WEBVTT - Bottlerock 0:00:08.680 --> 0:00:12.440 Welcome, Welcome, Welcome back to the Bob Left Sets Podcast. 0:00:13.160 --> 0:00:16.720 My guests today are the brain trust and owners of 0:00:16.840 --> 0:00:20.239 Bottle Rock. This is audio only. There's three guys here. 0:00:20.239 --> 0:00:24.080 Maybe a little confusing, but why don't you introduce yourselves 0:00:24.120 --> 0:00:26.680 briefly one by one maybe people can get the voice 0:00:26.720 --> 0:00:27.840 associated with the name. 0:00:29.000 --> 0:00:33.479 My name is Dave Graham and that is my voice. Jason, 0:00:33.520 --> 0:00:34.040 your next. 0:00:34.440 --> 0:00:38.600 Okay, Hey Bob, this is Jason Scoggins. 0:00:38.920 --> 0:00:41.680 Well I'm justin Drigo. So nice to meet everybody. 0:00:43.159 --> 0:00:45.800 Okay, guys, you know, toss up for twenty as they 0:00:45.880 --> 0:00:48.560 used to say on gi College Bull. What makes Bottle 0:00:48.640 --> 0:00:53.840 Rock different from every other festival? Well, where do. 0:00:53.920 --> 0:00:55.959 We want to start? Justin, Jason, I guess we can 0:00:56.000 --> 0:01:01.800 start at kind of. We always call it our fourth partner. Well, 0:01:01.840 --> 0:01:04.280 we're partners with Live Nations, so it's actually our fifth partner, 0:01:05.319 --> 0:01:07.440 and our fifth partner is probably the most powerful partner 0:01:07.440 --> 0:01:09.440 we have, and that's the Napa Valley. And I think 0:01:09.440 --> 0:01:12.720 what differentiates us is that we're at that intersection of 0:01:14.160 --> 0:01:17.920 food and wine and music, and so everything we do 0:01:18.720 --> 0:01:21.559 as it relates to the customer experience is in line 0:01:21.640 --> 0:01:25.480 with trying to deliver on that kind of brand expectation 0:01:26.520 --> 0:01:29.400 of the Napa Valley, what people think about the Napa 0:01:29.480 --> 0:01:31.880 Valley before they come, what they think about, what they 0:01:31.959 --> 0:01:33.600 wanted in terms of what they want to do when 0:01:33.640 --> 0:01:35.679 they're in the Napa Valley. We try to bring that 0:01:35.760 --> 0:01:39.760 to the festival and then add music. Justin is really 0:01:40.200 --> 0:01:44.600 in responsible in large part just Casey two for the experience, 0:01:44.640 --> 0:01:47.319 and so I kind of jumped in and spoke about 0:01:47.400 --> 0:01:48.720 a lot of the work that the two of them 0:01:48.800 --> 0:01:52.640 do to create that experience, which is pretty pretty hard actually. 0:01:52.920 --> 0:01:58.080 Okay, justin conventionally it's about the lineup at festivals, except 0:01:58.160 --> 0:02:03.520 for very elite festivals like Colla, not everybody is nap 0:02:03.520 --> 0:02:06.840 affluent or is that wrong? Is Napa a draw into 0:02:06.960 --> 0:02:09.440 itself so that you can sell tickets? 0:02:11.400 --> 0:02:11.640 Yeah? 0:02:12.080 --> 0:02:14.359 I think it's more of what Dave was referencing about 0:02:14.360 --> 0:02:17.600 the standard of quality that we're looking for. It doesn't 0:02:17.639 --> 0:02:21.440 necessarily have to be someone that associates with the Napa 0:02:21.520 --> 0:02:25.080 Valley brand itself. But when people think in Napa Valley, 0:02:25.320 --> 0:02:27.720 generally they're thinking about things that are done well and 0:02:27.840 --> 0:02:30.799 done the right way. And and then let's say it 0:02:30.880 --> 0:02:32.919 was a restaurant or let's say it was this food 0:02:32.960 --> 0:02:34.800 and wine, or it was a spa, or it was 0:02:35.160 --> 0:02:38.200 you know, you have it. There's a level of quality 0:02:38.240 --> 0:02:40.880 expectations that whatever the subject is. 0:02:40.840 --> 0:02:42.239 If you're going to do it NAPA, you're going to 0:02:42.280 --> 0:02:42.680 do it right. 0:02:43.360 --> 0:02:46.080 And so that's really the mindset that that Dave reference 0:02:46.120 --> 0:02:48.080 to that we've we've been after. So even if you 0:02:48.080 --> 0:02:51.280 don't reference or like have an affiliation for Napa Vallee 0:02:51.280 --> 0:02:53.079 and you don't drink wine, but. 0:02:53.960 --> 0:02:56.480 You don't even have to, you know, you know, you 0:02:56.480 --> 0:02:57.720 don't have to resonate. 0:02:57.360 --> 0:03:00.399 With the brand itself, but when you get there, you really, hey, 0:03:00.440 --> 0:03:02.639 this place is different, this festival is a little different. 0:03:02.720 --> 0:03:04.680 Like what does that mean to some people? Means Hey 0:03:04.720 --> 0:03:06.760 there's more shade. Hey it's really clean, and hey it 0:03:06.760 --> 0:03:09.440 feels real safe, and you know it's really comfortable and 0:03:09.480 --> 0:03:12.920 it's there's no dust and so those aren't necessarily NAPA 0:03:13.000 --> 0:03:16.760 Valley brand attributes, but it's really more that you call 0:03:16.760 --> 0:03:19.560 it that quality standard that we try to hold ourselves to, 0:03:19.720 --> 0:03:22.360 and it doesn't necessarily tie the NAPA, it ties to 0:03:22.360 --> 0:03:22.880 the quality. 0:03:24.400 --> 0:03:27.760 So who comes to Bottle Rock, Jason, do you want 0:03:27.760 --> 0:03:28.120 to hit that? 0:03:29.080 --> 0:03:29.360 Sure? 0:03:29.720 --> 0:03:32.640 Hey, Bob, Well, I mean Yeah, Justin was about to 0:03:32.639 --> 0:03:33.960 say people of all ages. 0:03:34.720 --> 0:03:36.040 I think that's a fair statement. 0:03:36.160 --> 0:03:40.920 I mean, in terms of the demographic or regional demographics, 0:03:41.040 --> 0:03:47.000 it's you know, eighty percent Northern California attended festival. You know, 0:03:47.120 --> 0:03:51.200 so from Silicon Valley and San Francisco to Sacramento people 0:03:51.280 --> 0:03:54.400 are coming to Bottle Rock. And then in terms of 0:03:54.680 --> 0:03:57.560 the you know, the age profile, you know, we're looking 0:03:57.600 --> 0:04:01.400 at probably a bit of a unique festival relative to 0:04:01.880 --> 0:04:05.080 some of the what I would call write a passage festivals, 0:04:05.160 --> 0:04:09.480 which are you know, a much more younger demo. Bottle 0:04:09.560 --> 0:04:11.640 Rock is is a little bit more of a something 0:04:11.680 --> 0:04:15.920 for everybody type of festival insofar as you know, the lineup, 0:04:16.360 --> 0:04:19.559 all the food quality that Justin and Dave talked about earlier, 0:04:19.560 --> 0:04:22.000 in the wine quality, So you're going to attract people 0:04:22.080 --> 0:04:24.520 from you know, fifty percent of our audience is going 0:04:24.560 --> 0:04:26.480 to be from eighteen to thirty four and the other 0:04:26.560 --> 0:04:29.400 fifty percent is going to be thirty five to fifty four. 0:04:29.640 --> 0:04:31.599 Is kind of what our demo spread is. 0:04:33.360 --> 0:04:34.120 We kind of look at. 0:04:34.040 --> 0:04:37.200 It as a as a bell shaped curve, and so 0:04:37.880 --> 0:04:39.800 like if you if you're looking at a bell shaped curve, 0:04:39.839 --> 0:04:42.159 probably the mean or the fat part of the curve 0:04:42.200 --> 0:04:44.960 would be in that kind of thirty two thirty five 0:04:45.480 --> 0:04:47.760 year old range, and then there are long tails and 0:04:47.800 --> 0:04:50.600 so what We'll have a lot of young people that 0:04:50.920 --> 0:04:52.880 will come, and we'll have a lot of people I'm 0:04:52.880 --> 0:04:55.400 fifty two that'll be my age and older. But the 0:04:55.680 --> 0:04:58.159 real fat part of the curve would be around that 0:04:58.279 --> 0:05:00.719 thirty two thirty thirty f five range. 0:05:01.520 --> 0:05:04.760 And to what degree is the repeat business. 0:05:05.800 --> 0:05:08.640 It's it's it's massive, it's it's it's it's really hard 0:05:08.640 --> 0:05:11.440 to quantify because a lot of the everything's purchased with 0:05:11.440 --> 0:05:14.000 with credit card tickets with credit cards, of course, and 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:15.680 what that means is that one year I might just 0:05:15.680 --> 0:05:19.320 buy four tickets for myself and my family, and the 0:05:19.360 --> 0:05:22.400 next year my wife might buy, you know, the tickets 0:05:22.400 --> 0:05:27.600 for us. But generally we know that the customer is 0:05:27.640 --> 0:05:32.720 a repeat customer because prior to the announcement of our 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:37.040 lineup each year, we sell out of of of all 0:05:37.640 --> 0:05:42.560 levels of our our VAP tickets and our suites through 0:05:42.560 --> 0:05:44.200 our loyalty loyalty. 0:05:43.800 --> 0:05:49.360 Sales, and roughly maybe half of the GA tickets are 0:05:49.400 --> 0:05:53.760 also sold without anyone knowing the lineup yet, you know, 0:05:54.600 --> 0:05:56.800 it's like one of those is the lineup important or not? 0:05:57.760 --> 0:06:00.280 The lineup is massively important still, I know you were 0:06:00.279 --> 0:06:05.120 referencing that there's other things, but it's because people expect 0:06:05.440 --> 0:06:06.719 a big lineup from. 0:06:06.520 --> 0:06:07.039 What we're doing. 0:06:07.040 --> 0:06:09.039 They know that we're going to invest the money and 0:06:09.120 --> 0:06:12.200 the right type of artists, and so all these tickets 0:06:12.240 --> 0:06:14.280 sell ahead of time. It's like, oh, the artists, you 0:06:14.400 --> 0:06:16.479 are not that big a part of it. It's like 0:06:16.720 --> 0:06:20.000 the artists are massively a part of it, and you know, 0:06:20.200 --> 0:06:22.919 kind of we're held to that same quality level and 0:06:22.960 --> 0:06:25.200 all these pre sale tickets and even though they're buying 0:06:25.240 --> 0:06:27.120 a ticket before they know the light up, but they're 0:06:27.160 --> 0:06:30.400 counting on us to deliver a top line up every year. 0:06:31.200 --> 0:06:34.680 So if the higher tier tickets sell out through the 0:06:34.720 --> 0:06:38.520 loyalty program, to what degree do you feel pressure to 0:06:38.640 --> 0:06:42.280 deliver a different experience from what you've delivered previously. 0:06:44.200 --> 0:06:48.560 I guess I could comment on that whether whether we've ever. 0:06:48.400 --> 0:06:51.960 Got this expectation from a fan or not, or whether 0:06:52.040 --> 0:06:54.839 we just started this ourselves, which which is what we did. 0:06:55.520 --> 0:06:59.040 Was it was really a plan, and we've done this 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:04.360 every year to change the VIP experiences significantly enough each 0:07:04.440 --> 0:07:06.760 year that if you said, oh, I've already gone plat 0:07:06.920 --> 0:07:08.360 at ball Rock Guard, you know what that is. I've 0:07:08.360 --> 0:07:10.360 already done the VIP experience. I know what that is. 0:07:10.400 --> 0:07:12.480 I don't need to go next year. But if every 0:07:12.480 --> 0:07:16.040 time you've gone it's been different, then you realize if 0:07:16.080 --> 0:07:17.840 you skip a year, you're going to miss out on 0:07:17.960 --> 0:07:19.400 something right, and you're going to see it in the 0:07:19.400 --> 0:07:22.320 photos from your friends. So so we you know we uh, 0:07:22.880 --> 0:07:25.960 I wouldn't say we like invest a totally different amount 0:07:25.960 --> 0:07:28.040 of money every year. We just take the same amount 0:07:28.080 --> 0:07:30.280 of and invest it in a different way each year. 0:07:30.600 --> 0:07:32.280 So we take a lot of time to come through 0:07:32.320 --> 0:07:33.360 that good question. 0:07:33.960 --> 0:07:35.360 Can you give me a couple of examples. 0:07:36.960 --> 0:07:40.520 Yeah, So it's there's a there's a theme to it 0:07:40.840 --> 0:07:44.000 in these lounges and like you'll see the Platinum Lounge 0:07:44.000 --> 0:07:47.080 and the Platum Lounge might go from everyone walks into 0:07:47.080 --> 0:07:49.239 a Platum lounge, that's a that's one of the higher 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:54.040 the highest ticket ticket type that we have, and they 0:07:54.080 --> 0:07:56.400 see it and it's like a New York speakeasy from 0:07:56.400 --> 0:07:59.360 the nineteen twenties or you or say something like that. Right, 0:07:59.440 --> 0:08:01.120 it's got to stir and feel to it. Like you 0:08:01.120 --> 0:08:04.600 could be you know, in you know, Lower Manhattan, etcetera. 0:08:04.680 --> 0:08:07.160 And the next year you walk in and you could 0:08:07.160 --> 0:08:09.560 be on the beach in Cabo Saint Lucas, Right, it 0:08:09.600 --> 0:08:11.760 could be like a Baja beach team. And it's the 0:08:11.840 --> 0:08:14.520 same ticket in the same place, but you create a 0:08:14.560 --> 0:08:17.480 different energy around it, and then we octivate different fan 0:08:17.600 --> 0:08:19.960 experiences based on kind of what that theme is for 0:08:20.000 --> 0:08:22.640 the year. So it's still in the same place, it's 0:08:22.640 --> 0:08:25.280 still generally has the same attributes in terms of the 0:08:25.320 --> 0:08:27.640 seating and and we do the food and such. 0:08:27.680 --> 0:08:30.000 But they're walking into an entirely new. 0:08:29.880 --> 0:08:30.720 Design every year. 0:08:30.720 --> 0:08:32.800 And we do the same thing with our via well 0:08:32.840 --> 0:08:34.320 color vip fhillas as well. 0:08:35.280 --> 0:08:38.880 Okay, so if it's Cabo or New York, what experiences 0:08:38.960 --> 0:08:41.720 might be attached to that to make it unique on 0:08:41.760 --> 0:08:42.160 the theme? 0:08:43.760 --> 0:08:46.160 Yeah, so I mean, for example, and I think we 0:08:46.240 --> 0:08:49.240 might have even chatted about this with you another time, Bob, 0:08:49.360 --> 0:08:51.800 Let's say, with that New York experience and that you know, 0:08:51.880 --> 0:08:56.119 kind of that speakeasy vibe and you focus some tastings 0:08:56.160 --> 0:08:58.640 on like you know, rare bourbons, you know, or it 0:08:58.679 --> 0:09:02.720 could have been more food that was more tied inspired 0:09:02.760 --> 0:09:05.360 from a New York chef. And then the next year 0:09:05.480 --> 0:09:07.680 I mentioned it's the same place, it's the same ticket, 0:09:07.720 --> 0:09:10.720 it's the same you know, overall feeling a luxury. 0:09:10.760 --> 0:09:13.240 But if I had that more like Baja name, we're going. 0:09:13.240 --> 0:09:17.200 To compare like a bunch of highest end tequila right in. 0:09:17.320 --> 0:09:19.920 What it really is the difference between you know, Don 0:09:19.960 --> 0:09:23.160 Julio in nineteen forty two and pass Azul and five 0:09:23.200 --> 0:09:25.400 others like and let's have you sit down and taste 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:27.480 and pick them apart and see which one you like. 0:09:27.480 --> 0:09:29.959 It's it's not that someone needs to go to a 0:09:30.040 --> 0:09:30.720 music festival. 0:09:30.720 --> 0:09:32.000 It tastes tequila, but. 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:35.000 It's kind of an unexpected thing and you know, and 0:09:35.120 --> 0:09:37.880 certainly an unexpected lower equality we're trying to bring to 0:09:37.960 --> 0:09:40.200 just you know, get people to say that's different. 0:09:42.120 --> 0:09:44.400 Okay, let's go back to the very beginning of the 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:48.480 fan experience. Let's assume the festival is mature, which it is. Now, 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:52.960 do you have to do any advertising? What do you 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:55.440 do to make people aware of the coming year? 0:09:58.840 --> 0:10:02.200 Well, you got your typical, well kind of marketing strategy 0:10:02.040 --> 0:10:05.439 that I would say is very similar to what other 0:10:05.520 --> 0:10:06.360 festivals would do. 0:10:07.000 --> 0:10:07.640 But then. 0:10:09.000 --> 0:10:12.800 Throughout the year, as you're leading up to the festival, 0:10:12.880 --> 0:10:17.280 you've got announcements that you make with partners that you 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:20.880 bring on that are at the restaurant level, that are 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:25.400 at the food level, sorry, at the wine level, at 0:10:25.480 --> 0:10:30.840 the call it culinary stage level that everyone waits for 0:10:31.679 --> 0:10:37.240 and everyone anticipates. And so these are kind of, let's 0:10:37.240 --> 0:10:38.839 put it this way, like if we're talking about the 0:10:38.880 --> 0:10:43.480 culinary stage, everyone is waiting to see who is going 0:10:43.480 --> 0:10:45.400 to be on the culinary stage. And I can unpack 0:10:45.440 --> 0:10:47.760 with the culinary stages for those that don't know. 0:10:47.679 --> 0:10:48.160 What it is. 0:10:48.600 --> 0:10:51.720 But we release that that announcement in the form of 0:10:51.720 --> 0:10:56.960 an ad maat, and in that ad mat we you 0:10:57.000 --> 0:11:01.160 will see celebrities. You will see the very artists, many 0:11:01.200 --> 0:11:03.160 of them, many of the very artists that are playing 0:11:04.000 --> 0:11:07.400 the festival that year, and then you'll see rockstar chefs. 0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:10.640 All all build in a way. 0:11:10.280 --> 0:11:12.480 That is very similar to how a festival would build 0:11:12.840 --> 0:11:18.319 build its musical lineup. And so we make these large announcements, 0:11:18.480 --> 0:11:21.199 and then of course we do social media around it 0:11:21.360 --> 0:11:26.360 and creative kind of call it products to kind of 0:11:26.400 --> 0:11:30.120 promote that even though in many of those announcements we're 0:11:30.160 --> 0:11:32.600 not doing those and making those announcements to sell tickets, 0:11:32.720 --> 0:11:36.280 but instead just to deliver on what people are expecting. 0:11:36.320 --> 0:11:39.040 But again to Justin's point, it's going to be different 0:11:39.320 --> 0:11:42.920 every single year. The food lineup, the wine lineup, the 0:11:42.960 --> 0:11:44.040 culinary stage lineup. 0:11:45.320 --> 0:11:48.960 Okay, festival plays at the end of May. When will 0:11:49.000 --> 0:11:52.480 the first tickets be on sale for the subsequent year 0:11:54.120 --> 0:11:57.120 November of the of the of the prior year. And 0:11:57.200 --> 0:12:03.040 why November is opposed to July or February. 0:12:00.080 --> 0:12:03.920 Right, Well, we want to give people and our loyal 0:12:03.920 --> 0:12:08.960 customers the ability to actually not have to have to 0:12:09.000 --> 0:12:13.640 wait in the queue and to worry and distress as 0:12:13.640 --> 0:12:15.240 to whether or not they're going to actually get the 0:12:15.240 --> 0:12:17.679 tickets that they want. So we make it a very 0:12:17.679 --> 0:12:22.760 pleasurable experience and do multiple levels of loyalty sales for 0:12:22.920 --> 0:12:28.160 different categories of our customers, so that no one that 0:12:28.600 --> 0:12:30.800 is planning and coming to Bottle Rock that has come before, 0:12:31.000 --> 0:12:33.120 that wants to come has to be in a queue, 0:12:33.880 --> 0:12:37.000 but instead they buy the ticket within a given timeframe. 0:12:38.160 --> 0:12:43.120 Okay, so let's assume I've come before. Am I going 0:12:43.200 --> 0:12:46.160 to have constant contact with you, email, whatever, or all 0:12:46.160 --> 0:12:48.240 of a sudden I'm going to get noticed that the 0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:49.920 tickets run sale in November. 0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:54.120 You're going to be notified in a couple of ways. 0:12:54.120 --> 0:12:56.760 You'll be notified via text assuming you signed up for SMS, 0:12:56.760 --> 0:13:01.800 and you'll be notified via email, and also social media 0:13:02.800 --> 0:13:06.880 will will make you aware that these loyalty sales are 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:08.400 in the hopper. 0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:12.240 Okay, so I've signed up to be reached, but is 0:13:12.280 --> 0:13:16.439 there any follow up between the end of May and November? 0:13:16.880 --> 0:13:19.199 Do I get you an email with pictures or is 0:13:19.200 --> 0:13:22.520 it relatively quiet? And to what degree are you worried 0:13:22.520 --> 0:13:24.199 about overloading the customer. 0:13:25.480 --> 0:13:28.200 So, at the risk of being the guy that's the 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:31.360 only guy that's talking, I'll let justin give an example. Justin, 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:33.360 if you can give them an example of how the 0:13:33.400 --> 0:13:35.840 customer experience starts with the way in which they purchased 0:13:35.840 --> 0:13:39.600 the ticket, all the way through almost what we will 0:13:39.600 --> 0:13:42.960 call the advance of that customer, and then to the 0:13:43.000 --> 0:13:46.800 actual on site arrival and then egress and perhaps maybe 0:13:46.880 --> 0:13:50.120 use the Platinum customer experience as an example. 0:13:52.480 --> 0:13:53.959 Yeah, I can give an example of that. I guess, 0:13:54.000 --> 0:13:54.800 Bob start. 0:13:54.920 --> 0:13:57.120 I guess they answer one of your questions first, in 0:13:57.240 --> 0:14:00.439 terms of do we go darker? Do we content? And Hey, 0:14:00.440 --> 0:14:02.320 the festival ended in call it the end of May 0:14:02.400 --> 0:14:04.760 or early June. Are we reaching at to them in 0:14:04.800 --> 0:14:07.600 July and stuff? So other than the what you'd expect, 0:14:07.600 --> 0:14:10.360 which is kind of a pretty deep survey process to 0:14:10.400 --> 0:14:14.040 try to understand feedback, that's what happens right after the festival. 0:14:14.080 --> 0:14:16.520 So we take that really seriously, and in fact, a 0:14:16.559 --> 0:14:19.320 lot of guests are surprised to end up saying, hey, 0:14:19.360 --> 0:14:22.320 wait a minute, I commented in on some random survey 0:14:22.360 --> 0:14:22.640 and you. 0:14:22.560 --> 0:14:23.560 Guys actually did it. 0:14:24.040 --> 0:14:25.960 So we get a lot of that, which is which 0:14:26.000 --> 0:14:28.320 is fun to hear, right, It's like we're listening to you, 0:14:28.440 --> 0:14:30.360 so we, you know, take the time to fill this 0:14:30.440 --> 0:14:30.840 thing out. 0:14:31.240 --> 0:14:33.000 So we do that right after the festival. 0:14:33.920 --> 0:14:36.080 And then you did make a comment about some what 0:14:36.120 --> 0:14:39.560 do you could you touch a customer too much? It 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:41.840 is what we are really sensitive on that, right, So 0:14:41.880 --> 0:14:43.920 we don't send out a bunch, We don't really hit 0:14:44.000 --> 0:14:47.000 social very hard, We don't hit emails very hard in 0:14:47.080 --> 0:14:49.520 that fall time frame because we don't want people to 0:14:49.640 --> 0:14:52.600 unsubscribe frankly, right, and to get tuned. 0:14:52.360 --> 0:14:52.720 Out of it. 0:14:52.800 --> 0:14:55.400 And then then we ramp up, like David. 0:14:55.280 --> 0:14:58.480 Just mentioning in that early fall time frame, to make 0:14:58.520 --> 0:15:00.560 sure before the holidays people have a chance to re 0:15:00.680 --> 0:15:03.280 engage with the brand and re engage with the ticket 0:15:03.320 --> 0:15:06.520 sale process. And then yeah, I will go into the 0:15:06.840 --> 0:15:09.120 whole the whole thing that Da've cheed up right there. 0:15:09.160 --> 0:15:11.880 But like you know, we spent a lot of time 0:15:12.040 --> 0:15:16.040 on what is that, what is that ticket purchase feeling like? 0:15:16.120 --> 0:15:18.040 If we were a customer, what would we want right? 0:15:18.160 --> 0:15:20.160 How fast would we want it to be? Can we 0:15:20.200 --> 0:15:22.760 actually reach somebody through customer service? 0:15:22.800 --> 0:15:24.760 What is that when you get it in the mail? 0:15:24.800 --> 0:15:28.320 What does that packaging look like? And in regards to 0:15:28.360 --> 0:15:30.960 the higher end ticket sales, there's a very hands on 0:15:31.080 --> 0:15:33.880 approach to it. There's a concierge, you know, that's kind 0:15:33.920 --> 0:15:36.480 of take care you need to you know, help people travel, 0:15:36.800 --> 0:15:39.640 you know, make sure that you get you know, from 0:15:39.720 --> 0:15:41.920 the hotel in the way that you want to get 0:15:41.920 --> 0:15:44.400 from the hotel. And then you know, we're greeting you 0:15:44.440 --> 0:15:46.960 on site and there's you know, you're greeted with the 0:15:46.960 --> 0:15:49.640 glass of champagne and you're you know, showing your way 0:15:49.680 --> 0:15:53.080 through the backstage area. And it's really a handheld type 0:15:53.080 --> 0:15:57.400 process that isn't that different than some other luxury experience. 0:15:57.440 --> 0:16:00.440 You might have in the world, but it's really different 0:16:00.520 --> 0:16:02.880 what we found in the festival space. So that's why, 0:16:03.040 --> 0:16:04.880 you know, we didn't necessarily try to say we're going 0:16:04.960 --> 0:16:08.880 to have the most hands on, high service festival. 0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:10.160 That wasn't one of the goals we had. 0:16:10.200 --> 0:16:12.600 Again, they teed it up by saying, we're really just 0:16:13.000 --> 0:16:15.920 trying to try to put ourselves in the customer shoes, 0:16:15.960 --> 0:16:18.200 like what would we want here, right, what would you 0:16:18.240 --> 0:16:20.000 want if you bought a ticket at this price? 0:16:20.200 --> 0:16:20.360 Right? 0:16:20.440 --> 0:16:22.920 And we just listed it out as we were a customer. 0:16:22.960 --> 0:16:25.400 You know, in the end, it's it's it's kind of 0:16:25.440 --> 0:16:27.560 simple if you just jump in the customer shoes and 0:16:27.600 --> 0:16:28.760 try to design it that way. 0:16:29.920 --> 0:16:35.000 So forgetting when these tickets go on sale in loyalty, 0:16:35.240 --> 0:16:37.520 how many different kinds of tickets are there? 0:16:40.040 --> 0:16:43.520 Well, there's there's three day GA, there's single day GA, 0:16:43.840 --> 0:16:47.000 there's single day VIP, there's three day VIP, there's three 0:16:47.080 --> 0:16:51.800 day skydapp, there's three day a platinum, and then there 0:16:51.960 --> 0:16:53.840 is well, I don't know if we want to talk 0:16:53.840 --> 0:16:56.200 about that other ticket, but. 0:16:56.160 --> 0:16:57.280 There's another merit. 0:16:58.760 --> 0:17:01.320 And then and then of course suites, and within the 0:17:01.320 --> 0:17:04.359 suites you can and Jason can really impact that. But 0:17:04.400 --> 0:17:07.399 there are two different types of levels, the VIP and 0:17:07.440 --> 0:17:08.000 the platinum. 0:17:08.560 --> 0:17:11.080 Oh wait, wait, wait, wait wait, let's go very simple 0:17:11.760 --> 0:17:16.879 by price. First, GA, everyone understands that you pay a 0:17:16.960 --> 0:17:19.880 price like a regular festival. You stand, you watch the acts, 0:17:20.200 --> 0:17:23.040 and you can buy food. The next level up is 0:17:25.119 --> 0:17:28.919 it's VIP. So what do I get? How much more expensive? 0:17:28.960 --> 0:17:32.560 So this year GA for let's call it the whole weekend? 0:17:32.960 --> 0:17:34.679 How much was GA for the whole weekend? 0:17:35.760 --> 0:17:39.400 So GA, roughly, if you're talking three day, is about 0:17:39.440 --> 0:17:40.520 four hundred dollars. 0:17:41.200 --> 0:17:43.640 Okay. So the next step up from there. 0:17:44.240 --> 0:17:46.560 Well, then there's a single day GA, which is two hundred, 0:17:47.000 --> 0:17:49.600 and then the three day VIP is the next step up, 0:17:50.119 --> 0:17:53.160 and that would be about twelve hundred dollars, and then 0:17:53.320 --> 0:17:56.639 the single day VIP would be just under five hundred. 0:17:56.960 --> 0:18:01.399 Okay, I pay my twelve hundred dollars. What am I 0:18:01.440 --> 0:18:04.359 getting for twelve hundred dollars? If the GA people are. 0:18:04.200 --> 0:18:07.280 Not getting I'm going to let our VIP guy describe that. 0:18:07.560 --> 0:18:12.040 Justin I will, and then we're gonna By the way above, 0:18:12.080 --> 0:18:14.480 you'll you'll find this out. It didn't matter what question 0:18:14.560 --> 0:18:16.520 you answer, any three of us could I answer any 0:18:16.600 --> 0:18:20.119 question that comes up. So I feel like that Jason 0:18:20.240 --> 0:18:22.199 answers one of these. I'll see this one up just 0:18:22.200 --> 0:18:24.280 because it's VIP and I'll give the answer to that. 0:18:24.320 --> 0:18:26.800 But then, Jason, I'm going to make you talk after this. 0:18:27.320 --> 0:18:29.639 So yeah, so in general, the GA and we. 0:18:29.920 --> 0:18:33.960 Can you Actually this comes as a surprise because of 0:18:34.080 --> 0:18:37.000 the focus on or I guess the tension that gets 0:18:37.000 --> 0:18:41.040 paid to the VIP experiences. But you know, we put 0:18:41.200 --> 0:18:43.400 a majority of our investment the last couple of few 0:18:43.440 --> 0:18:46.200 years into the GA experience. So we have a goal 0:18:46.240 --> 0:18:48.359 to say someone shouldn't feel like, oh I got a 0:18:48.400 --> 0:18:50.720 GA ticket right and then to it. But it's going 0:18:50.800 --> 0:18:52.399 to be just as clean. It's going to be the 0:18:52.400 --> 0:18:54.840 same sidelines, it's going to be all the shade and 0:18:54.920 --> 0:18:57.040 all the things you might expect. But to answer your 0:18:57.119 --> 0:18:59.600 question on the VIP things that we do, so we 0:18:59.640 --> 0:19:02.720 build this thing called the VIP Village, which essentially is 0:19:02.880 --> 0:19:06.920 just like a broader lounge area. And what does that 0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:08.760 really mean. It means you're gonna have seating, and you're 0:19:08.800 --> 0:19:12.439 gonna have shade and kind of the the I guess 0:19:12.680 --> 0:19:15.359 just you know, basic comforts. 0:19:14.880 --> 0:19:17.040 Of of you know, being an. 0:19:16.920 --> 0:19:19.880 Outdoor event all day in that in that VIP tent though, 0:19:20.200 --> 0:19:23.040 is something they've touched on just a little bit where 0:19:23.080 --> 0:19:27.000 we have private performances so in the artists, and the 0:19:27.080 --> 0:19:30.520 artists are obviously compensated, uh for this, but is an 0:19:30.560 --> 0:19:34.120 extra play. So if someone's on the main stage, say 0:19:34.119 --> 0:19:38.320 at four o'clock, they might do an extra performance just 0:19:38.359 --> 0:19:41.040 for the VIP guests and it's kind of an acoustics 0:19:41.040 --> 0:19:43.360 strip down. They might play three songs, might pay four, 0:19:43.440 --> 0:19:45.800 might pay five, a little bit, whatever they want to do, 0:19:46.160 --> 0:19:50.919 but they engage in a really close intimate proximity to 0:19:50.960 --> 0:19:53.040 the guests that are in VIP. So that's definitely a 0:19:53.119 --> 0:19:56.760 key part of the VIP ticket. The VIP guests, you know, 0:19:56.840 --> 0:19:58.879 get upfront viewing. You know, you're kind of a right 0:19:59.000 --> 0:20:01.760 up right up near the front of the stage. There's 0:20:01.880 --> 0:20:07.119 these elevated decks on both of the main stages, so 0:20:07.240 --> 0:20:08.640 there's like elevator. 0:20:08.320 --> 0:20:09.920 So it's essentially it's elevated viewing. 0:20:09.960 --> 0:20:14.960 It's better bathroom, it's the VIP lounge, it's the VIP performances, 0:20:15.040 --> 0:20:16.320 it's up close viewing. 0:20:16.880 --> 0:20:20.160 It's preferred parking that you know, et cetera. 0:20:20.920 --> 0:20:24.640 Okay, just to go back a step. What's capacity? How 0:20:24.640 --> 0:20:26.920 many are GA you know, how many are. 0:20:26.880 --> 0:20:30.960 VIP Dave, You're probably looking at that, so go ahead. 0:20:31.320 --> 0:20:37.080 Well, yeah, sure. I mean the capacity in general is 0:20:37.080 --> 0:20:42.959 is roughly around forty four thousand a day paid, and 0:20:43.960 --> 0:20:48.119 we do a mix of VIP and and GAS, you know, 0:20:48.240 --> 0:20:51.680 but we really lean towards like single day tickets. So 0:20:52.000 --> 0:20:54.280 the total number of tickets that will sell this year 0:20:54.280 --> 0:21:00.880 will be roughly seventy seven thousand tickets, and you'll roughly 0:21:01.000 --> 0:21:06.000 have call it, ten thousand VIPs at different levels per 0:21:06.080 --> 0:21:08.600 day within that, and then the rest would be ga. 0:21:09.480 --> 0:21:13.280 Okay, why would people buy a single day as opposed 0:21:13.280 --> 0:21:17.320 to a three day Well, I think there are a 0:21:17.320 --> 0:21:17.960 lot of reasons. 0:21:17.960 --> 0:21:20.600 One would be that maybe they're coming to the Napa 0:21:20.680 --> 0:21:23.679 Valley and they want to experience the Napa Valley in 0:21:23.720 --> 0:21:27.320 addition to Bottle Rock. So they come to Bottle Rock 0:21:27.359 --> 0:21:30.080 for one day and then they decide to do wine 0:21:30.080 --> 0:21:37.000 tasting the next day. Number two is, you know, Napa 0:21:37.160 --> 0:21:41.320 is kind of off the beaten track. Depending upon the 0:21:41.359 --> 0:21:43.520 time you leave let's say San Francisco, it can take 0:21:43.560 --> 0:21:44.960 you an hour, it can take you two and a 0:21:44.960 --> 0:21:48.920 half hours. And so if you leave at the right time, 0:21:48.960 --> 0:21:51.600 it can be quick, and it can be a fun 0:21:51.600 --> 0:21:56.119 experience just for the day. The third would be perhaps 0:21:56.480 --> 0:21:59.320 you're coming in as a ga and you know the 0:21:59.560 --> 0:22:03.920 hotels situation can be difficult and nap up and can 0:22:03.960 --> 0:22:06.520 be pricey, and so maybe that's not within your budget 0:22:06.600 --> 0:22:10.160 staying the night at a hotel and going to the festival. 0:22:10.280 --> 0:22:12.080 And so for those reasons, a. 0:22:12.080 --> 0:22:16.399 Lot of people will will opt for the single day 0:22:16.440 --> 0:22:20.560 and we've kind of embraced that and turned kind of 0:22:21.280 --> 0:22:25.159 some of those difficulties that that customers have coming to 0:22:25.440 --> 0:22:27.520 Napa Valley because it is off the beaten path and 0:22:27.560 --> 0:22:30.400 hotel rooms can be hard to get to and expensive 0:22:30.720 --> 0:22:33.560 into a strength and and and and so if you're 0:22:33.560 --> 0:22:41.400 going to sell out and you have a fixed capacity, financially, 0:22:41.480 --> 0:22:44.280 it makes more sense for us to sell more single 0:22:44.359 --> 0:22:46.680 day than three day because you'll have a higher growth 0:22:46.720 --> 0:22:49.439 on the box office overall over the three days. And 0:22:49.480 --> 0:22:51.840 if you look at what the average pers spend would 0:22:51.880 --> 0:22:56.240 be for customer on a single day basis, it's much 0:22:56.320 --> 0:22:59.640 higher on average than what it is a person coming 0:22:59.680 --> 0:23:06.120 for three days would spend each day on average. 0:23:08.920 --> 0:23:10.920 Okay, let's go back to the VI I P experience 0:23:10.960 --> 0:23:15.200 you talked about like these acoustic performances. Would the VIP 0:23:15.640 --> 0:23:19.199 customers be notified of that or would they just have to 0:23:19.240 --> 0:23:22.119 be near where the performance takes place when. 0:23:22.000 --> 0:23:25.159 It occurs, justin you want to hit that. 0:23:25.840 --> 0:23:29.240 Sure, Yeah, there's a yeah, so they customers know that's 0:23:29.280 --> 0:23:31.280 part of the ticket type. Again, there's a lot of 0:23:31.480 --> 0:23:33.960 there's no one thing that sells the ticket and gets 0:23:33.960 --> 0:23:36.280 all the loyalties, so you'll hear a lot of it, 0:23:36.320 --> 0:23:39.480 whether it's changing the design or incorporate the artists experience. 0:23:39.520 --> 0:23:42.160 So and so I just know that we're not hanging 0:23:42.440 --> 0:23:44.440 our head on any one of these things. 0:23:44.440 --> 0:23:48.360 It's the combination that really, at least we feel will 0:23:48.400 --> 0:23:50.720 drive the long term loyalty to it. 0:23:51.400 --> 0:23:52.800 But they're they're aware that this is. 0:23:52.800 --> 0:23:53.439 Going to happen. 0:23:53.480 --> 0:23:55.399 So does someone know what what artists are going to 0:23:55.400 --> 0:23:58.399 perform when they buy the ticket? No, but they know 0:23:58.440 --> 0:24:01.080 there's going to be these intimate performances and then they'll 0:24:01.080 --> 0:24:05.920 find out through the app and through email correspondence as 0:24:05.920 --> 0:24:08.639 we get really close to the festival. Sometimes the hardist 0:24:09.040 --> 0:24:12.120 we don't know exactly who's playing what timeslot because these 0:24:12.119 --> 0:24:14.680 are only short, very short sets like we mentioned twenty 0:24:14.680 --> 0:24:17.119 minutes or so thirty minute. 0:24:16.880 --> 0:24:19.280 Sets, and so we release it up and it's. 0:24:19.200 --> 0:24:21.159 Kind of a it's like a little bit of like 0:24:21.160 --> 0:24:23.760 a holiday present for someone to unwrap. Like they know 0:24:23.800 --> 0:24:26.399 they got a ticket and they know what's coming next week, 0:24:26.640 --> 0:24:28.320 All right, when are they going to when are they 0:24:28.320 --> 0:24:30.919 going to tell us who the private performances are, you know, 0:24:30.960 --> 0:24:33.560 and it's something and we're not selling any extra tickets 0:24:33.560 --> 0:24:35.880 because of the tickets have already been sold a long 0:24:35.920 --> 0:24:39.960 time beforehand, so people get excited about that. And then also, 0:24:40.000 --> 0:24:42.240 like David mentioning on the culinary stage, it kind of 0:24:42.240 --> 0:24:45.280 works the same way, where all the tickets have long 0:24:45.359 --> 0:24:48.520 been sold out by the time we announced who's on 0:24:48.600 --> 0:24:51.480 the culinary stage, and so it doesn't mean that that's 0:24:51.680 --> 0:24:53.800 not something that the fans. 0:24:53.520 --> 0:24:54.280 Are excited for. 0:24:54.880 --> 0:24:57.160 They already bought the ticket, but they just they can't 0:24:57.200 --> 0:24:59.320 wait to, you know, figure out what's also part of 0:24:59.359 --> 0:25:02.080 their experience the when the headline up is revealed. 0:25:02.480 --> 0:25:05.000 Okay, if I have a g A ticket, I have 0:25:05.080 --> 0:25:10.000 access to the culinary stage absolutely, Okay, v I P. 0:25:10.280 --> 0:25:12.119 What's the next level up from V I P. 0:25:14.800 --> 0:25:18.480 I'm laughing because it suggins you want to you want 0:25:18.480 --> 0:25:20.320 to answer that or you won't be sure. 0:25:21.160 --> 0:25:22.880 I'm gonna make Jason answer a question. 0:25:22.920 --> 0:25:25.560 Yeah, he's forcing me. This is this is Justin's world, Bob. 0:25:25.640 --> 0:25:28.720 But but to this point we all kind of overlap here. 0:25:28.760 --> 0:25:33.280 So the next level above the vi P is uh 0:25:33.640 --> 0:25:36.680 what we call the sky Deck program, and it's it's 0:25:36.760 --> 0:25:41.280 literally and figuratively above the vi P that Justin mentioned 0:25:41.280 --> 0:25:45.680 the decks that we we build uh for the festival 0:25:46.000 --> 0:25:49.240 for viewing and shade while we build a double decker 0:25:49.600 --> 0:25:53.879 on both stages, uh, and on that upstairs level is 0:25:54.080 --> 0:25:57.600 the Skydeck program where there's a hosted bar, full bar, 0:25:58.080 --> 0:26:04.240 grete wine selection, shade, seating, and just fewer people have 0:26:04.400 --> 0:26:08.080 access to that next level called the skydeck. So it 0:26:08.160 --> 0:26:14.080 makes for a much more comfortable experience outside of what 0:26:14.760 --> 0:26:19.159 we would call the larger VIP experience, and you have 0:26:19.280 --> 0:26:22.919 views on both the main stage and the second stage 0:26:22.960 --> 0:26:24.520 or the counter headliner stage. 0:26:26.280 --> 0:26:28.520 Okay, so how many Skydeck tickets are there? 0:26:29.640 --> 0:26:33.000 We sell a little over a thousand, and based on 0:26:33.080 --> 0:26:36.640 the programming that we do. Dave's responsible for the artist programming, 0:26:37.400 --> 0:26:39.760 based on the program we would do, you know, any 0:26:39.800 --> 0:26:42.360 one stage and the. 0:26:42.359 --> 0:26:43.439 Sky Deck would have. 0:26:43.840 --> 0:26:48.080 You know, half the viable audience could be anywhere at 0:26:48.119 --> 0:26:50.240 any one time, So we try to keep the audiences 0:26:50.400 --> 0:26:53.199 split up so that it always does feel roomy on 0:26:53.320 --> 0:26:55.639 each stage. So there's a great content happening on the 0:26:55.680 --> 0:26:59.000 main stage that attracts a X number of people, and 0:26:59.240 --> 0:27:01.639 the second stage would have another artist going at the 0:27:01.640 --> 0:27:05.040 same time, and that would attract a different population of Skydeck. 0:27:06.040 --> 0:27:08.399 Okay, how much does Skydeck ticket cost? 0:27:09.320 --> 0:27:11.719 I think we're at the two right, around two thousand 0:27:11.760 --> 0:27:13.640 dollars all in, Dave, correct me if I'm wrong. 0:27:13.680 --> 0:27:17.040 You're looking at this particular at the price sheet, You're 0:27:17.040 --> 0:27:17.480 about right. 0:27:19.720 --> 0:27:22.159 And for that mattered, we didn't really touch on this. 0:27:22.200 --> 0:27:25.119 We're doing the all in pricing now, Bob, for whatever 0:27:25.119 --> 0:27:27.320 it's worth. So when we say these prices, we're talking 0:27:27.320 --> 0:27:28.679 about fees and so forth. 0:27:29.640 --> 0:27:31.680 Okay, if I paid two thousand and I'm in the 0:27:31.720 --> 0:27:36.520 sky Deck, do I get any wine or any food 0:27:36.720 --> 0:27:39.199 or just I have as part of that? Or am 0:27:39.240 --> 0:27:40.639 I just an exclusive location? 0:27:41.440 --> 0:27:43.160 You are in an exclusive location. 0:27:43.920 --> 0:27:48.200 You get a full hosted bar that includes a very 0:27:48.240 --> 0:27:51.920 well curated Napa Valley wine list of whites and reds, 0:27:52.520 --> 0:27:55.880 of all kinds of varietals, so cabs and pinots and 0:27:55.960 --> 0:27:59.960 Chardonnays and sat blancs, and that's all, you know, included 0:28:00.040 --> 0:28:00.600 with the ticket. 0:28:01.080 --> 0:28:01.240 Uh. 0:28:01.280 --> 0:28:04.200 And then we have you know, our our premium bar 0:28:04.440 --> 0:28:07.280 you know, well drinks you know from from Don Julia 0:28:07.359 --> 0:28:12.040 Tequila to Kettle One vodka uh, and a full suction 0:28:12.119 --> 0:28:16.320 of beers you know, from pacific O or you know, 0:28:16.440 --> 0:28:20.159 Cores or Loganitas. So this is all included in that ticket, 0:28:20.640 --> 0:28:24.320 unlike the VIP ticket which is no host if you will. 0:28:25.400 --> 0:28:27.640 And is there any food involved for two thousand. 0:28:28.080 --> 0:28:30.600 Not on the sky deck or the vip. 0:28:31.720 --> 0:28:35.359 Okay skydeck for two thousand. What's the next level above that? 0:28:36.960 --> 0:28:37.760 Justin take it away? 0:28:38.560 --> 0:28:41.959 Yeah, I'm sure the platum, the plant program. We referenced 0:28:41.960 --> 0:28:45.280 it earlier with the lounge. So that's a six thousand 0:28:45.280 --> 0:28:50.280 dollars ticket, and so that seems like a lot. 0:28:50.360 --> 0:28:52.520 And then people go to it and they did, all 0:28:52.520 --> 0:28:53.360 of a sudden they feel like. 0:28:53.320 --> 0:28:55.720 Hey, that's pretty that's a pretty good deal compared to 0:28:55.720 --> 0:28:57.640 when I paid it. The master's comptter, why I paid 0:28:57.640 --> 0:29:01.240 at the one race, So it is all relative, and 0:29:01.320 --> 0:29:03.800 so what do you get for six thousand bucks a ticket? 0:29:05.040 --> 0:29:07.560 So there's a lot, but I guess. 0:29:07.280 --> 0:29:09.480 To start with like where you where you arrive or 0:29:09.520 --> 0:29:11.040 where you park. You know, a lot of people get 0:29:11.080 --> 0:29:13.600 dropped with a car service with that ticket type. 0:29:13.520 --> 0:29:15.640 Or you park your car. Either way, you're doing. 0:29:15.400 --> 0:29:20.760 It backstage, and so you're literally arriving essentially like adjacent 0:29:20.800 --> 0:29:23.200 to the Hardest Village and you go on a golf car, 0:29:23.280 --> 0:29:26.360 you get your glass of champagne and welcome, and you 0:29:26.400 --> 0:29:29.400 get dropped off, you know, kind of you know, escorted 0:29:29.400 --> 0:29:31.560 through the back of the house and you get dropped 0:29:31.600 --> 0:29:33.320 up right in the back of the main stage at 0:29:33.760 --> 0:29:36.000 what we call the Platinum Mound. So in the Platinum 0:29:36.040 --> 0:29:39.280 Ound is what we referenced before. It's a it's a 0:29:39.320 --> 0:29:42.040 super large kind of air conditioned area that changes the 0:29:42.040 --> 0:29:45.600 look every year, and it also changes the food or 0:29:45.640 --> 0:29:48.040 the food changes every year as well. So it's it's 0:29:48.160 --> 0:29:50.680 food from the second that you walk into the second 0:29:50.680 --> 0:29:53.160 you leave, you know, comfort food and dessert on your 0:29:53.160 --> 0:29:56.400 way out and everywhere in between. And so there's it 0:29:56.480 --> 0:29:59.400 started out. I guess our partner there was mission was 0:29:59.480 --> 0:30:03.520 the Michelin three star restaurant Meadowood, which was in that 0:30:03.680 --> 0:30:08.480 but unfortunately burnt in the fires. Of twenty twenty twenty 0:30:08.640 --> 0:30:10.920 until we have twenty seventeen fires or as far as 0:30:10.920 --> 0:30:13.680 in twenty twenty and twenty seventeen. Yeah, Meadowood burned in 0:30:13.720 --> 0:30:17.200 the twenty seventeen fires. So we ended up changing our 0:30:17.240 --> 0:30:20.120 food program a little bit in terms of where the 0:30:20.240 --> 0:30:22.720 chefs came from. But we but we set a standard 0:30:22.720 --> 0:30:24.959 with them to say, hey, what do you expect when 0:30:25.000 --> 0:30:26.920 you go to Michelin three star wars or what would 0:30:26.960 --> 0:30:28.760 you eat? You know, what would you think of a 0:30:28.880 --> 0:30:31.840 concert there? And it really set the bar high for 0:30:31.960 --> 0:30:33.520 us and we couldn't go back from there. So we 0:30:33.560 --> 0:30:38.040 have basically had no choice but to invest all in 0:30:38.120 --> 0:30:41.000 on the food and beverage program. So it's if you 0:30:41.120 --> 0:30:44.840 name it, then we've probably served it at the Platinum Oupse. 0:30:44.840 --> 0:30:49.800 And that could be something as savory, is it's you know, 0:30:49.840 --> 0:30:53.040 the best like grilled chicken sandwich you've ever had because 0:30:53.040 --> 0:30:55.360 it's you know, made in the style that Thomas Keller 0:30:55.400 --> 0:30:59.719 does at ad Hoc in Yonville. Or it can be 0:31:00.120 --> 0:31:02.400 is you know, back to what you might expect in 0:31:02.640 --> 0:31:05.160 you know, a fancy place like it's Caviat and it's 0:31:05.400 --> 0:31:08.520 you know, there's a full oyster bar. And there's you know, 0:31:08.840 --> 0:31:12.520 every wine you can imagine. So we're serving like multiple, multiple, 0:31:12.600 --> 0:31:17.280 multiple hundred point wines, all served by master som Alier's 0:31:17.320 --> 0:31:19.880 and masters of wine. So we have like true, true 0:31:19.920 --> 0:31:23.080 wine experts that are there curating everything and then also 0:31:23.320 --> 0:31:28.480 providing the service. We end up doing those those so 0:31:28.640 --> 0:31:32.200 called specialty taste things. I was mentioning on the bourbon one. 0:31:31.560 --> 0:31:34.880 You you commented on this when we chatted, you know, 0:31:34.920 --> 0:31:37.160 a couple of months ago, but we would do that, 0:31:37.240 --> 0:31:40.080 like do you really know the difference between Papy van 0:31:40.160 --> 0:31:43.600 Weigel and some of the other premium bourbons out there? 0:31:43.760 --> 0:31:45.560 You know, let's sit down and find out, right, So 0:31:45.600 --> 0:31:48.440 people sign up for that experience, and next thing you know, 0:31:48.480 --> 0:31:52.040 they're drinking all of these multi hundred dollars bottles of 0:31:52.080 --> 0:31:53.560 bourbon and they're trying them. 0:31:53.640 --> 0:31:53.760 Right. 0:31:53.800 --> 0:31:55.960 We're not trying to get people drunk. We're just trying 0:31:55.960 --> 0:31:58.240 to actually walk them through a process and how they're 0:31:58.520 --> 0:32:00.800 each made. And we do the same thing with one. 0:32:00.840 --> 0:32:03.960 We'll have lines that these same people buying a six 0:32:03.960 --> 0:32:06.960 thousand dollars ticket, they actually can't get on the list 0:32:06.960 --> 0:32:09.440 to buy themselves, but they can come to Battle Rock 0:32:09.480 --> 0:32:12.040 and try it. So that's kind of been a fun thing. 0:32:12.160 --> 0:32:14.960 And again we're just going off of what feedback that 0:32:15.000 --> 0:32:18.280 customers are telling us in those surveys, and so we 0:32:18.400 --> 0:32:21.920 do really special experiences there. Other than that, it's beautiful 0:32:21.960 --> 0:32:24.560 lounge that's literally right next door to the main stage, 0:32:24.960 --> 0:32:27.280 and from that lounge, when you go out to see 0:32:27.320 --> 0:32:30.400 a show, you walk across the little bridge that gets 0:32:30.440 --> 0:32:33.280 onto the on stage viewing that elevated kind of poser 0:32:33.320 --> 0:32:34.120 deck viewing. 0:32:34.200 --> 0:32:36.320 Or you can go down to the chute and be like. 0:32:36.320 --> 0:32:38.440 Literally in the front row, so it's kind of a 0:32:38.480 --> 0:32:42.080 guaranteed front row seat when you have that ticket type. 0:32:42.080 --> 0:32:45.960 We also offer a similar viewing at the sound mix. 0:32:46.120 --> 0:32:49.520 Obviously, we all know that the sound is likely the 0:32:49.560 --> 0:32:53.000 best right at the sound mix, so we do a 0:32:53.040 --> 0:32:56.400 cocktail service and a bar for this guest at the 0:32:56.400 --> 0:33:00.200 sound mix itself, so they have multiple places to view from, 0:33:00.600 --> 0:33:02.400 they have a concierge to help them with their. 0:33:02.280 --> 0:33:04.320 Stay and their air travel and. 0:33:03.960 --> 0:33:07.160 And et cetera, et cetera. But in general, that's a 0:33:07.240 --> 0:33:09.360 rough overview of the Platinum program. 0:33:09.440 --> 0:33:11.920 One thing I would add is, you know, we we 0:33:12.120 --> 0:33:16.920 kind of really took for granted just how much our 0:33:16.960 --> 0:33:22.840 customers enjoy being whisked through on a golf cart the 0:33:22.880 --> 0:33:25.239 back of house. I mean, Bob, you're you're He've been 0:33:25.240 --> 0:33:28.200 in the music industry for so long and being back 0:33:28.200 --> 0:33:30.680 of house anywhere is just kind of the norm. But 0:33:31.080 --> 0:33:36.320 for someone that isn't from the music industry, the idea 0:33:36.440 --> 0:33:40.320 of passing through back of house and seeing artists tense 0:33:40.520 --> 0:33:44.400 and driving past this artist or that artist is really 0:33:44.400 --> 0:33:48.080 a big deal and it's just enjoyable, I think for 0:33:48.120 --> 0:33:51.840 the three of us to see the reactions on people's 0:33:51.880 --> 0:33:54.880 faces as they come through the artist compound, and then 0:33:54.920 --> 0:33:56.440 when they when they're dropped when they when they were 0:33:56.520 --> 0:34:00.920 dropped off, which is right behind this Platinum lounge that 0:34:01.040 --> 0:34:02.040 Justin was describing. 0:34:02.400 --> 0:34:03.000 It is at that. 0:34:03.000 --> 0:34:08.319 Place where they are greeted, they meet with the concierge, 0:34:08.640 --> 0:34:12.439 They're able to store their purses or whatever they want 0:34:12.480 --> 0:34:15.280 to store in their own personal locker, and then become 0:34:15.320 --> 0:34:19.640 aware of COO, perhaps of the artists they can set 0:34:19.719 --> 0:34:22.799 up a meet and greet for, and with what other 0:34:22.960 --> 0:34:26.680 kind of programs tasting tastings, et cetera they can sign 0:34:26.760 --> 0:34:28.680 up for all right then and there, it's kind of 0:34:28.680 --> 0:34:32.839 the central hub where throughout the day, if they need 0:34:32.880 --> 0:34:36.279 to get back to to to their locker, or if 0:34:36.320 --> 0:34:40.000 they need to ask questions of anyone to let's say, 0:34:40.719 --> 0:34:43.560 have a chauffeur take them home back to the hotel 0:34:43.640 --> 0:34:46.120 to get something or whatever. It's it's where they go 0:34:46.280 --> 0:34:50.960 to be just assisted at a very very kind of 0:34:52.560 --> 0:34:55.840 I want to put it high touch point level. 0:34:56.920 --> 0:35:00.080 And how many of these tickets do you sell a day? 0:35:01.520 --> 0:35:02.799 It's a complicated question. 0:35:03.640 --> 0:35:07.160 Yeah, well, because there's there's some there's some platinum suites 0:35:07.200 --> 0:35:09.839 as well, and we'll make Jason take you through what 0:35:09.880 --> 0:35:11.520 the suites mean for us. 0:35:11.680 --> 0:35:14.120 Okay, wait, wait, let me just stop for a second. 0:35:14.440 --> 0:35:17.560 Platinum and Platinum suites are the only other tickets available. 0:35:17.560 --> 0:35:18.640 There's nothing beyond those two. 0:35:18.760 --> 0:35:21.520 Right, there's one more. 0:35:22.280 --> 0:35:23.360 And what is that called. 0:35:23.680 --> 0:35:27.799 It's a Marriott Bombboy American Express suite ticket type that 0:35:27.840 --> 0:35:32.000 we actually created a branded ticket type for a sponsor. 0:35:32.560 --> 0:35:34.560 And we sell about four hundred and fifty of those 0:35:34.600 --> 0:35:37.759 a day, so about you know, thirteen fifty over the 0:35:37.800 --> 0:35:39.400 weekend of total people. 0:35:39.760 --> 0:35:42.719 Oh okay, let's let's let's go back. I spend my 0:35:42.880 --> 0:35:45.960 six thousand. Am I ever going to have to open 0:35:46.000 --> 0:35:46.960 my wallet again? 0:35:49.760 --> 0:35:51.799 Now? Yeah? 0:35:51.880 --> 0:35:57.200 If you so we'll give you a special hat you 0:35:57.239 --> 0:35:59.640 know that's just bought, and we'll give you a lot 0:35:59.719 --> 0:35:59.840 or not. 0:36:00.600 --> 0:36:02.600 But if you want if you want some if you 0:36:02.640 --> 0:36:03.920 want some merch that's. 0:36:03.719 --> 0:36:06.799 Not part of what we're giving you for free, then 0:36:06.800 --> 0:36:08.759 that's probably the only thing there is to spend money on. 0:36:10.160 --> 0:36:12.439 Yeah, if you're in Ga, Bob, if you if you've 0:36:12.520 --> 0:36:17.279 left the platinum environments that Justin and Dave have been articulating, 0:36:17.440 --> 0:36:20.680 you're now just you'r a general admission guest, right, and 0:36:20.760 --> 0:36:22.880 if you want a beer at that GA bar. 0:36:22.800 --> 0:36:24.520 Over there, you got to pay for that beer, believe 0:36:24.520 --> 0:36:24.839 it or not. 0:36:25.120 --> 0:36:28.239 Okay, So tell me about the sweets, Jason, you're up. 0:36:28.880 --> 0:36:32.760 Yeah, I'll jump in on that one. So the suites 0:36:32.800 --> 0:36:40.920 program has has become a really meaningful and robust hospitality 0:36:41.160 --> 0:36:44.040 experience for a lot of different clientele. 0:36:45.200 --> 0:36:46.320 It's it's grown. 0:36:46.080 --> 0:36:49.480 Over the years to the extent of we now have 0:36:49.640 --> 0:36:55.239 thirty two individual suites each day on site. And we've 0:36:55.760 --> 0:36:59.560 created this again another double decker that we referred to earlier. 0:37:00.280 --> 0:37:03.719 This would be stage right of the main stage. So 0:37:03.840 --> 0:37:06.640 you have a double deck or structure, sixteen suites on 0:37:06.680 --> 0:37:10.400 the bottom, sixteen suites on the top. We have a 0:37:10.480 --> 0:37:16.680 whole Suites team, conciers team and suite hosts that helped 0:37:16.719 --> 0:37:22.600 manage this program. And the program essentially is a minimum 0:37:22.640 --> 0:37:27.440 package of forty tickets for one day suite and you 0:37:27.480 --> 0:37:31.400 can either be a VIP guest within that suite or 0:37:31.440 --> 0:37:33.560 a Platinum guest within a suite. 0:37:33.880 --> 0:37:37.120 And what that means is it doesn't really mean. 0:37:37.000 --> 0:37:40.440 A whole lot on the suite itself, other than platinum 0:37:40.560 --> 0:37:45.560 suites are prioritized closest to the stage, but when you 0:37:45.680 --> 0:37:49.000 leave the suite, you are either now a VIP guest 0:37:49.000 --> 0:37:51.320 to the festival or a Platinum guest to the festival. 0:37:51.800 --> 0:37:54.640 We only sell so many platinum suites, and that's kind 0:37:54.680 --> 0:37:57.120 of why Dave was saying that question is complicated because 0:37:57.160 --> 0:38:00.480 we do sell a handful of platinum suites that are 0:38:00.680 --> 0:38:05.239 part of the overall platinum body if you will, that 0:38:05.320 --> 0:38:07.600 have access to all the Platinum experiences that Dave and 0:38:07.680 --> 0:38:08.560 Justin been talking about. 0:38:08.600 --> 0:38:09.840 But I digress. 0:38:10.440 --> 0:38:13.280 That's kind of to tie that up with the sweets, 0:38:13.400 --> 0:38:17.520 you basically have an in sweet bar. You have a 0:38:18.680 --> 0:38:24.279 very curated sweet menu from local restaurants such as world 0:38:24.360 --> 0:38:29.880 Famous Mustards, a Note Tree. These are all Napa Restaurants. 0:38:29.920 --> 0:38:33.840 By the way, so many many restaurants are participating to 0:38:33.880 --> 0:38:38.120 help feed our sweets guests. The sweet host and our 0:38:38.160 --> 0:38:42.360 team work together months prior to the festival to curate 0:38:42.440 --> 0:38:46.480 the food menu. You can upgrade your bar to you know, 0:38:46.560 --> 0:38:50.360 some premium tequilas and bourbons and champagnes and wines. We 0:38:50.400 --> 0:38:53.160 have a whole reserve wine list that's part of the 0:38:53.160 --> 0:38:56.359 Suites program if you want to upgrade the wine that 0:38:56.400 --> 0:38:57.360 we are providing. 0:38:58.640 --> 0:39:01.880 Let's see here. The customer for the suites. 0:39:01.520 --> 0:39:06.680 Has kind of evolved into a mixture of both sponsors 0:39:07.400 --> 0:39:12.520 wanting that group hospitality experience in addition to their branded 0:39:13.040 --> 0:39:16.920 experience that they're providing for the festival guests out in 0:39:17.120 --> 0:39:22.000 Ga somewhere. And or we get a lot of winery 0:39:22.239 --> 0:39:25.080 partners who you know, are finding this to be one 0:39:25.120 --> 0:39:29.919 of the best experiences for like hosting their distributors, their 0:39:30.000 --> 0:39:31.360 sales teams. 0:39:31.400 --> 0:39:32.880 That are spread around the country. 0:39:32.880 --> 0:39:35.239 They bring them back to Napa Valley and throw this 0:39:35.360 --> 0:39:37.799 huge party forum at Bottle Rock and it's been a 0:39:37.800 --> 0:39:39.920 home run for our wine partners in that regard. 0:39:40.960 --> 0:39:41.440 And then you. 0:39:41.480 --> 0:39:44.879 Get you know, the fifty year old birthday party We've 0:39:44.880 --> 0:39:48.560 even had a wedding party in our suites. But believe 0:39:48.560 --> 0:39:50.799 it or not, these suites sell out prior to even 0:39:50.840 --> 0:39:54.360 the lineup going out, which is which is kudos to 0:39:54.400 --> 0:39:58.480 the team for creating that experience that people just basically 0:39:59.280 --> 0:40:02.080 always pick up their option to take that suite than 0:40:02.160 --> 0:40:05.319 the following year, well before the lineup. So it's been 0:40:05.360 --> 0:40:08.399 a home run of a program. I wish we had 0:40:08.440 --> 0:40:10.800 more where we joke around, should we build a triple 0:40:10.880 --> 0:40:14.279 decker so that we can accommodate more suite guests, But 0:40:14.600 --> 0:40:16.959 right now we're at the double decker level. 0:40:17.120 --> 0:40:19.920 So and tell me about the MX Experience. 0:40:20.560 --> 0:40:23.319 Yeah, that's that's a sponsored program. 0:40:23.960 --> 0:40:28.520 We've been working with AMX and Marriott bomb Bay excuse me, 0:40:29.360 --> 0:40:32.400 which is the you know, a member card for the 0:40:32.880 --> 0:40:38.280 Marriotte you know hotel program and they have been a partner, 0:40:38.840 --> 0:40:42.719 I think since twenty fifteen, where again this program has 0:40:42.800 --> 0:40:45.360 grown as well. It's in my opinion, it might be 0:40:45.400 --> 0:40:48.960 the best feat in the house. It's literally right off 0:40:49.080 --> 0:40:54.880 of stage rights downstage edge, and it's it's basically a 0:40:54.920 --> 0:40:59.279 double decker suite with lots of room for about four 0:40:59.360 --> 0:41:01.880 hundred and fifty people all in the same you know 0:41:01.960 --> 0:41:05.839 that are carrying the same wristband, and they're getting hosted bar. Uh, 0:41:06.000 --> 0:41:10.040 they're getting Michelin star food from a local chef, Ken Frank, 0:41:10.640 --> 0:41:14.319 the owner and operator of Lataku. They're getting this great view, 0:41:14.360 --> 0:41:19.840 they're getting a merch item, they're getting lockers, they're getting 0:41:20.080 --> 0:41:24.040 face painting and some fun little festival flare things that 0:41:24.080 --> 0:41:25.040 happen on this deck. 0:41:25.920 --> 0:41:28.200 But you know, I think for for. 0:41:28.239 --> 0:41:30.319 My money and some of the people that have that 0:41:30.360 --> 0:41:32.160 have bought this ticket year over year, they say, it's 0:41:32.239 --> 0:41:34.279 the best seat in the house, and. 0:41:33.760 --> 0:41:36.760 And uh, it's a it's a great experience overall. 0:41:37.360 --> 0:41:39.880 Okay, do you need like an American Express card to 0:41:39.920 --> 0:41:40.720 purchase ticket? 0:41:41.360 --> 0:41:45.480 You need a Marriott Bonvoy card that's American. 0:41:45.719 --> 0:41:47.399 That's an American Express Uh. 0:41:48.400 --> 0:41:48.680 Okay. 0:41:48.800 --> 0:41:51.120 And assuming you have that card, what is the fee 0:41:51.200 --> 0:41:51.400 for that? 0:41:51.480 --> 0:41:54.839 Dick that that ticket is actually on par with our 0:41:54.960 --> 0:41:57.480 skydeck ticket that we were talking about earlier, which is 0:41:57.520 --> 0:42:01.480 around two thousand dollars. Uh, So there's this baked in 0:42:01.600 --> 0:42:06.880 premium as part of the sponsorship benefits to having that ticket. 0:42:14.000 --> 0:42:16.760 Okay, tell us a little bit about the venue itself. 0:42:17.600 --> 0:42:18.440 It's really small. 0:42:20.040 --> 0:42:24.520 Since I'm on a roll yeah, it's uh, it's uh 0:42:25.080 --> 0:42:27.120 kind of when we first started this, I would have 0:42:27.120 --> 0:42:30.640 I would have let everybody know we're in downtown Napa Valley, Napa, 0:42:30.680 --> 0:42:34.640 the City of Napa. So Napa is one of five 0:42:34.719 --> 0:42:37.360 or six cities in the County of Napa, and and 0:42:37.640 --> 0:42:39.560 it's kind of the nerve center of the Napa Valley 0:42:39.600 --> 0:42:41.319 at this point in time. It used to not be 0:42:42.160 --> 0:42:45.360 way back when Justin, Dave and I were all elementary 0:42:45.400 --> 0:42:46.560 and high school kids here. 0:42:46.960 --> 0:42:49.120 We all grew up here. So it's in it's in 0:42:49.160 --> 0:42:49.960 downtown Napa. 0:42:50.000 --> 0:42:53.000 It's very close to a lot of the major restaurants 0:42:53.040 --> 0:42:56.759 and hotels. Super easy to get to when you're in 0:42:56.880 --> 0:43:00.279 downtown Napa, meaning you can walk from your hotel all 0:43:00.320 --> 0:43:01.960 you can walk from the restaurant that you just had 0:43:02.000 --> 0:43:04.320 lunch at and across the street and you're in the venue. 0:43:04.760 --> 0:43:08.440 It's at the Napa Valley Expo, which when it's not 0:43:08.600 --> 0:43:12.960 bought a rock, that's the Town and Country Fair, Kingtonias 0:43:13.000 --> 0:43:15.760 and crab feeds for fundraisers and things of that nature, 0:43:15.760 --> 0:43:17.160 which is which is kind of funny. 0:43:17.200 --> 0:43:20.000 It's got a long history here in the city of Napa. 0:43:20.080 --> 0:43:20.759 The Expo does. 0:43:21.640 --> 0:43:23.440 It's very like Justin was just saying, it's a very 0:43:23.480 --> 0:43:27.120 small footprint, which is part of the reason why we 0:43:27.640 --> 0:43:30.760 started building these double deckers to create more real estate 0:43:30.880 --> 0:43:34.759 for hospitality and VIP type programs. It's one of the 0:43:34.840 --> 0:43:38.520 reasons that we spend all year thinking about you know, 0:43:39.800 --> 0:43:43.040 entry or ingress and thinking about how guests flow from 0:43:43.080 --> 0:43:44.160 one area of. 0:43:44.080 --> 0:43:45.800 The venue to the other area of the venue. 0:43:46.160 --> 0:43:49.120 It's it's why we spend all year think about where 0:43:49.120 --> 0:43:53.879 we put sponsors and how food lines Q or bar 0:43:54.000 --> 0:43:58.239 lines Q. You know, these guys can jump in anytime now, 0:43:58.280 --> 0:44:00.719 but it's it's something that you know, we wish we 0:44:00.760 --> 0:44:03.440 had more real estate. But at the same time, the 0:44:03.640 --> 0:44:08.040 venue being in downtown NAPA and being more intimate than 0:44:08.080 --> 0:44:11.160 a sprawling, you know, one hundred and twenty thousand person 0:44:11.239 --> 0:44:15.719 festival where we're forty forty four thousand cap it makes 0:44:15.760 --> 0:44:20.600 it for a more I guess, approachable venue. 0:44:20.680 --> 0:44:22.880 So I'll stop and let Justin or Dave take a 0:44:22.880 --> 0:44:23.399 shot at that. 0:44:23.520 --> 0:44:26.880 Okay, do the expensive tickets sell out first or the 0:44:26.960 --> 0:44:28.960 GA tickets expensive? 0:44:29.600 --> 0:44:32.960 The expensive tickets sold out before the lineup even went out. 0:44:32.960 --> 0:44:36.120 This year, we sold them all before we even announced 0:44:36.120 --> 0:44:40.920 the lineup. The VIP plus tickets, every level we spoke about. 0:44:41.280 --> 0:44:47.640 Yeah, okay, let's talk about the economics if you sell out? 0:44:47.840 --> 0:44:49.240 What's the gross. 0:44:52.520 --> 0:44:55.719 Enough we were if we were I don't know, if 0:44:55.760 --> 0:44:56.879 we wanted to talk about it. 0:44:56.840 --> 0:44:59.440 Well, you're gonna I'm gonna see it at poll Star anyway, 0:45:00.200 --> 0:45:02.200 the gross last year. I could probably look it up. 0:45:04.480 --> 0:45:07.799 Yeah, yeah, if people tell the truth and when they 0:45:07.880 --> 0:45:12.040 report it, yeah, I don't know. I guess we're we're 0:45:12.120 --> 0:45:14.279 just because we weren't expecting that question will dance around 0:45:14.320 --> 0:45:14.759 a little bit. 0:45:15.080 --> 0:45:16.880 But let's say it's it's it's. 0:45:16.760 --> 0:45:19.120 Good, and then where were you going to go with that? 0:45:19.239 --> 0:45:20.600 Let's say we said that number. 0:45:21.160 --> 0:45:23.680 Well, okay, and I'm just breaking a festival economics are 0:45:23.719 --> 0:45:29.680 different from traditional arena economics. In a festival, traditionally, you 0:45:29.719 --> 0:45:32.960 pay a flat fee for the talent, and if you 0:45:33.200 --> 0:45:37.320 sell out, it could be very profitable for the promoter, 0:45:38.239 --> 0:45:43.239 so there's a huge outlay of cash. Okay, So the 0:45:43.320 --> 0:45:46.799 question would be, we'll start from the beginning, what percentage 0:45:46.840 --> 0:45:49.360 of the revenue goes to talent? 0:45:50.440 --> 0:45:54.000 Yeah, well, actually one day, I guess, and trust me, 0:45:54.040 --> 0:45:56.600 we're not really dancing around this. But what we can 0:45:56.640 --> 0:45:59.640 say is Uh, and we can go go into depth 0:45:59.640 --> 0:46:05.480 on this. Yeah, So if we sell every ticket, all 0:46:05.520 --> 0:46:08.439 these premium tickets, included every one of the seventy seven 0:46:08.480 --> 0:46:18.000 thousand that Dave was mentioning, we're still roughly twelve million 0:46:18.040 --> 0:46:21.160 dollar loss in terms of that, And it's like, how 0:46:21.200 --> 0:46:23.480 could that be possible? Well, it's like, that's the amount 0:46:23.480 --> 0:46:27.440 of money we put into this show. Is it costs 0:46:27.480 --> 0:46:29.560 so much to do what we're doing. So our model 0:46:29.600 --> 0:46:35.600 is based on yes, selling in and making sure the 0:46:35.640 --> 0:46:37.960 whole events sell that we have with these premium ticket prices, 0:46:37.960 --> 0:46:41.919 which gets us to a box office which for forty 0:46:41.960 --> 0:46:44.799 four thousand cap per day show, he is a higher 0:46:44.840 --> 0:46:48.640 box office than other festivals typically run. But given how 0:46:48.719 --> 0:46:51.000 much money we invest into all the experiences we just 0:46:51.040 --> 0:46:53.880 talked about, if it wasn't for where we go with 0:46:53.920 --> 0:46:57.200 food and beverage, and it wasn't for our sponsors, this 0:46:57.280 --> 0:47:01.200 thing would still be upside down. So so in terms 0:47:01.200 --> 0:47:03.200 of what percentage goes to artists, I go, Dave, do 0:47:03.239 --> 0:47:05.279 you want to talk about artists? But I mean, yeah, 0:47:05.440 --> 0:47:07.080 I feel like we've fit at the top of the market. 0:47:07.080 --> 0:47:08.960 But everyone, everyone, everyone feels like that. 0:47:09.040 --> 0:47:11.520 Yeah, it's a difficult market to be in because you know, 0:47:11.600 --> 0:47:15.839 you've got you're dealing with with agencies that are really 0:47:15.920 --> 0:47:19.800 using comps based on you know, arena plays and stadium plays, 0:47:20.440 --> 0:47:23.120 and they're ignoring the fact that we're forty four thousand 0:47:23.239 --> 0:47:28.520 cap versus eighty thousand or one twenty and you know, 0:47:28.560 --> 0:47:32.239 without getting the specific match, we're probably looking at somewhere 0:47:32.560 --> 0:47:37.239 around twenty percent of h if you look at the 0:47:37.239 --> 0:47:41.799 total top line revenue, twenty percent of that would be 0:47:41.840 --> 0:47:44.160 what it is we spend on. 0:47:43.960 --> 0:47:47.880 Artists and Dave, you can also fill in the gaps 0:47:47.880 --> 0:47:51.600 on that we're basically sandwich between Golden One and Sacramento, 0:47:52.200 --> 0:47:56.520 SAP in San Jose, and Chase in San Francisco, notwithstanding 0:47:57.320 --> 0:48:01.000 Outside Lands and Fox and all the Greek and all 0:48:01.040 --> 0:48:03.279 the things. So your competitive market, like if people don't 0:48:03.320 --> 0:48:05.520 know where NAPA is, we're kind of right in the 0:48:05.520 --> 0:48:09.120 middle of, you know, a really major music market. 0:48:10.600 --> 0:48:15.399 Okay, so we got a twelve million dollars shortfull tell 0:48:15.440 --> 0:48:16.680 me about sponsorship. 0:48:18.080 --> 0:48:19.479 Oh that's where I come in, Bob. 0:48:20.760 --> 0:48:24.080 Well, I mean, there's a lot of different directions we 0:48:24.120 --> 0:48:27.160 could take this conversation, but to Justin's point, we are 0:48:27.320 --> 0:48:32.960 we are very dependent upon sponsorship revenue, and at. 0:48:32.800 --> 0:48:34.600 The same time, we're very. 0:48:35.960 --> 0:48:40.040 Cautious and careful and discipline about the type of sponsors 0:48:40.040 --> 0:48:44.000 that we would bring into the festival. Because of this 0:48:44.200 --> 0:48:47.920 whole brand promise, this whole brand identity that we talked about, 0:48:48.640 --> 0:48:52.280 we feel like it's very important that we curate sponsors 0:48:52.360 --> 0:48:53.520 as much as we curate the. 0:48:53.480 --> 0:48:55.120 Food lineup and the wine lineup. 0:48:56.280 --> 0:48:58.719 And that means sometimes we actually have to say no 0:48:59.160 --> 0:49:02.400 to very lucrative sponsorship deals because it's just not the 0:49:02.480 --> 0:49:05.000 right fit. And it's something you know, if you got 0:49:05.080 --> 0:49:08.440 to know us, we fight tooth and nail about I'm 0:49:08.520 --> 0:49:10.960 usually fighting for the sponsors, and Justin and Da were 0:49:11.000 --> 0:49:14.080 fighting against them, and uh and and we always end 0:49:14.160 --> 0:49:16.120 up in the middle somewhere in a good place. But 0:49:17.480 --> 0:49:20.279 you know, we we definitely need our sponsors. We love 0:49:20.280 --> 0:49:22.520 our sponsors. They actually add a ton of value to 0:49:22.600 --> 0:49:26.240 the overall festival experience. We let them do certain things 0:49:26.480 --> 0:49:28.520 that they may not get to do with other festivals. 0:49:28.520 --> 0:49:32.879 But as long as there's guardrails and and and consistency 0:49:32.920 --> 0:49:36.839 with what the overall experience for the festival is, you know, 0:49:37.200 --> 0:49:40.520 the sponsor integrations are are something that's critical to the 0:49:40.640 --> 0:49:41.520 experience overall. 0:49:42.040 --> 0:49:44.680 Okay, if we got the twelve million dollars shortfall, how 0:49:44.760 --> 0:49:54.960 much does sponsorship make up. Let's just stay close to that, close. 0:49:54.760 --> 0:49:56.200 To that, Yeah, we kind of make it kind of. 0:49:57.680 --> 0:50:02.240 Okay with sponsorship, you break even talking about the sponsors. 0:50:02.719 --> 0:50:06.200 How many are local sponsors as opposed to national or 0:50:06.200 --> 0:50:08.200 international sponsors. 0:50:09.280 --> 0:50:14.040 Well, local, being Napa Valley, we have probably you know, 0:50:14.239 --> 0:50:18.280 fifteen to twenty wineries that are all activating on site, 0:50:18.560 --> 0:50:23.160 pouring their wines, providing you know, tastings and great local 0:50:23.239 --> 0:50:26.040 Napa Valley experiences. 0:50:26.160 --> 0:50:28.120 You know many I'll digress for a second. 0:50:28.280 --> 0:50:31.319 Many of our wineries are in GA and they're in 0:50:31.400 --> 0:50:35.120 these twenty x twenty tents that you've seen at every festival, 0:50:35.480 --> 0:50:38.920 and they curate these beautiful lounges and these kind of 0:50:38.960 --> 0:50:43.240 tasting rooms at Bottle Rock. That makes GA guests feel 0:50:43.280 --> 0:50:45.640 like they're in a VIP experience that you wouldn't find 0:50:45.680 --> 0:50:48.120 at any other festival in the world. I could I 0:50:48.120 --> 0:50:52.840 could say that with confidence in terms of Bay Area sponsors. 0:50:52.840 --> 0:50:55.279 That's something that's also been important to us, you know, 0:50:55.480 --> 0:51:00.640 having Salesforce sponsor our Platinum lounge and our Platinum experience 0:51:01.000 --> 0:51:05.319 and having Cisco Systems provide why fan facing Wi Fi 0:51:05.960 --> 0:51:10.680 and and having you know, I'm a PayPal providing r 0:51:10.800 --> 0:51:14.520 f I D risk band payments all Bay Area companies 0:51:14.880 --> 0:51:17.840 has been has been something we've really tried to curate 0:51:18.280 --> 0:51:21.719 UH and it's also been something that helped with our 0:51:21.760 --> 0:51:25.560 suites program. I mentioned that earlier where these these regional 0:51:26.000 --> 0:51:28.360 you know, Bay Area companies are are not only sponsoring 0:51:28.440 --> 0:51:31.120 the festival, but they are also because they're so close 0:51:31.160 --> 0:51:34.959 to NAPA, they're in Silicon Valley, Sacramento, San Francisco, they're 0:51:35.000 --> 0:51:37.840 now bringing groups of people to part partake in the 0:51:38.000 --> 0:51:40.360 UH in the suites program as well. So that's a 0:51:40.480 --> 0:51:43.640 that's been that's been a hit for for us and 0:51:43.640 --> 0:51:45.719 and them. And then you know, we have all the 0:51:45.719 --> 0:51:48.840 beverage sponsors that you can imagine, from Mulsen Corp's brands 0:51:48.880 --> 0:51:52.640 to Diagio brands such as you know, Kettle one and 0:51:52.640 --> 0:51:56.920 and Don Julio, to Constellation brands such as Pacifico and 0:51:56.920 --> 0:52:01.520 and and Modello. Log need Is is a great local 0:52:01.560 --> 0:52:04.840 brewery that's national world They were acquired by Heineken, so 0:52:05.000 --> 0:52:09.120 you know, worldwide distribution now. So UH we're you know, 0:52:09.239 --> 0:52:11.319 we do a very good job. If I don't say 0:52:11.320 --> 0:52:14.560 so myself, I'm I'm the head of that department of 0:52:14.600 --> 0:52:18.000 bringing in sponsors and doing it the right way, if 0:52:18.040 --> 0:52:18.359 you will. 0:52:19.200 --> 0:52:22.160 Let's assume my tech company in Silicon Valley who has 0:52:22.200 --> 0:52:24.640 not made a deal with you previously, what is your 0:52:24.680 --> 0:52:27.280 pitch going to be to me? I have an unlimited budget. 0:52:27.320 --> 0:52:30.600 It's just a matter whether I want to spend it. Well, 0:52:30.640 --> 0:52:33.120 I mean, oh, go ahead, no, go ahead, day No. 0:52:33.400 --> 0:52:34.960 I was just going to say, like I was just 0:52:35.000 --> 0:52:37.640 thinking back to the pitch, like like Cooley Godward Right, 0:52:37.719 --> 0:52:40.680 which is a sponsor of one of our suites and 0:52:40.800 --> 0:52:43.960 actually has two suites every year at the festival, And 0:52:44.239 --> 0:52:46.960 really what they were looking for is they wanted to 0:52:46.960 --> 0:52:48.920 be able to engage with some of their best clients 0:52:49.200 --> 0:52:53.399 and prospective future clients. And so instead of let's say, 0:52:53.440 --> 0:52:57.640 going golfing with each client four times a year, which 0:52:57.760 --> 0:53:00.360 you know can be a long time and maybe not 0:53:00.400 --> 0:53:04.719 all that productive if you're a bad golfer, why not 0:53:04.960 --> 0:53:12.040 bring those particular you know fewpo CEOs to the festival, 0:53:12.200 --> 0:53:16.560 have them in your suite, interact with them for ten, fifteen, 0:53:16.600 --> 0:53:19.160 twenty minutes, but in the best way where you know 0:53:19.360 --> 0:53:23.080 they're able to see Dave Grohl sing at the same time. 0:53:23.120 --> 0:53:27.120 Hey maybe talk a little shop, maybe not. But what 0:53:27.200 --> 0:53:32.080 we found is that not only do the lawyers that 0:53:32.200 --> 0:53:36.640 work within that practice all fight to see who gets 0:53:36.680 --> 0:53:39.200 gets to go, but more importantly, they want to get 0:53:39.239 --> 0:53:41.719 in so that they can bring their own clientele to 0:53:42.120 --> 0:53:43.680 the event. So it's kind of it's win win for 0:53:43.800 --> 0:53:46.439 us because we love having them. They bring a great 0:53:46.440 --> 0:53:48.760 client talent, and so win for them because they're able 0:53:49.080 --> 0:53:53.399 to really entertain their important clients in a very unique way. 0:53:54.239 --> 0:53:58.759 Okay. Traditionally, in sponsorship in traditional venues, and there's been 0:53:58.760 --> 0:54:02.759 a long history, it's going up down. People want signage 0:54:03.000 --> 0:54:07.000 and access to what de we are those elements of 0:54:07.040 --> 0:54:08.600 sponsorship at Bottle Rock. 0:54:12.400 --> 0:54:13.439 Well, let's see here. 0:54:13.800 --> 0:54:19.440 Signage is something that we are very I guess we 0:54:19.600 --> 0:54:22.640 try to keep at a minimum. You know, there's lots 0:54:22.680 --> 0:54:27.280 of other sporting events or events that takes sponsorship that 0:54:27.280 --> 0:54:32.879 that let signage kind of go hey wire, if that's 0:54:33.120 --> 0:54:36.839 the right term. Bottle Rock we definitely, you know, work 0:54:36.880 --> 0:54:39.680 with our sponsors to make sure that they fit within 0:54:39.719 --> 0:54:42.440 the brand guidelines of the overall festival. 0:54:42.920 --> 0:54:43.200 Uh. 0:54:43.239 --> 0:54:46.440 And it's not just a logo slap everywhere. 0:54:47.040 --> 0:54:50.640 In fact, that's kind of a trend that's going you 0:54:50.680 --> 0:54:53.439 know away, like the logo slaps. No sponsors really looking 0:54:53.480 --> 0:54:56.879 for that anymore. They're really looking for through integration, how 0:54:56.920 --> 0:54:59.960 they can add value to the overall festival experience. 0:55:00.000 --> 0:55:01.239 It's in the fan experience. 0:55:02.680 --> 0:55:02.880 You know. 0:55:03.000 --> 0:55:06.120 We do things, we build things ourselves that that we 0:55:06.239 --> 0:55:09.760 allow sponsors to sponsor, such as like a silent disco, 0:55:10.239 --> 0:55:13.439 really fun activation. People are wearing headphones, uh and they're 0:55:13.480 --> 0:55:15.799 listening to a DJ, but nobody from the outside can 0:55:15.840 --> 0:55:17.799 hear what those those guests are listening to and they're 0:55:17.800 --> 0:55:19.080 all dancing and having a great time. 0:55:19.640 --> 0:55:21.480 So you know, that would be an example. 0:55:21.480 --> 0:55:24.880 We we do a club, an actual club, indoor club 0:55:24.960 --> 0:55:28.520 where we have DJs playing live sets, and you know, 0:55:28.560 --> 0:55:32.719 we'll put a sponsor integrated into the club and for 0:55:33.000 --> 0:55:36.800 drinks with that sponsor's you know, alcohol for example, and 0:55:36.800 --> 0:55:39.640 and it's kind of like the club takeover by a 0:55:39.719 --> 0:55:43.080 vodka company. We actually have a spa that we would 0:55:43.120 --> 0:55:47.360 allow a sponsor to you know, be the title sponsor 0:55:47.400 --> 0:55:51.560 of the spa, and usually that's ah, you know, some 0:55:51.600 --> 0:55:56.719 sort of makeup or uh spa related type sponsor that 0:55:56.760 --> 0:56:00.160 would take that opportunity down. But what they're not looking 0:56:00.160 --> 0:56:01.640 for is just to have their logos everywhere. 0:56:01.680 --> 0:56:03.160 They want to like be the. 0:56:03.160 --> 0:56:05.680 Name and title of an experience, and that's that's really 0:56:05.760 --> 0:56:10.120 what we've gotten good at selling. The second question is 0:56:10.160 --> 0:56:15.000 the access we You know, it depends on the fees. 0:56:15.160 --> 0:56:17.799 It depends on how many tickets they are looking for 0:56:17.960 --> 0:56:22.640 relative to the overall the overall sponsorship fee as well. 0:56:22.120 --> 0:56:25.360 Our VIP tickets sell out and every sponsor wants as 0:56:25.400 --> 0:56:26.319 many as they can get, and. 0:56:26.280 --> 0:56:28.160 We have to kind of play that tug war. 0:56:29.000 --> 0:56:33.000 Well, let me be more specific. Okay, Stevie Nicks is 0:56:33.000 --> 0:56:35.520 a headliner this year. If I'm a sponsor, can I 0:56:35.560 --> 0:56:36.480 meet Stevie Nicks? 0:56:39.120 --> 0:56:41.920 Unlikely? But there are some spots. 0:56:41.960 --> 0:56:43.840 There are some bands, and this is where Dave's world 0:56:44.080 --> 0:56:47.040 in mind collide. There are some bands artists that are 0:56:47.080 --> 0:56:50.919 willing to participate and do meet and greets, sometimes for 0:56:50.960 --> 0:56:54.839 an appearance fee, sometimes not. But you know, the higher 0:56:54.920 --> 0:56:57.480 up you go in the food chain of artists, as 0:56:57.520 --> 0:57:00.520 you probably know, it's harder to get there, get their attention. 0:57:01.360 --> 0:57:02.000 Well, what I. 0:57:01.920 --> 0:57:04.920 Would say is relative to access, one thing that we're 0:57:04.960 --> 0:57:10.040 really sticklers on and strict with is back of house access. 0:57:10.320 --> 0:57:12.719 So one thing that you'll notice when you come, Bob, 0:57:12.840 --> 0:57:14.360 is that the people that are back to the house 0:57:14.360 --> 0:57:15.800 for the most part of the people that should be 0:57:15.840 --> 0:57:19.640 back of house. And so whether you know you are 0:57:19.680 --> 0:57:23.680 a million dollar sponsor or a twenty thousand dollars sponsor, 0:57:23.680 --> 0:57:26.880 you're not going back to house. That that is for artists, 0:57:27.000 --> 0:57:30.040 that is for industry, and that is for staff. 0:57:30.280 --> 0:57:31.640 That the appropriate staff. 0:57:33.840 --> 0:57:38.320 As it relates to the meeting greets, really that is 0:57:38.400 --> 0:57:41.520 negotiated in the offer for the artists and they're basically 0:57:41.560 --> 0:57:47.640 four pieces that we negotiate relative to customer experiences with 0:57:47.720 --> 0:57:50.880 the artists as part of the offer process. And that 0:57:50.880 --> 0:57:54.120 that consists of the meet and greet. That consists of 0:57:54.120 --> 0:57:58.800 the v P performance. That that consists of the the 0:57:58.880 --> 0:58:02.320 GA jam Pad acoustic set, and then finally the culinary 0:58:02.360 --> 0:58:05.360 stage appearance. And so we start off with four with 0:58:05.440 --> 0:58:09.480 every artist, and sometimes we get all four and sometimes 0:58:09.480 --> 0:58:13.880 we get one, and sometimes we're in between. But that 0:58:14.040 --> 0:58:18.720 is part of the offer process. Okay, back to sponsorship. 0:58:18.760 --> 0:58:21.760 You say you turned people down. Why would someone be 0:58:21.800 --> 0:58:22.320 turned down? 0:58:24.120 --> 0:58:27.360 Well, you know, one example would be we had a 0:58:27.440 --> 0:58:29.960 sponsor a few years ago that was willing to spend 0:58:30.000 --> 0:58:32.920 a quarter of a million dollars with us, but they 0:58:33.720 --> 0:58:37.080 served there it was a drink sponsor. They were serving 0:58:37.120 --> 0:58:42.240 their their beverages in a plastic, single use container. We have, 0:58:43.720 --> 0:58:48.600 you know, kind of graduated or evolved our sustainability program 0:58:48.920 --> 0:58:51.360 to the extent that we have eliminated all single use 0:58:51.560 --> 0:58:56.400 plastic for example. So that would be diametrically opposed to 0:58:56.440 --> 0:58:59.640 what we were, what we would hold as a value 0:58:59.720 --> 0:59:02.280 into terms of our sustainability program, and we had to 0:59:02.280 --> 0:59:05.080 say sorry, no, thank you if you can't put that 0:59:05.120 --> 0:59:09.000 in an aluminum camp. At the same time, you have 0:59:09.200 --> 0:59:14.120 sponsors that you know, might be a consumer package goods 0:59:14.720 --> 0:59:19.760 company or a you know, a Hamburger chain or something 0:59:19.840 --> 0:59:25.000 like that, that would just be completely opposite of jokingly 0:59:25.040 --> 0:59:29.160 self deprecatingly like bougie Napa cuisine, right, we we would 0:59:29.160 --> 0:59:32.400 never have a Hamburger chain as a as a food 0:59:32.480 --> 0:59:35.960 vendor at Bottle Rock because we have a vision and 0:59:36.200 --> 0:59:38.720 discipline as to what this thing is and what it's 0:59:38.800 --> 0:59:42.960 not and and for for I think, for better we 0:59:42.960 --> 0:59:45.280 we would have to say no to something like that. 0:59:46.360 --> 0:59:47.720 Okay, on that. 0:59:47.920 --> 0:59:49.919 I guess, just on that note, just think of where 0:59:49.920 --> 0:59:50.920 we we. 0:59:50.960 --> 0:59:54.040 Have all these debates all the time, especially when it 0:59:54.040 --> 0:59:57.600 comes to turning away really big checks and just thinking 0:59:57.600 --> 0:59:59.760 of some of the biggest dollerments we've turned around. It's 0:59:59.800 --> 1:00:02.800 where you have a sponsor and they're used to a 1:00:02.840 --> 1:00:06.000 certain activation at another festival, like here's what we do 1:00:06.120 --> 1:00:08.400 at so and so, and we want to bring that 1:00:08.480 --> 1:00:12.640 activation to Battle Rock, and then we say that's not 1:00:12.680 --> 1:00:14.720 going to work, right because let's say it was we 1:00:14.760 --> 1:00:18.120 wanted to do a VIP takeover and we're going to 1:00:18.200 --> 1:00:22.120 make this the blah blah blah brand VIP experience, and 1:00:22.120 --> 1:00:23.720 then we say no, I said, well, what if we 1:00:24.320 --> 1:00:27.320 made it a huge check that you couldn't turn down 1:00:28.240 --> 1:00:31.840 For the long term brand and the image of what 1:00:31.840 --> 1:00:34.360 we're trying to do in the experience, we shouldn't take 1:00:34.400 --> 1:00:37.640 that seven figure check right now. We should actually stick 1:00:38.440 --> 1:00:40.280 to what the cost going back, like what does the 1:00:40.320 --> 1:00:41.520 customer really want here? 1:00:42.040 --> 1:00:42.240 Right? 1:00:42.320 --> 1:00:45.760 So there's been a lot of battles and just mentioned 1:00:45.760 --> 1:00:48.040 that over time, and it's tough to turn down. 1:00:47.960 --> 1:00:50.160 Huge dollar amounts, but it's always. 1:00:49.880 --> 1:00:52.520 With the long term view to think of like, how 1:00:52.640 --> 1:00:55.400 is this thing going to be special ten years from now? 1:00:55.840 --> 1:00:56.880 How do we not screw it up. 1:00:57.760 --> 1:01:01.600 And at the same time, Justin the sponsor, beget other sponsors. 1:01:01.640 --> 1:01:05.160 This is something you always say, right like, if you have. 1:01:05.360 --> 1:01:08.560 Rolex as a sponsor and you're trying to get other 1:01:08.600 --> 1:01:11.800 brands like Rolex, you better you better stay true to 1:01:11.840 --> 1:01:14.840 that because if you if you go to a different 1:01:15.200 --> 1:01:19.080 lower level watch brand, Uh, Rolex might go away real 1:01:19.160 --> 1:01:21.520 quick because they see, oh, that's not who I want 1:01:21.560 --> 1:01:22.800 to be associated with. 1:01:22.840 --> 1:01:25.520 And that's you know, you say it better than I do. 1:01:25.600 --> 1:01:28.640 But that's that's definitely been another thought as to how 1:01:28.680 --> 1:01:31.240 we think about these sponsors. 1:01:32.280 --> 1:01:35.640 I remember when we win when we turned down a 1:01:35.680 --> 1:01:38.560 half million dollars because we wouldn't put a car in 1:01:38.600 --> 1:01:41.760 the middle of our VIP food court or adjacent to it. 1:01:42.840 --> 1:01:44.400 And after this a little bit of a debate because 1:01:44.440 --> 1:01:47.080 it was a great car brand, so one could argue 1:01:47.080 --> 1:01:49.000 that that brand was in line with the customer it 1:01:49.080 --> 1:01:52.080 was going to be in in the VIP area, but 1:01:52.480 --> 1:01:55.240 still it was a car in that area and we 1:01:55.320 --> 1:01:55.880 turned it down. 1:02:00.040 --> 1:02:06.120 Yeah, Okay, sponsorship brings you to even what are the 1:02:06.160 --> 1:02:07.320 other revenue streams? 1:02:08.480 --> 1:02:09.400 Justin's our CFO. 1:02:09.600 --> 1:02:13.040 Go ahead, We're gonna all touch on food. Yeah, yeah, no, 1:02:13.240 --> 1:02:16.120 it's like touch on the food. I mean, the food in. 1:02:16.600 --> 1:02:20.840 One world is big in Northern California and the Bay Area, 1:02:20.880 --> 1:02:22.840 so we we try to go all in on that, 1:02:23.000 --> 1:02:27.240 like we've all mentioned. So that's a that's an important 1:02:27.240 --> 1:02:29.440 part of the economics as well, which I know is 1:02:29.480 --> 1:02:30.560 the question you're asking. 1:02:31.160 --> 1:02:34.720 So we do have a very high per cap on. 1:02:34.640 --> 1:02:38.040 Our food and beverage spend as measured against you know, 1:02:38.200 --> 1:02:42.320 pretty much everybody we can pace ourselves against, and which 1:02:42.320 --> 1:02:44.240 includes you know, we try to look at events outside 1:02:44.280 --> 1:02:46.680 of the music business as well, golf tournaments and you know, 1:02:47.360 --> 1:02:50.320 the US Open Masters, you know, it's at a Kentucky Derby. 1:02:50.360 --> 1:02:52.360 You know, we're trying to understand. 1:02:52.120 --> 1:02:55.880 Per caps at all events and what people do to uh, 1:02:56.320 --> 1:02:58.640 you know, essentially give that high end customer what they're 1:02:58.680 --> 1:03:02.280 looking for. So it's a big food and beverage program. 1:03:02.320 --> 1:03:03.480 It's really complicated. 1:03:03.600 --> 1:03:03.960 We do. 1:03:05.480 --> 1:03:10.080 I believe it's like ninety five different wines by the 1:03:10.120 --> 1:03:13.720 glass throughout the festiv which just sounds stupid if you 1:03:13.840 --> 1:03:14.880 run a restaurant. 1:03:14.480 --> 1:03:16.280 Here, like you guys are crazy, what are they thinking? 1:03:17.240 --> 1:03:19.520 Because it's it's complicated to run it that way, But 1:03:19.960 --> 1:03:22.280 it goes back to like, hey, if you're a customer, 1:03:22.320 --> 1:03:24.120 what would you what would you want? You know, you'd 1:03:24.120 --> 1:03:27.880 want more variety, more choices everywhere you went. So our 1:03:27.960 --> 1:03:31.520 concessionaire at times that we've partnered with, we've partnered with 1:03:31.640 --> 1:03:33.400 a couple of them over the years, but they all 1:03:33.400 --> 1:03:35.200 think we're crazy and it's really inefficient. 1:03:35.280 --> 1:03:36.000 What do you guys think? 1:03:36.040 --> 1:03:38.640 And you know, offering that many different food options and 1:03:38.680 --> 1:03:40.240 why are you making this so complicated? 1:03:40.720 --> 1:03:42.400 But it's resulted in, like I. 1:03:42.320 --> 1:03:44.840 Said, what we hear are the highest you know, food 1:03:44.840 --> 1:03:47.760 and beverage per caps of anyone in the country. And 1:03:47.840 --> 1:03:50.800 so it still goes back to like we're trying to 1:03:50.840 --> 1:03:53.520 just give a customer what a customer wants, and a 1:03:53.560 --> 1:03:57.280 lot of times that's really good quality and a lot 1:03:57.320 --> 1:03:57.800 of variety. 1:03:58.880 --> 1:04:01.200 So other than food and bevery any other revenue. 1:04:00.840 --> 1:04:04.280 Streams merch merch. 1:04:05.120 --> 1:04:06.000 How about parking? 1:04:07.960 --> 1:04:10.040 Parking is a loss and all the day talk on 1:04:10.120 --> 1:04:12.280 merch if you have any merch questions on it, But 1:04:12.480 --> 1:04:15.520 parking is But we don't own any parking lots, right, 1:04:15.600 --> 1:04:17.640 So you're at a you know, stadium or arena and 1:04:17.640 --> 1:04:19.320 it's got a big paid parking lot and you can 1:04:19.400 --> 1:04:20.080 monetize that. 1:04:20.160 --> 1:04:22.000 And in our case, we don't have any party. 1:04:21.840 --> 1:04:25.840 So we're out privately renting lots to try to put 1:04:25.880 --> 1:04:28.840 on sale and then try to staff that, and had 1:04:28.920 --> 1:04:32.040 lighting in our bathrooms and you know, the highway signs 1:04:32.080 --> 1:04:34.760 and all the things that takes to run a parking operation. 1:04:34.920 --> 1:04:37.920 So parking is a is a loss a loss leader. 1:04:38.000 --> 1:04:40.760 It's something to provide to make sure customers can get close, 1:04:41.400 --> 1:04:44.960 but it's definitely not a money maker for us. 1:04:45.400 --> 1:04:47.000 Okay, Dave, you're going to talk about merch. 1:04:48.160 --> 1:04:51.200 Oh, all that I would say about merch is that 1:04:51.400 --> 1:04:57.880 we do very well, and we we do not the 1:04:57.920 --> 1:05:03.480 merch design, the merch look, the merch cut is is custom. 1:05:03.720 --> 1:05:07.800 Every single year, the product costs us a lot more 1:05:08.280 --> 1:05:10.840 than what we would like to spend, but every year 1:05:10.960 --> 1:05:12.920 we choose to go down the path of going for 1:05:13.000 --> 1:05:18.000 these these custom cuts. The kind of the opposite of 1:05:18.040 --> 1:05:21.560 what you would consider to be like a barrel cut shirt, 1:05:22.400 --> 1:05:24.120 more of a We always liken it to kind of 1:05:24.160 --> 1:05:25.840 if you go to Barbados and you look at the 1:05:25.840 --> 1:05:28.760 way in which the seams are are are sewed and 1:05:28.920 --> 1:05:34.560 the fit actually exists, and how long this shirt is 1:05:34.600 --> 1:05:38.479 relative to your waistline. We take all of that into 1:05:38.480 --> 1:05:42.040 consideration that was standing the you know, the quality of 1:05:42.200 --> 1:05:45.200 the product itself. And then we go through extensive designed 1:05:46.240 --> 1:05:50.520 duration and and go out and with surveys to figure 1:05:50.560 --> 1:05:54.920 out what what concepts and creative concepts are actually resonating 1:05:54.960 --> 1:06:00.040 each year before we even go into print. And and 1:06:00.080 --> 1:06:04.000 so we blow out a merch every year, and every 1:06:04.080 --> 1:06:08.000 year we increase it five ten percent terms of inventory numbers, 1:06:08.000 --> 1:06:11.320 and it just it just keeps going and go. So 1:06:11.440 --> 1:06:13.760 it is a it is a meaningful number for us. 1:06:14.840 --> 1:06:16.920 And is there any other income that we haven't covered? 1:06:19.760 --> 1:06:24.720 Lockers and hilarious, Yeah there is small stuff, yeah, super 1:06:24.760 --> 1:06:25.440 small stuff. 1:06:25.480 --> 1:06:27.000 Lockers and yeah. 1:06:28.040 --> 1:06:30.640 Oh okay, okay, let's go back to the beginning. You 1:06:30.680 --> 1:06:33.720 guys were not in this business. You grew up together. 1:06:34.240 --> 1:06:37.360 I want to hear what you guys did before you 1:06:37.640 --> 1:06:42.120 entered this business. So let's start off with you, Jason, 1:06:42.160 --> 1:06:44.560 what were you doing before you were involved in bottling? 1:06:46.840 --> 1:06:52.640 Well, let's see, I was involved early on. My first 1:06:52.640 --> 1:06:56.240 career was as Dave's lackey. He hired me out of 1:06:56.280 --> 1:07:01.800 college as his sales manager or dot com startup in 1:07:01.840 --> 1:07:07.040 the in the automotive internet advertising space, and you know, 1:07:07.120 --> 1:07:10.400 kind of did that for a few years. Dave and 1:07:10.440 --> 1:07:13.360 I went our separate ways, and I ended up kind 1:07:13.360 --> 1:07:15.960 of parlaying my experience in that space and created my 1:07:16.000 --> 1:07:20.840 own online ad sales rep firm within the automotive vertical, 1:07:21.200 --> 1:07:25.080 so selling ads to you know, Forard in GM in 1:07:25.160 --> 1:07:29.280 Detroit and LA and Honda in La or Toya and 1:07:29.680 --> 1:07:33.920 Honda in La. Long story short, had this firm for 1:07:34.840 --> 1:07:38.080 nine ten years and was lucky enough to have an exit. 1:07:38.200 --> 1:07:41.400 Sold sold the company to the publishers of Car and 1:07:41.480 --> 1:07:46.200 Driver and roadent Track magazine who didn't have much in 1:07:46.200 --> 1:07:48.680 the way of a rep firm in the in the 1:07:48.720 --> 1:07:52.000 digital advertising space, so they needed something like what me 1:07:52.080 --> 1:07:56.400 and my business partner created and fortunately was able to 1:07:56.440 --> 1:07:59.600 exit that and believe it or not, moved to that 1:07:59.760 --> 1:08:03.760 back to Napa from San Francisco, got married and was 1:08:03.800 --> 1:08:07.320 taking a little time off working on my handicap with. 1:08:07.360 --> 1:08:08.640 Golf not so well. 1:08:09.160 --> 1:08:13.000 And while I was back in Napa is when Bottle 1:08:13.080 --> 1:08:15.400 Rock one point zero happened. And we'll get into that 1:08:15.440 --> 1:08:18.200 in a second, But so I heard about bottle Rock 1:08:18.240 --> 1:08:21.320 one point Oh, I knew the guys that started it, 1:08:21.400 --> 1:08:23.720 and I threw my hat in the ring and said, hey, 1:08:23.760 --> 1:08:24.759 that sounds really interesting. 1:08:24.800 --> 1:08:26.439 I'm not working right now. Let me see if I 1:08:26.479 --> 1:08:27.120 can help you guys. 1:08:27.160 --> 1:08:29.960 So I'll leave a cliffhanger and we'll get back to 1:08:29.960 --> 1:08:33.280 that and let Dave and Justin answer the question. 1:08:33.600 --> 1:08:36.200 Okay, since you work with Dave. Dave, what were you 1:08:36.280 --> 1:08:37.160 doing before Bottle? 1:08:38.880 --> 1:08:44.240 I had a software development company with a little venture 1:08:45.400 --> 1:08:46.439 capital arm to it. 1:08:46.640 --> 1:08:48.000 We focused on. 1:08:50.000 --> 1:08:55.400 Startups, building kind of high end back end technology for them. 1:08:55.600 --> 1:08:59.320 Jason's Company, interestingly enough, was one of our first clients 1:08:59.840 --> 1:09:05.240 and our company, that company, which I sold thirteen years later, 1:09:05.360 --> 1:09:09.320 I think is still working for Jason's company. Building At 1:09:09.360 --> 1:09:12.200 the time, I think we were focused on configuration technology 1:09:12.280 --> 1:09:14.560 so they you know, if you ever go to research. 1:09:14.200 --> 1:09:16.920 A car online and to drop down make model trim. 1:09:17.720 --> 1:09:19.920 We would make that kind of disparate data that was 1:09:19.960 --> 1:09:23.439 out there into a configurator and allow people to easily 1:09:23.680 --> 1:09:26.840 build and research cars. We built that for Jason and 1:09:26.880 --> 1:09:29.519 his company, and we did that for many other companies. 1:09:31.000 --> 1:09:34.639 And yeah, and if we saw a company doing well, 1:09:34.800 --> 1:09:36.479 we would do some work for equity or maybe throw 1:09:36.520 --> 1:09:38.599 the twenty five too hundred grand at a good valuation 1:09:39.320 --> 1:09:44.280 and roll the Dice, and I was selling that company 1:09:45.600 --> 1:09:49.879 at the time that Bottle Rock one point zero was happening. 1:09:49.920 --> 1:09:54.840 My wife and I attended and will as Jason said, 1:09:55.120 --> 1:09:59.880 leave that cliffhanger there for another part of the conversation, Okay. 1:09:59.720 --> 1:10:00.120 Justin. 1:10:01.439 --> 1:10:01.719 Sure. 1:10:01.840 --> 1:10:03.519 Yeah, I. 1:10:03.080 --> 1:10:06.559 Ended up uh out of a business school. I ended 1:10:06.640 --> 1:10:09.160 up going to work for IBM. You know, it was 1:10:09.200 --> 1:10:12.000 at the time. It was an interesting time in the 1:10:12.000 --> 1:10:15.120 IBM world, and you know, kind of early was now 1:10:15.160 --> 1:10:18.439 called AI but there and the computer learning and what 1:10:18.520 --> 1:10:22.680 they called the Watson, the Watson Project. And so I 1:10:23.120 --> 1:10:26.120 left there and ended up in Orange County and then 1:10:26.160 --> 1:10:31.280 in Portland, Oregon. And then I left IBM and the 1:10:31.360 --> 1:10:33.360 sort of like a business job at IBM. I wasn't 1:10:33.400 --> 1:10:35.559 on the technical side. I was on the on the 1:10:35.600 --> 1:10:39.000 business consulting side of it, and uh and left for 1:10:39.000 --> 1:10:41.880 a startup in San Francisco. And so I moved to 1:10:41.920 --> 1:10:45.599 San Francisco and and did that world. 1:10:45.439 --> 1:10:45.800 For a while. 1:10:45.800 --> 1:10:48.439 It was a company called Breakaway Solutions actually based out 1:10:48.479 --> 1:10:52.680 of Boston, but we were in a technology development at 1:10:52.720 --> 1:10:56.360 the time in the dot com boom era. Stayed in 1:10:56.400 --> 1:11:00.400 San Francisco, got married, ended up moving back with idea 1:11:01.320 --> 1:11:03.160 I moved to Dallas and then New York City. 1:11:03.200 --> 1:11:06.839 And from New York I I. 1:11:06.200 --> 1:11:08.200 Traveled all around the world and had a big team 1:11:08.240 --> 1:11:11.000 in India and do a lot of work in Europe 1:11:11.560 --> 1:11:14.080 and such. And I focused a lot on the retail segment, 1:11:14.600 --> 1:11:16.679 which at the time was like, you know, deep into 1:11:16.800 --> 1:11:20.040 retail and kind of retail strategies and a lot about 1:11:20.200 --> 1:11:23.880 like what what what Why would I Why would a 1:11:23.920 --> 1:11:28.080 retail store in the same place that it was yesterday? 1:11:28.160 --> 1:11:30.559 But if you redesigned the look and feel of it, 1:11:30.600 --> 1:11:32.639 why did why did the sales go out? 1:11:33.640 --> 1:11:35.320 You know, it's like it's the same product at the 1:11:35.320 --> 1:11:37.960 same price in the same location, but you change the experience. 1:11:38.000 --> 1:11:40.600 So I didn't have any real formal experience into what 1:11:40.720 --> 1:11:43.360 translated into Bottle Rock later. But when I look. 1:11:43.280 --> 1:11:44.920 Back on it, it was like, hey, a lot of. 1:11:44.840 --> 1:11:47.680 That stuff that that I did for years out of 1:11:47.680 --> 1:11:50.320 New York really resonated with a future later. 1:11:50.479 --> 1:11:53.759 So right now, to get back to Napa. 1:11:53.920 --> 1:11:55.559 As you heard from the other two guys who all 1:11:55.560 --> 1:11:58.080 grew up in Napa, and the other two guys ended. 1:11:57.920 --> 1:11:58.719 Up back in Napa. 1:11:59.880 --> 1:12:03.360 I ended up having a chance to partner with a 1:12:03.400 --> 1:12:07.040 family who had started a luxury wine brand in Napa. 1:12:07.040 --> 1:12:09.160 I had amazing vineyard land, just. 1:12:09.040 --> 1:12:11.200 Got done building a winery, had put a. 1:12:11.200 --> 1:12:14.040 Lot of years of work into getting that thing rolling, 1:12:14.080 --> 1:12:16.840 and they were looking for a president to come, you know, 1:12:17.040 --> 1:12:19.880 partner with them on where the future would would go. 1:12:20.200 --> 1:12:23.479 And as random as it seemed, would me be in 1:12:23.560 --> 1:12:25.719 the kind of the New York and kind of global, 1:12:26.160 --> 1:12:29.360 you know business scene. To jump off that track and 1:12:29.960 --> 1:12:32.360 move to run a winery in Napa took a lot 1:12:32.360 --> 1:12:34.920 of people by surprise, but it was something I had 1:12:34.960 --> 1:12:38.280 a huge passion for. On the on the personal side, 1:12:38.320 --> 1:12:40.720 my family had a very small winery growing up, so 1:12:40.760 --> 1:12:45.160 I understood that business enough to want it to dive 1:12:45.240 --> 1:12:48.720 into it like a new entrepreneurial ventures, at least from 1:12:48.720 --> 1:12:49.760 my perspective. 1:12:49.800 --> 1:12:52.400 That's that's what it was a chance to do something really. 1:12:52.240 --> 1:12:55.680 Cool, be back home, be back in Napa, raise my 1:12:55.760 --> 1:13:00.479 kids back in Napa Valley. So that happened, and then 1:13:01.000 --> 1:13:05.840 three years later that wine brand went from where it 1:13:06.040 --> 1:13:07.519 was at the time, and I told you it was 1:13:07.920 --> 1:13:09.920 set up for success, but it ended up being a 1:13:10.000 --> 1:13:12.000 sold out wine brand and not have to say there 1:13:12.040 --> 1:13:13.320 was nothing to do there anymore. 1:13:13.400 --> 1:13:15.840 But I found it like a little low to stay. 1:13:15.840 --> 1:13:16.840 Wait a minute here, we. 1:13:16.920 --> 1:13:18.639 Either got to buy more than new Land, we got 1:13:18.680 --> 1:13:22.040 to release new wines. And then at that point, this 1:13:22.120 --> 1:13:25.400 little rock thing came along and Jason and Dave were 1:13:25.400 --> 1:13:28.240 sniffing around at it, and I kind of leave the 1:13:28.280 --> 1:13:29.280 same cliffhanger lated. 1:13:29.479 --> 1:13:32.960 And so in terms of how we transitioned from our 1:13:33.000 --> 1:13:35.240 old career to what we're doing now. 1:13:35.880 --> 1:13:39.040 Okay, Jason, tell us about a bottle rock one point 1:13:39.160 --> 1:13:41.120 zero and how you guys ultimately get involved. 1:13:42.960 --> 1:13:45.280 Well, let's see. Yeah, like I said, it kind of 1:13:45.320 --> 1:13:48.479 came out of the blue for everybody, even in the industry. 1:13:48.720 --> 1:13:52.840 If I recall, you know, these kind of guy upstarts 1:13:52.880 --> 1:13:59.080 and NAPAs started. It cobbled a team together use the 1:13:59.120 --> 1:14:03.280 Expo and Downtown Apple we've already referred to. And you 1:14:03.320 --> 1:14:06.600 know I got involved literally as an unpaid volunteer. 1:14:06.840 --> 1:14:08.920 I just said, let me help you guys. This sounds great. 1:14:08.960 --> 1:14:10.880 I just want a bigger seat at the table next year. 1:14:11.439 --> 1:14:13.800 And you know, these guys ended up getting in some 1:14:14.720 --> 1:14:18.080 serious financial trouble, weren't able to pay some of their 1:14:18.760 --> 1:14:22.320 some of their debts to artists and union and the 1:14:22.320 --> 1:14:25.760 city and so forth, and That's when I got a 1:14:25.760 --> 1:14:28.320 little bit more involved, thinking, Wow, this thing was such 1:14:28.320 --> 1:14:31.200 a front end consumer success. 1:14:31.400 --> 1:14:31.559 Right. 1:14:31.680 --> 1:14:34.559 Like Dave said, he went justin when everyone left the festival, 1:14:34.600 --> 1:14:36.840 going wow, that was an amazing experience that first of 1:14:36.880 --> 1:14:39.800 It's kind of downtown Napa, and they had a great 1:14:39.840 --> 1:14:41.880 lineup and so forth and so on. 1:14:42.000 --> 1:14:43.760 So I'm thinking this is a home run. 1:14:43.840 --> 1:14:45.760 I just I need to help bridge these guys to 1:14:46.280 --> 1:14:49.600 get him to the next festival. And you know, it 1:14:49.640 --> 1:14:53.360 was probably the best worst investment I ever made, Let's 1:14:53.360 --> 1:14:55.160 put it that way. I gave him some money and 1:14:55.439 --> 1:14:58.920 got myself married with these guys, and there was no 1:14:59.040 --> 1:15:02.160 saving it from from their perspective. And and that's when 1:15:02.240 --> 1:15:05.200 Dave and Justin and I kind of jumped in and said. 1:15:05.000 --> 1:15:08.120 Hey, we're all entrepreneurs. We all live in Napa. 1:15:08.240 --> 1:15:10.920 We love the we love what Bottle Rocks stood for, 1:15:11.000 --> 1:15:14.280 the food, the wine, the weather, the culture of Napa Valley. 1:15:15.000 --> 1:15:16.519 We all kind of are in a place in our 1:15:16.560 --> 1:15:20.320 lives where we could take a take another shot at something. 1:15:20.560 --> 1:15:23.040 Even though we didn't know anything. 1:15:22.680 --> 1:15:25.840 About the music business or throwing a festival or a 1:15:25.920 --> 1:15:29.720 large event whatsoever. You know, we all kind of were 1:15:29.760 --> 1:15:35.040 confident and naive enough to do it. And and so yeah, 1:15:35.400 --> 1:15:37.840 next thing, you know, Dave, Justin and I are are 1:15:37.920 --> 1:15:40.519 the Uh we bought bought the assets. You know, they 1:15:40.520 --> 1:15:42.880 were about to go into bankruptcy. Dave, Justin and I 1:15:43.000 --> 1:15:47.320 navigated a whole pre bankruptcy scenario. UH got our got 1:15:47.320 --> 1:15:51.479 our MBAs on bankruptcy and how that whole process works, 1:15:51.479 --> 1:15:54.200 which we won't go into. But uh, you know learned 1:15:54.240 --> 1:15:56.840 a lot. The first year almost killed us. If I 1:15:56.840 --> 1:16:00.160 don't if I don't say so myself, and uh, and 1:16:00.400 --> 1:16:02.559 I'll leave it there, said Dave and Justin Chryman. 1:16:03.160 --> 1:16:08.160 Okay, we've spoken previously, and you made good on the 1:16:08.240 --> 1:16:12.120 debts of Bottle Rock one point zero and you lost 1:16:12.280 --> 1:16:15.479 a ton of money the first year you had it yourself. 1:16:15.680 --> 1:16:17.639 How much money are we talking about? How much money 1:16:17.680 --> 1:16:19.840 to pay the debts? And how much money did you 1:16:19.880 --> 1:16:20.599 guys lose? 1:16:22.720 --> 1:16:26.679 Well, there was there was roughly a ten million dollars 1:16:27.720 --> 1:16:34.519 loss that the company experienced the original company, and there 1:16:34.560 --> 1:16:39.120 was about eight million or so that was kind of 1:16:39.160 --> 1:16:42.080 really owed to creditors. 1:16:42.640 --> 1:16:45.280 And so we though. 1:16:45.080 --> 1:16:47.879 We bought the assets, and we did an asset purchase 1:16:47.920 --> 1:16:51.000 which would say to you legally, we don't have the 1:16:51.040 --> 1:16:59.320 obligation of responsibility to pay down any debt. It's hard 1:16:59.360 --> 1:17:02.960 to describe to a creditor if you bought let's say, 1:17:03.120 --> 1:17:06.320 the bottle Rock brand, and they're owed money by what 1:17:06.360 --> 1:17:10.080 they considered to be bottle Rock, it's hard to say 1:17:10.080 --> 1:17:12.439 to them, well, we didn't create the debt, We don't 1:17:12.439 --> 1:17:15.439 know you any money. We did say that a lot 1:17:15.479 --> 1:17:18.760 of the time, but it really went in one ear 1:17:18.800 --> 1:17:23.960 and out the other. Understandably, we were able to, through 1:17:25.000 --> 1:17:31.320 you know, cash infusion, conversion of debt to equity, et cetera, 1:17:31.880 --> 1:17:38.160 eliminate most of that debt and for the common creditors 1:17:38.200 --> 1:17:40.800 one hundred percent of them were basically taken care of 1:17:41.200 --> 1:17:46.599 for the most part, all the way. Then getting as 1:17:46.600 --> 1:17:53.280 we were doing that, we roughly closed the transaction in 1:17:53.400 --> 1:17:58.240 I believe January of twenty fourteen, we had a festival 1:17:58.280 --> 1:18:05.760 in May to put on, and so not knowing anything 1:18:06.720 --> 1:18:12.840 or less than anything about the music space and how 1:18:12.880 --> 1:18:14.720 to put on a festival, we had to do that 1:18:14.800 --> 1:18:20.360 as well, and whether that be booking the lineup, whether 1:18:20.400 --> 1:18:25.680 that be putting together the production teams to build the 1:18:25.720 --> 1:18:28.360 festival itself and put together the food and beverage programs 1:18:28.400 --> 1:18:30.439 and all the sponsorship stuff that we talked about. We 1:18:30.479 --> 1:18:34.320 had no experience in any of that and in very 1:18:34.360 --> 1:18:38.240 little time to learn, and no one really in the 1:18:38.320 --> 1:18:42.040 music space and other and otherwise wanting to really work 1:18:42.080 --> 1:18:44.840 with us at that point. So it was difficult, and 1:18:45.360 --> 1:18:48.080 we got through it, as Jason mentioned, and we ended up, 1:18:48.200 --> 1:18:50.720 as I think we told you, Bob, losing I think 1:18:50.920 --> 1:18:53.160 five and a half million dollars that first year. 1:18:54.400 --> 1:18:56.280 That was on top of all the money we spent 1:18:56.400 --> 1:19:00.200 with paying off all the debt. So yeah, I go, 1:19:00.280 --> 1:19:02.559 everything was fine, Like we took money that was supposed 1:19:02.560 --> 1:19:04.559 to be to pay for the festival and paid off 1:19:05.080 --> 1:19:08.120 the creditors and the deck with that same money, and 1:19:08.160 --> 1:19:10.320 then and then then we lost. 1:19:11.960 --> 1:19:17.400 Yeah, yeah, Okay, your three guys, did you three personally 1:19:18.840 --> 1:19:23.439 take the hit or were there other investors? It was 1:19:23.439 --> 1:19:24.280 a mix of both. 1:19:24.439 --> 1:19:29.919 We personally took big hits, but we did have some 1:19:29.920 --> 1:19:32.240 some outside investment as well. 1:19:33.080 --> 1:19:37.400 And what was your pitch to the outside investors. Well, 1:19:37.960 --> 1:19:39.200 when you. 1:19:39.120 --> 1:19:44.920 Looked at Bottle Rock from a customer facing perspective, you 1:19:44.960 --> 1:19:47.720 could see that there was demand, right, So one of 1:19:47.720 --> 1:19:50.200 the challenges and we were looking at this as a startup. 1:19:50.280 --> 1:19:52.680 One of the challenges, the biggest challenge when you have 1:19:52.720 --> 1:19:55.200 a startup is to figure out if, in fact your 1:19:55.280 --> 1:20:00.960 theory will generate sales, right, and we the one thing 1:20:01.080 --> 1:20:03.280 that we did have going for us was that we 1:20:03.320 --> 1:20:06.000 could see that people were willing to buy what it 1:20:06.040 --> 1:20:09.559 is that was being sold. Granted, what was being sold 1:20:10.280 --> 1:20:12.960 at Bottle Rock was not what Justin and Jason talked about. 1:20:12.960 --> 1:20:16.360 From an experience standpoint, it did not exist non existing. 1:20:17.200 --> 1:20:20.400 That said, you did see a lot of people coming 1:20:20.400 --> 1:20:23.720 to NAPA buying tickets to see a music festival at 1:20:23.720 --> 1:20:27.640 the fairgrounds, and that for us was a proof of concept, 1:20:28.240 --> 1:20:30.920 kind of product market fit if you're talking, you know, 1:20:31.040 --> 1:20:33.360 kind of Silicon Valley jargon. 1:20:34.600 --> 1:20:37.519 So, okay, you have this demand. How much money did 1:20:37.520 --> 1:20:37.960 you raise? 1:20:39.320 --> 1:20:43.760 Wow, I won't get into that, but it was in 1:20:43.800 --> 1:20:48.000 the millions, and I think you kind of understand this 1:20:48.080 --> 1:20:53.160 festival space. You don't just get in with a few bucks. 1:20:53.240 --> 1:20:56.679 Notwithstanding the fact that when we started to book bands 1:20:56.680 --> 1:20:59.519 are subjects where our assumption was, oh, yeah, it'll be 1:20:59.560 --> 1:21:04.000 ten percent thirty days out right on the artist guarantee. Wrong, 1:21:04.400 --> 1:21:06.800 it was one hundred percent down at confirmation because no 1:21:06.800 --> 1:21:09.800 one trusted us and rightly so, and so then you 1:21:09.800 --> 1:21:13.840 have a whole cash flow issue and timing of cash 1:21:13.880 --> 1:21:17.960 flow that it further exacerbated the problem, especially once you 1:21:18.000 --> 1:21:19.679 went on sale and had a bad on sale. 1:21:20.120 --> 1:21:24.040 Yeah, the concept with the first year that we tried 1:21:24.040 --> 1:21:26.759 this was I'm not sure that. 1:21:26.560 --> 1:21:27.840 The goal really changed. 1:21:27.880 --> 1:21:29.760 It like if you were an outside investor and we 1:21:29.760 --> 1:21:31.880 put a lot of our own money into it. It 1:21:31.920 --> 1:21:34.160 was that we had a plan and we knew we 1:21:34.240 --> 1:21:38.040 had to differentiate this experience, and if we differentiate this experience, 1:21:38.080 --> 1:21:39.120 people will pay for that. 1:21:39.840 --> 1:21:41.720 And we almost never got a chance to ask you 1:21:41.800 --> 1:21:44.160 because we took that same money, you know, investors in 1:21:44.240 --> 1:21:46.120 our own and used it to pay off all the 1:21:46.200 --> 1:21:49.600 debt instead of actually funding the experience. 1:21:49.640 --> 1:21:52.120 So you get into year two, we're like, well, then 1:21:52.160 --> 1:21:54.559 what do you tell investors you know? Or what do 1:21:54.640 --> 1:21:56.719 we tell our to our wives is probably a better 1:21:57.080 --> 1:21:58.960 that's probably a better example. What do we tell our 1:21:59.000 --> 1:22:01.479 wife is like, we just needed a chance to run 1:22:01.520 --> 1:22:04.000 our own play, and we didn't have a chance to 1:22:04.040 --> 1:22:06.160 do that the first year because we were scrambling. Again 1:22:06.200 --> 1:22:09.360 it was you know, arguments with every vendor and the 1:22:09.439 --> 1:22:12.320 union and everyone else about you know, money we didn't own, 1:22:12.360 --> 1:22:14.920 but we had to pay them, and that just sucked 1:22:15.000 --> 1:22:17.400 up way too much time to where, you know, our 1:22:17.479 --> 1:22:21.000 real goal was never we never got a chance to 1:22:21.040 --> 1:22:23.519 focus on that, so that there for the second year, 1:22:24.200 --> 1:22:26.519 and the reason it turned around so fast is we 1:22:27.160 --> 1:22:30.160 really need that chance in twenty fifteen to actually execute 1:22:30.160 --> 1:22:34.760 our regional you know plan, and we did, and I'd 1:22:34.800 --> 1:22:36.439 say it worked, and then it was kind of a 1:22:36.600 --> 1:22:41.000 happily every aftertect thing for the investors after that. 1:22:41.960 --> 1:22:44.040 Yeah, And I think the happily ever after really started 1:22:44.040 --> 1:22:47.719 in twenty sixteen. Right, we did, We did well in fifteen, 1:22:48.320 --> 1:22:53.840 but in fifteen it was how would I put it, 1:22:53.840 --> 1:22:57.720 It was probably thirty forty percent of our plan as 1:22:57.720 --> 1:23:01.559 it related to the customer experience. In sixteen was when 1:23:01.560 --> 1:23:05.400 we really were able to lean in, trust our guts 1:23:05.760 --> 1:23:09.639 and deliver on what we thought people would really want. 1:23:09.960 --> 1:23:12.720 And we got that right, and we got it right 1:23:12.760 --> 1:23:16.360 in a very in a much bigger way than we 1:23:16.400 --> 1:23:19.559 had anticipated in our model back in twenty thirteen and fourteen. 1:23:20.439 --> 1:23:23.679 Okay, so if you lost the money in fourteen, in fifteen, 1:23:23.720 --> 1:23:26.320 were you in the red or the black? Fifteen we 1:23:26.360 --> 1:23:31.320 made seven figures Okay, so let's go back to fourteen fourteenth, 1:23:31.360 --> 1:23:33.880 the first year that you guys were in control. What 1:23:33.960 --> 1:23:35.640 did you learn after fourteen? 1:23:39.280 --> 1:23:44.800 Well didn't we? I mean talking about the artist side 1:23:44.880 --> 1:23:47.920 first day. Gosh, yeah, that's a learning on its own 1:23:48.760 --> 1:23:50.080 that was brutal. 1:23:51.360 --> 1:23:57.000 You know, like the protocols that exist within the music space, 1:23:57.080 --> 1:24:04.639 in particular as it relates to artists and confirmations and advance, 1:24:05.800 --> 1:24:10.760 et cetera. You know, there's no amount of business background 1:24:10.960 --> 1:24:14.080 or business schooling that you can go through that's going 1:24:14.120 --> 1:24:20.639 to teach you how all that works. And we got 1:24:20.640 --> 1:24:24.000 our asses handed to us in twenty fourteen in that regard. 1:24:25.760 --> 1:24:28.240 You know, the assumption that, oh, if you have money 1:24:28.280 --> 1:24:34.080 to spend, you'll be able to get an artist because 1:24:34.080 --> 1:24:40.000 that's what they cost, was an assumption that we had right, like, yeah, 1:24:40.160 --> 1:24:41.040 just throw money at it. 1:24:41.680 --> 1:24:44.400 Wrong. The notion of. 1:24:44.560 --> 1:24:50.840 History and how that plays into your ability or inability 1:24:51.240 --> 1:24:55.160 to work with an artist, The confirmation process and the 1:24:55.200 --> 1:24:59.760 word confirmation and confirmed, and the power that comes behind that, 1:25:01.360 --> 1:25:03.440 like things along those lines. 1:25:03.160 --> 1:25:04.360 We had no clue about. 1:25:04.960 --> 1:25:08.040 And the butting of heads that we had with agents 1:25:09.360 --> 1:25:12.040 was super tough, and we were on our heels of course, 1:25:12.080 --> 1:25:15.160 because we had no credibility in the space, we had 1:25:15.240 --> 1:25:17.439 no experience in the space, we had no history or 1:25:17.520 --> 1:25:20.320 relationships in the space, and we bought a shitty brand, 1:25:22.040 --> 1:25:25.120 and as far as the agents were concerned, if we 1:25:25.200 --> 1:25:28.639 bought it, we owned it. And so until they knew 1:25:28.640 --> 1:25:30.479 that we had taken care of the debt, they didn't 1:25:30.479 --> 1:25:34.200 want to work with us either. So we can go 1:25:34.240 --> 1:25:36.680 on and on about that piece. But the learnings, just 1:25:36.720 --> 1:25:38.839 as it relates to the artist component, were massive. 1:25:39.640 --> 1:25:43.680 Massive. Okay, that's twenty fourteen. Has it been a continuing 1:25:44.200 --> 1:25:46.760 learning experience or do you get to a certain point 1:25:46.760 --> 1:25:47.599 and say I got this. 1:25:48.840 --> 1:25:54.800 Never, It's always a continued learning experience. And we are. 1:25:56.400 --> 1:25:56.759 Man. 1:25:57.880 --> 1:26:00.479 The more we can understand about pouring, the more that 1:26:00.520 --> 1:26:04.519 we can understand about production, the more that we can 1:26:04.800 --> 1:26:12.120 understand about macro influences in the music space, the better 1:26:12.200 --> 1:26:15.479 off we are. And you know, we're just beginning to 1:26:15.560 --> 1:26:18.559 learn as far as we're concerned how it all works. 1:26:19.360 --> 1:26:24.400 We're avoiding the pitfalls very quickly, much more quickly, i 1:26:24.400 --> 1:26:26.679 should say it, than we historically have. But it's still 1:26:26.680 --> 1:26:28.839 a lot of work, it's still a lot of commitment, 1:26:28.920 --> 1:26:31.360 it's still a lot of relationship building, and it's still 1:26:31.400 --> 1:26:33.960 a lot of just shut up and listen, and that's 1:26:34.040 --> 1:26:35.880 kind of one of our policies in house is to 1:26:35.920 --> 1:26:38.639 shut up and listen. And so we continue to build 1:26:38.640 --> 1:26:43.840 great relationships within the music industry and we're learning still. 1:26:50.720 --> 1:26:52.840 How did you make a deal with Live Nation? When 1:26:52.880 --> 1:26:55.200 did that happen? What does Live Nation deliver for you? 1:26:57.360 --> 1:27:01.880 Is the end of twenty sixteen, and we'd met some 1:27:01.880 --> 1:27:04.680 people from Live Nation, we met some people from the 1:27:04.720 --> 1:27:08.280 other you know, several other big players in the music 1:27:08.360 --> 1:27:12.280 business who I think I thought maybe ball Rock was 1:27:12.320 --> 1:27:16.040 a joke, knew it, lost time, money, then saw us 1:27:16.320 --> 1:27:17.439 struggle our first. 1:27:17.280 --> 1:27:21.080 Year, and then when we had a different level. 1:27:20.840 --> 1:27:23.479 Of success in twenty fifteen, again we didn't have a 1:27:23.560 --> 1:27:26.519 huge success, but at least it proved viable. And then 1:27:26.600 --> 1:27:30.519 with twenty sixteen in the spring, like they said, we 1:27:30.600 --> 1:27:32.600 made some you know, somewhat. 1:27:32.120 --> 1:27:33.800 Monumental changes that kind of. 1:27:33.760 --> 1:27:35.639 Proved this to the real thing to her to day. 1:27:36.240 --> 1:27:40.799 So we had a lot of indown interest in partnering 1:27:40.800 --> 1:27:44.920 with us, and some of it was not very interesting 1:27:44.960 --> 1:27:48.000 to us, frankly, and then when the Live Nation folks 1:27:48.640 --> 1:27:51.160 approached us, it definitely peaked our years. 1:27:50.960 --> 1:27:53.120 Up really at the time nothing to do with that. 1:27:53.240 --> 1:27:53.920 Live Nation was. 1:27:53.920 --> 1:27:56.560 Really big, and you know they have a lot of 1:27:56.600 --> 1:27:57.240 money or whatever. 1:27:57.720 --> 1:28:01.360 It was more around the area, and I think, well, 1:28:01.400 --> 1:28:04.200 it loves for us. They completely stuck this ever since 1:28:04.400 --> 1:28:07.840 that first conversation, which is that they know the music 1:28:07.920 --> 1:28:08.800 business really well. 1:28:08.800 --> 1:28:10.519 They know touring, and they know. 1:28:10.520 --> 1:28:13.679 Arenas, and they know pretty much every aspect you could mention. 1:28:14.520 --> 1:28:18.120 But their approach to festivals wasn't. 1:28:17.800 --> 1:28:20.160 About we know everything, We're. 1:28:20.000 --> 1:28:21.080 Here to go take it over. 1:28:21.160 --> 1:28:23.760 It was actually very much the opposite that they had said, Hey, 1:28:23.840 --> 1:28:24.519 we've tried some. 1:28:24.560 --> 1:28:27.360 Of our own things about what we found. 1:28:27.200 --> 1:28:30.599 With festivals is that we're looking for, you know, really 1:28:30.640 --> 1:28:35.960 good people who understand how to create a differentiated festival experience. 1:28:36.600 --> 1:28:37.599 And so when we. 1:28:37.560 --> 1:28:42.000 Find out, we want to keep those folks because that's 1:28:42.080 --> 1:28:44.800 really the core and we're not going to try to 1:28:44.880 --> 1:28:46.680 change it and take it over. We So, would you 1:28:46.680 --> 1:28:49.559 guys want to talk because our plan would be to 1:28:50.120 --> 1:28:53.680 have you essocially partner with you to make you more successful. 1:28:53.760 --> 1:28:56.160 It wouldn't be to come in and run bottle Rock. 1:28:56.520 --> 1:28:57.080 We want you. 1:28:57.040 --> 1:28:58.080 Guys to run Bottle Rock. 1:28:59.000 --> 1:29:03.360 And started the conversation again with others. 1:29:02.280 --> 1:29:05.320 That were that were poking around that we didn't have. 1:29:05.240 --> 1:29:05.720 An interest in. 1:29:05.840 --> 1:29:08.240 That was probably a thing that really brought us all 1:29:08.280 --> 1:29:14.679 to the table initially. David Jason comment more. 1:29:13.760 --> 1:29:17.480 Yeah, No, I think Justin you nailed it. And what's 1:29:17.560 --> 1:29:23.439 really so special about the relationship as you look back at, 1:29:23.600 --> 1:29:27.559 you know, the end of twenty sixteen, we were really 1:29:27.560 --> 1:29:31.360 working with Jordan Zachary a bit, feeling it out, seeing 1:29:31.400 --> 1:29:33.040 how it could work, et cetera. 1:29:33.080 --> 1:29:38.439 And then we met with with Michael Rappino. And when you. 1:29:38.360 --> 1:29:42.320 Look back at that meeting, every commitment that he said 1:29:42.560 --> 1:29:47.679 or made as to how it would work and how 1:29:47.720 --> 1:29:51.040 he would let us do our thing and just be 1:29:51.160 --> 1:29:56.360 there as support when and if we needed them or him, 1:29:57.840 --> 1:30:01.840 they he delivered on Like how often are you able 1:30:01.840 --> 1:30:05.880 to say that about anything or any relationship, right, whether 1:30:05.920 --> 1:30:12.679 it's with your spouse, your best friends, your business relationships, whatever, 1:30:12.880 --> 1:30:16.280 like you never can And we can honestly say that 1:30:16.520 --> 1:30:19.200 every single thing that they said that they would do, 1:30:19.720 --> 1:30:22.200 they did more importantly, And I think Justin brought this 1:30:22.280 --> 1:30:25.400 up and asked been everything they said. 1:30:25.240 --> 1:30:29.719 They wouldn't do they didn't do. 1:30:29.800 --> 1:30:32.720 And that was just just it's been fantastic so it's 1:30:32.760 --> 1:30:33.640 been a great relationship. 1:30:34.160 --> 1:30:38.599 Okay, as far as a business transaction, they paid cash 1:30:38.680 --> 1:30:43.959 for a certain ownership percentage in the enterprise. Correct. Okay. 1:30:44.439 --> 1:30:47.280 In terms of booking talent, does Live Nation help you 1:30:47.360 --> 1:30:47.519 with that? 1:30:49.160 --> 1:30:53.320 Only if we need it, and that exists at all levels. 1:30:53.760 --> 1:30:58.840 So we do our thing, and you know, if we 1:30:58.920 --> 1:31:02.880 need to perhaps see if it's possible for us to 1:31:02.960 --> 1:31:06.559 jump on the tail end of a tour that Live 1:31:06.680 --> 1:31:11.120 Nation has, we can call up anyone in Live Nation 1:31:11.240 --> 1:31:15.720 touring and say, hey, any chance that we can be 1:31:15.720 --> 1:31:18.680 a part of this or you know who's really the 1:31:18.720 --> 1:31:20.679 decision maker, et cetera. 1:31:21.000 --> 1:31:23.600 We can you know, work, but do that with the 1:31:23.640 --> 1:31:24.280 agent as well. 1:31:24.320 --> 1:31:26.439 And the agents are they understand that we're part of 1:31:26.520 --> 1:31:32.200 Live Nation and we work together and everything's in full transparency. 1:31:32.640 --> 1:31:33.800 We have. 1:31:36.600 --> 1:31:38.160 You know, for the most part, we kind of just 1:31:38.280 --> 1:31:42.599 do our own thing, but we also share information, talk, 1:31:42.800 --> 1:31:46.519 learn and work with the other Live Nation festivals. C 1:31:46.720 --> 1:31:51.639 three's been great to uh, to to work with too, 1:31:52.400 --> 1:31:54.360 to bounce questions off of. 1:31:55.840 --> 1:31:56.240 Uh. 1:31:56.360 --> 1:31:59.760 You know, Charlie and Charles have been around forever and 1:32:00.000 --> 1:32:04.080 and they're always available to us when we have questions. 1:32:06.080 --> 1:32:10.719 When you know, we started this new festival, the Latino 1:32:10.760 --> 1:32:14.840 festival called Launda. We were we were able to go 1:32:15.040 --> 1:32:19.519 to to Live Nation touring to help have them help 1:32:19.600 --> 1:32:23.920 us make introductions, to really help us understand the the 1:32:24.040 --> 1:32:27.120 kind of artists market as it relates to northern California 1:32:27.120 --> 1:32:30.200 and how things work. So when we need them, they're there. 1:32:31.120 --> 1:32:33.479 But unless we need them, they we just we do 1:32:33.560 --> 1:32:34.040 our own thing. 1:32:35.240 --> 1:32:38.400 Now, you guys all have experience in business. Is one 1:32:38.439 --> 1:32:42.559 of you the financial expert in terms of budgeting? How 1:32:42.560 --> 1:32:43.760 does that ultimately work? 1:32:45.240 --> 1:32:48.439 Yes, and so the way our partnership works, and it's 1:32:48.479 --> 1:32:52.080 a true partnership, So let me let me let me 1:32:52.120 --> 1:32:55.360 emphasize that. And number two is that if any one 1:32:55.400 --> 1:32:58.880 of us had not been a part of the creation 1:32:59.280 --> 1:33:03.559 of this this company, we wouldn't be here today. So 1:33:03.880 --> 1:33:06.479 like I, you know, I sincerely mean that if Jason 1:33:06.479 --> 1:33:08.600 wasn't here, we wouldn't do you know, Justin and I 1:33:08.640 --> 1:33:09.479 wouldn't be able to do it. 1:33:09.520 --> 1:33:11.200 What what what we've all been able to do. 1:33:12.240 --> 1:33:15.559 For example, we run a partnership in the way we 1:33:15.600 --> 1:33:18.839 call it one two three. That means that that we're 1:33:19.680 --> 1:33:22.439 someone is in charge of a given area, a given 1:33:23.479 --> 1:33:28.960 part of the company. But it that each of us 1:33:28.960 --> 1:33:33.120 are also involved in that area. We just don't own 1:33:33.160 --> 1:33:35.519 it and we don't have let's say, the final call 1:33:35.960 --> 1:33:38.680 in that that in that area. So let's use you 1:33:38.720 --> 1:33:44.720 said finance. So in finance, Justin would be one. I 1:33:45.000 --> 1:33:49.040 might be two, just Jason would be three. In sponsorship, 1:33:49.120 --> 1:33:51.760 Jason would be one, Justin would be two. I would 1:33:51.800 --> 1:33:54.160 be three. An artist, I would be one, and they 1:33:54.160 --> 1:33:57.120 would be two and two. Because we fight over headliners 1:33:57.120 --> 1:34:01.480 stuff all the time, but it's a true partnership and 1:34:01.080 --> 1:34:05.599 we made big decisions together all the time. 1:34:06.000 --> 1:34:10.280 Okay, you're set for me, When do you start working 1:34:10.280 --> 1:34:14.960 on twenty twenty five? Already have so when did you start? 1:34:16.160 --> 1:34:18.559 We put our first offer in for twenty twenty five 1:34:19.320 --> 1:34:20.679 a week and a half ago. 1:34:21.680 --> 1:34:25.679 Okay, so do you have it all penciled out? Let's 1:34:25.720 --> 1:34:29.480 just make the numbers even. We're talking one hundred million dollars. 1:34:29.840 --> 1:34:34.759 We have thirty million for talent, we have thirty million 1:34:35.320 --> 1:34:39.519 for food. We got sponsorship. Do you have actual numbers 1:34:39.560 --> 1:34:42.920 locked in into someone creating those numbers and looking over 1:34:42.960 --> 1:34:46.439 those numbers? Absolutely? Absolutely? 1:34:46.439 --> 1:34:49.360 And who is that the three of us? But Justin 1:34:49.479 --> 1:34:53.840 runs point and we have kind of a director of 1:34:53.880 --> 1:34:58.000 finance that works in house, that is always running the models, 1:34:58.280 --> 1:35:02.440 and then on a weekly basis, we're looking at expenses 1:35:02.520 --> 1:35:06.160 and revenues and projections to make sure that we're on 1:35:06.240 --> 1:35:07.479 point and the plan. 1:35:07.640 --> 1:35:10.120 Okay, so let's assume you're buying talent, you're buying a 1:35:10.160 --> 1:35:13.320 lot of acts, and you have budgeted let's just say 1:35:13.320 --> 1:35:16.559 thirty million, and then all of a sudden you say, no, really, 1:35:16.600 --> 1:35:18.880 if I could spend thirty five, it's really going to 1:35:18.920 --> 1:35:21.880 be great. We will everybody say, they say, well, the 1:35:21.880 --> 1:35:25.240 budget was thirty screw you, No, no it. 1:35:25.479 --> 1:35:29.760 It really comes back down to to opportunity cost in 1:35:29.800 --> 1:35:32.719 that given year, and if more money needs to be spent, 1:35:34.479 --> 1:35:37.000 we'll do it on the basis of opportunity costs. Because 1:35:37.040 --> 1:35:40.080 you look at what your next alternative is, and if 1:35:40.080 --> 1:35:42.800 that alternative is going to screw up what that forecasting 1:35:42.880 --> 1:35:46.719 model is for box office, you really don't have a choice. 1:35:46.840 --> 1:35:49.360 The question is really are you make What is your 1:35:49.479 --> 1:35:53.000 judgment relative to that opportunity cost being big? And so 1:35:53.120 --> 1:35:55.799 that's where we'll debate. That's where we'll go over the numbers. 1:35:55.960 --> 1:35:58.040 That's what we'll go over touring, that's what'll go over 1:35:58.080 --> 1:36:00.679 that's when we'll go over kind of not only boring numbers, 1:36:00.880 --> 1:36:03.800 but we'll go over album cycles, will go over a 1:36:03.920 --> 1:36:07.120 demos for that for that particular artist, and we'll really 1:36:07.200 --> 1:36:10.920 crunch the numbers to make before we'll actually, you know, 1:36:11.280 --> 1:36:14.439 decide not only to spend that that seven figures on 1:36:14.479 --> 1:36:17.760 a headliner, but to maybe spend a little bit more 1:36:17.840 --> 1:36:19.120 than we initially budgeted. 1:36:19.600 --> 1:36:22.519 Yeah, and it's it's it's really the U. 1:36:22.720 --> 1:36:24.599 I guess something we haven't touched on a lot is 1:36:25.320 --> 1:36:30.200 the the business model or approach is it's always at 1:36:30.280 --> 1:36:32.920 least one or maybe two festivals out. 1:36:33.040 --> 1:36:34.240 So I guess what I mean by that. 1:36:34.280 --> 1:36:36.920 It's like like and we get this a lot, like, hey, 1:36:37.200 --> 1:36:40.080 let's let's say like, hey, all the VIP tickets sold out, 1:36:40.160 --> 1:36:42.760 there's seven VIP levels, they all sold out. And then 1:36:42.840 --> 1:36:44.479 so then what do you do? They're already sold out. 1:36:44.520 --> 1:36:46.280 So why would you spend a bunch of money on 1:36:46.760 --> 1:36:48.760 vi P and dreaming up all these new things for 1:36:48.800 --> 1:36:51.160 a VP. The ticket's already sold, money's in the pay 1:36:51.680 --> 1:36:54.599 it's for the next year, right, And so to your 1:36:54.680 --> 1:36:56.960 question on the artists, it's like you argue about tay 1:36:57.160 --> 1:36:59.800 does it do you pay an extra x nunt of 1:36:59.800 --> 1:37:04.240 moion dollars this year and talent. You know, we get 1:37:04.240 --> 1:37:06.679 in that debate like we could sell out the festival 1:37:06.760 --> 1:37:10.160 with this level of artists and this, but should we 1:37:10.200 --> 1:37:12.639 really pay more to get that next artist. A lot 1:37:12.680 --> 1:37:15.360 of the tipping point there and it always kind of 1:37:15.439 --> 1:37:17.800 leans towards the future is to say, I know, we 1:37:17.840 --> 1:37:20.439 could sell the tickets out this year, but if we 1:37:20.479 --> 1:37:22.599 don't get the right lineup book, we might have. 1:37:22.520 --> 1:37:23.920 Trouble still on it the next year. 1:37:24.040 --> 1:37:26.599 Yeah, And so we're kind of leaning into that, and again. 1:37:26.360 --> 1:37:28.960 We're always kind of leveling up to say it's going 1:37:29.040 --> 1:37:31.040 to be worth it in the long run to spend 1:37:31.040 --> 1:37:31.920 more money. 1:37:31.640 --> 1:37:34.559 Now, even though it comes right off the bottom line 1:37:34.560 --> 1:37:35.200 for that one year. 1:37:35.240 --> 1:37:37.080 And if that's all you're doing is running one show 1:37:37.160 --> 1:37:40.200 for one year, that's what you do. You maximize profits. 1:37:40.200 --> 1:37:42.200 But we've never thought of it that way. We've always 1:37:42.200 --> 1:37:44.960 thought of it as a long horizon, like how is 1:37:44.960 --> 1:37:46.760 this thing going to be relevant, how's this thing going 1:37:46.800 --> 1:37:48.160 to be special ten years from now? 1:37:48.640 --> 1:37:50.639 And let's not screw it up, Bob. 1:37:50.680 --> 1:37:54.040 What they're not telling you, Bob, is that they look 1:37:54.120 --> 1:37:56.600 to me and go, what can we do in sponsorship 1:37:56.680 --> 1:37:58.799 to make the offset. 1:37:59.280 --> 1:38:00.799 That's right, the real answer. 1:38:01.479 --> 1:38:04.360 Okay, and then you know some of these things are 1:38:04.400 --> 1:38:08.400 more controllable than other like food and experience. Do you 1:38:08.479 --> 1:38:10.640 have hard numbers and you say this is what we 1:38:10.680 --> 1:38:12.800 can spend or how does that work? 1:38:14.240 --> 1:38:18.680 Yeah, those those numbers don't really change much. Meaning like 1:38:18.760 --> 1:38:20.160 there's I mean, there's an artist. 1:38:19.880 --> 1:38:21.559 The price that we just talked about, like, hey, you 1:38:21.560 --> 1:38:23.960 know so and so were gonna have to pay. 1:38:23.840 --> 1:38:25.760 Them to do a one off and you know. 1:38:25.880 --> 1:38:27.920 Fly day from Europe to make this show, and it's 1:38:27.920 --> 1:38:30.640 going to be a huge premium. We don't typically have that, 1:38:30.720 --> 1:38:33.799 Like I said, even if we change the Platinum experience 1:38:33.800 --> 1:38:36.479 and VIP and we invest heavy in the GA with 1:38:36.640 --> 1:38:39.839 all new turf and new shades, it's a pretty finite 1:38:39.880 --> 1:38:42.800 planning process. It's one of the things they've touched on 1:38:42.880 --> 1:38:45.479 to say, you know, we do a few shows right 1:38:45.520 --> 1:38:47.400 here in NAPA, we do other events, and now we're 1:38:47.400 --> 1:38:48.560 doing these two festivals. 1:38:48.840 --> 1:38:51.479 You know, other companies do twenty festivals, right. 1:38:51.680 --> 1:38:55.400 But the advantage to to what we're doing is really 1:38:55.439 --> 1:38:56.919 being able to get into. 1:38:56.680 --> 1:38:59.400 The details of every little every little thing. So we 1:38:59.400 --> 1:38:59.840 we'd like. 1:38:59.800 --> 1:39:02.720 To think that adds to a more special experience, but 1:39:02.760 --> 1:39:04.200 it also leads. 1:39:03.960 --> 1:39:04.840 To no surprises. 1:39:05.160 --> 1:39:05.320 Right. 1:39:05.360 --> 1:39:07.080 We know exactly what everything's going. 1:39:07.040 --> 1:39:08.400 To cost, pretty much. 1:39:08.280 --> 1:39:09.080 Down to the penny. 1:39:09.080 --> 1:39:11.680 You don't know what food and beverage spend will be. 1:39:12.120 --> 1:39:14.400 But we've got enough years under our belt that you know, 1:39:14.439 --> 1:39:17.280 we don't end up forecasting some crazy record food and 1:39:17.320 --> 1:39:19.840 beverage seals every year and then get surprised by it. 1:39:19.960 --> 1:39:23.240 Right. We pretty much hit our numbers every year the 1:39:23.320 --> 1:39:25.000 last seven years. 1:39:25.520 --> 1:39:29.160 Okay, just to amplify what exactly is the culinary stage. 1:39:31.000 --> 1:39:37.560 The culinary stage is an added experience for all customers. 1:39:37.600 --> 1:39:39.960 It's nothing you have to pay for and it comes 1:39:40.000 --> 1:39:43.600 after you know, we we we've sold our tickets. The 1:39:43.680 --> 1:39:49.639 line the lineup does where we actually pair celebrity chefs 1:39:50.680 --> 1:39:53.680 with many of the very artists that we have in 1:39:53.680 --> 1:40:01.439 the lineup and uh celebrities and athletes in and on 1:40:01.720 --> 1:40:07.760 a stage where they are doing cooking demos, but in 1:40:08.439 --> 1:40:13.080 a very irreverent way. So I think you know, we 1:40:13.120 --> 1:40:20.200 would have Snoop Dog on the culinary stage to set 1:40:20.400 --> 1:40:24.280 the Guinness Book of World record for the largest gin 1:40:24.400 --> 1:40:28.280 and juice, right, we would have Jose and Race on 1:40:28.400 --> 1:40:33.280 the stage cooking. Let's say a favorite meal of an 1:40:33.360 --> 1:40:34.799 artist that would be on stage. 1:40:34.800 --> 1:40:36.400 And let's say we would get. 1:40:36.360 --> 1:40:42.720 The bassist or Metallica, the basis for Green Day and 1:40:42.760 --> 1:40:45.360 the basis for Dave Matthews Band, all on the same 1:40:45.400 --> 1:40:48.519 stage with Jose Andres. We would make them actual functioning 1:40:48.520 --> 1:40:51.360 bass guitars out of pizza paddles while Jose and Race 1:40:51.400 --> 1:40:55.479 makes pizza and some other kind of favorite meal of theirs. 1:40:55.720 --> 1:41:02.280 So really entertaining, really like avant garde fun programming, and 1:41:02.320 --> 1:41:05.519 we get the biggest artists that play our festival to 1:41:05.520 --> 1:41:07.720 actually beyond it, believe it or not. And then of 1:41:07.720 --> 1:41:10.280 course the big celebs, and it's a thing. We do 1:41:10.400 --> 1:41:16.960 five sets, five shows a day over the three days, 1:41:16.960 --> 1:41:23.120 so fifteen different shows at the culinary stage over three days. 1:41:23.680 --> 1:41:26.040 Okay, if I have a GA ticket, am I going 1:41:26.080 --> 1:41:31.360 to be buying any generic food? Or is all food specialized, localized, 1:41:31.800 --> 1:41:33.040 unique to this festival? 1:41:33.880 --> 1:41:40.880 Okay, yeah, it's all basically locally grown and or curated, 1:41:41.040 --> 1:41:45.400 I should probably say. In other words, we don't have 1:41:45.479 --> 1:41:50.599 a general food program. Every single food item that's sold 1:41:50.800 --> 1:41:53.800 is brought to you by a specific restaurant that we 1:41:54.000 --> 1:41:57.280 hand touched and brought in and set up, helped set up. 1:41:57.960 --> 1:42:02.200 So there's you know, seventy different food vendors throughout the 1:42:02.720 --> 1:42:07.560 venue and they're all operating as independent, small pop up restaurants. 1:42:07.960 --> 1:42:11.160 At Bottle Rock Spread, you know, throughout we have a 1:42:11.200 --> 1:42:15.160 restaurant garden, we have food vendors on different stages and 1:42:15.240 --> 1:42:18.400 so forth. And so you are going to be eating 1:42:18.439 --> 1:42:24.719 food from Morimoto Iron chef Morimoto's Restaurant, or Mustards or. 1:42:25.400 --> 1:42:29.320 I mentioned a not tree earlier. So we don't you. 1:42:29.320 --> 1:42:32.880 Had actually a question about expenses. We don't spend any 1:42:32.920 --> 1:42:36.960 money on buying the food for this festival. The restaurants 1:42:37.040 --> 1:42:39.880 come in and take on that risk and we share 1:42:39.880 --> 1:42:44.120 a percentage repshare split with those restaurants after the fact. 1:42:44.280 --> 1:42:47.160 So the restaurants kind of do the heavy lifting. And 1:42:48.439 --> 1:42:51.360 Justin said it a while ago. We're giving our guests, 1:42:51.760 --> 1:42:56.360 the fans of the festival, this really wide variety of options, 1:42:56.680 --> 1:42:57.080 and you. 1:42:57.040 --> 1:42:59.439 Know, it's kind of what people come to Napa Valley 1:42:59.479 --> 1:43:00.759 for in a sense. 1:43:01.040 --> 1:43:03.000 Right, you come to Napa Valley for a long weekend, 1:43:03.200 --> 1:43:05.080 You're going to go to three or four wineries. You're 1:43:05.120 --> 1:43:07.799 going to go to uh maybe one or two day spas, 1:43:07.800 --> 1:43:09.760 you're going to go to, you know, three or four 1:43:10.520 --> 1:43:13.760 dinners out at different restaurants, And so people come to 1:43:13.840 --> 1:43:17.160 Napa uh with that in mind. They come to Bottle 1:43:17.240 --> 1:43:19.559 Rock with the same mentality where they really want to 1:43:19.640 --> 1:43:22.120 try a lot of different things, plan out their whole 1:43:22.160 --> 1:43:24.679 weekend of what restaurants, So I'm going to hit Friday, 1:43:24.760 --> 1:43:26.840 Saturday at Sunday, what wineries am I going to hit? 1:43:27.160 --> 1:43:30.439 What what specialty cocktails am I going to try? Et cetera, 1:43:30.479 --> 1:43:34.280 et cetera. And it's kind of thrown some of the 1:43:34.280 --> 1:43:37.439 the the tried and true, you know, festival people or 1:43:37.439 --> 1:43:40.559 industry people on on their head a little bit. You 1:43:40.640 --> 1:43:42.880 have too many menu items or you you know, you're 1:43:42.920 --> 1:43:45.759 trying to do too much on each on each menu 1:43:46.160 --> 1:43:49.360 or different bars. And we've actually found that that's totally 1:43:49.880 --> 1:43:52.040 uh not the case at Bottle Rock. And maybe that's 1:43:52.080 --> 1:43:54.720 the case for a different festival, but for Bottle Rock, 1:43:54.760 --> 1:43:57.240 every year we've seen we've been able to add a 1:43:57.240 --> 1:43:59.880 few more little things, and our food and beverage per 1:43:59.880 --> 1:44:01.800 ca apps continue to go up. 1:44:02.760 --> 1:44:06.240 Okay, uh, there was a comment earlier that you guys 1:44:06.240 --> 1:44:09.800 were involved in other events then Bottle Rock and your 1:44:09.880 --> 1:44:12.400 Latino Festival. What are those events? 1:44:13.960 --> 1:44:18.960 Well, we do middle buying for for organizations, companies, etc. 1:44:19.200 --> 1:44:24.280 That want to have private events. We do buying for 1:44:25.439 --> 1:44:29.639 a PGA event that takes place in Napa every single year. 1:44:30.680 --> 1:44:37.200 We do some hard ticket shows locally here in Napa 1:44:37.760 --> 1:44:40.960 and then co pro's you know, during the festival throughout 1:44:41.360 --> 1:44:45.639 the Bay area. So that's kind of what someone might 1:44:45.640 --> 1:44:46.360 have been referring to. 1:44:47.160 --> 1:44:51.519 Yeah, and we've done small festivals at wineries and Sinoma 1:44:51.600 --> 1:44:55.600 and and you know, well, as things pop up that 1:44:55.600 --> 1:44:58.479 that meat, you know, out alignment with what we're trying 1:44:58.520 --> 1:45:01.400 to do, call it brown wise, called quality wise, then 1:45:01.760 --> 1:45:04.439 we'll dive into it. But we'd rather do fewer things 1:45:04.439 --> 1:45:07.320 than do it really well versus just trying to add 1:45:07.320 --> 1:45:08.519 more and more things. 1:45:08.600 --> 1:45:13.200 To the point, Okay, to what degree is Bottle Rock 1:45:13.760 --> 1:45:18.960 localized to Napa? Where could it be replicable replicated elsewhere? 1:45:19.280 --> 1:45:23.920 You know, there are certain Lollapalooza acl those are city festivals. 1:45:24.360 --> 1:45:29.439 Coachella is a destination festival. East Coast festivals. You always 1:45:29.520 --> 1:45:34.240 have issues of weather, but I'm not aware of anybody 1:45:34.320 --> 1:45:39.920 doing a festival at this scale that is upscale both 1:45:39.960 --> 1:45:43.920 in food and experience have you guys thought about expanding 1:45:43.960 --> 1:45:47.880 to another area thought about it? 1:45:50.200 --> 1:45:54.639 We've been approached on it a ton of times. Yeah, 1:45:54.760 --> 1:45:56.479 and all three of us could answer this one. Maybe 1:45:56.560 --> 1:45:59.920 I'll chime in. But there's certain things that we do 1:46:00.120 --> 1:46:02.479 that are transferable. Like we said, if we just focused 1:46:02.520 --> 1:46:06.120 on on like a quality standard to everything that it 1:46:06.160 --> 1:46:08.599 goes from, Like is there dust in the air naut 1:46:08.680 --> 1:46:11.840 and do you pay double for trash service to make 1:46:11.840 --> 1:46:13.880 sure there's nothing on the ground. I mean you could 1:46:13.880 --> 1:46:18.120 do that anywhere. Well, you can't translate to everywhere. Is 1:46:18.760 --> 1:46:22.080 the local creation like if if in Napa, it's that 1:46:22.160 --> 1:46:25.400 relationship with all the wineries and the restaurants and all 1:46:25.439 --> 1:46:27.720 the people that have the ability to come and make 1:46:27.840 --> 1:46:30.880 this a special experience in this geography, you go do 1:46:30.960 --> 1:46:32.800 the same exact thing in the Hamptons. 1:46:33.200 --> 1:46:35.639 And we were doing it. A couple of things. 1:46:35.680 --> 1:46:38.880 One is, do we have all those contacts, we can 1:46:38.920 --> 1:46:41.240 go run a festival there. You can everybody can roll 1:46:41.280 --> 1:46:43.600 out of stage and book artists and there'd be a 1:46:43.680 --> 1:46:46.320 viable venue and do the operation side of it. But 1:46:46.640 --> 1:46:50.120 to make it differentiated in our opinion, needed to go 1:46:50.240 --> 1:46:54.439 really deep and really really detailed, because we're into every 1:46:54.560 --> 1:46:57.599 every square inch and make it making it special. 1:46:57.840 --> 1:47:00.320 And then the other thing is a lot of high 1:47:00.400 --> 1:47:01.599 end areas. 1:47:01.920 --> 1:47:04.280 Right if you said pay Sun Valley's nice, and so 1:47:04.439 --> 1:47:06.400 is Aspen and so as I can mentioned the Hampton's 1:47:06.400 --> 1:47:10.120 and all those there's there's not hotels for forty thousand 1:47:10.120 --> 1:47:13.759 people in those areas, right, It's it becomes an issue 1:47:13.760 --> 1:47:16.840 with how to get people too in and out of 1:47:17.840 --> 1:47:19.880 some of those events. So we've been we've approach with 1:47:20.000 --> 1:47:23.439 ideas all the time, but either there's a logistic issue 1:47:23.479 --> 1:47:25.840 to say we can do that, but do you know 1:47:25.880 --> 1:47:28.479 you're going to max at eighteen thousand people, and at 1:47:28.520 --> 1:47:30.439 eighteen thousand people you're going to lose a bunch of money, 1:47:30.520 --> 1:47:32.080 So we're not interested, you know. 1:47:32.280 --> 1:47:35.599 Or it's we don't think we personally. 1:47:35.160 --> 1:47:38.720 Have the contacts and the team in that geography to 1:47:38.840 --> 1:47:41.120 make it really detailed and really special. 1:47:42.160 --> 1:47:44.719 What about like Coachello where they went to two weekends. 1:47:44.800 --> 1:47:48.479 Is that something you guys are thinking about, Well, we. 1:47:48.520 --> 1:47:52.920 Just went to two weekends, but that's with by adding 1:47:52.920 --> 1:47:56.360 an additional festival the weekend night or so similar to 1:47:56.479 --> 1:48:01.520 lat Yeah sorry, Jason, yes, similar to kind of Coachella 1:48:01.920 --> 1:48:07.600 adding stagecoach Bottle Rock is added launda okay. 1:48:07.200 --> 1:48:09.639 But is there enough demand you only have forty four 1:48:09.680 --> 1:48:13.479 thousand tickets that you could do it another weekend, Well 1:48:13.360 --> 1:48:13.800 we have. 1:48:13.760 --> 1:48:21.599 Seventy seven thousand tickets. But it's it's it's questionable, and 1:48:23.320 --> 1:48:25.240 it it really is. 1:48:25.200 --> 1:48:29.519 A lot of work on the wineries themselves and the 1:48:29.560 --> 1:48:35.559 restaurants themselves. They are there, they have limited resources and 1:48:35.720 --> 1:48:39.840 limited staff, and they're bringing all of that for much 1:48:39.880 --> 1:48:44.720 of that staff to Bottle Rock for that weekend. And 1:48:44.760 --> 1:48:47.400 it's not just that weekend that they show up, as 1:48:47.439 --> 1:48:50.519 you know, it's it's it's all of the planning and 1:48:50.600 --> 1:48:53.880 all of the resource allocation. And so there is an 1:48:53.880 --> 1:48:57.840 opportunity cost for those businesses as well, because many of 1:48:57.840 --> 1:49:01.080 those businesses shut down during that that that time period 1:49:01.080 --> 1:49:04.200 and others try to stay stay stay up with both. 1:49:04.720 --> 1:49:08.640 So it's really a constraint for for the local businesses 1:49:08.840 --> 1:49:11.360 that we work with. And it's Jason has mentioned that 1:49:11.520 --> 1:49:15.080 is the majority of that consistent majority of the companies 1:49:15.120 --> 1:49:18.280 that we work with. We call it napotism, and we 1:49:18.360 --> 1:49:22.160 have a bias towards businesses and in NAPA and working 1:49:22.160 --> 1:49:25.920 with those businesses, and so our finger on the pulse 1:49:26.000 --> 1:49:30.400 is that you know, one weekends enough for them. With 1:49:30.400 --> 1:49:34.400 with Lunda, there will be a couple of crossover kind 1:49:34.439 --> 1:49:37.760 of restaurant partners, et cetera that will do both. 1:49:37.800 --> 1:49:40.880 But for the most part, we will have a. 1:49:40.840 --> 1:49:45.280 Whole different crew of restaurants all Latino at at Luanda, 1:49:45.560 --> 1:49:48.080 and the food and beverage, the beverage program will be 1:49:48.200 --> 1:49:51.639 very different than what we we we have at Otto Rock. 1:49:53.400 --> 1:49:55.720 Just to go into that a little bit, that's two 1:49:55.800 --> 1:49:58.439 days instead of three, and how a're ticket sales? 1:49:59.600 --> 1:50:03.439 Yes, two days instead of three and ticket sales went 1:50:03.520 --> 1:50:09.320 really well. We anticipate being at a sellout either by 1:50:09.439 --> 1:50:13.400 May or end of May. So we didn't know what 1:50:13.479 --> 1:50:15.360 it was going to go, and we should be sold 1:50:15.360 --> 1:50:17.360 out this year in our first year. 1:50:18.160 --> 1:50:22.080 We're all three guys knowing what you know now, if 1:50:22.120 --> 1:50:24.599 we went back to the beginning, would you do this? 1:50:27.120 --> 1:50:31.120 We say that all the time, and everyone that said 1:50:31.160 --> 1:50:33.360 we were crazy was right. So let's just put that 1:50:33.439 --> 1:50:36.320 out there and all of the reasons they said that 1:50:36.360 --> 1:50:41.479 we were crazy, they were right. That said, knowing what 1:50:41.600 --> 1:50:47.519 I know now, I would do it again. It's been 1:50:48.240 --> 1:50:57.200 a remarkable experience personally, professionally, we built a really fantastic team. 1:50:57.720 --> 1:51:00.240 It is a close knit team, with the exception of 1:51:00.600 --> 1:51:03.120 the first year when we didn't know what we needed 1:51:03.120 --> 1:51:06.320 to do and therefore we hired the wrong people. After 1:51:06.360 --> 1:51:08.519 that year, when we figured out what we needed, we 1:51:08.640 --> 1:51:10.560 hired the right people and they have all stuck with 1:51:10.760 --> 1:51:14.200 us and we've we've we've spent you know, almost eleven 1:51:14.280 --> 1:51:18.519 years now together, you know, same people working on this. 1:51:20.120 --> 1:51:23.400 We've been able to do this while being in NAPA, 1:51:23.960 --> 1:51:26.920 the three of us with our families, raise our families here. 1:51:27.560 --> 1:51:32.559 It's taken our friendship, the friendship that Jason and Justin 1:51:32.600 --> 1:51:36.680 and I have through a level that I don't know 1:51:36.800 --> 1:51:40.320 exists out there in many friendships. Maybe it does, but 1:51:40.479 --> 1:51:42.519 I'll put our friendship up up there with the best 1:51:42.520 --> 1:51:46.200 of them because we've we've we've seen each other at 1:51:46.240 --> 1:51:49.439 our worst moments so many times, and we've seen each 1:51:49.479 --> 1:51:52.600 other at our best moment so many times. And to 1:51:52.680 --> 1:51:56.559 go through that together and to have known each other 1:51:56.640 --> 1:51:58.320 that for such a long period and to be able 1:51:58.400 --> 1:51:59.799 to do that, it's it's something special. 1:52:00.040 --> 1:52:01.599 So I would do it all over again. 1:52:01.680 --> 1:52:02.240 Absolutely. 1:52:03.040 --> 1:52:04.360 How about the other two here? 1:52:04.720 --> 1:52:08.920 Yeah, I feel like in the hindsight given what Dave 1:52:09.040 --> 1:52:11.800 just mentioned, which I agree with all of it, it 1:52:11.840 --> 1:52:13.800 would be hard to say you wouldn't do it again, right, 1:52:13.800 --> 1:52:17.040 because it's been such a special part of our lives. 1:52:17.080 --> 1:52:18.479 It didn't start that way at all. 1:52:18.600 --> 1:52:22.000 It started as one of the most stressful things, including 1:52:22.120 --> 1:52:24.280 you know, wives asking what and the hell were you 1:52:24.280 --> 1:52:24.880 guys thinking? 1:52:24.920 --> 1:52:25.960 What is going on here? 1:52:26.560 --> 1:52:29.400 But it obviously turned out the way it did, so 1:52:29.439 --> 1:52:31.719 we could say, hey, this is all amazing, everybody should 1:52:31.720 --> 1:52:33.240 do this, But it's just the opposite. 1:52:33.320 --> 1:52:33.479 Right. 1:52:33.520 --> 1:52:37.200 What Dave described is. 1:52:36.560 --> 1:52:40.280 Accurate because it's really really unique and it's special, and 1:52:40.320 --> 1:52:42.160 like I said, our the fact that our employees like 1:52:42.160 --> 1:52:45.240 no one ever leaves. Everyone's like with us to stay 1:52:45.280 --> 1:52:47.880 as soon as they become part of the team. That's 1:52:47.960 --> 1:52:50.760 pretty great. And then the next person comes along and 1:52:50.800 --> 1:52:53.240 this happens all the time. Oh hey, I was thinking 1:52:53.280 --> 1:52:55.680 about doing my own festival in this What do you 1:52:55.720 --> 1:53:00.320 guys think? And where I I don't know about that. 1:53:00.800 --> 1:53:04.400 I don't because we're quick to say, you know, there's 1:53:04.439 --> 1:53:05.880 reasons why we don't take this. 1:53:05.960 --> 1:53:07.719 And do it again all over the place. 1:53:07.800 --> 1:53:08.000 Right. 1:53:08.160 --> 1:53:11.439 It takes a special combination of everything that you just 1:53:11.520 --> 1:53:15.599 heard and the festival business is really hard, right, It's 1:53:15.680 --> 1:53:18.519 really hard to get all of those pieces and parts 1:53:18.840 --> 1:53:22.479 to work in sync and have everything lined up. So 1:53:23.000 --> 1:53:25.400 it's it's not like, hey, this is a home run, 1:53:25.520 --> 1:53:27.799 everybody should do it. It's it's kind of the opposite 1:53:27.840 --> 1:53:29.880 of that, you know. It's like we've learned enough to 1:53:30.000 --> 1:53:33.439 know how to not, you know, lean over our skis 1:53:33.560 --> 1:53:37.320 in some irresponsible way, or even guide other people who 1:53:37.400 --> 1:53:39.920 are thinking about being in the festival business and kind 1:53:39.960 --> 1:53:42.040 of lead them astray because there's a lot of a 1:53:42.080 --> 1:53:43.840 lot of a lot of tombstones out there. 1:53:45.960 --> 1:53:47.640 Jason, okay, Jason. 1:53:47.800 --> 1:53:50.240 Yeah, these, I mean these I always the order of 1:53:50.360 --> 1:53:52.800 the way we talk Bob is, Dave goes first, Justin 1:53:52.880 --> 1:53:55.400 goes second, and I always go third, and I usually 1:53:55.479 --> 1:53:58.360 speak the least because they take all the good all 1:53:58.400 --> 1:53:59.479 the good fruit off the tree. 1:54:00.280 --> 1:54:03.720 But yeah, I couldn't disagree with I couldn't agree with 1:54:03.760 --> 1:54:06.240 them more. Although we do disagree. 1:54:05.960 --> 1:54:09.840 Plenty, I couldn't agree with them more. It's been an 1:54:09.880 --> 1:54:14.160 extraordinary life experience, you know, Dave said. Personally and professionally, 1:54:14.840 --> 1:54:18.720 there's there's you know, we've all been in other careers. Yeah, 1:54:18.720 --> 1:54:21.000 I'm fifty two and so I've been around the block 1:54:21.040 --> 1:54:24.120 a couple of times. There's nothing that I've ever experienced 1:54:24.200 --> 1:54:27.920 or know anybody that's not in the festival business that 1:54:27.920 --> 1:54:32.640 that that goes through the experiences that the highs, the lows, 1:54:32.800 --> 1:54:37.400 the gut punches, the exhilaration of putting on a festival. 1:54:37.480 --> 1:54:41.320 When you know when you hear the first founds come 1:54:41.360 --> 1:54:44.960 through the PA and the sites almost there, it's like, 1:54:45.240 --> 1:54:48.520 you know, this this chilling experience in a very positive 1:54:48.560 --> 1:54:52.640 way that you know you're you're not going to find 1:54:52.640 --> 1:54:56.560 at a desk job. And and this is a terrible analogy, 1:54:56.600 --> 1:54:59.480 but you know, when this team all comes together and 1:54:59.520 --> 1:55:02.840 we bring in and people, contractors that that work have 1:55:02.960 --> 1:55:05.320 worked for us for years, and we're all out there 1:55:05.360 --> 1:55:08.800 building the site, and the level of detail and pride 1:55:08.800 --> 1:55:11.600 that people put forth, it's it's kind of like what 1:55:11.640 --> 1:55:15.280 I would assume, you know, being in the military and 1:55:15.560 --> 1:55:19.400 you know some some sense of that, or a sports team. 1:55:19.720 --> 1:55:22.080 At the end of the festival, when it's over. 1:55:21.960 --> 1:55:24.400 Monday morning, you wake up and you're just so thankful 1:55:24.440 --> 1:55:27.360 it's it's all over, but also just so proud and 1:55:27.440 --> 1:55:31.040 excited that you guys pulled it off again, and you know, 1:55:31.200 --> 1:55:34.560 there's nothing else that I know of like that out there. 1:55:34.840 --> 1:55:37.720 So I always I'm the first guy. They always threatened 1:55:37.720 --> 1:55:40.120 that I'm out of here. You know, I'm going to 1:55:40.160 --> 1:55:41.320 be the first to quit this thing. 1:55:42.040 --> 1:55:45.080 Jokingly, but but you know, it's like in my veins, 1:55:45.080 --> 1:55:45.840 it's in my blood. 1:55:45.840 --> 1:55:50.160 I don't I don't think that's really the truth. And yeah, 1:55:50.280 --> 1:55:50.960 I guess I would. 1:55:51.040 --> 1:55:55.240 I would do it over again myself, even though, like 1:55:55.280 --> 1:55:57.560 I said, it almost killed us the first couple of years. 1:55:58.480 --> 1:56:02.040 Okay, I'm sure there's an exhamtiety in presenting the actual 1:56:02.160 --> 1:56:06.200 festivals over the weekends that occur. But you also talked 1:56:06.200 --> 1:56:10.600 about investing this year for dividends next year, for expectations 1:56:10.680 --> 1:56:14.480 next year. To what degree are you have an ongoing 1:56:14.560 --> 1:56:18.000 anxiety that this thing could fall apart or if you 1:56:18.000 --> 1:56:21.120 don't pay attention twenty four to seven, something go wrong. 1:56:21.200 --> 1:56:23.000 Is that in your heads where you say, oh, this 1:56:23.040 --> 1:56:24.920 is a smooth sailing ship. We've got it. 1:56:25.560 --> 1:56:29.320 Always it's always the anxiety is always in our in 1:56:29.360 --> 1:56:35.360 our on front very nice so to speak, I mean it, gosh, 1:56:35.840 --> 1:56:37.200 you know what, you know, what I'm thinking about right 1:56:37.240 --> 1:56:43.240 now is when we do our annual tabletop exercises for 1:56:43.520 --> 1:56:46.760 law enforcement and with law enforcement, and when you're sitting 1:56:46.800 --> 1:56:52.920 there with with FBI and Homeland Security and local police 1:56:52.960 --> 1:56:55.400 and fire and sheriffs, et cetera, and then you're going 1:56:55.440 --> 1:56:58.360 through scenarios of what you would do in this situation 1:56:58.480 --> 1:57:01.320 versus that situation. Jason just and night, every single year 1:57:01.360 --> 1:57:06.520 walk out of that meeting and go, what the fuck 1:57:06.560 --> 1:57:09.360 are we doing? And then you know, we breathe for 1:57:09.400 --> 1:57:12.520 about an hour or two and then we realized that, well, 1:57:12.920 --> 1:57:16.640 we're doing every single thing we possibly can to mitigate 1:57:16.680 --> 1:57:17.400 those risks. 1:57:17.800 --> 1:57:20.880 But man, it it it. 1:57:20.040 --> 1:57:22.560 It definitely it stays with us, and it stays with 1:57:22.640 --> 1:57:24.960 us year round because it's a big responsibility and it's 1:57:24.960 --> 1:57:27.520 within our community and you just want things to go well. 1:57:28.480 --> 1:57:30.600 And we're not even talking about the finances here right now. 1:57:30.600 --> 1:57:33.080 We're talking about the you know, the safety and the 1:57:33.080 --> 1:57:38.320 customer experience component first and foremost, and and then there's 1:57:38.400 --> 1:57:42.600 the anxiety of the of the finances. Right, So so yeah, 1:57:42.680 --> 1:57:43.680 it's it's a lot. 1:57:44.080 --> 1:57:46.040 Yeah, and it's a it's a fragile thing. 1:57:46.200 --> 1:57:48.440 Like I obviously all three of us agree with what 1:57:48.520 --> 1:57:50.760 Dave said in that terms of that guest experience and 1:57:50.800 --> 1:57:54.880 the and just the safety aspect is what could what 1:57:55.000 --> 1:57:57.280 could ruin it faster than anything else. So we've got 1:57:57.360 --> 1:58:00.840 a huge emphasis on that. But then on the way 1:58:00.880 --> 1:58:04.520 that anxiety carries over to everything. I mean, Jason knows 1:58:04.560 --> 1:58:06.680 this from what he was joking around about where I 1:58:06.800 --> 1:58:09.240 was fighting over sponsors, and I'll be the first to 1:58:09.280 --> 1:58:12.240 over exaggerate something to say, if we take that sponsor, 1:58:12.600 --> 1:58:14.560 it's the wrong brand and the wrong spot. That's the 1:58:14.560 --> 1:58:18.000 beginning of the end around here. Everything, everything's going to 1:58:18.080 --> 1:58:20.680 feed off that everyone's going to think that this is 1:58:20.720 --> 1:58:23.280 a different festival, and then the whole thing's going to dwindle, 1:58:23.320 --> 1:58:25.320 you know. Or we did actually just today we were 1:58:25.360 --> 1:58:29.120 talking about food and beverage pricing and there's this pressure, 1:58:29.280 --> 1:58:32.839 you know, from whether it's sponsors or concessionaire to raise prices. 1:58:32.880 --> 1:58:34.280 And then we went to the same thing. 1:58:34.560 --> 1:58:37.040 If we raise prices, that's what everyone else is doing, 1:58:37.080 --> 1:58:39.800 and everyone hates it. Well, as soon as we start, 1:58:39.880 --> 1:58:42.000 do you know, making this thing too expensive, that's the 1:58:42.000 --> 1:58:44.880 beginning of the end, you know. And so it's like 1:58:44.960 --> 1:58:49.400 this constant anxiety around not overpricing it, getting the security right, 1:58:49.800 --> 1:58:53.280 you know, making sure the experience is right again, investing 1:58:53.320 --> 1:58:56.400 in bands, even if the you know, in the culinary 1:58:56.440 --> 1:58:58.520 stage and things, even when the tickets are sold out. 1:58:58.960 --> 1:59:01.040 You know, it's really about you know, look into the 1:59:01.080 --> 1:59:03.960 future and making sure we don't screw things up, because 1:59:04.520 --> 1:59:07.440 festivals are pretty fragile, you know, once they start going 1:59:07.480 --> 1:59:11.720 the wrong direction, you know, people lose faith in a brand, 1:59:11.360 --> 1:59:13.680 and the brand is everything. 1:59:15.800 --> 1:59:19.200 Okay, to wrap it up, let's start with Jason. A 1:59:19.280 --> 1:59:23.200 peak experience from the actual festival. Since you guys have 1:59:23.240 --> 1:59:23.840 been doing it. 1:59:24.960 --> 1:59:29.520 Peak experience from the actual festival, well, I mean there's 1:59:29.640 --> 1:59:33.360 just so many I just touched on to me of 1:59:33.720 --> 1:59:36.880 one of the best experiences I have every year is 1:59:37.360 --> 1:59:40.600 like I said, you know, hundreds of people all coming 1:59:40.600 --> 1:59:44.600 together to kind of the production and the crew, if 1:59:44.600 --> 1:59:47.520 you will, coming together to build build what I hope 1:59:47.520 --> 1:59:50.720 you'll get to see this year, Bob, is in my opinion, 1:59:50.800 --> 1:59:54.400 one of the one of the most premium quality experiences. 1:59:54.200 --> 1:59:58.040 Of a festival that that that's out there. 1:59:58.840 --> 2:00:00.360 I try to say that as humbly as I can, 2:00:00.480 --> 2:00:03.120 but but I'm I'm pretty proud of what we do, 2:00:04.440 --> 2:00:07.040 you know, I mean, there's just so many the ability 2:00:07.120 --> 2:00:10.120 to you know, do this with Dave and justin every 2:00:10.200 --> 2:00:13.440 year we kind of have a group hug at the 2:00:13.880 --> 2:00:15.960 at the end on Sunday night, we have our first 2:00:16.040 --> 2:00:18.960 drink in maybe two three months because we all kind 2:00:18.960 --> 2:00:22.720 of abstained through the festival. Those will always be some 2:00:22.800 --> 2:00:25.720 of my favorite memories. Uh And and you. 2:00:25.640 --> 2:00:26.360 Know my family. 2:00:26.440 --> 2:00:28.800 I have a young now, a twelve year old and 2:00:28.840 --> 2:00:31.240 a ten year old, and you know, for them to 2:00:31.360 --> 2:00:33.760 now start to really get what's going on here and 2:00:34.120 --> 2:00:36.280 want to come and and be able to spend a 2:00:36.280 --> 2:00:39.080 little time in the sound mix with them is like 2:00:40.080 --> 2:00:42.480 for them that'll be an extraordinary experience that they'll never 2:00:42.520 --> 2:00:44.760 forget that. I'm glad I can be a part of 2:00:44.840 --> 2:00:47.520 so family and friends, I guess. 2:00:47.640 --> 2:00:51.800 Justin yeah, I mean there's there's there's a ton of 2:00:52.400 --> 2:00:53.920 things I can think of, And there's a lot on 2:00:53.920 --> 2:00:56.000 the artist side too, like what was special memory and 2:00:56.560 --> 2:00:59.000 all that. There's almost there's too many of those. So 2:00:59.080 --> 2:01:00.600 I was thinking, I'm not going to I'm not going 2:01:00.680 --> 2:01:04.640 to name a name an artist experience, but outside of that, 2:01:05.280 --> 2:01:09.200 something that resonates with me. And this doesn't necessarily happen 2:01:09.720 --> 2:01:13.520 only at the festival, but you know there's otherwise no 2:01:13.560 --> 2:01:15.560 one would know if they met me if I'm a 2:01:15.560 --> 2:01:18.000 part of this, you know you're a ball Rock founder 2:01:18.120 --> 2:01:19.000 or not, right, you wouldn't know. 2:01:19.000 --> 2:01:19.640 I'm just a guy. 2:01:20.040 --> 2:01:22.280 And then when people start talking to you about the 2:01:22.280 --> 2:01:25.240 festival and they say, you know, this is my favorite 2:01:25.440 --> 2:01:27.880 thing of the entire year, Like this is when my 2:01:27.920 --> 2:01:30.280 friends and I get together and it happens around town 2:01:30.320 --> 2:01:31.160 and NAPO, they don't. 2:01:31.000 --> 2:01:31.440 Know who you are. 2:01:31.440 --> 2:01:33.920 There's like, oh my god, I can't wait for Battle Rock. 2:01:33.960 --> 2:01:36.840 It's literally what I live for all year round, you know. 2:01:36.960 --> 2:01:39.480 And then I still don't introduce myself. I don't say anything. 2:01:39.480 --> 2:01:42.440 I just kind of just like inside your kind of smiling, 2:01:42.480 --> 2:01:44.280 like you know what that's worth it? 2:01:44.480 --> 2:01:46.720 Like all this kind of stress. 2:01:46.360 --> 2:01:47.840 That we go through all the year and all the 2:01:47.920 --> 2:01:50.720 on site build and how we're into every last detail 2:01:50.760 --> 2:01:53.680 and everyone's snipping at each other. It's like when you're 2:01:53.720 --> 2:01:57.320 making that many people you know, happy and creating memories 2:01:57.360 --> 2:01:58.920 for it. I know that sounds kind of corny, but 2:01:59.040 --> 2:02:02.120 it's it's the truth. It's uh, it makes it worth it. 2:02:03.240 --> 2:02:03.480 Dave. 2:02:07.280 --> 2:02:09.880 The two things I would say, one is what Jason said, 2:02:09.880 --> 2:02:13.960 which is the Justin and Jason and I at the 2:02:14.080 --> 2:02:17.960 end of the festival, after egress has been declared. 2:02:19.600 --> 2:02:20.800 You know, successful for. 2:02:20.800 --> 2:02:24.400 The third night, and we hug it out like that's 2:02:24.400 --> 2:02:27.800 a that's a moment I always look forward to, Like 2:02:28.040 --> 2:02:31.080 we just don't hear anyone around us, you know, it's 2:02:31.120 --> 2:02:32.920 just the three of us going, fuck, we did it, 2:02:33.720 --> 2:02:34.440 our team did it. 2:02:34.880 --> 2:02:35.879 That's really rewarding. 2:02:36.120 --> 2:02:38.840 I think one of the best experiences was just actually 2:02:38.920 --> 2:02:45.080 last year when the Peppers were playing and the let's 2:02:45.080 --> 2:02:46.440 say the shoot was locked down. 2:02:47.320 --> 2:02:48.880 They weren't letting anyone go through. 2:02:50.240 --> 2:02:54.040 And Jose Andrace, who loves the Peppers, is like asking 2:02:54.080 --> 2:02:57.400 me to help him get out, and I'm like, why 2:02:57.400 --> 2:02:58.640 do you want to go And He's just like, I 2:02:58.680 --> 2:02:59.680 got to get out, let me. 2:02:59.760 --> 2:03:02.560 Just help me. And I'm like all right, So, you know, 2:03:02.600 --> 2:03:03.080 I talked. 2:03:02.920 --> 2:03:07.280 To security and they let Jose leave like halfway through 2:03:07.320 --> 2:03:11.040 the set, and then Justin and I and Jason, Jason 2:03:11.040 --> 2:03:14.560 and Justin come back into our little compound area aig 2:03:14.680 --> 2:03:17.640 risk goes well, so we hug it out and Jose 2:03:17.760 --> 2:03:23.240 Andres is walking in with this massive pie and he 2:03:23.280 --> 2:03:25.880 had left, you know, a show that he really wanted 2:03:25.920 --> 2:03:29.800 to be at, just so he could make Justin and 2:03:29.920 --> 2:03:34.560 Jason and myself his favorite Paiea, because that's who he is, 2:03:35.000 --> 2:03:37.839 and it was just, it was just it was so meaningful. 2:03:37.840 --> 2:03:40.600 And notwithstanding the fact that I'm a pious snob, like 2:03:40.680 --> 2:03:43.560 I love and so I was so excited about that, 2:03:43.680 --> 2:03:46.360 but just like, what a good guy, and what a 2:03:46.400 --> 2:03:48.520 cool moment to be able to spend with Jason and 2:03:48.720 --> 2:03:51.840 Justin and jose just you know, having a good little 2:03:52.080 --> 2:03:54.600 bite and kind of celebrating the whole weekend. So that's 2:03:54.640 --> 2:03:56.120 probably one of the moments that I always remember. 2:03:57.840 --> 2:03:59.800 Okay, gentlemen, I think we've come to the end of 2:03:59.800 --> 2:04:03.320 the feeling we've known. I wanted to do this because 2:04:03.720 --> 2:04:06.360 you know, festivals are a dime a dozen. But when 2:04:06.400 --> 2:04:09.440 you guys talked when I heard you previously, I said, fuck, 2:04:09.480 --> 2:04:12.080 I want to go to that, which is almost never 2:04:12.200 --> 2:04:15.920 the case. You guys have certainly created something special. So 2:04:16.080 --> 2:04:19.280 once again, I want to thank you for taking time 2:04:19.440 --> 2:04:23.200 to speak with my audience. Until next time. This is 2:04:23.280 --> 2:04:24.280 Bob left Stets