Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Conner Cayson of findmeinseattle.com and how “normies” view of the World Cup in Seattle
197 Plays23 minutes ago
Conner Cayson joins Jeremiah for this special World Cup interview. He shares his insight as the Find Me In Seattle guy to how the upcoming Seattle World Cup events might be viewed from a “normie” perspective.
Follow Conner Cayson at findmeinseattle.com and YouTube.
Sponsor
🍷 Full Pull Wines: Love wine but not wine clubs? Check out the boutique wine seller who lets you browse their selections and pick whatever you want. You can join their mailing list here: https://fullpullwines.com/signup.php
***
Nos Audietis is the flagship podcast for Sounder at Heart, which has been primarily listener supported since 2023. You can support us by becoming a paid subscriber, learn more here. You can also watch many of their shows on YouTube.
Aside from becoming a Sounder at Heart subscriber, you can also support the show by using this link to purchase the Sounder at Heart physical magazine, IV or checking out our merch table to buy various shirt designs.
“Diversions” audio provided by Sounder at Heart subscriber Lars; find more of their music here.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction of Will Bruin and Connor Kaysen
00:00:01
Speaker
Hi, I'm Will Bruin, and I was just recognized as a Seattle Sounders legend. Now I get to do voice reads for the Sounder at Heart podcast network. Here we go.
00:00:11
Speaker
Come on. Hey, O'Shaughness. Let's The Seattle Sounders have done it. MLS Cup winners. The Sounders rule the region.
00:00:43
Speaker
Ooch of a gooch! All creatures, great and small! Rothrock gonna collect it, he does about, runs into the advertising order. Low to our left, ball goes in! Oh, what a Where's my copy? got bunch of them How many do you cost them? 50 bucks.
00:01:08
Speaker
I'll deadline you.
00:01:18
Speaker
This episode of Nos Arietes is sponsored by Full Pull Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of Nos Arietes since 2011. Full Pull was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime Sounder supporters.
00:01:32
Speaker
They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, Pacific Northwest.
00:01:41
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of Nos Adientes on the Sounder Heart Podcast Network. Joining me today at our beautiful headquarters in the International District is Connor Kaysen of Find Me in Seattle.
00:01:52
Speaker
it is You're a local content creator, I guess it's the easiest way to say it, but you are out there telling the stories of... people in the community. And the main reason I wanted to have you on is this series that you have going on with ah the World Cup where you're handing out these, i guess they're
Connor's Journey in Content Creation
00:02:10
Speaker
beacons. Sea beacons. Sea beacons.
00:02:12
Speaker
and ah And sort of you're in the process meeting a lot of not soccer people who are gearing up for this World Cup. And before we get into all that, though, I guess I should say thank you for coming on and Yeah, happy to be on your show. Yeah, um I am a follower of yours on Instagram. That's another thing you should if you don't know, Connor is all over Instagram.
00:02:34
Speaker
Yeah, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, wherever a video is posted, you'll probably. Yeah, and you're in asa and I've loved that you you've done a fair amount of sounder stuff, too. Yeah, I'm a sounder season take holder. I've been a season take holder since 2011.
00:02:47
Speaker
two thousand and eleven and And I've been lucky enough to ah ah collaborate directly with them where they actually ah hired me to make videos about my experience going to games. And ah it's an opportunity I know not not a lot of people get.
00:03:01
Speaker
And so for them to be like, oh, like, well, you know, send us an invoice to make this video about going to the game has been just like dream come true for a season take holder. Well, so before we get into the World Cup stuff, how has it been being a content creator in Seattle where there seems to be a lot of...
00:03:19
Speaker
What is now, I guess, just generically called content creation? Yeah, ah i became self-employed in 2018 and started this content creator agency that I run. And back then, everyone was like, you're a what? Like the content creator thing wasn't a thing.
00:03:35
Speaker
And now anyone with a cell phone who takes pictures of their food or literally just sticks up the selfie camera that talks. to their phone, they are a content creator. And so now, like, everyone gets the ick by that because, ah right, like, the thing to do is you get laid off from your job and you're like, I'm trying this content creator thing. and But no, like, I actually, like, make a really good living making content. And I don't only make content for myself, but my primary income is I make content for other people. So I work up businesses from real estate agents to grocery stores to doctors, of restaurants, everything. And I make...
00:04:10
Speaker
short form videos on my phone for them. And so I guess that is probably what differentiates you. I would imagine a lot of the content creator folks are just sort of like a solo brand that are making their, this using their own platform as a way of promoting themselves or other businesses potentially, but that it's a lot of, you know, it's, it's not necessarily a I mean, what you sound like you are in a lot of ways a sort of a modern ad agency. Yeah. Yeah. Ad agency. i mean, you,
00:04:40
Speaker
People have called said journalists. I would say like lowercase J journalists. And I get told a lot like, oh, you're a storyteller. Right. because I like a lot of food. I do a lot of stories about restaurants, but I don't necessarily get lumped in with like the foodie community. There's plenty of creators now in Seattle who are like, this is the new hot restaurant. Like this is the best pizza in Seattle. Yeah. And kind of stay away from that narrative. Right. Right. Right. ah Which, hey, I love that stuff, too.
00:05:06
Speaker
yeah Yeah, but it's just not your it's not your it your avenue necessarily. it was my avenue at one point. But as times have changed, I don't have the where I'm lucky is I don't feel the need to be in the rat race. Social media now is about posting four times a day. Yes. And fighting the algorithm and just finding something that pops. And then the three other things are kind of like whatever. Right. Yeah.
00:05:30
Speaker
I've done that before. I kind of like started my career of like need to post every day about a new business. Oh, man. But now I'm much more on like almost like creating a piece of art, telling a really good story.
Sounder at Heart's Evolution and Podcasting Insights
00:05:39
Speaker
and The story of Sounder Heart, honestly. Yeah, we started. out I mean, I mean, I'll be honest. When Sounder at Heart first started out, we were very much part of the aggregator sort of world.
00:05:49
Speaker
And we don't do a lot of aggregation anymore, in part because it's become a much more crowded space. But and also it's it also is allows us to tell bigger stories. launch a magazine doing things like that ah so i i can really appreciate that uh that said i do have a question and i you don't do this content a lot but i'm curious if you understand why it exists the sitting in a car talking to your camp why is sitting in your car and talking to a camera such a popular way of doing this is is there like an actual algorithm trick in that no well first um the sound is really good in your car Oh, so okay doing a podcast in your car makes sense. The pandemic changed a lot of things because people like I had a podcast with my wife.
00:06:33
Speaker
We had a ah show that we recorded every weekend. This was before i had kids and we called it dim sum days. And we come down here to the CID. We'd pick up dim sum to go because we couldn't eat at the restaurants. yeah And then we would just eat it in the car and talk about the food and like talk about our week and like because we'll talk about whatever. um I didn't know that you did and that. was Well, that was that was like 2020 when everyone was figuring out yeah what are going to do for content. yeah um and yeah And that was like just a fun pet project that my wife and i experimented with. I think we did like 12 episodes. and but it sounds really good yeah it's easy to do but i just like that's the current state of social media right now right it's like like if a lot of women are as they're doing their makeup they're telling their story right or um who's he came to seattle and he had that fish the yeah yeah i know you're talking about i'm blanking on his name but he always sits in his car and yeah food
00:07:28
Speaker
And so I think there's also this genre of content of people driving through, picking up food, eating in their car and talking. And it's just like an easy place oh that's contained because there are times where I will be filming a video in a restaurant and i people are super unhappy with you. Sure.
00:07:44
Speaker
Or the but you didn't have permission to do this. Yeah. Like or like, please, they don't do not say please. But like, don't film me. I don't give you permission. Why are you filming in here? People, you know, get like really scared. Yeah. But now everybody's filming everywhere. So it's just kind of the the nature of being out in public, sadly.
00:08:03
Speaker
But. Yeah, I think just being in your car is a ah private space. That sounds good and easy, easy to All right. Well, that answers that, I suppose. ah So getting into the World Cup of it all, you have how many of these beacons have you given out? And if people don't know what they are, what would how would you describe them?
World Cup Initiatives and Reactions
00:08:22
Speaker
Yeah. So the sea beacons are these whale flukes, little whale tails, yeah little neon signs that they're what, like 18 inches 18 inches.
00:08:31
Speaker
Saw one today when I went to Hood Famous for a coffee. I dropped that one off last week for them. And they I believe they made 500 of these beacons. Oh, wow. ah there's ah There's a lot of them. And I was hired on to ah deliver...
00:08:47
Speaker
35 to 40 of the beacons to ah selected businesses. That they selected or that you? It's been a mix. So a lot of these beacons, all all of the beacons were donated, purchased by the sponsors. Microsoft, F5, Wajimaya bought some.
00:09:05
Speaker
Yeah, there's a huge one at Wajimaya. Yes, we'll get to the big one too. okay And so they bought these small ones and then they chose, hey, we want them to go to these businesses based off whatever their initiatives are.
00:09:16
Speaker
And so those are all like being distributed. And these neon whale tails, they are super cool. They're made here locally. They are by Western Neon down in Soto. Western Neon, which I just found out, is owned by the parent of a Sounders Academy player. Oh, really? Yeah. A current player. A current player for the Academy, which I won't. I don't i don't need to dox anybody. But i got an email from this person because we misspelled their name.
00:09:39
Speaker
And it was signed and they had a Western Neon in their signature. And so i I was like, wait a minute. And it turns out they're the owner of Western Neon. So anyway, that was a funny little side story. but Well, and and they're like a historic business. Yeah, they did the original Rainier that's up on the brewery there. And they aren't the original owners, but they have been owning it since 2012 or something. And ah they if you go into their place, it's really cool. It's like a museum of neon. Yeah. From Cafe Vita to what was the it's not four seasons.
00:10:07
Speaker
um But yeah, just all different local brands. Yeah. And so they were hired on to make these sea beacons. They're all handcrafted. So every little piece is.
00:10:18
Speaker
done in their shop from the design portion, fabrication, um blowing the glass, filling it with neon. It's all done in house, which is really cool. Like, oh, these were actually made locally, like by real people. They're handmade. They're all individually numbered. So every business who's getting one like, oh, I have number 273 or Yeah, and they're just like a cool way to connect all the businesses.
00:10:41
Speaker
They're part of a larger initiative called the Unity Loop. They also have the Pride Loop. These are paths that they want people to follow to go support all these different businesses while they're here visiting for the World Cup.
00:10:52
Speaker
And so have you when you've gone into these businesses is have you started to get a sense of how local businesses working? receiving the World Cup? what how like What kind of anticipation level there is? Yeah, well, it was really funny because all since all the beacons were donated, there wasn't necessarily the communication of like, hey, this guy Connor is going to come give you this beacon. So you show up and they're like, what is this? well So I get this list of like, all right, here's here's here's our target list of the people we want you to go deliver beacons to and make a video about them.
00:11:27
Speaker
And so I create like a templated email and I reach out to everyone. And some people are like, cool, I'll see you on this day. Great. Other people just ignore email after email after email. And I'm just I'm trying to change the verbiage like, hey, like this is free. It's donated to you. There's no is all this is is promotion. Yes. And so it's been a process of getting everyone to.
00:11:51
Speaker
be be excited or trust that I'm coming in. I think a lot of businesses, you know, you're a business owner, you get so much. Oh, my God. ah Things for sale, scams, just like outreach in general, asking for things. And so I think business owners, a lot of the business owners are just like skeptical, like, Who are you? And I'm already already reaching out for my person or my my work email. So, right, like I don't I'm not Connor at the World Cup, right? I'm just Connor. I find me in Seattle. And so ah there's kind of that credibility gap that people are like, who are you and what are you doing?
00:12:23
Speaker
But as I've gone through, by the time the video is done, people are very excited about because it is cool. Like, wow, you're getting this like unique handmade piece of art that is connecting the whole city together and trying to build anticipation and excitement for this World Cup. I think me delivering that has made these business owners more excited. Sure. Oh, like, look at this cool thing that they included me on. it yeah Yeah. Yeah. big thing is i think the organizing committee has done a great job on like
00:12:54
Speaker
involving the community and the businesses and trying you know trying their best to make everyone feel like, hey, this is like a thing we're doing as a city and it's not just FIFA coming in and doing the show. I will say this from my experience with FIFA and it was opening, especially during the Club World Cup last year was i think in the same way that this year has been.
00:13:20
Speaker
you know you don't know what to expect in some ways. It's like, look, I know this i know what the World Cup is. We didn't necessarily know what the Club World Cup was in the same way, but there was this sort of like hype versus reality that weren't meeting up.
00:13:34
Speaker
And once the game started getting played it was like oh no this is actually pretty cool i still thought the tickets were you know originally overpriced back then but when i i mean i went to a game ah like i went to the i've told this story many times but i went to the urla red diamonds versus ah river plate game yes and there was two large Fan groups from each side.
00:13:58
Speaker
And they were so excited. So loud. So boisterous. It was like, even though there's only 20 odd thousand people in the stadium, it felt so energetic and awesome. And I was like, man, this is what the club world cup should be.
00:14:11
Speaker
And, Honestly, the way that FIFA ran things in the stadium was impressive and it all felt very like high class and it like they knew what they were doing, even if it was different and felt sometimes overdone.
00:14:25
Speaker
You could tell that they had done this before and they knew how to do it. And I kind of feel like when the World Cup is going the same way where it's like there's a lot of silly hoops that we have to jump through and there's a lot of annoying things. But once it's here,
00:14:37
Speaker
It is still the World Cup and it's still run how you would expect a top class sports event to be run. And I feel like the beacons are sort of like indicative of this where, sure, you don't know what it is and you don't really know what you're getting into. But then once you get it, it's like, oh, no, this is actually a pretty cool piece of art.
00:14:56
Speaker
I'm glad I have it. There's not doesn't seem to be really any strings attached to it. This is awesome. But like there's this initial skepticism that you have to get through. And don't know. It's interesting that to me tells it a somewhat interesting story about the way that the World Cup is showing up in Seattle. Yes. And.
00:15:13
Speaker
When it comes to World Cup, I think there's there's going to be the stadium experience and then there's going to be the experience that happens at. I mean, so many businesses are trying to activate whether they've got screens going. Obviously, there's the fan sites that are happening. There is going to be like two different parts of the World Cup in the city, right? Because the stadium.
00:15:32
Speaker
I don't know how many of those games are sold out. I believe tickets are still available. I don't think any of them are sold out. yeah yeah I mean, for like maybe the US Australia game might be, but I don't. The sense I get is that there are varying degrees of many to some tickets left for every game.
00:15:48
Speaker
And so the question is that week of our ticket price is going to go down are they just going to leave the seats empty? Right. Which. I mean, it's a TV product, so maybe they're not too worried about it. Right. theyre They just know people around the world are going to watch.
00:15:59
Speaker
And so they're they might not even be that worried about selling the tickets or they priced them all so high that if the prices are five times higher, you can sell five times. I mean, you would think at the very least that the secondary market, which is still.
00:16:13
Speaker
ah There's a lot of tickets on the set. Whether or not Viva has sold their tickets, there are plentiful tickets for every game. yeah They're all very expensive, but you have to think at some point in the secondary market, they're gonna be the they those are the ones that are going to have to just cut their prices because these are real.
00:16:28
Speaker
i mean then Whether or not they're real people, they are real organizations that spent real money to buy these tickets, yes and then you're they're going to want to get something. They're going to want something back, right? Right. ah Especially if they don't live here. Right. And they're not and they're not going to the game. and And flights are expensive right now, too. So it's you know been been a very messy storm ah and timing of this whole thing. Yeah. And it is. i don't know. It's been very interesting. That whole part of it is because you have like, I don't know that a world in some ways, the last World Cup, the last two World Cups were similar where there was all this sort of.
00:17:00
Speaker
frustration and anger about oh russia is going to be this way and saudi arabia is going to be that way or not saudi arabia qatar was is going to be this way and and then at the end of the day the tournament happened and people came or they didn't but the people that were there almost always said that they had a good time and they you
World Cup Anticipation and Local Impact
00:17:19
Speaker
know it and ends up going off and ends up being what it is but and so and the negative press that surrounded the world cup coming into this is not new like It doesn't take did you have to think that hard to remember. Basically, every story coming out of Qatar was, oh, the human rights violations. Oh, this is all being built with slave labor. And this this is all true. But then at some some point, the games happen and people like watched for the most part.
00:17:46
Speaker
And I think a lot in that way, it's it's a similar story. But the difference here is that the government seems to be going out of its way to make this tough. yeah You know, like there's the there's the ice thing, which seems like it is not as like that. That has like died down a little bit.
00:18:03
Speaker
But then there's this whole like air travel situation. There is obviously there's wars going on that are changing the cost of everything. And it's like a perfect storm of negativity that's surrounding this. That does make me wonder how much people are going to be able to put aside. I don't doubt that this will still get the best ratings ever because it always does. yeah I mean, ratings wise, everyone's going watch it on TV. Yeah. and And with all those race costs, everyone's going be home.
00:18:27
Speaker
Right. Like you are traveling so much less. So the ratings might be even higher. um And we're in interesting windows, right? Like so many of the games here in Seattle are at noon. Yes. be interesting. ah I assume. I mean, so many people are going to watch it no matter what. And then as the later rounds get and I think those kickoffs are like 6 p.m. our time. Right. I think the round of 16 is like 5 p.m. Yeah. In Seattle. So there's going to be. Which could be Belgium, USA, which would be.
00:18:54
Speaker
unbelievable if that's ended up what like there there's a possibility of that being the the draw for that game that's a long way away for usa it's a long way away for belgium and for belgium yeah yeah and so the the other thing i was going to mention is we see seattle got a tough draw when i can't when it comes to tourism everyone had a lot of hopes for australia would have could have brought a ton of people well australia what is here yeah yeah that's why i meant oh yeah but but with the political situation traveling from australia is so expensive right now and so i think the there's a big decline oh that's interesting what was expected for the australians to travel here we we have uh
00:19:35
Speaker
and I don't know if we, like I said, we have a large Australian community. There's going plenty of Australian people. Well, I mean, there's we're a large enough Australian community that there is an Aussie bar yes in Ballard, which I believe i another one. made beacon for them. Yeah, you made a beacon for them. Exactly.
00:19:47
Speaker
ah Which I didn't actually, it was funny because i had been to the Kangaroo and Kiwi at its original location on over by Green Lake. Yeah, yeah. And that was, I guess, during the 2010 World Cup. And i actually, i think I watched the New Zealand game there maybe uh but it was i had not i still have never been into their new location oh really and it and i didn't know like really any of the story i just happened to go there one yeah time it's quite a place yeah it it is and it's been around for a long i mean it's now it's gotta be a 15 year old company yeah 15 15 something years. Yeah, and that's why we're right. Was it there for the 2010 World Cup? it must I mean, it has to be at least 15 years old. Yeah. And they've expanded so much. I mean, they have like a whole wrap around outdoor space and it looks awesome. The the Australia and New Zealand games are going to be mania there. Oh, I imagine going to be one of the best viewing spots like for those games especially are going to be just madness. Oh, I bet. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think the, the U S Australia game does seem like there's some real buzz around that. I know we're going to be hosting a whole day event at a fast fashion over in Soto.
00:20:50
Speaker
And we're going to be doing like a ah sort of like a mixer thing the night before over in project nine and in Maple leaf. And, there does seem to be a lot of anticipation for that.
00:21:01
Speaker
What I'm one of the other things I'm kind of just curious about is if Belgium ends up getting adopted as sort of like the, the next team, because they play one of their group stage games here. They're obviously based in Renton. Then they play another game in Vancouver, and then they're potentially going to play their first two knockout stage games in Seattle as well. And I could very easily see the people of Seattle just sort of adopting Belgium. That's our team. Exactly. And so who's signing for the Sounders off of Belgium? Exactly. That's the big question.
00:21:29
Speaker
That's the big question. them in or something like that. Yeah. Why not? Why not? Why not? I mean, that's Adrian. Get on that. yeah Hopefully he'll score some goals for us. Right. Exactly. ah But do you, I mean, i don't know. Are you getting any sense of among the people, like whether they are, is there a buzz building?
00:21:52
Speaker
There's definitely a buzz because all the businesses are now like in that preparation phase. Like, are we changing our menus? Are we hosting events? Are we buying screens so we can be showing them? Everyone's starting to think about that.
00:22:04
Speaker
But. There's such a skepticism because people really don't know. And they got kind of burned last summer, too. So that that's the big thing, especially down in this house. This is in South Seattle, the downtown Pioneer Square. i mean, ah roughly what I live in South Seattle. OK, I see. ah And you're saying this is like central. This is Seattle. Yeah. And and the CID.
00:22:27
Speaker
there obviously the club world cup was like a test run but it was a test run for security exactly right and and the security was insane and i assume like they prepped and they had the security outside of the stadium right like the harbor was shut down and everything right i know they i the thing that struck me about the club world cup was how many volunteers there were for a relatively small number of like the crowd there was not a single crowd that approached a seahawks game and the crowds were much more the psg game must have I mean, it wasn't there were no sellouts, no sellouts. OK, that stadium seems very full. though I mean, it was it was the for the Sounders PSG game. It was like over 60,000. I mean, it was. yeah So to say it would didn't approach. But yeah, but they handle the mania of the Seahawks game every yeah week, 10, 10 weeks a year. Exactly. 10 weeks a year. And ah and so most of the games felt much more like a Sounders game where there are no volunteers. you know, basically like they have security staff, but it's like a normal event.
00:23:25
Speaker
And for every game, it was a sea of people ready to help you do whatever you needed to to help you Like the wave. I love, I will say, I love the way finding and I love something.
00:23:36
Speaker
I thought it was really cool. Like, you know, this, uh, the bike trail thing that they sort of like popped up out that goes out and over by where I live. Uh, I, there is some cool stuff that's here and i am curious to see how much of that ends up being useful for this tournament. Well, and, and people who didn't go to the club world cup who might be going to the world cup, the security is so different.
00:23:57
Speaker
Oh my Cause we do, we do security through that North entrance. Right. park They have a whole setup of like, uh, of, of, uh, what do they call? You walk through turnstiles. Thank you. God damn it.
00:24:09
Speaker
It's ah yeah. that like That whole process was completely different. And that's what the trial was. So back back to the original question was there. There just wasn't a the attendance wasn't high. right Right. Only the three Sounders games did anyone really go to. And.
00:24:23
Speaker
um and the games with red diamonds or whatnot, those supporter groups like would go to one spot and do their thing. But there wasn't this big influx of people supporting all these businesses. Right. And so that's kind of the same question now is there's all this preparation, but there's only six games.
00:24:41
Speaker
It's not actually that many games. um And the places that are popular will obviously be full just like at any sporting event. But will there actually like be this flood?
00:24:52
Speaker
And are people going to come for the other 30 days of the World Cup? Well, and that's the thing I keep went in just like casually talking to people. There is this sense of, well, should I...
00:25:03
Speaker
leave town for a month because of this like is it gonna be so crazy like and that was like a year ago that was the talk of like yeah i'm just gonna get out of town because it's gonna be crazy and that is not i don't think that is gonna be issue i would even say outside of maybe the game on the 19th because there's a whole lot going on it's not just yeah the uh The U.S.-Australia game. It's Juneteenth.
00:25:24
Speaker
Apparently, there's like two cruise ships coming in. There's like ah a Mariners game. There's a whole bunch of things that are going on that day. and And everyone's off work and school's closed that day. Right. Exactly. So like everyone's out. Right. School have just gone out on two days before that. yeah so it's the beginning of summer.
00:25:40
Speaker
ah Obviously, the ah solstice is going to be going on that weekend. So that... The 19th, that week will be, or the days around that are going to be kind of crazy, i think. But outside of that, to me, it's like, look, if you are willing to drive through downtown on a Seahawks game, i don't see why you would be worried about it. And the traffic the traffic by the stadium is all is crazy for the Seahawks games.
00:26:05
Speaker
But like, the traffic... closed now. Yeah. Or going to be closed. It's not... It's not like mayhem. No. and And so these like noon kickoff games, right? Like the the Belgium game on a Monday at noon.
00:26:18
Speaker
I think a lot of the corporations have already told their employees, like, don't come to work that day. Right. Avoid the traffic. And so it's like just going to be people. i think it's going normal day because the amount of people who are going come into the city for that game.
00:26:31
Speaker
Will probably be zeroed out by all the people who don't come to work that day. And so I think it'll be normal because said this to you earlier, the Seahawks championship parade.
00:26:42
Speaker
Everyone thought it was going crazy. Obviously, they switched the format this year. So it was better than the previous parade. But like it wasn't that crazy. know, I was down here and it was not. i mean, how do you even get down here? I guess we took the bus and it was like normal. Yeah, it was man. There's a lot of obviously there was a lot of people. And that was like 700,000 people on one day. i don't expect.
00:27:01
Speaker
I think they're saying 700,000 people over the whole World Cup. Right. Over the month. So, i yeah, I don't think it's going to be that bad besides the closures on Pioneer Square. Right. Like, yeah, don't.
00:27:14
Speaker
Don't try to park a wider square. Yeah, it's probably that. I think that's a good piece of advice. I am also really curious to see how the sort of defeat, because I don't know if people notice this or not, but FIFA came out with their list of fan fests. And so I want to say 11 of the 16 cities had something represented in this fan fest.
00:27:32
Speaker
And one of the cities that was not represented in the fans was Seattle. But that does not mean that there's no official fan. celebration I think that's what they're calling fan celebrations that are happening in Seattle. In fact, there's four official spots. And then there's going to be obviously countless others all around town of sort of impromptu things that are going on.
00:27:51
Speaker
But have you learned anything about... And those are all what part of the unity loop? Is that... like Do you know much about the Unity Loop? i know I know a little bit. I don't know necessarily if all of the activations are on the Unity Loop, at least within the city, because I believe there's activations like in Everett. Oh, there's there's there are events going on outside of the downtown Seattle area.
00:28:14
Speaker
And so but the Unity Loop was mostly focused on connecting all the businesses to go to those events. So, yes, like they are. I'd say, yes, they are part of it. Okay. ah And are you getting I mean, I do you have much sense of what's going on with these fan fest or these fan celebrations. its It's been kind of messy. I think that like they went back and forth for a while of what we we're going to do because it was like they Seattle Center was on. Yep. And then and it I wonder I don't know. This is speculation. Like, was it going to be one big event at Seattle Center? That was the impression I would have been epic.
00:28:45
Speaker
And then they decided to split it all up and have smaller events one night around. The impression I got, and maybe this is this is just my guessing, is that the idea of having the one big event was great if you thought there was going to be this influx of tourists who just wanted a place to gather and that they might be here throughout the tournament. yeah And I think once the reality of of like the international tourism, like people might come from for specific games, but the idea of...
00:29:13
Speaker
an australian coming here and being like i'm gonna live in seattle for a month just is not that's not happening yes yeah i think i think you're right and and the only games that are gonna be crazy are gonna be the usa games right like were you did you go to the watch party for the 2014 belgium game yes at wamu yes right like wamu was yeah there's hundreds of people there it was crazy i mean it was thousands of people it was like all it was yeah it was full you're right um and so like siggy schmidt was there was Oh, yeah. R.I.P.
00:29:42
Speaker
um Man, what a legend. That was like, whoa, this that was the only big event of the World Cup. Absolutely. right Because i watched so much of the World Cup at George and the Dragon.
00:29:53
Speaker
You and I probably crossed paths. We probably did. And George and the Dragon was like busy. Right. And but it wasn't like it wasn't like that. No. And it wasn't what. Speaking which, did you see that they almost they they like lost their liquor license or something? They like they posted there like trying to get it back. But it's like this is the biggest month of this like four years every time for them. I know. And yeah, just a big slip up. So. Hopefully they get it worked out because that that is a great place. I've watched lots and lots of World Cup games there and it is a great place to work because it's sort of like the default place where everyone goes.
00:30:27
Speaker
And so you can always no matter who's playing, you can always expect to find at least a group of people who are super engaged. Yeah. And they like and they activate the whole parking lot. Right. Exactly. I watched the opening game of the the last World Cup, which was in the winter. Right. so it was cold. So they had the tent. Everyone was freezing.
00:30:43
Speaker
um I think it was like early in the morning, too. but yeah, like but now. People are way more prepared because the World Cup is here. There's so many of those places. I think Jordan's Dragon is going to be they're going to do all right. Yeah. But there are so many places to go watch now.
00:30:57
Speaker
Yeah, there are. I mean, and the one that I'm really intrigued by is the Pacific place, which is one of the ah official ones. And they're going to do like a three story. Yeah. Screen and then there's going to different levels have different sort of like themes that they have going on. Pop ups. Yeah, exactly. Activating those shops. I mean, it's kind of fun that there's gonna be something going on in Pacific place. Yeah, it's there's not a lot going on. There is not.
00:31:20
Speaker
And so the the potential of that is very cool. It's I haven't seen it since it's like fully active. It's it's more like where's everyone going to stand? I know. And watch it. It doesn't seem like there's that much space, especially on level two, three and four.
00:31:35
Speaker
um but I yeah, I I'm not going to go to Pacific place for the matches that are in Seattle, but that's that's a spot. I'm going stop by one of those obscure games. Right. It's nine o'clock and whoever is kicking off is like, I'll go stand in there and and watch it on big screen. and So the other local official spots are Victory Hall, which is right across the street from T-Mobile. It's the Mariners spot.
00:31:59
Speaker
There's the pier, which is well also which is going to be separate, but connected to the barge that the sounders are sort of doing, which is a pay. You have to pay to get into the barge.
00:32:10
Speaker
Although I think on with season ticket holders might be able to get some free tickets for that. But then, but the pure. Good luck. They might be sold out. I know one session sold out so fast. I know. I just realized that I, that this, that came out like,
00:32:22
Speaker
A few days ago, and I'm sure it went very fast, but pure 62 will be a though you kind of neat. And then the armory and Seattle center is still doing something. It's just not the big massive fan fest. And then of course, Pacific place anywhere else that you're sort of like intrigued by.
00:32:38
Speaker
um I just was at Rainier. The people are Rainier Square that it's like that big curved glass building. Oh, yeah. have Like this courtyard next to Fonte. Uh huh. And they're going to be doing a pop up in the courtyard.
00:32:50
Speaker
Medier Brewing is going to have screens. do Oh, going Central District. i think that'll be like a fun place to watch. um I believe Art Noir also in the Central District is doing some They have a big Juneteenth celebration happening. Oh, cool. And then they also have ah another festival the day after Juneteenth they do every year. So that's going to be ah an active neighborhood around that week. uh other and then seattle parks i think is also doing a whole bunch of activations i was not aware i just saw like a flyer random like around the community i think seattle parks is doing rant like pop-ups basically at different i wonder if they're gonna do like their movie night screens oh maybe and then play it on there do a live feed on a pop-up screen it's not super easy no it's not um and then i mean there's just shit at noon every
00:33:37
Speaker
I don't know if ah they're allowed because FIFA is like really strict on who shows the games. That is. I know. And that's how you stop someone from watching a game on broadcast television. I know. I saw this whole thing about how they like, especially like in some of some other countries, they were Not allowed to advertise as showing World Cup games. They're just like, we're showing the soccer game. We're showing the soccer game. And I'm sure there's going lot of that here. Although it would be interesting to see how FIFA goes about enforcing any of that. Because obviously you can't tell people they can't show a game.
00:34:10
Speaker
Well, they're yeah, they're really strict. um I have another partnership coming up ah with a brand that's associated with the World Cup. They're an official partner and they are very strict about like, here is the language that you use.
00:34:23
Speaker
Like it is FIFA World Cup 2026. Right. Like and it's yeah. And no abbreviated. You're not calling it World Cup. You're calling it FIFA World Cup.
00:34:34
Speaker
And yeah, like they're very, very strict on their brand guidelines. Yeah. Well, it's going to be fascinating to see how this all plays out. It's it.
Engaging New Readers and Embracing the World Cup
00:34:43
Speaker
It is in some ways, especially as people who are so in soccer 365. This feels a little bit like the circus coming to town. Yeah.
00:34:53
Speaker
But i I am excited to see how people connect to this because everyone knows that it's going on. And, you know. I'm still trying to figure out how we're even going to cover this from a because it's like, look,
00:35:07
Speaker
it's not that useful for us to attract a bunch of people who will never read our website again. Yeah. yeah But there are ways to connect to people who could potentially become readers. And you know, like the magazine is ah is a thing where I, you know, that's an exception where it's like, look, I would love to be to sell these to people who don't care what we are. Yes. But ah I don't know. you it i am I am fascinated by this. I think this is a really interesting experience. I will say that down near the stadium, like we are, we can literally see the stadium from our office building.
00:35:38
Speaker
And so we're in an area that is going to be touched very much by the World Cup. And you and it feels... I don't know. It does feel like things are changing and it like things are cleaned up and we got a whole bunch of new light fixtures out on the street here and that are like, you know, attractive and Pioneer Square seems like it's getting like there's a lot going on in Pioneer Square right now. There's a huge activation. I probably should have mentioned that.
00:36:01
Speaker
But the the people who own home team and Dark Alinos. OK, they are activating like all of that Occidental Square, which is what they did for the World Club World Cup, too. Yes. And so they're going to have that giant stage where they have Shaquille O'Neal is doing a DJ set.
00:36:15
Speaker
which is like that's a big name shaquille o'neal the shaquille o'neal jack diesel is going to be doing a dj set at occidental square basically right yes that's wild and so and that's going to be every day so i think like all the games are going to be watchable on outdoor screen in occidental park right there that's wild So that if you can get down there, that'll be the big factor.
00:36:41
Speaker
But I think that's going to be like a really fun, excuse me, complimentary environment to the game where maybe people will who aren't going to the game are still like, I want to be part of this thing and go down and watch.
00:36:55
Speaker
Well, I do hope people get over some of the like I get that the skepticism is warranted. i understand like as someone who originally was planning on taking my kids and and my wife was all excited about going to games and she's been sort of like on the she's much more down on this than than I am, I guess. But I i understand the frustration, especially about ticket pricing and accessibility and all that stuff.
00:37:22
Speaker
But I also want to give people some permission to enjoy themselves yeah at what is going to be a really cool civic event. Even if it's even if you're not going to the games, I would urge people to come down here and just check out everything that's going on, because I do think it's going to be it is a once in a lifetime experience. It's something that a lot of people, you know, we in one in one of the stories that we wrote in our magazine is about the failed attempt to bring the 94 World Cup to Seattle.
00:37:49
Speaker
And how the foundation for what ended up attracting the World Cup this time was laid back then. And so a lot of people have put, you know, 30 odd years of their lives into trying to make this happen.
00:38:02
Speaker
And i hope people give themselves the ability to enjoy some of it, even if it doesn't mean going to a game or buying tickets. Yeah. And this is what happens with every World Cup. is there's there's drama of some kind.
00:38:14
Speaker
There's the all the issues with FIFA. Yes. Once the games kick off, like people are into the football. ah Exactly. And so and and and I think you're right. Like, I don't think the level of activation that's happening in Seattle from the sea beacons to all of the different ah businesses getting involved in all these different viewing sites.
00:38:34
Speaker
This is not happening in other cities. Well, and i I think that's another thing that I oftentimes catch myself realizing is that there's us, there's Vancouver, there's Atlanta, kind of.
00:38:44
Speaker
But everyone else or Philadelphia a little bit. But a lot of these stadiums are not in the city and they are not like the city. Like Seattle is really it's the World Cup is happening in Seattle. Yeah, yeah.
00:38:57
Speaker
It's not happening in Seattle. Bellevue or Kent or rent or whatever. It's happening here. And it's and so everything is. And I think that does change things. And I feel really lucky in a lot of ways that we get to have this sort of like urban experience.
00:39:13
Speaker
And I think a lot of visitors are going to come to Seattle and just be like, oh, shit, this is an amazing city. Yeah. Yeah. Because if you're going to games in Philadelphia, you're Who knows where you're staying? And then you have this crazy commute out.
00:39:24
Speaker
It's not going to be like the the games are going to be like a flood of people going to the game, walking through the city, going from the waterfront, walking all the way down. Like, yeah, it's going to be a scene. The waterfront. I'm I'm really I mean, I'm a I'm a sucker, but I love the idea of people seeing the new Seattle waterfront and just being like,
00:39:44
Speaker
I had no idea that Seattle looked like this. Yeah. I had no idea. Like, don't know, mountains out. I mean, taking down the Viaduct for how much it costs and how painful it was. Maybe worth it just for this. Like, yeah, maybe just for this. Like, it's really, like, it's incredible the change that's happened down there.
00:40:00
Speaker
Absolutely. Well, Connor, I hope people check out your Instagram feed. That's find me in Seattle, your YouTube, you're on TikTok, you're everywhere. ah Anything else you want to plug? No. If you see me out, I'm going to be watching as many games out publicly. Big yellow back. If you see this yellow backpack, there's a good chance it's Connor. Yes, I won't have this ah in the stadium, but most likely I'll have some type of yellow bag on me. Out in the community, for sure. Any day of the week. ah Please say hi.
00:40:26
Speaker
And I'll give you a sticker if you say hi. I always do that. awesome well thanks for uh for doing this uh i'm we'll get out of here i'm jeremiah shan this is no sadie at this part of the sounder heart podcast network and we'll catch you next time
00:41:10
Speaker
Let's go at Sounders.