Introduce an arbitrary sorting mechanism

Creativity literally means making something out of nothing. 

But in many cases, it means making something out of something. Organizing raw materials into different wholes. Helping ideas bounce of other ideas, going from one until the other, until they hit an exciting new nerve. It’s not as labor intensive as creating something out of whole cloth, but it requires a certain volume of inventory to be possible. 

One of my favorite creative rituals is walking the factory floor. It’s an established parcel of structured curiosity, whereby I casually and thoughtfully peruse every idea I’ve recently accumulated. 

The secret is, when I start to see the same ideas, over and over, and I can feel my mind starting to go numb, I change the visual landscape. I introduce an arbitrary sorting mechanism into the process. And what’s fascinating is, simply shuffling the order of the files in my browser, sorting them by a different category, i.e., date created, date modified or alphabetically, makes all the difference in the world. 

By completely rearranging the order of the inventory, I start to notice new patterns and happy accidents and disparate combinations that weren’t available to me before. 

And before I know, I’ve created something out of something. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

How might you change the way you approach the raw materials of your creative process?

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For a copy of the list called, “50 Questions Every Entrepreneur Should Ask,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

Never the same speech twice. Customized for your audience. Impossible to walk away uninspired.

Now booking for 2015-2016.

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

Yay, another opportunity not to get paid for something!

I once met a woman who worked in the development department of a cable television network. 

She shamefully admitted that her job as a producer was to invite freelancers writers into her office, gush over their portfolio, ask them a thousand questions, listen attentively, take copious notes on their brilliant ideas, act like she was going to hire them, and then just have an internal staff person execute their work instead. 

And the worst part, she said, was that she wasn’t allowed to follow up with any of the freelancers. Because rejecting them could mean an end to the relationship, and the network might need to use them again in the future. And so, instead of saying so, she just said nothing. 


Blech

Excuse me while I pick my jaw up off the floor. The idea that a massive organization with million of dollars would take advantage of smart, creative people in that way absolutely disgusted me. 

And I didn’t want to believe it was true, either. Until it happened to me. Several times. Organizations invited me to come in for interviews, but because my hunger to contribute overshadowed my resistance to exploitation, I let them flatter me into doing free work. 

That’s the reality we live in. Companies simply don’t need the same amount of people anymore to be as productive as they’ve always been. And if they have the chance to extract good ideas from young, ambitious, intelligent freelancers without compensating them, they’re going to take it. 

Caveat genitor, to coin a phrase. 

Remember, before taking that meeting, always ask yourself if it’s an opportunity or an opportunity to be used. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

When was the last time you allowed somebody to flatter you into free work?LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For a copy of the list called, “8 Ways to Move Quickly on New Opportunities,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

Never the same speech twice. Customized for your audience. Impossible to walk away uninspired.

Now booking for 2015-2016.

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

The only investment that matters

Creativity is a forced savings account. 

You make small, daily deposits. And then you look back after a period of time and say, wow, I have a huge balance. I wonder what I should spend it on? 

That’s how I’ve been working for years. Every day, I put as many words on the page as I can. I get on kicks, I follow conceptual pathways as long as they bear fruit, and when the point of diminishing returns approaches, I pivot and write about something else. 

But I never pick my head up. I never look over my shoulder. I just keep creating and keep riding the momentum and trust that I’ll end up somewhere interesting. And then, usually several months later, I finally step back to behold my inventory. I sit there and take a good look at the ground taken. 

More importantly, I let the inventory take a good look at me. I inhale while it exhales. And that’s when I know it’s time to stop creating and start judging. It’s time to transition from passive accumulation mode to strategic creation mode. 

This process, treating creativity as a forced savings account, is how I’ve published thirty books, seven musical albums and a feature length documentary. It works. 

Never underestimate the prolific power of compound interest. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What might be possible through your slow, unsexy, consistent creative increments?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For a copy of the list called, “49 Ways to become an Idea Powerhouse,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

Never the same speech twice. Customized for your audience. Impossible to walk away uninspired.

Now booking for 2015-2016.

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

Patient incrementalism wins in the end

Gould first conceived the invention of the laser in a late night flash of inspiration. 

According to the obituary of the prolific physicist, when he first got the idea, he knew it would be the most important work of his career. And so, he spent a caffeine and nicotine fueled weekend laboriously compiling pages of calculations in his laboratory notebook, and then had the foresight to have his work notarized at a neighborhood candy store. 

Unfortunately, he spent the next three decades persuading federal courts to uphold his patents on his device. His sat on the sidelines while his colleagues won prestigious awards. The government forbade him to work on his project and view his original notes. Even the press derided him as nothing but an attic inventor with a candy store patent. 

But the inventor ultimately got his due. Gould had the last laugh when he received patents on the device that brought him more than thirty million in royalties. It’s one of my favorite creativity case studies of all time. 

The story of laser teaches us many lessons. 

First, writing is the basis of all wealth. If you don’t write it down, it never happened. Second, protect your assets. Begin building your own safe house at the moment you begin building your dream. Third, timing isn’t everything, it’s the only thing. Creativity isn’t just knowing a good idea when you see it, it’s executing that idea before anyone else sees it. 

Fourth, patient incrementalism wins in the end. But you have to be willing to be paid today for the free you did yesterday. Fifth, trust your spontaneous instinctual abilities. Gould famously said that he knew he had to go after this thing. He couldn’t just let it sit in a notebook. And so, he made it real. 

And lastly, ideas are free, execution is priceless. Gould’s immortal words remind us that some people think they’ve invented something, when they’ve merely thought of something to invent. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What’s your laser? 

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For a copy of the list called, “71 Things Customers Don’t Want to Hear You Say,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

Never the same speech twice. Customized for your audience. Impossible to walk away uninspired.

Now booking for 2015-2016.

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

Moments of Conception 165: The Shower Curtain Ring Scene from Planes, Trains and Automobiles

All creativity begins with the moment of conception.

That little piece of kindling that gets the fire going. That initial source of inspiration that takes on a life of its own. That single note from which the entire symphony grows. That single spark of life that signals an idea’s movement value, almost screaming to us, something wants to be built here.

And so, in this blog series, I’m going to be deconstructing my favorite moments of conception from popular movies. Each post will contain a video clip from a different film, along with a series of lessons we can learn from the characters.

Today’s clip comes from the shower curtain scene in Planes, Trains & Automobiles:



No labels, no limits. My favorite basketball player once said, if you don’t know where you’re going, nobody can stop you. I’ve always appreciated the playfulness and flexibility of that mindset. It’s not a bad way to play the game. In fact, it’s not a bad strategy for approaching the creative process. Life is boring when we know all the answers anyway. Because when we’ve already decided exactly what we’re making or where we’re going, our work can only be as good as that. On the other hand, when we objectify the creative process and suspend our need to categorize, we invite projects to expand into unexpected territory. We allow the work to adapt and evolve. When I started working on my my first documentary, I didn’t know I was making a movie until a year into the project. One day, I just stepped back from the project and thought, I think this thing wants to be a film. So I listened. But had I decided that at the onset of the process, it wouldn’t have organically blossomed into the work of art it is today. In this example, I was creating medium agnostic. Instead of locking the work into a single form, I kept the idea in permanent beta. Instead of forcing my own expectations on the work, I allowed patterns to emerge. And when the time came for the documentary to announce itself, all I had to do was listen and say yes. Are your expectations serving or frustrating you?



Your credentials are your attitude. When I started my business, it was barely a business. No plan. No market strategy. No creative vision for turning a profit. I just wanted to write. I just wanted to make things. And so, when I launched my publishing company, it was a business insofar as I believed it existed. My enterprise was real because I said it was. And that was enough. Nobody could take that away from me. There was no belief police who was going to put up a barricade in my mind and say, now just a minute there young man, we’re going to need to see some credentials. Bullshit. I can do whatever I want. I hired myself, and I answer to myself. Turns out, that’s all you need. Enough proof to convince yourself, and enough passion to convince others. And yet, most people won’t do it. We’re so afraid to raise our hand a take a chance and stick ourselves out there because we’re scared that people will laugh and stare and roll their eyes and call on us the carpet. Del, on the other hand, raised his hand. He hired himself. Converting his shower curtain inventory into sellable jewelry was genius. Proving, that people are impressed by people who take initiative. They’re inspired by the fact that they have the audacity to step into the spotlight and own it. And that’s why nobody ever says anything. Because deep down, there’s a part of them that wises they had the guts do the same. So try raising your hand. Hire yourself. You’ll be amazed how few people will try to stop you. Once you realize that, once you start living life without waiting for permission, you’ll experience a level of abundance you never thought possible. Are you asking who’s going to let you, or wondering who’s going to stop you?



Definition is an intellectual enterprise, the soul prefers to imagine. During a recent creativity workshop, many of the high school students asked me questions about career paths. If, at a young age, they were supposed to know what they wanted to do with their life. And I told them, don’t put so much pressure on yourself. Very few people know who they are and what they want when they’re eighteen. That’s the cognitive dissonance of adolescence. Human beings have to satisfy their basic human need for unity, order and completeness. And so, they demand that everything follows a logical path. That everything has a beginning, middle and end. Human life, after all, is punctuated by a definite beginning, middle and end. And so, it’s no surprise that teenagers require everything they deal with in life to follow the same path. Their rational capacities crave a certain amount of story. They depend on dramatic structure. It’s hardwired into them. But the reality is, I told the students, not everything has to be a thing. Life can’t always be compartmentalized. Not every idea can be fully fleshed out and explainable. And it shouldn’t be. That robs us of joy of the limitless everyday mystery that is life. When did you become okay with that?

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What did you learn from this movie clip?

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For a copy of the list called, “22 Unexpected Ways to Help People,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

Never the same speech twice. Customized for your audience. Impossible to walk away uninspired.

Now booking for 2015-2016.

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

Unburden yourself of all those worries

The creative brain often has trouble quieting itself. At any given moment, the mind darts and moves and skips and rises. And if we’re not careful, its tremendous racing power can overwhelm our system and cause anxiety, restlessness and mania. 

The goal, then, is to calmly beat our brain to the punch. And to take control of our mind before our mind gets in control of us. 

What’s exciting is, there’s no one way to do it. Each of us customizes a unique program for taking charge of our own thinking. Here’s a snapshot of how I get control of my psychic environment. 

I practice sleep thinking, a bedtime ritual of surrendering myself each night to learning about my own life and what it needs from me. 

I practice productive obsessions, a way of using my brain in the service of the work I intend to accomplish. 

I practice creative visualizations, a tool for letting my brain race, but still remaining in control of it. 

I practice rhythmic exercise, a moving meditation that zeroes out my mental board and gets me into my body. 

I practice automation, a series of creative subroutines that prevent unnecessary thoughts from taking up residence in my psyche. 

I practice making room, a tool for giving ideas over to a system superior than my mind so my mental energy can move on to its bigger and better work. 

I practice forced vomiting, a daily ritual of emotional release where I purge everything that happens to me. 

I practice paper thinking, a way of experiencing ideas kinesthetically and without judgment.

I practice centering sequences, a way of bringing my brain up to operating temperature in order to run properly. 

Remember, you are in charge of you own thinking.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What tools, practices and rituals help you get control of your psychic environment? LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For a copy of the list called, “33 Ways to Approach Unhappy Customers,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

Never the same speech twice. Customized for your audience. Impossible to walk away uninspired.

Now booking for 2015-2016.

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

Introducing Nametag Scott Ginsberg’s “Junkie Software,” Addictive Web Applications to Make You More Prolific

Abramović, the grandmother of performance art, famously said anything that is revolutionary is in front of your nose and is never complicated, but you don’t see it until you have a safe mind. 

Then question, then, is how do we acquire a safe mind? What can we do to make ourselves more amenable to the innovative possibilities that surround us? 

Simple. Go backwards. Work by process of elimination. Recognize and remove the influences that inhibit the process. Because it’s not the ideas we don’t have that block our thinking, it’s the ideas we do have. 

Debono calls these concept prisons, which are traditional fixed ideas that prevent us from looking at something in a new way. 

Here’s an example. Years ago a writer friend of mine converted his intellectual property into a robust software program that he sold for big bucks. When I first watched his demo, I became insanely jealous. Not just because of the money he made, but because of the medium he used. After all, my goal as a writer has always been to use as many disciplines and forms of media as possible to circulate my views and communicate my message. Even if I have to invent whole new ways of doing so. 

And so, seeing that piece of software planted an seed in my head. I thought to myself, that’s what I need to do. Turn my intellectual property into a web application. Awesome. The only problem was, in my mind, the word software meant something that was big and complex and robust and expensive. And that scared me. To the point that I never even attempted executing the project. The task was simply too daunting. 

That word, then, software, was the concept prison holding me back. The fixed idea that prevented me from seeing the possibilities. Debono famously said that the natural tendency of the mind is to remain within the security of the rigid patterns it sets up. And that ideas only occur in those able to escape the rigidity of words and classifications.

He was right. I was stuck. 

But to my surprise, nearly ten years later, I revisited the idea of creating that software program. And a developer friend of mine said something that helped me break out of that prison. 

What if, he suggested, instead of building out your whole comprehensive system all at once, you created a series of simple, single serving applications, each of which did one thing? 

Huh. Building a family of inexpensive software solutions on a piecemeal basis. What a concept. And yet, that never would have occurred to me. Because didn’t have a safe mind. I was too locked into my own definitions of the word software to think that way. 

Proving, that we’re more often blocked by the ideas we already have. 

By the way, check out Junkie Software to see the fruits of this conceptual labor.


LET ME ASK YA THIS…

How does the arrogance and rigidity of your old thinking system cripple your thinking? 

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For a copy of the list called, “15 Ways to Out Learn Your Competitors,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

Never the same speech twice. Customized for your audience. Impossible to walk away uninspired.

Now booking for 2015-2016.

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

You teach people how to treat you

Wearing a nametag everyday for fifteen years taught me a lot about boundaries. 

Since beginning my experiment at the age of twenty, I’ve had stalkers try to befriend me, cult members try to covert me, hockey players try to fight me, drug dealers try to sell me, religious zealots try to proselytize me and pyramid schemers try to recruit me. 



Woops

Turns out, if you don’t set your own boundaries, other people will set them for you. And then they will violate them. And then they will tell all their little friends to do the same. And it will be your fault because you failed to set a precedent. 

Proving, that you teach people how to treat you. That boundaries are saviors. Without them, people will walk all over you. 

Now, what’s interesting is, boundaries tend to elicit a binary reaction. One camp of people will respond negatively. They will find the very idea of you owning your life offensive, threatening and disenfranchising. They will call you forceful and selfish and proud and independent. Because deep down, they will know that your boundaries stripped them of their power to manipulate and control you. 

However, the other camp of people will respond positively to your boundaries. They will notice your newfound maturity and discipline, treat you more respectfully and take you more seriously. And they will understand your need to be at full choice with your life. Because deep down, they will know that they’re not the only ones drawing lines around their lives. 

The goal, then, is to surround yourself with the second camp of people. The ones who give you the freedom to be who you are. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

How much time have you spent constructing a personal boundary system?

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For a copy of the list called, “11 Things to Stop Wasting Your Time On,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

Never the same speech twice. Customized for your audience. Impossible to walk away uninspired.

Now booking for 2015-2016.

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

Steal Scott’s Ideas, Issue 001: Istocklanguage, Startuppity & Overwhelmd

Ideas are free, execution is priceless.

That’s been my mantra since day one of starting my business.

It’s also the title of a book I wrote a few years back. You
can download it for free here.

But here’s the problem. I’m an idea junkie. Everything I look at in the world
breaks down into a collection of ideas. I have about fifty new ones every day,
and sadly, I can only execute so many of them. Even if I had all the resources
and all the time in the world, I still wouldn’t be able to keep up with the
whirlwind of insanity that gusts through my brain.

And that’s where you come in.

I believe ideas were never meant to stay that way. And so,
in this new blog series, I’m going to be publishing a sample of them on a
weekly basis, in the hopes that they inspire you to (a) execute them, (b)
improve them, or (c) invent something completely different.

Remember, once an idea springs into existence, it cannot be
unthought.

Even if that idea is ridiculous.

Enjoy! 

Steal Scott’s Ideas, Issue 001

1. Istocklanguage, a royalty free sentence website for writers. 

2. A psychological classification for unemployable personality types.

3. Smart mirrors that speak positive body image affirmations back to you.

4. Combination capo / guitar tuner in one.

5. Double Date, a social network for non swingers who want more couple friends.

6. Twenty minute timers on toilets to prevent legs from falling asleep.

7. Startuppity, an app that warns new entrepreneurs about jerky people in the industry.

8. Overwhelmd, a twenty four hour hotline for overwhelmed entrepreneurs. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

How will you turn these ideas into I-dids?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

Send an email to me and let me know how they turn out.

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

Never the same speech twice. Customized for your audience. Impossible to walk away uninspired.

Now booking for 2015-2016.

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

Moments of Conception 164 — The Writing Scene from Stand By Me

All creativity begins with the moment of conception.

That little piece of kindling that gets the fire going. That initial source of inspiration that takes on a life of its own. That single note from which the entire symphony grows. That single spark of life that signals an idea’s movement value, almost screaming to us, something wants to be built here.

And so, in this blog series, I’m going to be deconstructing my favorite moments of conception from popular movies. Each post will contain a video clip from a different film, along with a series of lessons we can learn from the characters.

Today’s clip comes from the writing scene in Stand By Me:



We are the model for what we create. When I started wearing my nametag fifteen years ago, I immediately saw how effective it was in earning people’s attention and giving them permission to approach me. But that was interpersonally. And so, when I started my publishing company, I began wondering if the same strategy might work economically. Was there a business model that could make my brand sticky enough to make the market target me? Was there a value strategy that could attract new clients, engagements and opportunities? Absolutely. Continuous creation. That was the solution. And so, writing became the linchpin that activated the value attraction process. I began spending all of my time creating things that brought value and joy and insight and inspiration to people. From articles to blogs to books to videos to music to workshops to mentoring programs to software applications, if writing wasn’t the answer, I rephrased the question. Within a few years, I had written so much, created so much good in the marketplace, that I became the bullseye instead of the arrow. The market started targeting me. The equation was simple. The volume of daily output, multiplied by originality of my brand voice, divided by time, raised to the power of consistency. That’s what kicked open the doors of opportunity. New business found me through the attraction of working. Meaning, I now had two nametags. The label on my shirt, and the labor in the marketplace. Both stuck. What’s your nametag



Generosity is the tax you pay for talent. I’ve been writing music for more than twenty years. But many of my friends and colleagues had no idea I that was a singer and songwriter. Because music was always something I saved for myself. It was an escape. A way to hide from the world. Besides, the material was way too personal. Too bloody. To precious to be subjected to the cruel ear of the world. But as I got older, I started to understand how gifts work. Hyde’s research showed that gifts, not unlike particles in physics, need to stay in motion. Passing the gift along is the act of gratitude that finishes the labor. It’s an essential part of the creative process. Giving the first creation away makes the second possible. Meaning, your gift is not fully yours until it is given away. That philosophy lit a fire under my musical butt. Hyde’s work forced me to stop and say, wait a minute. I’ve been given this gift, something special that allows me deliver value that nobody has ever delivered before, and I’m not sharing it? How selfish. Because the highest form of gratitude for the gift we’ve been given is to regift it in the service of the world. To keep it in motion. Chris knows this intuitively. Gordie, on the other hand, doesn’t have the eyes to see his own talent. He doesn’t realize that writing is the one gift he’s been given, and he an obligation not to waste it. Who helped you assess the gifts you have to offer?



Jealousy is the ember of initiative. When I was in high school, a musician friend of mine got a regular gig at the local coffee shop. I was insanely jealous. I went to watch him play one night, and I remember thinking to myself, you bastard, that should be me up there. And so, between sets I went up to him and asked how he got the spot. Adam said he just walked up to the owner, handed him his demo tape and flat out asked for the gig. Wow. Who knew it was that easy? The only problem was, I didn’t have a demo tape. But what I did have was a lot of friends. That’s a different kind of demo. So I approached the owner and told him that if he gave me a spot for one night, I would guarantee twenty customers. He couldn’t resist. Two weeks later, after plastering the hallways of my high school with bright yellow posters, every one of my friends showed up to watch me play. And they all bought coffee and snacks. The owners were ecstatic. After the show, they pulled me aside and hired me on the spot. Wednesday night was now officially mine. I felt like a rockstar. Like a grown up. Like a real businessperson who just cut a deal. And the best is, I wasn’t even that good. I’d only been playing guitar for about five years. And I’m sure my singing voice wasn’t exactly angelic. But nobody seemed to care. I played every week for six months, and had the time of my life. And I’m sure were people in the audience every week who heard me play and thought to themselves, wow, this guy sucks. But I was the one on stage, and they weren’t. I was the one who took the initiative, and they didn’t. Kiss my ass. Proving, that ideas are free, but only execution is priceless. What’s your legacy of taking action?

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What did you learn from this movie clip?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For a copy of the list called, “11 Ways to Out Market Your Competitors,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

Never the same speech twice. Customized for your audience. Impossible to walk away uninspired.

Now booking for 2015-2016.

Email to inquire about fees and availability. Watch clips of The Nametag Guy in action here!

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