Journalist Tool

Kineticist

  • HDashboard
  • IItems
  • ↓Ingest
  • SSources
  • KBeats
  • BBriefs
  • RIntel
  • QSearch
  • NName Review
  • +Health

v0.1.0

← Back to items

Michael Grant - Marketing Manager of Stern Pinball

Pintastic New England·video·29m 15s·held·Nov 27, 2021
View original

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.028

TL;DR

Michael Grant joins Stern as Marketing Manager, discusses Stern Army and Insider Connected strategy.

Summary

Michael Grant, newly hired Marketing Manager at Stern Pinball (started November 16, 2021), presents his background and role at Pintastic New England. He transitioned from a sales career in collectibles to American Pinball (Feb 2020–Sept 2021), then to Stern, where he will focus on marketing initiatives, Stern Army community growth, and Insider Connected platform expansion. Grant emphasized that increased pinball competition and production benefits the entire industry.

Key Claims

  • Michael Grant started at Stern Pinball on Tuesday, November 16, 2021

    high confidence · Michael Grant directly stated his start date at the beginning of the presentation

  • Grant was with American Pinball for 21 months (February 2020 to September 2021)

    high confidence · Grant stated 'I was with American Pinball for 21 months' and mentioned starting in February 2020 and now being at Stern as of November 2021

  • Insider Connected will feature challenges, quests, achievements, and badges for registered players

    high confidence · Grant detailed Insider Connected features including QR code scanning, account creation, score tracking, challenge quests, and badges at events

  • Insider Connected signups and engagement at Expo (presumed IAAPA 2021) were very strong

    high confidence · Grant stated 'The signups at Expo were great' and 'lots of people signed up and played, really embraced playing, using their insider accounts at Expo'

  • Stern is pursuing global expansion for marketing, with focus on Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Australia

    high confidence · Grant said 'Our hope is to have Stern Pinball games anywhere and everywhere' and identified key markets when asked about geographic reach

  • Tyler Carson was recently hired as Director of Location Sales at Stern

    high confidence · Grant introduced 'Tyler Carson, the recently hired director of location sales' and described collaborative work on Stern Army and location promotion

  • Godzilla launch parties began the weekend after the presentation (around November 20, 2021)

    high confidence · Grant stated 'This weekend is the first eligible weekend for Godzilla launch parties'

  • Grant's marketing responsibilities do not currently include direct consumer home sales

    high confidence · When asked if he handles direct sales to consumers, Grant replied 'At this time, no'

Notable Quotes

  • “Pinball is my lifestyle. This is who I am and what I want to do full time.”

    Michael Grant@ 9:59 — Explains Grant's motivation and identity shift from collectibles sales to pinball industry career

  • “More pinball is better for everyone. A rising tide raises all ships.”

    Michael Grant@ 24:47 — Grant's philosophy on competition; addresses question about Stern dominance and reflects inclusive industry mindset despite working for market leader

  • “Stern Army is basically a vehicle to provide organized play. It's just a reason to meet people. It's more community basically just means more pinball more community more games more players more fun.”

    Michael Grant@ 18:28 — Core definition of Stern Army strategy and community-first philosophy behind the initiative

  • “It turns your pinball machine into a full-fledged video game system. There's achievements. There's challenges. There'll be challenge quests coming up. Lots of things to come. We're really just at the tip of the iceberg now.”

    Michael Grant@ 13:22 — Describes Insider Connected vision and implies roadmap remains under development with future features planned

  • “That planted a seed early in my youth... So time went on and I played pinball here and there, but I wasn't really a pinball player per se until I went on vacation in Cape Cod.”

    Michael Grant@ 2:24 — Establishes Grant's origin story in pinball community, key to understanding his authentic connection to hobby before industry entry

Entities

Michael GrantpersonStern PinballcompanyAmerican PinballcompanyZach SharpepersonTyler CarsonpersonGary SternpersonSeth Davisperson

Signals

  • ?

    personnel_signal: Michael Grant hired as Marketing Manager at Stern Pinball, started November 16, 2021; represents strategic focus on community-facing marketing after working at competitor American Pinball

    high · Grant introduced as new marketing manager; explicit start date given; role focused on marketing, community, and Stern Army expansion

  • ?

    product_strategy: Stern Insider Connected rolling out across LCD-screen games starting with Godzilla; positioned as ongoing development with future features (challenge quests, app development) planned but timeline uncertain

    high · Grant extensively detailed Insider Connected features, QR code system, account creation, and stated 'We're really just at the tip of the iceberg now' and 'There's lots to come'

  • ?

    community_signal: Stern Army positioning as primary vehicle for location-based organized play, tournaments, and community building; Stern investing in dedicated location sales role (Tyler Carson) to expand program

    high · Grant described Stern Army as 'a network of organized play' with IFPA integration, prize support, and ambassador structure; Tyler Carson hired specifically for location sales

  • $

    market_signal: Stern asserting dominance while framing competition as beneficial to industry; Grant's background at competitor American Pinball suggests Stern aware of multi-manufacturer landscape

    high · Grant stated 'More pinball is better for everyone. A rising tide raises all ships' in response to question about Stern's market dominance; emphasized 'I'm a pinball player first and foremost'

  • ?

    business_signal: Seth Davis recently appointed President of Stern Pinball; Grant expressed confidence in his leadership; signals potential strategic shift or reorganization at Stern

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.088

0:00
Hi everybody. It's time for another news segment, so an update. And just the fact that Michael Grant is up here giving a stern update is pretty newsworthy in itself. So today is November 20th and you started with Stern. Tuesday. Tuesday, November 16th. Please welcome Michael Grant in his new capacity.
0:45
Well, thank you everyone. Thank you for being here. It's an honor and a privilege to be here presenting to you the Stern update for 2021 Fantastic. Just a little bit about myself. I got into pinball casually when I was a younger person, waiting for pizza on vacations at Cape Cod, playing in the game rooms, Bear Pond Park in the summers. I'd walk over to the local arcade at Bear Pond and that's where I really, really got the bug for pinball. I have a slide there. So Michael Grant, marketing manager of Stern Pinball.
1:34
So here are some games that were very influential to me in my early pinball playing experience. Top left, you'll see William Slugfest, Pitch and Bat. That's the first game that really drew me in back to the arcade to try to hit home runs and win baseball cards on Bear Pond. Really, really enjoyed the sound, the overall choreography. Baseball was really important to me at the time. And just the experience of hitting a home run and watching animations and learning the geometry and the physics of the ball and the flipper and what can happen was really intriguing to me. So that planted a seed early in my youth. I was about nine years old. So time went on and I played pinball here and there, but I wasn't really a pinball player per se until I went on vacation in Cape Cod and there was a sports bar. They had a World Cup soccer. And we went there for lunch and I put a few quarters in and played a couple games and I had fun. And I had some downtime later that day. And I had a bicycle and I bicycled down by myself and played World Cup soccer all afternoon and did the same thing for the next few days. And that's when I knew I really liked pinball. Shooting, something as simple as shooting that soccer goal over and over again. It was an easy objective that I understood and it was very gratifying and I just, I had fun. Of course, Attack from Mars, flipping around on that, getting multi-balls, the sound call outs on that game are incredible. And of course, Twilight Zone really showed me what a pinball machine could be. So Lord of the Rings and Star Trek. So in 2013, I was living in Somerville, and I saw an episode of Ingenious Minds on TV on the Science Channel. And it was an episode featuring Robert Gagno, a pinball champion in Canada. And they talked about his pinball abilities and all his accomplishments. and it's spread something and we said, oh I remember pinball I used to love pinball, I completely forgot about pinball, huh, interesting so that planted a seed and then maybe the next year, 2014 I was on a date at Canobie Lake Park in New Hampshire and we were going on all the rides and we were walking down and I saw the pinball arcade in the corner of my eye I said let's go play some pinball, this will be fun we played all the games and I hopped on, eventually I hopped on Lord of the Rings and got a multi-ball. I got a really good score for me at the time and I had a sense of euphoria that I haven't felt in I don't know how long. At that moment, I knew I needed more pinball.

Stern Insider Connected app development timeline is uncertain, with no confirmed early 2022 launch date

medium confidence · When asked if app development could be expected early 2022, Grant responded 'I don't know yet' and acknowledged uncertainty about app developer kits

  • Grant has played In Defense (Stern game) three times on AI and has limited recent playtime with most Stern titles due to COVID-19

    high confidence · Grant stated 'Due to COVID, I haven't been able to play a lot of the games repetitively' and 'I've played, I think, three games on AIQ' for In Defense

    • George Gomez
    person
    New England Pinball Leagueorganization
    Stern Armyorganization
    Insider Connectedproduct
    Godzillagame
    [name withheld pending review]game
    IFPAorganization
    Pintastic New Englandevent
    [name withheld pending review]event
    Martin Ayoobperson
    Chuck Websterperson
    Canobie Lake Parkvenue
    High Roller Casinogame

    high · Grant stated 'I'm so glad to be working for him' and 'Really excited to what the future holds for Stern Pinball' regarding Seth Davis; described brief introduction at Expo

  • ?

    event_signal: Godzilla pinball machine launch parties began the first eligible weekend after November 20, 2021; Stern conducting coordinated launch event strategy through Stern Army locations

    high · Grant stated 'This weekend is the first eligible weekend for Godzilla launch parties' and indicated Stern working with locations to promote launch events

  • ?

    community_signal: Stern investing in high-visibility marketing presence at community events; Grant committed to attending Pintastic annually and engaging with regional tournaments and communities

    high · Grant stated 'I expect to be here every year' at Pintastic and described attending shows and 'hanging out in communities' as part of ambassador responsibilities

  • ?

    technology_signal: Insider Connected app development and API/developer kit planned but timeline uncertain; Grant acknowledged lack of clarity on app availability and third-party development tools

    medium · When asked about app development timing, Grant responded 'I don't know yet' multiple times; acknowledged question about app developer kits but said 'I don't know yet'

  • ?

    operational_signal: Stern establishing formal Stern Army location ambassador program with structured benefits (prizes, challenge quests, event support); Grant provided direct contact email for operator inquiries

    high · Grant gave email address (michael.grant@sternpinball.com) for operators to inquire about Stern Army locations; described ambassador role and prize support structure

  • $

    market_signal: Stern planning global marketing expansion targeting key pinball markets (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Australia); international language/localization strategy undetermined

    medium · Grant stated global reach goal and identified specific European and Australian markets as priorities when asked about geographic scope

  • ?

    personnel_signal: Tyler Carson recently hired as Director of Location Sales, suggesting Stern prioritizing location operator relationships and Stern Army expansion as growth strategy

    high · Grant introduced Tyler Carson as 'recently hired director of location sales' and described collaborative focus on promoting locations and expanding Stern games on-route

  • ?

    industry_signal: Grant's transition from American Pinball (boutique manufacturer) to Stern (market leader) reflects competitive landscape; Grant framed as pro-industry despite working for dominant player

    high · Grant described American Pinball as good learning experience; emphasized that competition benefits industry; addressed question about Stern being '800-pound gorilla'

    • 4:42
    So I got online and I went on YouTube and looked up all the games I used to play, you know, Twilight Zone, World Cup Soccer,
    4:50
    and just reliving all those memories and remembering all the games I used to play. And then I found a pinball enthusiast group on a social media website, and I saw a picture of someone holding a beer in front of their game, and the caption was, What a great day to relax after a hard day's work. And I said, You can own a pinball machine?
    5:15
    It never occurred to me. So I went on Craigslist, and I found a Stern High Roller Casino for sale in New Hampshire. and I went up, played it and that was my first purchase and that was early 2015, I think and Alan, the kid I bought it from told me about this thing called New England Pinball League and I didn't really understand what you mean, you compete? I just like pinball. Competition wasn't really something that was important to me but I thought it might be a good excuse to hang out and talk to other people that like pinball. so I didn't sign up right away but he did also tip me off that there are other collectors that have really amazing collections with all these cool games that you don't really see anymore so I made a conservative effort to be on the lookout for that so then I was on another social media group for sale page I think and I saw a game for sale on Wakefield Mass and the game for sale wasn't the one I wanted but the game next to it was Gottlieb-Freddy Krueger game and it just so happened to be for sale in my hometown and I messaged Chuck and he was the president of the NEPL at the time, the largest pinball league in the world and I ended up buying that game and I at that point I decided to sign up for league and I didn't know what to expect at league. I wasn't sure. I figured I'd be like the youngest guy there. I really wasn't sure who likes pinball. I thought I was on an island and I was in the middle of the pack. There were younger people, there were people my age, there were older people. Everyone had one thing in common. We all loved the silver ball. So I knew this was something special. So I joined the league in 2016 And that really what really got me started
    7:24
    Next slide here. So this is as I became, I guess, a collector. This is some of my collection. Starring Aerosmith, Ellie, Flintstones, Valley Lady Luck, my first game. Starring Hyrule Casino. I see Terminator 2 and the Freddy game and Walking Dead L.A.
    7:52
    So, yeah, I just really like pinball machines. And pretty soon, now that I know I'll be here in Chicago for the long haul, I've got to get these games shipped back out to me. So we're working on that.
    8:05
    Let's see. Next slide here. So I became a competitive player through New England Pinball League and doing local tournaments and stuff. So here's just some pictures. Top left here is the first tournament I ever won at the Southern New Hampshire Pinball Club, the Wednesday night knockout next to Mike Testa and Mike Schmidt.
    8:24
    Top right corner is Pinberg 2019, 2018? 2019. All those people there in the front are New England Pinball League players. And Chuck Webster, not pictured, took the photo. So lower left is, I think, third place in, like, B Division or something at Arcadia National Bar. And then the bottom right is Pin Mania.
    8:51
    So a couple of Maine events. So we've hit Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire so far. Yes. Got three to go. That's right. For the six New England states.
    9:02
    Let's see. and then here's the license plates I had to turn in. Well, I didn't have to, but I traded in my pinball license plates for a career in pinball.
    9:14
    I had made the decision that I wanted pinball to be part of my life and I reached out to all the pinball machine manufacturers and made it very clear that I wanted to work in pinball. At the time, I had a career in sales for a wholesale distributor of sports collectibles and entertainment and gaming collectibles. So we sold everything from sports cards to Magic the Gathering, Pokemon, accessories, all that sort of stuff. So I really developed an experience working with retailers and consumers on lifestyle brand products, people that identify with Pokemon, with Magic the Gathering. Magic the Gathering players, they do their Friday Night Magic, and that's what they do. It's their social circle. I found myself doing the same thing with pinball. Pinball is my lifestyle. This is who I am and what I want to do full time.
    10:05
    So I made contact with American Pinball. They happened to need a sales guy. They had a new game coming out. I accepted the role. This is in February of 2020. So I packed up my truck, me and my cat, and we drove 16 hours to Chicagoland. and I started my career in pinball. I was with American Pinball for 21 months. I learned the ropes.
    10:34
    Really grateful for the opportunity. Made a lot of good connections, a lot of good experience that really helped me, a lot of mentors along the way.
    10:43
    And that prepared me to where I am now at Stern Pinball as marketing manager. Extremely grateful and thankful.
    10:53
    I'm really excited, and I feel like I'm just finally getting started. So ready to hit the ground running.
    11:01
    More slides? Yeah, more slides. So let's talk about what I'll be doing at Stern. So pictured here is Zach Sharp, Director of Marketing, Stern Pinball. I'll be working closely with Zach on all marketing initiatives. So everything from social media posts, promoting events, working with the IFPA on creating new fun events and promotions, content creation, so like videos and flyers to promote the events, anything and everything you can think of marketing, I'll be working with Zach hand in hand on that. He's taking me under his wing, showing me the ropes. I'm in what you might call Stern boot camp, learning everything I need to know, learning all the processes. So very excited to be working with Zach. He's been great so far and the team at Stern has been wonderful and they've really embraced me. I feel like they're just as excited to have me as I am to be on their team.
    12:02
    I'll also be working with Tyler Carson, the recently hired director of location sales. Tyler and I will be working to promote the Stern Army and getting more games on location, more Stern Army locations, more games, more pinball, more prizes, more fun for everyone, just more community. So that's something we'll be working on, not just here, but all over the world. We want more organized play, more tournaments, launch parties. This weekend is the first eligible weekend for Godzilla launch parties. So I know back in Chicagoland I missed the Godzilla launch party, but certainly grateful to be here.
    12:45
    So we'll be working with Tyler on promoting that and just getting more Stern games out on the field.
    12:53
    And then, of course, you've probably seen the Insider Connected. I'll be working with the Stern team on all Insider Connected initiatives. So that's a little QR code reader on the right-hand corner of Godzilla, and all Stern LCD screen games will have this connectivity. Basically, it turns your pinball machine into a full-fledged video game system. There's achievements. There's challenges. There'll be challenge quests coming up. Lots of things to come. We're really just at the tip of the iceberg now, but there's tons of stuff that we can do to help locations, run events, have prizes and promotions. Just another reason for people to play pinball and try it, something new, and I think it'll be really beneficial for everyone. I know just playing myself, like, oh, I haven't had my super jackpot in this game yet. Let me go for that. It's fun to collect them, and there'll be badges at events.
    13:53
    Really, the sky's the limit on what we could do. We're really just getting started on that. So that's the hype for Stern also at IAPA, apparently, is you're talking all about Insider Connected.
    14:12
    And where do you or Tyler or Zach or other people that we haven't named yet fit in with the operator side? So you're pushing to have operators do events at locations or you're pushing to have players come to a location and say, if the operator put the game there, we make it special All of the above all above If there are any locations out there that want to be a Stern Army location please reach out to me or reach out to Tyler My email address is michael.grant at sternpinball.com. We'll be happy to help you with the process. Or if you're a player and you want your location to be a location, you can reach out to us, talk to your operator, talk to the location. let it be known and we'll help get the ball rolling. Yeah, so those terms are explained here on the chart, the famous structure of the industry chart that we bring every year.
    15:11
    And the operator, some operators might be a little reluctant. Like they've been in a world where they just talk to the locations. They don't know who the players are. So if some random player comes, calls them, sees the sticker on the game or whatever and finds out who the operator is,
    15:31
    is Stern looking to make the operator more open-minded? Go ahead and talk to a player. Don't just go through the location. Well, absolutely. Our hope is that operators embrace this technology. I think it will be great for returning players, giving people just more reasons to come play the games. I think there's added benefit for everyone. Players seem to like it, and there's really tons of untapped potential. We really haven't even hit the tip of the iceberg. There's lots to come. So just I recommend you, if you haven't signed up for an account, you can go to insider.starnpinball.com. Just type in your information, and it creates a little, an avatar, you pick out a badge, and your username, and then it gives you a QR code. And you scan that QR code when you start a new game, and it keeps track of all your scores and all your progress on any Stern game you play that's Insider Connected.
    16:32
    And if I understand it correctly, the Insider Connected Pro for the operators, they've got a whole different view of what's going on with Insider Connected. Do they know player names? Like, do they see who's playing a lot? If it's a registered name player that's, oh, this guy is coming to this location and playing my connected game? That's a good question. I don't know the answer right now. But that's certainly something to look into. I just don't know the answer. Because that could be part of the answer to the other question. Yeah, I think, yeah, information going up and down would be important. I agree. So more information to come on that. I don't know the answer. I just started. But it's a good question. I agree. If you in the audience have questions, you should be lining up with the question mic there. I've got a bunch of questions that we can keep going with that, but I think Insider Connected has been the main generator of questions. I mean, to the extent that you've learned what you can talk about and everything else you can't talk about yet. So there's the known unknowns or the known not speakabouts are both in the same pool right now.
    17:53
    So what is the Stern Army? So Stern Army is essentially, it's a network of organized play. We want people to, so if locations are running an event, right, So we recommend that they're registered with the IFPA. You get world ranking points. That's a whole separate thing, but world ranking points. People like to, the more you play, the more points you get, the higher you are in your world ranking and state rankings. There are state championships.
    18:28
    So the Stern Army is basically a vehicle to provide organized play. you can win prizes it's prize support there's random giveaways so it's just it's a reason for to meet people it's more community basically it just means more pinball more community more games more players more fun I think there's an implication with using the term army that like if a location wants to have some pinball night that would otherwise be a slow night that somehow a lot of staffing. People could come in because they're in this army.
    19:09
    Yeah, that reminds me. Operators running the Stern RBR are Stern ambassadors, so they're just helping promote the Stern brand, getting the name out there, getting the games out there,
    19:25
    and providing a place for people to play and have a good time. People like winning prizes, especially you get the insider connected too. There'll be challenge quests coming for that too. So there are a lot of things that can be done.
    19:46
    So it sounds like Tyler is going to be focusing particularly on the stack that's on the left of our chart here, which includes an operator not owning the location, but just being the provider of games to a location, ancillary entertainment, as Gary Stern likes to say.
    20:10
    Do you also have some involvement with the direct sales of the Stern product to the players to have in their home? Is that part of your world? At this time, no. Okay. So you also will be trying to do further expansion of public exposure on locations. Yes, and part of my responsibilities as Stern ambassador will be going to shows, attending shows, and just hanging out in communities. So I expect to be here every year.
    20:41
    Well, we certainly hope to also have our tournament, our silver ball rumble, be in the Stern Pro Circuit for as long as we can keep our strength up. In this part of the country, we've got a lot of strong players. That should help. I see a question up here. Who is team lead on the Stern Insider Connected? Is it George Gomez? Will you be working with the IFPA in the future for sponsored tournaments?
    21:07
    Yes, I'll definitely be working with the IFPA on tournaments and new events, new promotions. I don't know how to answer that. I'm not sure. I guess it's George, but I don't know. I don't know yet. Yeah, certainly Stern wants to show that this is a whole corporation effort behind Insider Connected. So that's... Yeah, it's a team effort. It's not one person. For George to be supervising it because as the chief creative officer, he would have to get everybody else to always be thinking, John Borg here? He's probably telling John Borg don forget to be thinking about new ways to use Insider Connected He going to tell you guys that some things are coming along that might involve players in a different new way a new kind of achievement or whatever Do we have any stories so far of anything happening with Insider Connected? Any early reports of things that have happened? Well, the signups at Expo were great. It seems like everybody were, because I've had time to look at the reports, and lots of people signed up and played, really embraced playing, using their insider accounts at Expo. I mean, that's the most I can report.
    22:32
    It seems people really like it. If there are any questions about it, we'd be happy to answer. Okay, other questions from the audience?
    22:42
    We have about five more minutes. So if you're thinking, I'll hang back and wait, don't wait much longer. Yes, Mom.
    22:52
    How far will your reach out be for marketing? Geographically, you mean? Globally, yes. Our hope is to have Stern Pinball games anywhere and everywhere.
    23:06
    Okay, so how many languages are you going to have to learn? Yeah, I guess there are countries we've always known have been big for pinball. Germany, France, Italy, Spain. Australia. Australia, yeah.
    23:26
    I see another question coming in. For app development on Stern and CyberConnected, when can we expect that? Is it early 2022? Do you know? I don't know yet. Okay.
    23:38
    It seems like there was more behind that question. So people are going to build apps using an app developer kit? I don't know yet. New guy card, sorry. Okay. Please use the microphone if you could so we can...or hurry up and shout out your question. Okay. That wasn't a question. He's withdrawing the question. Martin. Yes, Martin. Martin, Ayoob of Pinball News will be sitting up front with me very soon after this. Looking forward to that. Now, Michael, having seen the pinball industry from two different companies,
    24:23
    would you say that when you were not at Stern that there was some concern over how dominant Stern Pinball are in the pinball manufacturing business and sales and operations? and they seem to be sort of like the 800-pound gorilla now. And before you were sort of fighting them to an extent and now you're a part of that. Sure. That's why they have an army.
    24:47
    Look, more pinball is better for everyone. A rising tide raises all ships. I think a little friendly competition is a good thing. More games, more pinball is better for everyone. Look, I'm a pinball player first and foremost.
    25:01
    I think it's great for the industry. You have a question? Yeah, I guess it's a player-level question. What Stern game do you think is the most challenging? Most challenging?
    25:16
    I would say at the moment, I need more time on it. So in defense, I still need more time on it. But I'd say maybe Avengers?
    25:31
    I'm not sure. And the Turtles? Turtles. Due to COVID, I haven't been able to play a lot of the games repetitively to familiarize myself with the shots, the geometry, the rules, and whatnot. So in defense, I've played, I think, three games on AIQ. So you really haven't explored it that much? No, not really. Yeah. And did you hear anything back from IAPA about in the Stern booth, what they were seeing and hearing there or how the reaction was? Not as of yet. Not yet. It just sort of closed on Thursday. People are still in the air, I think. Packing up. Yeah. We have, there's just so much. To follow up on that last question, the question before Martin's question,
    26:34
    Stern, they talk about the whole spectrum. They can be a contract manufacturer, or they could before supply chain shortages anyway. They can do this for game developers, and they can do this for locations, and they've got the Stern Army and they have the studio system so a guy with an idea can bring something to Stern and maybe they'll accept it in as part of the Stern catalog.
    27:08
    So it seems like they're just so spread out over so many things. We are hoping that people like you will clarify a lot of that over time. Certainly, certainly. And maybe there's some of these things I just mentioned you might not even have paid much attention to up to now.
    27:31
    So you're mainly consumer facing, is that right? Or operators too? No, all facets of our, yeah, all facets. I'll be supporting locations, operators, and consumers with just getting the games out there and brand awareness.
    27:52
    All things marketing related to Stern. How about Seth Davis as president? Have you heard anything, seen anything, felt anything from him being there yet? Well, it's funny. I briefly was introduced to him at Expo, and that's when I made my pitch to come to Fantastic. I was introduced to him, and Gary asked me when my starting day was and told him the 16th. He said, John, I don't think a lot of people in the office that day. And that's when I jumped in. Well, you should send me to Pentastic. So here I am. All right. Yeah. Well, yeah. We will appreciate your help in getting Seth Davis out here in the future. Yes. But to the point where we are really excited to have Seth Davis on board under his leadership.
    28:44
    Really excited to what the future holds for Stern Pinball. I think he's a great addition, and I'm so glad to be working for him. All right. Well, I'm sure that we'll get back to Chicago and get your appropriate points for that. All right. Last call for questions. Well, thanks for coming in. Thank you. Thanks for all your support of Pentastic over the years. Thanks, Dave. Happy to be here.