event and someone
wanted to talk to me.
We had a chance to exchangecards.
Well, I had happened to drive upto that show, so of course
driving back, what am I doing?
I'm doing all the follow ups,all the calls, all the people I

(41:44):
wasn't able to reach.
And so we had that block of timethere.
But I think being intentionaland kind of figuring these
things out, but knowing what'sgoing on at each level and what
you're getting from each levelis the crucial missing part of
that.
'cause like you said, Ken, youcan't just be like, well, I'm
gonna go to my local associationshow.

(42:04):
Well, bud, that's a whole nothertopic.
That's a whole nother level.
It's

Ken Lucci (42:09):
topic and shame on you.
If you look on the, look,there's two big games a year
that, that you, in thisindustry, if you wanna be part
of the industry and people talkto me about, oh, I want to grow
my company.
Okay, you're in Dallas, you wantto grow your company, but you
don't know anything or you'renot involved or in the know, in
the, the biggest and onlymagazine in the space.

(42:30):
The website, you're not a memberof the NLA.
How can you say you want to growa business in an industry and
you're really sitting, you're onthe sidelines.
I would say go with an agenda.
Don't make up your agenda themorning you get to the show.
don't look at the schedule thefirst time.
when you're at the Gaylord, doyour advance, do your advance

(42:52):
work, come with an agenda.
how do you want to grow yourbusiness?
if it is, I wanna look atinvesting in a piece of fleet.
Absolutely talk to people whoalready have the fleet or ask,
can I have a few minutes of yourtime?
I understand you have thisequipment.
If you are looking to buy apiece of software, make sure
that you know where they're onthe show floor, like Limo

(43:14):
Anywhere.
If I was a limo anywhere user, Iwould be in Friday and I would
sit and I would make a list ofthe things that I'd like to know
about.
And I know they've got a ton ontheir roadmap.

Yeah, they'll have a, packed house for sure.

yeah.

Ken Lucci (43:27):
Absolutely.
So, yeah.

Ken, earlier you were, you were talking about.
The value proposition and, andpeople sometimes saying that the
price of the tickets is tooexpensive, but, you know,
getting back to everything is,what you make out of it.
So, you could go to one sessionand get one idea that not only
paid for your ticket, yourtravel and your time and all of

(43:50):
that, but it, it could betenfold and then.
at each session there's learningopportunities.
And then all throughout you havethese opportunities to pick
people's brains and to meetaffiliates that could end up
fulfilling your needs on, on thebackend or could end up sending
you work.
And, you know, on top of that

Ken Lucci (44:11):
one connection.
Can three x the investment?

Just one chance meeting.
And then when you add on top ofthat, you know, we have, you
know, these evening events thathave food and open bar, and then
every morning there's breakfast.
Every day there's lunch.
And you know, it just all addsup.
these tickets are not expensivewhen you really start to break
them down and you actuallycompare them to other.

(44:36):
Industry, not this industry, butother, you know, global events
that are for other sectors.

Ken Lucci (44:41):
Correct.
And everybody that you want tomeet is gonna be at this show.
This is, definitely the sizzleand the stake.
It's not a sizzle.
And then you get there and waita minute, you know, there's
nobody here that I want to meet.
They're all small, uppereverybody who's anybody is at
these shows.
And the willingness to share is,is actually pretty incredible.

(45:03):
again, I think it is 999 out ofa thousand people that you'd ask
for a few, few minutes, 100%.
Unless they're on their way tothe meeting, they're gonna give
it to you.
But it's definitely not a cost,it's an investment in your
education.
You can learn one mistake thatif you learn something from a
safety perspective or you learnsomething from a customer

(45:24):
service perspective, whetherit's you can make an enhancement
or it stops you from making a, astupid mistake, it's well worth
the investment and it's twice ayear.
That's to me, is you should beplanning your business,
education career, with these twoevents, period.

Well, and I'll, share one of the things that we
do internally, right?
So internally we have aspreadsheet, we have all the
shows, and we track all theexpenses.
And one of the things that wehave on there is we have a
column at the end that is valuebeyond spent.
Okay, so I can't tell you howmany shows that if I just looked

(46:01):
at the spreadsheet and said, oh,well we spent X dollars, we made
X dollars.
This show for us is a failure.
We're never going back.
But then you look at that columnon the side and it says, new
partnership, you know, met withinsurance carrier startup
partnership, met with, you know,so and so start of that
relationship.
And so you see these things.

(46:23):
know, and you gotta really thinkof it, almost like farming.
You see these things that theseed was planted there.
If I'm just trying to put astraight dollar sign figure on
it, one, I'm missing the point,but two, I'm gonna miss all
those opportunities.
And I will tell you there's anincredible, incredible
opportunity.
If you are listening to this andyou wanna really dominate at a

(46:43):
trade show, do this.
This is the secret, right?
You will get so many people thatwill email you that will follow
up with you that are like, Hey,buy my thing.
Hey, do this.
Hey, do that.
Right.
You know, the one thing that Iremember, right, and I'm pretty
sure it was JR Garza that sentit to me, right.

(47:04):
JR.
Maria, I remember we went to ashow and they just sent me a box
that was like, Hey, it was funhanging out.
Here's a picture of us hangingout and here's a brownie.
And I was like, what?
Right.
And maybe I'm misremembering,maybe it was a cookie, but, but
either way, I

Ken Lucci (47:15):
No, no.
it, it, it's a memorable Thankyou.

Like, yeah, forever.
Like you need anything?
I got you.
Right.
Because there's no selfishness,there's no do business.
There's no nothing.
And that goes back to what Isaid earlier.
If you want to really makeconnections, if you wanna do
well, you don't wanna walk up tome and be like, here's my card.
If you need something in DCit's, Hey, here's my card.

(47:39):
I'm looking for companies towork with.
I'd love to learn more aboutwhat you do and if I could be a
good partner to help you.
Right.
Actually genuinely wanting toknow, is there an opportunity
for me to help you?
Is there an opportunity to builda relationship?
those are the connections at theshow, and I can count on
probably one hand, maybe two,the people that do that really

(48:01):
well.
They're the ones that are alwayssurrounded by success.
They're the ones that will goabove and beyond.
You know, I think back to, uh,Charlie and Athena Rim from Bach
up in Alaska, taking me out todinner.
Hey, they saw I was new.
They saw I was, you know, aroundthe industry.
Noco was, they just, Hey, let'sgo to dinner.
Right?
I'd go to the end of the earthto do anything for them because.

(48:22):
They're the types of people thatare there doing that, right?
And I'm lucky enough to callthem customers and friends, but
those are the types ofrelationships and things that
you have the opportunity tobuild.
It's the people that have thismindset of, I'm gonna go in, I'm
gonna spend X amount dollars, Igotta give this back, I gotta go
sell to everybody that tend tostruggle and have a really hard

(48:42):
time with these.

Ken Lucci (48:43):
Well, it's a, it's a, you know, the, the phrase your
network.
Equals your net worth and youcan't network in basically with
one contact.
It's about the creation of therelationship, but it's also
about adding value.
I mean, Athena and Charlie sawsomething in, you, saw something
kind of revolutionary that youwere doing or trying to do for

(49:06):
the industry, and that's whythey, they gravitated.
Um, how many times did theyreferred you?

Oh, geez, I've lost count.
Right.
And beyond that, just, you know,if I have an issue, if I need
help, you know, we talked aboutthe mentor program earlier.
You know, it's no secret thatthey are mentors to me.
you know, there's been severaltimes where I've, called up and
I've sent a text or hand me someadvice.
Hey, can you help me with this?
Every single time it's, yeah,I'll call you in a minute.

Well, Athena is actually a mentor at the

Yeah.
Yeah.
So, so Athena, I love you todeath.
If there's a giant fight andthere's a giant line because
everybody wants you as a mentor.
sorry, not sorry,

She's also a, an extremely valuable member of the
show education committee tototal Rockstar.

Ken Lucci (49:47):
those two are a perfect example they're a
microcosm of the industry.
They will absolutely go out oftheir way to help you.
Okay.
I remember being in the securitybusiness and my boss at the time
was walking around a conferenceand he was asking someone, you
know, uh, so what do youspecialize?
Are you residential?
Do you commercial?

(50:07):
Well, I'm not gonna talk to youabout that.
It was like.
This is not state secrets.
This isn't an industry thatlikes to help each other.
Couple things.
You are not gonna, as anoperator, you are not gonna
encounter a problem that thesepeople haven't encountered a
thousand X and gone through it.
So the chances of you.
nipping a problem in the bud.

(50:28):
I don't care what it is.
You're having a problem with anemployee from an HR perspective.
You're having hiring issues.
Obviously you're having trainingproblems or retention problems,
but this is kind of, theultimate study group of the
industry.
It's like literally getting alimo, MBA.
Okay.
When you come to theseconference, but it's like

(50:49):
school.
If you sit in the back and youjust, you know, checking your
phone or shooting the shit,you're not gonna get anything
out of it.
So Go with an agenda.
Look at the scheduleonline@cdlashow.com.
Look at the schedule.
Map out your time.
Map out the time from the timeyou land to the time you leave,

(51:10):
and set an agenda and don't waitfor the day of the show to try
to text somebody or, or findsomebody on the, on the floor
and say, this is what gets me.
'cause I've seen it happen toyou.
I've seen what you do, but canyou know, can you take me aside?
Can we have a talk about myspecific company?
we're like serving the masses atthe show itself on the floor.

(51:33):
So go with an agenda.
What's important to you?
Make sure you prioritize.
Prioritize your objectives,prioritize who you want to see,
and put your best foot forward.

I wanna add to that, at the shows it's
important not to be shy, not tobe a wallflower and to strike up
conversations with every singleperson that you come in contact
with.
Even if it's just asking'em, youknow, where they, where they
operate, what type of, you know,vehicle makeup they may have.

(52:04):
What they get out of the shows.
simple conversation starters,the show can be intimidating.
So we we're always seeing peoplewho are, you know, kind of a
little timid to do that.
So my, my advice is check thatshyness at the door and just do
not be afraid to strike up aconversation with every single

(52:25):
person who's at that event,whether, They seem like an
intimidating character becausethey're, you know, a giant
operator or, you know, they're,looking like a deer in the
headlights like yourself.

Well, and there's something I want to add to this
because Ken and I were having aconversation the other day,
right?
We believe it or not, we talk alot outside the podcast as well,
and we were talking and one ofthe things that we see over and
over and over is operatorsthink, oh, you know, my problems
are so unique.
Like it's, this is a me problem.

Ken Lucci (52:55):
You don't understand I'm different.

Yeah, yeah.
No, no, no, you don't.
You don't get it.
Like nobody else in the entireworld has seen or is dealing
with what I'm dealing with, andI'm very sorry.
Children, you are not uniquesnowflakes.
Your businesses are not thefirst ever one of their kind.
You're the only revolutionaryone that's thought of that.
Nobody's is because the vastmajority of business problems

(53:19):
are just that.
They're business problems.
No matter how unique yourbusiness is, right?
You could have, you know, agreat startup that no one's ever
heard of that is completelydifferent, completely unique.
The main problems you're gonnadeal with are typical business
problems.
And so what I find is thedetails might change, the

(53:39):
flavors might change a littlebit.
It might feel a littledifferent.
At the core, a lot of theproblems are fundamentally the
same type and the same problem.
So I think part of that is youhave to go in understanding that
most small business problems aresmall business problems.
If you're following, like you'resaying, Chris, if you're having
conversations, if you're open,if you're willing to discuss, if

(54:01):
you get to the point withsomeone where you say, Hey,
we've built some rapport, I'dlove to ask you, Hey, have you
ever dealt with this?
Right?
Have you ever, you know, hadthat problem?

Ken Lucci (54:10):
I just talked to an operator the other day.
He was through nine 11.
He went through the financialcrisis, he went through COVID
and now his business is muchmore profitable than it ever
has.
But he had to go through thosethings and the industry is
cyclical.
when I was an operator, we hada, we had a labor lawsuit.
And when I went to the show, Iwas feeling awful about my

(54:31):
company.
Went to the show and they'relike, join the club.
There's like five of us.
Oh, by the way, here's theattorney you should be using.
The other point I wanted to makeis this is not what I would
consider to be a quote, typicallimo or typical small business
show.
This is a world-class,conference.
You've got an unbelievable team.

(54:54):
I mean, how long has Jess workedfor you and the rest of the
entire team?
Run it down.

I am so blessed to have the team that I have, Susan
Rose, who's our managing editor,and Trisha Rieger, who's our art
director, have been with me,through Chauffeur Driven and the
previous entity.
Limo Digest for 28 years each.
28.

geez.

So yeah, we're, we're talking.

Staying power.

And, and just, just two of the most unbelievable
human beings.
yeah.
I'm really blessed.
We also have Rob Spek, who Iknow you, you work closely with
Ken, and you do as will James.
and yeah.
Rob's, Rob's been with us almosta decade.
And yeah, he might as well havebeen with us for 28 years as
well.
'cause he, you know, fits themold perfectly.

(55:43):
And then of course, uh, youknow, Jess, who is our director
of

Jess.

yeah.
Jess's story is super uniquebecause we hired Jess 12, 13
years ago.
Right, right.
When we launched ChaufferDriven, we hired Jess to be a
part-time telemarketer sellingpasses to the show.

No way.

Yeah.
She was working, Part-time.
It was a seasonal position andshe did so, so phenomenal that
we offered her a position in ourcirculation department.
She then eventually, became thecirculation manager and had
expressed interest in working inthe events, and I said, we can
make that happen, you know, be afly on the wall.

(56:26):
And just try to absorb andsponge up as much as you can
about what we do on the eventside.
And once she, got to the pointwhere, you know, she was
comfortable and, and learnedenough, we, we put her in, you
know, into the event side.
And then she, again, rose andbecame the director of events.
So.

Ken Lucci (56:43):
Yeah, she does an incredible job.
I mean, and, and appearsseamless.
I know behind the scenes it canget chaotic because I've been in
there stuffing, helping youstuff bags and stuff, uh, on
occasion.
But it is seamless and she doesit.
The whole team does anincredible job.

I am blessed.

yeah, You've got a solid team.

Ken Lucci (57:03):
It's worth the investment.
you have anything in yourcalendar this year, the fall
show, 100% as we've talkedabout, the agenda is great.
And then we always look forwardto the Vegas show'cause it's a
good continuum.
And again, it's about startingthe relationships and meeting
the people that can, and solvingthe problems that can be really

(57:24):
move your business forward.
So, very happy to have you onthe, uh,

Thank you.
I would be remiss if I didn'tthough, as we're talking about
the shows, you know, give a bigshout out to, uh, the National
and Association, our partners inthe show, uh, Sarah Mercer, Kyle
Hammer, Schmidt, obviouslyworking with, Jason and Carl on
the show education Committee.
Brett Barron Holtz is, uh, justa, a phenomenal leader, a good

(57:50):
friend, great partner, and youknow, they, they make it even
easier for us to do what we do.

Ken Lucci (57:57):
A hundred percent and coming out of the, out of COVID,
look, this could have goneeither way.
The

Oh.

Ken Lucci (58:02):
could have gone downhill, the association could
have gone downhill.
To me, both enterprises are, arejust in lockstep and doing so
well, running on all, on allcylinders.
And it, and I think it is, it'sbe, the teams are great.
you know, without question.
The NLA team, they're runningaround the shows as well.
It's, it's phenomenal.

It's great to have all the, all the oars rowing in
the same direction pre COVID.
That wasn't the case.
And it really seemed like that'swhat everyone wanted and, you
know, it took COVID and, youknow, us acquiring LCT, but we,
we were able to, to, you know,unify everything and, and, uh,
limit the amount of, of nationalevents that we're doing and, and

(58:46):
have everyone steering in thesame direction.

I, I gotta tell you, it's, it's gonna be
incredible because I, I thinkthe neat thing is, I remember
one of the very first showscoming out of COVID was the one
in Texas at the Gaylord, and Iremember doing the opening
session.
We were, we were talking abouthiring.
It was, I remember driving downbecause flights were still a
pain to deal with andeverything.
So I think now to have come fullcircle to, you know, the

(59:12):
attendance was just coming backup.
That was kinda the first showback to now coming back in 2025,
full force.
I think it really has kind ofcome full circle, like you were
saying.

it has.
When we did that show in 21 atthe Texan, we were actually one
of the top 10 organizationsnationally to host a trade show
like we were trendsetting backthen.

everybody was still on lockdown,

everyone was still afraid to do it.
We were fortunate that we werein Texas, so that, that, that

God bless Texas.
God

and God bless Texas, and, and we were just,
you know, we felt that everyoneneeded to get back together and,
and someone needed to set thetone and, and so we just decided
to do it.

Ken Lucci (59:53):
A hundred percent when you go to these shows, to
me, more than anything, itmagnifies the opportunities that
are available in the industry.
We all are in our businessesevery day, and maybe we look at
the problems that we see or thechallenges that we are
experiencing, but.

(01:00:14):
To me, the opportunities aremagnified when you get on the
conference, on the show floorand you look at the vehicles and
you go into the educationsessions and you can take out
the golden nuggets and shame onyou if you don't implement them.
they're literally there on theschedule for you to, to grow the
business, the elements that youneed to grow the business, and

(01:00:35):
the people are there to helpyou, which is.
To me, one of the unsung thingsabout this, this industry is
people will help

Chris Weiss (01:00:44):
It's fraternal.
It, it, it's.

Ken Lucci (01:00:46):
Very fraternal.

James Blain (01:00:48):
but I gotta tell you guys, and Chris, you, you
probably see the same thing.
I could probably count on onehand the people that I've met
that I've said, Hey, you know,I'd be happy to coach, I'd be
happy to help.
Whatever you need.
The ones that actually genuinelyreach out and take you up on
that offer.
I think, at least for me, and Ican only speak for myself, I
gotta tell you're few and farbetween.

(01:01:08):
So kinda like what I was sayingearlier, I get spammed by
everybody with, Hey, you know,my favorite is when they're
like, Hey, you know, I'd loveyour affiliate business in this
city.
And I'm like, so you have paidno attention to anything on my
business card.
You didn't.
Remember a darn word I said,'cause I'm a training company,
right?
So I don't know what businessyou think I'm sending you,

(01:01:29):
right?
Clearly you've just taken everycard and put them on a spam
list, which, good luck withthat,

We're the event producers, and I get those
emails.

yeah.
Chris is gonna send you hisbusiness for his non-existent
limo company, right?
I mean.
But it, it's the same thing.
But Chris, how many, I mean, howmany times do you tell someone,
Hey, I'd love to give youadvice.
Hey, I'd be happy to do it.
And then they never follow up.
They never take you up on it.
You know, I have that happen tome all the time, and more than
anything, I feel bad for thepeople.
'cause I'm like, I wouldgenuinely love to be able to

(01:01:58):
help you, but people justtypically don't ever take you up
on it.
I don't, I don't know if that'syour experience, Chris.

I would say it's somewhat the same, but not
entirely because I, you know, atthe shows, I, I try to, you
know, give time especially tofirst timers and new operators
and yeah.
Uh, there often is follow up.
And, you know, people get moreinterested in, you know, what
we're doing with the magazineand what we're doing with our
other content.
So it, it does develop.

(01:02:27):
I, I, you know, there'scountless people that I've met
at the shows who were firsttimers and here you fast forward
5, 10, 15 years, 20 years, 30years, and we're still friends
and still connected.
We grew up together in it andthat part of it is to myself and
to the team, the CD team.
It is the most rewarding partwhen we get to sit back and just

(01:02:49):
watch all of these friends andcolleagues coming together and
enjoying themselves and, youknow, having these, you know,
laughing and having greatconversations and sharing ideas
and breaking bread and all ofthese great things and we can
just sit back and be a fly onthe wall and watch it.
Nothing is more rewarding thanthat out of everything that we

(01:03:10):
do.
Of, you know, the decades ofdoing this.
That is what keeps me comingback.
I mean, that,

Ken Lucci (01:03:16):
Well, you guys do make it look easy, but I know
it's not.
So you do a great joborchestrating the whole thing.

a lot goes into it and it all, and yeah, these
events are planned out sometimessix to nine months in advance,
if not longer.
And it, yeah, it's the team.
I have such an amazing team and,you know, not just with CD, but
with the NLA and thatpartnership, it's.
Just blessed, very thankful.

Ken Lucci (01:03:40):
Well, I think that's a terrific place to leave it.
Thank you so much for, agreeingto be on the podcast, everybody.
October 26th, correct.

Yes.
It's, uh, yeah, October 20,fifth through the 28th.
Um, because it, yeah.
Yeah, that's, uh, the

Slight

that's the limo anywhere, full day of sessions.
Then

Ken Lucci (01:04:03):
Yep.

the, uh, the show education committee sessions
kick off on Sunday, uh, thementoring programs Sunday
afternoon, and then we have theopening party on the show floor,
which is always, uh, always ahit.
You know, we were, in the past,we were having the show floor,
the final day was on Wednesday,and it was always lackluster.
I'm sure you guys, asexhibitors, you know, would,

(01:04:25):
would attest to that.

I plead the fifth.

But, you know, we made an adjustment a, a, a few
years ago to have the first dayas an opening party and cut the
last day out.
So now all, all three days arevaluable on, on the show floor.

Ken Lucci (01:04:40):
all three are action packed, so if you haven't
visited, go to cd nla show.com.
That's cd nla show.com.
The 25th to the 28th, limoAnywhere is the first thing that
takes place on the 25th MainEvent.
Starts on Sunday and goes allthe way through Tuesday.

(01:05:01):
Tuesday night.
So great seeing you.
Thanks for being on the podcast,and we'll see you live and in
Dallas.

Thanks, Jen.
Appreciate it.
Thank you for listening to theground transportation podcast.
If you enjoyed this episode,please remember to subscribe to
the show on apple, Spotify,YouTube, or wherever you get
your podcasts.
For more information about PAXtraining and to contact James,
go to PAX training.com.
And for more information aboutdriving transactions and to

(01:05:30):
contact Ken, Go to drivingtransactions.com.
We'll see you next time on theground transportation podcast.

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