24. Yahoo Me
I am joined this week by Megan Van Petten, Founder of the Esports Trade Association. Megan’s career centers around building successful communities, and she’s taken her expertise into the world of esports. Digressions include the principles of leadership, how to stay current and cool with tech, and what it’s like to be an innovator.
Transcript
Welcome to the meadow woman podcast. We address the
Unknown:issues, opportunities and challenges facing women in the
Unknown:development of the metaverse the biggest revolution since the
Unknown:internet itself. Every week we bring you conversations with top
Unknown:female talent and business executives operating in the
Unknown:gaming and crypto industries. Here's your host Lindsey, the
Unknown:boss POS, the meta woman podcast starts now.
Lindsay Poss:Hello, and welcome to the men and women podcast
Lindsay Poss:part of the holodeck media Podcast Network. I'm your host
Lindsay Poss:Lindsey, the boss POS struggled to success recovering and all my
Lindsay Poss:returning listeners. Thank you so much for listening to the
Lindsay Poss:show week after week. Thank you for sending me your feedback. I
Lindsay Poss:appreciate you so much. And for the new listeners. Welcome. I
Lindsay Poss:hope you enjoy the show. And I hope you come back next week.
Lindsay Poss:Today's guest is someone that I'm so excited to introduce
Lindsay Poss:because I've known her both in esports capacity and as a friend
Lindsay Poss:for about a year now. And it's just always so fun for me when I
Lindsay Poss:can bring someone onto the show that I've gotten to know Megan
Lindsay Poss:Van Patten is the founder of esports Trade Association, or
Lindsay Poss:ESDA, an organization that connects folks both in and on
Lindsay Poss:the precipice of esports industry. So she brings all
Lindsay Poss:kinds of people together. He has ta does a whole lot within the
Lindsay Poss:industry, which I will happily let Megan explain. Megan, I
Lindsay Poss:would love for you to introduce yourself.
Unknown:Hi, Lindsay, thank you for that introduction. It is a
Unknown:pleasure to be here. And as you know, I'm the founder of the
Unknown:esports trade association. We promote, protect and advance the
Unknown:broader interests of the esports community. I've been working in
Unknown:association management for most of my career, and just the love,
Unknown:love community building. And I'm just happy to be here today and
Unknown:share about some of my passions. Thanks for having me.
Lindsay Poss:Oh, thank you so much. Okay, well, with that.
Lindsay Poss:Let's jump right in. All right, previous conversation, you
Lindsay Poss:talked about how a lot of your experience boils down to
Lindsay Poss:community building. And you just reiterated that just now. So I
Lindsay Poss:definitely want to start there. Because that's a term that's
Lindsay Poss:become much more popular within the industry, and is seen as a
Lindsay Poss:sustainable and authentic growth strategy. Should Do you think
Lindsay Poss:it's a bit of a shift in terms of gamers have always done that.
Lindsay Poss:But I don't know that companies have always done that or thought
Lindsay Poss:about community building in that way. So what does community
Lindsay Poss:building mean to you? And why do you think esports companies are
Lindsay Poss:taking this practice seriously?
Unknown:Well, yeah, it's a wonderful, it's a wonderful
Unknown:shift, isn't it? Community Building is important to me
Unknown:because the world has so much disconnection, people are
Unknown:yearning to come together to break bread. Sure idea.
Unknown:Sometimes people don't even know how to get started, or don't
Unknown:have the willpower or the confidence and finding unique
Unknown:minds to set your imagination a fire is the goal. But it takes
Unknown:effort. If we aren't in community, the world misses out
Unknown:on our gifts, which can be heartbreak. Typically people
Unknown:don't feel alone, that heal and community. And there's so much
Unknown:talent out there just waiting to be asked to have a seat at the
Unknown:table. Sometimes you have to create your own and make sure
Unknown:it's tailored to what your calling is. But there's a lot of
Unknown:established organizations that were built with women in mind
Unknown:and this is now changing it is important to me to build a
Unknown:welcoming spaces and have benefited from an I've benefited
Unknown:from the start of this journey.
Lindsay Poss:Oh I love that answer mostly because a we have
Lindsay Poss:been in a pandemic for Lord knows how long at this moment.
Lindsay Poss:So coming together and breaking bread is something that we just
Lindsay Poss:haven't been able to do forever. So that's that's wonderful. And
Lindsay Poss:be obviously being part of the metal woman podcast. I love
Lindsay Poss:anyone who can who can bring you know women and other minorities
Lindsay Poss:in give them a seat at a table in a way that really encourages
Lindsay Poss:them to speak their mind and, you know, get get in those rooms
Lindsay Poss:where maybe we haven't traditionally been before. So in
Lindsay Poss:your opinion, what are the core tenants to building that
Lindsay Poss:thriving community?
Unknown:Oh, wow. So I know I'm here on this earth to share the
Unknown:gift of connection and finding holistic ways to build joyful
Unknown:communities that make a difference. To connect with and
Unknown:build a community, you need to do your due diligence. Identify
Unknown:who could benefit from the vision that you've created. You
Unknown:have to really do the quality research as you love.
Unknown:Thankfully, there's platforms like LinkedIn, which I really
Unknown:enjoy. Allow this research to be pretty streamlined. Once I Are
Unknown:you have identified the key people that meet what we're
Unknown:looking for. I personally Really love the John Maxwell leadership
Unknown:strategies of authentic connection. I even named our
Unknown:podcast esports connected after his book, everyone communicates
Unknown:to connect, because it defines how I personally like to bring
Unknown:people together. To connect with people, we need have our complex
Unknown:listening skills, the integrity to deserve the respect and time
Unknown:and show faith in people to empower them on their path, how
Unknown:quickly then we can act. One thing I would like to say is go
Unknown:to your LinkedIn right now. See how many connections you've
Unknown:made. I try not all my LinkedIn connection followers, I like to
Unknown:call them my friend. And for my podcast, the same technology has
Unknown:enabled us to access each other. And I'm determined to facilitate
Unknown:relationships with everyone that I can connect with. And that is,
Unknown:again, why we call the show esports connected based on one
Unknown:weekend, me reading a book, everyone communicates few
Unknown:Connect.
Lindsay Poss:I love that, that you brought up LinkedIn, it has
Lindsay Poss:been a personal New Year's resolution of mine to be more
Lindsay Poss:active on there, which I know that we are, we're recording
Lindsay Poss:this now in late April. And I have still not necessarily held
Lindsay Poss:up my end of that resolution. But it is a really good
Lindsay Poss:platform, particularly for the esports audience I found. So
Lindsay Poss:that was a really good little call out there. And I know that
Lindsay Poss:you're super active on there. So everyone out there go find
Lindsay Poss:Meghan Van Patten on LinkedIn, she, she posts a lot of good
Lindsay Poss:stuff. But getting back to the ESDA. In particular, I think
Lindsay Poss:with a lot of organizations, you when you touch on so many areas
Lindsay Poss:that have so many different interests. And as I said, you
Lindsay Poss:bring in a whole bunch of people from different backgrounds and
Lindsay Poss:communities and lines of work. And it can be hard to maintain
Lindsay Poss:that balance and building a strong and cohesive overall
Lindsay Poss:community. So how do you bring together and pull on so many
Lindsay Poss:different threads and kind of bring cohesion into the
Lindsay Poss:community bring everyone together?
Unknown:That is such a great question. First of all, I will
Unknown:say this, again, that es que promotes protects in advance the
Unknown:broader industry, the broader interests of the esports
Unknown:community. And really, we accomplish this by finding
Unknown:incredible leaders. Our committees are fast, we have
Unknown:our, our obviously our chair, and our Vice Chair. And then,
Unknown:um, that's called an our treasurer, and our governance,
Unknown:and that is called the executive committee. So they really steer
Unknown:the ship. And then some other committees we have our the
Unknown:business development, our education, our events, our
Unknown:marketing and communications, membership, regulation, research
Unknown:and data. And what I always thought if I were to ever get
Unknown:the opportunity in creating an association was really
Unknown:empowering our leaders with development. And I truly live by
Unknown:the leadership 2.0 by John Maxwell and the workbook. So one
Unknown:of the things that we do first is we send our leaders when we
Unknown:appoint them to the board, workbook, and we have training
Unknown:and development for the leaders. And that I've I've seen to be an
Unknown:incredible resource. Oftentimes, the how, as much as you can
Unknown:structure your volunteers to make it easier for them to lead,
Unknown:the better off the mission and the vision and the values of the
Unknown:organization will be be utilized.
Lindsay Poss:Yeah, I think that's a great point. I think
Lindsay Poss:that sort of giving empowering people to take responsibility
Lindsay Poss:for their different portions of this helps bring helps bring
Lindsay Poss:back cohesion right now you have leaders at all levels that are
Lindsay Poss:passionate about what they're doing. Certainly much easier to
Lindsay Poss:bring in people from different facets and to work with that
Lindsay Poss:leader.
Unknown:Yeah. Perfect.
Lindsay Poss:So I want to back up for a second because we've
Lindsay Poss:been talking all about the sports trade association in the
Lindsay Poss:gaming industry, but we haven't talked about what got you into
Lindsay Poss:the industry and what excites you about it. So what brought
Lindsay Poss:you into esports? You
Unknown:know, Um, and, you know, being a meta woman podcast
Unknown:that it's a perfect question because, um, when I was in the
Unknown:fantasy sports sector, I mean, I will never forget in New York
Unknown:when we had our first esports. Panel, and who was on the panel.
Unknown:And I've always just had a passion and interest in what's
Unknown:next. I've appreciated the now. But the what's next is always
Unknown:very intriguing. And I think being comfortable in the
Unknown:uncomfortable, you know, and just being open to what is next.
Unknown:As has gently led me to the industry, it was a natural,
Unknown:natural transition. And I had a lot of support in the early days
Unknown:to launch the esports trade association. And when we
Unknown:launched, there wasn't a trade association. So being that I'm a
Unknown:die hard believer in trade association, and what they are
Unknown:still, it was just a perfect fit. And it was, it was it took
Unknown:me about a year of thinking about it and asking around and
Unknown:doing my due diligence before we launched in September of 2017.
Unknown:Wow, it
Lindsay Poss:just also goes to show how rapid the growth has
Lindsay Poss:been 2017 was only five years ago, some other industries had
Lindsay Poss:trade associations that are 50 6070 years old. That's wild.
Lindsay Poss:Yeah, things have really changed so quickly.
Unknown:And they really have like, There's one story, I'll
Unknown:tell you that I I noticed, when we had our conference last year,
Unknown:we led our production committee, which ended up being like 20
Unknown:volunteers. Now, if I fast forward or rewind, 10 years ago,
Unknown:when I had a conference here in Chicago, when I was looking for
Unknown:the AV department, honest to God, I couldn't find them. They
Unknown:were like, we're downstairs, under the staircase, and I kept
Unknown:walking around the staircase. And I, and I'm on the phone with
Unknown:the guy and I'm like, I'm sorry, I can't find you. Do you know,
Unknown:truth be told, he was in a broom closet. I never opened the door
Unknown:of the broom closet, and he couldn't leave a station. Right?
Unknown:I didn't think that he would, his office would be in a broom
Unknown:closet. And I'm not going to name them out. But what's really
Unknown:nice about that, is now it's like the golden table to sit at,
Unknown:you know, the technology table. So that's just one like, little
Unknown:difference that I see is not only are we putting our AV
Unknown:professionals forward, even better, we're getting we have a
Unknown:waiting list, you know, a volunteers that want to be part
Unknown:of this movement. That's such a,
Lindsay Poss:that reminds me of the headlines in the 90s. That
Lindsay Poss:said, this internet thing is a fad. It's like all the AV person
Lindsay Poss:used to be in the broom closet while the suits kind of took the
Lindsay Poss:symbols. And now we're having whole conferences based on those
Lindsay Poss:AV people that developed really cool technologies. That's right.
Lindsay Poss:Yeah, that's a really cool little anecdote. That's so
Lindsay Poss:funny. I want to push I want to you know it. That's a little
Lindsay Poss:retrospective, but I want to push on the future a little
Lindsay Poss:more. You do a lot of different work and leadership and dei
Lindsay Poss:principles, and in general on improving the space for
Lindsay Poss:different folks. When we look to the future, what are the changes
Lindsay Poss:you're excited to see? And how do you think we'll get there?
Lindsay Poss:When it comes mostly to dei strategy and inclusion? You
Lindsay Poss:know, we we got everyone out of the broom closet. Now. How do we
Lindsay Poss:get every every person to voice at the table?
Unknown:Right, right? Yeah, so I've heard a lot about how
Unknown:emerging tech offers completely different opportunities to folks
Unknown:in this space who may not feel they have representation and I'd
Unknown:love to get your thoughts on that possibility. I'm all about
Unknown:creating comfort, accessibility to as many people as possible.
Unknown:Good hospitality, again, comes from research, what people need
Unknown:without having to ask them creating clear channels so
Unknown:people know where to report challenges they might be having
Unknown:or something when something does come up. We you know, at the
Unknown:esports trade association, do as many polls as possible, we don't
Unknown:want to you know, overdo our polls, um, you know, and ask our
Unknown:members what they need to succeed in our virtual and in
Unknown:person environments. Um, you know, it's obvious that there's,
Unknown:you know, a lot of people in the room, but who can shine that
Unknown:hasn't in the past. And as you know, I am a big advocate and in
Unknown:coaching. So I'm really, really trying to see and include, and
Unknown:we also teach our leaders, like, when we have a happy hour or we
Unknown:have a coffee, we were teaching our leaders to ask questions to
Unknown:the quiet, you know, the quiet ones that aren't speaking as
Unknown:much and, you know, try to try to bring them more forward. You
Unknown:know? And, you know, I guess it also takes discipline, you know,
Unknown:we're looking at, like, our agenda, or looking at our board,
Unknown:um, you know, what's not represented, that could be, you
Unknown:know, who should be here? That's not, I mean, it just takes
Unknown:something to really think overthink, you know, extend,
Unknown:extend a warm welcome, you know, where, where it's needed. I
Unknown:think, going from good to great, is something that I just strive
Unknown:for, like, Okay, this is good. Is this is this great, you know,
Unknown:who could, who else would make this greater? You know, it's not
Unknown:like, it's not easy, it sometimes takes extra time. But
Unknown:it certainly is well worth it. That's where
Lindsay Poss:the comfortable being uncomfortable comes in as
Lindsay Poss:well. I do get nervous that people are putting a little bit
Lindsay Poss:too much into emerging tech, the whole tech industry was built,
Lindsay Poss:and just wrought with a lot of different inclusion and
Lindsay Poss:diversity issues. And so I think that there's a lot of hype
Lindsay Poss:around newer technologies, and I am truly excited for what people
Lindsay Poss:can do. But I'm also very, I tend to be a little bit more
Lindsay Poss:wary of this is going to solve the problem, it's not going to
Lindsay Poss:solve the problem unless we really get comfortable being
Lindsay Poss:uncomfortable and pushing people forward and filling our own gaps
Lindsay Poss:and knowledge. And like you said, looking around and saying
Lindsay Poss:who's not represented? And being very cognizant of doing that. So
Lindsay Poss:I yeah, I like you have a lot of hope for future tech. But I also
Lindsay Poss:have a a bit of a weariness when it comes to it being the be all
Lindsay Poss:end all. And also say someone who used to run events, I
Lindsay Poss:remember doing those polls. Oh, if I could just get the right
Lindsay Poss:amount of responses, it would be so helpful, but I don't want to
Lindsay Poss:bother people and
Unknown:gotten more challenging. Um, you know, and I
Unknown:think I think what I like, I like that, I've noticed one way
Unknown:when we just give something. And I feel like it really comes from
Unknown:respect like, hey, we give you a gift card, Starbucks, will you
Unknown:give us 510, you know, a cup of coffee of your time. And you
Unknown:know, these are just like, so small, simple things. And I
Unknown:think that's, you know, what our society is demanding, like,
Unknown:respect me, Jeremy, um, I can tell you that I talk fast.
Unknown:Because when I was at the table with mostly all men, most of my
Unknown:career, oh, yeah, I had to get what I had to get in pretty
Unknown:quickly. And I had to go, and I'd really run my sentence
Unknown:longer. Because I might not be asked meeting after meeting
Unknown:after meeting anything, you know, so it really took
Unknown:something and my coach says, slow down, people will listen
Unknown:now. And it's not that they weren't like, I'm not here to
Unknown:cause a bad, you know, a bad vibe. But um, first off, just
Unknown:the simplicity of respect. Help us out, we value you to take a
Unknown:cup of coffee and fill this out. Thank you in advance.
Lindsay Poss:Definitely. Well, I think to your point to people
Lindsay Poss:aren't looking for massive grand gestures. They're looking for
Lindsay Poss:little everyday things that say, I don't just see you when you're
Lindsay Poss:on stage. I see you when you're sitting at your desk and working
Lindsay Poss:hard or, you know, it's those. I totally agree with you that it's
Lindsay Poss:actually those smaller things that mean more to me than the
Lindsay Poss:Grand appreciations. Oh, those aren't nice, but the smaller
Lindsay Poss:regular things, and I'm also a fast talker for the same reason.
Lindsay Poss:That's something that I think is that so pertinent for a lot of
Lindsay Poss:women and minority folks in the room. Building on that and as we
Lindsay Poss:look forward, how do we build the metaverse with dei
Lindsay Poss:principles in mind? I know we talked about a lot of different
Lindsay Poss:strategies already. From small gestures to Giving people a seat
Lindsay Poss:to being cognizant of your own shortcomings. But for you, does
Lindsay Poss:it start with companies in the creation of new companies,
Lindsay Poss:nonprofit work at the Education stage with all of them,
Lindsay Poss:instruction about how to do it. But now where do we kind of do
Lindsay Poss:it?
Unknown:Yeah, that's, that's a great question. We're looking at
Unknown:the next big paradigm shift. As the metaverse becomes fully
Unknown:fleshed out, I love to think how could provide access to
Unknown:education and entertainment culture and how it could have
Unknown:power to advance us. Those who have not been, you know,
Unknown:historically included men to make sure that they're not left
Unknown:out of the mission, problem solving, invention and design
Unknown:conflict, people living in the world, they know, not made for
Unknown:them. So to create it themselves with, you know, stoplights, and
Unknown:elevators, and internet, we want to be able to include everyone,
Unknown:like, come go and spell, I don't know, there's just so much to
Unknown:how we will, you know, get the rich stories of these astounding
Unknown:people that haven't had a voice for, you know, cold history of
Unknown:of time. So this is just a whole new world that we're breaking
Unknown:into, um, you know, it's going to take, it's going to take all
Unknown:of us getting together and having that voice. That's so
Lindsay Poss:that's such a wonderful thing to highlight
Lindsay Poss:actually just listened to podcast recently about, and I'll
Lindsay Poss:put it in the show notes. But I it was a podcast about the woman
Lindsay Poss:who invented the first security system, and she was the black
Lindsay Poss:woman. And she's the one who figured out how to connect all
Lindsay Poss:her cameras and put it on close captioned TV and do all of that
Lindsay Poss:for her own house. And she wound up selling the technology for
Lindsay Poss:some completely menial amount of money. It was, of course, I
Lindsay Poss:struggled to say menial, because to her, it meant something, so I
Lindsay Poss:don't want to take away from that. But in the scheme of
Lindsay Poss:things, she deserved so much more. So I think that I love
Lindsay Poss:this note about how invention and innovation come from people
Lindsay Poss:who are living in a world not designed for them. I think that
Lindsay Poss:that's extremely an extremely apt description of where a lot
Lindsay Poss:of innovation comes from, which is sad. But I also am just so
Lindsay Poss:amazed by how people can flower out of their circumstances.
Unknown:And we can, we really can't, um, you know, I can
Unknown:remember when I was married, and my husband bought a car, and I
Unknown:didn't fit in it. I literally couldn't drive it was a big car.
Unknown:And it you know, just thinking to myself, this, you know, how
Unknown:do we make this work? He was like, six, five, and I was, you
Unknown:know, five, five? And how do we make things more comfortable for
Unknown:everyone, you know, in the most simple ways to the greatest way.
Unknown:And yeah, it's just, it's just, it's just interesting how
Unknown:there's missings in thought, from design concept to
Unknown:production, you know, which 90 a woman you know, like, and a
Unknown:woman will be driving this car, perhaps, and it was a sedan,
Unknown:there's a family sedan, but there was it was just never
Unknown:comfortable for me to drive. And I should have test drive. driven
Unknown:it but I love that story. Because, um, there we were, with
Unknown:a car that wasn't practical for me to drive.
Lindsay Poss:I was actually watching a commercial last
Lindsay Poss:night. And I don't know if you've seen the Google
Lindsay Poss:commercial. It's a very sweet commercial, where they talk
Lindsay Poss:about how they've changed. It's a family who were it's a
Lindsay Poss:children of deaf, or a child of deaf adults. And they have the
Lindsay Poss:sweet commercial, where they show their their grandbaby and
Lindsay Poss:how they can communicate with technology with the pandemic and
Lindsay Poss:closed captioning also. And my husband looked at me and said,
Lindsay Poss:How much sugar do you think we would have gotten that
Lindsay Poss:technology if there was a deaf person in the room when phones
Lindsay Poss:were being made? And I was like, Holy crap. That's a great claim.
Lindsay Poss:And that's not to say that that technology isn't amazing. And
Lindsay Poss:I'm very glad that it has been developed. But you just invite
Lindsay Poss:so much more opportunity for innovation by including people
Lindsay Poss:who have different stories and backgrounds and ability sets and
Lindsay Poss:superpowers and all kinds of things. That was kind of an eye
Lindsay Poss:popping thought for me. And read along those lines and staying up
Lindsay Poss:with tech. How do you stay current with emerging
Lindsay Poss:technologies as we start seeing more, more tech development and
Lindsay Poss:all kinds of now we have FaceTime and zoom, we're good He
Lindsay Poss:is in effects. And we're starting to live in the
Lindsay Poss:metaverse, and you can go try it on your Nikes and Nikes
Lindsay Poss:metaverse. How do you stay up to date? With all of that? I know
Lindsay Poss:you mentioned it's a passion of yours to stay current with
Lindsay Poss:technology.
Unknown:You know, I think that when I was a very young man, I
Unknown:loved hanging out with my grandfather, he was just
Unknown:literally one of the most consistent people in my life.
Unknown:And I just appreciated that so much that I saw him regularly,
Unknown:almost daily. And, um, this was my grandfather on my dad's side.
Unknown:Now, my grandparents on my mom's side were immigrants. So we
Unknown:would, they would come stay with us the whole summer. My
Unknown:grandfather on my dad's side, was really interested in helping
Unknown:me create a mindset, you know, toward success. So, you know, he
Unknown:taught me how to play chess. And he, you know, I told him that I
Unknown:wanted to start running marathons. So we would go to the
Unknown:library, read about whatever it was that I would bring up, we
Unknown:would end up with the library, and we would end up studying it.
Unknown:So I'm going to answer that by saying mindset. He, the very
Unknown:last thing he ever said to me when I was going on a business
Unknown:trip, was, yeah, he was so cute, because he was trying to go with
Unknown:the Google me, you know, but he was saying, email me. And that
Unknown:was his he figured email would be called Yahoo, because Yahoo
Unknown:was his email. And it's just a cute example of trying to stay
Unknown:ahead of what you think might become. Next, be comfortable. If
Unknown:you're wrong, it doesn't matter. Yet, no one knows. You know,
Unknown:there's no really definitive, there's no losing, losing, is
Unknown:just not trying. Losing is just that pulling out a chair, and
Unknown:sitting at a table and being in community. I mean, that's an I
Unknown:digress. USDA is built by members, you know, for members,
Unknown:for our industry. immunity is, you know, what we're all about?
Unknown:So, um, so my answer for that is mindset. I love that. I love
Unknown:that
Lindsay Poss:story about your grandfather. And I think that he
Lindsay Poss:was onto something when he said stay current, even if he wasn't
Lindsay Poss:necessarily on to something when it comes to Yeah.
Unknown:Yeah, that's a category. And it wasn't until,
Unknown:you know, that was one from him. And it wasn't until a few
Unknown:minutes, I'm like, Oh, my dad gave me an email. That's funny.
Lindsay Poss:Yeah, that's great, though. Yeah. staying up
Lindsay Poss:to date, keeping that open mind as we age, the open versus
Lindsay Poss:crystallized mind. And open mind. Yeah. Fourth, what's
Lindsay Poss:coming? is really fun. And, and I certainly hope that more
Lindsay Poss:people can a lot of bad news swirling about the metaverse,
Lindsay Poss:but I hope that people can keep an open mind and get excited
Lindsay Poss:about some of the technologies that are coming.
Unknown:Or that are already here. Mmm, yeah. And you know,
Unknown:and that, I think, is where I'm, I, I ended up in industries
Unknown:where there is play, you know, and I grew up where it was fun
Unknown:to discover, you know, I, when I went to do the triathlon, I
Unknown:remember he gave me the three books, and I was thinking, Oh,
Unknown:God, I didn't realize this complicated you want to try now.
Unknown:But I'm having fun, really, you know, being playful, about
Unknown:whatever it is you want to talk about? Sure, there's got to be
Unknown:some anchors of, you know, educate, you know, motivate, you
Unknown:know, come with something, but it's okay to not know, it's okay
Unknown:to just have it be a conversation. Like, you know,
Unknown:who really knows that at first. And if they say they know, you
Unknown:know, that's even scarier.
Lindsay Poss:That's such a good point. That's one of the things
Lindsay Poss:that I'm definitely trying to do with this podcast, as we develop
Lindsay Poss:further technologies. And as we get in there, you know, women
Lindsay Poss:and a lot of other folks weren't involved in the growth of social
Lindsay Poss:media. And that's been a huge technology that's completely
Lindsay Poss:changed the way we've we've lived in our world and connected
Lindsay Poss:with people, and it really has hurt what we've been able to do
Lindsay Poss:in that space. And I don't want that to happen with the next
Lindsay Poss:iteration of technologies that comes out. And I think it's
Lindsay Poss:important to to be like you said uncomfortable not knowing but to
Lindsay Poss:still take a seat at the table and to talk through issues and
Lindsay Poss:to realize it's okay to not have the answers, but that your
Lindsay Poss:opinion still matters. And, and that's I'm very passionate about
Lindsay Poss:doing that, because I didn't do that for myself. For a long
Lindsay Poss:time, I thought I had to know that everyone else knew
Lindsay Poss:everything, and I was the one that was behind. So I really
Lindsay Poss:appreciate you saying that and bringing attention to that,
Lindsay Poss:because I do think it's so important, like, get out there
Lindsay Poss:and talk about it, even if you're not sure. And a way to
Lindsay Poss:talk about it, which I'm so excited. This is a perfect
Lindsay Poss:transition to the last little segment I had, because one of
Lindsay Poss:the ways to talk about it is through podcasting. I want to
Lindsay Poss:get your opinion on podcasting because your podcast hosts and
Lindsay Poss:you've mentioned esports connected. I have a podcast host
Lindsay Poss:we're currently on a podcast seems like a good platform to
Lindsay Poss:talk about podcasting. So what do you like about putting
Lindsay Poss:content in podcast form?
Unknown:Okay, so when we first started the association, we had
Unknown:a podcast that we were working on. And I wanted to be behind
Unknown:the scenes, as much as I'm not in association management, which
Unknown:is what I was born and bred to do, in my opinion, trade, trade
Unknown:association management. We're more servant leaders, or behind
Unknown:the scenes people we help bring, you know, the industry leaders
Unknown:forward. So I wouldn't call myself a esports. Expert, right.
Unknown:It's my job to create the community to bring the experts
Unknown:forward. Okay, that's my mission. So when the podcast
Unknown:came on my desk, that I had to be the host, it wasn't my idea.
Unknown:And it was very fortunate that I just read the book, everyone
Unknown:communicates few connect, because it was such a great book
Unknown:about genuinely connecting with people. And right away, what
Unknown:went through my head was, boy, I hear from all these members
Unknown:about what they're doing, and what they're up to. And it's
Unknown:really such a great day, to hear two to four member stories. Why
Unknown:do you want to join? Tell me what you're doing? Let's see if
Unknown:it's a fit. And then I thought, well, if I can, so for about a
Unknown:month, I asked members, would you tell me that on a show if I
Unknown:asked you doing like my own little research? And they were
Unknown:like, well, yeah, of course. And then I thought, well, we can
Unknown:reach more people. And this could be around when I'm, I knew
Unknown:nothing about broadcasting, nothing about podcasting. But
Unknown:what I did know, is I wanted to connect with people. I wanted to
Unknown:highlight and spotlight our members, and have them share
Unknown:their stories. And that is trade association, community
Unknown:management right there, really. And that first year, I must have
Unknown:grown 10 15,000 subscribers or followers in my LinkedIn. And
Unknown:then when I was like, Oh, my God, look at all of these new
Unknown:friends I have that are like listening to this. It was my it
Unknown:was it was 1000s of people that were appreciating learning about
Unknown:our member stories. And that's it. So we have this wonderful
Unknown:network. And the these wonderful people that that assured me that
Unknown:it would be okay. That supported me in areas that I could never
Unknown:do. And it was one of the best things you know I've ever done.
Unknown:And we we record it, the network does their magic and the current
Unknown:content goes out in record time. It allows us to stay as relevant
Unknown:as possible in our ever changing world. And it's allowed me to
Unknown:challenge myself and to grow in the broadcast realm and help the
Unknown:industry shine. Being in the spotlight as a woman was not
Unknown:only necessarily my goal, it isn't always easy, especially
Unknown:for video and an audio product. But we're in a niche industry.
Unknown:And I'm proud to represent women who like to break into this
Unknown:industry and or whatever industry they're in. I say go
Unknown:for it.
Lindsay Poss:It's funny that you say that because I was
Lindsay Poss:thinking back maybe about a We'd go after a day of recording and
Lindsay Poss:I thought, I really thought I'd be hosting Brian a podcast. But
Lindsay Poss:I actually realized when I was in, in middle school, I decided
Lindsay Poss:that as the profession, I wanted to be a news anchor. And I had
Lindsay Poss:forgotten about that. My my interests sort of changed over
Lindsay Poss:time. But I don't think that ever went away fully either.
Lindsay Poss:Other things might have gotten pushed to the top of the list as
Lindsay Poss:what are what do I want to be when I grow up, but I think
Lindsay Poss:broadcast journalism was always kind of there for me. So it's
Lindsay Poss:been fun to circle back to that in some form.
Unknown:Isn't that interesting? John Maxwell always says, you
Unknown:know, work in the area that your strengths are. And when you hear
Unknown:you were, you know, a young lady thinking that you liked, or
Unknown:you're inspired by music anchors, I was to very early on,
Unknown:someone said to me, I was on a business trip in Indianapolis.
Unknown:And someone said to me, you sound like a news anchor on
Unknown:television. I was, you know, Indiana is one state away from
Unknown:Chicago formula. And I said, Well, what do you think I sound
Unknown:different than you? And then I thought, Ah, right, shortly
Unknown:after that someone wanted me to do a broadcast there. And I
Unknown:said, No, no, I'm, I'm a behind the scenes. And, you know, and
Unknown:here we are, like, what your purpose? Is it, you know, find
Unknown:it or it will find you. That's right.
Lindsay Poss:That's, I feel like it found me you but I'm
Lindsay Poss:happy to be here, that's the same. What would you recommend
Lindsay Poss:for people who are looking to start their own podcasts,
Lindsay Poss:especially in the esports space,
Unknown:that's, you know, that's something I wish I had a
Unknown:little bit more time for her. I know, you'll love this, like,
Unknown:you know, do your research, study the types of podcasts you
Unknown:like to consume, you know, create something that would be
Unknown:your way, your style, you can get started with very little
Unknown:overhead, and in equipment, stir practice, practicing, you know,
Unknown:actively start to talk to people, create your templates
Unknown:that allow you to grow organically, find editors and
Unknown:producers that support your vision. There's nothing better
Unknown:than working in collaboration. And when you find your team, you
Unknown:know, build tiny little community. Um, I, you know,
Unknown:personally, I love mapping out content, you know, for six
Unknown:months, 12 months, three months, and you know, just see how how
Unknown:it can be supportive together. And oh, my gosh, I also strongly
Unknown:I love Oh, post, it's so fun. I love taking my show on the road,
Unknown:you know, because if you really know, like, my vision is to
Unknown:truly bring the community, you know, to the podcast, right? And
Unknown:whether it's to me, a co host, live, relax, you know, we're all
Unknown:on a journey together. And so I play around with it. I love
Unknown:that. That's
Lindsay Poss:so fun. And podcasting really has been fun.
Lindsay Poss:But there is, to your point about do research, there is more
Lindsay Poss:to it than first appears. So I don't know what you're getting
Lindsay Poss:into. The one thing I do really love about it is it's made me a
Lindsay Poss:much better listener. I find myself in real life asking
Lindsay Poss:questions as I would if I were hosting a podcast, follow ups
Lindsay Poss:and stuff, do you? Oh, thank you. Do you ever find yourself
Lindsay Poss:in real life thinking like, Oh, can you tell me about that a
Lindsay Poss:little more. I do that all the time. Now. Before we get to our
Lindsay Poss:last little segment that I like to do in every show, I want to
Lindsay Poss:just give a short summary of what we talked about. We started
Lindsay Poss:with a discussion, discussion on community, how people really
Lindsay Poss:want to be together, especially after two years we've had and
Lindsay Poss:that it's important to create a welcoming space to bring
Lindsay Poss:everyone into those in bringing everyone actually together. One
Lindsay Poss:of the core tenants that you mentioned that I thought was
Lindsay Poss:really important in building a piece of community was
Lindsay Poss:empowering leaders to create teams that they're passionate
Lindsay Poss:about and bringing people that that could share that passion
Lindsay Poss:with them. That also then worked under the overall mission. So I
Lindsay Poss:thought it was really clever the way you kind of go down, you
Lindsay Poss:break up the levels a little bit. Get everyone on the bottom
Lindsay Poss:tier of the pyramid excited and then as you work your way up,
Lindsay Poss:everyone kind of comes together. Um, you mentioned a lot about
Lindsay Poss:John Maxwell strategy and Everyone communicates few
Lindsay Poss:Connect for how to do that. We also talked about what excites
Lindsay Poss:you about esports. And what brought you into the gaming
Lindsay Poss:industry, a great anecdote about how the AV folks used to be in
Lindsay Poss:the broom closet. Now they're the ones hosting and running the
Lindsay Poss:conferences, which I think is really a good anecdote for how
Lindsay Poss:how much Tech has grown and what an industry it's become, and how
Lindsay Poss:it's become respected. And that's
Unknown:really, really relevant.
Lindsay Poss:He talked a bit about the future, how we're
Lindsay Poss:going to incorporate dei principles and what those
Lindsay Poss:changes are going to look like. One of the points that you
Lindsay Poss:brought up that I just loved was that people who live in a world
Lindsay Poss:that's not built for them are the ones who tend to innovate.
Lindsay Poss:And so finding those folks looking at their voices,
Lindsay Poss:providing channels so that people can actually report
Lindsay Poss:problems and come up with ideas and share their own experiences
Lindsay Poss:is really important. When we talk about building the
Lindsay Poss:metaverse and bringing in those dei principles, we have the
Lindsay Poss:power to advance or hold ourselves back. So we talked a
Lindsay Poss:lot about that. And it's important to weave inclusion
Lindsay Poss:into all of these sectors is important to be cognizant of
Lindsay Poss:where you fall short, and how you can actually make up for
Lindsay Poss:those shortcomings. We talked about how you stay current with
Lindsay Poss:emerging technologies, which a wonderful story about your, your
Lindsay Poss:grandfather, and yeah, who me, which I think is probably gonna
Lindsay Poss:wind up being the title of this episode. But that's just a
Lindsay Poss:wonderful, wonderful way of reminding yourself that you're
Lindsay Poss:never too old to learn something new, you're never too old to be
Lindsay Poss:excited for what's to come. You're never too old to play,
Lindsay Poss:and to learn what's out there. And I think that that's just so
Lindsay Poss:important. And we ended with a little discussion on podcasting,
Lindsay Poss:where it's important to do your own research, build a small
Lindsay Poss:network around you that supports it, and share with everyone you
Lindsay Poss:possibly can about what you're doing that helps grow your own
Lindsay Poss:audience. It's the last little segment that I like to do with
Lindsay Poss:everyone who comes on the show, the moment of reflection, it's a
Lindsay Poss:chance for you to look back and offer advice to other people who
Lindsay Poss:are listening. So what is one thing you would like to tell
Lindsay Poss:your younger self about getting into the gaming industry and
Lindsay Poss:being successful?
Unknown:Boy, you know, I think if there's one thing that I do
Unknown:tell myself, is that everything happens perfectly. If you ever
Unknown:watch that movie, Slumdog Millionaire, and he wins, and
Unknown:it's an impossible journey to win, they set up this, this
Unknown:movie, so no one could win. But when you really sit back, and
Unknown:you look at your life, or even one day, and you look at the
Unknown:miracles that happen all day long for you to have, support
Unknown:the universe to do your gift. And relax, that you wouldn't be
Unknown:who you are, if you didn't do what you did, and what you're
Unknown:doing. So I think that, you know, when I was growing up, you
Unknown:know, I had a very traumatic upbringing with the loss of my
Unknown:father. And I couldn't understand, you know, why things
Unknown:would be so hard at such a tender age. And but it really
Unknown:made me a very sensitive young girl, a very deep young girl.
Unknown:And then I had this incredible bond with stone, many people in
Unknown:my community that went above and beyond, to help raise me. You
Unknown:know, I was raised in a community that I devoted people
Unknown:that knew our mom needed help. And here I am this, you know,
Unknown:leader that really believes most of all, and healing together,
Unknown:because it's, it is much harder and much more challenging to
Unknown:heal alone. So my advice is, sit back, relax, take a deep breath.
Unknown:And just take one day at a time, one hour at a time, one podcast
Unknown:at a time, one book at a time. If you sell read the hardcover
Unknown:books, which I do. And trust, trust your own, trust your
Unknown:journey, because you already really special and you have a
Unknown:mission in this earth.
Lindsay Poss:Oh, well, that was just the warmest way to end it
Lindsay Poss:that made my heart so happy. Megan, thank you so much for
Lindsay Poss:coming on. I know we already talked where people can find
Lindsay Poss:you. And I know that's on LinkedIn. But is there any other
Lindsay Poss:resources you want to share or plug? Well, you
Unknown:know, I would love for anyone that's interested in
Unknown:esports and the industry of esports to check out our
Unknown:website. It's the sports trade association if you Google it,
Unknown:and if you'd like to Type it in it's esports taa.org. And I
Unknown:would be happy to jump on a call with anyone that is
Unknown:contemplating joining or coming to our event, we have an
Unknown:incredible opportunity that you know, thank you, Lindsey for
Unknown:speaking on our panel in August here in Chicago, brought to you
Unknown:by Morgan Stanley. It's going to be a wonderful day and a half
Unknown:where we're inviting people to Chicago, we're starting with a
Unknown:Wrigley baseball game. And we have a wonderful networking
Unknown:event. The next day, we're doing power speed networking, we have
Unknown:an elevator pitch, which is similar to shark thing. And then
Unknown:we have a full day of sessions, where you can really truly, you
Unknown:know, pick and choose what you'd like to, to, to watch and learn
Unknown:about. And we hope to see you all there August 22 through the
Unknown:25th. And our event is titled esports. Next, brought to you by
Unknown:Morgan Stanley. And everyone should
Lindsay Poss:go because August 22 is my birthday.
Unknown:Are you gonna go to the Cubs game? I'm hoping so. But
Lindsay Poss:if not esports trade association is throwing me
Lindsay Poss:like the biggest longest birthday party for her
Unknown:and I guess if we're going to the game, let me know
Unknown:because I think that they you know, they do special things for
Unknown:birthdays like on a big screen.
Lindsay Poss:That's okay, we if we go I'm telling you. You just
Lindsay Poss:bag Lindsey. Oh my gosh. Oh, well. Megan, thank you so much.
Lindsay Poss:For all of our listeners out there. Be sure to leave those
Lindsay Poss:five star ratings and reviews that helps other people find the
Lindsay Poss:show. Also, it just warms my heart. So that's good to be sure
Lindsay Poss:to check out other holodeck media podcasts, including better
Lindsay Poss:business for all the metaverse, finance stories you could ever
Lindsay Poss:want in business esports for interviews with industry
Lindsay Poss:leaders, I'm on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn Lindsey
Lindsay Poss:pass. You can catch me Wednesday nights on the business of
Lindsay Poss:esports live after show and you can catch this podcast in your
Lindsay Poss:feed every week. We'll see you next week.
Unknown:Thank you, Lindsay.
Unknown:Thanks for joining us here on meta woman. Make sure to
Unknown:subscribe to this podcast everywhere you get your
Unknown:podcasts, leave a five star review and tell your friends
Unknown:family and colleagues all about us. Also, make sure to follow
Unknown:meta TV on all socials to get more of the best Metaverse
Unknown:content anywhere. Tune in every week for another episode of