 Welcome to the wide world of eSports, a show devoted to all things eSports. I'm your host, Katharine Norr. Today we're talking about Hawaii eSports Invitational Top Not Teams Converged at HPU. With me is Ed Lalier, co-founder and Chief Corporate Development Officer at Vanta eSports. Welcome Ed. Thank you. Aloha. Good to be. All right. Tell us about Vanta eSports. Sure. So Vanta is an eSports infrastructure company. We really focus on youth development, primarily within the K through 12 space. But we are leaning into the college and the adult space as well. We provide competition, coaching, professional development, camps, free to compete leagues for schools, platform that's COPA compliant. It's over safe for minors under 13, as well as events. All right. So what got you into eSports and developing your company? It's a great story. So I've been a gamer since the 90s during the quake days. And I was in financial services for about 20 years. But didn't really get into the eSports business until my son unfortunately got sober early COVID. And he's playing online with his friends and an adult came in and really terrorized your group. And it was a really traumatic time. Gaming was that connection point for normalcy to have that severed was truly traumatic and really felt the pains of isolation. And I felt compelled to do something about it. So you can't really tell I'm six, seven and played international basketball. My dad played pro like I coach youth basketball that traditional sports model works so well when I have an adult mentor in the room with a structured program. You have practices competitions are in the week. And what you end up having is this skill development process over a number of days or weeks. But, you know, it's not just learning the game, but it's the life skills, the soft skills, respect, empathy, communication and such leadership. This is what's being missed in eSports. There is no adult in the room. There is no referee, no umpire. And as such, it's anything goes. And so I felt like I said compelled to do something about it. So I, the first call was my, my buddy and colleague from Boston College, Aaron, our NBA days. And I was like, I got an idea. Why couldn't we replicate that traditional sports model in the digital arena. And so we tested it out and did a number of alpha beta tests. And it worked out great to have a coach in a structured program where you're teaching the kids how to play the game, but also how to work together as a team. And we started out as a coach league. And then from there it blossoms into this full on infrastructure company that, like I said, lists out all these things from like coaching the PD, the platform to events. All of it though is to provide infrastructure to support that coach league at the core of it. It's basically trying to create a safe place for kids to learn. You know, with mentorship, you know, really trying to drive, you know, positive digital. And what led you to do this in Hawaii? Oh, that's a really interesting question. So I, I married up. I married an island girl. So I have 2 kids. And so she's from here. She went to a line or a family went to a line. Both my kids go to a line. So I apologize for anyone who is listening to this. You know, go Raiders. But in any case, we chose a why for a number of reasons. One, when you're starting up a company, you need family support. My wife's family has is very broad here. And that was really critical. The other thing to also think about was business sense. And there's a few reasons why Hawaii is really great. Number 1, we were accepted into the blue startups accelerator program for those who don't know it is a top 20 accelerator in United States. It's funded by Tetris, which is actually based here in Hawaii. Tetris is a OG gaming. They're like, everyone loves Tetris. If we're going to learn how to make a business model work. We want to be mentored by them. So we went and so they only accept like 8 applicants out of like 520. So we were really. Less to be part of that. So. We went to Hawaii to be part of that accelerated, which is really a school for startups. And they really helped us build out our our business model, refine it, get the network, you know, connect with investors and such. That's great. But strategically, Hawaii is amazing because we have a monopoly on the midpoint between mainland and Asia. And if you know, the esports industry, 56% of the esports market is in Asia. That has a not like Hawaii has a lot of influence from there. We could actually start building a community where Hawaii is that gateway between East and West. And so we're, and I won't go too deep into it. So strategically, it was great. You know, for us, for our business just get started. Amazing. But also the community here. It is a great place for R and D. I got a million people here who are tech savvy, very diverse. And I can actually utilize Hawaii in the community here as a way to test things out and whatever works, I can then apply and scale in the mainland. So I looked at why is a really great focus group for my business and it's worked out tremendously. Fantastic. And there's been a recent event. It's really exciting. Let's show the video. Here we are with Jordan Oliver, director at HPU esports. And what are we doing today, Jordan? So we are out here at the zippies Hawaii Esports Invitational. We have schools, high schools from all across the islands, mainly a while ago today, duking it out for valor competition. We had an all star show match earlier where we had high school students from around actually get mixed teams with varsity students from Michigan State, Stony Brook and New York, UH Manoa and HPU. All right. So Ed, why don't you expand on your event? Sure. I think it might be good just to start off as to why we had the event in the first place. I think everyone likes the good, the etymology of a really impactful event. So the story goes as this. So I reached out to Kevin Yen, who's the vice president of marketing over the zippies. He by and is a gamer himself. He loves zip six. And we connected on game and really my responsibility at Vanta is really partnerships and sponsorships, really building community connection for a greater purpose. Gaming is beyond just gaming. It fundamentally has more to offer for kids to adults to really culture. And Kevin knew this. And so in fact, Kevin had a special background. He actually was one of the founders of the Diamondhead Classic basketball tournament that we all, you know, are familiar with. And he was working at Hawaiian Airlines at the time. So he has experience of creating really marquee events that are really impactful in the community here in Hawaii. He wanted to do something like that now that he's at zippies and he wanted to do something that was very original unique and he did that and you want to do it through eSports. You know, all the data shows that it's the fastest growing sport and you can definitely see that here in Hawaii as well. And he wants to be first zippies wanted to be first in Hawaii to really create that marquee event. And that and so then the question here is, well, what is a marquee event in eSports and what you're got currently now in eSports in Hawaii. Or a number of scholastic events for middle school and high school, which we're very proud to have the largest community in Hawaii. We run the largest the and we have our fall in or spring finals. But that's an elementary middle and high school, right? But for colleges, there really isn't anything here. And also for adults, there really isn't anything like on a standalone. It may actually be combined and co-located with an anime conference or a music festival or something, but on its own two legs, there really isn't anything available for the community. And so I look at the community and so does zippies as something broader than just K through 12. And so when we're looking at a marquee event, you know, our vision together was let's bring the entire eSports community here. But let's also put a little spin on it. Let's add a little flair. Let's bring some talk to your teams from mainland to come here versus us traveling to the mainland to compete. Let's reverse the situation and have them come here. Who would not want to play video games in Hawaii? Like let's go. And so it was received so well with everybody that I talked on mainland and here. And so we started out to create a product that really highlighted a few things. Number one, it's got to promote Hawaii culture, the benefits, you know, and all the things that are special and unique about the culture. We want that to shine. Number two, this has to be inclusive. Therefore, we need to include all age groups here. And so there's a special way to do that. Number 3, we needed to have really good competition. So we decided, let's actually do a few things. Number 1, let's do a college competition with really top tier teams. We were very lucky to get Michigan State, a top tier team, Stony Brook, an upcoming top tier team to challenge UH and HPU. And this was our pilot year, right? So we have a college competition. That's great. Why are colleges coming here? They want to compete, but they also want to connect with the community. And we were very fortunate to have a already established middle school and high school community. So why don't we co-locate an event there so we can utilize like a competition event really as a recruiting event. Let's get these kids scholarships. So that's a different spin-off. In addition, let's use this event as an employment opportunity so you can get jobs. Zippy's is now becoming more and more automated and electronic. They have an app, and you're seeing other food and beverage organizations doing the same thing. Technical skills are necessary. Who better to recruit to than kids who love tech? And so they want to use gaming as a place to promote their brand for job opportunities. So we look at that. Oh, we're not done yet. What about the adults? Yeah, the kids are having fun, but what about the adults? So we created an open tournament where, you know, people can come in and participate in such a really great celebration. So you've got colleges, you've got like K through 12. I got adults. It was a really special moment, and Zippy's was there to really, you know, make it happen. And so I, you know, they were really happy with the feedback. The audience was really thrilled. But that's the story. We wanted to create something that was really unique and different where people were actually coming to us versus us going to them. And we could really support like everybody in these boards on its own versus like sharing with some, you know, ancillary event. So hopefully that makes sense. It does. And let's start with the photos so people can see this event. Let's start with the HPU. So this is the location, right? Yes, it's the Hawaii Pacific University Sports Arena, which is at Aloha Tower, really great facility, really great facility. Okay, let's scroll through and that was one of your sponsors. Yeah, Aloha Pacific Federal Credit Union. You know, there are schools to financial sponsor. They're offering scholarships for kids and for families. So it was really special to have them. This is a mobile IT force. They provide tech to schools. And they also have a D to C component, but you know, they're really also a provider of Lenovo Legion products. And so they were very gracious to provide the hardware for our main stage. They also have a really good booth where it's interactive. This is PC gamers. They create what they call the battle station, which is looks like a table, but it folds out into an actual gaming station with a monitor keyboard PC. And it is a unique item that you'll never find anywhere else, but here in Hawaii. So we're really lucky to have them. So definitely a really cool company that's based here in Hawaii that's connected to these sports. This is the main arena for the college it championship, as well as the high school as well. So you're seeing a couple of the show casters from eSports you. They are a professional production company that does show casting live production streaming. They're actually based here in Hawaii, which is really cool. And, and they got great Aloha. This is this is me speaking to the crowd. And you're giving away some gift cards that right. Yeah, we were very fortunate to have rising to offer some of the, the many competitors across the many different game titles that were there. So Zippy's offered a number of gift cards to really celebrate, you know, you know, gaming with a with a quality meal over at Zippy's. So yeah, that was pretty fun. Fantastic. Next photo. This is the the other arena. So where we had it set up. We had a couple of different places where you can game. So this one was in the main area, just as you enter into the. The eSports arena at HPU. And so you're seeing some of the college. Yep. And here's another version of that where you can see a main stage kind of looks like an L. And then we had the projector screen on the back, which is actually showcasing some of the other activations in the other room. We were very fortunate to have a custom trophy created for both the winners of the college as championship and the high school. We courtesy to use surfboards Hawaii. We use reclaimed surfboards. And then we had a local artist, Jeannie Chester create this beautiful piece. And we did it on to surfboards. And so what you're seeing here is the image of these custom surfboards, which has been deemed the surfboard. That is the trophy that was was awarded to the winners. I bet they enjoyed taking that back to. Oh yes, they did shrink wrapped at all. I should ask you who won the tournament. Michigan State won the college sermon in Castle High School won the high school. So this is what I think is going to happen is Michigan State brings back that amazing trophy. And then all the other colleges want to come to Hawaii because they want to win a surfboard right. I think that's exactly what's going on. In fact, I just received an image of their surfboard in their trophy case at their brand new or eSports arena in Michigan State. It looks amazing. And the first thing that the coach says like this needs a this doesn't look good on its own. It needs a second one. So he's definitely eager to come back and get another. So these are collector irons for certain. Absolutely. So this, it sounds like you're very optimistic about eSports in Hawaii. Is that right? Oh, very optimistic. And just in the eSports in general across the US and global, but especially here in Hawaii. What do you think the future holds for eSports in Hawaii and eSports across the country? Yeah, a lot of different things. So number one, you're going to be seeing stronger business models for sustainable organizations. Historically, you're seeing business models where it's really just sponsorship focus heavy and they don't have any revenues to support that with when. Marketing budgets are reduced. So what you're seeing are companies who are able to survive on multiple revenue streams. And that's going to give some continuity to an eSports industry that really wants support and it takes funding to support these events and all the training and stuff. So that's going to be super important. And that's what gets me excited is that we're all very smart now on how to actually run a sports organization. That allows us to have more infrastructure and then to support that you need to training. So we're seeing a lot more people learning, getting certifications, getting degrees in eSports. You're seeing that at UH. It's going to be really exciting in the next few years, just how many people are actually knowledgeable about this space. And that turns into a lot of other things. They can get jobs. They can actually create jobs. So businesses and stuff, which is really exciting. There's going to be more events and activations here to celebrate. Therefore, with all this content, all these things, it's going to becoming more and more mainstream. And I think that's what's really exciting is that we're filling the gaps and that's in the infrastructure with education and training jobs in business. So Zippy's got involved. Do you think that other companies will see that Zippy's embraces eSports and they might jump on the bandwagon? Yes, I think, without a doubt, here locally, having this kind of marquee event with a notable name here, it definitely resonated. And I'm definitely getting more interesting conversations now about, hey, where can I get involved? And definitely on the mainland too, we actually run the largest classic eSports event in the United States and Texas. At the eSports stadium in Arlington, it's 100,000 square feet. I mean, you've got McDonald's as a sponsor. We've got Takis. We've got Smoothie King. I mean, really big names. And what's exciting is we're building that here in Hawaii. No one can touch it because there's only one Hawaii. So I think what's really cool is now that Zippy's has taken the lead, we're seeing Hawaiian telecom get involved, low Pacific Federal Credit Union. Coca Cola is getting involved. We're seeing other bigger names wanting to get involved because they see the value that it's actually producing in the community. You know, it's really hard to reach young people in terms of marketing. And I think that this is where they are. Is that right? Yes. I mean, if you're looking at the demographic of age 18 and under 90% of kids under 18 are gaming, this is where they're at. And so I think it's really important to, when we're trying to connect them, you know, to connect to them, you know, you want to do it in a very authentic and meaningful way that's not shady. And so you do that through these eSports activations. You can tell your story and Zippy's did a fantastic job of really highlighting their understanding of the space and then connecting what they do best. Food and community, you know, into the experience. And I think more and more brands are taking wind of that. You know, I see a big advantage for Zippy's because they're not only trying to sell their food, but they're also trying to staff. And where do you find restaurant workers? You know, young people. And so I see that they have a strategic advantage there to get their brand out for a number of reasons to that audience. Yeah, I mean, so I'm hearing that there's kiosk now for self service. So like, so you don't have to go to the cashier. You could actually order from a kiosk. In the building, or you can go through the app. You know, and in fact, I've heard some stories that there may be a robot like, you know, actually rolling around helping with cleaning the dishes or something. And I mean, there, it's becoming more and more of a thing and that takes technical skills to operate and supervise and monitor the type of technology applications that are being used within the food service industry. As we know, they have tight margins. So we're using technology to actually help with profits and also provide better service. And so you're going to, you know, you're, you're adding significant value when you have those technology applications and features in their sort of their service model. And, you know, gaming, man, yeah, these kids know how to operate machines. Like they have to because especially if you want to be at a top performer, you're going to have to be very tech savvy. So, and they get very hungry when they work really hard. So it just kind of makes sense. So what are, what are future events or Vanta? What do you have coming up? Oh, yeah. So we got quite a bit. So, so, you know, for us, we're a national organization, but here in Hawaii, we've got our upcoming spring finals coming up. You know, at HPU on April 27 to 28th will be a two day event. We've got over 80 schools participating. I got over 1600 kids. You know, K through 12, it's going to be amazing. We're now in like five different islands. So we're really using gaming as the connector. You know, and it's going to be a celebration once again of the top teams in both middle school and high school. So that's on the 27th, 28th of April. Please come by free admission. And so that that's going to be exciting. We're looking to do a fall finals in early December. And that will be, you know, around the, you know, the 1st, you know, the 2nd week of December. And then we're looking at in our early spring of 2025. For the next Hawaii esports invitation. So, as a parent who embraces esports, do you encounter parents that have questions about whether their children should be gaming or have or push back on this? Yeah, I mean, I get it a lot. And I think, you know, given that they know that my reason for starting this company is because my kid got cyber bullied. They understand the idea of structure supervision. And it's very hard for families who are really struggling just to like. It gets me trying and doing a lot of things that use gaming as that babysitter. For all, for lack of like a better term. So the kids get occupied or they're in the house or safe. But the problem here is that they're technically not safe. You go online. There's nobody really supervising them. So when they're coming to me, like, what can we do? Because they know that pulling the plug from the machine doesn't actually solve the issue because plug it back in the back. And so they're looking for program and education. So they like the idea, the concept of a coached program that has an adult that gets the kids together, form teamwork, build like, you know, the kind of basic fundamental skills of just being a good citizen. They love that idea. And they love the fact that they know exactly when practices are when the competition is they know the rules. They love the fact that it's not gaming for eight straight hours. It's like an hour and a half practice and you're done just like anywhere. They love the fact they don't have to commute. The kids to some other place and like spend money on gas. So there's a lot of conveniences that they see when you can apply it in a very meaningful, thoughtful way. So people really resonate with a response to that. So it really becomes a question about, you know, finding enough time for that structure program. So do you think that these sports will take the place of traditional sports in the future? Or how do you think that will play out in terms of the future generations? You know, traditional sports aren't going away. This is just one more additional sport that can be part of that conversation. You know, there's definitely a need to get out there outside, get on the field on the court and play whatever the sport is. And you also see there's a lot of people who may not be very talented at slam dunking a basketball because they're not six, seven, you know, are pass blocking. But they're very talented in gaming. And so, you know, you see, you know, you're now giving an additional choice to an audience that really didn't have a place to be. So, you know, we oftentimes very surprising over 50% of people who participate in our esports program and this is also another one. I've never joined an esports team. I'm sorry, a sports team or a club at their school over 50% of those who participate have never done anything else. So this is an underserved community. And what I see in the future is just more places for these underserved players and students to participate and find a home. All right, and let's talk about your website and where people can find you. Sure. So, you know, you can find us at www.vanta.gg. And on that website, you'll have a number of different options so you can join our free school leagues. We actually have over 31 game titles, you know, to choose from. So that's pretty cool. We also have camps. We have coaching private coaching for individuals or if you want to do something team based. And if you're adult, you want to get some learning, we do some professional development. And then you can see our schedule for a lot of the events that we do. Fantastic. Well, Ed, thank you so much for being here today and we've learned a lot. It's a pleasure to be here and thank you so much for the opportunity to speak with you all today. Thank you to our viewers for joining us. See you in 2 weeks. Aloha.