LIVE from Catalyst — Kathy Bentz & Pal Hollywood on Making Water Local | Make Water Work 050

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Language: en
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Well, welcome to the Make Waterwork
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podcast. This is the 50th episode and
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the first episode filmed in front of a
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live studio audience. And so I'm here
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I'm here in San Diego and I love that we
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are here at a wine and culinary center.
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It was 2018
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and in 2018 I was 45 days into my first
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job in the water industry and I had just
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gone to my first conference to meet
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water professionals and I was really um
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grappling with what does it mean to um
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be part of this community? What makes
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this community so special? cuz it was
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just there was just something about the
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people that felt um refreshingly
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authentic. So then I went for a drive
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and I was listening to a podcast with a
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guest called Richard Betts and Richard
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Betts is a wine somale and a whiskey
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connoisseur and this was a long 4-hour
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podcast and he was talking and I was
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just glued to it. It was like it felt
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poetic. the way he was talking about
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stories, the way he was talking about a
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term that I didn't know anything about
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called teroir, um, and what it meant for
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a wine or a whiskey to actually tell a
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story.
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And when you have some, um, whisies, I
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won't name them, um, necessarily, but a
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big brand whiskey, it actually goes
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through a distilling process that
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distills out what makes it identifiable
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to a place and a time and a people. And
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the ones that are really good, they
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actually take into account, they let
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that be born in and infused in the
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actual taste, the flavor. So, um, from a
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wine standpoint, he can taste a wine and
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he can say, "I can know what region this
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is, and I know what time this was. I
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understand that the soil during this
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year or this decade um was going through
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a drought, so it it changed." And and
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you're not trying to get rid of that.
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you're actually trying to embellish that
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and make that part of the story. And so
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how that ties back is then I started
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thinking about the people that I met in
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the water industry that it was very
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place-based that it wasn't about trying
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to figure out how to do the same thing
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everywhere. I was trying to trying to
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figure out how to serve the people. Let
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the story of that place be born not just
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in the water but also in the way that
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you communicate to your communities
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about the water. You're not trying to
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just rip and replace and copy and paste
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some other strategy or some other
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talking point. And I think that's why we
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get tension around regulatory frameworks
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is sometimes we have to just say the
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facts and we're not allowed to um have
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the thing that makes it special to that
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place. So today we have two incredible
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selections for you. Um the first one
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comes from Prince William County and is
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um bright, crisp, and refreshing from um
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Prince William Water Kathy Benz.
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And the second selection comes from the
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West Coast. And this selection is bold,
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curious, and never afraid to try new
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things. Please welcome pal Hollywood
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from San Jose W.
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>> Welcome to the Make Water Work podcast
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where we dive into the people, ideas,
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and innovation shaping the future of
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water. We bring you insights from
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hundreds of incredible conversations
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we've had over the past 9 years with
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inspiring and energizing leaders with
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entrepreneurs, community champions, and
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innovators who are making water work for
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everyone. Whether you're a water
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professional, a curious innovator, or
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simply passionate about our most
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precious resource, this podcast is for
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you. Let's get started. Hal and Kathy,
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thank you so much for joining me on the
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Make Waterwork podcast, the 50th
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episode. Um this is this is really
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special and the my favorite thing about
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um doing this podcast is getting to
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connect the dots and the stories of the
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people who really make water work. And
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so the first question that everyone on
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the podcast gets asked is how did water
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find you? So Kathy, I would love to
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start with you. How did water find you?
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>> So when you told me you were going to
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ask this, I I did a lot of thinking and
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talking with family. I grew up in West
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Virginia about a block from the Ohio
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River, which was great except
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occasionally there was flooding and it
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would back up into our storm sores. It
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would flood the streets. It would flood
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our basement. So I have experience in
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bailing water, this rustcoled water, you
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know. So we would do that a lot as kids.
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And I remember the neighbor kids would
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walk up and down the street wing through
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that water. And my mother was like, "Do
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not go out there. Do not play in that
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water. That is not safe." Because what I
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didn't know as a kid, the Ohio River at
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the time was a dumping ground for
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industry. The chemicals went straight
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into the water. This was before the
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Clean Water Act had a chance to do its
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thing and make it a healthy waterway.
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Fast forward many years, I've been
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working in Prince William County,
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Virginia, which is in the DC metro area
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for a long time in communications, in
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leadership development and community
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engagement. So about nine years ago when
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an opportunity came up at Prince William
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Water, I saw the chance to connect two
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things that were important to me. a
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community that I care about deeply and
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helping them understand why water is so
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precious and probably more importantly
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how they play a role in protecting water
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resources. So, it was a really great
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marriage of passions for me.
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>> I love that. I love that. And you're a
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Steelers fan
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>> and I'm a Steelers fan,
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>> which is also what I've learned. So, um
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take that for what it's worth.
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>> Um pal, the same question to you. Um
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everyone has a story about how water
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found them. So tell me how water found
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you.
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>> Sure. Um I love the way that Kathy
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talked about water in her childhood and
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just now it got me thinking about how I
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grew up on the east coast um in
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Connecticut and there um water is
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abundant. Um there's creeks and ponds
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and rivers everywhere like flowing on
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the side of the street and you can go
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swimming. Um and so that was kind of
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naturally a part of my life. But I moved
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out to California almost 10 years ago.
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Um, and I've been living in San Jose and
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it's a very different experience. Um,
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the water in our system is remote and
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you it's very out of sight, out of mind.
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So water was not on my mind anymore when
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I moved to California. Um, and I was
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working in um, the tech industry. I
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started in PR agencies and had several
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different tech clients. Um, and I
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particularly liked the clients that I
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had with kind of an environmental lean
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in tech. Um, I think that's such an
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indust interesting industry. Um, and it
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feels a little bit more um, like special
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to be to be helping like the future. Um,
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and not maybe some startups that are
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questionable like where is this going?
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Um, and so one of my clients ended up
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being San Jose Water. And I fell in love
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with being able to be a part of my
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actual community and helping the people
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around me and getting more connected to
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where my water came from. And then an
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opportunity opened up um in-house on our
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communications team. And so I was able
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to um move in-house and work with San
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Jose Water. And I've been there about
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three years now. Um, and what I find
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really, really fun and unique about
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working in water, um, which I'm sure a
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lot of you have experienced, is that
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there really is no customer base like
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it, um, a lot of the things that you're
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doing, um, for other industries are
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things like bringing in new customers or
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bringing in new, um, interest, whereas
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like when you work for a utility, your
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customers are the people that live in
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your area. So, a lot of the things that
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you're normally doing in communications
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like capture um are not so much a
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priority and rolling out new things
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that's not happening as much. Things
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stay the same a lot in the water
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industry and it's more about finding
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fresh ways to have the same
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conversations with the same customer
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base. So, I think it's really a really
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fascinating um communications um
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challenge. And I I think especially
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coming from the tech industry, I think
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we all live in a society where when we
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think about impact, we often think about
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scale. So we think about how big or how
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far can a message go. And I think
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there's a part about being in water that
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forces us to localize it. And so it's
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less about how how far it can go and
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more how how locally can I make sure it
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embodies kind of that that back to that
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um teroir um concept. And so tell me a
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little bit more about your local
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communities and um some of the things
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that you're working that you've been
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working on to to get them engaged. Um
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what were those kind of things? I'll
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start with you, Kathy.
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>> So, um, Prince William County is a
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suburb of the Washington DC metro area
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and, you know, used to be pretty much a
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bedroom community, but now there's a
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growing business sector. We got
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semiconductor manufacturing, as you
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heard yesterday, lots of data centers.
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We're also one of the most diverse
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communities in the country. Um, we're a
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majority minority community, one of the
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first in our region. So, there were a
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lot of aspects to communication. So I I
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love your you know we're we're trying to
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essentially amplify messaging. We have
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lots of ways to do but what were some
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new ways? So the podcast that we've
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talked about. So we started about a year
00:10:01.760 --> 00:10:03.670
ago a podcast that we're calling behind
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the tat. And the reason we call it that
00:10:05.839 --> 00:10:08.150
is because as we've discussed so many
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people don't know what's happening
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behind the tap. What does it take to
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bring clean water to their homes and
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businesses? What does it take to reclaim
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wastewater, return it safely to the
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environment? Who are the who are the
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people behind your water? So, we decided
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to amplify our messaging, try to take a
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fresh take on it um with behind the the
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tap. And what we're doing is essentially
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using those episodes to sort of reflect
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the the pipes, the pumps, the people
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that bring them their water. Um each
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episode we feature someone but we keep
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it the teroir we keep it very local. So
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we may be talking about something clean
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water that affects you know utilities
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across the country but we bring it
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local. So in the spring for example when
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our crews are out flushing hydrants for
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spring flushing and people are like why
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are the hydrants open? There's water
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running through the street. So we try to
00:11:05.120 --> 00:11:07.030
explain why why are those folks in your
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neighborhood right now? And in each
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episode, I ask the guests two questions.
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You know, sort of like your your what
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brings you to water question. I ask them
00:11:16.959 --> 00:11:19.030
a customer question. So, we call
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customer service or dispatch and say,
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"What are you hearing from customers
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right now?" So, we'll ask that question
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and have them answer it. And then I ha
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ask them, "What is one thing you wish
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people knew about Prince William Water?"
00:11:30.160 --> 00:11:32.150
And that's where their passion shows up.
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And all of a sudden, they've been
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talking about facts and what they do.
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And then all of a sudden, the brightness
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comes to them. So, it's, you know, about
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water like any of us could do, but we
00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:43.910
keep it grounded in the local community.
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>> Kathy, I'm excited to come back to you
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and pull on more of those threads um
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when it comes to um the podcast and and
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really see the impact of that. Um pal,
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what was that like for you in San Jose?
00:11:56.160 --> 00:11:58.389
What's what's the part of the local
00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:01.509
flavor of of San Jose and the engagement
00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:03.110
that you're trying to drive there?
00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:05.269
>> Sure. So, at San Jose Water, we have
00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:09.030
about a million customers. Um, and we
00:12:09.040 --> 00:12:13.910
serve most of Silicon Valley. Um, and
00:12:13.920 --> 00:12:17.030
a challenge that we were facing was our
00:12:17.040 --> 00:12:19.910
customer satisfaction scores. Um, they
00:12:19.920 --> 00:12:23.350
kind of are always the same and they're
00:12:23.360 --> 00:12:25.509
not as high as we want them to be. Um,
00:12:25.519 --> 00:12:26.870
I'm not sure if that's something that
00:12:26.880 --> 00:12:30.629
anyone can relate to. Um and we have um
00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:33.350
an open um comment section at the end
00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:35.190
where people can submit comments. And
00:12:35.200 --> 00:12:37.190
the things that we see in those comments
00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:40.710
are always the same few topics. Um one
00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:43.829
huge one is hard water. They have an
00:12:43.839 --> 00:12:46.069
issue with how hard the water is in our
00:12:46.079 --> 00:12:48.069
area. Um it leaves spots on their
00:12:48.079 --> 00:12:50.790
appliances and clogs things up. Um some
00:12:50.800 --> 00:12:52.150
people don't like the taste of hard
00:12:52.160 --> 00:12:55.910
water. And um we basically sat down and
00:12:55.920 --> 00:12:58.949
had a brainstorm about how do we have
00:12:58.959 --> 00:13:01.829
the same conversation about hard water
00:13:01.839 --> 00:13:04.470
with the same group of people over and
00:13:04.480 --> 00:13:07.110
over again. Um and it's something that
00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:08.949
is never going to change, right? Because
00:13:08.959 --> 00:13:10.710
hard water is something that happens
00:13:10.720 --> 00:13:13.110
naturally um in our area. There's not
00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:14.710
really much we can do to change the
00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:17.110
hardness of our water um because it's
00:13:17.120 --> 00:13:18.870
ground water. It's pulled up through
00:13:18.880 --> 00:13:22.230
like the mineral the rocks. Um, but we
00:13:22.240 --> 00:13:24.550
still have to talk about it with our
00:13:24.560 --> 00:13:26.470
customers. Even though it's not going to
00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:28.310
change, even though there's not much we
00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:31.350
can do about it. Um, and they're always
00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:32.629
like there are people that are never
00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:34.629
going to be satisfied with it, we still
00:13:34.639 --> 00:13:37.670
have to find a fresh way to talk with
00:13:37.680 --> 00:13:39.110
them about it and meet them where
00:13:39.120 --> 00:13:40.790
they're at with those complaints on our
00:13:40.800 --> 00:13:43.990
customer satisfaction scores. So, we
00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:46.629
decided to try something completely
00:13:46.639 --> 00:13:49.190
different um and do an influencer
00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:53.509
campaign on um Instagram and Facebook.
00:13:53.519 --> 00:13:55.829
It was just like wanting to just try
00:13:55.839 --> 00:13:57.590
something new. We've tried a lot of the
00:13:57.600 --> 00:13:59.269
things that you would think of like
00:13:59.279 --> 00:14:01.509
having a newsletter and having videos
00:14:01.519 --> 00:14:04.550
about hard water and um so we thought
00:14:04.560 --> 00:14:07.990
let's just give it a shot. And so, um,
00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:10.310
we ended up doing, um, a few different
00:14:10.320 --> 00:14:12.550
campaigns on Instagram, working with
00:14:12.560 --> 00:14:15.350
influencers. Um, we had an a partner
00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:18.310
agency that we worked with that had, um,
00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:20.230
previously worked with water utilities.
00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:22.069
They hadn't done an influencer campaign
00:14:22.079 --> 00:14:24.629
with a water utility before. Um, but
00:14:24.639 --> 00:14:27.110
they knew how to how to execute an
00:14:27.120 --> 00:14:29.110
influencer program. And so, they helped
00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:32.389
us source influencers that, uh, were
00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:34.150
within our service area, which was
00:14:34.160 --> 00:14:35.910
really important to us. Um, it kind of
00:14:35.920 --> 00:14:37.269
goes to what you were saying before
00:14:37.279 --> 00:14:42.550
about um, like amplifying um, beyond um,
00:14:42.560 --> 00:14:44.069
the community that you really want to be
00:14:44.079 --> 00:14:47.990
engaging with. Um, so we made sure to
00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:49.910
um, tap influencers that have an
00:14:49.920 --> 00:14:52.150
audience in our service area and worked
00:14:52.160 --> 00:14:55.750
with them to talk to customers about
00:14:55.760 --> 00:14:56.629
hard water.
00:14:56.639 --> 00:14:58.870
>> What was some of the impacts of of that
00:14:58.880 --> 00:15:02.550
campaign? It was really awesome to see
00:15:02.560 --> 00:15:05.030
the feedback that we got on the videos
00:15:05.040 --> 00:15:07.430
that they put out. Um, it was probably
00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:10.069
one of the first times that I've seen a
00:15:10.079 --> 00:15:13.590
majority positive comment section. Um,
00:15:13.600 --> 00:15:16.870
and it really showed to us um, the
00:15:16.880 --> 00:15:19.350
difference of when the message is coming
00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:23.350
from your water utility versus someone
00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:25.590
that you already trust and someone that
00:15:25.600 --> 00:15:27.509
you feel like you already know. people
00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:29.509
were much more receptive to what the
00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:33.030
influencers had to say. They f they it
00:15:33.040 --> 00:15:36.230
was easier for them to relate um what
00:15:36.240 --> 00:15:37.910
they were talking about about hard
00:15:37.920 --> 00:15:39.350
water. So what they were doing by the
00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:42.310
way was giving tips about how to um
00:15:42.320 --> 00:15:44.470
manage like hard water spots on your
00:15:44.480 --> 00:15:46.870
appliances and things like that. Um and
00:15:46.880 --> 00:15:49.030
kind of talking about like it's a part
00:15:49.040 --> 00:15:51.749
of being in San Jose like like San Jose
00:15:51.759 --> 00:15:53.590
influencers talking about hey one of the
00:15:53.600 --> 00:15:55.269
things about living in San Jose is that
00:15:55.279 --> 00:15:59.670
the water is hard. So helping um people
00:15:59.680 --> 00:16:01.509
accept that about the area that they
00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:03.430
live in and hearing it from someone that
00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:04.949
they already trust and someone that they
00:16:04.959 --> 00:16:06.629
already like, they were so much more
00:16:06.639 --> 00:16:09.110
receptive to that message. And actually
00:16:09.120 --> 00:16:11.269
the partner agency that we worked with
00:16:11.279 --> 00:16:14.629
warned us at the start that um when they
00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:16.230
were pulling the kinds of influencers,
00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:17.670
we had like a list of people that we
00:16:17.680 --> 00:16:19.430
invited and then a few got back to us.
00:16:19.440 --> 00:16:20.870
We ended up working with around like
00:16:20.880 --> 00:16:23.670
five in this first round. Um, they
00:16:23.680 --> 00:16:25.030
warned us, "We're not going to be
00:16:25.040 --> 00:16:27.509
working with water influencers or water
00:16:27.519 --> 00:16:29.509
utility influencers." What is that?
00:16:29.519 --> 00:16:31.829
Like, that doesn't We're not going to be
00:16:31.839 --> 00:16:33.269
pulling those. What we're going to be
00:16:33.279 --> 00:16:36.069
pulling are people in your service area
00:16:36.079 --> 00:16:38.790
that are mommy bloggers and lifestyle
00:16:38.800 --> 00:16:42.069
bloggers, um, some athletic um,
00:16:42.079 --> 00:16:46.389
bloggers, and they are going to be um,
00:16:46.399 --> 00:16:48.069
telling your message about hard water.
00:16:48.079 --> 00:16:50.230
And at first it was like, are they going
00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:52.069
is that going to make sense coming from
00:16:52.079 --> 00:16:53.990
them? But it does make sense because
00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:56.230
what we're trying to get through to our
00:16:56.240 --> 00:16:57.749
customers and the people in our service
00:16:57.759 --> 00:17:00.150
area is that hard water is a part of
00:17:00.160 --> 00:17:03.590
life in San Jose. So, it's not a water
00:17:03.600 --> 00:17:05.189
conversation coming from your water
00:17:05.199 --> 00:17:07.590
company. It's a lifestyle conversation
00:17:07.600 --> 00:17:09.750
coming from a lifestyle influencer.
00:17:09.760 --> 00:17:12.309
>> I love that. I love that. So, the
00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:15.510
podcast, I'm I'm curious, um, were there
00:17:15.520 --> 00:17:19.270
any um anything any way that you would
00:17:19.280 --> 00:17:20.949
think about the impact that that
00:17:20.959 --> 00:17:21.990
surprised you?
00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:23.990
>> So, and I'm going to tie to another
00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:26.710
campaign we do as well. Um, one of the
00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:28.150
things that weaves through a lot of what
00:17:28.160 --> 00:17:30.470
we're doing is engaging our employees
00:17:30.480 --> 00:17:32.870
more. So, we have employees who are
00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:35.830
guests on the podcast. We have also
00:17:35.840 --> 00:17:39.990
started um we we have uh branded our
00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:41.909
community outreach for kids program. We
00:17:41.919 --> 00:17:44.470
call it H2GO kids and it's everything
00:17:44.480 --> 00:17:47.350
from our K through 12 program with
00:17:47.360 --> 00:17:49.990
lesson plans are, you know, the
00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:51.909
Envirroscapes out in the community. that
00:17:51.919 --> 00:17:54.950
H2GO kids as a brand has really landed.
00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:56.870
And about a year ago, one of our
00:17:56.880 --> 00:17:59.350
employees speaking, you know, online
00:17:59.360 --> 00:18:03.029
communication started doing videos that
00:18:03.039 --> 00:18:05.029
normally we would have done for adults.
00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:08.549
Salt smarts, um, lead and copper, wise
00:18:08.559 --> 00:18:11.750
water use, doing Canva, animated Canva
00:18:11.760 --> 00:18:15.510
videos for kids and, um, you know, just
00:18:15.520 --> 00:18:17.750
using Canva. Part of the animation part
00:18:17.760 --> 00:18:18.950
that was great. Did I mention how
00:18:18.960 --> 00:18:22.150
diverse our community is? With Canva,
00:18:22.160 --> 00:18:24.230
you can make it look like very inclusive
00:18:24.240 --> 00:18:26.950
neighborhoods, families, the pe people
00:18:26.960 --> 00:18:28.710
can look at those videos and see
00:18:28.720 --> 00:18:30.630
themselves in it. So, that was a piece
00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:33.590
of it. But also, it was the fact that he
00:18:33.600 --> 00:18:35.990
decided to engage our employees in a
00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:38.150
really unique way. The people doing the
00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:40.070
voice over, the narration for these
00:18:40.080 --> 00:18:41.909
videos are the children of our
00:18:41.919 --> 00:18:43.669
employees.
00:18:43.679 --> 00:18:48.310
Yeah. Yeah. Uh so you can imagine every
00:18:48.320 --> 00:18:50.950
employee lines up now they want when can
00:18:50.960 --> 00:18:54.070
my kid do one of the voiceovers and you
00:18:54.080 --> 00:18:56.710
know so you have kids sending the
00:18:56.720 --> 00:18:59.510
message to kids. Those of you who may
00:18:59.520 --> 00:19:01.590
remember when recycling started you know
00:19:01.600 --> 00:19:03.830
the lesson was have your kid go home and
00:19:03.840 --> 00:19:06.070
tell the parents got to recycle got to
00:19:06.080 --> 00:19:07.750
recycle. Well we're doing the same thing
00:19:07.760 --> 00:19:09.990
with these. So you know kid goes home
00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:12.549
and says hey those wipes are not really
00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:15.190
flushable mom. Hey, you shouldn't be
00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:17.190
pouring that fat oil and grease down the
00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:20.549
drain, you know, dad. And whoa, that's
00:19:20.559 --> 00:19:22.150
way too much salt to pour on your
00:19:22.160 --> 00:19:24.150
driveway for this snow event. So, the
00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:26.470
kids learning the lesson from other kids
00:19:26.480 --> 00:19:29.190
and delivering it, but it was all it was
00:19:29.200 --> 00:19:30.950
part of engaging our employees. The
00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:33.350
podcast has also been about engaging our
00:19:33.360 --> 00:19:35.830
employees. So, that's I think that's one
00:19:35.840 --> 00:19:37.750
of the big things for us. So, it's not
00:19:37.760 --> 00:19:39.510
just the con team, sorry, not just the
00:19:39.520 --> 00:19:41.830
con team doing it. It's the whole
00:19:41.840 --> 00:19:44.070
organization because all the employees
00:19:44.080 --> 00:19:45.990
feel like they're involved with it. If
00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:47.750
I'm delivering the message, that's fine,
00:19:47.760 --> 00:19:49.430
but I'm the communications director.
00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:51.029
They're going to expect me to deliver a
00:19:51.039 --> 00:19:53.990
message. But if it's a utility operator
00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:56.710
or one of our lab techs when we go out
00:19:56.720 --> 00:19:58.870
with a lab techs, you know, or kid doing
00:19:58.880 --> 00:20:01.350
one of the videos, it's very different
00:20:01.360 --> 00:20:04.950
to hear from that person than it is the
00:20:04.960 --> 00:20:07.190
communications messenger. So, I
00:20:07.200 --> 00:20:08.950
definitely think it's, you know,
00:20:08.960 --> 00:20:11.510
choosing who the messenger is, but also
00:20:11.520 --> 00:20:13.029
letting them do it in their own. So,
00:20:13.039 --> 00:20:14.390
we're not going to, you know, script
00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:16.789
somebody coming on to talk about spring
00:20:16.799 --> 00:20:18.950
flushing. If that's the operator, just
00:20:18.960 --> 00:20:20.390
tell us what you do when you're out
00:20:20.400 --> 00:20:22.549
there working in the neighborhoods.
00:20:22.559 --> 00:20:24.950
>> One really fantastic surprise that came
00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:27.029
out of our first campaign, we actually
00:20:27.039 --> 00:20:29.430
did three total. Um the first one we
00:20:29.440 --> 00:20:30.789
just worked with like five different
00:20:30.799 --> 00:20:34.390
influencers um to talk talk about um
00:20:34.400 --> 00:20:37.590
hard water and then two of them came
00:20:37.600 --> 00:20:40.710
back for a smaller campaign where it was
00:20:40.720 --> 00:20:42.310
like a conversation. We made it look
00:20:42.320 --> 00:20:43.830
kind of like a facetime. They were
00:20:43.840 --> 00:20:46.070
facetiming each other and asking each
00:20:46.080 --> 00:20:48.549
other about how they find and manage
00:20:48.559 --> 00:20:51.350
leaks in their home. Um and we wanted it
00:20:51.360 --> 00:20:52.950
to look like a conversation between the
00:20:52.960 --> 00:20:55.909
two of them. Um, and then one of those
00:20:55.919 --> 00:20:58.789
two women um, reached out to us that she
00:20:58.799 --> 00:21:00.710
had had a really good experience with
00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:02.870
our new leak alert system that we had
00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:05.029
just rolled out in the past in the past
00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:07.190
year. Um, we've been transitioning to
00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:09.990
smart meters um, and a new uh, way to
00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:11.909
sign up to find out right away if you
00:21:11.919 --> 00:21:13.510
have a leak, a potential leak in your
00:21:13.520 --> 00:21:15.270
home. She had a good experience with
00:21:15.280 --> 00:21:16.870
that and she said, "Do you want to tell
00:21:16.880 --> 00:21:19.430
this story?" And we said, "Absolutely."
00:21:19.440 --> 00:21:21.990
So, we did another campaign with her
00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:23.750
just telling her own experience of how
00:21:23.760 --> 00:21:25.990
she signed up for leak alerts and was
00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:28.710
able to find one in her home and fix it.
00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:31.590
Um, so that was an incredible moment of
00:21:31.600 --> 00:21:34.149
authenticity um where she was so
00:21:34.159 --> 00:21:35.909
enthusiastic about her experience with
00:21:35.919 --> 00:21:38.070
us that she wanted to continue telling
00:21:38.080 --> 00:21:39.830
that story and we were able to put that
00:21:39.840 --> 00:21:42.630
out. um it is a brand new um thing for
00:21:42.640 --> 00:21:44.789
us and so we were still kind of planning
00:21:44.799 --> 00:21:47.590
about how to um get the message out
00:21:47.600 --> 00:21:50.630
there about our leak alerts. Um and what
00:21:50.640 --> 00:21:52.630
better way than to hear firsthand
00:21:52.640 --> 00:21:53.750
someone that had a really good
00:21:53.760 --> 00:21:55.830
experience with that. C can I pick a
00:21:55.840 --> 00:21:57.430
brain quest? You talked a little bit to
00:21:57.440 --> 00:21:59.029
me earlier about some of the measures
00:21:59.039 --> 00:22:00.950
the outcomes of the influencer campaign.
00:22:00.960 --> 00:22:02.390
What's what's some of the numbers
00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:03.909
because I was pretty impressed.
00:22:03.919 --> 00:22:08.070
>> Okay. Um yes, so we had a lot of
00:22:08.080 --> 00:22:10.789
engagement um and a lot of views on the
00:22:10.799 --> 00:22:12.870
videos. Um those are always impressive
00:22:12.880 --> 00:22:14.149
at the end of a campaign, right? When
00:22:14.159 --> 00:22:16.630
you see, oh my gosh, 40,000 views on our
00:22:16.640 --> 00:22:19.830
reel. Um but I think what was the best
00:22:19.840 --> 00:22:22.470
indicator of a job well done of a
00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:24.310
successful campaign for us was
00:22:24.320 --> 00:22:26.630
clickthroughs to our website. And that
00:22:26.640 --> 00:22:29.830
was more in like the 3,000. But looking
00:22:29.840 --> 00:22:32.710
at the demographics of um who those
00:22:32.720 --> 00:22:35.750
clickthroughs were, it was people within
00:22:35.760 --> 00:22:38.310
our service area. So I don't know where
00:22:38.320 --> 00:22:40.789
those 40,000 people were that looked at
00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:43.350
our videos. Um but 3,000 people in our
00:22:43.360 --> 00:22:45.110
service area being driven to our website
00:22:45.120 --> 00:22:46.710
and potentially signing up for leak
00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:49.669
notifications is a huge win. that is
00:22:49.679 --> 00:22:53.510
that that um I can also share one of my
00:22:53.520 --> 00:22:57.110
surprises in in um this podcast in
00:22:57.120 --> 00:23:00.390
general is that starting in July of this
00:23:00.400 --> 00:23:03.270
year was when um when we started the
00:23:03.280 --> 00:23:06.070
Catalyst collab version of this and just
00:23:06.080 --> 00:23:08.549
interviewing um various guides who have
00:23:08.559 --> 00:23:11.350
been part of Catalyst in the past and um
00:23:11.360 --> 00:23:13.510
those who are going to be um guides for
00:23:13.520 --> 00:23:15.510
this year and our engagement has
00:23:15.520 --> 00:23:18.070
quadrupled. So, the Cabalist community
00:23:18.080 --> 00:23:19.350
just knows how to show up.
00:23:19.360 --> 00:23:19.990
>> Wow.
00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:22.390
>> Um, one of those things that wasn't
00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:24.870
necessarily expected, but it also makes
00:23:24.880 --> 00:23:28.390
sense because some of the stories again,
00:23:28.400 --> 00:23:31.350
there's a there's a level of um the
00:23:31.360 --> 00:23:33.750
passion behind
00:23:33.760 --> 00:23:37.430
um the way the Catalyst community um is
00:23:37.440 --> 00:23:42.230
authentically working to um to connect
00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:44.950
with with their communities. And and
00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:48.950
it's again it's not just
00:23:48.960 --> 00:23:51.510
it's truly s coming from a place of
00:23:51.520 --> 00:23:53.750
serving the local community and not
00:23:53.760 --> 00:23:57.990
trying to just go international fame.
00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:00.549
You know it nice if that happens but but
00:24:00.559 --> 00:24:01.990
it just is you know comes from that
00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:03.350
authentic place.
00:24:03.360 --> 00:24:05.590
>> There there was a surprise with with our
00:24:05.600 --> 00:24:07.430
podcast and we're trying to take
00:24:07.440 --> 00:24:10.070
advantage of it. So in one of the um our
00:24:10.080 --> 00:24:12.470
deputy general manager for operations in
00:24:12.480 --> 00:24:14.070
one of ours and his topic was really
00:24:14.080 --> 00:24:16.630
just about the value of water and you
00:24:16.640 --> 00:24:19.029
know why water costs money. Well when I
00:24:19.039 --> 00:24:21.669
asked the question that customers had
00:24:21.679 --> 00:24:24.470
been asking it was is there going to be
00:24:24.480 --> 00:24:26.870
enough water in Prince William County to
00:24:26.880 --> 00:24:28.789
serve growing development and all of the
00:24:28.799 --> 00:24:31.350
data centers coming in. So he answered
00:24:31.360 --> 00:24:33.590
it he he has all the stats. Last year,
00:24:33.600 --> 00:24:36.070
for example, um data centers used just
00:24:36.080 --> 00:24:39.350
under 4% of our water purchases. Even on
00:24:39.360 --> 00:24:41.510
peak demand day, it was a little over
00:24:41.520 --> 00:24:43.909
9%. So, he had the information, came
00:24:43.919 --> 00:24:46.470
across very authentic. Well, uh a couple
00:24:46.480 --> 00:24:48.070
weeks later, I ran into a friend of mine
00:24:48.080 --> 00:24:49.909
who has taken on the lovely duty of
00:24:49.919 --> 00:24:52.310
being president of his HOA. He said,
00:24:52.320 --> 00:24:55.029
"Man, I watched your podcast and people
00:24:55.039 --> 00:24:56.950
in their community, which is near data
00:24:56.960 --> 00:24:58.710
centers, had been asking, "We're going
00:24:58.720 --> 00:25:00.070
to run out of water, aren't we? We're
00:25:00.080 --> 00:25:02.149
going to run out of water." He clipped
00:25:02.159 --> 00:25:05.669
that segment from our podcast and sent
00:25:05.679 --> 00:25:08.390
it out to the people in his community
00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:09.750
who wrote back, "Wow, that's the first
00:25:09.760 --> 00:25:11.269
time I've heard anybody answer that
00:25:11.279 --> 00:25:12.950
question." Wouldn't have expected that.
00:25:12.960 --> 00:25:14.789
So, for us, it's, you know, we are the
00:25:14.799 --> 00:25:16.549
podcast, but maybe there's pieces of
00:25:16.559 --> 00:25:19.350
that that we need to segment and get to
00:25:19.360 --> 00:25:21.269
the local community in different ways.
00:25:21.279 --> 00:25:23.190
That was a very pleasant surprise for
00:25:23.200 --> 00:25:25.190
us. And that's a part of the way that
00:25:25.200 --> 00:25:28.390
you're programming it too where you're
00:25:28.400 --> 00:25:30.549
um you didn't necessarily do an entire
00:25:30.559 --> 00:25:33.350
episode on that. That's just you and the
00:25:33.360 --> 00:25:35.590
programming saying, "Hey, one of the
00:25:35.600 --> 00:25:38.310
parts of this is let's take what's a
00:25:38.320 --> 00:25:41.029
common question we're getting and what's
00:25:41.039 --> 00:25:44.710
the answer?" So, it's it's less of um
00:25:44.720 --> 00:25:46.310
saying we need to figure out how to get
00:25:46.320 --> 00:25:49.430
this talking point out and more of just
00:25:49.440 --> 00:25:51.669
>> what's a concern. was it ties back to
00:25:51.679 --> 00:25:54.230
yesterday, the very first activity we
00:25:54.240 --> 00:25:56.549
did where, you know, we all went out and
00:25:56.559 --> 00:25:58.630
we were asking questions of the
00:25:58.640 --> 00:26:01.110
community. So, what better way than the
00:26:01.120 --> 00:26:03.350
podcast to put questions out there that
00:26:03.360 --> 00:26:05.510
we're really hearing from our customers,
00:26:05.520 --> 00:26:08.149
not that we're the comm brilliant comm
00:26:08.159 --> 00:26:09.590
people are going, what do we think
00:26:09.600 --> 00:26:11.269
customers want to know? What are they
00:26:11.279 --> 00:26:13.430
genuinely asking? So,
00:26:13.440 --> 00:26:15.029
>> you're demonstrating that openness to
00:26:15.039 --> 00:26:18.549
saying we're we're do take note of the
00:26:18.559 --> 00:26:20.310
questions that are coming in. Mhm.
00:26:20.320 --> 00:26:22.470
>> What's a common question? Let's address
00:26:22.480 --> 00:26:25.830
that um as part of the larger
00:26:25.840 --> 00:26:27.510
programming in the midst of telling the
00:26:27.520 --> 00:26:31.909
story of um why why you have um why
00:26:31.919 --> 00:26:33.590
someone works at Prince William Water
00:26:33.600 --> 00:26:35.269
and um what that looks like.
00:26:35.279 --> 00:26:37.510
>> I love that. Talk about authentic. And
00:26:37.520 --> 00:26:39.269
actually, I wanted to ask you a question
00:26:39.279 --> 00:26:40.870
because I was surprised by the answer
00:26:40.880 --> 00:26:43.269
when you told me um how long are your
00:26:43.279 --> 00:26:45.430
episodes usually of your podcast? That's
00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:47.510
true. So, you know, you were talking
00:26:47.520 --> 00:26:49.750
about listening to a 4-hour podcast. I
00:26:49.760 --> 00:26:51.750
listened to lots of podcasts. Most of
00:26:51.760 --> 00:26:53.909
them were an hour long. We made an
00:26:53.919 --> 00:26:56.470
intentional decision to let the podcast
00:26:56.480 --> 00:26:58.549
go as long as the conversation went,
00:26:58.559 --> 00:27:00.789
which some it's only been 12 minutes in
00:27:00.799 --> 00:27:03.190
some cases. 20 minutes. Because first of
00:27:03.200 --> 00:27:05.029
all, how many people are going to sit
00:27:05.039 --> 00:27:06.870
around for an hour and listen to a
00:27:06.880 --> 00:27:08.950
podcast about their local water utility.
00:27:08.960 --> 00:27:09.590
Let's
00:27:09.600 --> 00:27:10.549
>> besides this one,
00:27:10.559 --> 00:27:12.470
>> we're scintillating. Yeah, we're we're
00:27:12.480 --> 00:27:15.190
scintillating, but not that. So, we And
00:27:15.200 --> 00:27:16.710
it was funny because I I asked Isaac,
00:27:16.720 --> 00:27:17.909
"What do you think of this?" And it's
00:27:17.919 --> 00:27:20.870
like if why drag the conversation out if
00:27:20.880 --> 00:27:22.310
you've had the conversation, you've
00:27:22.320 --> 00:27:24.070
answered the questions, be done with it.
00:27:24.080 --> 00:27:27.350
So ours are pretty darn short. I love
00:27:27.360 --> 00:27:28.950
that. That feels so approachable to me
00:27:28.960 --> 00:27:31.110
as a comms person, like curious about
00:27:31.120 --> 00:27:33.669
starting a podcast. Like, sure, I can do
00:27:33.679 --> 00:27:36.070
something for 12 minutes, right? Maybe
00:27:36.080 --> 00:27:38.310
not an hour, but yeah, that feels more
00:27:38.320 --> 00:27:40.310
authentic that way, too. Yeah. I just I
00:27:40.320 --> 00:27:41.669
just had this look on my face
00:27:41.679 --> 00:27:44.149
approaching our employees and saying you
00:27:44.159 --> 00:27:47.110
must fill an hour versus let's have a
00:27:47.120 --> 00:27:48.789
conversation and it takes as long as it
00:27:48.799 --> 00:27:50.630
takes takes a lot of pressure off the
00:27:50.640 --> 00:27:51.350
guest.
00:27:51.360 --> 00:27:52.710
>> Exactly. Exactly.
00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:54.149
>> Yeah. And that's what you want them to
00:27:54.159 --> 00:27:57.510
feel confident and relaxed in um in that
00:27:57.520 --> 00:28:00.630
atmosphere um and being able to to share
00:28:00.640 --> 00:28:02.789
>> like you've made us feel comfortable.
00:28:02.799 --> 00:28:05.750
>> Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. It's um and I I
00:28:05.760 --> 00:28:08.230
think that's that is one of the one of
00:28:08.240 --> 00:28:11.190
the keys to the experience too is um
00:28:11.200 --> 00:28:13.590
just like we've been talking this entire
00:28:13.600 --> 00:28:16.070
um this entire time about what it means
00:28:16.080 --> 00:28:19.269
to set a table, what it means to um it's
00:28:19.279 --> 00:28:21.750
like how do you make how you make people
00:28:21.760 --> 00:28:25.029
feel is important and that comes through
00:28:25.039 --> 00:28:27.750
especially in a medium where you're um
00:28:27.760 --> 00:28:30.310
interviewing folks. So, um, people pick
00:28:30.320 --> 00:28:33.110
up on that and I I think those are some
00:28:33.120 --> 00:28:35.350
of the difficult things to measure. And
00:28:35.360 --> 00:28:36.789
so, I kind of want to move the
00:28:36.799 --> 00:28:40.149
conversation to like h um as you were
00:28:40.159 --> 00:28:42.710
starting those kind of things, how did
00:28:42.720 --> 00:28:46.389
you go about um making the decision or
00:28:46.399 --> 00:28:49.430
making the case to um to your
00:28:49.440 --> 00:28:53.110
organizations that um that this was
00:28:53.120 --> 00:28:54.710
something you wanted to do and they were
00:28:54.720 --> 00:28:57.110
like, "Okay, like we'll let you take
00:28:57.120 --> 00:29:00.470
that risk. So, at San Jose Water, um we
00:29:00.480 --> 00:29:02.789
were really I felt very fortunate that
00:29:02.799 --> 00:29:05.590
we had just had a new leader come in um
00:29:05.600 --> 00:29:09.430
who is a a new our first woman president
00:29:09.440 --> 00:29:13.190
um and she is just kind of a little like
00:29:13.200 --> 00:29:16.389
younger and had a lot of fresh ideas and
00:29:16.399 --> 00:29:18.549
um so she was the one that held this
00:29:18.559 --> 00:29:20.149
brainstorm about what are we going to do
00:29:20.159 --> 00:29:22.630
about these um customer satisfaction
00:29:22.640 --> 00:29:24.389
scores that I'm I'm seeing have not
00:29:24.399 --> 00:29:27.029
really moved much. And so she was really
00:29:27.039 --> 00:29:30.310
open to new ideas, being new herself um
00:29:30.320 --> 00:29:33.669
and ready to bring in um new new ways of
00:29:33.679 --> 00:29:36.470
doing things. So that was she made it
00:29:36.480 --> 00:29:38.230
comfortable in the room for us to
00:29:38.240 --> 00:29:40.230
suggest something as crazy as an
00:29:40.240 --> 00:29:43.510
influencer campaign um knowing that we
00:29:43.520 --> 00:29:45.029
didn't really have anything to benchmark
00:29:45.039 --> 00:29:47.990
it against um among like the other
00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:50.710
utilities around us. Um but she said she
00:29:50.720 --> 00:29:53.669
trusted us and said sure let's try it.
00:29:53.679 --> 00:29:56.070
So we were really fortunate in that way.
00:29:56.080 --> 00:29:57.669
>> Yeah, that's awesome.
00:29:57.679 --> 00:29:59.510
>> Uh ours was a little different. We're a
00:29:59.520 --> 00:30:01.669
very measurement obsessed organization.
00:30:01.679 --> 00:30:03.510
I know when they watch this like she
00:30:03.520 --> 00:30:05.909
said obsessed, but it will really focus
00:30:05.919 --> 00:30:08.630
on measurements and KPIs and national
00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:10.549
benchmarking. It's very very important
00:30:10.559 --> 00:30:13.110
to our organization. But you know when
00:30:13.120 --> 00:30:15.269
my boss and I talked about the podcast,
00:30:15.279 --> 00:30:17.110
she's like, we know that you're not
00:30:17.120 --> 00:30:18.789
going to start off with this huge
00:30:18.799 --> 00:30:21.990
viewership. this is another way to build
00:30:22.000 --> 00:30:23.590
on the messaging that we're already
00:30:23.600 --> 00:30:25.350
doing, another way to convey the same
00:30:25.360 --> 00:30:27.430
messages. So, the pressure was off on
00:30:27.440 --> 00:30:29.990
having to like reach some, you know,
00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:33.110
some imaginary number. Now, with H2O
00:30:33.120 --> 00:30:34.630
kids, we're thrilled, you know, with the
00:30:34.640 --> 00:30:37.110
number of views we get. The podcast is
00:30:37.120 --> 00:30:39.510
building over time, but it was really
00:30:39.520 --> 00:30:41.669
great that leadership was able to step
00:30:41.679 --> 00:30:43.430
back and say, I think this is a great
00:30:43.440 --> 00:30:46.070
new tool, even if we're not going to hit
00:30:46.080 --> 00:30:48.070
some national benchmark in the first
00:30:48.080 --> 00:30:50.149
year or two. So that that was really
00:30:50.159 --> 00:30:50.789
helpful.
00:30:50.799 --> 00:30:53.830
>> Yeah. Well, and I I'll tie it back to
00:30:53.840 --> 00:30:56.149
the opening analogy as well. I think
00:30:56.159 --> 00:31:01.430
sometimes we can obsess over a single
00:31:01.440 --> 00:31:03.510
measuring one single thing and not
00:31:03.520 --> 00:31:05.110
understanding that it's also in the
00:31:05.120 --> 00:31:08.549
context of um of every of everything
00:31:08.559 --> 00:31:11.990
else. So the in the context
00:31:12.000 --> 00:31:15.110
>> you are reaping the benefit of more
00:31:15.120 --> 00:31:18.870
deeper employee engagement um and other
00:31:18.880 --> 00:31:21.669
employees listening to their colleagues
00:31:21.679 --> 00:31:25.909
tell their tell their stories. Um and
00:31:25.919 --> 00:31:27.750
even that if even the fact that most of
00:31:27.760 --> 00:31:30.389
the folks who worked at it at a utility
00:31:30.399 --> 00:31:32.789
are also customers of the product that
00:31:32.799 --> 00:31:35.990
they that they produce. And so it's it's
00:31:36.000 --> 00:31:40.070
a really beneficial way for them to um
00:31:40.080 --> 00:31:41.830
to again be able to engage their
00:31:41.840 --> 00:31:43.909
neighbors in the in the place where they
00:31:43.919 --> 00:31:46.230
live um because they have time and space
00:31:46.240 --> 00:31:49.990
and safety to know that they can talk to
00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:52.230
the person who runs communications.
00:31:52.240 --> 00:31:54.870
>> You made me think of a funny story. So
00:31:54.880 --> 00:31:57.590
um our CEO is very competitive. You know
00:31:57.600 --> 00:31:59.590
that's the measures and things. that
00:31:59.600 --> 00:32:01.590
when we drop a new episode of the
00:32:01.600 --> 00:32:03.110
podcast, if it happens to be right
00:32:03.120 --> 00:32:05.350
before a board meeting two or three
00:32:05.360 --> 00:32:08.310
times, I've heard board members teasing
00:32:08.320 --> 00:32:10.389
our CAS like, "Well, she was a little
00:32:10.399 --> 00:32:12.070
better on the podcast than you were,"
00:32:12.080 --> 00:32:14.070
or, "She was shorter on the podcast."
00:32:14.080 --> 00:32:15.990
So, they're paying attention. The board
00:32:16.000 --> 00:32:19.190
is paying attention, which also helps us
00:32:19.200 --> 00:32:21.430
feel supported in it. So, it's part of
00:32:21.440 --> 00:32:23.430
our overall campaign messaging. They get
00:32:23.440 --> 00:32:25.350
that. The board isn't saying, "Well, I
00:32:25.360 --> 00:32:27.029
don't see, you know, 5,000 views on
00:32:27.039 --> 00:32:29.590
this." And they're teasing the CEO,
00:32:29.600 --> 00:32:31.750
which I'm sure he enjoys every month at
00:32:31.760 --> 00:32:33.350
the board meeting.
00:32:33.360 --> 00:32:35.669
>> Yeah, our board was really engaged, too.
00:32:35.679 --> 00:32:38.389
Actually, they um were blown away when
00:32:38.399 --> 00:32:40.149
we showed them our first influencer
00:32:40.159 --> 00:32:42.789
campaign and actually were the ones to
00:32:42.799 --> 00:32:44.789
suggest, "What if you did another one?"
00:32:44.799 --> 00:32:46.630
But it was a conversation between two
00:32:46.640 --> 00:32:50.070
influencers. And we were like, "Okay." I
00:32:50.080 --> 00:32:51.669
mean, since the board said it, we'll
00:32:51.679 --> 00:32:53.990
figure out how to do it. But I wasn't
00:32:54.000 --> 00:32:56.389
sure how to do that. But um I think it
00:32:56.399 --> 00:32:57.750
made for an even more authentic
00:32:57.760 --> 00:32:59.350
conversation like instead of cuz it was
00:32:59.360 --> 00:33:01.110
like should they suggested a
00:33:01.120 --> 00:33:02.630
conversation and we were like should it
00:33:02.640 --> 00:33:05.190
be us and an influencer? Would that be
00:33:05.200 --> 00:33:07.430
interesting to people? Um who would do
00:33:07.440 --> 00:33:09.509
it from our side? And then it was like
00:33:09.519 --> 00:33:11.110
can we point two influencers at each
00:33:11.120 --> 00:33:13.430
other? Um will will they know what to
00:33:13.440 --> 00:33:15.590
say? Will they have a conversation that
00:33:15.600 --> 00:33:20.310
we would benefit from? Um, and so we
00:33:20.320 --> 00:33:23.029
were in um, inspired by the board
00:33:23.039 --> 00:33:25.750
suggesting that. Um, and it ended up
00:33:25.760 --> 00:33:27.190
working out really well. It ended up
00:33:27.200 --> 00:33:28.630
being a format that looked kind of like
00:33:28.640 --> 00:33:31.350
a FaceTime and it was a video um, of the
00:33:31.360 --> 00:33:33.029
two of them basically calling each other
00:33:33.039 --> 00:33:34.950
and telling each other about how to find
00:33:34.960 --> 00:33:37.350
leaks in their home. Um, so super
00:33:37.360 --> 00:33:39.590
engaging. Um, and I don't think I ever
00:33:39.600 --> 00:33:40.789
would have thought of that without the
00:33:40.799 --> 00:33:42.950
suggestion the suggestion from the board
00:33:42.960 --> 00:33:44.230
to give it a shot.
00:33:44.240 --> 00:33:47.110
>> Yeah. Yeah. I love that. And especially
00:33:47.120 --> 00:33:50.149
because at the end of the day, even
00:33:50.159 --> 00:33:52.950
board members are people and they're
00:33:52.960 --> 00:33:54.470
going to receive the numbers. City
00:33:54.480 --> 00:33:56.549
councils are going to receive a lot of
00:33:56.559 --> 00:33:58.470
facts and a lot of figures. But when it
00:33:58.480 --> 00:34:00.389
can be also wrapped in a narrative,
00:34:00.399 --> 00:34:02.149
you're also infusing it with something
00:34:02.159 --> 00:34:05.750
that I think um is important. And it's
00:34:05.760 --> 00:34:07.430
that
00:34:07.440 --> 00:34:09.190
you're allowing people to be proud of
00:34:09.200 --> 00:34:12.230
the place and tell the story of the
00:34:12.240 --> 00:34:14.310
place that they're proud of. Um, and
00:34:14.320 --> 00:34:16.470
people don't often don't necessarily
00:34:16.480 --> 00:34:18.629
tell that with the facts and the
00:34:18.639 --> 00:34:20.790
figures, but they tell it with the story
00:34:20.800 --> 00:34:24.310
of what what matters to them. Um, and so
00:34:24.320 --> 00:34:26.550
if they can tie it back to knowing that
00:34:26.560 --> 00:34:29.030
and my utility listens or my utility
00:34:29.040 --> 00:34:31.270
shares these stories and and it's not
00:34:31.280 --> 00:34:36.470
all um packaged up in super polished um
00:34:36.480 --> 00:34:39.589
talking points, it's um it's story. You
00:34:39.599 --> 00:34:41.510
need a you need a little a little bit of
00:34:41.520 --> 00:34:43.589
both. I wouldn't say that that the other
00:34:43.599 --> 00:34:46.149
doesn't matter, but but you can engage
00:34:46.159 --> 00:34:47.990
um your board, your employees, your
00:34:48.000 --> 00:34:50.869
community um in a new and fresh way.
00:34:50.879 --> 00:34:53.349
>> When people walk into our events or even
00:34:53.359 --> 00:34:55.270
before board meetings, we'll often run
00:34:55.280 --> 00:34:58.230
some of those H2GO kids videos or other
00:34:58.240 --> 00:34:59.750
videos. And when you walk in and you
00:34:59.760 --> 00:35:02.230
hear a little kids voice talking about
00:35:02.240 --> 00:35:04.710
wise water use or imagine what it'd be
00:35:04.720 --> 00:35:06.710
like to go a day without water and you
00:35:06.720 --> 00:35:08.950
hear the kids doing it, it captures
00:35:08.960 --> 00:35:11.990
people's attention for sure. Um, and and
00:35:12.000 --> 00:35:13.510
I've been standing there a couple times
00:35:13.520 --> 00:35:15.670
where I'll see the employee and their
00:35:15.680 --> 00:35:17.349
kid listening to their watching their
00:35:17.359 --> 00:35:20.310
own video. So, it it engages the board,
00:35:20.320 --> 00:35:21.670
but you know, they come into our
00:35:21.680 --> 00:35:23.270
community events and again, they're
00:35:23.280 --> 00:35:25.910
hearing a child's voice talk about the
00:35:25.920 --> 00:35:27.829
message that we're trying to deliver and
00:35:27.839 --> 00:35:29.349
it gets their attention in a very
00:35:29.359 --> 00:35:31.109
different way.
00:35:31.119 --> 00:35:34.150
>> I love that. I want to leave some time
00:35:34.160 --> 00:35:37.270
for audience questions. Um, so there
00:35:37.280 --> 00:35:39.990
will be a microphone for folks who who
00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:42.310
might have a question. So, um, begin
00:35:42.320 --> 00:35:45.190
thinking. And I I think I think I our AC
00:35:45.200 --> 00:35:46.150
hands going up.
00:35:46.160 --> 00:35:48.150
>> Hello. Uh, I'm Sage Michael, Healthy
00:35:48.160 --> 00:35:51.030
Golf, a nonprofit. I love the idea about
00:35:51.040 --> 00:35:53.589
the podcast. I want to self-plug the
00:35:53.599 --> 00:35:55.190
water collaborative based out of New
00:35:55.200 --> 00:35:57.349
Orleans does water policy work. They do
00:35:57.359 --> 00:36:00.710
a podcast with artists, DJs, bartenders,
00:36:00.720 --> 00:36:02.550
uh, and and things like that. So,
00:36:02.560 --> 00:36:04.470
sipping in conversation about this is
00:36:04.480 --> 00:36:07.109
great. I I just have a question. Did you
00:36:07.119 --> 00:36:08.630
experience or did you survey the
00:36:08.640 --> 00:36:10.710
employees? Were there any employee uh
00:36:10.720 --> 00:36:12.470
trepidation following these
00:36:12.480 --> 00:36:14.150
conversations? Were it soft
00:36:14.160 --> 00:36:15.750
conversations or did y'all hear some
00:36:15.760 --> 00:36:18.230
hard topics that that employees might
00:36:18.240 --> 00:36:20.470
not want to discuss with with fear?
00:36:20.480 --> 00:36:22.150
>> It's interesting you asked that. I've
00:36:22.160 --> 00:36:25.030
actually had one um employee, he's been
00:36:25.040 --> 00:36:27.030
there who will have been there 40 years
00:36:27.040 --> 00:36:29.349
next year, and he's literally said,
00:36:29.359 --> 00:36:32.230
"When can I be a guest on the podcast?
00:36:32.240 --> 00:36:34.710
I'm happy to answer the tough questions.
00:36:34.720 --> 00:36:37.109
I mean, who says that, you know, but but
00:36:37.119 --> 00:36:39.589
you know, asking the the one data center
00:36:39.599 --> 00:36:41.510
question, that's never an easy
00:36:41.520 --> 00:36:43.829
conversation. So, but again, the
00:36:43.839 --> 00:36:46.790
transparency. So, yes, we have messages
00:36:46.800 --> 00:36:49.750
we want to get out there and yes, we're
00:36:49.760 --> 00:36:52.310
willing to talk about issues that might
00:36:52.320 --> 00:36:54.710
be a little tougher for people.
00:36:54.720 --> 00:36:56.950
>> Yeah, it looks like we have another one.
00:36:56.960 --> 00:36:58.790
>> Yeah. As you ask your question, just
00:36:58.800 --> 00:37:00.310
tell us your name and where you're from
00:37:00.320 --> 00:37:02.310
and then ask your question. Thank.
00:37:02.320 --> 00:37:04.870
>> Hi, I'm Glenn Marsoff, U general manager
00:37:04.880 --> 00:37:06.790
at Delco Water. Uh, it's Columbus, Ohio
00:37:06.800 --> 00:37:09.829
area. Uh, questions for for Pal. What's
00:37:09.839 --> 00:37:11.670
Pal Hollywood? What a what a name for a
00:37:11.680 --> 00:37:13.030
communicator, right? You know, more
00:37:13.040 --> 00:37:14.950
playing on those glasses. We need that.
00:37:14.960 --> 00:37:18.069
But, um, I mean, I I'm sure this has
00:37:18.079 --> 00:37:21.190
come up before. Uh, we had So, I'll back
00:37:21.200 --> 00:37:23.589
up a little bit. Dr. Manny Teodoro uh
00:37:23.599 --> 00:37:25.030
was here earlier in the week for another
00:37:25.040 --> 00:37:27.589
event and he says, "Affordability starts
00:37:27.599 --> 00:37:29.990
with quality, right? Your customers have
00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:33.270
to like the water, like the product, and
00:37:33.280 --> 00:37:35.190
has there been any consideration of of
00:37:35.200 --> 00:37:36.710
softening, adding softening to it? I
00:37:36.720 --> 00:37:38.470
looked up your website and it looks like
00:37:38.480 --> 00:37:40.150
300 to 400 parts per million. I would
00:37:40.160 --> 00:37:41.910
have a softener at my house if the water
00:37:41.920 --> 00:37:43.750
was that hard. And if all your customers
00:37:43.760 --> 00:37:45.430
have to maintain a softener, the the
00:37:45.440 --> 00:37:48.310
reality is if you can soften at utility
00:37:48.320 --> 00:37:49.670
level, it would be cheaper for the that
00:37:49.680 --> 00:37:51.109
the customers in the long run. Has that
00:37:51.119 --> 00:37:52.310
ever I'm sure it's come up in the past,
00:37:52.320 --> 00:37:53.990
but can you respond to that at all?
00:37:54.000 --> 00:37:57.190
>> It has. Yes, it has. And
00:37:57.200 --> 00:37:59.670
we I think the next step for San Jose
00:37:59.680 --> 00:38:01.750
Water will be to make one of our water
00:38:01.760 --> 00:38:04.790
quality folks into an influencer. Uh
00:38:04.800 --> 00:38:06.870
because she's does such a great job of
00:38:06.880 --> 00:38:10.310
explaining the pretty much astronomical
00:38:10.320 --> 00:38:12.790
cost of what it would take to be
00:38:12.800 --> 00:38:16.470
softening at the utility level. Um and
00:38:16.480 --> 00:38:19.270
just like hard water, soft water can
00:38:19.280 --> 00:38:21.109
also be a preference rather than
00:38:21.119 --> 00:38:23.430
something that's a necessity. Um, some
00:38:23.440 --> 00:38:25.190
people don't want to be watering their
00:38:25.200 --> 00:38:27.270
lawns or their gardens with soft water.
00:38:27.280 --> 00:38:29.030
That's kind of literally salting the
00:38:29.040 --> 00:38:31.670
earth. Um, and some people don't prefer
00:38:31.680 --> 00:38:34.870
the taste of soft water um or the way it
00:38:34.880 --> 00:38:38.310
feels in the shower. Um, so besides the
00:38:38.320 --> 00:38:40.310
cost, it just doesn't really make sense
00:38:40.320 --> 00:38:44.150
for us to be um doing that to all of our
00:38:44.160 --> 00:38:46.310
customers when soft water versus hard
00:38:46.320 --> 00:38:48.390
water can really be more of a preference
00:38:48.400 --> 00:38:50.870
than something that is a water quality
00:38:50.880 --> 00:38:53.670
necessity or issue has been our
00:38:53.680 --> 00:38:55.670
experience. I wish I knew the number off
00:38:55.680 --> 00:38:57.829
the top of my head. Um, but we'll have
00:38:57.839 --> 00:39:00.550
to turn our our water quality folks into
00:39:00.560 --> 00:39:02.470
influencers and get videos out there of
00:39:02.480 --> 00:39:03.750
them talking about it.
00:39:03.760 --> 00:39:04.950
>> Mhm.
00:39:04.960 --> 00:39:07.270
My name is Megan McDow from American
00:39:07.280 --> 00:39:09.430
Waterworks Association and I have a
00:39:09.440 --> 00:39:11.589
question for Pal about the influencer
00:39:11.599 --> 00:39:13.990
campaign. What were some of the criteria
00:39:14.000 --> 00:39:16.230
that you used to identify the
00:39:16.240 --> 00:39:17.670
influencers? I know you said you worked
00:39:17.680 --> 00:39:19.829
with an agency, but I'm just curious
00:39:19.839 --> 00:39:21.829
because I run some of those campaigns
00:39:21.839 --> 00:39:24.230
myself and I feel like that part is
00:39:24.240 --> 00:39:26.790
really difficult in vetting who who are
00:39:26.800 --> 00:39:28.470
the best influencers to deliver your
00:39:28.480 --> 00:39:29.430
message.
00:39:29.440 --> 00:39:32.630
>> Absolutely. Yes. So, um, we did have our
00:39:32.640 --> 00:39:34.710
partner agency, which was very, very
00:39:34.720 --> 00:39:36.710
helpful. Um, so what we worked with them
00:39:36.720 --> 00:39:38.950
on is identifying a list of potential
00:39:38.960 --> 00:39:41.589
people we could work with, um, that had
00:39:41.599 --> 00:39:44.790
some kind of topic that they, um, spoke
00:39:44.800 --> 00:39:47.030
to that could somehow relate to water.
00:39:47.040 --> 00:39:49.030
So, if they were athletes, then we could
00:39:49.040 --> 00:39:50.790
talk about hydrating. Um, if they were
00:39:50.800 --> 00:39:52.950
lifestyle, we could or like clean clean
00:39:52.960 --> 00:39:55.750
talk. Um, they could um, talk about
00:39:55.760 --> 00:39:58.069
working with hard water stains on their
00:39:58.079 --> 00:40:01.030
appliances. Um, so figuring out how and
00:40:01.040 --> 00:40:02.470
then of course they had to be within our
00:40:02.480 --> 00:40:07.430
service area. Um, and then we also again
00:40:07.440 --> 00:40:09.990
going to like that engagement and really
00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:13.109
um like hyper local. Um, we wanted to
00:40:13.119 --> 00:40:15.109
work with and also there's a cost um
00:40:15.119 --> 00:40:17.270
like the more followers that someone has
00:40:17.280 --> 00:40:18.870
the pricier they're going to be. But
00:40:18.880 --> 00:40:20.550
that was okay because we were okay with
00:40:20.560 --> 00:40:23.190
working with micro influencers um which
00:40:23.200 --> 00:40:26.310
was about like 10k followers or under.
00:40:26.320 --> 00:40:27.750
You can even go as low as like a
00:40:27.760 --> 00:40:29.589
thousand or 2,000 followers because
00:40:29.599 --> 00:40:31.430
again if if it's people that are in
00:40:31.440 --> 00:40:33.430
their neighborhood and they are our
00:40:33.440 --> 00:40:35.589
customers that's a great 2,000 people to
00:40:35.599 --> 00:40:38.550
be reaching. Um so definitely if
00:40:38.560 --> 00:40:40.550
especially if you're starting out um
00:40:40.560 --> 00:40:42.230
even if you're in a larger city like San
00:40:42.240 --> 00:40:45.910
Jose does have larger influencers um but
00:40:45.920 --> 00:40:47.589
we didn't need to go for them. We went
00:40:47.599 --> 00:40:49.670
for micro influencers and it was a
00:40:49.680 --> 00:40:53.190
really targeted way to start.
00:40:53.200 --> 00:40:56.150
>> I love that. Hello, my name is Haley.
00:40:56.160 --> 00:40:57.990
I'm with Brown and Caldwell and I had a
00:40:58.000 --> 00:40:59.990
follow-up question on the influencer
00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:03.109
campaign. Super excited to see our water
00:41:03.119 --> 00:41:05.910
agencies begin to step into this bold
00:41:05.920 --> 00:41:09.030
space. Um, admittedly it does feel a
00:41:09.040 --> 00:41:10.950
little bit foreign and so I just wanted
00:41:10.960 --> 00:41:13.510
to ask a couple follow-up questions
00:41:13.520 --> 00:41:15.109
regarding some of the logistics of
00:41:15.119 --> 00:41:17.349
partnering with influencers.
00:41:17.359 --> 00:41:20.390
Particularly, how did you as the
00:41:20.400 --> 00:41:23.349
communicator and your agency sort of
00:41:23.359 --> 00:41:25.349
deliver some of the key talking points
00:41:25.359 --> 00:41:28.150
or messages that you wanted to execute
00:41:28.160 --> 00:41:31.109
behind the campaigns? And how did your
00:41:31.119 --> 00:41:34.069
agency feel about relinquishing a bit of
00:41:34.079 --> 00:41:35.670
control? It sounds like creative control
00:41:35.680 --> 00:41:37.750
to let the influencers do their best
00:41:37.760 --> 00:41:38.550
work.
00:41:38.560 --> 00:41:40.630
>> Yes, that's a great question. Um, we
00:41:40.640 --> 00:41:43.829
basically had um like a few bullets of
00:41:43.839 --> 00:41:45.990
key messages that we wanted them to
00:41:46.000 --> 00:41:49.349
speak to, not word for word um but more
00:41:49.359 --> 00:41:51.510
just, you know, here's some things about
00:41:51.520 --> 00:41:55.030
hard water. Um, and then you create your
00:41:55.040 --> 00:41:58.790
content and then we would review it. um
00:41:58.800 --> 00:42:01.750
and um sometimes make suggestions.
00:42:01.760 --> 00:42:03.190
Although I don't remember really
00:42:03.200 --> 00:42:05.109
changing any words that they used. It
00:42:05.119 --> 00:42:06.710
was more we couldn't hear you so well
00:42:06.720 --> 00:42:09.829
here or um I guess there were a few
00:42:09.839 --> 00:42:11.270
times where it was like I think it'd be
00:42:11.280 --> 00:42:12.950
a little bit more clear if you said it
00:42:12.960 --> 00:42:15.270
like this. Um so it's really not telling
00:42:15.280 --> 00:42:17.990
them what to say. Um but you we do
00:42:18.000 --> 00:42:19.910
definitely get the final review of what
00:42:19.920 --> 00:42:22.790
they're going to put out. Um so we we
00:42:22.800 --> 00:42:24.470
know that it is aligned with what we're
00:42:24.480 --> 00:42:25.829
trying to do and what we're trying to
00:42:25.839 --> 00:42:27.589
say. Um, and I'm glad you spoke up
00:42:27.599 --> 00:42:28.790
because you're a really great nodder.
00:42:28.800 --> 00:42:30.069
So, I feel like I've been speaking to
00:42:30.079 --> 00:42:32.710
you this whole time. I I look for the
00:42:32.720 --> 00:42:35.510
noders in the audience.
00:42:35.520 --> 00:42:39.589
So, so thank you.
00:42:39.599 --> 00:42:42.630
>> Hi. Great presentation. So, this is for
00:42:42.640 --> 00:42:44.870
Kathy. Um, I love the concept of
00:42:44.880 --> 00:42:48.150
choosing the messenger. Have you guys um
00:42:48.160 --> 00:42:50.470
thought about using um some of your
00:42:50.480 --> 00:42:52.950
boots on the ground maintenance workers
00:42:52.960 --> 00:42:55.829
um as like a recruitment tool?
00:42:55.839 --> 00:42:58.630
Yes, actually we've just done um two
00:42:58.640 --> 00:43:00.790
videos. So, we started a new
00:43:00.800 --> 00:43:03.510
pre-apprenticeship program this year
00:43:03.520 --> 00:43:05.589
really trying especially those utility
00:43:05.599 --> 00:43:07.589
workers that probably everybody has a
00:43:07.599 --> 00:43:09.349
hard time filling those. So, we did that
00:43:09.359 --> 00:43:13.270
and as part of that we did two videos
00:43:13.280 --> 00:43:16.550
with people who in fact one is risen to
00:43:16.560 --> 00:43:18.870
supervisor level but started as utility
00:43:18.880 --> 00:43:21.270
operator one is you know utility
00:43:21.280 --> 00:43:24.309
operator two. So, absolutely. And you
00:43:24.319 --> 00:43:26.230
know, we didn't script them. We asked
00:43:26.240 --> 00:43:28.870
them questions and let them talk. And
00:43:28.880 --> 00:43:31.109
those those have gotten really good
00:43:31.119 --> 00:43:33.109
views from people because it's
00:43:33.119 --> 00:43:34.390
authentic. And you know, when you post
00:43:34.400 --> 00:43:37.190
the authentic videos on social media,
00:43:37.200 --> 00:43:39.829
that's where people are going to respond
00:43:39.839 --> 00:43:44.069
and engage. So, thank you, Antinet.
00:43:44.079 --> 00:43:46.870
>> We have time for one more question.
00:43:46.880 --> 00:43:51.829
>> My question is for Pal. Um, so I'm
00:43:51.839 --> 00:43:53.510
showing up as my authentic self and I'm
00:43:53.520 --> 00:43:54.870
totally okay if you don't want to answer
00:43:54.880 --> 00:43:57.910
this question, but I am curious how much
00:43:57.920 --> 00:44:00.790
uh like ballpark and influencer campaign
00:44:00.800 --> 00:44:04.390
cost for San Jose Water um and how you
00:44:04.400 --> 00:44:07.030
justified that um cost.
00:44:07.040 --> 00:44:08.950
>> Of course, I was so surprised I was
00:44:08.960 --> 00:44:09.990
about to make it out of here without
00:44:10.000 --> 00:44:12.790
having to answer this question.
00:44:12.800 --> 00:44:16.950
>> Oh well, no, I'm kidding. That's close.
00:44:16.960 --> 00:44:19.109
>> Well, I think we're out of time. No, no,
00:44:19.119 --> 00:44:21.190
no. It's totally fine. I mean, you know,
00:44:21.200 --> 00:44:24.790
um so with our first campaign, um where
00:44:24.800 --> 00:44:26.550
we worked with five or six different
00:44:26.560 --> 00:44:29.349
influencers and they did, I think, um
00:44:29.359 --> 00:44:31.990
like one video and two posts each or
00:44:32.000 --> 00:44:34.309
something like that. Um and working with
00:44:34.319 --> 00:44:38.069
the agency that was around 30,000. Um
00:44:38.079 --> 00:44:40.550
and then and that was like white glove
00:44:40.560 --> 00:44:42.870
service with that agency because we had
00:44:42.880 --> 00:44:44.470
no idea where to start or what we were
00:44:44.480 --> 00:44:47.349
doing. Um, from there we had a better
00:44:47.359 --> 00:44:49.750
sense of the specific influencers that
00:44:49.760 --> 00:44:52.230
we wanted to work with again. Um, and we
00:44:52.240 --> 00:44:54.150
were able to scale down to exactly what
00:44:54.160 --> 00:44:57.430
we wanted to do. Um, so the second one I
00:44:57.440 --> 00:45:01.030
think was around six or 8K and so was
00:45:01.040 --> 00:45:03.430
the third one. Um, where she was just
00:45:03.440 --> 00:45:06.470
talking about her own story. Um, so
00:45:06.480 --> 00:45:09.750
that's around what we what we did and I
00:45:09.760 --> 00:45:11.670
think we can even refine a little bit
00:45:11.680 --> 00:45:13.030
further now that we know what we're
00:45:13.040 --> 00:45:16.069
doing even more. Um but if anyone has
00:45:16.079 --> 00:45:18.069
done you know print advertisement or
00:45:18.079 --> 00:45:20.230
things like that I think you will
00:45:20.240 --> 00:45:21.829
understand that that is a very
00:45:21.839 --> 00:45:25.190
affordable um rate for the amount of
00:45:25.200 --> 00:45:27.109
engagement um and drive that we got to
00:45:27.119 --> 00:45:29.829
our website.
00:45:29.839 --> 00:45:32.630
>> That's that's a great Yeah.
00:45:32.640 --> 00:45:35.030
Thank you for that question because I I
00:45:35.040 --> 00:45:38.470
want to thank you both for being so open
00:45:38.480 --> 00:45:41.750
um for uh to have this conversation. Um,
00:45:41.760 --> 00:45:44.069
and I want to thank all of you as well,
00:45:44.079 --> 00:45:47.190
just because um, like I like I said at
00:45:47.200 --> 00:45:49.910
the beginning, I know that the the thing
00:45:49.920 --> 00:45:53.510
that drew me to um, to water
00:45:53.520 --> 00:45:58.230
professionals um, was how dedicated you
00:45:58.240 --> 00:46:01.670
are to your place, to serving the people
00:46:01.680 --> 00:46:04.230
in your place, um, and to delivering
00:46:04.240 --> 00:46:06.790
messages that, um, that are engaging.
00:46:06.800 --> 00:46:08.230
Like we're we're trying to do something
00:46:08.240 --> 00:46:10.790
that is really difficult. Not a lot of
00:46:10.800 --> 00:46:14.630
people do it. Um and um and it takes a
00:46:14.640 --> 00:46:16.309
lot of work and it actually takes a lot
00:46:16.319 --> 00:46:19.670
of risk to trust that you that you can
00:46:19.680 --> 00:46:22.309
engage the public. We know we need to,
00:46:22.319 --> 00:46:24.870
but doing it is really difficult and we
00:46:24.880 --> 00:46:27.589
know we have to be creative within an
00:46:27.599 --> 00:46:30.150
industry that has a lot of restrictions
00:46:30.160 --> 00:46:33.670
and so figuring out how to um do things
00:46:33.680 --> 00:46:35.589
that feel out of the box can feel like a
00:46:35.599 --> 00:46:38.950
big risk to take. But um but I know so
00:46:38.960 --> 00:46:41.190
many of you in this room have done that.
00:46:41.200 --> 00:46:43.829
Um and we had two um great examples
00:46:43.839 --> 00:46:45.510
here. So please thank our thank our
00:46:45.520 --> 00:46:47.270
guests for sharing their stories.
00:46:47.280 --> 00:46:51.750
>> Thank you.
00:46:51.760 --> 00:46:54.710
>> And to those of you at home, thank you
00:46:54.720 --> 00:46:56.069
so much for tuning in to the Make
00:46:56.079 --> 00:46:57.829
Waterwork podcast. This was a fun
00:46:57.839 --> 00:47:00.470
episode to get to do. Um and please
00:47:00.480 --> 00:47:02.630
check out the Make Waterwork podcast.
00:47:02.640 --> 00:47:04.870
Check out Catalyst. is worth getting
00:47:04.880 --> 00:47:07.829
engaged in this community because it
00:47:07.839 --> 00:47:11.190
this um I I say conference and I know
00:47:11.200 --> 00:47:13.589
I'm not supposed to but this experience
00:47:13.599 --> 00:47:15.670
punches way above its weight class
00:47:15.680 --> 00:47:17.589
compared to any other conference on the
00:47:17.599 --> 00:47:20.150
face of the planet. So um thank you so
00:47:20.160 --> 00:47:20.790
much.
00:47:20.800 --> 00:47:23.800
>> Thanks.