Shownotes
The Forge Relations team returns to State of the Second for a post-Gundies wrap-up, and this year's show was different in one major way: it went live. Ben and Will explain that Ben had pushed a live stream for years before they finally pulled it off, and the deciding factor was finding the right home for it. YouTube was a non-starter because the platform told them a stream would be cut if a guest said something against its guidelines, and with the level of investment involved, a mid-show cutoff was a risk they couldn't take. Rumble stepped in, set up the account, and gave them internal team support. The result, by their own account, was the best year yet, with just under a thousand confirmed attendees in the room, around 200,000 watching the stream, and a noticeably more senior crowd of owners and C-suite leaders at the Venetian Theater during SHOT.
Much of the conversation is about why a marketing agency keeps taking on an event this size. Ben and Will are blunt that the Gundies is separate from Forge and isn't a money-maker. They put roughly 3,500 man hours into it this year on top of running the agency, and every year they have the same internal debate about whether it's worth the headache. They keep going because they believe in the industry and the community, and because the event grows everyone together. A creator who misses top five still gets new eyes from people who'd never seen them, since voters have to look at every name in a category. The hosts back this up from backstage: even Hickok, with 10 million subscribers, was genuinely excited to win, and John says he's watched sub counts climb after the Gundies post. Ben and Will also address this year's drama head on, saying voting has always been organic, that more followers means more votes is a volume game and not rigging, and that they said their piece and won't turn the drama machine on.
The episode closes with two forward-looking pieces. First, the Gundies is becoming a standalone brand and will no longer go dark after the show. It's launching its first-ever trivia night at GOA's GOALS event, a 2A-themed game with real prizes from sponsors including title sponsor PSA, and the hosts say they'll also work with Rumble on it. GOALS runs August 1st and 2nd in Des Moines, Iowa, marking GOA's 50th anniversary, and Forge is providing Saturday night's entertainment. Second, in the Soapbox segment, Ben and Will talk about getting new gun owners off the fence and into the community. Their answers center on content: let mainstream outlets show the industry without a political spin, represent the new customer who often doesn't look like the standard gun owner, and for aspiring creators, be authentic, stay consistent, and don't wait for perfect before posting.
Questions this episode answers
Why did The Gundies finally go live this year, and why on Rumble instead of YouTube?
Ben had pushed for a live stream for years, and the show finally went live once they found the right home. YouTube was ruled out because the platform said a stream could be cut if a guest violated its guidelines, a risk too large for the investment, so Rumble stepped in, set up the account, and provided team support.
How big was the show this year in terms of attendees and stream viewers?
By Ben and Will's account it was the best year yet, with just under a thousand confirmed attendees in the room and around 200,000 people watching the stream. The crowd at the Venetian Theater during SHOT was also noticeably more senior, with more owners and C-suite leaders.
How many hours does Forge actually put into producing The Gundies?
Ben and Will say they put roughly 3,500 man hours into the event this year, on top of running the agency. The Gundies is separate from Forge Relations and is not a money-maker.
Why does a marketing agency keep running an event that doesn't make money?
Ben and Will keep going because they believe in the firearms industry and community and want to see it grow, since that growth benefits everyone. They have the same internal debate every year about whether the headache is worth it, and they keep choosing to do it.
How did Forge respond to this year's accusations that the voting was rigged?
Ben and Will addressed the drama directly, saying voting has always been organic and that more followers meaning more votes is a volume game, not rigging. They said their piece and chose not to feed the drama machine further.
What does a creator gain from being nominated even if they don't win?
Because voters have to look at every name in a category, a nominee who misses the top five still gets new eyes from people who had never seen them. The hosts note even Hickok, with 10 million subscribers, was genuinely excited to win, and John has watched subscriber counts climb after a Gundies post.
What is the new Gundies trivia night at GOALS, and what can attendees expect?
The Gundies is launching its first-ever trivia night, a Second Amendment themed game with real prizes from sponsors including title sponsor PSA. It runs at GOA's GOALS event in Des Moines, Iowa on August 1st and 2nd, with Forge providing Saturday night's entertainment.
What advice do Ben and Will give to new gun owners and aspiring content creators?
For new gun owners, they want mainstream content that shows the industry without a political spin and represents customers who don't fit the standard mold. For aspiring creators, the advice is to be authentic, stay consistent, and not wait for perfect before posting.
Chapters
- 00:00 — Welcome back to Forge for the post-Gundies wrap-up
- 00:48 — Why this year went live, and why not YouTube
- 02:04 — Rumble steps in to make the live stream happen
- 03:09 — Best year yet: C-suite in the room, seven years of growth
- 04:53 — 3,500 man hours and the entertainment push
- 07:07 — The grand prize winner and what voting really buys you
- 09:05 — John and Kaylee's view from backstage
- 11:48 — Why GOA sponsors its category and never gave it up
- 13:31 — Addressing this year's drama and the rigging accusations
- 17:09 — Organic voting and why being nominated still wins
- 24:51 — Announcement: the Gundies becomes its own brand
- 25:25 — First-ever Gundies trivia night at GOA GOALS
- 35:54 — GOALS, the 50th anniversary, and registering early
- 40:47 — Soapbox: getting new gun owners into the community
- 45:21 — Advice for aspiring content creators: be authentic
About the guest
Ben and Will are with Forge Relations, the marketing agency that produces the Gundies firearms industry awards show. The hosts describe them as gun owners first, and they call themselves a marketing agency that also does events. In this episode they describe the Gundies as separate from Forge and built for the firearms industry and community, not as a revenue source. This was around their third appearance on State of the Second. The Gundies is heading into its eighth year, with the awards show held at the Venetian Theater during SHOT.
Key quotes
"The biggest compliment we got was about who was in the room." — Ben Stacy
"We believe in this industry and we believe in the community and we want to see the community grow because that's going to benefit all of us." — Ben Stacy
"At the end of the day, we created this event for our industry." — Will Renke
"It's not that it's rigged, it's just it's a volume game." — Will Renke
"The whole point of the event is to network together." — Will Renke
"The only way you're going to get better on camera is just to put the content out there." — Ben Stacy
Transcripts
Welcome to Gun Owners of America State of the second podcast.
Speaker A:I'm Kaylee.
Speaker B:And I'm John.
Speaker B:And today we're joined again by our friends at Forge.
Speaker B:We don't have to give a big introduction.
Speaker B:This is what the third time you've been on?
Speaker C:I believe so something like that.
Speaker B:We are doing post Gundy's wrap up and we have this amazing new trophy.
Speaker B:We do new new, new, new new trophy.
Speaker B:Lot of painful trophy holds multiple times.
Speaker B:But not get to keep sad.
Speaker C:No, unfortunately you don't.
Speaker B:One day, maybe we'll get one day.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:But let's just dive into this, you know, from your guys perspective.
Speaker B:Big.
Speaker B:Another big year, another fun year.
Speaker B:How'd it go?
Speaker C:It was good.
Speaker C:It was, it was really different this year actually.
Speaker C:You know, the big difference was the live stream.
Speaker C:You know Ben, Ben was pushing that live stream for many, many years.
Speaker C:And I was saying, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Speaker C:Because we did actually try it four years ago.
Speaker D:We don't talk about that.
Speaker C:No, but we're gonna talk more about it because it's really funny.
Speaker D:Probably more than four years ago, Ben.
Speaker C:Decided to plug in.
Speaker D:It's like a cord in the wrong.
Speaker C:Outlet and you know, but here we are.
Speaker C:So it didn't work.
Speaker C:Long story short, it was very, very hesitant.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:And the main reason I was hesitant wasn't about the technical side of things.
Speaker C:I mean that was kind of a big important deal.
Speaker C:But honestly, no, it was streaming it.
Speaker C:Where were you gonna stream it?
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:I never really wanted to do it on YouTube because I was afraid.
Speaker C:I didn't know if someone said something wrong on a red carpet or someone said something that potentially went against their guidelines or the restrictions, whatever the case may be.
Speaker C:That was a big hesitation.
Speaker D:Well, they straight up told us, yeah, if someone said something that went against their guidelines, the stream would be cut.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker D:So that was kind of like an immediate.
Speaker D:If we're going to make this level of investment and it was a significant investment, we had to make sure the show was not going to get cut off.
Speaker C:Yeah, that would have been a big boo boo if halfway through the stream because I don't know what we would have done.
Speaker C:Sponsors and all that other good stuff.
Speaker C:So lo and behold comes Rumble.
Speaker C:I was very pleased and worked really hard to meet the owner of Rumble, Chris CEO.
Speaker C:Awesome guy.
Speaker C:After a couple emails, got a awesome response, introduced me to the team and the rest was kind of history.
Speaker C:They really liked it, they appreciated what we're doing.
Speaker C:They kind of saw what we did last year from the pre recorded show, so they got a good gauge of what it looked like in the production style, so they were really impressed.
Speaker C:At the end of the day, we're a small company, we're a small team, and we try and take on this pretty big event that has a lot of different assets to it.
Speaker C:And when they saw that, they said, okay, we're on.
Speaker C:And they gave us all their support, they gave us their internal team, they helped us with the live stream, they set up our account.
Speaker C:I mean, it was really nice, right, because we were working from the tippity top and it was really nice to see their excitement and see the potential on how this was going to go.
Speaker C:Yeah, I mean, what'd you think, Ben?
Speaker D:I mean, from the Rumble perspective, huge help.
Speaker D:Couldn't have done it without him.
Speaker D:So thank you.
Speaker D:Rumble, the show as a whole, I mean, I heard best year yet.
Speaker D:Like the best.
Speaker D:The biggest compliment we got was about who was in the room.
Speaker D:Like a lot of, a lot of C suite, a lot of owners in, in the actual room, which was cool because we're always trying to elevate the clientele and the, the attendees.
Speaker D:And obviously doing it at shot puts us right in that, that kind of centerpiece of the industry.
Speaker D:But to have the recognition from these top dogs was a very, you know, a very special, unique experience.
Speaker C:Yeah, it took a long time.
Speaker C:I mean, it took seven years, right?
Speaker C:I mean, year one, we were at Nacho Daddy and I had a little microphone like this and a $20 speaker from Walmart as our AV system.
Speaker C:So to step on stage in the Venetian Theater and, and now do it for the third year.
Speaker C:But also look at it in that three year period of how that's evolved, how looking behind me in the graphics and the motion graphics and just the little things in our team and the organization and the check in and the team meetings.
Speaker C:There's so much that goes into this event that I don't think a lot of people really understand.
Speaker C:The hundreds of meetings and the setup and the emails and the communication to make sure that the winners are, you know, are they there?
Speaker C:Are they not there?
Speaker C:And then getting them to where they need to be.
Speaker C:Well, there was like, I think 900 people confirmed.
Speaker D:Yeah, just over nine.
Speaker D:Just.
Speaker D:Just under a thousand.
Speaker D:Yeah, confirmed.
Speaker C:That's a lot of people to wrangle.
Speaker D:And not to mention the 200,000 that watched on the watch.
Speaker D:That's a little.
Speaker C:And then do the running show, right?
Speaker C:And then sit there and actually figure out how to make this somewhat entertaining.
Speaker C:Like, okay, we, we figured up all the logistic aspect, well now we have to focus on the entertainment side which.
Speaker D:Was a big, big, big time investment for us this year because that's always all the logistics always kind of took over.
Speaker D:So we usually threw the run of show to the last kind of planning piece.
Speaker D:That changed this year.
Speaker D:I mean we had 3,500 man hours.
Speaker D:We don't even count our hours.
Speaker D:We didn't put that into the gundies alone from our resources which is crazy to think about.
Speaker B:Stockpiling ammo can be a daunting task and cost a lot of money.
Speaker B:Bulk buying all at once just, it's just kills the savings account.
Speaker B:Well now Ammo square has got you covered just like a savings account.
Speaker B:You can put a specific amount of money towards the type of calibers and type of ammo you want and build up an ammo savings account.
Speaker B:They have a climate controlled facility with over 70 different calibers.
Speaker B:Guys, this is as simple as just plug and play and forget.
Speaker B:And guys, if you don't need that ammo anymore you can sell it back to Ammo Squared for a profit.
Speaker B:Go to Ammo Squared Squared right now to start your ammo savings account.
Speaker B:If you haven't watched it will got bit.
Speaker D:Oh that was yeah, that was great.
Speaker C:I mean and that was a big shout out to our charity Sal Special Operations Wound Warriors.
Speaker C:I mean they, you know it's, that's a big piece of this.
Speaker C:We want to give back to the community.
Speaker C:This whole event was always for the community.
Speaker C:That was it.
Speaker C:It wasn't to you know, have one company get something out of it.
Speaker C:It was about bringing everyone together, end of story.
Speaker C:And of course most importantly raising money for great charity.
Speaker C:And in that side I got my arm bit.
Speaker C:So you know, I mean there's a big win there but.
Speaker C:And Matt Lyda from nine Line, I mean we didn't even rehearse.
Speaker C:We had I think what 20 minutes to rehearse.
Speaker C:So we just looked at each other and we're like we did one joke in the beginning.
Speaker C:He brought out a step stool and said I'm just going to make fun of how short you are the whole time.
Speaker C:I said I love that.
Speaker C:Let's go with let's roll with short jokes the whole time.
Speaker C:And then from there we just kind of bounced off each other and it felt really good to get back into the host seat or co host seat with Matt whatever the case may be.
Speaker C:It was awesome because that's where it all started from.
Speaker C:And that kind of reinvigorated the energy too of Going back there and looking and not just saying hello.
Speaker C:Welcome to the Gundy's.
Speaker C:Unwell and passing.
Speaker C:It felt good to stick with it the whole time.
Speaker C:And then, of course, once again with the community to have all the presenters, we tried to involve as many people as we could in announcing a category.
Speaker C:Of course, all the sponsors having the opportunity to announce a category.
Speaker C:And I still think one of my favorite parts was the grand prize winner this year.
Speaker C:I went, picked him up from the airport and he was awesome.
Speaker C:He was the coolest dude ever.
Speaker C:His father, okay, so his dad was in charge of Air Force One when it landed somewhere in Texas.
Speaker C:I don't remember the base, but when Air Force One touched down.
Speaker C:I hope I could say this.
Speaker C:I don't know if he's.
Speaker C:Let me say this, but whatever.
Speaker C:This is all old, so it doesn't matter.
Speaker C:Anyhow, when Air Force One touched down, his father was in charge of Air Force One.
Speaker C:So that meant he met a lot of the presidents.
Speaker C:I'm not going to say which ones, but there was a couple in particular that he spent time with.
Speaker C:This is the grand prize winner.
Speaker C:And his children got to meet them.
Speaker C:And it was just really cool of how this guy never met before, picked up the airport and we just instantly started talking about stories.
Speaker C:And he has watched every single.
Speaker C:He knew everything about the gun.
Speaker C:He's.
Speaker C:Because.
Speaker C:Oh, yeah, there you are.
Speaker C:Like, he knew.
Speaker C:It was just so weird to have somebody he voted in every single year.
Speaker D:He knew Forge relations.
Speaker C:He knew Forge relations.
Speaker D:Forge is the behind the scenes.
Speaker D:Most people don't know that company name.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:It was just so awesome to have him.
Speaker C:And then he, you know, we hung out with him.
Speaker C:He came during setup.
Speaker C:So I gotta give a big shout out to Sig for that one.
Speaker C:That was pretty cool.
Speaker C:They sponsored that, and that was awesome.
Speaker C:So it was a very cool experience to bring someone because that's what it's all about.
Speaker C:We're telling everyone to vote, vote, vote, vote, vote.
Speaker C:Well, there it is.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker C:Come back, you get a chance to come hang out and just enjoy a trip to Vegas and Chacho and the Gundies.
Speaker C:So it was super cool.
Speaker B:We got to finally see it from behind the house, which was not something we've seen before.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:What was that like from the other side?
Speaker B:Because we've seen the planning.
Speaker D:Yep.
Speaker B:But from our side, we.
Speaker B:We've never been backstage.
Speaker B:It was cool watching.
Speaker B:Well, it was cool to watch every.
Speaker B:Everything you guys were doing.
Speaker B:And then what was it cool is I had to sit on a bucket.
Speaker B:I need a Chair next year.
Speaker B:Can I get a chair?
Speaker D:A chair?
Speaker C:We can get you a chair.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:No, but it was cool because we were sitting back there and just watching the run a show, watching the people come up, hearing the announcements when we could hear them.
Speaker B:And my favorite part is we're sitting.
Speaker B:This was a total surprise.
Speaker B:We're sitting there and they come up to us and they go, all right, you need to sit perfectly still.
Speaker B:And I go, for what?
Speaker B:Will's getting bit by a dog.
Speaker B:It's coming back this way.
Speaker B:You guys sit perfectly still.
Speaker B:And I'm like, what do you mean?
Speaker B:I gotta sit.
Speaker B:Boy, Will's getting bit by a dog.
Speaker B:What is happening right now?
Speaker B:And but to seeing your team be like a well oiled machine and just getting stuff done and watching and then the reaction from you from the live stream and you getting in there and then everybody coming up just was this whole different view on the Gundies as a whole.
Speaker D:Hopefully it didn't look too chaotic.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:Well, well, run.
Speaker B:And that's the only chaotic part was when I had to go to the bathroom.
Speaker B:And you're like, you've got two minutes, run.
Speaker D:You don't get to go to the bathroom.
Speaker C:There's no bathroom.
Speaker C:And that's the craziest thing about the Gundies because I mean, at the end of the day, we're a marketing agency.
Speaker C:We're not an events company.
Speaker D:It's hard to say that now I will know.
Speaker D:I mean.
Speaker C:Yeah, okay, let me rephrase that.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:Forge Relations is a marketing agency that we do events.
Speaker C:I mean we definitely.
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker C:But event to this scale, you know, this takes like four months.
Speaker C:A real like turn it on.
Speaker C:Four months.
Speaker D:Yeah, like full time while we're still.
Speaker C:Trying to run the marketing agency and do everything else in between.
Speaker C:So it's.
Speaker C:Yeah, there's.
Speaker C:It's.
Speaker C:It's interesting.
Speaker C:It's interesting.
Speaker C:But you know, good times going on to year eight.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker D:So that's crazy.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:Think about.
Speaker C:I know.
Speaker C:Never would have thought.
Speaker C:Actually.
Speaker C:No, that's not true.
Speaker C:I knew it.
Speaker C:I knew it from the second we started.
Speaker C:We were gonna go.
Speaker D:We were just gonna do it years.
Speaker C:I got made fun of so much in the beginning.
Speaker C:Oh my gosh.
Speaker D:I don't think we ever.
Speaker D:I don't think we ever really looked at it past.
Speaker D:At least I like each individual year.
Speaker C:No, we never did.
Speaker A:So we've been sponsoring since what, year three or four.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:It was your first year of Drive Tank.
Speaker C:So that was year three.
Speaker A:So three.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker D:No, that was year two.
Speaker C:Then oh, it was your two.
Speaker C:My gosh.
Speaker C:You guys have been.
Speaker C:That's six years.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Six years.
Speaker C:Sorry.
Speaker D:It's a long time.
Speaker A:It's a long time.
Speaker D:And thank you.
Speaker A:It's our pleasure to sponsor it.
Speaker A:It's really fun.
Speaker A:I. I love the category that we sponsor because we work with the guys that are.
Speaker A:That are nominated.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:Super closely.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Because there's.
Speaker A:They're covering often the work that our members are doing and our legal team is doing and our lobbyists are doing.
Speaker A:And so it's really cool because we don't get to know who won until we open up the envelope.
Speaker A:I think people expect that we get the inside scoop and we're just as excited to see that person win.
Speaker A:It's a genuine excitement from our perspective as.
Speaker A:As sponsors.
Speaker A:I think it's a cool.
Speaker A:And I don't know if we.
Speaker A:We would obviously be excited for any category, but there is a deeper level of excitement when it's somebody that you've worked with so closely.
Speaker D:It's a.
Speaker D:It's a natural fit for the category for you guys.
Speaker D:It's.
Speaker D:It makes.
Speaker D:I think it makes the most sense.
Speaker D:And you've been sponsoring that one since the.
Speaker D:In the inception of the category.
Speaker D:I think that we started that probably.
Speaker C:I think it was because of you.
Speaker C:I think that was.
Speaker D:I don't know if that was.
Speaker D:I don't know if we had that year one, but.
Speaker C:No, we definitely didn't.
Speaker C:No, we 100 did not have that category.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:All I know is you asked.
Speaker A:You called.
Speaker A:I think it was.
Speaker A:You called me.
Speaker A:I think maybe you were on the call too, and you were like, hey, would you like to sponsor this category?
Speaker A:And we said yes and just never given it up.
Speaker D:Now we're here.
Speaker D:Well, it's.
Speaker A:Yeah, we don't plan to.
Speaker A:So you mark us down for 27.
Speaker C:Well, I mean.
Speaker C:Or we have something even more exciting to talk about if you want to.
Speaker A:Yeah, let's bring it up.
Speaker B:I gotta talk about one thing before we go.
Speaker B:I know, but I gotta.
Speaker D:Before the next thing.
Speaker B:Yeah, before the next thing.
Speaker B:Because I wouldn't be a true interviewer if I didn't ask.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker D:Okay.
Speaker B:So this year there was some drama.
Speaker B:I think Brandon handled it perfectly.
Speaker B:From your guys point of view.
Speaker B:Everything cool.
Speaker B:Because people are going to want to know.
Speaker B:Everything cool.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Yeah, Everything's great.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:I mean, I think a lot of it is.
Speaker C:A lot of it is what you would think.
Speaker C:It's just.
Speaker C:What's the word I'm looking for?
Speaker C:It's what you would think a company would do.
Speaker C:So I really can't fault and get aggravated at a lot of the accusations because most people would do that.
Speaker C:So it makes sense to where the accusations are coming from.
Speaker C:But on the other side is we have been saying this for six, seven years that we don't do these things.
Speaker C:So it kind of like feels like no one's really listening.
Speaker C:Well, that's not true.
Speaker C:Certain people don't listen, especially when you know them.
Speaker C:But I mean, it's okay.
Speaker C:It is what it is.
Speaker C:Everything was said and you know, we said our piece.
Speaker C:At the end of the day, we created this event for our industry.
Speaker C:That's it.
Speaker C:We did not create this event to take our marketing agency and make a ton of money with it because we don't.
Speaker C:So where the Gundies goes next year, if it is a full time brand, whatever the case may be, then it would be the Gundys.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker C:We have never done this to do anything more than just have fun.
Speaker C:Listen, it was about the Office.
Speaker C:The whole thing was made about my favorite TV show, the Office.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker C:I gotta be Michael Scott.
Speaker C:I literally got to pretend to be Michael Scott dressed up and just say dumb things.
Speaker C:How much more fun could that possibly be, Right?
Speaker C:Like most likely survive the apocalypse.
Speaker C:Those were just fun categories that we wanted to bring everybody together.
Speaker C:It wasn't a left or right, it wasn't who shot the best or who did that or what category or put your finger on the trigger, get mad at this person.
Speaker C:It was just about our industry and have some sort of normality to our industry without us tearing ourselves apart because we get enough of the outside industry, outside industries tearing us apart, especially for mainstream media and everything else.
Speaker C:So why are we just constantly fighting with each other and if something happens internally and people want to say something, listen, it is what it is.
Speaker C:But we're not going to continue.
Speaker C:We're going to say, hey, listen, we didn't do it.
Speaker C:You guys want to talk?
Speaker C:Sure.
Speaker C:That's it.
Speaker C:We're going to end it there.
Speaker C:I'm not going to turn this drama machine on and keep fighting and keep doing this.
Speaker C:The whole point is bring everyone together.
Speaker C:You may not agree or disagree, who cares, but we don't need to keep it going.
Speaker C:So to answer that story, I think everything's great.
Speaker C:I wish everyone the best.
Speaker C:I mean, once again, that's the whole point.
Speaker C:Wish everyone the best.
Speaker C:Everyone the most success that they can be if they're supporting our industry, if they're raising money for our industry or charities, whatever the case.
Speaker C:May be that's what this is all about.
Speaker D:And it's the Gundies has evolved since year one from that light hearted apocalypse survivor mindset to it actually it's a, it's something that means something, you know, and, and to the people that win it and we for the level of effort that goes into that trophy and into the event.
Speaker D:You know, as things have grown the awards are evolving too.
Speaker D:Like we, you know, we've got some plans for next year.
Speaker D:We're always listening to the feedback of the community of the people that are voting, of the sponsors and I think we've got some ideas that can alleviate some of the potential frustrations, you know, but we want to do it without losing sight of the point of everything.
Speaker D:Will just said of this is meant to be fun.
Speaker D:We're in an industry full of alpha males who sometimes take their, you know what they say a little too seriously and we want to even that keel a little bit and, and all that.
Speaker D:Like that's okay.
Speaker D:You know, we also are very aware that we created an award show full of alpha males.
Speaker D:So there's a lot of when people get opinionated, they get loud, you know and that's, that's also okay.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And one thing I do want to just say about kind of back to your point, not really but you know, voting has always been organic and the problem is with that comes an interesting kind of take on it.
Speaker C:If you have a lot of followers, you kind of get more votes.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:So people don't really like that.
Speaker C:They think oh well, it's rigged.
Speaker C:It's not that it's rigged, it's just it's a volume game or if you.
Speaker D:Know or if you activate your audience.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:But what we will tell everyone that goes, oh you know, I didn't get nominated or I didn't win.
Speaker C:What did happen?
Speaker C:And this was the entire purpose of this whole event was to create a Rolodex of individuals that were otherwise.
Speaker C:I hate this word shadow band.
Speaker C:Please forgot I hate shadow ban.
Speaker C:But had restrictions on traditional platforms.
Speaker C:People that were making amazing content, not everyone was able to see them because unfortunately they were working within their own bubble.
Speaker C:And that's just is what it is.
Speaker C:So what's happening is in categories that creators with large followings were in their fans or their followers or whatever people that watch them were going to see them.
Speaker C:But what's happening is they were now they have to see every single other person in that category that they might not have seen before.
Speaker C:So people are now going and looking at these Other people they didn't know.
Speaker C:So you're taking someone else's platform, bringing them over to the Gundies, looking at all these other people that they didn't know existed because of mainstream media, said, nope, we're not going to support the gun industry.
Speaker C:So we're going to put you guys in a little box, you know, whatever they do.
Speaker C:So that is a big win.
Speaker C:Yes, you didn't win or yes, maybe you didn't become top five, but you 100% had more eyes on you that didn't probably see you before or maybe would have taken something else or you had to collaborate with someone.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:I'm not saying it's impossible.
Speaker C:There's 100 ways to get seen, of course.
Speaker C:But this was just another avenue for people that were doing amazing things for our community, amazing things for our industry and potentially weren't seen by everyone.
Speaker C:So we were trying to grow our community together by using everyone.
Speaker C:So the Gundies isn't about taking home a Gundy's.
Speaker D:Yes.
Speaker C:That's awesome, right?
Speaker C:Each one we hand make it means a lot to us.
Speaker C:Of course you have followers.
Speaker C:Of course.
Speaker C:But you have followers for a reason.
Speaker C:You grew that you've put your time in.
Speaker C:That's fine, right?
Speaker C:That is what it is.
Speaker C:But just because you missed top five or your sixth or seventh or eighth, you're still part of this entire community that brings everyone together.
Speaker C:And most importantly, you are invited to the event.
Speaker C:You're not isolated from this event.
Speaker C:The whole point of the event is to network together.
Speaker C:Just because you aren't top five doesn't mean you shouldn't come and network and meet new people, meet new companies, meet new sponsors.
Speaker C:That's what this is all about is bringing everyone together.
Speaker C:So you know, there were certain people that were fixated, they were upset that they weren't top five or they didn't win.
Speaker C:It's okay, who cares?
Speaker C:We're doing this together.
Speaker C:And you know, now we might have some other events that do some more fun things.
Speaker C:So like that is the entire concept of what we do or what we've done.
Speaker C:And truly all we are is we're just the two idiots that get to put this thing on, right?
Speaker C:We are the, we're the ones.
Speaker C:I have countless burns on my hands and ruined many of clothes pouring hot pewter into a smelting machine.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker C:To do this.
Speaker C:So you know, that's my spiel.
Speaker A:As liberty loving Americans, we know how important it is to put your money where your values are.
Speaker A:And that is why we are proud to Partner with Right to Bear.
Speaker A:Right to Bear is a cornerstone in the community for self defense protection and we are proud to be offering an exclusive discount.
Speaker B:Use code GOA at Checkout to save 15% off lifetime of your membership.
Speaker B:Again, that's code Goa to save 15% off on the lifetime of your membership.
Speaker D:Just a look behind the curtain.
Speaker D:Maybe, you know, a little too much of a look behind the curtain, but every single year we, we have this internal battle of are we going to do this again?
Speaker D:Do.
Speaker D:Is this, is this worth the headache?
Speaker D:Is this worth the people that are frustrated about it or just the level of effort from taking, taking resources away from what funds all of this, which is Forge and do we just hang up our hat and call it a day?
Speaker D:Yeah, you know, and for whatever reason, we just keep doubling.
Speaker D:I mean we know the reason.
Speaker D:The reason is because we believe in this industry and we believe in the community and we want to see the community grow because that's going to benefit all of us.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:The more people that buy guns, the more freedom that's out there.
Speaker D:Like it's a, it's a win, win, win.
Speaker D:And then ultimately, yes, selfishly, there are benefits to that of us getting more clients.
Speaker D:And the closest thing to the closest benefit for us is that it's our advertising from Forge for Forge.
Speaker D:You know, we don't need the general consumer, the voter to know who we are, but the companies that are working with Gundies or attend the event, if they know who we are, that opens up potential doors to work with them in the future.
Speaker B:I'm going to say two things and then I'll let Kaylee talk.
Speaker B:It'll be her turn to.
Speaker B:So we were behind the stage doing all the interviews with the winners.
Speaker B:I don't think there was not one who is genuinely surprised, excited.
Speaker B:I mean Hickok won an award.
Speaker B:That man was so excited to win an award and he's got 10 million subs.
Speaker B:Like the guy's got Colean.
Speaker B:Same thing.
Speaker B:Super such same thing.
Speaker B:Everybody who came backstage, there was not one person who was just over the top excited about everything.
Speaker B:And then the same thing you mentioned about the followers and getting things.
Speaker B:You know, I've seen it myself.
Speaker B:I've seen the sub count go up once the Gundies get posted.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It works and it's bringing the community together.
Speaker B:Now I'll let Kaylee talk that I've, I've taken up most of this podcast.
Speaker A: xcited about what the rest of: Speaker A:Do we want to make an announcement?
Speaker C:Sure, I'd love to.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker C:Do you want to make the announcement or you want me to go for it?
Speaker A:It's all you.
Speaker D:Okay.
Speaker C:Well, I guess the first piece is the Gundies is no longer going to be turned off.
Speaker C:So historically speaking, after the event we send out the trophies and we give all the winners their prizes, the voters their prizes and then we turn it off and then we all go.
Speaker D:Ah, yeah.
Speaker D:Meaning Ben and Will just.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:We take a little breath.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:Take a, take a three month nap before we think about it again.
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker C:Which is not good.
Speaker D:Probably more like a six month nap.
Speaker C:Yeah, six month nap.
Speaker C:And then we scramble.
Speaker C:We're no longer taking a nap.
Speaker C:We have decided to go all in with the Gundies completely separating it from Forge, which it already is.
Speaker C:But you know, it's going to be a brand in itself and with that's going to start another event on top of the awards and with our fantastic partners that we love very much that have supported us for a very long time, we are going to be doing an event at GOA Goals and that is going to be a trivia night and we're staying in line with the office because of course Andy, when he was office, when he was manager, he took the team because he was down on paper sales.
Speaker C:So he found out Oscar was going to be doing a Trivia night with $2,500 cash prize.
Speaker C:We took the entire office to try and win this to make up paper sales.
Speaker C:So in that fashion with the questions there, of course it's going to be based around the 2A industry.
Speaker C:Possibly some Gundy's things, possibly some Goa.
Speaker C:We're going to can't tell you guys, but we are very excited to announce the Gundy's first ever trivia night.
Speaker C:Now really excited about this because of course all the attendees of Goals are going to partake in that.
Speaker C:They can come hang out, they can get their, you know, what do you call those things?
Speaker C:The sign up.
Speaker C:The, you know, little things you write on to do your trivia stuff.
Speaker C:But we're going to also be working with Rumble and we're going to kind of, you know, we don't know the 100% details on that.
Speaker C:So I don't want to say something and all of a sudden it doesn't happen.
Speaker C:But it's going to be a really fun event and yeah, so that's the next big announcement for the Gundies is being partnered with Goals and being There.
Speaker A:So yeah, I know we're all super excited.
Speaker A:On the Goa side, I think our members are going to be so excited to have the opportunity to play trivia with like minded individuals and nerd out a bit.
Speaker A:There's not a whole lot of space, spaces where we can, you know, talk about all of the nuances in the industry and all of the innovation that's come out and the people who've really shaped the 2A culture for generations.
Speaker A:So we're super excited.
Speaker A:I know our members are going to be excited to have the opportunity to win their own Gundi because, you know, I think that everybody wants to have some hardware on their, on their shelf.
Speaker D:There will be some really cool prizes.
Speaker D:We've started conversations with some awesome sponsors.
Speaker D:So it's not going to be your standard trivia where you win.
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker D:I don't know what you win in standard trivia.
Speaker D:Like a high five.
Speaker C:I think you high five in like a two, like a $20 bar tab.
Speaker A:Listen.
Speaker C:Oh no, we're doing cool.
Speaker C:And we're going to have like random prizes.
Speaker C:Like we're going to like, we're going to keep this thing going.
Speaker C:You know, maybe 50 push ups you might get a prize.
Speaker C:I don't know.
Speaker C:Or maybe do some jumping jacks.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker C:But I don't know, like whatever the case, we're gonna have fun.
Speaker C:So it's not.
Speaker D:Are you hosting this?
Speaker C:I think I am.
Speaker C:Possibly.
Speaker C:Possibly.
Speaker C:I like trivia.
Speaker C:I'm all about this.
Speaker B:Are you gonna ask a question while getting bit by a dog?
Speaker C:Oh no.
Speaker C:But I was thinking about maybe we could do like taser.
Speaker C:Yes, right.
Speaker B:He said it.
Speaker D:Are you getting tasers?
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker D:Really?
Speaker C:You guys, how long have you known me for?
Speaker D:Just on the ground, on the.
Speaker D:It's going to be unique.
Speaker D:That's, that's kind of the goal, you know, with the, with the Gundies.
Speaker D:With this evolution of the Gundies.
Speaker D:It's going to be more than just the awards.
Speaker C:There'll be a lot of like awesome prizes.
Speaker D:You can.
Speaker D:Yeah, right.
Speaker C:Because I mean we've always involved great sponsors and there's going to be sponsors, of course, part of that.
Speaker C:And you know, like big shout out to our title sponsor.
Speaker C:I know big part of you guys.
Speaker C:Psa Palmetto State Armory.
Speaker C:So it's, it's going to be fun.
Speaker C:So don't like think, oh, it's a trivia night.
Speaker C:We're going to win a 20 gift card.
Speaker C:Like no, you're not going to win.
Speaker D:20 Gift car with some guns.
Speaker C:Yeah, you're going to go home with cool stuff.
Speaker C:And we're going to do it so.
Speaker C:Because we know there's going to be obviously the live audience that's there in person and potentially there could be an audience at home watching.
Speaker C:We don't know.
Speaker C:So we of course think about that.
Speaker C:And especially goals is really big.
Speaker C:There's going to be a lot of people.
Speaker C:So we don't want to just have like three prizes and then all these people show up and they're like, well, what did we get?
Speaker C:We want to make sure we take care of the community.
Speaker C:Think about everyone that's attending, have a great headcount so that a percentage of people, maybe not everyone can win, unfortunately.
Speaker C:Maybe we'll get a sticker or patch, but, you know, can win some cool prizes.
Speaker C:So bring everybody together.
Speaker A:So obviously the charity are building your team now.
Speaker A:You got to have all of the.
Speaker B:Just get all the gun nerds.
Speaker B:And yeah, if our gun broker friends are listening, you are not allowed to attend.
Speaker C:Oh, yeah, sorry.
Speaker C:I mean, there's going to be some, like, crazy.
Speaker C:Just think of the categories and think of what that category represents to what type of questions could come off of those categories.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:But there's going to be some nerdy stuff.
Speaker C:There's definitely going to be movies.
Speaker C:Hundred percent.
Speaker C:There's going to be movie stuff.
Speaker C:There's going to be history stuff.
Speaker C:There's going to be cool stuff.
Speaker C:And I think we'll probably do most of it multiple choice.
Speaker C:I think most trivia is multiple choice because I think some of them you would never.
Speaker D:Yeah, I think that's the best way to.
Speaker B:I'm just going to put this out here.
Speaker B:You've.
Speaker B:We are kids of the 90s.
Speaker B:You need to do like a.
Speaker B:Who's that?
Speaker B:Pokemon.
Speaker B:But with guns.
Speaker C:I don't even know.
Speaker C:Pokemon is what's the gun?
Speaker B:And just do the black silhouette outline so you can answer that.
Speaker D:That's a great idea.
Speaker D:Yeah, that's pretty good idea.
Speaker C:Yeah, that's pretty good.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:It's just an outline of an AR15, guess the manufacturer or like even a.
Speaker C:Photo of an actor and then his hands blurred out to what gun it is.
Speaker C:You have to take a guess.
Speaker C:Remember what gun that is.
Speaker C:Oh, that's a good.
Speaker D:Yeah, we have to figure that part out.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:We haven't really dug into that piece yet.
Speaker C:Well, that's why we're talking about it now.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:The whole point is we're pot committed because we're not going to do this pocket.
Speaker D:We put this out there.
Speaker C:Yeah, we put this out there.
Speaker D:Yeah, right.
Speaker C:Because normally we would have.
Speaker C:Just me and Ben would have been like, you know where Homer Shinson goes into the bush line and just kind of puts his head back?
Speaker C:That's pretty much me and Ben after the Gundies, we find a big bush line.
Speaker B:So this is.
Speaker B:Goa, is a grassroots organization.
Speaker B:We know you guys are going to come up with their own questions and stuff.
Speaker B:So I'm a do this now.
Speaker B:Comment on YouTube, Rumble, Instagram, what categories there should be.
Speaker D:Yep.
Speaker C:Remember, you guys are part of this too.
Speaker C:You guys are part.
Speaker C:We're like, oh, yeah.
Speaker C:So these are, to be very clear, this is a GOA or Goals Gundies event.
Speaker C:So you guys come up with questions too.
Speaker C:You know, don't.
Speaker C:Don't make us do everything.
Speaker B:Oh, no, I've got.
Speaker B:I've got all the questions.
Speaker C:Okay, perfect.
Speaker B:You'll see it.
Speaker C:Wait, so that means you're gonna co host it me?
Speaker C:So that means you're gonna kill or.
Speaker B:Are we all gonna.
Speaker C:No, I'm not gonna.
Speaker C:Are we all gonna taser again?
Speaker A:You know, I would love to see.
Speaker A:Yeah, I would absolutely love to see Ben because he's always in the behind the scenes.
Speaker C:Why can't we do this?
Speaker C:Why can't this be the crew?
Speaker C:Because trivia is fun.
Speaker C:You don't need to have one host.
Speaker C:Like, we could bring people on stage.
Speaker C:We could have fun with them.
Speaker C:Like this.
Speaker C:I like this.
Speaker C:Like, I'm getting good vibe here.
Speaker C:Yeah, the chairs are a good vibe.
Speaker C:Maybe we'll bring the M2.
Speaker C:We'll put the M2 up and that could be our footrest.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah, My deuce.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Be cool.
Speaker C:I don't know if they would.
Speaker C:I know the venue would let us pull that.
Speaker D:I don't know how well that would go.
Speaker C:We get a prop.
Speaker C:We can get a prop.
Speaker C:We know some people with props.
Speaker C:Like, this would be fun.
Speaker C:This would be a fun setting.
Speaker C:No energy is high.
Speaker D:Dangerous.
Speaker D:See what's happening right now, right?
Speaker C:And then we could have like, maybe we could do a little wheel.
Speaker C:You know, the spinning wheels, like in Practical Jokers.
Speaker C:We'll do a little wheel.
Speaker C:And then you have to see.
Speaker C:Read the next category with like something that's impeding you.
Speaker C:Like a taser or a dog knocking around your neck.
Speaker C:Like something like that dog collar around your neck.
Speaker C:No.
Speaker D:Oh, my God.
Speaker C:This is going a little far.
Speaker C:Pepper spray.
Speaker B:I mean, Will, you can do whatever you want.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker C:But anyone in the circle is in the same realm.
Speaker C:That's how it works.
Speaker C:You can't just put it on one person.
Speaker C:If you're in the circle.
Speaker C:It's a circle of trust.
Speaker C:So we're all together on this.
Speaker D:That we're all gonna get all, like 500 people attending.
Speaker D:Just in the circle.
Speaker B:Her lawyers.
Speaker C:Oh, 100.
Speaker C:All 500.
Speaker C:Bring those numbers up, buddy.
Speaker C:It's goals.
Speaker C:We're going to go.
Speaker D:We're gonna get like finding a venue.
Speaker C:1500.
Speaker C:Oh, come on.
Speaker C:I thought we had the venue.
Speaker A:Yeah, we got the venue.
Speaker A:You're good.
Speaker D:I thought it was 500.
Speaker C:No, no, no.
Speaker C:Guys, you hearing that?
Speaker C:Come on.
Speaker C:For goals.
Speaker C:20, 26.
Speaker D:Hey, we'll.
Speaker D:We'll make it work, right?
Speaker D:No matter how many show up, GOA.
Speaker B:Does not endorse the tasing of will.
Speaker B:Just for our law lawyers.
Speaker D:Ben does.
Speaker B:Ben does.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:All right, I'll make a little deal.
Speaker C:I'm directly talk to this camera.
Speaker C:If we can get what's a good.
Speaker C:What's a good, like, number we're getting on average on a podcast.
Speaker D:I don't know that.
Speaker D:That's.
Speaker D:That you're.
Speaker D:That you're playing a dangerous game with modern.
Speaker C:I know, I know.
Speaker B:15.
Speaker B:Let's go.
Speaker B:1500.
Speaker C:That doesn't.
Speaker C:That seems very low.
Speaker C:Whoa, whoa, guy.
Speaker D:What's the.
Speaker C:I'm getting tased.
Speaker D:What's the best.
Speaker C:Getting tased?
Speaker D:I thought you're getting tased either way.
Speaker C:Yeah, but I would.
Speaker C:I would really get tased if we hit.
Speaker D:What is the difference between getting tased and really?
Speaker C:Because we could slip it by and, like, it didn't happen.
Speaker C:I'm like, oh, yeah, we didn't find a taser, Right?
Speaker C:I'm.
Speaker C:I'm committed.
Speaker D:Even me.
Speaker C:I'm committing you.
Speaker D:You're already committed.
Speaker C:Yeah, but now it's a real.
Speaker D:Oh, no.
Speaker D:Now you're just.
Speaker D:Now you're just looking for excuses.
Speaker B:You know, friends over at Exxon.
Speaker B:We can make this happen.
Speaker C:I know.
Speaker C:I'm saying.
Speaker B:What do you guys say?
Speaker B: I'm saying: Speaker B:That's a good number.
Speaker D:Do it like a taser duel.
Speaker C:No, I'm curious.
Speaker B:You're just going to end poorly for everybody.
Speaker D:Sorry, moving on.
Speaker A:Oh, my God.
Speaker A:The thing is, I don't know if the venue will allow tasing.
Speaker A:We'll have to.
Speaker A:We'll have to find that out.
Speaker B:Filmed at an earlier time and date.
Speaker D:We could just like, you know, just in the side.
Speaker C:Yeah, we don't have to do.
Speaker C:Okay, hold on.
Speaker C:It doesn't have to be.
Speaker A:We can edit this part of the conversation out if we need to.
Speaker C:It doesn't have to be the prong.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:It can be just the Handheld.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's fine.
Speaker C:Come on.
Speaker C:Who hasn't taken one of those before?
Speaker A:1500 Is rookie numbers.
Speaker A:I think it needs to get like 15,000.
Speaker A:I think.
Speaker A:I think 10,000 likes on it.
Speaker A:On perfect hot is is a much.
Speaker C:Better 10,000 likes and you can take a handheld full power taser.
Speaker C:Whack me while I have to do a trivia question.
Speaker D:Who's you?
Speaker C:Who's who?
Speaker C:What do you mean?
Speaker C:Whoever wants tase me.
Speaker C:You guys can fight over it.
Speaker D:How many times I have to try.
Speaker C:And do a category.
Speaker C:I have to attempt to do a trivia question while getting tased.
Speaker D:By one person.
Speaker B:Ben, I vote you.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker C:Like all three of you can't gang up and tase me.
Speaker C:I'm not going to make it through.
Speaker D:I thought it was going to be like an attendee.
Speaker C:No liability potentially.
Speaker C:Let's just.
Speaker C:I think you want to do.
Speaker C:I know Ben really, he's itching.
Speaker C:He just doesn't want to say it.
Speaker C:So we'll let Ben tase me.
Speaker B:So we're going to make this clear.
Speaker B:So, yep, ems and ads will be available on stage and if needed.
Speaker A:I do want to just kind of focus in on this Saturday night of goals and we're.
Speaker A:Last year we doubled our attendance at goals.
Speaker A:We had 15,000 members plus spouses and kid passes and content creators and.
Speaker A:And everybody.
Speaker A:It was.
Speaker A:It was a fun time.
Speaker A:This year with our 50th anniversary, it's going to be an even bigger time.
Speaker A:You guys are providing the entertainment for Saturday night pre registration on the goals website and on the gun news website.
Speaker A:There may be an incentive for registering early.
Speaker A:Getting there early.
Speaker A:We'll see.
Speaker A:Might be a really good time if you're goa member with the 50th anniversary.
Speaker A:Some exclusive stuff.
Speaker C:Hmm.
Speaker A:That we'll.
Speaker A:We'll have for the first.
Speaker A:What do you want to say?
Speaker A:First hundred through the door.
Speaker D:First x amount.
Speaker D:And we can add it in later.
Speaker C:And we don't really have a set number yet.
Speaker C:I mean, I know there will be.
Speaker C:So we have to let everybody know, like there is going to be a limited number of physical people that can make it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:Or attend.
Speaker C:Because goals obviously fared to, you know, how many people could fit into a venue.
Speaker C:So keep that in mind, guys, you know, get there early.
Speaker A:It'd be a fun time to just hang out.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker D:And it's early.
Speaker D:We got a lot of time to figure out what's going to happen.
Speaker B:There's going to be a lot of.
Speaker D:Tasing to be a lot of surprises.
Speaker D:The whole goal Here is to create experiences that are fun, that allow the community to interact with potentially their favorite content creators, their favorite brands to have something to do Saturday night after they went around just eyeballing all the things they want to buy at goals.
Speaker D:So.
Speaker C:And remember, we want to get you guys involved.
Speaker C:So shoot us DMs, go to the Gundies.
Speaker C:Like, give us your ideas.
Speaker C:If you have ideas for trivia night, that's fun.
Speaker B:All right, come on.
Speaker B:I've got an idea.
Speaker C:Bring it on.
Speaker D:Oh, boy.
Speaker B:If there's a tie, there's a tie.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker D:Yep.
Speaker C:That could happen.
Speaker D:Wouldn't there be a lot of ties?
Speaker B:I mean.
Speaker D:Oh, at the end of the night.
Speaker B:At the end of the night, if there's a tie, if one team doesn't take over, there's a tie.
Speaker B:Instead of doing a question, we should do gel blaster duel.
Speaker B:Like 10 paces.
Speaker D:I love that.
Speaker B:Gel blaster duel.
Speaker C:I like that.
Speaker B:You like approval.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Is this hard to attract?
Speaker C:But I like, I like it.
Speaker C:I like that a lot.
Speaker C:Yeah, that's fun.
Speaker B:Quick draw.
Speaker C:Yeah, quick draw.
Speaker C:I mean, we've done cowboy duels before.
Speaker D:There will be a bar, but, you know, well, we can work the gel blaster.
Speaker C:It's a gel blaster.
Speaker C:It's a water ball.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:So, yeah, I love that idea.
Speaker C:That could be fun.
Speaker C:That could be a lot of fun, actually.
Speaker C:I mean, really, all you need is a paintball mask and you're good.
Speaker C:Good to go.
Speaker C:That would be fun.
Speaker C:Good call.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:See, like ideas like that.
Speaker C:So if you guys have ideas and you want to get involved, you have questions.
Speaker C:Well, I guess that wouldn't work.
Speaker C:You can't have questions because you know the answers to those questions.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker C:But ideas, you know, definitely let us know because I think it would be a lot of fun.
Speaker C:And as Ben said, and we all said, it's about our industry, our community, and it's about goals.
Speaker C:So if you're at goals, think of things at goals that could represent trivia night.
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Speaker A:I am a customer of Patriot Mobile as well as fan because Patriot Mobile not only gives great nationwide coverage from the top three carriers, but they also support the second amendment.
Speaker B:Patriot Mobile is super easy to switch to.
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Speaker B:You can keep your phone, keep your number and they have a full US based customer service.
Speaker A:This is why we are proud to be offering one month free service plus 15% off of every line with Patriot Mobile when you use code Goa again.
Speaker B:That's patriot mobile.com goa and use code goa at checkout to get one month free and save 15% off on each additional line.
Speaker A:We're coming down to the end of the podcast.
Speaker A:I'd be a remiss if we didn't do our segment from the Soapbox where we get to take on the spicier side.
Speaker A:We've obviously talked a lot about the second Amendment community.
Speaker A:What's coming up next for the Gundies.
Speaker A:Some of the stuff that we're going to be doing at not just goals, but throughout the year.
Speaker A:You guys are leaders in the space when it comes to marketing.
Speaker A:You've helped a lot of brands, you help a lot of people find the products that they're looking for, not just help with the bottom line from companies.
Speaker A:You guys are gun owners first and, and I think that shows a lot of what you're doing.
Speaker A:So with what you guys are building with the Gundies and the community, what do you see as the biggest barrier in getting new gun owners to join the community aspect of the second Amendment and not just purchase something and sit on the fence?
Speaker C:Great question.
Speaker C:Well, one of course is distribution of content.
Speaker C:It's putting the right content.
Speaker C:So new people that are in our industry, or I'm sorry, that are interested in our industry, are educating themselves properly, they are not feeling intimidated.
Speaker C:And we're starting to see that.
Speaker C:Actually we're seeing publications that are very mainstream that typically would never have, I don't want to say supported our industry, but are showcasing our industry a lot more women and females are getting involved, new shooters are getting involved.
Speaker C:And those publications that are involving themselves to at least show that side of things without putting a political spin on it, without them saying specifically this is bad or good, this is just who they are, this is how they do it.
Speaker C:Letting those individuals speak freely and sharing the words that they're saying specifically to the public, to the American public without their own interpretation on it is extremely helpful because then they're actually seeing the true side of these people.
Speaker C:It's not some crazy guy behind a counter trying to sell you a.44 Magnum walking in to get a 9 millimeter, right?
Speaker C:There's no bias involved.
Speaker C:It's just protection or feeling empowered or the sport or shooting whatever it may be.
Speaker C:That's the biggest thing that I'm seeing Happening that more mainstream media outlets, whether it be print or digital, whatever the case may be, let our voices being heard in the way we're speaking, not being reinterpreted by their opinions, to then put some sort of negative tone to letting those new people that are interested, letting them get the experience themselves without any type of influence.
Speaker D:Yeah, I'd like to kind of preface my answer with saying that we're already seeing that change.
Speaker D:Like we're seeing a lot more content creators and brands beginning to understand that the demographic of our industry and community is different from what it was even five years ago.
Speaker D:And we still have a long way to go.
Speaker D:But I think if someone's trying to get into the space in one of the, speaking to those in our community and in our industry, it would be creating content that represents who that new customer is.
Speaker D:You know, so if I, if I am, if I don't look like me and I'm not the standard gun owner, I'm going to want to see someone that looks like me, not me, but you know, whoever they are doing these activities, right?
Speaker D:Because you hear the, the, you know, the old bearded white dude that's trying to sell you, like Will said, the, the pink Ruger LCP because you're 120 pound, you know, white, white girl, like, that's such, that's an immediate turn off.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:So, you know, we work with a good amount of gun stores that have younger women working in them and they, they, they see it all the time.
Speaker D:You know, there's, there's this influx of young mothers and completely different customers that you wouldn't typically expect to see going into these, these brick and mortar stores.
Speaker D:But like we've talked about in the past, that starts online.
Speaker D:So I think kind of to sum that up, you know, we need to do, as a community, we need to do a better job representing those, you know, those up and coming demographics and in the space.
Speaker A:And what would you say for those that feel like they have a good idea or maybe want to pick up a camera but don't know where to start.
Speaker A:The aspiring content creator, what is your piece of advice?
Speaker A:What are the things that you think is missing from the space currently?
Speaker C:Yeah, good question.
Speaker C:Well, one, Picking up a camera, the easiest thing is to be who you are because if you start off, right off the gate trying to represent something you're not, you're going to see that you're only going to be able to put that mask on for so long.
Speaker C:So if you're in our industry and you love something very Specific or you're interested in learning about something very specific.
Speaker C:Stick with that.
Speaker C:Start there.
Speaker C:Start with that actual interest that's making you want to not only be involved but, but then also making you want to record that or share that content and share with others what your passion is.
Speaker C:Don't deviate because you saw something else that might have gotten a million likes or something.
Speaker C:Don't deviate from your own plan because you think that type of content is doing better than yours.
Speaker C:Stick with what your plan is because consistency and being authentic is absolutely the most important thing you can do.
Speaker C:And from your next question, what type of content is missing?
Speaker C:I would say the industry is doing a really good job of covering quite.
Speaker A:A bit,.
Speaker C:But I think still focusing on that new female, just new shooter in general.
Speaker C:It's not.
Speaker C:Shooter is not the right.
Speaker C:New firearm enthusiast is a much better term for that.
Speaker C:The new firearm enthusiast that is interested in purchasing their new firearm.
Speaker C:Those are the types of individuals that have the most questions.
Speaker C:They're going to, you know, be essentially.
Speaker C:I mean, age doesn't matter.
Speaker C:They could be 18, 21 or older.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:Depends when they're.
Speaker C:When they decided to make that introduction to firearms.
Speaker C:And also along the way, hunting.
Speaker C:Hunting is a great opportunity to incorporate that at a very interesting level.
Speaker C:From self sustaining to understanding how to survive, how to do these things to feel empowered.
Speaker C:It's not just the firearm itself, it's what that knowledge of a firearm can do for you in a situation to where you want to feel empowered.
Speaker C:So protection, food, all of those things are big parts and components to that aspect.
Speaker C:So content like that would do, you know, does do really good.
Speaker D:Yeah, that kind of goes into my answer of, you know, from the content perspective.
Speaker D:And this plays into if I was doing this for the first time, one, the consistency, the authenticity.
Speaker D:Most people, the next generation of gun people are not gun people.
Speaker D:Guns should just become part of your daily life.
Speaker D:So whether you love to review purses or you love to do whatever, you know, guns fit into those.
Speaker D:I think I've used this example in the past.
Speaker D:The whole outfit, OOTD outfit of the day content, you know that you're seeing a lot more women that are just involving concealed carry and they're not, you know, they're not a gun influencer.
Speaker D:They're just women that carry a gun every day.
Speaker D:And I think that is what this next generation is going to be.
Speaker D:And two people trying to get into the space that are trying to become the content creator post every single day.
Speaker D:Do not wait till it's Perfect.
Speaker D:Do not wait till you have a set.
Speaker D:The only way you're going to get better on camera is just to put the content out there.
Speaker D:It's going to be cringy at first.
Speaker D:You'll get better.
Speaker D:You don't need an overly produced piece of content anymore.
Speaker D:People want that authentic authent.
Speaker D:They want you to be authentic and they want to have, you know, they want to have an honest relationship with you as a content creator.
Speaker B:Well, Ben, I couldn't have said it any better.
Speaker B:Guys, we appreciate you guys being on the show again.
Speaker B:I have some ideas.
Speaker B:We can figure this out.
Speaker B:So make sure again, comment on YouTube, on rumble, on our Instagram, on our every, every social media thing for say the second comment your ideas for trivia night.
Speaker B:So any parting words to the folks before we leave?
Speaker D:I don't know what you got anything?
Speaker C:I was gonna say thank you for having us again.
Speaker C:Look forward to many more podcasts to come with you guys and really looking forward to goals this year.
Speaker C:It's going to be a lot of fun.
Speaker C:I mean, it's always fun, but now, you know, even a little bit more fun.
Speaker C:So thank you guys for partnering with us and thank you for letting us trust in the gundies to do it at your goals and means a lot.
Speaker C:So thank you.
Speaker D:Yeah, we're excited, guys.
Speaker D:Thank you.
Speaker A:It's our pleasure.
Speaker A:We're excited.
Speaker B:All right, guys.
Speaker B:So make sure to like share and subscribe.
Speaker B:Hit the little bell for notification.
Speaker B:Make sure to get your tickets for goals happening August 1st and 2nd in beautiful Des Moines, Iowa, Goa's 50th anniversary celebration.
Speaker B:And we will catch you on the next one.
