Manufacturing eCommerce Success
Manufacturing eCommerce Success with hosts Curt Anderson and Damon Pistulka dives into interviews with industry leaders and professionals that provide insights into various aspects of Manufacturing eCommerce and inspiring entrepreneurial stories.
Manufacturing eCommerce Success
Episode 112: Unlocking Success in Manufacturing and Community Building with Chris Lukey
Are you ready to elevate your industrial marketing game?
Join us for an exclusive preview of the Industrial Marketing Summit 2025 with Chris Luecke, founder and host of Manufacturing Happy Hour. Chris will share insights on hosting impactful live events that leave a lasting digital footprint.
With over a decade in the manufacturing industry and extensive experience in creating engaging digital content, Chris helps industrial companies transform marketing expenses into valuable investments. His expertise spans podcasts, videos, and virtual events designed to generate leads and enhance digital presence.
Chris is the founder and host of Manufacturing Happy Hour, a community and podcast that delves into the latest trends and technologies impacting modern manufacturers. He has also held key roles at Rockwell Automation and Fiix Software, focusing on innovative solutions for the manufacturing sector.
The Industrial Marketing Summit is the premier gathering for industrial marketers, organized by the teams at TREW Marketing and Gorilla 76. Scheduled for February 26-28, 2025, in Austin, TX, the summit offers a platform to connect with peers and elevate your marketing strategies.
******************
Stop Being the Best Kept Secret with Live Streaming Training Sessions: https://training.b2btail.com/sbtbks-live-streaming-course
B2Btail – Helping Awesome Companies with Digital Sales Growth Solutions Click here for more https://b2btail.com/
Grab these FREE B2Btail Resource Guides to help you on your eCommerce journey
- Dominate Search https://b2btail.com/dominate-search/
- eCommerce Checklist https://b2btail.com/ecommerce-checklist/
- Manufacturing Website Call-To-Action Strategies That Work https://b2btail.com/call-to-action/
Follow Curt and B2Btail:
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/curtander...
Twitter https://twitter.com/B2Btail
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@b2btail363
Exit Your Way- Helping owners create businesses that make more money today and they can sell or succeed when they want. https://exityourway.us/
Damon on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/damonpi...
Hey guys, happy post Super Bowl. Happy Monday to you, Damon. How are you? Man, I'm great Kurt.
Damon Pistulka :Wonderful, wonderful weekend and ready for this week.
Curt Anderson:Let's dive in. So we're the Monday after Super Bowl. I know Damon, for at least the past 40 years. They say it should be like a national holiday this day after the Super Bowl. I kind of agree. But you know what, following the Super Bowl, this is kind of like our Super Bowl right now, because we got the one, we've got the only, we've got Chris Luecke in the house. Dude, how are you, Chris?
Chris Luecke :I'm doing well. I'm no Jalen Hurts or Patrick Mahomes, but I hope I can bring a good performance to this conversation. Well, can you do a little Barkley, can you jump over backwards, can you do like a little flip, or you know you know I would be able to, but the ceiling's just not quite high enough in my new studio, so I had to. I had to start skipping out on the backflips.
Curt Anderson:Fair enough. Fair enough, when we're at the industrial marketing summit together, dude, we'll we'll bust a couple of those out. I might pull a hamstring, but, chris, I can't wait to see you in action. So let's go here. Man Dude, repeat offender. Dear, dear friend of the show, you and I actually I always claim to fame. Like you know, you and I are pre-COVID, so that's how long you and I have been friends. Let's start off with a little bit. You've had a couple of transitions. It's always tough keeping up with you, dude, like you always got something new, something exciting. But let's give a little background on you. Who is Chris Luecke? How are you making the world a better place?
Chris Luecke :Yeah, so to give anyone that's not familiar with me, you know, to give you a bit of an intro, I run a podcast called Manufacturing Happy Hour.
Chris Luecke :So the reality is it's the way I described it now and how I described it before we went live is I'm really running a podcasting and entertainment company Because, in addition to the podcast, which is a weekly interview show that's meant to distill and dissect the biggest trends and technologies impacting the manufacturing industry, it's an interview podcast, so I do all of this through interviews with manufacturing leaders podcast.
Chris Luecke :So I do all of this through interviews with manufacturing leaders. But it's evolved into a community and it's evolved into an event platform. All things considered, if there's a large trade show or maybe I'm just doing a small live podcast tour across a particular region of the Midwest, what I try to do is bring together manufacturing leaders under one roof, and that could be the virtual roof of my podcast and the digital platforms where our community congregates, or that could be an in-person event at a brewery or an after party at a conference, for example. So, uh, I, you know, I it's easiest to describe manufacturing happy hour as a platform at that point, at this point, because that can encompass the podcast, it can encompass the community and it can encompass all the events as well.
Curt Anderson:Well, I love that and if you don't mind, I want to. I want to pull up your website just for everybody to take a peek. But I tell you, this is you've had such a fascinating career and again I've had the privilege of you know, appreciate, value your friendship, had the privilege of you know, appreciate, value your friendship. I can't express my internal thanks for the number of people that I've become friends with because and thanks to you, as a matter of fact, we're all going to be together at the Industrial Marketing Summit. I'm actually hanging out with Jeff Long, who I met through you. So you know again, you know tons of friendships that I've met. You know you're Rockwell Automation. You've kind of had a nice transition. Let's dive into your entrepreneurial journey. How did you go from Rockwell, one of the largest corporations, just a powerhouse in manufacturing? Let's walk through your evolution into entrepreneurship.
Chris Luecke :Yeah, so I'm an engineer by degree, but I have spent the majority of my career in sales at Rockwell Automation, as well as Fix Software, which is a company that Rockwell had purchased. I think there's an entrepreneurial aspect to being in sales you have to manage your business.
Chris Luecke :You need to make sure you're hitting your number. There's not necessarily a single playbook for building relationships, building rapport, building, trust. Obviously's all that. Obviously, there are proven best practices in sales and their sales processes. Right, I don't want to pretend it's the total Wild West, but you know, I've seen a lot of different techniques used and I feel like the most effective salespeople are the ones that are able to do it while being really authentic and true to who they are.
Chris Luecke :So when I was working in sales, I realized it's like hey, I'm comfortable being on camera. I don't have any, you know, and I knew that was a big hang up for a lot of folks, right, they just, you know, anytime the camera started rolling they'd get petrified, right. So my thought was, hey, I need to reach my audience, and I need to reach a younger audience in a lot of cases in new and novel ways. And video podcasting short videos, long form podcasts that became kind of my unique, authentic way of reaching out to my audience. So it just evolved over time.
Chris Luecke :I wouldn't say when I started it that I thought it was going to turn into what would eventually be my full time business. But but here we are. You know, I think there's something to be said about just staying consistent, doing, you know, growing. And there's something here I can scale it, I can monetize it. All those things start playing into it. So that's really kind of how I went from being a salesperson at a large industrial manufacturing company to being an entrepreneur. In this day and age, where there are more opportunities than ever to be an entrepreneur.
Curt Anderson:Absolutely love it. And, if I'm not mistaken, weren't you in the Bay Area when you started Manufacturing Happy Hour. Was that correct?
Chris Luecke :Mm-hmm. Yeah, manufacturing Happy Hour got its start in late 2016 and started getting momentum in 2017. But I always count it. The first time I hit record and had a published video on YouTube was in 2016. So we count that as the starting date. And that was one in the Bay area is relevant to why I started it, because I had been in the Houston market prior to that and that was definitely a more old school handshake, relationships, uh, sales market in the industrial space in the Bay area.
Chris Luecke :You know, there were a lot of folks my age I was in my 20s at the time that would work a couple years here, jump to another company, work a couple years there, jump to another company. So you know that that let's say that company loyalty, you know, wasn't necessarily the same thing because people were just jumping all over the place. But what you know on the flip side, I'm like, okay, well, if that's the reality out here, if it's a lot of young folks that are making decisions at these organizations, well, why don't I reach them the way they want to be reached? Which I thought, how do I consume content? How do I get information? And that was through podcasts and YouTube and video series. So I'm like, well, I'm just, I'm just going to do the same thing.
Chris Luecke :No one else was doing it in the manufacturing space, so I'm like I don't really have a guide to go off of, but uh, let me just try this. And you know, there was no downside. Really, I mean, the only like it's not. The worst thing that could happen was I would have made some videos and maybe no one ever saw them, right, and I would have just learned it didn't resonate and I would have moved on, obviously, that that was not the case and it resonated and grew into the platform it is today. But yeah, that's. And it resonated and grew into the platform it is today. But yeah, that's kind of the. I was out in the Bay Area and I would say that's why it's also relevant to this story.
Curt Anderson:You know and I want to hit on this and I know you've been on the show multiple times, so anything that I repeat, just you know my respect and admiration for you, what you've done, because not only were you doing the videos, you did a great job at building community. And so, damon, we're constantly talking about that and it's kind of like it's, it's, it's. It's not a comfort zone for small manufacturers to think about community. At least the folks that I engage with. They're more like nose of the grindstone just trying to build things. But you did a great job. Pre COVID, where you were setting up, you know virtual calls people from all over the country were coming on. I met some fascinating people. I'd be like the only marketer in the room, the only e-commerce guy in the room. It was a bunch of automation guys. I'm going to dive into your website next, but just talk a little bit about the spirit and your dedication to building community and what that's meant and done for you. Just scratch on that for a second.
Chris Luecke :Yeah, I mean, it really did take off with COVID because, you know, I was hosting small happy hours out in the Bay Area. You know, very quickly I realized if I had a platform called Manufacturing Happy Hour, it didn't just have to be a video series. I'm like, oh, I can call, you know, a happy hour where 12 manufacturers in the area get together and grab a beer at one of the many great Bay Area breweries, a beer at one of the many great Bay area breweries. So, there, there had, from an early stand, from an early time, there had been an event focused to manufacturing happy hour. But I really do think it started to shift and certainly evolve, uh, during COVID, because we were stuck at home, um, we couldn't go anywhere for the majority of 2020, right, you know, we had two months at the start of the year and then, you know, lockdown from there.
Chris Luecke :But I remember and I'm going to I'll share a link to this because it's crazy to think that this episode will be five years old soon I hosted a Zoom call. First of all, I hosted a Zoom call on my birthday, which was St Patrick's Day, right? So I had friends from all across the country show up to that that was more something in my personal life, right, but that was on a Tuesday, tuesday March 17th. I had hosted like kind of a party on Zoom.
Chris Luecke :So I thought to myself it's like wait a second, if I can do this in my personal life, can I try this for the manufacturing industry as well? So I think it was probably the next day I put out a post. I'm like, hey. So I think it was probably the next day I put out a post. I'm like hey, if you want to join us on Zoom, manufacturers from across the country sign on to Zoom this Wednesday afternoon or this Thursday afternoon, whichever it was. I think it was Thursday.
Chris Luecke :So Thursday March 19, 2020, myself and probably about 12 other manufacturers signed on to Zoom and I had this. I don't know what it was, I just said at the start of the call. It's like hey, guys, I don't know what we're going to talk about during this call, but I'm going to hit record, if that's OK. So we recorded it and everyone shared what their what their gut reactions to being, you know, on lockdown were going to be. This is back when we had no idea how on lockdown were going to be. This was back when we had no idea how long it was going to be, but everyone shared kind of their initial impressions, how everyone was feeling and then, like the 12 or so people on the call. We went around another time and said, hey, what are the actions we're going to take to make the most out of this situation? So, anyway, that was recorded on March 19th. On March 20th 2020, I released it as a bonus episode of the podcast and it's still a pretty interesting. I'll call it a document just to see where we thought things were going, just what the community vibe was like at the time.
Chris Luecke :But long story short, there's a reason for me telling this story. That kind of launched essentially what became a weekly or biweekly effort where I said, hey, I'm going to throw these virtual Zoom calls, so that way we're stuck at home. But Manufacturing Happy Hour is going to be a spot where you can come to hang out with folks in the industry virtually, and sometimes it'll be an open discussion. Sometimes we'll have a topic. We'll have like an emcee or a keynote speaker, if you will, so that way there's more of a topic.
Chris Luecke :And we started doing that throughout all of COVID. And, you know, once the world started to open back up, you know, that's when it's like, all right, let's take this out of Zoom and back into the real world. So 2022 is really when we started seeing a lot more manufacturing, happy hour, live events, in-person parties. But if there's a lesson here for other folks, try to think about what the strengths are in your business or the unique aspects of your business, and try to pivot those to whatever situation the world throws at you, whether that's a pandemic or whether it's an opportunity to start throwing bigger and better parties for your customer community.
Curt Anderson:Bigger or better parties, man, and I know I was part of those Zoom meetings. You know I remember those clearly. Dave Griffith was on the call, greg Mishu Sully, you know. So a bunch of just wonderful people. That again, the friendships that I was able to create thanks to you kind of spearheading and being a leader, and I just I cannot express my thanks. Let's dive into your.
Curt Anderson:I'm going to share your website if you don't mind, please do let's take a look, so like someone's out there and they're just like okay, I hear podcast and I hear, can you guys see my screen?
Damon Pistulka :Yep.
Curt Anderson:Yep, okay, so if I go, if I'm gonna back up one, so okay, here is what you see when you land on chris's website. We've got manufacturing happy hour. Connect with chris. We've got chris lukey here manufacturing a happy hour. Do yourself a favor, connect with chris on linkedin. Does amazing work. So now we've got the podcast, and then dude, like, could this be like damon? How's this podcast? And then dude, could this be like Damon? How's this? Everything else? Like bam, right there, all right, making manufacturing content cool and approachable.
Chris Luecke :Chris, let's hear what you've got going on here. Yeah, so I will preface it. This is about to get very much updated in the near future, but it's still going to have a similar vibe because, at the end of the day, manufacturing happy hour is here to tell stories in the industry. So, you know, I, I, I created it as a way to really get people to start talking about manufacturing the same way they would as if they were having a drink with someone, right? So that's where the whole manufacturing happy hour moniker came from.
Chris Luecke :But, you know, the biggest thing that I, you know, I found like that, that, I think, is a, a win on my digital presence so far is just the consistency, whether that's on the website, whether that's on LinkedIn, like you were talking about.
Chris Luecke :You know, I've been doing this for over five years now. So when folks are one and that's, I think, the thing like people can kind of take from this. It's like when you're trying to build trust in the manufacturing space, one of the best things you can do is just be consistent, right? Because then, you know, and especially in this digital age where there's like a, you know, a digital paper trail of, like, your values and your insights and the type of people you surround yourself with. That's why I think having a digital presence whether you're a salesperson, whether you're an individual contributor, whether you're an executive you need to have some sort of digital presence, whether that's a website, whether that's a video channel, whether it's a podcast, whether that's just being active on LinkedIn. It doesn't need to be a full blown platform like manufacturing happy hour, but that's kind of the way I think of you know things like websites, social media, et cetera.
Damon Pistulka :Yeah.
Curt Anderson:I love that. So all right, let's go here. So Chris worked for a small manufacturer. You know you're a booming. Are you introvert? Extrovert, how would you? I'm just teasing.
Chris Luecke :Definitely extrovert, I know some people are tricky to figure out which direction they go, but there's no fooling anyone.
Curt Anderson:Yeah, you are the booming extrovert. So let's you know again, it wasn't like upper management at Rockwell or somebody who's like hey, chris, like you really need to kind of like you know, get yourself out there. Like you totally just took the bull by the horns and like you spearheaded this. You had the vision, you had the creation right, and, and, and a major company supported you with that whole process, right.
Chris Luecke :Yeah, I think I think the lesson here is, or what I would share is like very, I feel like very rarely is someone going to come up to you and present the golden opportunity for you.
Chris Luecke :People are going to need to go out there and create it themselves. You know, and and I think one of the things that worked well with manufacturing happy hour was it was never part of my formal job, but it was something that I'm like you know, hey, I, you know, I have a voice, I have a customer base, I have the potential to build a community. One thing I need to make sure I do is make sure I align what I do with the brand voice in some way, shape or form. I think it's important that people come off as their authentic selves. You don't want to sound like you're just regurgitating something that came off a marketing white paper, but I do think I always tell folks you know, it's a two way street, right People who are employees at organizations they need to be paying attention to hey, what is the brand voice? Right, you know how does my company sound? And find a way to kind of merge that with your own voice. Right, because you want to be a good representative of who you're working for and that's the ultimate way to create a win-win. And I share with marketing leaders now that I give more talks on content strategy. It's like, hey, if you ever see someone that's out there starting to share content. Do your best as a marketing organization, as the leadership of the company If it's more of like a small, medium-sized manufacturing you just don't have that large individual marketing infrastructure do your best to empower that individual to continue to share and continue to be a representative of the company and continue to have a unique voice, but one that's also on brand right.
Chris Luecke :The cool thing about social media is, if you share content, it's going to be out there for a little bit and then, more than likely, it's going to disappear.
Chris Luecke :So even if you say something that's you know, maybe there's a different word your company would have used to describe something hey, that post is going to disappear at some point. If you're the marketing leader or if you're the executive at that organization, what I would do is just say, hey, I love the content you're doing. By the way, we've got this new line coming out, or this is how we phrase things in this organization. Just collaborate with them so that way they get it right on the next post. I mean, that's kind of the way I think about it. If you're doing content right, it's going to be an ongoing activity versus a. This is your one shot to say the right thing, and I think too many people, when they get on camera, that is their concern. They're like, if I don't say the right thing right now, I'll never get an opportunity to say this again. It's like you could literally go on LinkedIn two hours later and post something else on LinkedIn.
Chris Luecke :And the things. Would you know, attention would start going over there and you post another thing tomorrow, you post another thing the next day, the next week and you know, all of a sudden, you know you're building that body of work and people look at your expertise and your insights and your values in the community you've built, not as a single post, but of the average of all the things you're putting out there. Right, and that's kind of the way I think about content. If I'm just out there constantly, uh, trying to add value to my audience out there, and that's that involves knowing my audience, what they care about, what their challenges are, what's important to them, and building content that either helps bring my audience together, you know, showcases some insight that might help them, you know, either that day or maybe at some other point in time. Just constantly keeping my eye on the ball in that regard.
Damon Pistulka :Yeah, and that's that's a great point, because so many times you're working with someone that hasn't done a lot of content development and they're like, oh, we need this to do a video, and they're ready to bring in all the lights and extra camera people and all this stuff and I'm like, dude, just start, yeah, yeah, just start. Or posting oh, is this post format? Just start, write your thought for the day, whatever it is, and get going because everyone looks back at the beginning and goes oh man, that was yeah.
Chris Luecke :Yeah, one of the things I try to do is, you know, just so I'm setting an example for the industry is I try to create some posts that are really simple, right, like maybe just a couple sentences. No, like, no pictures, like not everything has to look perfectly curated, if you. You know, sometimes I think to myself, if I have like a moment of clarity that day, I'm like, huh, this might be helpful if I shared it with my audience. A lot of times I'll like post it, maybe schedule it to go out the next day. Um, just so I have time to do a gut check. It's like maybe that wasn't as insightful anyway. You know, sometimes that happens. But you know, I just I do that stuff to get it out there, right, cause there's usually, I think, more damage for lack of a better word in second guessing yourself on a lot of the little things. Like I think, you know, for little things it's okay to make more of that gut reaction saying hey, you know, I was just in this sales meeting and I feel like this gave me clarity on something that I've been trying to learn as a salesperson for the past six years. I'm going to share that insight with you. Know.
Chris Luecke :The industry on LinkedIn? Not necessarily, and I want to be clear, like if you're coming out of a customer meeting, you don't mention the customer name, right? Things like that, which is like you know, I've been visiting a lot of customers for the past six months and one thing that just hit me today was blank Right, and you know you, you share that out. It could be as easy as that. I just I wish more people would be willing to put out those, you know, those posts that are less than curated, or just, you know, film a video with their iPhone sharing something they learned. Because that's how you build momentum, because early on, no one's paying attention. Like you've got your LinkedIn network, they'll think it's cool that you shared something, but here's the reality that post is going to go away pretty soon.
Curt Anderson:Yeah, you do a phenomenal job. You mentioned being authentic and just what you see with Chris Lukey is what you get, and I don't know if there's anybody that's a bigger brand advocate for US manufacturing. You're just doing a phenomenal job stirring up young folks. Manufacturing. You're just doing a phenomenal job, you know, stirring up young folks and you also. You share a lot of personal stuff. You're a music junkie, you know. You and I've talked about music on the show before. I believe you're an avid traveler. How many countries are you at now, chris?
Chris Luecke :I am at oh gosh, well, I think it's 33, no 34, 34. I'm at 34. I went to 34 right before I turned 35. So in an ideal world I'd be keeping up with my age my respective age but having traveled a lot, now I'm going back to a lot of my favorite spots. I've been back to London a handful of times. You won't have to twist my arm too hard to get me to Berlin. So but yes, 34 is the current country count.
Curt Anderson:Well, I'm a huge fan. It's one of my wife and I, my wife and myself Berlin's one of our favorite cities. Now do I have this like, as we're talking and I could be wrong you're talking about posts. I thought about a post. Were you in Spain last summer, last year.
Chris Luecke :I was, yeah, I was hiking the Camino, you hiked the Camino and I have to interject was it with your dad?
Curt Anderson:Yep, yep. So, dude, like all right, I want to talk about. I'm going totally off script right now from what I'm playing, but you so share, let's hit that for a minute. And this is more like heck with everybody else, this is just for me. So you take, you go to the camino and tell folks if they're not familiar with uh de santiago am I pronouncing that correctly or am I close?
Curt Anderson:I probably butchered it but yeah, the camino de santiago yeah, it is here, share what it is and like, dude, you did it with your dad, like how cool is that?
Chris Luecke :yeah, no, it was. It was awesome, like this is something my dad's wanted to do for you know a long time. He's been talking about it probably for like five years, and I've I've been kind of nudging him saying, hey, we should, we should probably do this at some point, cause I'm you know, I'm pretty good about going on trips, right, like as long as I put a little bit of planning into it. Like I know, the barrier between me and getting on the trail in Spain is not much more than an airfare and like a train to the right part of Spain right.
Chris Luecke :Like there are ways to get there and make it happen. So you know, for a little context, on the Camino de Santiago, I believe it translates the way of St James, right? So it's a pilgrimage that's rooted in faith, rooted in Catholicism, I believe is the right way to describe it, but you know it's evolved in faith, rooted in Catholicism, I believe, is the right way to describe it, but you know it's evolved over time, right when you know, regardless of you know your background, right. You know folks are going out there as a like it's a pilgrimage to gain clarity, reflect whatever it may be. There's a great movie out there called the Way, which is about an individual that goes on the trek after the tragic passing of his son. I'm trying to remember, I think it's Martin Sheen is the main character in that movie.
Curt Anderson:I think you're exactly right, yep.
Chris Luecke :So you know there's a lot there's, there's pop culture around this. You know a lot of travelers around the world. They're very familiar with it. So there are lots of reasons to go on the Camino. But to kind of weave this into a bit of a brand topic, if you will, I was on vacation, right, so I wasn't out there posting a lot of LinkedIn stuff. But I did share a post saying, hey, my dad and I are out here to trek the Camino and stuff.
Chris Luecke :but I did share a post, you know, saying hey, my dad and I are out here to trek the Camino, um, you know just kind of, you know, mixing in that personal element of my life a little bit Um, and that post got a lot of visibility right and, uh, you know it was a great track. Um, I love traveling, love experiencing the cuisine somewhere. I've done a lot of, uh, other treks in my life, in Patagonia and the Canadian back country. So, you know, walking through a more populated part of Spain was was certainly an easier trek than some of those ones where I've been really off the beaten path. But long story short, you know it was an awesome trip. Uh, we got to go to Portugal afterwards as well, like just a great time all around.
Chris Luecke :But when I came back, you know, I went to a couple of industry events right, I was at which one was it? I went to Pac Expo down in Chicago. I went to Automation Fair out in Southern California and each time I bumped into, you know, a couple of people that had like seen that I had been on that trek right, that I had been on that track right, and it was all of a sudden it was something different that didn't have beyond. Just hey, here's what I think about content strategy right now, or?
Chris Luecke :hey, here's what I think about building community, or hey, here's what I think about automation. It was a different way to build a relationship with someone, strengthen a relationship with someone, build trust, build rapport whatever it is with someone, because they had seen that social post and it had translated to a real world conversation that we connected over. The next time we saw one another, cause I'd, I'd talked to a handful of people. It's like, oh, I did that, you know, you know X number of years ago, or hey, I've always wanted to do it. I think it's so cool that you went on that trip with your dad. So just a lot of different ways that, um, you know, being a little vulnerable, sharing a little bit about your life outside of what you do for work, can I mean it translates back into building trust and relationships in your day job as well. It's pretty cool.
Curt Anderson:Yeah, and same here, and so you know, obviously I thought you come up on my feed frequently and I was following your trip and I'm very tight with my dad. Damon, you had an amazing relationship with your dad and I just it just completely warmed my heart to see that you had an opportunity with your dad while your dad's still here with us Because, like dads don't stay, you know, around forever and and you know, and health comes and goes, and so, dude, I just and like you're saying, it's not always about business. So, like Damon, we talk with a lot of manufacturers very, uh, you know, might be resistant to get on LinkedIn. Don't want to talk about anything personal, but, chris, I, I, just I love how you're sharing that and you're just being your true self. Like these are things you would talk about if I met you in person, that you're not doing anything different online.
Chris Luecke :Yeah, you know what?
Chris Luecke :what I kind of realized over time was like I don't, I don't need to turn LinkedIn to Facebook right, there's, there's a different way I use LinkedIn versus other social social media platforms, but I tend to mix in things from my personal life or my hobbies as Easter eggs in some of my broader posts, right, A lot of times it's, like, you know, mentioning something about music or mentioning something about craft beer, all these things that are on my list of things I love during my spare time. And you know, over time people are like oh man, Chris is a fan of craft beer. Or wow, Chris is really into punk rock and things like that, and that gives you. It's just something that allows you to relate to certain people within your audience on a different level, and it doesn't really alienate anyone else If they're.
Chris Luecke :If you know, if you know, for example, like I'm not a hunter, but I know a lot of people that hunt, right, Like, if I did that, I'd probably have that as a rapport builder. Right, Everyone has different things that are going to overlap with. Everyone has different things that are going to overlap with their different comrades, if you will.
Curt Anderson:Yeah, yeah, I absolutely love that. So I want to slide in here. I want to talk one more question about your business. Then we're going to dive into the Industrial Marketing Summit Again. If you're just joining us, we're over the top of the hour. We're here with Chris Lucchi Manufacturing Happy Hour. Please do yourself a favor, connect with Chris on LinkedIn. Stop by his website Manufacturing Happy Hour. So, chris, you said that you're kind of like you know, podcast entertainment. Now back to I recall you guys did a big event and I think you put on like you had like a 90s little concert thing. Did I see that correctly? Yeah, all right. So like talk a little bit when you say like, hey, we're kind of becoming like a little bit of an entertainment company.
Chris Luecke :Talk about like some of the previous events and then I know you've got some big events coming up, let's, let's go there, do it. Because I'm like you know people, people love going to see live music, right, and they want to go to. You know, people like going to proper concerts, not like, hey, we're at an after party at a conference, there's a band playing in the corner, right, that's just kind of there for some filler, and which is all well and good, right, nothing wrong with that. But I'm like what if we threw an event where the purpose was to go and rock out and see the band and be really into the music? And that was the whole thought process.
Chris Luecke :And the other piece of it is hey, people are traveling for work. They don't always have. You know, when you're traveling for work, right, your time is limited, especially if you have kids, you know. So when you're out, this might be your only opportunity to go to a concert, if you will, or to do that really fun thing. So I'm like it doesn't always just have to be a networking happy hours, like let's start mixing in comedy nights, let's start mixing in concerts, so that way when you are traveling, you can still have those unique, authentic experiences that don't feel like a corporate event. You know, especially if you're in your thirties or forties and you're raising a family, you probably don't have time to go out as much anymore.
Chris Luecke :So yeah, hey, but if you're having to travel for work anyway, let's make use of those three or four days where you're outside of the house and not only get a lot of stuff done, but also let's give you the opportunity to have some fun in a way that you'd really you know that, that you'd do that, that you do it if you had the time to go out, and things like that. So that was, that was kind of the vibe there. We had 150 people show up to this old school punk rock club in Chicago. Um, it just just a ton of fun all around, um, you know, so we'll, we'll be doing more stuff like that. I do have other events coming up that will, uh, that are more traditional happy hours, others that are going to kind of change the game again. So a lot of fun stuff on the horizon.
Damon Pistulka :Awesome, I do have to go here. You're a craft beer enthusiast, right? So you're walking into a brewery. You're excited about what they got on tap. Where are you going, ooh?
Chris Luecke :anywhere in the world.
Damon Pistulka :No, I mean, what are you looking for on their menu On there? They got their 10 or so of theirs that are up there. Which ones are you looking at first?
Chris Luecke :Great question. So my beer preferences do evolve and kind of shift over time. I'm into certain a craft beer enthusiast for like around 15 years now. I would say some of the tried and true ones are IPAs, just because there's so much variety under that category. But when someone asks me it's like hey, what's your, what's your favorite beer, what's your favorite style of beer, what's your favorite specific beer? I am looking for something to answer your question. I'm looking for something local, first and foremost. Right, if I can find something I haven't had before, or if I can find one of my favorite beers that might only be available in that city, whether that city is Austin, texas, san Francisco, california, whether it's an old favorite or something new, I'm getting something that more than likely you can only get in that region.
Chris Luecke :Yep, the other thing I like to say is my favorite uh beer in general are seasonal beers, beers that pair well with that moment in time. Like if it's a, you know, since we're going to Austin soon, you know it won't be a hundred degrees, but if it's a hundred degrees in the middle of summer in Austin, I'm going for a lager, cause that's going to refreshing cold, like that's what you need at that point in time. If I'm hanging out in Milwaukee right now, you know it's cold, it's it's below 32 degrees Fahrenheit right now. So I'm probably going to go with something darker, more fuller bodied in that case, and and that that can range right. That could be anything from a really piney IPa to a, you know, a barrel age stout or even something like a like a schwartz beer, like a dark german lager. So, uh, that whole answer was an opportunity for me just to name drop a lot of styles that I enjoy uh but uh, no, that's, that's.
Chris Luecke :That's my very. I realized I didn't really give you a specific answer.
Damon Pistulka :I basically said you know what, we can order everything. That's kind of what it comes down to. You did, you did Local seasonal Start there.
Curt Anderson:Local and seasonal. And you know what else he did, damon, very, very. I'll tell you, chris Lukey is, like you know, one of the most fascinating guys, because now, when we're in Austin anybody that caught this now they know what to buy him when they're at the bar. Right, chris, he kind of teed it up. Now they know, buy something local, something seasonal when you're buying Chris a beer, and he'll be happy. So how about that Good stuff? All right, let's dive into the Industrial Marketing Summit. It's coming up, my goodness gracious, just next week, next Wednesday. Right, where did time go? Do I have that? Right, it's a week.
Chris Luecke :Not next week, the week after we got two weeks but it is sneaking up fast.
Curt Anderson:Yeah, I got to look at my calendar. It is the 10th today, so the week after it's two weeks. Right, two weeks, all right. Thank you, chris man, I panicked there for a minute. I'm like wait, okay, all right. So 26, 27, 28. Let's take a look and let's go to the website. And, chris, I do believe you did a wonderful session last year. You were moderating a great session. Let's talk a little bit about, first off, your insight, your thoughts from the Industrial Marketing Summit, from last year.
Chris Luecke :What was your takeaway from last year? Best event we could have done in the industrial marketing space. It was for Best event we could have done in the industrial marketing space Like it was for especially. I mean the whole team behind it has done an incredible job this year, did an outstanding job last year because this was the first. Last year was the first time it was its own standalone event. It used to be like a side event that was part of content marketing world, but last year was the first time it was a standalone event.
Chris Luecke :No-transcript US, like pretty much anyone that's anyone in this space was there and that's not to make someone feel left out if they didn't go last year. But you know, being able to just riff with people that are in many cases, you know. I think the thing about industrial marketing is we are not always the well. I run my own company so I'll keep myself out of this, but industrial marketers are not always the heroes that they should be within an organization. Right, because if industrial marketing is done right and is done with some ingenuity and it's unique, it's a revenue driver.
Chris Luecke :Right, it is not sales support, it is not making a white paper or a PowerPoint look good and handing it off to the sales team. It is a revenue driver in its own right, where the marketing leaders understand what the goals of the company are, who they want to reach and create a content strategy that ultimately results in brand recognition and leads. So I'm going down this path because I think the most important part about this event is the quality of folks there, and if you are a marketer, that might be a one person show at your company. This is a spot to rub shoulders with other people that are on larger marketing teams. Maybe they're in the same boat, right, but this is a place to build your alliance your alliances of other industrial marketers that can help you out and you can exchange ideas with. That will last all year long, so I think it's incredibly important in that regard.
Curt Anderson:Absolutely love it and, as a matter of fact, might be a little hard to tell right there, but if you take a peek like, there's Chris Lukey right there moderating his session. It was a phenomenal session, damon. So Eddie Saunders was on stage.
Chris Luecke :Let's see who else was on stage with you that day, nikki Gonzalez and Jordan Yates, that was our panel.
Curt Anderson:Yeah, I'll tell you, man, it was a powerhouse. As a matter of fact, jordan came on the show Damon last year, like two weeks after she presented, and so Nicky's been on the show. Just a dynamo let's dive into this year. So some phenomenal speakers. Chris, you know this. Have you ever met this guy?
Chris Luecke :before. Do you know him?
Curt Anderson:Just a few times. Yeah, he's okay, he's okay, he's a keeper, right. So we've got some phenomenal speakers. Dale was just on the show last week. He is just an absolute powerhouse. Can't wait. I mean, I'd say just we go right down the line. But, chris, just share a little bit. What are you going to be talking about at the Industrial Marketing Summit?
Chris Luecke :Yeah. So the session, as folks looking at the screen can see, is how to host an unforgettable live event with a massive digital impact. And if I were to summarize what this discussion is about, in fact, I'm looking at my notes from it right here. I've got the whole thing written out and it's's going to be. It's a talk I've never given before, but I'm excited to debut it at the Industrial Marketing Summit. I would say the biggest preview I can give folks right now is that this session is meant to be a mindset shift around how you go about planning, promoting and executing an event before, during and after that event. So that way you can turn the event life cycle into like a three month endeavor that engages your community, gets your brand out there and creates a lot of excitement that you wouldn't if you were just doing a typical webinar, if you will. Right. So I'm a big believer in uh, you know, doing community first events, right? You know, don't make the event about yourself. Make it about the people that are going to be there. So you know, for example, when I do podcast tours and we do a live podcast, we've got some coming up in Indianapolis and Columbus. You know, we're going to make it about the Columbus manufacturing community. We're going to make it about the Indianapolis manufacturing community. So, keep a community first approach and promote, document, take photos, all of these type of things.
Chris Luecke :Because, hey, right after this call, I'm about to release, like, put out the event artwork. I'm going to put the links to the events, I'm going to start that hype, right, that's going to be one of the impressions the event makes. Right, I'm going to be talking about it for the three weeks leading up to it. What type of partners we're bringing to the table, what type of nonprofits we're bringing to the table for these events? At the event, there's going to be photographers, videographers. It's going to be a content creation event in and of itself. You take photos, you make those photos available to folks that are there so they can share them as well.
Chris Luecke :I say all this because what this turns into is it's not just an event that takes place from 5pm to 8pm after work on a Tuesday. It is an extravaganza that engages your community and also is plastered across your digital channels, across social media and, hey, maybe that results in a new email list, maybe that results in some brand awareness that pays off a year from now, um, but it's just a way to shift your mindset around an event. It's not just the thing that occurs after work at one moment in time, but it can be something that you build into your content strategy and, depending on the size of the event, for a three to six month period of time.
Curt Anderson:I just absolutely love this. It can be great. So I mean, it can be either a physical event, it can be a major conference, it can be your own event and again, like when you look at like what you've done, like you've just completely created your own opportunities with Manufacturing Happy Hour, Are you podcasting from the Industrial Marketing Summit?
Chris Luecke :I will At the party on Thursday night. I'll be recording a couple podcasts there live. So if you want to sit in our area and listen in to what we're talking about, it'll be focused on you know. We're going to be talking about marketing for small companies, we're going to be talking about marketing for enterprise and we're also going to be diving into a bit of the MarTech that's out there right now as well, so it'll be a nice little smorgasbord of topics. Really looking forward to that.
Curt Anderson:Well, absolutely Love it. Chris. And for a shameless plug, we're going to be going live ourselves on, I think, Thursday. There's like a break at 2.30. So I'd love to have you available, get you on stage with us. We're just going to do a little rapid fire. I think you were with us last year, right? Yeah, yeah.
Chris Luecke :I jumped on it. I'm looking, I'm looking forward to being a part of that party, so to speak, this year as well.
Curt Anderson:Yeah, so Jeff. Well, I'm bringing Jeff Long, cause last year, man Damon, I just like I have a really pathetic like setup and so I'm bringing Jeff Long's. Got more muscle with the camera, so we'll have Jeff Long this year. How about, chris? Let's go here. You know we mentioned I want to give a little love, a little shout out to Joe Sullivan, the entire team at Gorilla 76, Wendy Covey, true Marketing. We had a couple. Two of their teammates were on the show Friday. We got Adam from Cadenas. Just a little shout out to the folks on, like what you know, just think what it takes to put this event on right. Like you're the party planner, you know what it takes. Let, like you're the party planner, you know what it takes. Let's give a little shout out what's your perspective?
Chris Luecke :for those guys. Yeah, in terms of what it takes like, what it like what it takes to put on the event, like you know, you know the nice, the nice thing is they're very savvy marketers as well. So you know they, they know what they're doing when they put on these events. But what it takes to pull it off, Um, it takes a great team, it takes being organized, takes picking, like you know. It takes focusing on the details, right, you got to get a venue that feels comfortable. You got to get spots for the after parties that feel comfortable, that are engaging, that are unique, curating the right list of speakers.
Chris Luecke :But I think it goes back to one of the earlier points that I was making, is it? You know, you got to know your audience, right. What are they most interested in? What is going to get someone to sign up and say, hey, I'm making the investment of money, I'm making the investment of time? Uh, you know what are the things that are going to entice them to get there? And then, once they're there, how are you going to deliver on that? And by creating the agenda that they have, with the team they have, you know they've they've created a bulletproof team, a bulletproof like list of activities to make sure that the event is going to be a success. That's the thing that I would say that that team does really really well in terms of putting this together.
Curt Anderson:Yeah, I totally agree, and I think if anybody's on the bubble, if you're on the fence, you know, go back. If you're just catching us now, hit that little replay button. But, chris, I think you hit it right on the head. It's not just the amazing speakers, the energy, the innovation, the creativity, but just like rubbing elbows with each other in halls. You know people that you've. You know you and I've had a relationship for years. We finally get to high five and hug it up in person. It's just such a wonderful event. So I know you're a busy dude and I'm keeping it. We're going to start winding down here Events that you have coming up on the horizon that you want to share for folks. Where can we catch Chris Lukey? On top of the Industrial Marketing Summit? Where else can we catch you?
Chris Luecke :Yeah, so actually that week I'm doing two events. So I'm starting the week at the Midwest manufacturers trade show and summit in Branson, missouri. So now they're kicking off that event with drew Crow. We'll be taking the stage together there. So that is February 24th through 26th, and then I'm heading right down to the industrial marketing summit after that, which is the 26th through 28th, I believe, is that correct 26th through 28th, that's correct Yep Wednesday Thursday.
Curt Anderson:Friday Yep.
Chris Luecke :So the week after that we go on the first Manufacturing Happy Hour Tour of the Year, which is going to be the 2025 Winter Tour. It's the Blizzard Bash. I'm teaming up with Clifton, larson Allen and the Association for advancing automation on that. Uh. On march 3rd through 6th we're going to kalamazoo, michigan. On the 3rd, we're going to indianapolis, indiana, on the 4th, columbus, ohio, on the 5th and toledo, ohio, on the 6th. So back to back to back to back. It's going to be a big week. They're going to, you know.
Chris Luecke :In addition, there are quite a few, so I'll do the abbreviated version here. We got an after party at ProMat on March 18th. We've got an event in Rothschild, wisconsin, on April 24th, a comedy night in Boston on April 30th, a special surprise party in Manufacturing Happy Hour on May 10th, a special surprise party and manufacturing happy hour on May 10th More details coming on that soon. That's in Milwaukee, and then on May 13th at Automate. I'm teaming up with Jake Hall, who we saw earlier on the screen. We're doing our annual extra innings after party at Automate. So there's a lot going on between now and uh and may and I'm looking forward to all of it.
Curt Anderson:And Chris, best way for folks to kind of if any, if anybody's in any of those cities or available uh, available or interested in catching your events can just connect with you on LinkedIn, follow your website. Is that the best?
Chris Luecke :I think the best spot actually is go to manufacturing happyhourcom slash tour. That'll take you to our event page. That's where you can get tickets, register for all the events that have been released so far. We just posted the spring tour there, so manufacturinghappyhourcom slash tour is usually the best spot to go to access the events that I am hosting directly. Right, of course, check out the Industrial Marketing Summit, check out the Midwest Manufacturers Trade Show and Conference, but manufacturinghappyhourcom slash tour that's the best way to find me and the parties that I'm throwing.
Curt Anderson:All right, you know. So super fast. Let's see, did I catch it? Am I at the right place?
Chris Luecke :Yep, you got it. Yep, that's all right. So scroll down, you'll see. All our events are down there. So, and if you have any doubts of our ability to throw a party, you can see all of our past events as well. So it's, it's going to be a good time.
Curt Anderson:This is phenomenal and, and Damon, and I, and I love it, damon, we've actually had somebody from Clifton Larson Allen on the show before, so that was cool to hear hear. Those guys are supporting you, so that is absolutely wonderful. So, all right, chris, as we wind down, my last question for you. I'm going to stop sharing. So again, chris Lukey, linkedin, go to manufacturing happy hourcom.
Curt Anderson:You want to catch those events? Just throw a little backslash through on tour and you're going to catch any of those events. If you're in one of those cities, man, you do not want to miss this Great place to network, wonderful way to meet new friends, and just meet the one and only Chris Lukey. Chris, going from like Rockwell Automation, you've lived, you've been all over the world, all these countries. You just did the Camino with your dad as you were building up your business, this entrepreneurial journey that you started about 15, 16 months ago. Could you please share what's the best business advice that you've ever received, that you has really helped elevate your business and or that you want to share with a new entrepreneur Best business advice that you've ever received?
Chris Luecke :Yeah, I'm trying to trying to go through the Rolodex of of of great pieces of advice that I've received. You know there are a lot. I'm going to share one that I don't always share because this one, this one's pretty pragmatic. But you know, I built a business that's really built around a lot of my passions, right, like throwing events. There's some craft beer mixed in. Uh, you know, podcasting is mixed in.
Chris Luecke :One of the best pieces of advice I got from Mike Cromicky when I was collaborating with him on one of my first startups, was, you know I was. I was trying to figure out where to spend my time and he was saying it's like hey, you gotta, you gotta pay attention to where the money's coming from. Um, and I say that because you know it's. It's not. That's not to say, hey, all you're focused on is the money, right, but when you have a lot of competing priorities, it is really important to keep in mind, like, where are the opportunities that are going to pay the bills? Right, who are the partners that I work with, that we just create this big win-win for one another and both of our businesses succeed in the process. Right, with all the things that can distract a business owner. You know, I think understanding where the money is coming from and making sure you're putting time into that is incredibly important, and that could be where the money is coming from short term as well as where the money is coming from long term as well.
Chris Luecke :That's not to confuse, you know, just short term thinking with with long term results. Right, you got to be thinking of both, but I do think, especially for an entrepreneur that might be getting overwhelmed with all the different things they could be doing, the different directions they could be going in, it's a great way to take a quick reset and say what are the things that's going to allow my business to survive? Right, Like you got you got to sit, you got to sit down and look at the things that you know I need to do these activities so that way this business will grow and be viable for the next six months, year, five years, et cetera. So that would be the piece of advice I would share today. I know there are others that other pieces of advice out there that I could have gone in those directions as well, but we'll end with that one for today.
Curt Anderson:Well, drop the mic, my friend. That is brilliant advice and it sounds, you know. I love the line where you know it's not always it's easy. How do they say it? It's simple, but it's not always easy, you know, and it's hard to decipher. When you're a solopreneur, entrepreneur, you know like, hey, what are you know? I call them like those time wasters, profit killers, where you think it's a priority, but maybe there's other things that you should be focusing on. So, brilliant advice, I brilliant advice. I thank you for that. We're going to close down, damon thoughts takeaways. What are your thoughts from this wonderful, incredible conversation with Chris Lukey?
Damon Pistulka :Yeah, I just. Chris. It's awesome talking to you and hearing how you transitioned, you know, from your sales career into what you're doing now. That really feels your passion. You know interacting with your passion and helping manufacturers all in one. It really is inspirational to hear your story and what you're doing now and helping people, because it does make a huge difference. You're bringing the younger generation into manufacturing. You're bringing people into a community that really can talk about some things that they may not have places to do that otherwise, honestly and in fun settings. So it's awesome to hear what you're doing.
Curt Anderson:Yeah, and was it? Zig Ziglar said if you pursue your passion, you never work a day in your life. And you know, like, when you see, like the music, like you said, the craft brew, your passion for manufacturing and just you know what, and just your unapologetic commitment to building community, and you do it with integrity, you do with authenticity, and for that I'm going to invite everybody to give Chris Lukey a big round of applause. How about a standing ovation for Chris Lukey today? Chris, I appreciate you. I cannot wait to see you. I'm going to see you. I'm glad you.
Curt Anderson:I'm glad you corrected me, because I would have been hanging out in Austin next week wondering where everybody was right. So I will see you in two weeks. Dude, I've got a big high five waiting for you. Hang out with us for one second. I just want to share with everybody. Man, just go out and be someone's inspiration, just like this young guy, you're going to make the world a better place. Chris, thank you. We'll see you in two weeks. Guys, have a great rest of your week. Damon and I will be back here Friday. God bless, and just keep crushing it, man, see you.
Damon Pistulka :Have a great week everyone.
