Matt Weitzel: 0:00

Hey listeners, some things have changed since the last episode of the GSE podcast. Fortbrand has officially acquired Xced, and everyone from the Xced team is excited to be part of Fortbrand family. If you're a customer of either company, rest assured this transition won't interrupt your service. Fortbrand has retained all of its employees, as well as the entire Xced team, so the people that you know and trust are still right here. The great news is that Fortbrand brings even more to the table. In addition to flexible leasing solutions, they offer full service maintenance, operate their own maintenance shops and have the ability to wrap that support directly into your lease. We'll dive deeper into what this means in future episodes, but for now, I would like to extend my gratitude to everyone who listens to and supports this podcast. Without you, there is no GSE Podcast. Now here's a short message from our sponsor, and then we're on to the show.

Matt Weitzel: 0:58

The GSE Podcast is brought to you by Fortbrand, a premier provider of ground support and airport maintenance equipment. Fort Brand offers flexible short-term and long-term leasing options, full service maintenance and a growing inventory of ready-to-ship units across North America. Whether you need GSE for seasonal spikes or long-term growth, fort Brand delivers a reliability and support your operation demands. Learn more at fortbrandcom. All right, well, welcome to the GSE podcast. I'm Matt Weitzel and I'm here with Jennifer Zucchino, john Jezzo and Jenny Leskoher. How's it going Good, doing good.

Jon Jezo: 1:42

Doing great. Matt, Thanks for having us.

Matt Weitzel: 1:44

Yeah, we're here to talk about the GSE Expo in Las Vegas that's coming up in September and I think we are going to have a great time discussing what everybody can look forward to and what is upcoming. And everybody can kind of dive into this show as they fly in to Las Vegas and figure out what they're going to do when they get there. What's going to look like and what is this beer garden about. That sounds wonderful, yeah, I think so A lot of exciting things to cover.

Matt Weitzel: 2:17

Yeah, exactly. So, Jen, we're going to start with you. Why don't you kind of talk about IEMA and talk about yourself for a little bit, and then any kind of like tidbits you want to give us on the show?

Jennifer Zecchino: 2:28

Great. Well, thank you, matt, for having me a part of this podcast, and IEMA is very honored and we look forward to having you and Exceed exhibit with us at the upcoming GSE Expo as well, on the 16th through the 18th of September. So I do represent IEMA. I am an executive director. I have been on the IEMA board for eight years now and have enjoyed every minute of it. I've enjoyed working with great people like John, and Jenny is new to the team but, matt, with your company as well, iema has been around since 2009.

Jennifer Zecchino: 3:04

For those of you that don't know, we've been around for quite some time and we have partnered with kind of a long partner standing relationship with Endeavor on this show. We used to kind of in the past, just have a show every other year and Endeavor was our partner, iema's partner, with that. They did all the really the heavy lifting. They do all of the sales. That's John's team and Alicia. They do all the marketing for us. They work with Shepard Full Circle. Everyone that is exhibiting there will have touch points with all of those companies and that's all with leadership of Endeavor and us working together closely with IEMA so they help us pick our venues.

Jennifer Zecchino: 3:45

We will be announcing a new one, but it won't be till the show. So that's exciting. I can't wait for that to come and that announcement as well. But we work very closely with Endeavor, so it's a great relationship with IEMA. I have moved into a new role where I'm not in a leadership position with them now, but instead the executive director role where I really kind of herd cats, if you will. I've got seven board members all across the GSE platform with. We've got Cobus, we've got, you know, tld, the Elvest family, we've got Oshkosh Aerotech, vestigard, a part of the board Malahan, powerstow and our newest board member with ACT, which is Advanced Charging Technologies. So I get to work very, very closely with those board members to be able to give you guys the best show along with Endeavor that we can every other year. So we look forward to that partnership a lot with.

Matt Weitzel: 4:44

Endeavor that we can every other year. So we look forward to that partnership a lot. That's amazing. Thank you so much for filling us in on that, jen John. Kind of explain from your perspective how Endeavor works with IEMA and then kind of introduce yourself a little bit.

Jon Jezo: 4:56

Sure thing. Thank you, matt, and thanks for having me. My name is John Juzzo and I am a sales manager with Endeavor Business Media. We are the partner with IEMA to host the International GSE Expo that will be in Las Vegas this year and, for anybody wondering date specific, it'd be September 16th through the 18th right at the Las Vegas Convention Center. So, looking forward to that. Basically, my role in this sales organization and trade show event is to help everyone who's exhibiting get set up with their booth, choose the space kind of work out. Some of those display different nuances that they want to present, but overall I help manage the trade show floor and sell booths. So we're very excited. It's been a very strong year. Right now, overall, what we're looking at is about 210 exhibitors to date that are on board and will be displaying brand new products, lots of new unveilings.

Jon Jezo: 5:54

So we're very excited for that is. We work very closely with Jen's team at IEMA to make sure all the final details are executed just so perfectly and all the sponsorships and things are executed and set up for all of our attendees. With that said, this year has got to change in the show a little bit and it's all great. It's going to be a larger venue from what we had in the past. Specifically, we are up thousands of square feet as exhibitors have kind of shifted their minds and gone with much larger display, and I think that coincides with the excitement that's been building with a lot of the new products that are coming. There's a lot of big products coming, which is very exciting, but right now we're looking at like 200,000 square feet indoors and out here of all sorts of new GSE products, technologies, service offering, really, you name it One of those things that right now pacing is going very well.

Jon Jezo: 6:55

Or we're looking at registration looks very strong. So we are pacing up from years prior. So 2023, which is a great event, but we are still on board and expecting maybe 2,000, 2,500 attendees, which is great, right? I mean it's definitely an event that, if you're in the GAC market, you're likely going to be at the GAC Expo and along with that, we encourage all of our GAC Expo partners to become IEMA members. That's just something that helps really better the industry and the market and we look forward to having everyone's input and participation as we move the world forward in GSE.

Matt Weitzel: 7:33

Yeah, I would be shocked if somebody wasn't an IEMA member. So, jen, what percentage are we looking at of IEMA members to exhibitors? Do you know, or just a guess at least members and then two exhibitors. Do you know?

Jennifer Zecchino: 7:46

or just a guess. At least so believe it or not. Only a fourth are actually members.

Matt Weitzel: 7:50

Oh, wow, Okay, yeah, and I think that, well then, this is great, right, Because you know a lot of people listen to this podcast. Maybe they don't know what IEMA is and now they can look at maybe getting a membership for 2027, or it'll also help out with GSE Expo Europe, I imagine in 2026.

Jennifer Zecchino: 8:11

Is that correct? That is correct. So what we were doing so effective. Actually, tomorrow is your last day that you can become an IEMA member, so 1st of July 2025 is the last day you can become an IEMA member for the 2025 show, which then IEMA and Endeavor since we are partnered generously gives you a 10% off discount just for your show, amongst other things, and then we'll start up our 2026 membership September 1. And that then will help with our GSE Expo Europe show.

Matt Weitzel: 8:43

Okay so, and then everybody can go online to what? To get that information.

Jennifer Zecchino: 8:48

So the best thing for them to do is we do have a fairly new website. You can go to info at IEMAorg and request information to become an IEMA member. The best is to really reach out to me directly at jmatasy M-A-T-A-S-Y at iemaorg and request to be a member, and then I will go ahead and forward you your annual invoice, monthly or annual dues, which is actually only a thousand dollars, which does a lot more. It's really grown our platform of what we've given our members. It used to be just the 10%, but we've gotten a lot of feedback and want to retain our members and want that really to grow.

Jennifer Zecchino: 9:35

And so now what we have done is we have not just one show every other year. We do have a show now every year, one in the um in the U? S, and then one in Europe, and then we also offer a lot of marketing collateral. So you'll see it at the show in different areas, whether it's at the booth, whether it is aisle flags, whether it's a fence banner. We also are doing a lot more on social media and promoting a lot of our new members. Our board Endeavor has been very generous as well and gives out a substantial discount on any advertising and Jenny will probably cover that as well on the publication side. And also IEMA gives back to our members at the end of every show. In the 2023 show with Endeavor, anyone who was an active IEMA member got their entire electric bill paid for for just being an IEMA member.

Matt Weitzel: 10:27

I remember that I was so happy about that.

Jennifer Zecchino: 10:31

It didn't matter the cost. You know, the board said we want to give back and our members spoke and they said the best way for you to get back would be to just pay our electric bill, because that was their biggest expense. So this year we're going to be putting out to our members hey, what is helpful. And, as John kind of covered, we've grown so much with the floor space that so many of our manufacturers have actually gone indoors because Las Vegas is getting hotter and the air conditioning it's hard to really put air conditioning in those tents. So you'll notice that a lot of our larger OEMs are now indoors.

Jennifer Zecchino: 11:03

We still have a great, a great outdoor space and exhibit as well. But it's a shift in the climate. It's a shift in what people are doing, going electric, it's you know. So the board will look at that and we will vote and then we will be sending out a message to our members that our members July 1 and before and they will benefit from being a part of this, I think almost ever since I started at XSEED, because when I was working for TUG, now Textron GSE, they were obviously members of IEMA since the beginning and I knew the value.

Matt Weitzel: 11:50

So XSEED joined right away and I definitely see the value in it and I'm glad that you kind of was able to give everybody an overview of what IEMA is and what IEMA does for their members. I'm a big fan of padding myself underneath the carpet. I go with the biggest padding possible. They got two inch. I'm going two inch padding because there's nothing worse than standing on concrete for three days straight. It's miserable. So, matt, goes big on the padding. So, just like, just FYI for all those exhibitors that are listening to this right now, go big on the padding. You're not going to regret it. Your feet are going to thank you at the end of the show.

Jon Jezo: 12:28

So that was my public service announcement. You were spot on, matt.

Matt Weitzel: 12:32

Great note, great note yeah yeah, I've been doing this for a while, so, all right, let's meet. Jenny, why don't you introduce yourself? You are fairly new to GSE.

Jenny Lescohier: 12:47

I am, I am. Thank you, matt. I'm happy to be here. I just joined the staff in January of this year, so I'm about six months in. I'm new to aviation, kind of.

Jenny Lescohier: 12:53

I have spent the last 25-some years writing for trade media, but more in the construction and equipment rental spaces, and so you know I'm coming in from the perspective. There are a lot of similarities, surprisingly, between that industry and aviation, or at least in the ground support segment of it, because it all comes down to fleet management. You know that's like big equipment fleets and that's something that I've been covering for decades. But just a fun fact is I actually started in aviation for a very tiny hot minute there in 1994 and 95 when I left my newspaper job and the big holy grail in journalism was to kind of graduate from that sort of thing into the world of trade media, because that's where it was a little bit more easier to make a living, if you will.

Jenny Lescohier: 13:47

But it happens that in the town that I was living in here in Fort Atkinson, wisconsin, it's kind of a hotbed of trade media and there was a company, johnson Hill Press, and they published a bunch of construction titles but they also had airport business and aircraft maintenance technology, which are ironically now part of Aviation Pros. So my first job in trade media was for Airport Business Magazine and so it was only a year, but I was able to go to several trade shows back in the 90s for aviation. So it's kind of a full circle moment for me right now, you know, coming back to this industry, and I'm excited to see what will happen at Expo, if I'll I mean, I don't think I'll see a lot of faces that I remember from 1995. But but it's, it's kind of a nice like tied up kind of circle for me.

Matt Weitzel: 14:36

No, I love it. Yeah, I'm excited, yeah, and so so you've been. You've been dealing with kind of B2B businesses, writing, being an editor for years and years and years. You're new to GSE, but you're definitely not new to anything else you know as far as that goes. So you've been to a lot of expos. I'm sure. Yes, you've been to Vegas a couple of times, right?

Jenny Lescohier: 15:00

Oh, you know, I think I can't even count, but I bet it's getting close to 60 times. I'm not kidding because I mean at least twice a year for the last almost 30 years, you know. And so yeah, it's crazy.

Matt Weitzel: 15:12

No, there's a gambler's hotline we can hook you up with, but we'll do it after the show, for sure. Yeah, all right. So let's kind of dive into the show now. John, why don't you start? We are going to talk about what is new for 2025 at the GSE Expo.

Jon Jezo: 15:33

For sure. So a lot of new and exciting things, as we have been kind of revamping and taking feedback from the IMMA membership and our exhibitors and gauging different ideas and thoughts. They have to tweak the show, something that's part of our process after every show in an exhibition is gather that feedback as we plan out for the next event, and we got lots of wonderful feedback coming off of the 2023 show. So, with that said, we have a few new things. One of those things is a new, enhanced demo zone. So we now have the demo zone. It's back, it's bigger, reimagined it as far as how it works, how the exhibitors can present to all of the attendees, but basically it's outdoors, outdoors, and the demo zone is going to be given a new flavor in that there'll be some scheduled presentation times in addition to allowing exhibitors to take their customers and attendees out to do a demonstration whenever the time is right for them. With that, we're going to have some afternoon scheduling of basically a presentation from each of the demo zone participants, and that's going to be on Tuesday, wednesday and Thursday in the afternoon and their shade, don't worry everyone. We know it's going to be hot, but we asked.

Jon Jezo: 16:49

One of the enhancements and improvements is that we have added some shaded seating, some areas to sit and get some refreshments, and then there's gonna be some other fun and exciting things from some of the exhibitors and that is some prizes and giveaways. It's all part of the exhibitors and that is some prizes and giveaways. It's all part of the innovation here for the Demo Zone and really I must say Demo Zone. A big piece to this, coming back, is a big thank you to one of our sponsors, which is PCS, which is Powertrain Control Solutions. They stepped up in a big way to really help us ramp up the demo zone, make it bigger and better than it ever has been. So big thank you to the PCS crew. We're excited and we thank all of our attendees and exhibitors. But we're excited too With that. We have a couple other new things and I think I'd like to turn it over to Jen to speak to them, because these are very awesome things that IEMA has really helped us dream up.

Jennifer Zecchino: 17:46

Jen, you want to take it away. Yeah, thank you, john. So this year IEMA is going to have a social gathering right next to the demo zone and it is called the Layover Lounge. So we have a subcommittee of OEMs that join us every two weeks and it's a bunch of marketing people and there's other individuals that are on there as well, and so we wanted to rename it something a little bit more creative. So a shout out to Paul at Mercury GSE for our new name, the Layover Lounge.

Jennifer Zecchino: 18:22

So we're looking to invite all of our attendees and our members to a very well shaded, covered, not air conditioned, but it's got big fans in there. That and snacks and beer and photos and cornhole and just something fun on the show floor that everyone can kind of enjoy kind of gathering around and kind of be social and not be kind of drug into booths. You know, and have to talk, talk, you know shop all the time, but just really kind of let your hair down and have a good time. So we're looking at good photo ops, we're looking at also promoting the women at GSE inside there as well Thursday afternoon and kind of give back to that group where we're going to be collecting. We're going to be having a clothing drive for them, so they'll be sharing that space with IEMA as well.

Jennifer Zecchino: 19:14

But we encourage everyone to come into this space. That will be covered. We'll have plenty of seating, we'll have snacks, plenty of water for everyone to grab. So please help yourself, don't be shy. We will be giving out the tickets for the beer. They will be in your giveaway bags, your registration bags. So when you guys get your tickets, your registration badge, make sure you grab an IEMA bag as well and that you get your two beer tickets in there as well, or soft drinks that you can take there. So we're just looking at having a welcoming and very inviting and open opportunity for everyone to enjoy their time at the show.

Matt Weitzel: 19:52

So sorry if I miss it. Where is the Layover Lounge located?

Jennifer Zecchino: 19:56

It is going to be right next to the demo zone.

Matt Weitzel: 19:58

Okay.

Jennifer Zecchino: 19:59

Yeah, we're going to have the demo zone. So if you open up the floor plan, the map on the GSE Expo website, it will be right next to it, so you'll see the demo zone. And then you'll see the layover lounge right next to it, so it'll be shaded again, well-fanned, plenty of water and snacks for everyone. And we really want to make this a destination where the feedback in 2023 was the demo zone really got lost. It was away from all of us exhibitors and it wasn't really driving the foot traffic. So we just want to let the exhibitors know we heard you loud and clear, and this subcommittee really helps with that, because these are the larger OEMs and we want to make sure you know your voice is heard.

Jennifer Zecchino: 20:42

You know those surveys. When they come back, we do take them seriously. You know we want to take action on them. We're not just answering them to just kill time, but that's feedback for us to be better, so that this show can be better for you guys. And that's what it's about. We want it to be great for the exhibitors and we want the attendees to have a good time as well. Without those two, we don't have a show. So, with that loud and clear voice. You know we're like yep, let's do this. So if the demo zone and the layover lounge will be outdoors with the other outdoor exhibitors, it'll draw people to you know again, want to stay there, want to share stories, want to take pictures and have you know. We want everyone to have a good time at the show.

Matt Weitzel: 21:22

Yeah, I think it's an amazing idea. It's a good way to bring all those people over near the demo zone so that way they make sure that they know it's there right. So if you make the layover lounge, you know great, and you give people free beer with tickets and stuff, they're going to head over there, then they're going to see the demo zone, they're going to see all those new product innovations those manufacturers have and kind of drive that traffic. I think it's a fantastic idea. Good job, guys. I love it. Thank you All right, so let's talk about there's not going to be golf this year through GSE Expo, but we're going to have a beer garden. Can somebody explain the beer garden to me?

Jennifer Zecchino: 21:58

So the beer garden is the layover lounge.

Matt Weitzel: 22:01

Okay, yeah, okay, same name different, two different things, same thing.

Jennifer Zecchino: 22:07

So we wanted to get away from that stigma of a beer garden.

Matt Weitzel: 22:11

Yeah.

Jennifer Zecchino: 22:12

And we wanted to make it more encompassing for those that are drinkers and those that are non-drinkers, but instead open it up to the entire floor. So we're like all are welcome.

Matt Weitzel: 22:24

I love it.

Jennifer Zecchino: 22:24

All are welcome to take photos. All are welcome to join the tickets. The two tickets are for every attendee, so look for them. You know, make sure you grab your bag when you grab your badge. And again, another value add to our members they will get additional tickets to hand to their customers that they can come back over to the lounge and get an extra beer cool off. You know, just a nicer place to kind of take a break. We're kind of in 2023. We didn't really have a lot of outdoor shaded area, we didn't have a lot of, you know, fans or circulation, so we wanted to again hearing everyone's voice in the survey. We wanted to incorporate that. So the beer garden now is the layover lounge.

Jennifer Zecchino: 23:07

Okay so that's where we'll be welcoming everyone, and we'll also be having a retirement party in there too. One of our dear and beloved board members, andreas Funk, will be retiring at this show, and he's with Cobus and he's near and dear to our heart. He's a founding father, so we'll be celebrating him and his retirement in the layover lounge as well.

Matt Weitzel: 23:28

So Okay, awesome. I'm glad that I got some clarification on that, because I had my lederhosen packed. They were ready to go for the beer garden and I'm just going to go ahead and I'm going to leave those at home, because that would be embarrassing if I were to show up at the layover lounge with those on.

Jennifer Zecchino: 23:42

So, all right, I think you should bring them that, because that would be a great photo op we need photo opportunities, so lederhosen are perfect.

Matt Weitzel: 23:49

Okay, yeah, and I'll bring my little German hat.

Jon Jezo: 23:52

We're comfortable with it, if you know, in the in the oasis, and that's the other new thing here that we're bringing to the outdoor area. So I just want to touch on that a little bit. Yeah, please, this is a new enhancement that goes alongside with the beer garden that IEMA is doing for everyone. But basically Oasis is a little bit more chill place to relax. It is again outdoors near the beer garden, near the beer garden, but basically once you get a beer or a beverage you'll be able to hang out, watch some demo zones, participants as they take place and do those demonstrations and as some of the exhibitors present their new equipment.

Jon Jezo: 24:30

But basically, Oasis is a great big tented area that is brought to you by PCS, Powertrain Control Solutions, but this is to provide some reprieve from the heat. It's going to have some fans and air movement in it, but also have some nice relaxing chairs and things so people can kind of hang out, especially as we're winding down the day and we're watching some demos and enjoying some beverages there in the layover lounge. So that's something to look forward to. We'll have some different areas there. You can recharge phones and different things like that, but you will have a front row seat in the Oasis to watch any of the action taking place in the demo zone, and I will mention that that Oasis is open for the duration of the show. So throughout the day of the show, if you need to sit down and relax, you have a spot and looking forward to seeing everyone in there. Because this is going to, as Jen alluded to, we have some exciting events taking place and some honorary things here for some of our newly retired.

Matt Weitzel: 25:28

Yeah, I can't wait. I think this is going to be the best show ever. I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty excited about it. You know, I think I've been going since 2008, 2007, 2008, something like that, so, but it's every other year. You know, I finally did get to go to the GSE Expo Europe in 2024 and saw Jen there.

Jennifer Zecchino: 25:48

Yes.

Matt Weitzel: 25:49

That was a fun show.

Jennifer Zecchino: 25:50

That was a good show. We'll be going back there next year to Lisbon.

Matt Weitzel: 25:54

Okay, will it be in the same place?

Jennifer Zecchino: 25:56

It will Okay yeah.

Matt Weitzel: 25:58

Nice, all right. And then, jenny, what are you most looking forward to? Because this will be your kind of your first time being able to interact with so many people in the GSE world all at one time, all in one week. So what are you really looking forward to?

Jenny Lescohier: 26:15

Well, I am now. I'm looking forward to the Oasis and the beer.

Matt Weitzel: 26:19

Yeah, I know Right. Yeah, I know right. We all are. We're all like, yeah, this is going to be awesome.

Jenny Lescohier: 26:23

Well, to be honest, I'm thinking back to the early days of the trade shows that I've been to and how we always we'd go to the ones in Europe where it was more of a party atmosphere, frankly, you know. And then, at least in the industries that I was covering, the United States shows were, you know more, all about business, you know, and what you guys are describing is it's exciting because it feels like it's going to have like a festive vibe about it, you know, and just sort of a theme of getting together and making connections with new people and sitting down and having a relaxing moment. And I think that's great. And so I'm excited about that, because the thing that I, you know, I've only been with the magazine for six months and so I haven't had a ton of opportunities to actually meet members of our audience and I really want to, you know, have some sit down time with actual ground support professionals who are familiar with our publication and with aviation pros and can talk to me about what is keeping them up at night, so we can tailor our editorial going forward to the things that are really important to our audience. So I'm really excited about that.

Jenny Lescohier: 27:32

I'm also very intrigued about seeing some of this equipment and, you know, wrapping my head around what some of this new technology is that I'm learning about, because, as I said, I've been writing about construction equipment for a really long time, and so this is in many ways it has similarities, but obviously it's very different. So this will be an opportunity for me to kick the tires, maybe even I don't know get in behind the wheel to see what it's like and figure out what these things really are. So it's going to be a learning experience for me from start to finish.

Matt Weitzel: 28:07

Yeah, you're going to be hanging out in that demo zone seeing what manufacturers are going to let you drive around the equipment. I like it, I think it's a great idea. Yeah, and then just, and then go, go over to the layover lounge. You know, just don't drink and drive. Ok, that's, that's. We're not asking much. Ok, jenny, but just refrain. Ok, yeah, this way till in the afternoon.

Jenny Lescohier: 28:29

Can I tell a quick story about?

Matt Weitzel: 28:31

Oh, please. We love stories in the GSE podcast.

Jenny Lescohier: 28:34

The very first trade show that I ever attended in the equipment rental space. Okay, it was a small regional show and it was in Fresno, california. It was in like the parking lot of some you know like hotel or something, and these regional reps had come with like one or two pieces of equipment. It wasn't a big thing, it was just to try to get local equipment buyers exposed to the equipment. And I want to say it was Wacker Noisen and they had one of their small double drum compactors on site and they had like a little course that you could sort of operate it in just to get a sense of it. Not to really it's not going to be compacting anything, but it was just to show its handling abilities or something.

Jenny Lescohier: 29:17

And somebody on staff thought well, this will be Jenny's first time getting behind the wheel of any kind of equipment. And so they put me in this little machine, and it wasn't even intimidating, it was great, and it literally was the lever goes forward to go forward and it goes backwards to go backward, okay, and then the rest of it, you're just stealing it or steering with the wheel. And I got a little nervous though, because it started to go faster than I anticipated and I knew that to stop it all I had to do was move this lever into the neutral position, but I, for whatever reason in my nervousness, could not seem to manage that. So I'm barreling straight for some of these other pieces of equipment that are on display and, like I could hear everybody in the side, no, no, put it in neutral. And finally one of the product managers kind of came over and like, got it done for me, but it was a close call. Nothing was damaged, but definitely not going to be having any beverages before I get behind the wheel.

Matt Weitzel: 30:20

Yeah, and I think that whole letting manufacturers demo their equipment I don't think that's happening anymore. After this story, I think everybody's going to go. You know what? We listened to the podcast. We're good. There's a great passenger seat, though We'll let you in that.

Jenny Lescohier: 30:33

Yeah, that's about right Now.

Matt Weitzel: 30:36

Jen, it's your turn now, because I didn't. I didn't really expect to do stories, but now that we're, we're telling, you know, expo stories. Oh no, what the heck. You know, let's go for one. Or does John want to go? John's got like a million, but I'm sure he'd have to, like take out manufacturers, names and statements they may or may not have made. Oh gosh, you don't, you don't, you don't have a good one, jen.

Jennifer Zecchino: 31:04

I'm trying to think of one. Oh my gosh.

Matt Weitzel: 31:07

I mean, while you're thinking I can tell, I can tell one. I don't think I told this story on the podcast, but I may have. So excuse the audience if I have, but I think it was edited out. So I, you know, I think we'll, we'll, we'll tell it. Um, so, basically I was, I have, but I think it was edited out. So, uh, you know, I think we'll, we'll, we'll tell it. Um, so basically I was, I was, it was my first time going to.

Matt Weitzel: 31:26

Well, I think it was my second time going to a show and I was in charge of the setup, just like I am now. I haven't really moved up in my career at all Um and um, and so I I got to leave the show early before breakdown and we had this huge crate and I was so excited because the guys said that they would do it and I'd always done the breakdown and the crate gets delivered. I'm on the road, I'm driving from Vegas to LA when I get the phone call that I have the keys to the lock for the crate and they couldn't get the crate open and I was halfway to Los Angeles in a vehicle. So anyway, it did not go well. People were not happy with me and they ended up having to find bolt cutters to unlock the crate. And yeah, I kind of got in trouble for that. Oh no, yeah.

Matt Weitzel: 32:16

It wasn't a great moment. I've got plenty of moments like that. We could go on for days, but I'll let John go. It seems like John's got a really good one. He's got brewing here.

Jon Jezo: 32:25

Lots of great stories of over all the years of the GSC Expo event. I think probably one of the more memorable ones is one of my first times being involved with the GSC Expo, which would have been in the earlier days of like no, maybe 2007, 2008. Being fairly new to the GSE side of things, I was very excited First time going to a big trade show like this, first time being involved on the hosting side. So a lot of exciting things and a lot of the things we do are tied in closely with our media brand partners from Endeavor Business Media. So, specifically, ground Support Worldwide. As you heard from Jenny Lesko here just a moment ago, she is our editor. So, by the way, anybody looking to get the word out on your new products and any new and exciting technologies or service offerings, jenny is the one you want to hit up. She will be all over the show and very excited to learn about your products and help educate all of our readers.

Jon Jezo: 33:25

But one of the things for the magazine side of things is back in the day we used to distribute what we had for the show dailies. Everybody remembers the show dailies, right? You know the folks that stand there and are slapping you with a magazine as you're entering the exhibit area each morning. Well, that's a very exciting thing, but I'll tell you on the backside it's a lot of work because that's all your show coverage, all of the content we're capturing, all the new exciting product revealing that. You got to summarize and then produce that printed magazine overnight. You got to summarize and then produce that printed magazine overnight and, being a little too excited about it, we thought it'd be wonderful. Let's get it to all of our exhibitors and attendees before they get to the show the next morning. That'll be wonderful. We got all the hotel blocks and we were going to go and deliver them door to door during the night in Las Vegas.

Matt Weitzel: 34:22

No way.

Jon Jezo: 34:23

Sounds great when those ideas came out. Probably should have asked a few more questions. Yeah, Primarily like who exactly would be distributing those magazines and that show daily? Yeah, Ah, yes, John, that was you the new guy. So, yes, in a typical Vegas fashion, as we are headed back to our room at 7 am after being up all night producing a magazine and then delivering it to all of the different hotels for all of the attendees and exhibitors. Those are the fun times and, believe it or not, people definitely party in Vegas and you wouldn't believe how many you may see in an elevator just winding their night down at 7 am.

Jon Jezo: 35:09

We pulled it off with success and it's something that you know. With all the technologies we have now and everything being digitized for the most part it's something we can get the communications out and all the new products and services things out much faster. We don't need to do the show daily. We've kind of spun it into some video so there'll be some daily video wrap up going that Jenny and the rest of the editorial team from Ground Support Worldwide will be doing their coverage throughout the show. So you can look forward to seeing those videos and synopsis of all the new products. But one of the other big pieces we do is our daily newsletter, so stay in tuned. Hopefully you're able to make it to the show, but if not, we'll have some summaries coming out each day with all the new happenings and launches and products and exciting things from the GAC Expo. But yeah, good times, it's one of those things Careful what you commit to. But maybe just ask a few more questions before you.

Matt Weitzel: 36:00

Yeah Well, I've never even. You know you don't think about when you don't have to do it, right, you're just you don't think about oh, how do these dailies get done, Right, like, you know who's staying up all night to write up this stuff and then get it printed and get it to the show and all the different things that you know. You just figure somebody's doing or you don't even thinking about it because it's not your responsibility. But then when you just explained, it started like getting a cold sweat. I'm like that seems like a lot of work. I mean, that is, that is a ton man. I can't believe that that is crazy. So nobody, nobody, can expect John showing up to their hotel room at 7 am. Everybody can just, you know, watch the videos that Jenny's going to do at their leisure, and yeah, that's. I think that's a much better solution to your problems. All right, jen.

Jennifer Zecchino: 36:46

Oh my gosh, this is bad. This is why I don't drive equipment at all, why I'm not allowed. So kind of like Jenny, you know the equipment's not supposed to be terribly difficult to drive, right when it's like supposed to be, just getting in your car and starting it. And you know, kind of like you, matt I don't know if my career has progressed I've been setting up trade show booths.

Matt Weitzel: 37:09

Exactly yeah, yeah, we're doing great.

Jennifer Zecchino: 37:12

We might be in the same boat here, but I do genuinely love everything I do, so maybe that's why you and I just are stuck where we're at, because we, you know, it's not every day people get to say that they love what they do.

Matt Weitzel: 37:24

Exactly.

Jennifer Zecchino: 37:25

I literally can say I genuinely love what I do every single day.

Matt Weitzel: 37:28

Plus, I would complain so much if somebody else did it because it wouldn't be done the way that I would have done it. So I guess I can't really complain about it. So All right, go ahead.

Jennifer Zecchino: 37:37

So we win, so we get to do this. So I'm getting a booth set up for the GSC Expo and I am not sure what in God's green earth I was thinking, but I was like I got this. I can drive a tractor with no problem. I can drive a car. I'm good at this. I've taken kids, you know, to and from carpool. People trust me with their kids. I can definitely be trusted with a piece of equipment right? Can definitely be trusted with a piece of equipment, right. Yeah, when there's an electrical box involved and you don't have a spotter at a show and you think you know what you're doing and someone tells you to stop and you run over an electrical box, oh yeah, that causes a lot of issues to the equipment.

Matt Weitzel: 38:14

That's shocking. No pun intended. All right, Keep going. No pun intended smarty pants, so yeah, unfortunately. All right, you don't have to go any further. I think we got the gist of it. That's amazing, so bad. So what, Jenny? Actually? You know, with hers at least it didn't actually happen, with yours it definitely happened.

Jennifer Zecchino: 38:40

It happened and I mean I'm so glad I have friends in all kinds of places that can cover up my big boo-boos. So thank you for everyone there to help me through that. But yeah, I was not able to drive equipment.

Matt Weitzel: 38:53

Yeah, you're done. Yeah, so you're not going to. Okay, so you'll be in the layover lounge with Jenny. John and I are still allowed to drive equipment. That's what I'm hearing. Yeah.

Jennifer Zecchino: 39:04

You would be correct, matt, a hundred percent.

Matt Weitzel: 39:06

Yes, that is unbelievable. What a great story. Good, well, I'm so glad that Jenny kicked us off with telling stories, because I had a great time. And, jenny, did you have something that you were going to kind of talk about with the expo that we haven't released yet? Is that still the case, or have we released everything that we can be talking about at the moment?

Jenny Lescohier: 39:29

There is one thing Ground Support Worldwide annually has its Leaders of the Year Awards program and we just completed that in the May-June issue, which is probably hitting people's mailboxes this week.

Jenny Lescohier: 39:42

And so we have those winners, we'll be accepting their awards officially at Expo and we'll be having a very small well, hopefully not small, I should say it's modest because there are only five winners but we would like to get as many people as we could to come and, you know, congratulate the winners and enjoy just the honoring of these professionals. So stay tuned for more information on when exactly and where exactly that ceremony will take place, but it will be on September 16th, likely at the Ground Support Worldwide booth, and I don't know, john, if we have a number on that yet, but that's probably all to be determined. But stay tuned for more information. We're excited to give some accolades to those people who have really excelled at what they do, and so, yeah, that's something that we've got planned. Other than that, like John said, I'll be looking for new product information. If somebody wants me to come and learn about their equipment, please let me know they can email me.

Matt Weitzel: 40:51

I'm at jlescohair at endeavorb2bcom and that's a lot of spelling. I won't. That's easy. I'll put that in the show notes. Okay, I'm going to put Jen's email in the show notes. I'll put your email in the show notes so that way everybody can check that stuff, because there's no way y'all are getting all those spellings correct on all that stuff.

Jenny Lescohier: 41:06

Right, nice. But yeah, I'm looking forward to meeting everybody and I hope, if you you know, see my name or know who I am, flag me down If you've got stories to tell.

Matt Weitzel: 41:15

That's why I'm yeah you're going to wear some like bright outfits and stuff because people don't know who you are, right? So you have to like stand out a little bit, so that way, when you're walking by, people like who's that?

Jenny Lescohier: 41:26

And then you know, I think we'll be well branded Right, John, we're going to have yeah, I think we have yeah.

Matt Weitzel: 41:30

OK, you're going to be.

Jon Jezo: 41:31

you're going to be grounds for worldwide polos, things like that Something fancy color-coordinated team, you bet, easy to find and running all over, that's for sure.

Matt Weitzel: 41:43

Yeah, you'll be refilling the bathrooms with all kinds of XSEED stuff. I mean, I know what you're going to be doing, of course, all right. So my last question is, john, so what does participation from the exhibitor standpoint and attendees standpoint look like compared to 2023? We looking up.

Jon Jezo: 42:03

Yes, absolutely looking up.

Jon Jezo: 42:05

I don't want to jinx anything, so I don't want to say too much, but it is looking very strong. Registration or pre-registration is definitely up, which is a great sign. I think one of the things that we're hearing is that a lot of products that were you know during the COVID times it seems like there was a lot of product development that was you know. R&d people dove back in and then COVID threw some wrinkles and things of course for product delays or parts supplies, whatnot. So it's taken a little bit, but I think a lot of the new and exciting products, especially a lot of the stuff on the sustainability side for electric vehicles and charging technology a lot of these things are coming out, they're being released, the curtains are coming off.

Jon Jezo: 42:46

So I think that's something everybody should be really excited to see as we move the GSD market forward to the future and electrifying it. That's something I think that's going to be a bigger piece every year for this show, but we're very excited for that. Really. I think the big thing is the demo zone. That's a big piece to why we have the demo zone. Electric vehicles are certainly important, but you just can't drive around inside the hall like we can outside. So that's a big piece to that demo zone to give everyone that opportunity for that experience and get behind the wheel and make sure that piece of equipment is the right fit for their business.

Matt Weitzel: 43:23

I love it. Yeah, I'm really excited about that this year. I think it's going to be fantastic that you all have put so much thought and effort into getting people over there and testing out those pieces of equipment. I know that'll help out the manufacturers a lot for people to be able to jump on and see what those things look like in real life and be able to drive them around and all that kind of stuff, touch them, feel them, kick the tires, all that kind of stuff. So that's awesome. Anything else from anybody? I think we've pretty much covered it. I think we got some excitement going for the expo. I know I'm very excited about it. But any closing remarks from anybody, anything that I've left out I haven't asked about.

Jon Jezo: 44:03

I would just like to say anyone who's looking for more information or hasn't registered to attend, or if you are looking for a vivid space, you can visit gseexpocom and get all the information you would need, and it's something that registration will be open for a bit yet, so there's no worries If you're an attendee, get yourself registered and you can formulate your plan. There's going to be a lot of more exciting announcements coming. We do have an app mobile app coming this year, so there'll be more things to book some meetings and stay tuned for that in a few weeks.

Matt Weitzel: 44:35

Oh, I didn't know. There's a mobile app coming. That's amazing. And then any sponsorship stuff. Is there any available sponsorships that are still out there that are available for people to purchase?

Jon Jezo: 44:44

Yes, thank you for bringing that up, matt. There are. We have actually created a few new ones here in the past week. The final details here will be coming out this week here actually, and I would say by Wednesday this week, with some new exciting opportunities here. We'll be getting those out to all of our exhibitors for those opportunities to be explored.

Matt Weitzel: 45:03

Okay, awesome, so look out for the emails on new sponsorships. All right, well, thank you all so much for taking the time to talk to me today and sharing all your stories, and I can't wait to see everybody in Las Vegas.

Jon Jezo: 45:18

Likewise, Matt. Thanks for having us. We're all excited and appreciate your time All right.

Jennifer Zecchino: 45:23

Thank you, matt, thank you.

Matt Weitzel: 45:25

Thank you, bye, bye. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the GSE Podcast. We hope you found it informative and engaging. If this episode resonated with you, please share it with your colleagues and peers in the ground support equipment community. Your support is invaluable to us. We'd appreciate it if you could take a moment to rate and review our podcast. Your feedback not only encourages us, but also helps expand our reach within the GSE community. Keep an eye out for more episodes as we continue to explore the dynamic world of ground operations, bringing you the latest trends, insights and stories from the industry. Thank you for listening to the GSE podcast. Until we meet again, stay grounded and keep pushing forward.