WEBVTT - Businessweek Extra - Mark Ein

0:00:02.520 --> 0:00:06.360
<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg Business Week from Bloomberg Radio. I'm Jason

0:00:06.400 --> 0:00:08.840
<v Speaker 1>Kelly and I'm Carol Masser. Welcome to the Bloomberg Business

0:00:08.880 --> 0:00:11.119
<v Speaker 1>Week Extra. It's our weekly podcast bring you an in

0:00:11.160 --> 0:00:13.760
<v Speaker 1>depth interview you will not hear anywhere else. Well, this

0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:16.040
<v Speaker 1>week we caught up with Mark Ein. He's the chairman

0:00:16.120 --> 0:00:19.040
<v Speaker 1>of Castle Systems. You may have heard of that company

0:00:19.079 --> 0:00:23.320
<v Speaker 1>in part because they provide managed services for buildings across

0:00:23.360 --> 0:00:26.239
<v Speaker 1>the country and across the world. You might also have

0:00:26.320 --> 0:00:29.160
<v Speaker 1>heard of him because he's a big player in Washington.

0:00:29.280 --> 0:00:32.640
<v Speaker 1>He's been working there for a long time. He's a philanthropist,

0:00:32.920 --> 0:00:35.919
<v Speaker 1>a big time investor, and also deeply involved in the

0:00:35.960 --> 0:00:39.960
<v Speaker 1>world of sports, especially the world of tennis. Check it out.

0:00:40.159 --> 0:00:43.959
<v Speaker 1>Every day you're turning on the TV or reading uh

0:00:44.440 --> 0:00:46.960
<v Speaker 1>people's opinions. Everyone's trying to figure out how do we

0:00:47.000 --> 0:00:50.159
<v Speaker 1>get back to work but do it safely? And um

0:00:50.520 --> 0:00:54.920
<v Speaker 1>Castle has been the leader in providing managed office security

0:00:54.960 --> 0:00:59.320
<v Speaker 1>for fifty years and we didn't see anyone really stepping

0:00:59.360 --> 0:01:01.160
<v Speaker 1>in trying to think about how do you build a

0:01:01.200 --> 0:01:04.000
<v Speaker 1>system to get people back to the office in a

0:01:04.080 --> 0:01:07.119
<v Speaker 1>safe way. And so we've come up with the framework

0:01:07.160 --> 0:01:10.960
<v Speaker 1>that we think is a really comprehensive way that leverages

0:01:11.400 --> 0:01:14.920
<v Speaker 1>a lot of existing technologies. You don't invent anything, and

0:01:15.000 --> 0:01:20.280
<v Speaker 1>most importantly, it makes the ecosystem safe for everyone. If

0:01:20.319 --> 0:01:23.400
<v Speaker 1>you think about an office building is comprised of the building,

0:01:23.440 --> 0:01:26.400
<v Speaker 1>the tenants, the people that work there, and the visitors,

0:01:26.760 --> 0:01:29.119
<v Speaker 1>and you've really got to make sure that you incorporate

0:01:29.160 --> 0:01:31.360
<v Speaker 1>a system that addresses all of them. And that's what

0:01:31.400 --> 0:01:35.080
<v Speaker 1>we've done with Castle Safe Spaces. So talk to us about,

0:01:35.319 --> 0:01:37.880
<v Speaker 1>you know, Mark, how our spaces will change, particularly in

0:01:37.920 --> 0:01:40.839
<v Speaker 1>the work workplace, especially as we're going to be afraid

0:01:40.880 --> 0:01:43.039
<v Speaker 1>to touch things, We're going to be obsessed with washing

0:01:43.040 --> 0:01:46.080
<v Speaker 1>our hands. So how do things evolve? How do things change?

0:01:46.080 --> 0:01:47.880
<v Speaker 1>And I'm curious because it sounds like these will be

0:01:47.960 --> 0:01:51.320
<v Speaker 1>lasting changes. Yeah, and I do think. I look, I

0:01:51.320 --> 0:01:52.680
<v Speaker 1>think a lot of the things that are going to

0:01:52.760 --> 0:01:55.160
<v Speaker 1>happen are things that actually have a lot of utility

0:01:55.320 --> 0:01:57.920
<v Speaker 1>even past the age of corona. So I do think

0:01:57.960 --> 0:02:00.240
<v Speaker 1>a lot of these will be permanent changes. But really

0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:02.440
<v Speaker 1>think about it with four main things. The first is

0:02:02.880 --> 0:02:06.440
<v Speaker 1>the screening in screening out process. Uh. You know, most

0:02:06.440 --> 0:02:09.359
<v Speaker 1>buildings have some major cities have some kind of access

0:02:09.360 --> 0:02:11.160
<v Speaker 1>control that let's you know who should be in and

0:02:11.200 --> 0:02:14.680
<v Speaker 1>who should be out. Um, by integrating health data, you

0:02:14.720 --> 0:02:17.280
<v Speaker 1>know who shouldn't be coming to the office at any

0:02:17.320 --> 0:02:20.360
<v Speaker 1>given time. And through also integrating health data at the

0:02:20.360 --> 0:02:23.840
<v Speaker 1>point that we have good testing, it also could create

0:02:23.960 --> 0:02:25.760
<v Speaker 1>an easy way for people to come in who we

0:02:25.800 --> 0:02:28.280
<v Speaker 1>know are safe. So it starts with screening, screen out,

0:02:28.280 --> 0:02:30.240
<v Speaker 1>and then for people who you don't know in advance,

0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:33.720
<v Speaker 1>you're gonna get your temperature taken. If you look overseas

0:02:33.720 --> 0:02:38.880
<v Speaker 1>where they have opened up the their business is h quicker. Um,

0:02:38.960 --> 0:02:41.600
<v Speaker 1>you see, temperature testing is something and stunt either was

0:02:41.680 --> 0:02:45.200
<v Speaker 1>someone taking your temperature through thermal cameras. So screening in

0:02:45.240 --> 0:02:47.320
<v Speaker 1>and screening out the first thing. The second thing is

0:02:47.360 --> 0:02:50.880
<v Speaker 1>you mentioned is touchless. There's so many shared services in

0:02:50.919 --> 0:02:54.799
<v Speaker 1>an office building. So we see if near future where

0:02:55.000 --> 0:02:59.080
<v Speaker 1>doors will open automatically when presented with an access device,

0:02:59.160 --> 0:03:02.360
<v Speaker 1>elevators or called from an app in your phone, doors

0:03:02.400 --> 0:03:05.320
<v Speaker 1>to your office will open automatically, and in fact you

0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:08.560
<v Speaker 1>may have areas that are protected with outdoors, but just

0:03:08.680 --> 0:03:11.400
<v Speaker 1>alarms that will sound if you don't have the right credentials.

0:03:11.440 --> 0:03:13.840
<v Speaker 1>So touch lists is a big piece of it. UH

0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:17.120
<v Speaker 1>enforcing social distancing, which is something we all talk about,

0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:22.000
<v Speaker 1>but making sure that you stagger arrivals, that you manage

0:03:22.080 --> 0:03:25.320
<v Speaker 1>visitor uh the amount of visitors you have and when

0:03:25.360 --> 0:03:28.080
<v Speaker 1>they come. And then the last peach is contact tracing.

0:03:28.120 --> 0:03:30.760
<v Speaker 1>You know everyone talks about contact tracing. But if you

0:03:30.880 --> 0:03:34.520
<v Speaker 1>use your access control system seven in a building and

0:03:34.520 --> 0:03:37.400
<v Speaker 1>you make everyone who comes in log in and log out,

0:03:37.440 --> 0:03:40.920
<v Speaker 1>which is very easy and Latin intrusive, and you use

0:03:41.000 --> 0:03:43.480
<v Speaker 1>the same intendance space as you have a permanent record

0:03:43.520 --> 0:03:45.080
<v Speaker 1>of who was in the building at any point in

0:03:45.120 --> 0:03:47.600
<v Speaker 1>time to live in tenant spaces at any point in time,

0:03:48.040 --> 0:03:50.880
<v Speaker 1>and if someone turns out that they ended up having coronavirus,

0:03:50.920 --> 0:03:53.240
<v Speaker 1>you can go back and figure out who is around

0:03:53.280 --> 0:03:55.720
<v Speaker 1>them at the point that they may have been sick

0:03:55.760 --> 0:03:58.480
<v Speaker 1>and notify them and tell them to watch get tested

0:03:58.520 --> 0:04:01.080
<v Speaker 1>and watch for symptoms. And so all the things I

0:04:01.200 --> 0:04:05.440
<v Speaker 1>just described actually leverage technology that's here today and that

0:04:05.560 --> 0:04:09.640
<v Speaker 1>building owners are starting to put into place. And so, Mark,

0:04:09.880 --> 0:04:12.600
<v Speaker 1>where does privacy fit into all of this? I mean,

0:04:12.640 --> 0:04:14.720
<v Speaker 1>are we just going to have to get used to

0:04:14.840 --> 0:04:19.799
<v Speaker 1>giving up a certain amount of personal data And how

0:04:19.839 --> 0:04:24.080
<v Speaker 1>do we best sort of draw that new line? Yeah,

0:04:24.080 --> 0:04:26.680
<v Speaker 1>it's a great question. So, first of all, the biggest

0:04:26.680 --> 0:04:29.400
<v Speaker 1>thing is that help data make it integrated into some

0:04:29.520 --> 0:04:34.159
<v Speaker 1>of this security system that we're describing, and help data

0:04:34.320 --> 0:04:38.720
<v Speaker 1>really needs a completely different level of security, and so

0:04:38.760 --> 0:04:41.960
<v Speaker 1>that's gonna be built into uh the system so that

0:04:42.040 --> 0:04:45.000
<v Speaker 1>it doesn't reside, for instance, in any companies other than

0:04:45.040 --> 0:04:49.680
<v Speaker 1>your companies. Who knows to reside any in anyone else's systems? UM.

0:04:49.880 --> 0:04:55.760
<v Speaker 1>But you know, look, the tradeoff always, UH is always

0:04:55.760 --> 0:04:58.080
<v Speaker 1>between security and privacy. And if you look at the

0:04:58.120 --> 0:05:01.479
<v Speaker 1>countries that have managed this the best, they've made that

0:05:01.560 --> 0:05:03.680
<v Speaker 1>trade off and they've gone further than we will. In

0:05:03.760 --> 0:05:05.920
<v Speaker 1>A big question everyone has for the United States is

0:05:06.440 --> 0:05:11.680
<v Speaker 1>you know, there's there's reasonable trade offs between privacy and security,

0:05:11.720 --> 0:05:13.279
<v Speaker 1>and I think if we really want to get back

0:05:13.279 --> 0:05:15.279
<v Speaker 1>to work, we're gonna have to make some of those.

0:05:16.040 --> 0:05:18.520
<v Speaker 1>How quickly can we make all these changes? Because you're

0:05:18.520 --> 0:05:22.480
<v Speaker 1>talking about a lot of existing infrastructure, office buildings, UH

0:05:22.480 --> 0:05:24.640
<v Speaker 1>and as you say, this is lasting, so how quickly

0:05:24.640 --> 0:05:27.560
<v Speaker 1>can we change all of this? Well, I think that's

0:05:27.600 --> 0:05:30.240
<v Speaker 1>the great thing that as we started thinking about this,

0:05:30.400 --> 0:05:32.039
<v Speaker 1>a lot of the things I just mentioned to you

0:05:32.080 --> 0:05:34.720
<v Speaker 1>buildings have today. It's just literally a matter of turning

0:05:34.760 --> 0:05:39.640
<v Speaker 1>them on, you know, turning on seven UH, you know,

0:05:39.839 --> 0:05:41.800
<v Speaker 1>using your cards, your fib or. We have an app

0:05:41.880 --> 0:05:45.160
<v Speaker 1>that lets people get in use seven. Make sure your

0:05:45.200 --> 0:05:48.320
<v Speaker 1>tenants use the system like that for contact tracing. UH.

0:05:48.400 --> 0:05:51.560
<v Speaker 1>Touchless systems are easy too. You can quickly convert doors

0:05:51.880 --> 0:05:55.040
<v Speaker 1>to electric doors so that when they're presented with the credential,

0:05:55.080 --> 0:05:56.800
<v Speaker 1>they can open. A lot of the things we talk

0:05:56.880 --> 0:06:00.680
<v Speaker 1>about are available today. Now there's next gen rations of

0:06:00.720 --> 0:06:03.159
<v Speaker 1>things that we're working on and others are working on

0:06:03.480 --> 0:06:07.640
<v Speaker 1>that will make the system even quicker, less intrusive, maybe

0:06:07.640 --> 0:06:10.280
<v Speaker 1>even slightly better. But you don't need to wait for

0:06:10.360 --> 0:06:14.560
<v Speaker 1>that to make these buildings actually reasonably safe for people

0:06:14.600 --> 0:06:17.520
<v Speaker 1>to get back to work. So, Mark, I would love

0:06:17.560 --> 0:06:19.040
<v Speaker 1>to talk to you a little more broadly about the

0:06:19.279 --> 0:06:22.839
<v Speaker 1>real estate environment, because you know you've invested pretty heavily

0:06:22.839 --> 0:06:25.280
<v Speaker 1>in real estate over the course of your career, both

0:06:25.320 --> 0:06:28.159
<v Speaker 1>residential and commercial, and obviously all that we've been talking

0:06:28.160 --> 0:06:33.279
<v Speaker 1>about really potentially has an impact on not just how

0:06:33.320 --> 0:06:38.159
<v Speaker 1>commercial real estate works, but the amount of of real

0:06:38.320 --> 0:06:42.039
<v Speaker 1>estate that a company needs at any given time. I

0:06:42.040 --> 0:06:44.640
<v Speaker 1>feel like we get conflicting reports on we're gonna need

0:06:44.640 --> 0:06:46.360
<v Speaker 1>a much less office space or we're going to need

0:06:46.400 --> 0:06:49.440
<v Speaker 1>more office space, depending sometimes on who you're talking to

0:06:49.520 --> 0:06:51.800
<v Speaker 1>and what business they're in. Where do you net out

0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:55.200
<v Speaker 1>on this? You know, it's really it's a great question,

0:06:55.240 --> 0:06:59.200
<v Speaker 1>because when this started, my mindset was everyone's like, oh,

0:06:59.279 --> 0:07:00.960
<v Speaker 1>this is a new way to work, and I was like,

0:07:00.960 --> 0:07:03.160
<v Speaker 1>tell them, show me one person who's happier being in

0:07:03.520 --> 0:07:06.640
<v Speaker 1>all the time, and uh, and I'll believe that. Um

0:07:06.680 --> 0:07:08.920
<v Speaker 1>And I look, there's a lot of silverlignings to being home,

0:07:08.920 --> 0:07:11.400
<v Speaker 1>a ton of them, but I think people really have

0:07:11.560 --> 0:07:14.280
<v Speaker 1>also a desire to be in the same place as

0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:17.360
<v Speaker 1>their colleagues. But I will say the longer this drags on,

0:07:17.480 --> 0:07:19.960
<v Speaker 1>you really start to people start to form habits that

0:07:20.000 --> 0:07:21.760
<v Speaker 1>I think are going to be enduring. I don't think

0:07:21.800 --> 0:07:24.200
<v Speaker 1>it means people won't go back to work, but I

0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:27.280
<v Speaker 1>think I really do believe that this is stretched on

0:07:27.840 --> 0:07:30.480
<v Speaker 1>that a lot of the things, the ways that people

0:07:30.480 --> 0:07:32.880
<v Speaker 1>are working now are not going to be the permanent way,

0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:36.040
<v Speaker 1>but they'll be incorporated into that. And yeah, that will

0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:38.280
<v Speaker 1>have an impact on the amount of space. I would

0:07:38.320 --> 0:07:40.880
<v Speaker 1>say less. I can't imagine a case where people are

0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:43.760
<v Speaker 1>going to need more um and I think people are

0:07:43.760 --> 0:07:46.160
<v Speaker 1>going to think about the office is a place to

0:07:46.240 --> 0:07:50.440
<v Speaker 1>come and collaborate, but maybe more flexibility on being able

0:07:50.480 --> 0:07:52.680
<v Speaker 1>to work outside of the office when they're working on

0:07:52.720 --> 0:07:54.600
<v Speaker 1>things where they can do that just as well, if

0:07:54.600 --> 0:07:57.760
<v Speaker 1>not better. Um. And you know the thing about markets

0:07:57.840 --> 0:08:00.600
<v Speaker 1>is it only takes the small increme it will change

0:08:00.640 --> 0:08:03.360
<v Speaker 1>to change the market, right, So you know, if ten

0:08:03.440 --> 0:08:07.200
<v Speaker 1>or shifts, that's a gigantic change in the market. And

0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:09.960
<v Speaker 1>I think I think there's a really good chance that

0:08:10.000 --> 0:08:12.200
<v Speaker 1>we're going to see some of these things become permanent.

0:08:12.600 --> 0:08:19.320
<v Speaker 1>So is the era of open floor office space done?

0:08:20.040 --> 0:08:22.960
<v Speaker 1>I mean, I think until there's a you know, until

0:08:23.000 --> 0:08:26.080
<v Speaker 1>there's a until there's a cure, either a vaccine or

0:08:26.080 --> 0:08:29.360
<v Speaker 1>a treatment for this, I think that is absolutely the case.

0:08:29.960 --> 0:08:32.560
<v Speaker 1>And the hope is is that that happens, it happens

0:08:32.559 --> 0:08:35.319
<v Speaker 1>reasonably quickly, and that there's not another one of these

0:08:35.360 --> 0:08:39.040
<v Speaker 1>behind it. I I think if we get to the

0:08:39.080 --> 0:08:42.800
<v Speaker 1>point where there's a vaccine or treatment, I think people

0:08:42.800 --> 0:08:44.400
<v Speaker 1>will go back to that. I don't think we're gonna

0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:47.760
<v Speaker 1>all go back to being our own offices. Um. But

0:08:47.960 --> 0:08:50.160
<v Speaker 1>until that comes, I think you're not going to see

0:08:50.200 --> 0:08:54.640
<v Speaker 1>people working in open environments unless there's plexiglass between cubes,

0:08:54.679 --> 0:08:56.520
<v Speaker 1>which is something that people are using are going to

0:08:56.600 --> 0:09:00.319
<v Speaker 1>start using. So, Mark, I wonder about a place like

0:09:00.520 --> 0:09:03.480
<v Speaker 1>you know, your town, Washington, d C. Where you know,

0:09:03.600 --> 0:09:06.960
<v Speaker 1>you've got pretty vibrant suburbs, but you've also had a

0:09:07.040 --> 0:09:09.280
<v Speaker 1>city I was fortunate enough to go to college there

0:09:09.320 --> 0:09:13.480
<v Speaker 1>that really has you know, blossomed in a whole new

0:09:13.520 --> 0:09:17.200
<v Speaker 1>and different way with a lot of sort of renovation

0:09:17.400 --> 0:09:20.120
<v Speaker 1>and maybe some gentrification, which is a whole other debate

0:09:20.160 --> 0:09:23.040
<v Speaker 1>that will have another time about things that have happened

0:09:23.360 --> 0:09:26.720
<v Speaker 1>in Washington. But I do wonder, you know, as someone

0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:30.520
<v Speaker 1>who is as deeply involved in that city as you are,

0:09:30.960 --> 0:09:34.280
<v Speaker 1>how does it change a city like Washington against setting

0:09:34.280 --> 0:09:39.480
<v Speaker 1>politics aside, but just as as sort of a physical place. Yeah,

0:09:39.640 --> 0:09:42.040
<v Speaker 1>so let's let's talk about the real Washington, not but

0:09:42.160 --> 0:09:47.160
<v Speaker 1>Washington that you hear about on the TV that federal government. Um,

0:09:47.200 --> 0:09:50.000
<v Speaker 1>the real Washington, which is you said, has really become

0:09:50.040 --> 0:09:54.040
<v Speaker 1>a really incredibly vibrant, livable city in the last ten

0:09:54.160 --> 0:09:56.880
<v Speaker 1>twenty years. A lot has been built on the backs

0:09:57.000 --> 0:10:02.640
<v Speaker 1>of an emergence of great restaurants, entertainment venues, um and

0:10:02.760 --> 0:10:05.240
<v Speaker 1>things for people just have a high quality of life. Obviously,

0:10:05.280 --> 0:10:07.400
<v Speaker 1>we've always had great these themes and and there and

0:10:07.520 --> 0:10:10.599
<v Speaker 1>performing arts. UM. One of the things that I was

0:10:10.679 --> 0:10:15.319
<v Speaker 1>my greatest concern is the small businesses in particularly restaurants

0:10:15.320 --> 0:10:19.760
<v Speaker 1>and entertainment arenas, because that has in a city like Washington,

0:10:19.840 --> 0:10:23.640
<v Speaker 1>that has happened in cities across America. UM. Those ecosystems

0:10:23.679 --> 0:10:27.680
<v Speaker 1>took decades to build, and this is going to be

0:10:27.840 --> 0:10:33.400
<v Speaker 1>really difficult for many, many, many of those establishments to survive. UM.

0:10:33.440 --> 0:10:38.040
<v Speaker 1>Even if you get back, very few restaurants are viable

0:10:38.200 --> 0:10:41.040
<v Speaker 1>on fifty percent capacity, which is what people are saying.

0:10:41.120 --> 0:10:43.760
<v Speaker 1>They can't pay the rent on fifty campath, they can't

0:10:43.760 --> 0:10:47.120
<v Speaker 1>pay their other expenses too, and that's the recommended guidance.

0:10:47.280 --> 0:10:49.599
<v Speaker 1>And you know, these are businesses that even with p

0:10:49.760 --> 0:10:51.920
<v Speaker 1>p P and other things, just don't have the capital

0:10:51.960 --> 0:10:56.480
<v Speaker 1>to withstand a long period where they're out of business.

0:10:56.679 --> 0:10:59.640
<v Speaker 1>And it's something that we're I'm part of a group

0:10:59.640 --> 0:11:03.080
<v Speaker 1>in d See that's totally focused on this because it's

0:11:03.160 --> 0:11:06.000
<v Speaker 1>such an important issue for a quality of life, for employment,

0:11:06.040 --> 0:11:08.920
<v Speaker 1>for everything in our city, but in so many and

0:11:08.960 --> 0:11:12.080
<v Speaker 1>I hope this is something that uh, you know, political

0:11:12.160 --> 0:11:14.640
<v Speaker 1>leaders and people in government really focus on because it

0:11:14.800 --> 0:11:17.360
<v Speaker 1>is the most vulnerable of the small businesses. It will

0:11:17.400 --> 0:11:20.240
<v Speaker 1>be the last to come back. There is a misnomer

0:11:20.320 --> 0:11:23.880
<v Speaker 1>that opening them up at less capacity or just doing

0:11:23.920 --> 0:11:26.880
<v Speaker 1>delivery is is viable, and it really isn't. It's a

0:11:27.200 --> 0:11:30.920
<v Speaker 1>it's a band aid at us and and I really

0:11:30.960 --> 0:11:32.559
<v Speaker 1>think it's going to take a lot of focus on

0:11:32.600 --> 0:11:34.640
<v Speaker 1>a good amount of resources to make sure we don't

0:11:34.679 --> 0:11:38.440
<v Speaker 1>destroy decades of process of progress in cities like ours.

0:11:39.280 --> 0:11:41.719
<v Speaker 1>So we need to talk sports. As Jason ted you

0:11:41.840 --> 0:11:45.560
<v Speaker 1>up earlier, Um, you know you're certainly well involved in

0:11:45.640 --> 0:11:48.160
<v Speaker 1>the sports world Mark as well. You are the founder

0:11:48.160 --> 0:11:52.319
<v Speaker 1>and owner of the Washington Castle's franchise, and more so

0:11:52.880 --> 0:11:54.959
<v Speaker 1>the sports world. We've been having a lot of conversations

0:11:55.000 --> 0:11:58.839
<v Speaker 1>about that. Certainly big events, sporting events, it's a while

0:11:58.880 --> 0:12:00.720
<v Speaker 1>before they come back. How do you see it and

0:12:00.720 --> 0:12:03.200
<v Speaker 1>what are the conversations, the smart conversations that you're having

0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:06.199
<v Speaker 1>around this. Yes, So we were in the middle of

0:12:06.200 --> 0:12:09.440
<v Speaker 1>our E sports season with the Overwatch League and had

0:12:09.600 --> 0:12:12.000
<v Speaker 1>gotten off to a great start with our first two

0:12:12.080 --> 0:12:15.200
<v Speaker 1>weekends and there was a huge amount of enthusiasm and

0:12:15.240 --> 0:12:17.240
<v Speaker 1>we had to put that on pause. The great thing

0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:19.720
<v Speaker 1>about E sports is the season has continued because people

0:12:19.720 --> 0:12:23.000
<v Speaker 1>can play virtually and uh, and so that's actually been

0:12:23.040 --> 0:12:25.000
<v Speaker 1>a bit of a blessing. The real the big one

0:12:25.000 --> 0:12:26.880
<v Speaker 1>I'm focused on is I'm now the owner of the

0:12:26.920 --> 0:12:30.400
<v Speaker 1>City Open Tennis tournament, which is the fifth biggest tennis

0:12:30.440 --> 0:12:32.760
<v Speaker 1>tournament in the United States. But it's actually the first

0:12:32.880 --> 0:12:35.920
<v Speaker 1>now tennis event back in the world since Wimbledon has

0:12:35.960 --> 0:12:39.960
<v Speaker 1>been canceled. Uh. That's on the schedule, UH. And it's

0:12:40.000 --> 0:12:42.959
<v Speaker 1>the first week in March, um and we're trying to

0:12:42.960 --> 0:12:44.640
<v Speaker 1>figure out if we're going to be able to play

0:12:44.679 --> 0:12:48.160
<v Speaker 1>it most realistically with either no fans or a small

0:12:48.240 --> 0:12:50.920
<v Speaker 1>number of fans now. And I think this is really

0:12:50.960 --> 0:12:53.719
<v Speaker 1>instructive because this also precames to a number of our

0:12:53.760 --> 0:12:57.280
<v Speaker 1>other businesses. On the surface, you can imagine it shouldn't

0:12:57.280 --> 0:13:01.520
<v Speaker 1>be that hard to cat didn't protect you know, a

0:13:01.640 --> 0:13:05.160
<v Speaker 1>hundred tennis players, male and female tennis players and their

0:13:05.200 --> 0:13:07.640
<v Speaker 1>staff by the time we get to August, that should be.

0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:10.120
<v Speaker 1>But I will say, when you really peel back the

0:13:10.120 --> 0:13:12.240
<v Speaker 1>onion and you go layer and layer and layer in

0:13:12.360 --> 0:13:14.680
<v Speaker 1>what it's going to take to make it absolutely safe,

0:13:15.000 --> 0:13:17.440
<v Speaker 1>it's much more daunting than it looks at the surface.

0:13:17.520 --> 0:13:20.400
<v Speaker 1>And I think That's why you see in other sports

0:13:20.640 --> 0:13:23.480
<v Speaker 1>people saying we're going to be back and we're gonna

0:13:23.559 --> 0:13:26.079
<v Speaker 1>go play in a neutral place, or we're going to

0:13:26.160 --> 0:13:29.840
<v Speaker 1>create these bubbles, and then they get delayed and delayed

0:13:29.920 --> 0:13:32.720
<v Speaker 1>because the more you dig into it, the harder it is. Now,

0:13:33.640 --> 0:13:36.080
<v Speaker 1>I do believe there's answers. I believe tennis is a

0:13:36.080 --> 0:13:39.240
<v Speaker 1>sport that you should be able to play. Whether we

0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:41.480
<v Speaker 1>can figure it out in August, we've got another month

0:13:41.559 --> 0:13:44.160
<v Speaker 1>to make. That decision is something we're working day and

0:13:44.280 --> 0:13:46.079
<v Speaker 1>night on and a lot of people are working on.

0:13:46.520 --> 0:13:50.240
<v Speaker 1>I would just say that, um, it's a lot harder

0:13:50.360 --> 0:13:53.200
<v Speaker 1>because you really do want to make sure it's absolutely safe,

0:13:53.240 --> 0:13:55.160
<v Speaker 1>and the amount of things that have to come together

0:13:55.200 --> 0:13:59.839
<v Speaker 1>to create an absolutely safe environment is um is very complex,

0:14:00.559 --> 0:14:02.720
<v Speaker 1>and so who I will also say that sports is

0:14:02.720 --> 0:14:06.000
<v Speaker 1>critical to the psychology of our country and everyone wants

0:14:06.080 --> 0:14:08.840
<v Speaker 1>to come back. You know. Yeah, No, it's it's a

0:14:08.960 --> 0:14:10.760
<v Speaker 1>it's a great point. And I mean and Carol and

0:14:10.760 --> 0:14:13.360
<v Speaker 1>I have had the good fortune of UH broadcasting from

0:14:13.360 --> 0:14:16.240
<v Speaker 1>the US Open for the last few years, and you know,

0:14:16.240 --> 0:14:18.040
<v Speaker 1>it's something we look forward to, and I know that

0:14:18.360 --> 0:14:20.920
<v Speaker 1>UH City Open is is a great run up to

0:14:20.920 --> 0:14:24.400
<v Speaker 1>to that. I mean, I do wonder Mark, who were

0:14:24.440 --> 0:14:28.160
<v Speaker 1>you sort of taking your cues from uh in that regard,

0:14:28.240 --> 0:14:32.200
<v Speaker 1>because one thing we know about tennis is um it's complicated,

0:14:32.560 --> 0:14:35.320
<v Speaker 1>to say the least in terms of the governance and

0:14:35.320 --> 0:14:38.200
<v Speaker 1>and all the decision making. And I know you're probably

0:14:38.240 --> 0:14:40.760
<v Speaker 1>looking even beyond tennis to things like even what we

0:14:40.800 --> 0:14:44.520
<v Speaker 1>saw with the UFC over the weekend and the discussions

0:14:44.520 --> 0:14:48.040
<v Speaker 1>that baseball is having. How do you sort of formulate

0:14:48.320 --> 0:14:51.360
<v Speaker 1>a strategy? Who are you looking to here? Yes? So

0:14:51.440 --> 0:14:54.920
<v Speaker 1>the good thing about times like this is it really

0:14:54.920 --> 0:14:57.560
<v Speaker 1>does bring people together. And I'll tell you the tennis world,

0:14:57.600 --> 0:14:59.520
<v Speaker 1>I think is a great example that you kind of

0:14:59.560 --> 0:15:03.600
<v Speaker 1>describe the traditional balkanization of the grand plans, the A

0:15:03.680 --> 0:15:06.320
<v Speaker 1>t P, the w t A, the governing bodies, etcetera.

0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:09.760
<v Speaker 1>But but in this time people have really come together

0:15:10.120 --> 0:15:14.240
<v Speaker 1>UM to collaborate. And so we're working very closely with

0:15:14.280 --> 0:15:15.920
<v Speaker 1>the A t P, the w t A, the U

0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:18.520
<v Speaker 1>S t A in our city to figure out the

0:15:18.520 --> 0:15:21.400
<v Speaker 1>city open. And you know, people may or may not

0:15:21.440 --> 0:15:23.400
<v Speaker 1>have seen, but there's been talking about the men's and

0:15:23.440 --> 0:15:26.960
<v Speaker 1>women's towards actually merging results of this would which would

0:15:27.000 --> 0:15:28.960
<v Speaker 1>have a lot of benefit, and it would take a

0:15:29.040 --> 0:15:31.920
<v Speaker 1>time of crisis to actually force people to think differently,

0:15:32.400 --> 0:15:35.480
<v Speaker 1>and also the experience of collaborating, which they've been doing

0:15:35.520 --> 0:15:38.240
<v Speaker 1>and seeing how well it can work. So um, i'd

0:15:38.280 --> 0:15:41.400
<v Speaker 1>say people are working really really well together. But but

0:15:41.560 --> 0:15:44.480
<v Speaker 1>but the bigger point you make, which contains everything outside

0:15:44.480 --> 0:15:46.400
<v Speaker 1>of sports, and to bring back to where we were

0:15:46.440 --> 0:15:51.640
<v Speaker 1>with why Castle created this framework is because it's extraordinary

0:15:51.720 --> 0:15:55.200
<v Speaker 1>to me how there really is a lack of authoritative

0:15:55.240 --> 0:15:58.960
<v Speaker 1>sources on any of this. And you know we've spent

0:15:59.120 --> 0:16:02.600
<v Speaker 1>I mean I spent seven days a week, pretty much

0:16:02.760 --> 0:16:06.480
<v Speaker 1>all day devouring every bit of information I can either

0:16:06.560 --> 0:16:10.880
<v Speaker 1>read or talk to experts or participate on calls. And

0:16:11.440 --> 0:16:14.320
<v Speaker 1>there is no authoritative source on any of this, and

0:16:15.160 --> 0:16:19.479
<v Speaker 1>um and and and the experts can degree can disagree

0:16:19.520 --> 0:16:22.800
<v Speaker 1>to a huge extent on, for instance, the accuracy of

0:16:22.840 --> 0:16:26.360
<v Speaker 1>the tests. Some experts will tell you the test if

0:16:26.360 --> 0:16:29.520
<v Speaker 1>they're FDA proved and the sample is good, that they

0:16:29.640 --> 0:16:34.040
<v Speaker 1>are close to accurate. Other real experts will tell you

0:16:34.120 --> 0:16:37.320
<v Speaker 1>publicly and some privately, that there's as much as the

0:16:38.520 --> 0:16:43.440
<v Speaker 1>false negative. Right, this is an issue that I have

0:16:43.600 --> 0:16:47.440
<v Speaker 1>not seen people as focused on as I would expect

0:16:47.520 --> 0:16:52.240
<v Speaker 1>because it is literally extreme opinions from people who are

0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:55.800
<v Speaker 1>considered the world's experts. And depending on where you come

0:16:55.840 --> 0:16:59.600
<v Speaker 1>on out on that dramatically changes your projection of where

0:16:59.600 --> 0:17:01.800
<v Speaker 1>the world going and how you build systems around it,

0:17:01.920 --> 0:17:04.479
<v Speaker 1>because if the test is accurate, you can do one thing,

0:17:04.520 --> 0:17:06.639
<v Speaker 1>and if it's not, you have to do very different things.

0:17:06.720 --> 0:17:10.920
<v Speaker 1>And so yeah, again it's it's and and I'd say

0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:13.199
<v Speaker 1>that's one of the extreme examples, but I'm seeing that

0:17:13.400 --> 0:17:16.359
<v Speaker 1>in virtually every element of how do you bring people

0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:18.399
<v Speaker 1>back to work? And that was Mark On, chairman of

0:17:18.400 --> 0:17:20.479
<v Speaker 1>Castle Systems. I've got to know him a little bit

0:17:20.520 --> 0:17:24.760
<v Speaker 1>over the years, Carol. He's a fascinating figure, especially in Washington.

0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:31.960
<v Speaker 1>Actually owns Katherine Graham's old house there in Georgetown. It's beautiful, uh.

0:17:32.000 --> 0:17:34.160
<v Speaker 1>And he's really a guy who's plugged in. I think

0:17:34.160 --> 0:17:36.760
<v Speaker 1>you've got that sense from the conversation of all these

0:17:36.760 --> 0:17:38.720
<v Speaker 1>different things that he's playing in. And we also got

0:17:38.720 --> 0:17:41.479
<v Speaker 1>a sense, Jason, of kind of what the future office

0:17:41.560 --> 0:17:43.439
<v Speaker 1>looks like. And he said a lot of systems actually

0:17:43.520 --> 0:17:45.600
<v Speaker 1>technology wise, are in place already. It's just a case

0:17:45.600 --> 0:17:47.439
<v Speaker 1>of kind of turning them on, but get ready for

0:17:47.480 --> 0:17:50.040
<v Speaker 1>a very different office environment, at least based on Mark

0:17:50.080 --> 0:17:53.399
<v Speaker 1>Iron's observations. You've been listening to Bloomberg Business Week Extra,

0:17:53.680 --> 0:17:55.760
<v Speaker 1>and be sure to tune into Bloomberg Business Week Radio

0:17:55.880 --> 0:17:58.440
<v Speaker 1>Live Money Through Party at two pm Wall Street Time.

0:17:58.720 --> 0:18:01.359
<v Speaker 1>On Bloomberg Radio, I'm Jay to Kill and I'm Carol Masser,

0:18:01.560 --> 0:18:03.520
<v Speaker 1>and this is Bloombird m