Full Transcript for Behind the Scenes: Exhibiting at Ideas Fest

a blur. But yeah, so obviously David Bancroft: Yeah. James 'Penguin' Sharples: we were making all of the stuff for the Igloo because we wanted to go a pre ski, you know, we couldn't just be normal and have chairs. We obviously had to have wooden benches, which I constructed David Bancroft: Obviously, obviously. James 'Penguin' Sharples: out of sort of like s thick scaffold board timber, but then took David Bancroft: Mm. James 'Penguin' Sharples: my handy wood chisel to them and battered them about David Bancroft: Hmm. James 'Penguin' Sharples: a bit to make look aged. And it yeah, just the whole process was painstaking, but worth it in the David Bancroft: So James 'Penguin' Sharples: end. David Bancroft: no, that's awesome. So just for the listeners that may not have heard of Ideas Fest, they may not have heard of Ideas Fest. So let's just put them on the map because what I don't want is that these guys are listening to thinking igloos, yetis, ideas for what are you guys even talking about? What? James 'Penguin' Sharples: So Ideas Fest is is is a is you know it's a leading, if not the biggest, UK business festival. They call it the David Bancroft: Yes. James 'Penguin' Sharples: Glastonbury for Business. It's very much festival vibes, but talking all things business. And there's various David Bancroft: Mm. James 'Penguin' Sharples: motivational speakers like Ben Shepherd was there. I noticed Jill Scott was there. We had Simon Squibbs, Dreamland next to us. It's you know, it's it's a huge event every year for people to go and get ideas for business and David Bancroft: Yeah. James 'Penguin' Sharples: for solopreneurs or entrepreneurs to share like share their ideas with like-minded individuals. And David Bancroft: I think Ideas Fest was coined by Stephen Bartlett, which James 'Penguin' Sharples: Yeah. David Bancroft: if that's who is describing something of yours and that's how to describe it, then you're just going to go with that, you, in fairness? Yeah. James 'Penguin' Sharples: Yeah, a hundred percent. A hundred percent. And it's it's it's it's an unbelievable event, but yeah, the the effort that it took to get it to where we wanted it to be. Like you said, we don't like to do things by halves at Wellerty or Snowball and yeah, it David Bancroft: No. No. No. James 'Penguin' Sharples: was it was long, long nights, long weekends. David Bancroft: So building from the ground up, you've got a pitch James 'Penguin' Sharples: Yeah. David Bancroft: and you've spoken to Frankie, obviously the organizer of Ideas Fest, and you've said, we don't want a typical awning, we don't want a typical tent like the other exhibitors here. We want to bring something different to the festival. We want to bring an igloo. So at this point you James 'Penguin' Sharples: Yes. David Bancroft: have a pitch of land, you have a giant inflatable igloo. Now take it from there to where we ended up. And I turned up to enjoy sort of hosting that space with you because obviously I was,

I love being there, but so much went on behind the scenes. so from pitch to igloo, what else was in it and how did we get to... James 'Penguin' Sharples: So yeah, we we made various sort of like benches for people to sit and watch the presentations, which were chiseled, wood stained, and were to make to make look like Apreski benches. We made a backdrop to the stage out of reclaimed pallets and some very clever framing that I made, which also folded into a DJ stand for the evenings. Unfortunately didn't get to the do the DJing due to the Wi Fi and connectivity issues that that the festival had. But that David Bancroft: Mm-hmm. James 'Penguin' Sharples: was the plan and what was what was in mind. We had a a table built for tattoos to do airbrush tattoo stations, David Bancroft: if James 'Penguin' Sharples: which again took time and effort. We just yeah, a and I feed the Yeti board that Sadie's mum Jill created and she's very artistic. So we basically got a sort of like one and a half metre by a metre piece of N D F or hardwood essentially. David Bancroft: Yes. James 'Penguin' Sharples: She painted David Bancroft: Yeah. James 'Penguin' Sharples: a design of a Yeti, we cut some holes in it, we've ordered loads of snowballs, you know, like plushy sort of like snowballs to feed the Yeti. It was brilliant David Bancroft: Yeah. James 'Penguin' Sharples: because when she brought it round, it was quite low to the ground. And we said, should we hire it or should should we put it on a tilt? And Jill went, Well, no, because then it would be easy. And we're like, Well, not arguing with you. David Bancroft: sadist. That's awesome. And it was tough. mean, it was tough. But beyond that, I think you had Christmas trees in the igloo, you had a fireplace. James 'Penguin' Sharples: Yep, Christmas trees, fireplace. You have to have, you know, but w it when when you go into things like this, there's no point doing it half-house. You I'm sure we've been to well, we both know we've been to so many expos, so many events, and the stands need David Bancroft: Yeah... yes. James 'Penguin' Sharples: to be noticeable and they need to be David Bancroft: Yeah. James 'Penguin' Sharples: different to get noticed to set you apart from the rest. You know, it frustrates me when you go to these events and somebody's ordered a couple of pop-up banners for thirty quid and a tablecloth David Bancroft: Hmm. James 'Penguin' Sharples: with the logo on it. And it's the it always makes me think I mean I and I know budgets can be tight in business at times, so I don't want to be tight in what I'm about to say, but if you David Bancroft: Yeah, of course. Yeah. James 'Penguin' Sharples: can only afford a hundred quid to come to a business festival, then you've David Bancroft: Yes. James 'Penguin' Sharples: y y you've got more problems than this festival can can sele s can solve, if you get what I mean. You need to put time and effort in. David Bancroft: You're so harsh. James 'Penguin' Sharples:

I took but it's but but it's true though, you know, you want you go there to be noticed, David Bancroft: But no, it is true. Of course it is true. James 'Penguin' Sharples: you go there to raise the profile of your band, your brand, sorry. And David Bancroft: Brand, James 'Penguin' Sharples: we we we wanted to do that, and I very much think that we did. And yeah, it just took just even little things like the reindeer, which was sort of like a last minute sort of thought, but thought it's like, yeah, that'll look really cool. And yeah, David Bancroft: Mm. James 'Penguin' Sharples: it was yeah, gone. David Bancroft: And let's not forget the penguin. James 'Penguin' Sharples: The penguin, brilliant shout that. Yeah, we were hoping for we saw a Yeti costume and I was like, that is absolutely perfect. 'cause David Bancroft: course. James 'Penguin' Sharples: we thought about it's it's something that you said when we had the briefing meeting that you can't just because you see so many people doing this at events as well, where they'll basically make a stand and then stand behind David Bancroft: Yes. James 'Penguin' Sharples: you all day on the fo or on the phone and you think, go out and get you need some somebody out there really attracting. people towards David Bancroft: Yes. James 'Penguin' Sharples: it and the activation, getting people to activate and to come over to the Igloo. Incidentally, David Bancroft: Mm. Yes. James 'Penguin' Sharples: in the end, I don't think we needed it because we had a 20-foot igloo that was blowing about in the wind. But David Bancroft: Did you notice that? James 'Penguin' Sharples: when you said on the briefing meeting, you know, what about activation? And and and we were talking about different ideas and and we and we mentioned David Bancroft: Hmm. James 'Penguin' Sharples: that y we we did want this particular Yeti outfit but wouldn't have got here in time. Again, but David Bancroft: Mm-mm. James 'Penguin' Sharples: then this is the brilliance of collaboration when you turned around and said David Bancroft: to this. James 'Penguin' Sharples: Well, there's a fancy dress shop near me. Surely they can have something. Ten minutes later, the WhatsApp pings come through, a snowman or a penguin? Partival was born. David Bancroft: Yeah, there you go. I love it. And, you know, I think you say about the brand and turning up and really showing up, but that activation piece, whether it be the Penguin, whether it be the Fidignetti, whether it be the promise of tattoos, which incidentally, and unbelievably more people wanted real tattoos than temporary tattoos. No, I can't believe that. James 'Penguin' Sharples: That I couldn't quite understand that. Because I mean, I know I've got a couple of tattoos and there's some issues that need to be resolved in my tattoos, but I would never David Bancroft: Heh. James 'Penguin' Sharples: resolve that at somebody offering a free tattoo at a festival. Cause I David Bancroft: No. James 'Penguin' Sharples: I would surely be thinking, why? Why would they go to the expens? David Bancroft: I they're in the moment, in the moment. And yeah, we had countless people say, where can I get my tattoo done? So I'll just through here. We've got some designs, there they are. are they not real? No, they're not real. James 'Penguin' Sharples: What you would have come what you w w yeah and and and and w with the tattoo it takes and well I know, it takes hours. You know, so what we were just basically gonna Yeah, David Bancroft: Yeah, I have full sleeve please mate. James 'Penguin' Sharples: and where are we getting the design that they want? How are we getting that onto them? It's a yeah, it baffled me that. David Bancroft: So many questions, so many questions. But yes, so I was obviously there to support yourself and Sadie, Snowball and the online trainer community. And I say, I got to see all of this once it was finished in essence and enjoy the day. But for you guys, it was weeks, if not months in preparation and planning. It was long days, long nights building. And look, you talk about those benches and it sounds frankly a little bit crap. It was actually amazing. Those benches, James 'Penguin' Sharples: Yeah. David Bancroft: if you had bought them from somewhere, yeah, you would have spent a lot of money on those, let alone the booth James 'Penguin' Sharples: I think you what David Bancroft: and the backdrop. James 'Penguin' Sharples: the thing that was it started to worry me when I was doing the benches, because obviously the the way to it's not like you know at school where you used to dip the piece of paper in coffee and taint tea stain it overnight to make it look aged. You have to do so much David Bancroft: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. James 'Penguin' Sharples: more when it comes to a bench. But so you basically have to plane or chisel a decent w sharp David Bancroft: Yeah, nice. James 'Penguin' Sharples: wood chisel down the side of it. The problem David Bancroft: Nice. James 'Penguin' Sharples: with that is obviously you're going with the grain and the grain has a natural element of where it wants to go. So there's some times where I'd be shoving the chisel down. And it would David Bancroft: Mm. James 'Penguin' Sharples: go quite deep in and I'm thinking, this is this is gonna pull off some section. This is this is gonna be a big section that I cannot go back on. David Bancroft: Mm-mm. James 'Penguin' Sharples: But what I've learnt is lean into it, because the bigger the chunks, I think the the bench that looked the most battered actually looks the best, in my opinion. David Bancroft: They look great and actually not to suggest that you were slacking, but we could have had more benches, mate. There was standing room only at times, right? James 'Penguin' Sharples: Do you know that's one thing that's the one thing I was thinking about next time for when we do an event like that again is because we were conscious we wanted to get as much as we

could in the igloo, but I think David Bancroft: Yes. James 'Penguin' Sharples: some tactically placed tents or something similar to fit with a theme like a shed or a shack where we could David Bancroft: Yeah. James 'Penguin' Sharples: potentially put the the the the activation bits like the games and the tattoos in afterwards, I would just use the igloo as an amputator and purely just dress it up and have more seating in there 'cause I think that's the one mistake that we did make. David Bancroft: Yeah, what I will do James is get some images over this video. So for anyone watching on YouTube, you can see exactly what we've spoken about for the last 10 minutes, because it was unbelievable. It was undoubtedly one of the standout pitches of the entire event. And this is a very big event. mean, thousands on thousands of people are there. James 'Penguin' Sharples: A huge. Yeah. David Bancroft: Hundreds of exhibitors, hundreds and hundreds of speakers from the worlds of business, entertainment, James 'Penguin' Sharples: that's where you get your pleasure in it, is w when you've got people that regularly attend Ideas Fest and David Bancroft: Yeah. James 'Penguin' Sharples: see all of the other features that it has to offer, do say to you this is the best talk, Ideas Fest. When you when you hear that after one of the talks that we did on the on on the stage, that's that's what makes it all worthwhile. David Bancroft: Yeah, no, I totally agree. And look, we won't go into Snowball and exactly what it is, but we'll link it in the show notes. as anyone who's curious, if we've just piqued your interest, James 'Penguin' Sharples: Hm Pete your interest about snowballs. David Bancroft: have a little look on the linking comments. think you'll find it, yeah. I mean, it could be transformative. James 'Penguin' Sharples: Or hundred percent I mean, Snowball in a nutshell is a low monthly subscription to access to me and Sadie to help you grow and scale your business. So trainers, coaches, facilitators, click on the link and find out what we're all about. We'll even let you in free for seven days. Just so you can experience. David Bancroft: I everyone. James 'Penguin' Sharples: Don't tell everyone. But yeah, and the one I mean, obviously we have the connectivity issues, which was a problem. David Bancroft: All right, mean, yeah, let's talk about that because frankly, as an exhibitor, you expect a couple of things. One of them is good connectivity, because if you've got a point of sale machine, if you're trying to rely upon QR codes, you need good connectivity. And then you'd also hope for good footfall. They absolutely ticked that box. mean, Christ, James 'Penguin' Sharples: Yeah. David Bancroft: the place was jammed. And good weather, which you can't ask for, you can just hope for. But the... James 'Penguin' Sharples: Yeah. Which we can't Yeah. And and and luckily we did. But then that's stacking it down. But connectivity the David Bancroft: But the connectivity, the connectivity. James 'Penguin' Sharples: connectivity was an issue. But I think, you know, obviously David Bancroft: Mm. James 'Penguin' Sharples: there's gonna be some remedies to resolve that and th there must have been a lot of frustrated David Bancroft: Definitely. James 'Penguin' Sharples: people there 'cause day one was pretty much written off. You know, it's David Bancroft: It was tough. James 'Penguin' Sharples: it was tough. And it's when you go to an event like that th which is modern, it's techie, it's fresh, you know, David Bancroft: Mm. James 'Penguin' Sharples: it's you you You you can't turn up with a parchment and a bit of parchment and a quill to take down people's email addresses. So you would David Bancroft: No. James 'Penguin' Sharples: expect to be activated by QR codes, by links, etc. Yeah, it did. It did. I did like David Bancroft: Mine did look out of place, it, James, my parchment and quill? James 'Penguin' Sharples: your ink blotting pot though. I don't I'm gonna have to get myself one of those. David Bancroft: Thank you. James 'Penguin' Sharples: And yeah, it other than that, it was an absolutely immense event. We're incredibly proud. Thank you again for all the help that you that you gave us. David Bancroft: mate, no, honestly, my pleasure. I enjoyed every second. The people that I met, the stories that I heard engaging with founders, hearing some of their stories, watching the competitive desperation and agony of the feeding of the Yeti. know, it's a bit of James 'Penguin' Sharples: That kid. David Bancroft: fun until you start throwing it. It's a bit of fun until we start throwing snowballs and then all of a sudden it means more. James 'Penguin' Sharples: That kid, because it is difficult. I mean, just to give people an idea, one of the holes that we did for a thousand was literally David Bancroft: tiny. James 'Penguin' Sharples: probably five mil bigger than what the actual snowball is. But of course, when you throw things at a a ball like that at a certain pace, there is going to be, from the law of physics, a certain expansion. So it was difficult David Bancroft: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm. Mm. James 'Penguin' Sharples: to get that a thousand one in. But then that when that kid prop rocked up and went one, two, three, four, straight through the thought, I felt like kicking him. David Bancroft: Obviously. James 'Penguin' Sharples: Ha ha ha. David Bancroft: But it was quite funny because at one point, because I prefixed when I speak into people, said, look, I got zero on my first attempt and you would, you would contest that. Obviously you were there and we're laughing at it, but I got zero on my first attempt and which we had a hundred, five hundred and one thousand. I got zero in a minute. That's extreme. And it's unlimited snowballs. got zero. So I would say to everybody, look, I got zero in my first effort. Look, if you don't score. We're the same. James 'Penguin' Sharples: Come back. David Bancroft: Yeah, they've

definitely come back, it's not as though I can look at you and judge you or anything like that. However, there was one woman that was throwing them, getting really frustrated, really frustrated. And she looked at me, she said, how do you do it? How do you throw them? Because they don't fit. I've grabbed a snowball, just straight through the thousand hole. James 'Penguin' Sharples: Mic drop moment. Full on mic drop moment. David Bancroft: Exactly. That's how you do it. Next question. James 'Penguin' Sharples: Next question please. One of those freak events that will never happen again. David Bancroft: Of not. No, was the blast. It was just nonchalant. like, through it goes, Bosch, there you go. That's how do it, move on. You're not having a thousand points either. That was James 'Penguin' Sharples: But yeah, it it was No, you're not having that. David Bancroft: my rule. If I helped out a little bit and they got a little hundred, 500, cool thousands, they don't get to keep them off of me. Doesn't happen, mate. Did not happen. James 'Penguin' Sharples: Off the table. Off the table. But the yeah, it was an absolutely epic event. David Bancroft: Mmm. James 'Penguin' Sharples: one of the topics again was AI and like the use of AI. And you know, we're starting David Bancroft: coming up. James 'Penguin' Sharples: to do courses about using AI properly. We've obviously got AI, our Lumina, our AI conversation coach. But there was a lot more talk, and I've been thinking about this since, and it's it's it's been thought provoking for me, has the the the talks around AI. David Bancroft: Okay. James 'Penguin' Sharples: And I was chatting with lots of other people about it as well. Because we have seen companies let go of tens of thousands of staff to be replaced David Bancroft: Yes. James 'Penguin' Sharples: by AI automation, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So you know David Bancroft: Yes we have, yeah. James 'Penguin' Sharples: you know, and we're not gonna name names, but I'm sure we we know the companies. So there's David Bancroft: Mm-hmm. James 'Penguin' Sharples: potentially hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of jobs lost to AI. David Bancroft: Yes. James 'Penguin' Sharples: What do they think's gonna happen when nobody's got any money to spend? 'Cause for me it's just such a narrow sighted view. David Bancroft: Okay. James 'Penguin' Sharples: If you let these people go and they don't have a job, David Bancroft: Yeah. Yeah. James 'Penguin' Sharples: go, they have no money to spend on anything. What happens? David Bancroft: Hmm. So I read something which was looking at scenarios and a scenario whereby there is mass unemployment as in big percentages of unemployment. An idea was floated that maybe there would be a government dividend, i.e. you know, just a single payment to those who have been displaced or are unemployed via AI, which is just X amount per month. That's the money you're living on. And that then standardizes everyone's income is the same. It's not practical, not workable. James 'Penguin' Sharples: So it's a scary scary to thing to think about, isn't it? It's not workable and and it's and and a handout of well, how much debt is that gonna put us in? You know, again you you you you steer at the gap between the one percent and the ninety nine just becomes greater David Bancroft: Yeah. James 'Penguin' Sharples: and greater and greater. And eventually th th there's got to be some form of crash. There has to be. David Bancroft: Well, yeah, and you know the difference. mean, and I haven't thought about it in any detail at all, but I live in Leoncy, Essex. You're regularly in Sheffield, Nottingham. Yeah, Nottingham, Sheffield. James 'Penguin' Sharples: Sheffield well, Nottingham and then well in in between the two. Nottingham and Essex, Nottingham and Essex. David Bancroft: Obviously, you know Yorkshire well. I mean, if there's a government dividend that's going per month, then I think in different parts of the country, there'd have to be some consideration for cost of living in that part of country, wouldn't you? Because, mean, James 'Penguin' Sharples: Yeah. David Bancroft: it's not feasible that the same amount could be issued everywhere, is it? James 'Penguin' Sharples: No, and certainly not. And and it worries me that it's the government that'll be deciding the dividend because they have no grasp of reality or real life. You know, like when when Boris Johnson was that that video of him trying to use a mop, and you're like, you you've literally never and and and this is I think w where there's a lot of danger within politics, in that they've got no understanding. It's like and and you'd think that they're quite intelligent people. Then sh but David Bancroft: You'd hope. James 'Penguin' Sharples: a and it y you see so many stats, it's like when you I can't remember the name of the woman, but she was doing a like a conference and it was like obviously a hearing about certain employers that were offering this amount of money and she w actually started writing on the board. So you're offering what you feel is a good wage is thirty five thousand. And this was over in America. She was like the standard rent is this, the standard et cetera, et cetera. And she was going through so for a single mum, you've got David Bancroft: Mm-hmm. James 'Penguin' Sharples: This amount of income, this is your rent, this is your bills, this is David Bancroft: Yep. James 'Penguin' Sharples: your and as she went down from that what they they granted or what they thought as a an a great living wage left to the single mum after childcare costs, etc. etc. etcetera. And not taking into consideration anything nice to have. This was purely just what you needed to survive. David Bancroft: No. Like a Mars bar. James 'Penguin' Sharples: Like yeah. You know, she was basically six hundred dollars in the red every month. And it's Yeah. David Bancroft: Accruing debt. Yeah, you're 7200 down at the end of the year. Good luck.

James 'Penguin' Sharples: Yeah. And it's yeah, it's i it's just sc scary to think about these people that are in these positions of power that have have no understanding of what real life is. David Bancroft: Hmm. I heard recently that McDonald's sort of stepped back on some of their AI. So they were using AI on their drive-throughs, seemingly. And from there, they were seeing sort of quite a few issues with orders not being taken right. I mean, in fairness, that's always been the case in my experience, but we'll forget that. But apparently AI was doing it even more regularly. So you imagine I have a big Macmillan and they sort of hand you a, I know, a fillet of fish or something. like, what's... James 'Penguin' Sharples: N w what what David Bancroft: what's happened there. And apparently, so they've taken a step back. think similarly Ford Motor Company laid off a significant number of workers to AI quality control only to then rehire a lot of retired quality control analysts because yeah, they can't put stuff out of the factory if it's not safe, can they? And they lost faith in what AI was or potentially wasn't doing for them. I think AI is amazing, but it's been deployed too early without enough controls. James 'Penguin' Sharples: And it's still i in the very I mean, I know we was we've been speaking on previous podcasts about how AI's been used for so many years, like when we were talking about playing FIFA, you know, you're you're essentially playing against AI. That's it's David Bancroft: Yep. James 'Penguin' Sharples: but the i in in the rollout that it we've seen in the past couple of years, yes, it has become more advanced than in previous years, but again, it's still very novice. You know, I I I I always have a I call mine quill, so I don't know what your name for your AI is, your chat or your claude. David Bancroft: chat GPT. James 'Penguin' Sharples: Yeah, my but I call chat quill. So we came up with the name quill as in yeah, quill as in obviously David Bancroft: I do obviously love that. James 'Penguin' Sharples: the writing implement where many a di idea and invention has been made previously, before David Bancroft: course, yes. James 'Penguin' Sharples: before Bick was introduced, obviously. but then David Bancroft: You James 'Penguin' Sharples: also from obviously Guardians of the Galaxy. Guardians of the Galaxy, so but the quill is what but I David Bancroft: love. James 'Penguin' Sharples: was having an argument with them the other day where it seems to be for me I don't know if there's too much information that's gone into it. I don't know if you've experienced the same thing. But you know, like when you'll have a conversation stream. So for so for example, I'll have a stream that's set up for LinkedIn marketing where I'll soundboard ideas David Bancroft: Right. Yep. James 'Penguin' Sharples: with it and run through ideas for LinkedIn marketing. And done a particular series, and then I've gone back and said, okay, well going on to the next video. David Bancroft: Mm-hmm. James 'Penguin' Sharples: what's your what's your ideas for this one? And it was giving me ideas for one that was maybe 10 videos ago. And I was like, Well, haven't we done that one? David Bancroft: you James 'Penguin' Sharples: yeah, we might have. Can you copy and paste from the chat where it is? And I was like, Well, it's it's like five scrolls up. Luck yourself. You'll get there quicker than I will. David Bancroft: That's really weird. James 'Penguin' Sharples: And it seems to me, I don't know, I'm gonna do some more research research into it, but it seems to be getting lazier or forgetting things. David Bancroft: I'd say I wasn't aware of that. I've never seen, to be honest, I use GPT and I've used Claude in the past. For me, I think unless it has a real grasp of your own persona, think writing is just a non-starter, because I just hate the lack of authenticity that AI generated content gives you. But I think for ideas and sense checking ideas, if it understands that... you want it to be critical and not just a people pleaser. I think it's pretty good, but that's not the AI we're talking about on a grander scale that's going to displace hundreds of millions of people worldwide. James 'Penguin' Sharples: Well then this is what worries me. If if if my AI chat is forgetting things David Bancroft: Mm-hmm. James 'Penguin' Sharples: in conversations that I've had that six scrolls up and David Bancroft: Yes. James 'Penguin' Sharples: we're talking about AI replacing jobs that are about safety, what's what happens then David Bancroft: Yep. Yeah. James 'Penguin' Sharples: when something does go catastrophically wrong because a company's David Bancroft: Yeah. James 'Penguin' Sharples: solely relied on AI and in my opinion, if that's what you've done, you've laid off tens of thousands of workers to solely rely on a tool that causes a mistake and really damages your business continuity. You deserve to shut down. In my opinion that's David Bancroft: Mm-hmm. It's complacent. Again, everyone's trying to jump on the bandwagon, aren't they? But brands have built up over many decades of good faith and favor. So if you trade all of that off and gut the business... James 'Penguin' Sharples: For replacing employees just to save more money despite having billions of profits anyway, that to me is where it's it's becoming disgusting. David Bancroft: Are you suggesting we start a rival car brand? that what you've just suggested there? James 'Penguin' Sharples: I think we should. Think we should. David Bancroft: And a rival fast food chain that franchises out its properties. Interesting. James 'Penguin' Sharples: Mm. Mm. I think we should. David Bancroft: I like it. But yeah, to your point, AI was discussed quite a bit. Technology was just discussed quite a bit at Ideas Fest. And these are resourceful business people, entrepreneurial, obviously growth. focused and centric and as much as I had anticipated people being maybe

more supportive of AI and tech, a lot of people were, it's all about that we're in a field with humans, interaction with humans. I'm so glad this is happening face to face as opposed to over a teams meeting even, let alone if it's a case of I'm so glad it's happening face to face in a field as opposed to my AI agent writing to your AI agent and we just exchange messages that neither of us properly read, comprehend or action, you know. The human was the winner, I thought, in that format. James 'Penguin' Sharples: One hundred percent humanity one. I think that's what the word David Bancroft: Yeah. James 'Penguin' Sharples: today should be humanity. David Bancroft: Word of the day, humanity. James 'Penguin' Sharples: And yeah, was surprising to see so many people that and I I think it's very much the general consensus, you know, especially when we were talking to our solopreneurs in the speeches that we were given. You know, if you can find AI to take over the remedial tasks, the reminders and the and the administrative roles that you leaves you to be able to put into a position where you're best served within that business, in the sense of selling it, meeting those David Bancroft: Yes. Yep. James 'Penguin' Sharples: customers and meeting those clients, brilliant. But David Bancroft: Mm-hmm. James 'Penguin' Sharples: There wasn't one person David Bancroft: Yeah. James 'Penguin' Sharples: there that I think was discussing AI replacing anything. David Bancroft: Now, I love that and actually product idea as we love to float a product idea of yourself on a pod. If, and it probably already exists, but whatever. If I had an agent that literally held my inbox and said, Dave, today, these five messages have to be responded to. They're time sensitive. They've asked you direct questions that they need a direct answer to. Please respond. These 10 might be of interest. That 180, it's fluff, it's chaff. We don't need to see it. That's a product I would invest in. James 'Penguin' Sharples: A hundred percent. David Bancroft: I don't know if it exists. Maybe someone can help me out. If it does exist, I want to see it. I don't know. You tell me. I've never heard of it. James 'Penguin' Sharples: think is it fixer that it's called? I think I think I think there is one that is a well I'll I'll have to do some more research into that. David Bancroft: This is my idea, James. I mean, I've literally just come up with this. If you're telling me James 'Penguin' Sharples: I like it. I like it. David Bancroft: it exists already, then that's a bit demoralizing. So I thought I'd just... James 'Penguin' Sharples: I'm gonna have a look. I think it's fixer. I think it might FY X E R, but I'll I'll I'll double check. I think it is. I'll I'll double check. It might not be exactly David Bancroft: Fixer. Mmm. I'd love that. James 'Penguin' Sharples: the idea of as you just described. But yeah, all in all it was good to see so many people connecting, and connecting on a human level rather than connecting David Bancroft: Yes. James 'Penguin' Sharples: digitally and and there was a lot of people that said, you know, the fact that the Wi Fi was basically turned them away from their phones because they couldn't use them. they turned away from tech and that they got more invested in actual human connection, David Bancroft: Hmm. James 'Penguin' Sharples: which brilliant for the visitors, but when you're trying to sell your services and can't do the traders might not have been as welcoming. David Bancroft: Yes, it was an involuntary digital detox. James 'Penguin' Sharples: Yes. Yeah. Definitely. And and and I shared my the you know, the the passion for something. When actually went up to the van after the event, because we were staying in my dad's camper and where I'd might usually be scrolling, obviously that wasn't David Bancroft: Yep. James 'Penguin' Sharples: possible, so it just left time to actually enjoy nature and enjoy the environment you were in. but again, David Bancroft: Amazing. Yeah. Yeah. James 'Penguin' Sharples: yeah, as a trader, frustrated. David Bancroft: I've heard though, again, Krypton, if I'm wrong, and you have a closer connection to your organizers than I do, but I understand that that event, Ideas Fest, was probably three times larger than the previous, four times, so four times larger. James 'Penguin' Sharples: Four times. Four times bigger than the previous. David Bancroft: It was the first time being held at Shampneys in Hartfordshire in Tring. James 'Penguin' Sharples: Entering. Yeah. David Bancroft: So it's lessons learned, isn't it? I mean, next year they'll be back bigger and better. James 'Penguin' Sharples: It is it is lessons learned, but again, it's the six Ps, isn't it? You know, if if if you know that you are quadrupling the event size, you need to quadruple the infrastructure. David Bancroft: Hmm. Bolster up on Starlinks. James 'Penguin' Sharples: That's it. David Bancroft: They point at some satellites. James 'Penguin' Sharples: Two what David Bancroft: and also, note for traders, little note for traders, I don't know if that, I don't know if that picks up James 'Penguin' Sharples: Mm. Yeah. David Bancroft: on my mic. Note for traders, don't give out your WiFi password to footfall. James 'Penguin' Sharples: That infuriated me that because there was so many, and I can understand the ideas frustrations within that, because we were obviously given an a a trader's Wi-Fi and password, which we didn't even share with all the people that they're in the team there. I think it was me, you and Sadie that had it. because David Bancroft: No. No. Yeah, yeah. James 'Penguin' Sharples: we wanted to give ourselves the best opportunity to be able to sell David Bancroft: slick. James 'Penguin' Sharples: today. Then when we were trying to sign people up and people that were guests that were coming in and going, Well get on the traders, I've got the password for that and it's no, come on. Come on, people.

Yeah, come on. David Bancroft: How have you got that? You're not a trader. How have you got a password? they gave it to me over the road. James 'Penguin' Sharples: Yeah, come on. David Bancroft: Honestly, wow me up because that's the point. Best laid plans, again, organizers, and I do think it was, they hadn't planned as well as they could have done, but they had very distinct partitions, traders, visitors, organizers, that makes sense, but they shouldn't blend. It shouldn't be that traders are giving visitors the password. It doesn't make any sense. Further note, James 'Penguin' Sharples: No, and it's it's yeah, massively frustrating, but an absolutely awful David Bancroft: and it's not a grumble, James, a further note. the spud man or whatever he was called. Cool. What a jacket potato that was. Crikey. That was unbelievable. James 'Penguin' Sharples: Good spuds. Good spuds. What was your favourite bit of the the festival? Hi Ideas Fest Highlight. David Bancroft: Seeing but regrettably not meeting Frank Bruno. Big fan. James 'Penguin' Sharples: Yeah. David Bancroft: Big fan of Frank. Absolutely awesome. I think the buzz that came out of Dreamland, i.e. Simon Squibb's Emporium of Dreams that he had created there, James 'Penguin' Sharples: Did try his coffees? David Bancroft: I did. I tried the Focus one. It nice. That was really good. Little advertisement there for Dream Coffee. no, Dream Brew. It's called Dream Brew. We've James 'Penguin' Sharples: Dream brew, dream brew. David Bancroft: got to make the... We've got to... Again, note to self, reach out to Simon and say, James 'Penguin' Sharples: There's gotta be a link up there surely. David Bancroft: got to be. We have to, yeah, they're going to have to advertise on this channel, they? Do so, do so. Again, I didn't meet him. James 'Penguin' Sharples: I'll have a word with Squibby. Well like that, me and Squibby. David Bancroft: Such was, it was sort of Squibby. Don't know if you'd like that. Perhaps we should scrub that. But again, such was the busy day. I didn't meet the likes of Simon Squibb or, Piers Linney or any of those guys who were there because we were just, it was nonstop, wasn't it? But yeah, so. James 'Penguin' Sharples: It's just it's not I think that looking back, we probably would like to get more people there next year. I mean, I know we had some sickness and some letdowns, but we should have again, six Ps probably accounted for that and oversubscribed in the amount of people that we brought rather than getting just the right number. So that's a another lesson that we we would take from it going forwards. But yeah, I mean think. David Bancroft: I am, I am but one man. James 'Penguin' Sharples: Yeah, I'm only one man, I'm not a machine. And then I think one of my highlights It was definitely when they said, Yeah, that's that's the best talk here. I think when you hear words like that, it really validates the reason that you're doing things. especially with the amount David Bancroft: to... yeah. James 'Penguin' Sharples: of unbelievable names that were on that speaker's list. David Bancroft: Yeah, James 'Penguin' Sharples: And probably low light, that penguin costume was up. David Bancroft: mate, but if you're not in character, what are you doing? James 'Penguin' Sharples: it was br it was brilliant. It was brilliant, but it was hotter than Mordor in there. Ironically, it was hotter than the world's hottest igloo that we seem to the irony. But I'm sure people David Bancroft: Amazing, amazing. James 'Penguin' Sharples: will share my feelings on this. If you're ordering David Bancroft: Hmm. James 'Penguin' Sharples: a huge igloo, yeah, with a giant white reflective surface, and white is meant to reflect the light, agreed, David Bancroft: So I've heard. James 'Penguin' Sharples: with a huge fan. David Bancroft: Mm-hmm. James 'Penguin' Sharples: That's constantly David Bancroft: Mm-hmm. James 'Penguin' Sharples: blowing a cycle of cold air into it, you would David Bancroft: Yes, yeah, yeah. James 'Penguin' Sharples: assume that there is going to be a natural sort of lower than outdoor temperature within David Bancroft: Yeah. James 'Penguin' Sharples: that marquee. David Bancroft: Like an industrial freezer. James 'Penguin' Sharples: Essentially. Although in insane it's not really the air blowing in with freezers and fridges, it's the air that they tr they pull out. That's what makes them cool. Sorry I'm getting technical on that, but yeah, how wrong we were in the irony of having the hottest igloo known to man. David Bancroft: Getting technical now, James. Yeah, go radiator, yeah. Yeah, horrible. Yes. We should have given out as part of our activation, we should have given out suntan lotion or sunglasses or something. What am I gonna need them for in the igloo? James 'Penguin' Sharples: Well, it was the projector as well. Because we got we got a big projector and we thought, well well we've essentially got a huge giant white screen. So surely the projector will David Bancroft: Yeah, amazing. James 'Penguin' Sharples: just pr project it on the wall of the igloo and that there David Bancroft: Yep. Yep. James 'Penguin' Sharples: we go. That's it Bob's your uncle, Fanny's your aunt. Lo and behold, David Bancroft: Yeah, yeah. James 'Penguin' Sharples: we'd also ordered a giant ball of sunlight. So the clarity David Bancroft: Yes. James 'Penguin' Sharples: of that picture was nowhere to be seen. David Bancroft: The optics were compromised. I believe James 'Penguin' Sharples: Yes, the optics were compromised. David Bancroft: that was my, think I was just making a note on my observation. Yes. Yep. Biggie glue. Yes. ranges. Lovely. No optics compromised James 'Penguin' Sharples: Yeah. David Bancroft: James. James 'Penguin' Sharples: But yeah, what an amazing day and we'll definitely be doing it next year. David Bancroft: I'm going to slip another one in. Humanity wins. James 'Penguin' Sharples: Humanity wins. David Bancroft: Spot on mate. Well look, awesome chatting. Great seeing you in person because it doesn't happen as often as we both James 'Penguin' Sharples: As it should. David Bancroft: wish it could and should. But no, amazing day in the field, which if you're just listening to that sound bite, you probably think this is a very odd pod, but a great day in the field. James 'Penguin' Sharples: Great. David Bancroft: And James, on to the next one. Cheers. James 'Penguin' Sharples: On to the next. Nice one.