In this episode of Missing Half, we rewind to the end of summer 2024 to discuss the ins and outs of an on-location content shoot for a manufacturing client with intern Ethan McDowell. Ethan shares his firsthand experience working behind the scenes, managing multi-camera setups, and ensuring everything was captured perfectly. Bill and Ethan cover the importance of authenticity in manufacturing marketing, the challenges of capturing compelling interviews, and how this type of content can benefit both brand visibility and recruitment strategies. Bill and Ethan also dive into a candid discussion about career paths, leveraging college opportunities, and gaining valuable real-world experiences to prepare for future success.
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Bill: And I think when we when we think about B2B and manufacturing marketing, and we think about communicating a company to our stakeholders and those stakeholders can be anybody from vendors and suppliers to potential new hires to our clients to, other vendors like, everybody's, investors, the communities at large where these factories exist and participate in local communities, when we think about all of those stakeholders, I think we were able to extract very organic and candid information, which is what people want to see. People in your generation specifically. Not not so much my generation. I mean, we're very close in age. But people in your generation want that candid and organic and authentic experience. They don't want to see the, corporate fluff, the propaganda, those type of things.
Intro
Bill: So Ethan, appreciate sitting down with you today. You've been working with us here this summer, and really glad you came back. Especially the day after one of the events we're going to talk about. But, the so we we went on a project we call it our podcast experience or our content experience where we went to on location for a client set up and started shooting around 8:00, scouting and shooting. We finished up at 4:30. I think we did 13, 14 interviews, because of a client issue, we actually not only had to execute the shoot, which you did the tech on, Will did the B-roll, and then I sat there and did, like, 13, 14 interviews. Back to back. What were we thinking when we thought, like?
Ethan: I'm not really sure what we're thinking. I know when we first got in the car driving to the shoot, I wasn't sure what to expect because I never really, like I've been in the office here and, like, set it up with Will, but I've never actually, like, been behind the scenes of, like, you know, cameras are rolling and all that. So it was all up for question as to what was going to be happening that day.
Bill: There's a different pressure you feel when you're on a client location. But again, here we're in the studio. Yeah. You've done the studio. The SOP, went through that process. But then when you're on location, you're like, I've got to get this on film. Yeah, because we're being paid for this. And if we go back and it’s not on film, oh that's unfortunate. So, yeah. Could you feel that pressure, was it palpable whenever we were there?
Ethan: Oh, yeah. Definitely. I remember just even setting up, you know, making sure that, you know, I was constantly asking Will questions like, does this look good? You know, am I doing this right? Because, like, obviously we've done it here before. And like, I had thought, you know, I was doing it right. You know, I felt like I was doing it right. But there was still like that voice in my head, like, I don't think this is like how it should be.
Bill: I think when you, you deal with anybody in the trades who is a videographer, photographer, if they're at a wedding, they're in the business function. If someone’s at a wedding, it's like, off the charts. Because if you miss that. Oh. Well, I wouldn't want to deal with the bride's mother and the bride, but anyway, let's not digress. But, yeah, that pressure is felt even by the most seasoned videographers and photographers. So, well, we got there, we set up, and you were running, the three person, the three camera three mic rig and Will went off to do B-roll. What was kind of the vibe you got from the interviews we did? And maybe some things we learned or things you observed about the different ways we did interviews, the way some of the interviewees reacted. Anything you observed, that would help us as we plan for future podcasts, content experiences, and that type of thing.
Ethan: So I’d probably start with like the setup that we have right now. I think this is a better setup than what we started with, where we went to. So when we started there, you were actually not in front of the camera. You were off to the side and we could just hear your voice, asking the questions. But I think it's better for the interviewer to have you with them in front of the cameras, being able to have, you know, a one-on-one conversation, basically, and, you know, act like the cameras basically aren't there.
Bill: Absolutely. In the, in the morning there. We tried that voice behind, and it just wasn't working. And then we went to the point where I was sitting right beside them and having this type of conversation and the quality answers and outputs and conversation were, just that much better. And I feel like the the way, not only the answers were better, but they just felt more comfortable. Let's go back to, like, taking you through the list of the interviewees who sat with us. What were your observations? I mean, we had I remember there was one lady who was just, she was a pistol. She was like, off the charts energy and funny and cracking jokes. And then we had others. We really had to pull the conversation from. What, what did you observe in that process?
Ethan: I would say it's just different people's personalities that they have, maybe what their job entails. And maybe they're in a camera in front of a camera more often. I mean, some of the people we interviewed would always sit behind the desk and really do like the behind the scenes stuff like I was doing where you're not in front of a camera. So maybe that was their first time in front of a camera and they weren't really sure what to do, what to say. You know, maybe others were a bit more prepared than others. So, there's, there's a number of factors that play into whether, you know, you're nervous. It's your first time in front of the camera. First time doing, like, a real interview. You know, you don't wanna mess up. You know, all, all kinds of different factors can play into whether you're gonna do well or if you will do well.
Bill: I remember this was years ago. We showed up at a shoot and, we had prepared scripts for the client. So just like talking points. They didn’t want a script, they just wanted talking points. We show up, we sit the first person down. And, they said, okay, what are we going to talk about? They hadn't read the documents. Then they read the documents, which were just bullet points, like highlights we wanted them to like, yeah, talk about. And they read them like they were a script. It was the most awkward situation ever. And we weren't doing this type of content set up that was more collaborative and conversational. It was a very, you know, look at the camera and talk type of thing as opposed to a conversation. So everything about that went wrong and was just a disaster. So, no, I think yeah, I think your point is well-taken, though, that even if we prepare really well, if we have good scripts, because we provided in that instance, that experience you were part of, we had, like 20 questions. We had sample answers that our copywriters had researched and developed with the corporate team to say, okay, these are example answers, not that we wanted to read them, but just the things we were kind of looking out for. And some of the people like, got up and it was like they were paid actors and they're you know, I was getting ready to give them an award. You know, they start thanking the academy and the little people and other people are like, why are you guys here? And some of it was nerves, some. But I think as we look at that content experience, we have to be prepared for all of those eventualities. And the good news is, when we're really looking at what we're trying to extract from those interviews is it's a lot of small short content. So we don't need anybody to do the Gettysburg Address, just short things we can say, little pieces we can extract. So I did finally get you guys some food. Will, I think Ubered it in or UberEats or whatever you young folks do with the phones to make it food appear. And my credit card balance to go up. But, we got through that. Will was able to get a bunch of B-roll, and we just had some really good interviews and conversations. Let me ask this. So this is more of a content question. When you went through that process and you had the unfortunate experience of sitting there and listening to every interview because that was your role in that, while Will those doing B-roll and I was interviewing you were manning the, the fort and all the cameras, all the sound equipment, the lights, etc., checking each interview to make sure the quality was there. What did you learn about that company whenever you were sitting through those interviews and hearing the stories and the different perspectives, like, and not so much do we want to get into the details of that company. But do you feel that we were able to, like from what you heard, if you put that information out on YouTube, out in their social channels, that it would tell a story about that company and be able to help effectively communicate it to the market?
Ethan: Yeah, definitely. I mean, there were numerous, topics that we covered while we were interviewing them, and a lot of the topics that, you know, the questions you asked could have varied in answers, but the answers all seemed to be pretty similar, and it’s not that they were even, like talking to each other, like, okay, this is what we're going to say when he asks this question and it was completely off script, completely their own thoughts of what they thought about their own company. And I think the way that they said the different answers, maybe they were different, but they all meant the same thing in the end. And I think anybody watching those videos will, you know, see that the company, you know, they'll pick out the topics, but all the answers, but they're all saying the same thing, which was kind of what that company would stand for in a sense.
Bill: Absolutely, I think it was shocking to the the owners and the C-suite there. That there were some things we like extracted organically from those conversations that were it was very candid. It was very off the cuff. And there were some themes that we were able to extract. And I think when we when we think about B2B and manufacturing marketing, and we think about communicating a company to our stakeholders and those stakeholders can be anybody from vendors and suppliers to potential new hires to our clients to, other vendors like, everybody's, investors, the communities at large where these factories exist and participate in local communities, when we think about all of those stakeholders, I think we were able to extract very organic and candid information, which is what people want to see. People in your generation specifically. Not not so much my generation. I mean, we're very close in age. But people in your generation want that candid and organic and authentic experience. They don't want to see the, corporate fluff, the propaganda, those type of things. And so I think the content experience that we generated there would really paint the right picture and that. So let's switch gears a little bit when we think about that experience, that content experience, the the focus we had that day was on the brand and telling their story, who they are, what they do, where they do it, why they do it, who they do it for. Their unique value proposition, their mission vision values, their culture. And when we originally set out to do that, our primary objective was to introduce their brand to their clients or prospective clients. But one of the outcomes we didn't anticipate that I think really came through was a recruitment opportunity and the ability to tell, you know, a word came out of there, family. From all those interviews that I think would be very compelling to someone who was looking for a job. Did you feel that, and recognize that coming out of those interviews and see how we could possibly use that in like, ads or recruitment strategy on LinkedIn or I guess, any of the many job platforms or whatever that exists today?
Ethan: Yeah. I mean, like you said, family was a was a very big topic where we were doing those interviews. And I think, you know, as a current job seeker, intern, looking for an internship for next summer, you definitely want to see people saying good things about a company that you're going to work for. And I mean, work environment is a very big and real like thing that people specifically look for with obviously, like the pay and other stuff. But I mean, work environment is is very important to people.
Bill: Absolutely. And I think, you know, as, as you look at your upcoming career and I want to ask you some things about, the Sheetz program and some of those things you're involved with, as you start to look to that first job after college and even, well, your internship in your, field of study and then your first job, that, you know, pay is important and benefits, all those things. Those are kind of like what I consider table stakes. If they don't have them, you're not even interested. But then the second, the next two things I think that are most important. And so I'm a little older than you so I'm going to challenge you with something and then I'll go back to what you said. The most important thing you should be looking for as a mentor, you should be looking for someone who can challenge you and help you get to that next level in your career, and really gives you guidance and support to help you work more on yourself than you do on your job. That that should be a priority for a young person because those foundational things that you can set up and the skills you can build at 22, 23 will force multiply and compound for decades to come. The second thing, and you hit the nail on the head is like, you know, can I find work life harmony and a good culture and a good job environment? I mean, are these people collaborative? Are these people helpful? Or they yell at you like, I'm like, I don't know what all the dynamics are. I mean, I've been very fortunate. I've never had a job in my life outside of the family. So, I did get yelled at a lot. So that's a whole different thing. I've been into a lot of therapy to get over that, and I've repressed most of that. But, you know that's definitely something you want to look at and make sure you're going to enjoy, because you're going to spend more time at your job than you do doing anything else other than sleeping. So it needs to be there. Well no, I think back to, 2 or 3 more things on the podcast content experience. And then I went to quiz you on a bunch of stuff because you're heading off to college soon. I don't get to see as much. So this is this is our time to chit chat. When you look at the content experience, what we've kind of envisioned as a roadmap is one we had that branding experience when we had that, visit that you were on. We feel that the next phase, there's 2 or 3 more phases we feel that could be part of it. The next phase could be more about products and services, where they really, take a deep dive into very specific communication about their products and services. We touched on that a little wee bit, at the visit we did, but we didn't go into having subject matter experts really talk about what they do, and then the unique value proposition of each product or service or capability. So that's one step. Another step or phase we feel could be important in one of those content experiences is them talking about their customers and defining customer pain points and problems, and then the solutions they offer. And then, the last phase we've kind of identified as being, a possibility is then more of like conversion content, asking for a sale, asking like, hey, this is how we can walk you through the process to get you to possibly solve your problem and potentially a evaluate a problem or service. So we're seeing that type of runway. When you think back on that experience, do you think we could like every six months go to a client's site and not necessarily interview all the same people, there might be different people, but have a cast of characters that would show up and then communicate that next bit of information along those phases. Does that conceptually feel right to you?
Ethan: Yeah, I think it's definitely possible. I mean, having a team that is, has many skills and that can get the job done. I feel like it should be a walk in the park for that team.
Bill: Notice, camera and audience and family. He wasn't volunteering to be part of that team. He was projecting that someone else could be very successful. They heard it loud and clear. I got you. So let's switch gears. So enough about, summer work here at 50 Marketing. We've appreciated your participation and support. Hopefully we provided you with some experiences that, will serve you in your career well. So you are a Sheetz fellow.
Ethan: Well, aspiring.
Bill: Oh, aspiring, okay so I’ll throw that aspiring in. So tell us about, you're at Penn State Altoona, you're studying business, and this program really intrigues me. Could you tell me a little bit about the Sheetz fellow program?
Ethan: Yeah. So the Sheetz Fellows program, it is, founded and run by the Sheetz family, you know, Sheetz and, founded in Altoona. So they wanted to kind of drive up the community. So it's a club slash organization that is only at Penn State Altoona. It is a entrepreneurship organization. So a couple of things that they allow us as students to do is work with local companies. So we can go out into the community. Usually they will kind of, not really bid, but, you know, reach out to the community, say, hey, our students are looking for some real world experience, and we would like to, see if we can, you know, kill two birds with one stone. You know, if you need help on social media side, our students who have a little bit of social media background can help you, improve your business. And while we improve their business, we get some real world experience. So, back to your thing on the mentorship. So seniors and juniors are allowed to be mentors to the sophomores and freshmen in the organization. So it's called, like big and little. So you have your big and you have your little. And even outside of the Sheetz fellows, we have Sheetz fellow alum and other Penn State alum that the seniors and juniors can have as mentors as well. Another part would be EIRs, which is called which is stands for Expert in Residence. So they will bring in professionals from the area or maybe a little outside the area and you can meet with them one on one, interview them basically, and you can even, you know, make that connection. You know, it's a it's a networking opportunity. So you can make that connection maybe even they’re in your field. So you know, I’m a business major. So maybe I meet with, you know, a CEO of a business that maybe I would maybe see myself in that industry later in life. So it's good to have that connection, be able to ask some questions, kind of like, mentorship a little bit, maybe not as close as, like having, like a real mentor, but if you have questions, you know, you're able to, phone a friend and, you know, they can answer that for you. And let's see, they offer. So if you're in the program, you have to pursue a entrepreneurship minor. So I, I'm going for business and I have a, will be getting a minor in entrepreneurship. So and the classes actually like count towards the entrepreneurship minor okay. So it's just a couple other classes that you have to take. Mr. Sheetz, Steve Sheetz to be specific. He comes in once a month, usually throughout the semester, and he'll meet with us during our class time that we have. And we'll we're able to ask him basically anything. You know, he opens. It's an open discussion. I mean, obviously he'll have a few points to, you know, make sure he goes over. But for the most part, open discussion. You can ask him, you know, why is Sheetz doing this? Why did you do this and not this? Did you have any struggles throughout your, you know, building Sheetz up? So it's really a great, great program, great opportunity.
Bill: No that sounds amazing. And, you know, a couple of things you mentioned there. There's some folks, in like, the, self-help community that say, your net worth is your network. So I think that with you building that network with those mentors, whether the big and small or the EIRs or whatever those steps are, and then having access to someone, like, in the Sheetz family in their contribution to what you're doing. I think that's great. Giving back to that local community. No, that's that's fantastic. And, well, I'm hopeful that you can take some of the things you've learned here, this year back to that team. We’ll be looking for some type of podcast interview you're doing with Mr. Sheetz or something like that. Take the take these skills and leverage them. If you need the gear, just call your dad, we’ll get it down there and get it set up, and you can rock and roll. But no, that's great. And I think, so, you know, when I was in college a thousand years ago, before the turn of the century, colleges were talking about having opportunities for business majors that were much more applied because we didn't really have anything. We went to business class, which is boring and learned a lot of, vocabulary and concepts which are important and very fundamental. However, whenever you're in a period of four years and you're just learning a lot of vocab and you don't get to practice, it's like if you guys had to play soccer for four years in high school and all you did was practice, and you only got to play, start playing and at the end of the four years, one, it's hard to stay focused. Number two, there's no internalization of the learning because there's no application in the real world. So I think this is great what you're doing and the opportunity that's in front of you and the fact that you're taking advantage of that opportunity, stepping up and putting yourself out there, that's awesome. And, that those are those are really good things. I know next year you're looking for an internship. You have a vision to kind of like, for that dream job or that career path. Could you maybe talk about that a little bit, like, you know what, what type of internship you're looking for? What, what you would like to do, that type of thing.
Ethan: So I will have to see. But I love, like, construction. I love working with my hands. I did a little bit here with the podcast studio, so I would love for it to be a business slash, like construction internship. Where I'm on the business side of construction, you know, doing, different bidding, maybe. Maybe being more like a superintendent role where you're making sure all the materials are ordered and making sure everybody's doing the right thing on the site and stuff like that. And, I mean, if not, I can, you know, it's I'm not like, I won't be like, sad or anything, you know, like, if it doesn't work out that way, obviously getting some different experience, maybe is in the marketing or like management area.
Bill: In the marketing area? I know a guy. I'll ask you after the conversation.
Ethan: Or in maybe more like a management position, because obviously in construction it's would be more of like a management type of position that I would have. And after my internship, after college, I'd love to work as a project manager, superintendent, construction manager, somewhere that fits in between that role. Even owning my own construction company would be something that I would, you know, look into or look forward to as I progressed throughout my career. Yeah, I mean, it's hard to say how everything will play out. But, and that could change. But at the current moment, that is what I would love to pursue.
Bill: So two things there one, you have the perfect attitude because you don't only have one idea. Like so when we're kids, like you want to be a firefighter or a pirate or, you know, an astronaut. And then as you grow a little older, you want to be a professional athlete or whatever. And that type of focus is unhealthy because you don't want to have this dream of being a project manager. And then all of a sudden, this amazing opportunity that is like once in a lifetime pops up and it’s like, well, that doesn't really fit what I had envisioned, but it's like, amazing opportunity. Well go take the amazing opportunity, circle back to the the dream job like, you know, do that in retirement. So I think you have the exact right attitude and, your hard work, your experience. I think with what we've seen you do here, you guys did an amazing job of, generating this podcast studio. I think this is going to give us a lot of utility for years to come. And then some of the other projects I know that you've worked on that we won't talk about because they're they're not as fun maybe, but you’ll want to repress those memories even from last week. But, I think they've been good experiences. Well Ethan, we've enjoyed having you here this summer as an intern. And we were really glad when you came back the day after the content experience, because that was a wild, wild, trip. I know it took me, like, two days to recover. But, that was exciting. Also, I think, I don't know how comfortable you feel sitting here talking in this environment that you knocked it out of the park. You did a great job. And you should definitely lean into public speaking and putting yourself out there. I tell, my kids this all the time. Your generation is in a deficit of the number of people who are willing to do that. Talk on the phone, talk to adults, put themselves out there. I mean, they'll put themselves out there on TikTok and Instagram. Other situations. But in a professional situation, we just don't see young people in your age group who are willing to take that, that step, that leap. And I think those of you that do are going to just outpace and do really, really well for yourself. So I do encourage you to continue on that trajectory and path. I also, heard through the rumor mill that one of the things you're interested in is learning cold calling as, as a skill. So, if, if you have time, during one of your breaks and you want to come in and just, do the cold calling, I have experience in that. I, I still remember back in the late 90s. You're like, did they have color TV back then and running water? Anyway, before you were born. Yeah, I was doing wholesale, and I made 300 cold calls before I got my first sale. That makes a person out of you when you get kicked in the face 300 times before you get your first sale. So, I think, you know, as you desire to do those hard things that's so important. And that's something that many of your peers will never try. And so just keep, keep that attitude, keep fresh and just do the hard and, you'll be very successful. All right. Any questions you have for me? I've been asking you all kinds of questions. This is great.
Ethan: Let's see. What, how was the experience for you? I know you did all the interviews, basically back to back to back.
Bill: I, I went into a zone, like, I honestly like around 10:30, like we were going. And then I just kind of blanked out. I think I blacked out and then at 4:30 you guys like that's the last one. And I was like, where am I? If it was, it was surreal. I mean, I basically interviewed what was it 14 interviews that lasted anywhere from a half hour to an hour and ten minutes each. We, we went, all day long because of the scheduling, because of some challenges on the client end with not having people. And we had no break, there was no lunch. I remember eating lunch at 4:30. You guys had a sandwich for me out in the hall. That was wild. It wasn't a great sandwich, but, That's okay. And, but yeah, that it was a good experience from what we learned, I think. And then I think probably one of the best takeaways I had from that is after we left there, we, the three of us went to, to Starbucks, we went to grab some coffee because I needed to wake up and some food. And we sat there and we basically dissected a business plan of how we could perpetuate this concept profitably. We kind of specked out the team, okay, how many people do we need? Well, can we get down to fewer people because we're costing it. And so how can we make money at this? But how can we have a good client experience? That was probably the most enjoyable part of it for me. One, to see how you thought about that and that entrepreneurial mindset that you're developing. And then to get feedback from you, and Will, and just talk through that business model because I do think there's one there. I've documented most of what we talked about and have it, for discussion here, in the next couple weeks. But, that was the most enjoyable part for me, was just, that after experience. Then it got less enjoyable when I took you guys out to eat afterwards. And the amount of food that, like, I just watched, I blacked out again because there was just, like, the food kept arriving, and you guys decided the table, and then it would disappear. And then where would come in anyway that was. That was good.
Ethan: So yeah, I mean, I agree, I think definitely being higher up in the business and being able to, be a part of the experience was definitely helpful for you. Being able to, you know, be like, yeah, this kind of, sucks from the point of I have to go all that way, be there all day, and then, you know, come the whole way back. But being able to, you know, scope out a business plan and being able to look back and say it, it was not as bad as we thought.
Bill: Well I think when we walked away from there, we had a business plan, a staffing plan. We thought about how it would have to change if we weren't owners. Because, like, no one, I don't think we're going to find someone, an employee who's going to go through that, that interview cycle. But, you know, we figured, okay, stay for the day, stay overnight, per diems, travel. We need a tech person. We need, an interview person. Like all of those, like the staffing plan, the cost plans, all of that. I think that was very helpful. And this may be a tip for you and your career is go figure it out yourself. The biggest innovations we've made over the course of the past however many years it's been, since 91, have been where we went and got dirty. I remember when we transformed the John Deere business into the number one compact tractor dealer for John Deere in the world, and we did it seven years in a row. It's because we spent two years and we were at the locations. I was turning wrenches and setting up equipment to figure out that part of the process. And then we were in with their finance people, figuring out the payments like we got dirty the whole way through the process. But once we figured it out, it all was aligned and came together. So I think we've done that with this content experience. We've come back, the stuff that we're looking at or that’s looking at us right now is certainly different than what we had before. We have backups on sound. We now have like a, a command center and some upgrades there. So we're we're learning how to do it better and faster. So yeah, I enjoyed that part. And I think we learned a lot.
Ethan: Definitely. Yeah.