Overwhelmed with Tech Brands

Today I attended the Bild Expo (B&H Sponsored) - which made me realize how insanely profitable B&H must be. Though there is one takeaway as a creator that I cannot get out of my head.

Simple, Effective Advice

Before I get into it, I received an amazing piece of advice today from the DP of MrBeast (Beast). The real draw for me to attend this conference today was a panel featuring this dude alongside the head of post at Beast. Super insightful panel, though truly awful audience questions — 1/3 questions were “where did you go to college and did you like it?” LIKE WHAT

Fortunately they spent time after the speaking engagement to speak with audience members directly. Thank GD I was second in line because the first person went for 7 minutes straight. People in the back probably had to wait an hour to speak with them.

The question I had — and always ask these days — is how to level up my network and surround myself with high performers in their industry. His advice was dead simple and something I had done in my previous career but haven’t thought about since:

Ask to shadow people.

So simple, yet so obvious.

Quick Shoutout

Shoutout to Diane(a?) who works the bag-check for Javits events. I’ve known her since the 2022 Fancy Food Show and when I saw her today she told me she reads the blog! Would never have expected that in a million years. Always great to reconnect - if you’re reading this, I owe you another jar of Tomato Sauce next week!

An Insane Revelation

I have been to 10-15 Expos since leaving Wall Street, but until today none have been tech-focused. The Bild Expo at Javitz was completely free as the main sponsor, B&H, hooks you in with the free expo to sell you on the equipment. Great strategy. They hooked me!

There was an older man standing outside the expo center holding this 1940s Camera and when I asked him for some advice with the expo, he said “they’re going to try to sell you everything.”

Great advice - kept me in check despite what the 6:47pm B&H receipt shows. (Will reveal new equipment stack at the end)

Let’s jump into the revelation. I don’t have enough time to go full storytelling mode now.

I did not realize the number of brands I work with when making videos. Walking around the expo and chatting with brand reps for so many existing suppliers for me was truly awesome. Realizing that each of these brands is potential partnership opened my eyes to a completely new component of the creator economy.

Bottom of the log is a list off the top of my head of brands that I actively use. I’d estimate 60% of them had a presence today at the conference (mostly hardware). The revelation was the fact that I use 45+ different brands in my workflow. And I’m only 1+ years in…

-Jack

PS Today’s Equipment Upgrades:

• Sony FX3

• Sigma 24-70

• DJI RS4 Pro

• Godox v1 Pro

Thumbnail Photo: @reallouismendes