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Our purpose became a lot, much, 
much clearer. 

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And if there was a distinction 
between the US show and our 

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show, it wasn't the US show as a
domestic American show, where as

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we as internationals go along as
passengers, where we really have

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a a role to play in bringing the
community together. 

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Hello and welcome to a you know,
Reef. 

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I always say there's special 
episodes of the retail podcast. 

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I feel like I have so many 
children and I love them all. 

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But truly this is a special 
episode or a unique episode 

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because we get to look behind 
the scenes. 

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And I think that's really 
important when we're talking 

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about conferences, when we're 
attending the conferences. 

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What more would you want to know
as a attendee then to have a 

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sneak peek behind the scenes? 
And we're really privileged to 

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be joined by Reef Quail, 
managing director of Retail's 

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Big show Asia Pacific. 
As an attendee last year. 

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And I think I've I said this to 
you face to face, the energy, 

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the passion, the the execution 
that you bought to the event 

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being that it was the first 
event in in the region was 

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phenomenal. 
And I think if if you don't 

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mind, why don't we start there 
2024, how was that for you when 

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you when you sort of now almost 
on the cusp of the show 2025 but

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how, how was 2024 for you? 
From now looking back is just a 

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real sense of gratitude. 
You know, a lot of big 

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organisations put a lot of faith
in us to do, you know, it was a 

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big undertaking and, and I feel 
that we repaid them in spite. 

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So we had last year we were 
aiming for 5000 registrations, 

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we had 8600 and we turned off 
conference tickets 8 days before

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because we were worried that we 
couldn't actually deliver a 

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space for the people who were 
buying tickets. 

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So we didn't sell any conference
tickets for the last 8 days. 

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And, and then we had, you know, 
Expo, we had one full of Expo 

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and, and that was incredibly, it
was full and excitement and 

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energetic. 
We had 52 countries attend in 

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the first year. 
And I was like, I was just like,

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it was mind blowing for me 
because when I was like running 

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an event in our, in Australia, 
I, I, I knew everybody in the 

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market. 
So if I, if it was, we were a 

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bit soft on sponsorship. 
We're a bit, we were worried 

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about retailers coming. 
I could always just pick up the 

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phone. 
We ran a, a comprehensive 

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regional programme and I, we 
didn't know everybody. 

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Yeah, so, so it really proves 
the power of a brand and an 

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effective programme that 
delivers an outcome. 

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Felt like we just created a 
movement. 

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People came towards us and they 
just want to. 

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And this year they're already 
talking to us and they're 

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telling us what they're doing 
and how they're coming and and, 

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and we, and we've made mistakes 
along the way, but we we, we 

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knew where they were and we can 
approve them. 

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So I think for me, you know, 
it's, as I said before, it's one

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of gratitude. 
You know, it's been an amazing 

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experience and I've just met 
some awesome, awesome people 

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through the prices. 
So you've spent a year going 

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round to your Advisory Board, 
you you've sort of got, well 

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you've definitely the agenda has
already been published. 

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So what has driven the agenda 
for this year? 

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We we really coming through the 
first year's show and then also 

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engaging advisor, but also the 
wider market. 

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We really, it really became 
clear that the, our purpose 

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became a lot, much, much 
clearer. 

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And, and if there was a 
distinction between the US show 

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and our show, it wasn't the US 
show was a domestic American 

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show where as we as 
internationals go along as 

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passengers, yeah, where we 
really have a a role to play in 

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bringing the community together.
And so in terms of the way we 

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engage our Advisory Board, it's 
much more about diversity on 

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stage. 
We've got much this year much 

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more diverse than we were last 
year. 

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So we were diverse last year, 
but our stages are much more 

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diverse. 
So we'll have 11 keynotes, 11 

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leaders from 11 different 
markets in the region, from 

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India to Japan to Australia to 
the US to Singapore to Malaysia.

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So we've got lots of to the 
Philippines leaders from all 

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around the region. 
And then we'll have 18 breakouts

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which are really the how to 
sessions, a bit more functional 

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sessions and they're more led by
I suppose heads of HR or heads 

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of marketing or heads of 
e-commerce or heads of 

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transformation that will talk to
some of the big, big hairy 

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topics in the region. 
What we've tried to do there 

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though is actually match up. 
So, so rather than doing 4 on a 

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panel or just two on a panel 
with a moderator and having an 

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Australia and a Thailand or in 
New Zealand and in Japan, so 

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having really contrasting 
markets. 

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So they might be talking about, 
for example, we've got a great 

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session on ESG and 
sustainability and we've got DFI

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in Southeast Asia and we've got 
Kohl's in Australia. 

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Got you. 
And so the way that global 

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legislations manifest in their 
markets and in their 

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organisations, while it's 
similar, is very different. 

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And so it allows to see 
retailers to see, to take things

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away and, and see stuff that are
that that's unique to their 

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market or unique to another 
market which they can lift and 

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transfer. 
And then there's other stuff 

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like for example, we talk about 
the delivery revolution, which 

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is, you know, which is unique to
this region, such as quick 

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commerce in India. 
Yeah, which is, you know, you 

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know, when the iPhone recently 
launched, I think it was 18 

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months ago, you know, you, you 
know, if you're in Hyderabad, 

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Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, you 
ordered a phone and arrived on 

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your desk 8 minutes later. 
And, and, and no one in the 

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world has done quick commerce 
like India has. 

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And now we're seeing how 
businesses from grocery to 

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costume jewellery are re 
engineering their business 

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around delivery as a service 
convenience by you know, so this

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is totally unique to our region.
And so that's been really neat. 

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And I think the other thing too,
which is probably the most 

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challenging for our region and 
another reason for us to be is 

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in the content, we're seeing a 
real desire to cross borders as 

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a retailer, to expand 
geographically, but through 

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culture, language, currency, 
legislative context, that's 

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really hard. 
And so if you're Japanese and 

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you want to go to Malaysia, 
you've got to find a Malaysian 

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partner. 
If you're Australian and you 

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want to go to Vietnam, you can't
do it on your own. 

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You've got to find someone in 
Vietnam who is going to be 

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aligned, spiritually aligned 
enough with you that you can go,

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that you can form a 
collaboration with to allow you 

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to, to take that leap. 
So that's we're doing some 

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really nice interesting work in 
terms of opening up markets, in 

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terms of different range of 
speakers, having some country 

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spotlights on places like the 
Philippines, on Indonesia and on

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Thailand. 
So people can really start 

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understanding are these markets 
I want to enter? 

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Yeah. 
And then I've noticed that in 

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terms of the hall space, you've 
expanded. 

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So last year we had a red carpet
club, which was our sort of the 

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leadership club, and that didn't
work because in America all the 

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CEOs are domestic and they all 
know each other. 

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In Asia Pacific, all the CEOs 
don't know each other. 

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So we needed to have some 
facilitated networking. 

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So we took that out and moved it
up to Level 3 and we're having a

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whole programme of facilitated 
networking among CEOs and the 

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CEO. 
And that's going to be the 

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largest gathering of retailer 
CEOs in the region. 

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So if you, if you want to get 
to, if you want to build your 

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business case to come as a 
retailer can be your boss that 

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who's the CEO to come to the CEO
club because that ticket's free.

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But we want, we'd love to have 
as much gathering as many of 

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those as possible. 
The other thing we've done on 

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the floor was we've moved some 
of the elements which didn't 

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work as well as she liked the 
some of the arranged meetings. 

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We've taken those out. 
So there's actually more 

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exhibitors. 
And. 

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Yeah, the more exhibitors and 
we've also got last year we only

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had two exhibited big ID stages,
those green stages at the back 

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of the hall. 
Yeah, they will have three this 

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year and they only said 80 last 
year. 

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This year they'll we'll be able 
to fit in 130 into those 

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sessions because they were 
oversubscribed. 

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And you've kept your innovation 
area, I see as well. 

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Yeah, Yeah. 
So the innovative showcase has 

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now become a global programme. 
So this is really, this is 

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really neat. 
So in New York, in Singapore and

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in Paris, NRF Europe, in Paris 
in September, the VCs, this is a

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programme independently curated 
the VCs pitch the leading, the 

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latest, greatest retail tech. 
And they, and they, so they 

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picked the tech we have about 
120 plus people pitch for about 

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30 spots. 
And then, and then we have a, 

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the, the gathering of the, the 
best bleeding edge retail tech 

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from anywhere in the world. 
So from a, from people coming to

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NRFA pack, they, they're going 
to see in one place 30 

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exhibitors that are the latest 
and greatest as deemed by our, 

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our curation team. 
So that's pretty cool. 

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So you, you won't see that 
anywhere else. 

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And they, they had that in New 
York and we had that in Paris as

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well. 
So it's a, it's a global 

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programme now. 
And and then I've noticed you've

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kept your special tours, the 
special programmes in terms of 

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retail store tours and then the 
Expo tours, right? 

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Yeah. 
So the Expo tours, we've got 

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three different types and really
they're centred around 

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operational excellence, 
marketing and and some of the 

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and send some of the cool 
technology in, such as AI and 

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00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:05,480
and other mercy tech. 
And they're really designed for 

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00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:09,560
retailers to sort of look at 
those heartland big bucket 

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topics back up this front office
and bleeding edge technology 

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with the view to solving 
problems in their business. 

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So you know that that means that
as a retailer, I can go, OK, the

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tool will allow me to go, well, 
I need to I need to understand 

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AI fully. 
So therefore I can take an 

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application back on a use case 
back to my business that will 

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begin us on the journey. 
Or it might be the fact that I 

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have an operational problem in 
my business around inventory and

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I need to find a set of 
suppliers that can help me with 

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that or a set of partners who 
have the answer to the questions

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I need to answer. 
So that's the tour from the Expo

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point of view. 
In terms of the retail tours for

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Singapore itself, Singapore's 
really fortunate that you know, 

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it's the hub for Southeast Asia.
So a lot of the the some of the 

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00:10:57,840 --> 00:11:00,520
best practise retail, whether 
that be the Adidas's and Nikes 

192
00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:03,720
or the Porsches are running 
amazing retail experiences. 

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So there's and, and people like 
fair prices at a domestic level 

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00:11:07,680 --> 00:11:09,400
are also doing some pretty 
incredible stuff. 

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00:11:10,960 --> 00:11:16,000
And so you'll be able to go and 
look at this three different 

196
00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:19,640
tour types that will allow you 
to look at some of the best in 

197
00:11:19,680 --> 00:11:22,680
retail in, in the Singapore 
marketplace, some quite 

198
00:11:22,680 --> 00:11:26,560
traditional, some looking at 
different formats, some looking 

199
00:11:26,560 --> 00:11:30,720
at, you know, different 
installations. 

200
00:11:32,640 --> 00:11:35,960
And then obviously the use of 
technology and grocery a whole 

201
00:11:35,960 --> 00:11:37,800
lot. 
So you'd be able to have a, and,

202
00:11:37,800 --> 00:11:40,560
and obviously, if you're in 
Asia, grocery is important 

203
00:11:40,560 --> 00:11:42,920
because food is very important 
in Asia. 

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00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:46,840
So, so understanding how that 
all fits together is quite cool 

205
00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:50,200
too. 
So those two are, are are were 

206
00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:55,480
much, much more improved because
we took a lot more out of 2024 

207
00:11:55,720 --> 00:11:59,640
learnt so much. 
Also a bit a bit of it was a bit

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00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:01,560
supply and demand. 
We understand understood what 

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00:12:01,560 --> 00:12:03,600
the what our retailers were 
looking for. 

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00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:09,240
But more importantly got much 
deeper into the the headspace of

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00:12:09,240 --> 00:12:11,760
the of the region. 
And really people like 

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00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:15,440
enterprise Singapore, Singapore 
tourism border to have as well 

213
00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:18,000
as our our big Singapore 
advisors have provided and 

214
00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:21,040
Singapore Retail Association 
I've given us a lot bigger 

215
00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:24,880
better steer into tapping into 
what's best in the market. 

216
00:12:25,040 --> 00:12:29,560
So Reef, you probably like all 
of us have been glued to, to the

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00:12:29,560 --> 00:12:34,040
screens over the last couple of 
weeks, tariffs and the impact 

218
00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:36,080
that it's having on the global 
economy. 

219
00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:40,440
I'm just curious when, when you 
have such a global show in such 

220
00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:44,920
a hot region of the world, how 
does that bleed into your 

221
00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:48,360
conference or like do you have, 
are there talks in it? 

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00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:51,000
Are there, can you, yeah, expand
that for us? 

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00:12:51,240 --> 00:12:54,680
Great question for us and I 
think for me really in a day, 

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the big thing out of this whole,
you know, created uncertainty is

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that there's one thing for 
certain is we've is our purpose 

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and our purpose is to create 
intra AIPAC collaboration. 

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And so within our region, 
everyone's pretty open to each 

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other. 
This is we're not talking about 

229
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facilitating trade between Asia 
Pacific companies in the US, 

230
00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:23,400
we're talking about facilitating
trade within Asia Pacific 

231
00:13:23,400 --> 00:13:26,320
region. 
And so you know, and retail 

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thrives through open 
conversations, collaborations, 

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connecting with like minds. 
So it's, I think, you know, it's

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00:13:35,680 --> 00:13:39,920
given even an even stronger 
purpose for us to exist because 

235
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as companies think about 
diversifying their supply 

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chains, you know, we've got 
countries like China, of course,

237
00:13:47,680 --> 00:13:52,280
but we've got countries like 
Philippines, Vietnam, who are 

238
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creating a lot of materials for 
all sorts of different 

239
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companies. 
Then you've got these, we've got

240
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some super big markets such as 
Indonesia, India, China. 

241
00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:06,720
So how do you play in those 
markets as a retailer and then 

242
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how do these markets alike, how 
do these markets come and expand

243
00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:11,240
out? 
You know, we're talking as I 

244
00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:15,000
said before and talked to touch 
on the CEO club to have a whole 

245
00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:19,760
bunch of CEOs in the region who 
can talk to each other and find 

246
00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:25,840
opportunity to be to work 
together in a place where they 

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00:14:25,840 --> 00:14:27,240
quite often didn't know each 
other. 

248
00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:31,680
I think the context just gives 
us more reason to be Yeah, I 

249
00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:33,720
think. 
And that's, that's pretty cool, 

250
00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:35,200
you know, because that's what I 
want to do anyway. 

251
00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:38,240
That's what I we, my, what gets 
me out of bed in the morning 

252
00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:42,120
every day to see that stuff. 
And so now there's even more of 

253
00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:46,480
a reason to, to do that and to 
be that platform that allows 

254
00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:48,600
those connections and 
collaborations to occur. 

255
00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:51,640
So for me, that's, that's really
neat. 

256
00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:55,920
So I'm, I'm, I'm actually, you 
know, we all went and held our 

257
00:14:55,920 --> 00:15:01,440
breath, but really it's even 
better, you know, it's, it's a, 

258
00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:03,360
it's a business doesn't want to 
stop. 

259
00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:06,120
They just need to, they just 
need to look at other ways of 

260
00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:08,600
doing it and the whole region's 
ready to do business. 

261
00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:11,840
One of the things that I love is
I'm going to take part in the 

262
00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:15,120
show and we had a pre call with 
the Family Mart. 

263
00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:18,560
He's #2. 
OK, we had a, we had a 

264
00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:23,680
conversation with the number two
person at Family Mart and I've 

265
00:15:23,680 --> 00:15:25,520
got to be on. 
I mean, the easiest way for 

266
00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:29,160
people who don't know Family 
Mart is to think of 711 and 

267
00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:32,320
that's who you've got. 
But what what I came away with 

268
00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:36,480
and I came away with this 
feeling from Shanghai last year 

269
00:15:36,640 --> 00:15:40,440
when I was in Shanghai. 
We are so fixated on technology 

270
00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:45,640
over here that we forget that 
once technology is solved, what 

271
00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:48,880
happens next? 
And here you have an executive 

272
00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:55,840
ex CEO of Uniqlo who is bringing
all of this creative juice and 

273
00:15:55,840 --> 00:16:01,520
elements to an industry, the 
convenience industry, because 

274
00:16:01,520 --> 00:16:03,760
technology, if you like, is, is 
sold right? 

275
00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:06,800
They, they, they don't need to 
optimise anything anymore. 

276
00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:10,280
Yes, you can optimise things a 
little bit more, but it's 

277
00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:12,560
absolutely all about the 
experience. 

278
00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:14,760
How do you stand out? 
How are you unique? 

279
00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:16,920
How do you bring your future 
customers in? 

280
00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:20,360
And I just sat there. 
This was a pre talk, right? 

281
00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:23,280
We were just sat there going, 
OK, let's just have a quick chat

282
00:16:23,280 --> 00:16:27,720
before like 30 minutes just 
glued to my to my little screen 

283
00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:30,840
to what he has to say. 
And I just found what a 

284
00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:36,560
wonderful example of a Japanese 
powerhouse because within Japan,

285
00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:38,080
they're they're, they're huge 
and sorry. 

286
00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:41,200
And within the region, they've 
got stores in other parts of the

287
00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:43,440
region. 
But when you mention 

288
00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:45,760
convenience, most people 
probably roll their eyes and go 

289
00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:49,640
convenience, right? 
But you know, you ain't seen 

290
00:16:49,640 --> 00:16:53,640
nothing yet as as, as they say 
when, when the transformation 

291
00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:57,760
that that one convenience 
powerhouse is going on. 

292
00:16:57,760 --> 00:17:01,520
And I think that's such a 
reflection of the maturity of 

293
00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:05,640
the industry within your region 
and how you know how globally 

294
00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:09,400
mature they are and then on the 
other side how they still are 

295
00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:13,040
are transforming and maturing 
within certain markets. 

296
00:17:13,680 --> 00:17:15,040
And I think it came. 
Sorry. 

297
00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:15,400
Go on. 
Well. 

298
00:17:16,160 --> 00:17:19,920
I I finished that call and went 
out because obviously family 

299
00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:21,599
might have launched convenience 
wear. 

300
00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:25,800
So I've got two. 
I've bought 2 pairs of, I bought

301
00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:30,120
some socks, I've got 2 pairs, 
I've got to give some to Raffi. 

302
00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:33,240
I've got to give some to Raffi. 
My programme manager, but but a 

303
00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:35,720
ducky son was quite keen to 
bring us if they've got a whole 

304
00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:38,760
range of convenience where it 
was really neat actually. 

305
00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:42,600
So no, they weren't at all. 
It was awesome. 

306
00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:44,920
Yeah. 
You know, they're quite, they're

307
00:17:44,920 --> 00:17:46,800
quite. 
I feel like a bit, I feel a bit 

308
00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:53,280
Gen Z ish in my so so white, so 
half calf in the colours of 

309
00:17:53,360 --> 00:17:56,640
white socks within the colours 
of family Martin Apple, sort of 

310
00:17:56,640 --> 00:17:58,760
a green and an Aqua, little 
rings around them. 

311
00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:01,680
I look pretty retro. 
I want to be super respectful to

312
00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:05,360
your time obviously in Singapore
in terms of the the final 

313
00:18:05,360 --> 00:18:10,280
thoughts, what do we have in 
store in terms of size and scale

314
00:18:10,320 --> 00:18:12,440
or at the Expo this year at the 
conference? 

315
00:18:12,440 --> 00:18:15,440
This year, so the, in terms of 
the Expo and conference, 

316
00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:17,600
obviously we have more 
exhibitors this year it'll be 

317
00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:23,480
bigger and we will, I suppose 
it's, I mean events are people 

318
00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:24,960
based. 
So it's about the people who 

319
00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:27,520
attend. 
I think, you know, in terms of 

320
00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:31,080
where we are today, we are a 
long way ahead of where we were 

321
00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:34,600
in 2024. 
So I, I, I hope to see somewhere

322
00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:39,720
between 9 and 10,000 through the
site, which you know, means 

323
00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:45,080
we'll have 13 or 14,000 
registrations with just under 50

324
00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:46,960
days to go. 
That looks incredibly likely 

325
00:18:46,960 --> 00:18:50,920
now, which is just mind blowing.
So it's going to be pretty busy.

326
00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:54,640
We should have a lot of fun. 
And then I think through the 

327
00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:58,400
conference, I think we'll 
probably get to probably another

328
00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:02,200
half, 50% more than we were last
year in terms of people. 

329
00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:05,880
So it's going to be pretty full.
So I think from my mind, it's 

330
00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:10,960
going to be, you know, we, we 
had a great first show, this 

331
00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:12,920
show, this year's show is going 
to be really busy. 

332
00:19:12,920 --> 00:19:16,240
And I think there's going to be 
more diversity in terms of the 

333
00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:18,760
group. 
We'll have more language. 

334
00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:21,480
We'll have obviously on site, 
we'll have particularly Chinese 

335
00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:25,360
and Japanese and we'll have 
there'll be more people to meet 

336
00:19:25,360 --> 00:19:26,920
and just so many more people to 
meet. 

337
00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:31,800
So I think that from a, from an,
if you're coming for the first 

338
00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:37,080
time, just just expect it's, 
it's if you come, for example, 

339
00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:39,040
if you come from my market in 
Australia, it's like nothing 

340
00:19:39,040 --> 00:19:41,360
you've ever seen it's and that's
why I find myself quite 

341
00:19:41,360 --> 00:19:43,680
fortunate of being part of it. 
Because it's just. 

342
00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:46,360
Big. 
It's yeah, And there's so many 

343
00:19:46,360 --> 00:19:49,480
different people you can meet 
and collaborate with that. 

344
00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:50,920
Yeah. 
I mean, I've got, I've got for 

345
00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:52,720
for me, it's incredible. 
And actually we have to talk 

346
00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:54,600
about this off off when we 
finish recording. 

347
00:19:54,880 --> 00:19:58,720
I've got my clients from China. 
Like last year we spoke about 

348
00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:02,160
it, but this year there's three 
or four of them making the 

349
00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:05,120
effort to fly out from China. 
Obviously they're a European 

350
00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:09,240
company with offices there, but 
it's on their radar, which I 

351
00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:12,680
thought was, was, was phenomenal
that they're, you know, they're 

352
00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:16,320
getting 4 execs to fly over 
because it's, as you said, the 

353
00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:19,240
region now is really coming 
together. 

354
00:20:19,440 --> 00:20:22,600
But there has been that sort of 
gap for where do they come 

355
00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:26,000
together at which is that space 
that you're filling? 

356
00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:29,280
And that, and I think that's 
come from, you know, the, the, 

357
00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:32,360
that still desire people hung 
back a little bit in the first 

358
00:20:32,360 --> 00:20:35,600
year, But I also think that the 
desire is there. 

359
00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:39,560
There's been, I said before and 
a few people have actually said 

360
00:20:39,560 --> 00:20:43,600
thank you because they were, 
they've been waiting for this 

361
00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:46,920
sort of event for a while, for 
such a long time. 

362
00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:52,560
That's just, you know, I, I love
what I do, but you know, when 

363
00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:54,560
people have you've done one 
event and everyone's saying 

364
00:20:54,560 --> 00:20:57,440
thank you, It's like that's, 
that's really neat. 

365
00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:00,800
But and I, but I, it doesn't say
before it will, it will be, it 

366
00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:03,440
will be bigger in terms of 
people and numbers, a lot 

367
00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:03,880
bigger. 
I. 

368
00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:07,080
Think it's busy last? 
Yeah, it was busy last year, so 

369
00:21:07,360 --> 00:21:10,360
and we've resisted the urge to 
have two floors of Expo we could

370
00:21:10,360 --> 00:21:12,440
off. 
Yeah, but we, we'll, we'll do. 

371
00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:15,720
We'll do one and do and we'll 
just grow in an orderly manner 

372
00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:18,400
this year. 
I think really it's about the 

373
00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:23,360
experience and doubling down on,
you know, making it a really 

374
00:21:23,360 --> 00:21:25,680
fantastic experience for people 
who come to Singapore and make 

375
00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:28,520
the trip. 
And, and, and that's where our 

376
00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:32,480
emphasis will be. 
And, and then then as we, we can

377
00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:37,440
take, continue to grow in, in a 
way that, you know, as aligned 

378
00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:41,400
to the values of the show. 
And I think that over time, this

379
00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:44,040
show can be one of the biggest 
in the world because we're you 

380
00:21:44,040 --> 00:21:46,840
think we're only in U2, we could
have 10,000 people through the 

381
00:21:46,840 --> 00:21:51,240
site, you know, you know, that's
just in the second year. 

382
00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:54,840
Yeah. 
So, which is just so neat. 

383
00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:58,240
So. 
I have no doubt, I, I have no 

384
00:21:58,240 --> 00:22:00,760
doubt of watching this show. 
I'm, I'm, you know, for the 

385
00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:03,400
moment, I and I, and I've told, 
I've shared the story many 

386
00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:07,360
times. 
I saw Reef, I saw the, I can't 

387
00:22:07,360 --> 00:22:13,760
remember the Minister of Culture
who every person was at NRF 3-4 

388
00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:17,160
years ago talking about this 
regional event that we're going 

389
00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:19,360
to do. 
And it just made so much sense 

390
00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:22,240
in the sense that there are so 
many retailers that I've spoken 

391
00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:27,480
to in the UK, in Europe and in, 
in region that look for that. 

392
00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:29,160
Where do we come together? 
Right? 

393
00:22:29,360 --> 00:22:34,320
Yes, you can go to an in country
event, but there are very few. 

394
00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:38,440
So it's, it's a, a real joy to 
watch this to go from strength 

395
00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:43,440
to strength to strength. 
And thank you as, as, as it is, 

396
00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:46,640
it's only, you know, I, I think 
with the right energy that you 

397
00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:50,520
can pull this off. 
So I'm, I'm, I'm super excited. 

398
00:22:51,360 --> 00:22:53,760
Thank you, man. 
And to just to, to finish that 

399
00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:55,800
thought. 
It's just we're creating a 

400
00:22:55,800 --> 00:22:58,200
movement, you know, we're, 
that's what we're trying to do. 

401
00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:03,960
And at this point in time for 
us, as we grow, it's about 

402
00:23:03,960 --> 00:23:08,280
bringing people towards the show
who are, who are passionate, who

403
00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:11,080
are invested and, and that's 
what we're looking for. 

404
00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:13,880
And it's and there's just been 
so many of them that we're just,

405
00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:17,200
we're just trying to keep hold 
them all together and, and, and 

406
00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:19,120
because once we get them 
together, we just got to get out

407
00:23:19,120 --> 00:23:21,320
of the way and let them do their
thing and meet each other and 

408
00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:25,880
enjoy the moment, right? 
Because I think you know that 

409
00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:28,800
that that is what will make us 
successful. 

410
00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:31,280
It'll be the people that 
continue to come year and year 

411
00:23:31,520 --> 00:23:33,280
that just make this such a 
fantastic show. 

412
00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:38,200
Yeah, that's wonderful, Reef. 
I look forward to seeing you in 

413
00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:42,480
what? 
That's 40, about 47 days I 

414
00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:46,800
reckon. 47 days and counting. 
I'm not counting at all. 

415
00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:49,520
All right, Alex, thank you very 
much. 

416
00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:51,600
Appreciate the opportunity. 
Take care.