Marketing a 360 strategy

[00:00:00] Welcome to the Space Marketing Podcast where we look at marketing principles, strategies and tactics through the lens of space.

[00:00:08] Hi, I am your host Izzy House and marketing professionals are so important in developing and growing a space company.

[00:00:18] Any company for that matter.

[00:00:20] Our guests today will share strategies and tactics for connecting at in-person events like a trade show.

[00:00:28] So join me as we meet Laura Smith, Marketing Manager at Benchmark Space Systems.

[00:00:35] So lift off in 3, 2, 1.

[00:00:50] Welcome to the Space Marketing Podcast.

[00:00:53] Information relating to our discussion today and links to the video version can be found in the episode show notes on SpaceMarketingPodcast.com.

[00:01:03] Please like and subscribe to the podcast.

[00:01:07] It will help more people reach beyond the atmosphere.

[00:01:12] Information in this episode is for entertainment and information only.

[00:01:16] Please consult a professional for your specific situation.

[00:01:21] Several months ago, I had the absolute pleasure of meeting our next guest at the satellite 2024 conference.

[00:01:29] It was obvious she was in her element.

[00:01:33] COVID took everyone online and for a while, conferences were held in the cyber world.

[00:01:41] Now that we are back to conferences, attendance levels are reaching record highs for many industries, including space.

[00:01:50] We cannot replace the value of the in-person connections.

[00:01:56] As AI and bad players increase online, the value of meeting each other face-to-face increases.

[00:02:04] Today, we will chat with Laura Smith, Marketing Manager at Benchmark Space Systems, about a 360 strategy at a trade show and how to get the most exposure and connection at a trade show.

[00:02:19] So please welcome Laura Smith.

[00:02:23] How are you today?

[00:02:24] Hi, I'm doing really well.

[00:02:26] Thank you for having me.

[00:02:27] Thank you to Izzy's audience.

[00:02:28] It's an honor to be here.

[00:02:30] It was an absolute pleasure to meet you.

[00:02:33] I have been looking forward to this in twice.

[00:02:37] Me too, ever since we met in person.

[00:02:42] I told Izzy the story when I finally did meet her in person that my first week on the job, my CEO, Ryan McDevitt, slid a copy of her book onto my desk and I said, oh great, space marketing.

[00:02:56] I've been in marketing for years now, but space marketing is its own thing.

[00:03:01] And I just poured through the whole book in a week and then started listening to some of Izzy's online content.

[00:03:07] And then when I saw her name badge at the event, I said, you're Izzy House!

[00:03:11] And I was so excited to meet her.

[00:03:13] So here we are, which is kind of like a dream come true to be talking to you in person.

[00:03:19] And it meant just as much for me too, because when you're writing, it's kind of like you're in your room all by yourself.

[00:03:27] You don't know if what you're saying is getting out there and reaching ears.

[00:03:32] And to have it be where somebody comes up to you and says, hey, you made a difference.

[00:03:39] That just couldn't be more valuable to me.

[00:03:43] And it meant a lot.

[00:03:45] And I really did.

[00:03:46] And then all the stuff you did online, just, it made my day.

[00:03:52] I've been making this, building this community of other marketers in the industry and we get to see each other.

[00:04:01] So another reason why events are really beneficial, we get to see each other at all these trade shows and connect.

[00:04:08] And when there's someone new in the group, we'll introduce them to everyone else.

[00:04:11] So just having, so one of the LinkedIn posts Izzy is referring to you was me tagging all these people I've been meeting and tagging Izzy and saying,

[00:04:21] these are all the marketing people in space that are telling the story.

[00:04:25] And just look forward to continuing to build that group.

[00:04:29] And we have a market space marketing group also from Kimmy Gilles.

[00:04:36] So please look for that on LinkedIn as well.

[00:04:39] Yes, sign me up.

[00:04:41] Okay, so let's get into meeting you.

[00:04:44] I always like to have the audience meet you and see who you are.

[00:04:49] So tell us how you became interested in space.

[00:04:53] Yeah, so I've had a pretty eclectic background when it comes to marketing.

[00:04:58] I have done everything from I've been in the functional beverage industry in human resources management consulting.

[00:05:08] I've owned my own organic apparel company.

[00:05:11] I've been in higher education and I'm also a yoga teacher.

[00:05:17] So I really, and all of those involves some aspect of marketing even when it's your own online business and marketing.

[00:05:26] Let's just swap out the term storytelling because really that's how I view marketing is you're telling a story that people can connect with

[00:05:37] because they're not what I found across industries are not necessarily buying your product.

[00:05:42] They're buying their belief in you and what you're offering and what makes space really an easy one in terms of storytelling is I don't believe anybody falls into space and starts a space business on accident.

[00:05:59] It's not like you wake up and say, I think I'll do space today.

[00:06:02] Like it is complicated. There's years of expertise required the barrier to entry is fairly high.

[00:06:10] So if you're in it, you have passion and it's not it's it might be easier lazy to say well it's about the money but there's a lot easier ways to make money than space so I don't think that's it either.

[00:06:24] So really it gives me so much to work with because my founders, my colleagues the passion is there so it's just articulating that and connecting it to the audience that cares.

[00:06:36] One of the things I want to kind of touch on and unpack a little bit is that you are into yoga and organic you are into the world being clean and the society being clean.

[00:06:52] So there's, you know, for the opposition to space out there. Tell us why space attracts you that that has a more spiritual side to you in what you do.

[00:07:04] Yeah. And I think being someone that was not particularly focused on space most of my life actually helps me articulate better to people in the same boat that maybe have maybe watched Star Trek or Star Wars.

[00:07:21] Growing up and have some like periphery of curiosity about aliens and human space travel, but aren't really aware of what's happening now. And especially in the past decade or so space when I've come to realize it's easy to think of it is like cold and there's

[00:07:42] metal and it's sterile and it's, but it's actually a natural resource just like our oceans just like our forests which we have these warm feeling towards space is also a natural resource.

[00:07:56] And just like any other resource we can maintain it preserve its robustness treat it sustainably or not. And humans we're going to bring that human aspect of ourselves to space actually something I heard Delaney Meyer say who's a professor of space in NYU we were at an event talking about

[00:08:20] space in a room full of mixed mindsets around it so we really had to articulate why it was important to people that might say just take all the satellites down from the sky. We don't need them and really having to articulate why and maybe we'll get into that with other questions

[00:08:35] the why and she said, guess what space, it's us. It's us up there doing human things above the earth so we need to have the same conversations we're having about climate change when it comes to space.

[00:08:47] This is one of the things that I talk about all the time is that when it comes to the climate crisis space is is imperative that we're there. For an example, when we saw the holes in the ozone's.

[00:09:03] That was from space that we saw them. We were able to change legislation and now those holes are healing, and they should be gone by the year 2050. So we would never have even known they existed had it not been for our presence in space.

[00:09:21] So if we're going to, if we're going to do anything for the climate. It is all the monitoring that we see from space that's going to make it to where we can do that.

[00:09:32] Yes, and Chad Anderson, who runs the space capital podcast was also at the event and mentioned there was a recent administration who said okay we're going to not focus on space we're not going to prioritize the funding of space.

[00:09:46] And we're going to look at climate, we're going to focus on that people said yeah that's great. Yeah, and we can all agree or a lot of us can agree that's important. And they said, okay give us the data, what do we need to know and they said, oh that's all in space.

[00:10:00] So he said, okay we're going to need to keep space going and keep that alive and I just, I love that anecdote like yeah that's where that comes from. And I think it's also important to mention that even people that are in support of space for its support of humanitarian aid for predicting natural disasters

[00:10:19] and forest fires for climate monitoring for the development of technologies that help with human health on earth like all the reasons that space is more beneficial communication to remote areas.

[00:10:33] That doesn't mean that everyone is 100% just do it all don't even think about it throw it all up there. I think that there's also a group of people are saying okay space is beneficial and that's why it's important to really be thoughtful about how we do it and not just do it

[00:10:48] because we're excited and it's a gold rush like how many is too many and what regulations do we need and our regulations are not for their economic incentives it's a really complex conversation about how to do it right.

[00:11:03] Yeah you know you kind of messed up down here when we did it so let's be purposeful and do not take all the junk that humanity has and just amplify it up in space. Let's do it different and that's what I love about the space industry and the people in it is they really do want to do it different.

[00:11:25] Most of the people, I'm not saying all the people most of the people really care about that.

[00:11:31] Yeah. Yeah.

[00:11:33] So, tell us a little bit about what you do and the company that you do it for.

[00:11:40] Yeah, so I'm with benchmarks based systems where a propulsion in space mobility provider. So we started we were founded in 2017 we're in Burlington Vermont which is seems like an unusual place for a space company and even Vermonters are like wow we have a space company that's wild.

[00:12:03] But you know we do focus on green technologies and green propellant so it actually is kind of a Vermont tie in, but we launched with some interesting novel ideas around propulsion systems and high test peroxide.

[00:12:20] So it was really focused on the technology to start and once we started working with mission partners and getting awards from the government and NASA to develop our technologies.

[00:12:31] We realized okay mission partners, they might have some questions about how can I optimize my mission or maybe they don't have that question, but they could have that question how does this system.

[00:12:43] I think it's going to perform better on orbit and not waste my propellant and fit into the envelope on my spacecraft that I needed to fit into so we realized there was this mission planning aspect, instead of just force feeding them are one technology and saying

[00:12:58] here, figure it out. We said okay let's help and kind of guide you through this process. And then so we can help design, we can test and we're bringing more of that test capability in house.

[00:13:09] We're going to have 40,000 square foot headquarters in Vermont that we're starting to vertically integrate more. And then we so we work on the design test build process with them and then they might, maybe they've never been manifested on a space X rocket and don't know what that process looks like

[00:13:27] and we can help with that part of the process or they just don't administratively want to deal with that part, we can do that we've done that before. And then on the ground we can do fueling we can do spacecraft integration.

[00:13:40] If you launch and you're on orbit, you may have some really tricky precision pointing that you need to do or our pod operation or collision avoidance maneuvers so we have advanced flight electronics.

[00:13:54] And we have heritage on the electronics on our systems. And then we just announced last year, a new smart aim advanced onboard propulsion control software layer. So it can work with your GNC to assist and maneuver so you need less operational load on the ground.

[00:14:12] So it's really about looking at missions through the lens of our mission partners and saying how can we support you and everything mobility. And then at the end of life, how can we help you decommission your satellite and as we know that's going to become a

[00:14:29] requirement in the near future to have a plan for that. So mobility enables that and mobility enables so much when it comes to sustainability of space infrastructure. So that's why it's exciting to be part of a mobility company that is really enabling a lot of the things we're talking about to preserve

[00:14:49] space. And when it comes to decommissioning there's also this reentry market that's really exciting you know you're manufacturing something in space you're building more efficient pharmaceuticals or human health advancements and you need to safely bring that back down and that's all propulsion

[00:15:07] to. So it's really end to end full life cycle mobility is what benchmark does.

[00:15:13] And that's one of the things I love about your company. When I wrote the book space marketing, I have a fake company in there so that you can kind of see how to apply some of the strategies. It's called Rockets RS. Yes, I didn't think it would be taken.

[00:15:29] That's why I chose it. Sorry. But anyway, in that we're focused on the audience and how to build services into the audience. And you have done that. You're paying attention to the audience. You're paying attention to what they need.

[00:15:46] And even before they know what they need. And so you're able to just hold their hand entire way and make it so easy. So, and that's a piece that I think a lot of companies miss is that they're not paying attention to what the audience is they're paying attention to what they're building.

[00:16:03] And you are actually paying attention to what they need. Even if you do not have that expertise yet you're you build it into your your services and you learn it. So because they need it. And that's what I love about benchmark.

[00:16:20] Yes, thank you for acknowledging that and the part that I missed when you said if we don't have it is we have a network of relationships and partnerships so if somebody's doing something better than we're doing it like a hall effect is a good example.

[00:16:34] We have excellent high thrust chemical propulsion systems. We have a metal plasma thruster electric propulsion system, but we currently don't build hall effect but we know people that do so we can still work with you and integrate our electronics and still do all the other services and bring in a partner to support or data on orbit data.

[00:16:54] There are companies that do that really well so we'll partner with them.

[00:16:58] So yeah, love that.

[00:17:01] Hold on to your boosters. We will be right back with guest Laura Smith, marketing manager at benchmark space systems after the briefest message from our sponsors.

[00:17:14] Please like and subscribe to the space marketing podcast so you don't miss a thing.

[00:17:35] So and one of the places that you meet the people that you work with is one of your favorite things and that's trade shows. And so can you tell us why we're talking about trade shows as your 360 marketing strategy.

[00:17:50] Yes, and it's important that I start by saying I love trade shows, and I also am so intimately aware of how resource heavy they are in terms of time, money, mental capacity.

[00:18:05] So I think it is so important to start by being very selective about the trade shows that you do. And that might take a while to figure out you might start by walking the floor and kind of getting a sense of who is there and if the people you want to talk to are there before you actually invest in exhibiting so we're going to talk about a show assuming that you've decided this is one and that is really worth the investment and for us a good example of that is the small set conference.

[00:18:35] And so I think that's important because there's just a lot of our people are really there. So we've been, this will be our fifth year at the show this year.

[00:18:45] You know, when you think about the long game of our industry and how we're not selling e commerce products through a website where people are adding to cart and you know by propulsion system it really doesn't work like that.

[00:19:00] Building trust is really important in establishing your credibility and building relationships and my team is amazing at relationship building they're also technologically brilliant they have engineering backgrounds, but they know how to listen ask good questions and develop those relationships so I want them out in the field doing that.

[00:19:25] And then we'll do that through the meetings we have on site but also through you know you're in the line at the lunch buffet and you start talking to the person next to you and then you've built a relationship before you know it so there's so many opportunities to connect outside of the formal events.

[00:19:42] But in terms of how we approach all if we're going to go we're going to go big you know we're going to really have a presence at these events events that we've identified as important so we start with okay, we're doing this.

[00:19:57] We're looking at our content calendar for the year. We're seeing how this event overlays with the message that we're wanting our audience to understand.

[00:20:05] And we're going to craft messaging strategy around that so that starts with our booth, you know how can our booth be inviting and polished and elevated.

[00:20:16] People can walk around the trade show floor and see you in that 15 seconds not even a few seconds that they have to decide what you do who you are if they want to come talk to you and that's going to take some polish and some clarity and precision around your messaging.

[00:20:32] And then there's all the pre event marketing we're going to send out email newsletters we're going to post some LinkedIn hey we're going to be at this event we're going to share our calendar we're going to start reaching out to key contacts and inviting them to come to our booth to talk about particular topics.

[00:20:46] And we're going to structure announcements to coincide with that event so something we've done the past few years it's been successful is having a press release that drops the first day.

[00:20:59] So everyone is on the floor of the show benchmark has an announcement, and I always feel okay I'm doing my job well when people are coming over to the booth saying hey I saw you in Space News I saw you in payload.

[00:21:11] I saw you in Viasat and or Izzy House is talking about you.

[00:21:17] And we've hosted embargo interviews where we've invited press prior to the event to read through the release and under embargo means that they are not to share it until the day that it drops, but they can start crafting their story and doing research and being more thoughtful and kind of expanding on what we've shared.

[00:21:38] So by the time it drops, the press can immediately drop their announcements after so suddenly we're just everywhere and it's only the first hour of the show.

[00:21:48] And we did the same thing on day two. If we have to announcements it's a one to the next day we do the same thing and now we're featured in the show daily that gets printed on the second and third and sometimes fourth day.

[00:22:00] And then I've got my CTO on stage giving a technical presentation about orbit transfer vehicles so people want to come talk about that.

[00:22:11] My CEO is on site doing a hosted side meeting, which is like you can grab a room and invite people and promote it to come talk about a particular topic.

[00:22:22] And we're doing live 3D demos of our new smart aim software that we announced in the press release so people can come and see this kind of faux satellite they can tap it, knock it off balance and see how the software is helping adjust and perform maneuvers and open valves

[00:22:41] and trust and in competency. So this interactive live demo, and then you know I get the microphone at one point we hosted the munch and mingle at small sat conference I get to address the whole conference and I have 60 seconds to say what benchmark is about.

[00:22:56] But my favorite, I think the most value add slash fun thing that we've done at this particular conference and my team came up with this idea.

[00:23:07] Let's have a mobility shuttle, because there are these hosted after parties all over the conference and small sat does an amazing job of really coordinating those so you don't have to say, is there a party tonight where people going after everyone goes to the same events.

[00:23:23] And there's not a lot of boobers or ways to get around in Logan, Utah. So we rented these 14 passenger bands and we branded them so they're driving around town with our branding and its mobility, its propulsion so it's on brand but it's useful people are at a party and they want to move to the next

[00:23:41] one they see our band pull up and we're carting them around town now I'd love to like stick thrusters on the back of that thing and you know, make it even more showy it gets better every year.

[00:23:52] But that is really people have come to appreciate it and now look for it and give a QR code and a web page that shows a map of where it will be. So we just make it better every year.

[00:24:05] And then to close out all of this so you know our booth is active. Oh, and one part I left out is we really focus on training our staff so our business development team is obviously they're on the pulse of the market they're well versed but we might bring

[00:24:21] engineers which I that are usually in the office and not as engaged with the industry and I love to bring them I think it's really good for them to remember why what they're doing matters and how it fits into the industry, and to share their particular area of genius.

[00:24:37] And we want to make sure they feel prepared so we'll host trainings and we'll talk about if they're going to be on a panel will do like a speaking presentation and do's and don'ts and how to remove ums and filler words and likes and I think that's a good value add for their career as well to have those skills.

[00:24:56] And by the time they get to the floor they feel ready to know answer questions post event. So this is equally as important to come back from the event and I always host a debrief and I have this spreadsheet I have people fill out with how was our booth, did we talk to the people we wanted to where did you

[00:25:15] prepare just all these questions to say, did this event meet our expectations how can we do better next year do we even want to do this event next year. And then I'll get into the PR metrics what happened with our website, who came how many people came with the people we wanted had at our social media

[00:25:32] perform and I'll put together a whole recap. So we really understand the ROI of this event to the best that we can. So it's my very long winded answer but it's a lot.

[00:25:43] And I want to unpack some of this because really, really excellent stuff. So one of the things I really want to stress that I love about what you do is you give people space.

[00:25:56] Not, not the literally one the one above our heads but you give them room to really digest the event and prepare for the event. I love the fact that you do trainees. So many times people are just cranking on what their daily job is and trying to meet deadlines.

[00:26:17] And it's like, oh yeah, we've got this trade show. Let's let's hurry up and get some a speech together because we're going to be on space on stage and then they hardly prepare the messages are not syncing.

[00:26:32] And it's just a last minute throw on and you, you say no this is this is one of the most important things that we do. Let's make sure that we give our staff the tools to be the best that they can be, which I think is awesome in its own right because there's a direct correlation between how happy your customers are with how happy your staff is.

[00:26:57] If your staff feels confident in their training, they know what they they can say, then you're going to you're going to feel confident letting them out there to do their job. And they're going to enjoy it.

[00:27:09] They're not going to sit there and stress over it and hate it. You know, it's going to be a different experience for them, which in turn makes it a different experience for the people that they're meeting.

[00:27:21] So I love that part of what you do and, you know, a lot of companies to don't give that space when they get back. It's like they hit the ground running as soon as they get back and everything all those connections that they made it to show those business cars those names.

[00:27:39] They evaporate into the ether and all that effort, you know, a good portion of that effort anyway is not really utilized in the most efficient way.

[00:27:52] So yes to all of that and in your right I didn't even touch on what my business development team does post event and how they evaluate the connections they made update our CMS and continue those relationships.

[00:28:08] That's a whole, whole other thing but they're again just excellent at that they really just are the best.

[00:28:16] So kudos kudos to you and your team on that so love it.

[00:28:21] Okay, so now we're going to talk about marketing challenges, and we're going to talk about challenges in marketing in general, and then challenges in particular in the space industry.

[00:28:34] So let's start off with, what are some of the challenges that you have with just marketing in general just in the industry that of what we do.

[00:28:42] Yeah, I think one of the first things my chief commercial officer said to me was it's better to say less and not disqualify yourself because it's so easy for people to latch on to this one thing that you say and make assumptions.

[00:29:01] So, and I'm like as a marketer I'm a talker I just want to talk but like I am out of my depths with a lot of the technical, like the deep details and I cannot believe what I've learned in just the less than three years I've been at the company I hear myself.

[00:29:16] Wow, I've really stepped into this whole new world and a lot of it is starting to click and make sense, but I know when to say okay I would really like to connect you with my vice president of electric propulsion to go deeper into that.

[00:29:30] So that's one challenge in this industry. And another is, you know when you work for a functional beverage company and you want to update your asset library and make it new seasonal fresh exciting, you bring your products out to a cool spot you hire some models and they're having a good time and they're

[00:29:49] sipping your beverage and now you've got a whole new look and feel around your product in the space industry. We can't go to space, most of the time and photograph our products on orbit performing in the environment they were intended to.

[00:30:04] So a lot of it is creating these 3D mockups and renderings and finding artists who can understand how to do it correctly, because if something is incorrect someone that knows it's going to like their eyes going to twitch like the suns at the wrong angle and this is it wouldn't orbit that way and it was a huge learning curve for me

[00:30:26] and I was like yeah but it looks cool in my team after like yeah but that's not it wouldn't function like that in space so that was such a huge challenge, but also there's I see homogenization of a lot of the look and feel of our space brands, because maybe we are using a lot of the same designers and doing a lot of the same

[00:30:47] things so I do want to bring people in from out of the industry to contribute their artistic vision and their creativity and really take things in new directions but they'll just need some coaching on not to just go too far into the galaxy and focus on you know what we're doing which is mostly like Leo Gio around the

[00:31:07] space with not deep space with like bright purples and it's you know it's Earth horizon so that was a big learning curve on the visual side. Yes, because it's very important you know if they see something that's not right.

[00:31:22] It kind of it triggers a distrust in okay well if this isn't right, then what else is not right and they're being dishonest with me because especially with space, you know, we can see it from down here.

[00:31:36] So I could pay for a satellite and not know it's really up there. And so there's a huge level of trust that is on the client side that you are doing what it is you say you're doing. So, it is important that every aspect that of your your outreach is truthful.

[00:31:58] Because you don't ever want to have anything corrode that trust, you know it's everything. Yes, and the details do matter.

[00:32:06] So is there anything within space, the space industry itself that you find our marketing challenges in particular to space rather than just in the regular marketing trends I know you mentioned the artistic renderings and I love that you're bringing other people in.

[00:32:25] And, you know, artists are a lot like engineers engineers are artists. So, you know there's definitely this the same type of person in a lot of respects so I love that.

[00:32:38] So, but yeah do you have any in particular strategies that you have found work in space or don't work in space that work in other industries.

[00:32:50] Yeah, so I found that what I was hearing from my colleagues having gone to trade shows for many years is a lot of the panels are talking about the same thing.

[00:33:03] Like we're hearing the same topics and people are maybe cautious to step outside of their lane or they they don't.

[00:33:12] You know they're speaking on behalf of a company so maybe they're not being as candid. So how can we encourage new conversations and new thought diversity in the industry at conferences for example so we organized a panel at ascend and Las Vegas last year,

[00:33:30] and we had a very intentional about our topic we wanted to make sure we were bringing in personas that would have unique and potentially conflicting perspectives so we really and we interviewed people ahead of time and said

[00:33:43] here's what we want to talk about. We want to hear what you have to say and then we said okay, they're going to bring something unique to this conversation. And we had several pre meetings with them individually and then as a group to refine the questions

[00:33:59] we wanted to make sure we were going to draw out some unique perspectives and make it a little bit edgy. And by the time we got on stage, we felt okay, everybody's prepared and we have not force fed them what to say we know they have unique perspectives

[00:34:16] and we were asking really interesting questions and before the panel started we shared an audience poll question and asked them their opinion on the topic within five categories.

[00:34:29] And at the end of the panel we asked the same question again, and the numbers had changed. And people had thought about the topic in a different way and changed their perspective and we said, that is a win when we can actually move the needle and get people to think

[00:34:48] differently and provide unique contributions to the conversation. So that was satisfying to me if we're not just regurgitating the same topics we've been hearing.

[00:34:59] Well, in the last 60 years has been a lot of regurgitation. You know, that's why we're really a little bit further ahead than we were but we still have not stepped back on the moon.

[00:35:13] And we still have not gone to the next phase. So there's still a lot of discussion I think that needs to be made so I love that.

[00:35:23] Speaking of stepping on the moon and all that things, where do you see the space industry in the next 10 to 20 years? I mean this is a long game and what your company does is definitely a long game thing.

[00:35:38] Yes, and I love that you put the timeframe on it because we're long game but at the same time I think when the average person who's not immersed in the industry thinks about space they think about they get kind of enamored by human space travel.

[00:35:51] And can we live off planet someday. And then there's this misperception that we're trying to live off planet because we're just going to trash our planet and now we're looking for an escape route.

[00:36:02] And maybe we're going to meet aliens someday. And what I find much more interesting and timely since I've been in the industry is what is happening in the next 10 to 20 years. That's really the biggest determinant of whether or not future generations will even have access to space.

[00:36:20] So what I hope to see happen is that we're having really thoughtful conversations about the how we're doing it and we're bringing more diverse voices into that, that conversation because what I really breaks my heart is to see people having this all or nothing attitude towards space.

[00:36:44] And let's just forget it. Let's not do it. Let's drop every satellite out of the sky and not realizing what the lose personally just not being aware so they're not making informed decisions and that's on us as the space marketers in the space industry to convey that in a way that says,

[00:37:04] but we're not telling you it's all sunshine in roses. It's, we need more problem solvers more voices are there people that have done well in other industries. Do we have examples we can pull from from other industries to do it right in space.

[00:37:22] So I want to see the people that are on the fence to get involved in the conversation and contribute their unique perspective to the conversation.

[00:37:33] I love the diversity. I heard a statement this last past week that says, the reason why we need diversity in space is because when we go out to space, we're taking all of humanity with us.

[00:37:48] Not just a segment of that humanity. So we need to be inclusive of all humanity. And I love that.

[00:37:56] So. All right, so the final question for the day is what thoughts do you want to leave our audience with today.

[00:38:05] What do you want them to mull around?

[00:38:09] I love this and this is again more for the outside the industry but don't throw the space baby out with the bathwater like painted all one color it's good it's bad it's very nuanced it needs thoughtful conversation.

[00:38:23] And of course just a totally shameless plug mobility is a huge part of how we can maintain space from collision avoidance to removing the junk we've already put up there, avoiding more junk dealing with adversaries,

[00:38:42] decommissioning responsibly so we need there are a lot of subsystems and a lot of components we need mobility is a big part of that.

[00:38:51] But I think the final thought is if you're on the fence if you're not sure how you feel about space get informed and get involved in the conversation we need to do.

[00:39:02] And I want to really stress that space you deal with space every day, you know, space is in your pocket.

[00:39:11] It tells you how what the traffic is it tells you the weather and in regards to weather, it has saved thousands of lives being able to see weather from above the earth and know that a hurricane or to NATO are, you know, are coming.

[00:39:28] So if you take the satellites out of the sky, then that's going to have negative repercussions like you cannot imagine because it isn't everything we do from our medical to our banking.

[00:39:42] And you said something about defense too.

[00:39:46] And just because we take our satellites out of the sky does not mean our adversaries and we do have adversaries out there does not mean they will.

[00:39:55] And they plan on dominating the space environment.

[00:39:59] So it is up to us to make sure that we're keeping an eye on that.

[00:40:02] And there is no taking it out of the sky.

[00:40:05] It's just how do we do it better?

[00:40:07] How do we do it more human and how do we do it for the next 200 years, not just 20 years.

[00:40:17] That's right.

[00:40:18] And we are something very tangible we're doing in this area as we participated in this event in February called sea change sessions that does bring in diverse thought leaders from, you know, they're talking about blue economy and carbon forming and bringing in Mayan elders to talk about generational forward thinking it was really an interesting event and there was a

[00:40:42] space track.

[00:40:43] So you can imagine the conversations we had in that room with all these really diverse voices and it got us thinking how can we have better conversations around this and bringing people from the industry who are the ones empowered to go forth and make decisions, but also bring in the naysayers

[00:40:59] and the adjacent benefiting industries like agriculture put them all in a room.

[00:41:04] So we're hosting a follow up event in September that we're going to bring some of these voices together so now we're in the process of shaping well what are the questions we can ask what can like labs can we organize and workshops to like draw out some interesting conclusions.

[00:41:18] And then what do we do it that next so this is a conversation we're very actively engaged in and should have more coming on this as the months unfold.

[00:41:27] Yes, please, please share and make sure that if you're listening today that you link to Laura and make sure you get that information as it unfolds.

[00:41:38] Yes, you can find me on LinkedIn, Laura DeVos Smith, you can message me there.

[00:41:45] And definitely do look up benchmark and see all what they're doing. It's, it's a great company. And I'm excited for what you your future I'm just so excited.

[00:41:58] Thank you. I am too. I feel like I'm in a good, a good place a good position to be part of this like not just industry conversation but this human endeavor or conversation like what would a gift.

[00:42:13] Yes, and we get to be here for it. We get to be the bull horns because that's why I say our marketing is is where the bull horns for.

[00:42:20] Yes.

[00:42:24] Well thank you so much. And I look forward to seeing you at the next conference.

[00:42:30] That's right, you will. Thank you so much.

[00:42:32] Thanks to the audience.

[00:43:02] As you reach for the stars.