Making the Fan

Episode 001: An introduction to the show Making the Fan w/ David Millay. 

A show where we explore how brands turn casual customers into faithful fans, and employees into evangelists. 

David shares his experience going through Traditions, Disney's 8-hour, new employee onboarding course, and unpacks how Disney uses Traditions to create emotional connections with employees. 

This episode serves as a pre...

Joey Coleman, one of the world's leading experts on employee experience, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to recruit top talent, bring them onboard successfully, and keep them engaged while they produce remarkable results for years to come.

Finding and keeping quality employees is one of the greatest challenges facing businesses today. With more people quitting their jobs each month than ev...

Augmented reality and virtual reality are transforming both the in-venue and at-home viewing experience. To understand how to incorporate these emerging technologies, we sat down with Steven King, founder and Chief Innovation Officer of University of North Carolina’s Blue Sky Innovation lab.  King’s work is rooted in human-centered design and this episode hits on some of the latest projects coming out of the lab and how to effectiv...

It used to be fun to work in sports. But like so many other industries, responsibilities have increased, often demanding employees to achieve more with less. The result, according to Matt Huml, can be burnout, workaholism, disengagement, and resentment. In this episode, we dive deep into Matt's two most recent research projects: "The Effect of Remote Work on Family and Work Dynamics Within the Sport Industry;" and &q...

After more than 220 undercover interviews with 12,000 employees, Clint Pulver is known as the leading authority on employee retention.  In this episode, David and Clint discuss the key attributes of mentor managing and the 5 Cs of leadership that result in employees saying, “I Love it Here.”

-----

2:24     The Undercover Millennial Program

5:49     Behind the Book “I Love It Here”

9:24     The 4 Types of Managers

17:36   Assessing Your ...

In this episode, David Millay sits down with Vanessa Ward, Vice President of Event Service for the Phoenix Suns. Before joining the Suns, Vanessa spent time at Disney, launching the Guest Experience Center, and the Chicago Cubs, overseeing the Guest and Associate Experience.  Understanding that the employee experience directly impacts the guest experience, Vanessa shares tactics on communicating significant changes from event to ev...

He’s considered a bit of a social media ‘OG’.  For seven years, Preston guided players on the PGA Tour to create their own brands and communities, an effort that grew the greater PGA audience from 20 million to 60 million followers in 5 years.  Now, as a co-founder of Golf Space Collective, Preston and his team guides golf properties on all things digital. 

This episode hits on why building a personal brand is important, the impact ...

In the second half of this two-part episode, we’re diving into why Disney uses portals, the principles of meta-modernism and why something is “cool” with Dr. Troy Campbell. Campbell is the Chief Scientist at On Your Feet and his research and career has centered around the intersection of scientific minds and artistic hearts and how to create and capture original and powerful ideas and make amazing things.  

-----

3:29    Th...

In the first of this two-part episode with Dr. Troy Campbell, we’re breaking down the principles behind storytelling and what makes something “cool.”  Campbell is the Chief Scientist at On Your Feet and his research and career has centered around the intersection of scientific minds and artistic hearts and how to create and capture original and powerful ideas and make amazing things.  Part one hits on why Nike ads are simple to mak...

Previously on Flip the Switch, Brittany Hodak shared her ‘SUPER’ framework that brands can leverage to increase loyalty and fandom. With her new book, Creating Superfans coming out today (January 10), David Millay welcomes Brittany back to the show to discuss new frameworks and models that small businesses and global brands everywhere can implement to convert customers and employees into superfans.

-----

2:29     Creating Superfans P...

When it comes to identifying your purpose or purposes, it’s all about having a clear intention for your time, your talents, your energy and your focus. What makes you happy.  But more importantly, it’s about turning your purpose or purposes into something actionable and making them matter.  After helping thousands find their purpose through her companies Ning and Mighty and her Community Design course, CEO and Founder of Mighty Net...

Following a 20-year career at Disney, Dennis Snow identified 10 key lessons that all organizations could follow to achieve the same success in customer service and company culture.  Since leaving the magic, Dennis has spent the last 23 years inspiring organizations on how to adapt those 10 lessons and apply the core service principles to their operation.  

In this episode, we unpack the lessons from his two books, “Lessons...

The baseball business is a relationship business and has the same core values as any other hospitality industry.  It’s a practice that Eric Weisberg preaches as the Vice President of Fan Experience.  In this episode, Eric discusses the influences roles with Disney and the Kansas City Zoo has on his career in baseball, his “Fan Host for a Day” program and how to show up for a job in the sports industry.  

Show Notes

3:43     Eric...

In this episode, we’re joined by Lisa Holladay, Chief Experience Officer at Tiger 21, a high wealth membership organization.  Lisa has spent her career in service hospitality, with stops at Mercedes-Benz and Ritz-Carlton.  By viewing customers as owners, guests or members, each of these brands have created more personal relationships, resulting in more memorable experiences.  

We break down the principles that make these brands syno...

In today’s episode, David Millay and Katie Rudy are joined by Brooke Sellas, Digital Customer Experience Specialist and CEO of B Squared Media.  With more than 15 years of marketing experience and 10 in social media management, Brooke recently authored a new book, "Conversations That Connect."  We dive into several tactics and strategies from the book, demonstrating the value of social media listening to connect with, con...

To orchestrate a compelling game day experience for all fans requires thinking more like a play caller, an offensive coordinator, rather than simply directing a run of show.  In this episode, David Millay and Katie Rudy sit down with Guido D’Elia, a consultant in strategic communications and college athletics game day experience.  As Penn State’s Director of Football Branding and Communications, Guido was the mastermind behind the ...

It’s 5x cheaper to retain an existing customer than acquire a new one and increasing retention by 5% can increase profits by 25 - 95%. Yet so many companies still prioritize customer acquisition over retention.  In this episode, David Millay and Katie Rudy sit down with Ed Frame, CEO and Founder of Exemplify CX and discuss his 7-phase approach to Customer Longevity, converting buyers into repeat customers and brand advocates.  

—--

S...

Today’s guest is Phill Agnew, a senior product marketing manager at Buffer.  After struggling as a marketer in his early career, Phill discovered behavioral science and started applying psychology principles to improve his work. From distinctiveness, social proof, primacy effect and framing, Phill developed the Science of Marketing course and The Nudge Marketing Podcast to help others understand how to boost their marketing strateg...

In the daily grind, it’s hard to find time to work on the business when you are working in the business.   

Staff retreats offer teams the opportunity to reset, reframe the operation and define goals for a new chapter.  

In this episode, David Millay and Katie Rudy break down approaches to team retreats and key activities to include to break the cycle and improve your operation.

We cover:

• Defining goals of the retreats
• Establishing ...