A THIRTEEN-FOOT CANOE, BEARS, SQUIRRELS AND A FEAR OF SNAPPING TOWELS.

The Gearheads went deep into the woods of the 2018 SEMA Show, and wandered into Camp Wannapaintem, PPG's latest show-stopping display. We were fortunate to fall under the guidance of camp counselors Cristina Fronzaglia Murray and Jeremy Seanor (of Lucky Strike Designs). We sat for a while and discussed paint technology, creativity, marketing, and the importance of passion Most important of all was the lesson that paint is fun. It's not merely a tool or just  coating, but a vehicle in and of itself, capable of launching careers and forging lifelong friendships. Even after a certain podcaster suggests a prison-themed trade show booth.

THINGS COVERED IN THIS EPISODE:

• 
  
• Talking SEMA Show booth themes
  – Gathering items to decorate the booth
  
• The "Homeless Chic" John Jackson
  
• Where inspiration lives
  
• Jeremy paints a canoe
  
• Our own Brad's connection to a past themed booth
  
• A terribly inappropriate booth theme idea made presentable
  
• Brian chooses a favorite among his sons
  
• How to turn a group of adults into a bunch of three year olds (HINT: it involves whistles)
  
• Paint is fun
  
• Experiencing color in different ways
  
• Waterborne and Envirobase paint technology versus solvent-based
  – Adapting the new tech to creative paint
  – Progressing with paint technology in both collision and custom work
  
• The changing times:
  – Hot-plating enamels and crushing pigment from leaves
  – Moving cure times from cigarettes between coats to social posts between coats
  
• The longevity of Deltron
  – Hosting a fourteen year old paint job in the booth illustrates quality like nothing else
  
• Booth design as a team-building exercise
  
• The value of not having to be engaged in the "SEMA crunch"
  
• Brian offers the then-thousand dollar marketing idea
  
• History of the PPG theme booths
  
• A custom painter reunion of sorts every year in the booth
  
• "The greatest paint in the world, used by the greatest painters"
  – The value and appreciation of humility
  
• The "prison" theme booth
  – Alex offers the idea of carving a shiv from a paint stir stick
  
• More great booth theme ideas:
  – "Paint Church"
  – "Rascal in a China Shop"
  – "Barefoot on Legos"
  

CAREER ADVICE FOR THE MOTIVATED LISTENER

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• On the importance of being yourself and making mistakes
  – Career growth through understanding passions
  
• Teaching the technical aspect, and the inability to teach passion
  
• Four-year education versus hands-on trades
  
• The value of a combination of traditional school degrees and trade school/knowledge
  
• The misinterpretation of trades being just "dirty work"
  
• Recognizing the minds and hands that aren't meant to sit in a classroom, but rather need to be out doing things
  
• The epitome of "self-made"