How I met Gary Vee today

It was 12:06pm today and I was staring at my computer screen. I just completed delivery day — the day at which all of the week’s video work would be sent out to clients for the first time. Since my editor works in the Phillipene’s, I had a time limit before he should be going to sleep.

But instead of solely delivering videos to clients, I decided I wanted to post a YouTube video tomorrow, meaning I need the final edits delivered today.

Might as well cram it all in right?

Revision after revision this morning finally led to the what was supposed to be the final upload until I saw Manicotti spelled “MONICOTTI” — which is on me of course. That should have been caught 3 revisions prior. So another 25 minutes later I finally get that video delivered and clients happily got their work on time.

My mom to the rescue

At 12:05pm my mom offered me to come to 12:30pm lunch with her friend — which typically I would say no to. Though today was perfect for that request. Why?

Her time request forced me to make a quick decision. More detail here:

Summer Solstice (today or tomorrow) is the day with the largest amount of daylight of the year. I learned the value of this day back in High School. My favorite golf course, Bethpage Black, offered $25 golf rounds 4pm or later on weekdays. In the middle of September, these golf rounds would always get cut short due to darkness; however on summer solstice, 18 holes is all but guaranteed.

And better yet, the Bethpage Black is hosting the Ryder Cup (USA vs Europe HUGE golf tournament) this year, which adds extra incentive to play the course before the pros do. I haven’t yet played and NEED to be sure I get out there.

Thus, one part of me votes golf at 4pm.

The other part of me wanted to go west side of NYC. Where to? You guessed it — the Javits Center.

When I was at the Javits on Wednesday, I noticed another tradeshow running this weekend that looked quite unbelievable.

Fanatics Fest.

Michael Rubin’s once sports memorobilia company turned conglomerate hosted a massive tradeshow that to be honest would have been a dream for me to attend as a kid. The collective fame of Athletes in that center is ridiculous. Tom Brady, Lebron James, Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Joe Montana, Mike Piazza, and the list goes on and on to younger superstars like CJ Stroud, Victor Wembayana, and entertainers like Ice Cube, Kevin Hart, and Logan Paul.

I’d figure 99% of people bought tickets for the big fish in the small pond: the opportunity to get up close to a famous celebrity they have looked up to their entire life. Again, something young Jack would have loved.

Back to my mom

There was a reason my mom’s request was perfectly timed. If I avoided the decision, I would have taken the easy route and continued to work on projects until ~3pm and head to Bethpage for an evening round. Look it would have been a great experience, but 100% the wrong decision.

Instead, my mom’s lunch request incentivized me to get up off my chair, into the shower, changed, packed, and into the car in time to eat the quickest lunch of all time and make the next train to Penn Station.

By the way, great lunch. Butera’s. Grilled Chicken over Quinoa and Veggies. Super, super clutch. I wasn’t even that hugry but ate it all knowing that I would be short of time to eat for a while.

Back to the pond

I get to the city and sprint over to the fanatics fest with 3 hours to spare. Plenty of time IMO. Even though the ticket was $70 I only cared to go for 2 hours anyway.

When I walked in, I was in awe of the autograph area showing Phil Simms, CC Sabathia and Jorge Posada. AND these are just the C-listers.

So many kids, so many sports jerseys. Perfect. Thesis was correct.

Everyone and their mother was chasing athletes and sports experiences, but a small percentage of attendees spent time in such a cool section that I had never before appreciated: the Collectibles.

And who is the guy that raved about collectibles so much that he started his own digital collection: Gary Vee.

But remember, Gary Vee is not Tom Brady. He’s not the A lister of the expo. He’s on the C Team.

What does that mean? He could be accessible.

Yesterday, he posted on LinkedIn that he’ll be at Fanatics fest 6.20 and 6.21 at the Veefriends booth.

My luck has it when I walked in, my phone cut out of service . The tradeshow was massive and figuring out where this Vee Friends booth is located was a massive undertaking.

I started meandering around the collectibles area, but I forgot that Vee Friends is a big budget brand — they weren’t going to get a small table in the corner. And low and behold, I saw a 10 person line with a man in the front smiling and doing interviews like I’ve seen 1000 times all over social media: the man the myth the legend.

Gary Vee.

I stand in line and played a game on Chess.com which took about 20 minutes but when I got to the front I realized I had a BIG issue: dry breath — no food or drink since lunch. I needed a mint or gum. BADLY. Or else Gary may remember me for my breath.

I ask the girl next to me — nope

Cameraman behind me — nope

Kid behind me already chewing gum — yes.

Thank GD.

I take his only remaining piece as the other 5 slots were filled with ABC gum (a tactic I’ve never seen before). I grab a piece, throw it in my mouth, and I kid you not, 8 seconds later, the lady in front of me says — YOU’RE UP.

This gum is that Dentine gum that crumbs up before it turns into that gum form. It’s now in crumby gum form. I tell myself gum pellets could not be released into Gary’s Face. I was going to put the ABC gum in my pocket and suck it up. Then, I was reminded of my savior: the Javits Center Bag Check. Diana’s team always looking out for me.

I had a Pink Slip that I spat the gum bits and some saliva into (non-shaking hand), threw it in my pocket, hopped up to Gary with nice fresh breath, and got my 60 seconds.

Exhale.

It’s interesting. Put me in front of a famous person. No fear. I realized this after meeting Justin Fields in a Hotel at OSU graduation in 2023. I just look at them as fellow entrepreneurs who made it. They are humans like everyone else. What is there to be nervous about?

I stood there and I’ll keep what we discussed between the two of us.

I was so grateful to have that moment knowing that he is extremely tough to get a hold of.

And funny enough after Gary, I got super up close to Logan Paul with 14 year old fans, who don’t realize they needed deodorant, hounding him for autographs. Legit barking.

Again, I’m in a blissful state, no request for autographs. just wanted to get up close and feel the vibe. Made me realize I was happy to be Jack Grunberg in that moment.

I sat in a few other panels featuring athletes like Russel Wilson, Allan Houston, RG3, amongst others. I even said hi to Joey Chestnut who was doing an engagement with Cane’s.

If you are considering going to the Fanatics Fest — all I’ll say… I had a great time.

If you made it this far, let me know!

Have a great weekend.

-Jack