Where do you begin?
It's such a game changer that you didn't even know that you needed, wanted from a fulfillment standpoint.
I tell you as a professional, we work with Feld Entertainment on the entertainment side, which they own Disney on Ice, Monster Jam, Sesame Street Live, a lot of those shows, and it's really taught me how to see an event through the eyes of a child, and just the sense of wonder that exists, and how you have the ability to just find the extraordinary in the ordinary of those simple moments with a kid and what a photo can bring.
I absolutely love it, being a parent, and I also love bringing our son or daughter to an event that dad would have worked on and they're the toughest critics. They're not going to fake smile or fake excite of something that dad created, but when they actually engage with something or are excited, you know you've kind of hit it out of the park with both heart and mind.
I think that's a wonderful accountability test as parents and I'm sure as our kids get older, they'll be even tougher critics heading into the teenage years, of what they will be like.
Over the last several years, you and your wife have been blessed to begin raising a young family. How do you feel that having children has changed your perspectives on life?
We should have Anthony come speak at SEAT. What an inspirational individual whom we can all learn from!l!
Absolutely. It's daunting to think what you think they have accomplished in just seven years, and I honestly believe that that ability of like, "Okay. This is what we've done.
We're at the top of our game but how do we continue to build and almost kind of reimagine what's already been imagined, and staying ahead of it versus resting on the laurels."
I think about that a lot with the teams that we work with that might have a great 100-year history or tradition and you think about it through the eyes of a child or a non-fan, sometimes that traditional focus excludes them from being invited to the fandom and it's a delicate balance but I think the newness of it and that ability to establish the new traditions are there. It's interesting.
We do a lot of work with the UFC and I would tell you the UFC really gets that, that their goal is to spark a young person to invite their parents to come, and it's something they feel a sense of ownership of versus inheriting a team affinity by birthright.
It's fascinating to see that fan process, and then when you use all the digital and analytic strategies to engage those audiences, you can see how they're able to kind of really establish new traditions and innovate versus just depend on what's happened already in the past.
Having children has taught me of not to get too stressed about work, of you go through ups and downs like everybody in their career, and I think the ability to have that balance check and to be able to walk in the house and know you've got a standing ovation waiting for you each and every night is just the best feeling in the world."
DAN MIGALA INTERVIEW
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