Communicating and relating publicly the Maroon way

Our annual “two old sports guys” holiday visit with longtime communications pro John Maroon came on turf very familiar to all parties: Costas Inn in Dundalk, where no one was crabby but the ramping up of artificial intelligence in the world of public relations, marketing and advertising was spicy on our tongues on the Maryland Crab Cake Tour. Always changing, always evolving…

Nestor Aparicio and John Maroon discuss their long-standing connections in Baltimore, including Maroon’s work with Cal Ripken and the Costas family. They reflect on the loss of a beloved community member, highlighting the impact of his legacy. The conversation shifts to AI, with Nestor sharing his experiences using ChatGPT to enhance his work, including creating personalized content and managing his business. They also touch on the evolution of communication and technology, emphasizing the importance of adapting to AI for professional success. The segment concludes with a mention of local charities and personal anecdotes.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Have breakfast with Greg Schaefer tomorrow to discuss AI (meeting scheduled for next day).
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Organize/execute the ‘Cup of Super Bowl’ food drive event during the first week of February to support the Maryland Food Bank (repeat of prior activity).
• [ ] Make a judgment/evaluation of ChatGPT and its usefulness (to be done on Monday).
• [ ] Text Nestor on Sunday with the fantasy football update if Mike Evans posts a big scoring game.
• [ ] Arrange for Meg Kimball (Maryland Food Bank) to appear on the show/segment with Nestor (coordinate guest booking).

John Maroon’s Baltimore Connection and Personal Stories

• Nestor Aparicio introduces John Maroon, highlighting his long-term connections with various sports teams and organizations.
• John Maroon shares his long-term relationship with Baltimore, mentioning his annual birthday tradition at Costas Inn.
• Nestor and John discuss their mutual connections, including John’s introduction to Baltimore by Glenn Vallas and his long-standing relationship with the Costas family.
• John recounts the overwhelming turnout at the funeral of a beloved local figure, emphasizing the community’s deep respect and affection.

Reflections on Community and Personal Loss

• Nestor shares a personal story about receiving a pen from Mr. Costas, which he later saw as a sign after Mr. Costas’s passing.
• John reflects on the impact of Mr. Costas’s life and legacy, highlighting the strength and resilience of his family.
• Nestor and John discuss the importance of community and the lasting impact of individuals who contribute positively to their surroundings.
• John mentions the emotional experience of attending the funeral and the long wait to pay respects, underscoring the community’s deep connection to Mr. Costas.

John Maroon’s Career and Baltimore Roots

• Nestor asks John about his decision to stay in Baltimore despite opportunities in larger markets like New York and Cleveland.
• John explains the deep sense of community and the need to earn one’s place in Baltimore, which made the city feel like home.
• Nestor and John discuss the evolution of their careers and the various roles they have held over the years.
• John emphasizes the importance of building lifelong friendships and being part of a supportive community in Baltimore.

AI and Communication in the Modern Age

• Nestor introduces the topic of AI and its impact on communication and business, sharing his own experiences with AI tools like ChatGPT.
• John and Nestor discuss the potential of AI to revolutionize various aspects of work, including content creation and personal productivity.
• Nestor shares his excitement about AI’s ability to write columns and create content, highlighting its efficiency and quality.
• John and Nestor agree on the importance of staying updated with AI technology to remain competitive in their respective fields.

Personal Experiences with AI and Its Applications

• Nestor recounts his experience with a Tony Robbins boot camp and the creation of his AI clone, which helps him manage his business and personal life.
• John expresses interest in using AI for fantasy football decisions, highlighting its potential to enhance everyday tasks.
• Nestor explains how his AI clone can generate content, write columns, and even create personalized menus based on the contents of his refrigerator.
• John and Nestor discuss the ethical considerations of AI, including the potential for job displacement and the need for human oversight.

The Future of AI and Its Broader Implications

• Nestor and John discuss the broader implications of AI, including its potential to transform industries and create new opportunities.
• John shares his thoughts on the importance of understanding and adapting to AI technology to stay relevant in the modern world.
• Nestor emphasizes the need for continuous learning and adaptation to keep up with the rapid pace of technological change.
• John and Nestor agree on the importance of embracing AI while maintaining a balance between technology and human interaction.

Community Support and Personal Reflections

• Nestor highlights the importance of community support, particularly during the holiday season, and encourages listeners to donate to local food banks.
• John shares updates about his company, PR Communications, and its work with various nonprofit organizations.
• Nestor and John discuss the significance of community involvement and the impact of local initiatives on the broader community.
• John expresses gratitude for the support and opportunities he has received in Baltimore, emphasizing the importance of giving back to the community.

Final Thoughts and Future Plans

• Nestor and John reflect on their shared experiences and the lessons they have learned over the years.
• John shares his excitement about the future of his company and the new opportunities that lie ahead.
• Nestor expresses his appreciation for John’s contributions and looks forward to continuing their collaboration in the future.
• The conversation concludes with a light-hearted discussion about upcoming events and personal plans for the holiday season.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

AI, Baltimore positive, John Maroon, Cal Ripken, communications, fantasy football, ChatGPT, media kit, Tony Robbins, Baltimore Sun, Maryland lottery, driverless cars, social media, content creation, community.

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SPEAKERS

John Maroon, Nestor Aparicio

Nestor Aparicio  00:00

Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T. Am 1570 tassel, Baltimore. We are Baltimore. Positive. I’ve moved on from Calvin and George. I get abused when I have Calvin on the show. You know, I bring him in. It’s an abuse that I love so much from being my seventh grade music teacher. He did not get a winning candy cane cash ticket. They do smell like peppermint sticks, though it’s pretty good. He was trying to win $30,000 win $30,000 we have me here. Cost us in. We are in Dundalk. Mr. Costas is staring at me right here, off the camera. John maroon is with me. He, of course, the longtime Orioles Redskins, Cal, Ripken, PR, advertising, PGA, what am I? I’m leaving things out. I’m doing something right?

John Maroon  00:40

When you get old, like us, you do a lot of stuff, right? We

Nestor Aparicio  00:43

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got a side hustle, and we put all of our side hustles together, and I call the Baltimore positive career. This is my side also, um, how are you? What’s going on me, I think the last time I saw you was BMW, the last time you were on the show, I think was it a meat cheese, Christmas time a year ago this week? Yeah. Appreciate you coming out and having an agnostic bear with me. And the

John Maroon  01:01

reason get to the causes in and see Nestor is, well,

Nestor Aparicio  01:04

this you, you come at this honest. Because every time I’ve ever brought up, cost is you have a relationship here too, and you’re, you ain’t even from around here. No, I’m good with the Dundalk, you know.

John Maroon  01:16

So gentlemen who worked for Cal Ripken for years named Glenn vallas.

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Nestor Aparicio  01:19

Oh, Glenn’s stepdaughter is my webmaster, Jessica. Jessica runs Baltimore positive. It’s all ties together. Jessica did the show with me. Any other room here last year,

John Maroon  01:30

Glen turned me on Glen with the high Glen valse turned me on to the introduced boy. He went to high school with those guys like Raven and, yeah, like Raven and, and then next thing you know, we’re here, and Pete Nick and Christina camp even lovelier. And every year now, Carolyn and I and a bunch of friends come here on my birthday every year. Does a tradition. Pete gets a text to get the whales. It’s go time best your wife’s

Nestor Aparicio  01:58

up at the bar. She knows a way around. She knows Costas why in the and I’m gonna out you here as this isn’t even a PR hit this. Because, you know, you know, I keep it real when I think you saw me with Pete at some point in the last 10 years, and you said something to me, you’re like, is there a nicer person than than Pete triantafilo’s? They’re nicer. Are there nicer people than this family and this family here at Christmas is, you know, struggling with the loss of dad this year. So the first Christmas, like I’m looking at the picture here, and he’s still in my heart and alive and but

John Maroon  02:35

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what a year. Yes, I’ll tell you. And you know, it’s amazing to me. I remember when Carolyn and I want to go and, you know, to the funeral and go to the viewing. And we went. We pulled in. I think it started at 10am and we got there maybe quarter 10, three hour wait. It was crazy. We was two and a half hours. That’s what I mean. So like, and we were early. I mean,

Nestor Aparicio  02:53

what a test. One of the most beloved humans for good reason.

John Maroon  02:57

I mean, the man was amazing, and his kids are amazing, and carry that on his wife. So, you know, just an amazing person, and sorely missed and shocking news, but what an honor to have him in our world for as long as we did.

Nestor Aparicio  03:10

He came to my wife the last time we saw him alive over there, but a week before he died, and he gave my wife a pen, and my wife thought it’s so odd, sweetheart, you take the pen. You know, he comes up sweet Todd. You take, you drink, you know, any. And I never thought I would not see him again, but he gave my wife this pen, and my wife’s like, That’s odd. The morning he died, she found the pen, and she’s like, Oh my God, listen like a sign, you know something, but Mr. Costas, you know, they’ve been my sponsors all of the century. My thanks to them. For everybody out there. John’s been a part of a lot of things we’ve done here over 30 years, going back to, I think, the day we met. I think I remember writing you letters when you worked for the Cleveland Indians trying to get better agate type when I was at the Baltimore Sun in like 1989 or 90 or 91 or whatever. But John’s been in Baltimore 30 years. We were younger man’s clothes. But you never left. You never left Baltimore. And I guess the relationship with cow was a little bit of glue for you, but you wouldn’t for the in the NFL, you worked in, you had been a little bit of a New York, Cleveland. What? What made this so settling for you? I wish, I

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John Maroon  04:18

wish I could really answer that, Nestor. I think I don’t know. Like, I mean, when we first moved here, I didn’t know how long we would be. I didn’t know 30 years ago we’d still be here. We had no idea. But there’s something very connective about this community. And I think the thing I was admired about Baltimore is you had to earn your way in. Like, when I first came here, I you know, it wasn’t like, you wouldn’t feel welcome. You felt welcome. But they were also like, Okay, you’re not really one of us yet, until you prove that you’re legit and you’re real and eat crap.

Nestor Aparicio  04:48

Are you trying to get to New York? You’re trying to get to a bigger market? That’s right stop on your way to the next place. And honestly, at that time,

John Maroon  04:57

I didn’t really know what it was, but yeah. Quickly you fall in love with a place, and you build a home, and you make great lifelong friends. And yeah, it’s it’s a beautiful place, and we’re honored to be part of the community

Nestor Aparicio  05:09

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the land of pleasant living job. Maroon is our guest. We’re Costas, yeah, brought to you by the Maryland lottery as well as a former client. Here’s GBMC helped save my life couple weeks ago. I’m actually having breakfast with Greg Schaefer tomorrow to talk AI, and I was gonna talk a little AI with you as well, especially being in the communication space, where we are the agency space and jobs and employers and all that stuff. Yeah. I mean, I’ve been saying for years to people, PSA number, colonoscopic boobies. I do all the awarenesses of the all the awarenesses. I haven’t been to a doctor’s appointment, like 15 years and you weren’t practicing, and everybody was beating on me about the colonoscopy. And I really think Christina Wales from GBMC, we did a deal together, but I said to her, two days I talked to her, I’m like, you may save my life. Because I don’t know that I would have gone. I wouldn’t my wife, if she were here, she would absolutely say you would have never have gone that she my wife, didn’t have the power to brow beat me to do it, and I’m such a bad patient and all that. But it’s so important. You know, I had, I had a little life scare, and I know, you know, half people in a room, we’re gonna have a scare of some kind. I’m 57 for the first time my life, I woke up and the doc, Dr scarry, said to me, Hey, you had a pre cancer, a pub thing. You got in your dudes right to go any radio, tell everybody else about that. So Merry Christmas to everybody.

John Maroon  06:27

But do it and and all the people are think it’s like this big process. It’s easy peasy. And do it. Do it. Do it. This stuff

Nestor Aparicio  06:33

doesn’t taste nearly as bad as I agree with you. It was gonna be like, I agree with that. It was gonna be chalky, and it was more like a strawberry banana energy drink. All that off.

John Maroon  06:43

You hear the horror stories. They like, Oh, all right, this ain’t that bad. And then you wake up,

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Nestor Aparicio  06:47

I’m going to restaurant. I don’t want to talk about it too much, but you know, I’m saying, I mean, on behalf of the tree on TV’s family. So the the AI thing, like, I want to talk to you about it because it’s hot for me and topical for me. And you’re kind of sort of sort of my age, and we’re kind of sort of contemporaries. We kind of sort of swim in the same places of information, communication, writing, you know, outbounding, relationships, all of these things were always trying to communicate specifically different, not sending one email to everybody. We’re trying to be personal, whatever business, what’s what we’re taught to be in PR and communications that doesn’t get to all the sports organizations, as we find out. But in regard to AI, I It’s not that I didn’t take it seriously. I’ve had a couple of wow moments when it wrote commercials for me this summer and different things like that, that it does things better than I can do them to some degree. But this immersion I’ve had the last month has been Willy Wonka for me and anybody that owns a business, I’m talking to them about it and just saying, how immersed are you and how quickly are you going to get immersed? Because you’re not going to have a business if you’re not immersed at some point. I mean, it really is going to be like, remember when you would say to people, here’s my number, and you would say, Do you text? And they said, No, I don’t text. I was that guy, right? I never. And then all of a sudden, can you imagine, if you didn’t text, or have a cell phone now, or you, how would you get a TV? Tom Davis, yeah, yeah. How would you get how would you do anything if you couldn’t do it? I think the AI part of owning a business is paramount. You have a lot of younger employees to probably swimming at it, right?

John Maroon  08:21

You’re using it a lot more. We’re getting way into it like you are, too. Nestor, somebody said something to resonate with me, and they said, you might not lose your job to AI, but you lose your job to people that understand how to use it, right? And so you got to stay up to speed. It is a powerful tool. It is a important addendum to your work, and it’s essential they with it or lose. I say solve or die.

Nestor Aparicio  08:44

What’s getting every single thing in my life done? No doubt, better, no doubt and faster. So, I mean, if I could say better and faster to anything, you would say, All right, what’s the catch? What’s it gonna cost me? I gotta go to jail for it. Sometimes it feels like a cheat code. I mean, it absolutely does when I have used it in that way. But I am fascinated to see how people in your line of work and local business, in communication business, are going to be able to really harness it and drive it, because I think it’s, it’s the most powerful thing I’ve ever seen critical, and I’ve seen a lot of things. Yeah, it’s

John Maroon  09:24

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critical, and we’re using it quite a bit. I will tell you, I will make a judgment on chat GPT on Monday, because I asked it today whether I should start Mike Evans or zay flowers in my fantasy football

Nestor Aparicio  09:38

chat GPT to evaluate your fantasy. That’s right, you’re using it like a toy, maroon. We got to

John Maroon  09:43

get we got to get you. This is important. Well, I use it that way too, but this was more important.

Nestor Aparicio  09:49

Well, you were asking me before we came on. You’re like, so, so what does it know? And I’ve told you this crazy story about Marvin Lewis two weeks ago to the show and I so I have a clone. I. So I did it. You have to create the clones, yeah. So I did a Tony Robbins boot camp, yeah. And, you know, I’m a Robin’s guy, whatever, but I haven’t done anything with Tony Robbins in seven years. I don’t watch the videos. I’m not in the cult. I don’t subscribe to anything. I don’t sit around and read Robin’s books. But I have for 30 years, and I know Tony a little bit like I’ve fire walked. It’s the reason Baltimore. Baltimore positive was dreamed up seven years ago, this week, last week. It was the week that mahomes threw that nature pass against the Ravens against Lamar rookie year 18. I was in Florida when that play happened. It was that week and I dreamed up Baltimore positive in this park outside of the West Palm Beach Convention Center where it was, and so I did that thing seven years ago, and I’m on the list and whatever. And I got an email maybe in like October, and I’ve been looking at all the courses to take, and I’m like, All right, it was a free weekend, like around two weeks for Thanksgiving, and it was 12 hours of a weekend, and it really was a TED Talk. It was free. It was a free 12 hour. And it wasn’t just Robins. It was like Arthur Brooks from the Atlantic talking about how AI can make you happier, how to use AI for happiness, because that’s his jam, right? So I watched all of this stuff, and it really was very Robin Z in that it gave me the why before I asked why, he was telling me why you need it before you’re like, how do I work it? Don’t worry about how to work it. It’s AI. It’ll work for you. Let me tell you how you can use it. And one of the weird things he did, and this is kind of a crazy and anybody plays with AI knows this, but one of the tricks was he had a picture of his refrigerator. And he said, Why do you think I have a picture of my fridge? So I have two small kids, and they asked me, What can you make me eat? They all they do is eat. They want to eat. Eat. He had a picture refrigerator. He put it into AI, so what can I make my kids? And it knows everything in the refrigerator. Gave him a whole menu of every possible thing he could make. And if his kids had a peanut restriction or didn’t like mustard like me, I don’t want him mustard, it would know it and would make a menu. So I said to my wife, do you dare me to take a picture of our refrigerator and put it into my chat, G, P, T, and say, create a menu. It created menus of like you have olive oil and lemon you can make dressing like it gave me in two seconds.

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John Maroon  12:23

I mean, it’s really amazing. So I think, first of all, let me say this like, I think the fact that you and I at our age and you’re more advanced, I clearly tell on the AI right now than I am, but at our age is the fact that we’re into it and delving into it and learning it puts us way ahead of the curve already. So yeah, I think it’s one of those things that, um, what it does is beyond belief. And let me ask you a question that’s like, when you’re building out your your bar, whatever, it’s called, your personality clone, your clone, when you’re building out your clone, like, how does it, know, the fridge stuff? Like, do you put in shopping bill, like, what is?

Nestor Aparicio  13:02

So I’m glad you’re asking me this, because if I were on your beer chat, John way, John maroons here, it’s all brought to you by the Maryland lottery. Hey, hey, I like that Baltimore. Yeah, what’s up, man? I get you know, I used to get into Hugh systems place and eat wings cross street all the time. I always sold you that beers warm and flat. Who’s gonna drink this craft? Only everybody. So I always tell you he was right now is wrong. So the clone thing happened. It was the first thing we did. The Robin’s promise was you were gonna build a clone and you were gonna save 15 hours a week of your life. That was his promise for the 1000 bucks for the course, right? The course was six weeks long. He had a European guy named Igor Pagani. Train was the trainer. Robbins wasn’t to say it’s a Robinson, just pulling people together. Yeah, it was his company. That is the umbrella for it. He participated in the 12 free hours in the beginning. He wasn’t even part of the course, because he’s not the AI trainer. He had a guy to do that. So this guy, we created a clone the first day of class, and the clone was basically, you go into chat, G, P, T, kind of have to subscribe, you know, buy the package so you don’t get stopped. There’s a DNA in this thing called a markdown file. Markdown files like a PDF or a doc, it’s just, it’s a three digit Markdown file is the format that AI reads better it, oh God, it cleans the format for AI to read it better. So this was what are you trying to accomplish? Was what I put into my clone. Here’s where it gets sticky for me and probably for you as a public figure, you’ve been a public figure for 30 years as a PR director, you are all over the internet. You have a blog, you have a website, you have a company, you have a LinkedIn, you have a Facebook, you have a

John Maroon  14:48

huge places to find me right like so

Nestor Aparicio  14:53

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if I were to put into my clone right now, given our friendship and you’ve done my show, write about my relationship. Relationship with John maroon, it would know a lot, because it knows a lot about you, maybe more about Marvin Lewis or Brian Billick, right? Lamar Jack, bigger public profiles, right? But I, my profile is enormous on the internet, because everything I’ve ever done has been intentionally put on the internet by me. I was an early internet adopter. All of my YouTube interviews from Super Bowls 20 years ago, or up everything you and I have ever everything Cal Ripken and I have ever done is up, and you’re associated to that. So my clone had a particular power that only I know about because I’m me. I don’t know what yours would know about you, but the minute I put in who I was and what I did, didn’t need much more than that, the verification that it didn’t understand Baltimore, positive association with me until I told it so part of my clone was to put up my what I’m going to use AI for my business. It knew everything about my business the minute I said who I was, and knew everything about my life story. And then I I wanted to make the clone stronger. So I’m like, All right, I need a bio of myself, yeah. So I’m like, I made that documentary two years ago with Greg Landry. I put it in there, and it didn’t like it because it wasn’t in the format. So when you do a clone, you need to do it in a markdown. I’m teaching, I’m giving you some inside poker here, right? It didn’t want to see a video, it didn’t want to see a doc. It didn’t even want to see a crappy transcript. It wanted to evaluate it. So here’s what you do with AI. And it’s the amazing thing, I sound like my teacher. I sound like ego on my teacher. Ai knows you. You just put it in. You tell AI what you want. It will help you. It will give it to you. So here’s what I did. Documentary is a video, a lot of pictures and some words. I took the transcript, threw it in, cleaned it up, put the transcript into AI, and said to AI, write this as a markdown file, as my biography. It completely did everything. And that’s my second part of the clone. Then the third part of the clone for me was side life story, my business, and the other part was like, All right, what? What would I want to put in my media kit? Yeah, I want to put my media my media kits, a PDF of a PowerPoint of whatever it took my this is where it gets crazy. It took my media kit. I put it in and it said, We don’t like this, but we’re going to take everything in your media kit and clean it and cleanse it, like what you do, and we’re going to turn it into a markdown file so it does it for you. Wow. So you

John Maroon  17:34

don’t, you just have to ask it.

Nestor Aparicio  17:38

It’s a total walk of it, yeah. Like, out explain it, like, I get in, I’m like, it’s like, Willy Wonka. I don’t know where it’s gonna go. Really gonna happen. Something dramatic is gonna happen. And every time I hit go, something dramatic happens. You know, whether it’s about building my business, whether it’s about my competitors, chat,

John Maroon  17:59

GBT, copilot and other ones, I graduate. Ones.

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Nestor Aparicio  18:02

I graduated from my class 48 hours ago. You can take your clone and put it anywhere. Oh, God. So yeah, the other part of my clone, and this is gonna get really so if you’re listening John maroons here, we’re casas, and we’re telling really important clone stories. But I’m it’s my I love you, so I want to help your business and get you into this six months earlier than you want to get into it, right? So when I did my Robins the last Robins week, it wasn’t a fire walk, it was seven I’d done several hours. This is seven days immersion. It’s called date with desk. He’s really expensive. He invited me as a guest. Was very kind of him, because my wife had cancer. He knew that he was trying to help her. So we’re there, and it helped me more to help my wife, believe it or not, with Baltimore, positive. With Baltimore positive. But we had groups. We broke there were 4000 people with this thing, yeah, so you had a group of a dozen people that you work teams, right? I was on blue seven. I only know that because my chart, I have a poster that I created of my mission statement in life and everything in life that is a forward and away goal, literally good, a down and dirty, week long evaluation of everything I want to be in life. Yeah, it’s cool. I break it out every year, this time of year, and I evaluate my goals. You know, where am I is this time of year, my wife goes away kind of famously for with her family. She’s Quebec right now, speaking French, eating and all that, freaks and ransom. Off. It’s like five so this poster exists, and I look at it every year, and I study it, and it’s me, and I make some additions every year, but it’s color, it’s crayon, it’s a poster, it’s my handwriting. It doesn’t mean anything. No one’s ever seen it, but my wife and my team and to I have it on my phone, I can show it to you. Love the causes? Did you win next time? They’re great lottery players to cause you family, thanks for letting me beer, drink beer in your basement. You know, I love you. Mr. Dave, it’s still open. Running. Way. I love this place. So this poster is everything that’s really important, away goals, about hope, vision board, but it’s contained. And I thought, How in the world am I? I wouldn’t even know where to begin to translate this into writing, into what I believe in. If I were to make it a blog or share it on LinkedIn, or to share it as a motivational thing, turn it into a speech in some way, right? Took a picture of it, put it in my chat. I said, this is my Tony Robbins life. Charred mission statement. Can you help me turn this into a markdown? It completely filed every part of it. It wrote it as pros. It wrote it as bullet points. It took it translated it into what it was like. These are your mission statements. These are the things that are important you. It doesn’t say that. It just knew that, and I took that and put it into my clone. So since I’ve sued my clone with the original document, my whole life story, your hopes and everything that’s important to me, and my whole business strategy into my clone the right way, in the right file, every single thing It directs me to do now is like, super charged on supercharged, really amazing. And it was already pretty supercharged because it knew who I was because of my public figure, Nestor, to begin

John Maroon  21:29

with, right? But now you’re adding personal insights and feelings. It’s been helpful beyond anything.

Nestor Aparicio  21:34

I can begin to tell you clearly that when I do three pieces with Luke on a Sunday after a Ravens game like ravens could play. Sunday night, we’ll do our three pieces Monday morning. I can take those pieces and put it into my clone right my column, in my words and what I actually said and believe and instantly, ever and it’s thing. It pisses me off, John, you know, how, how writing? You know, I think I’m pretty decent writer. Yes, it’s way better than me. It pisses me off that it writes better than I write, right? But it writes just like me. You would never know if I if I told Max Weiss Max is like, now, you know, you have an ethical I said, it’s my words. It’s what I said on the radio today. It just regurgitated in a way that I don’t think six hours.

John Maroon  22:17

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I think that’s a really good clarifying point, because I think there is that concern, like, Oh, is it really you? And, no, it literally is me. There. He’s pulling it down.

Nestor Aparicio  22:24

I’m blowing Luke’s mind, because it will write a column for Luke too.

John Maroon  22:29

You know, Luke’s a kid, and you’re still blowing his mind, right? He’s 42 Well, in my world, that’s young.

Nestor Aparicio  22:36

I keep looking at this like every big thing once we get older. How are you 6060? I’m 57 you’re a little older me, but we have the same life experience of cable television came to our neighborhood. Yeah, that was mind blowing. Mind blowing to be a cable television right? Then the the newspaper, like USA Today happened every day, right? Like we had a national newspaper every day.

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John Maroon  23:00

Then, remember when email first came? I remember email thinking,

Nestor Aparicio  23:03

What about cable news? Where did you get news in the afternoon when the President was shot? NBC, special report. That’s one that broke in. So talk radio, Rush Limbaugh, right, right? And then, but the biggest thing and my son’s coming. I thought my son just walked in, but my son’s coming a little later. In 2003 I got married in 2004 my phone had a little envelope on the top. I looked at it. My son’s like, to get my text. I’m like, There’s a text, yes. And he said to me, no, no, Dad, give me your Give me your flip phone. You say, see, well, on the web bears a text. I’m like, I will never text. Don’t ever text me. Call your father. Yeah, call your you love me. You call your father. You just text now, like, you blowing up. Do you remember when you would say to somebody, do you text that people didn’t text and you’re and about three?

John Maroon  24:00

I was like, you too. I was a caveman. Like, I’m not doing that crap. Three years,

Nestor Aparicio  24:03

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five years into it, everybody’s texting. Somebody says to you, I don’t text you’re like, you must be rich or don’t have a gig. Like, how do you how do you get anywhere? How do you find anybody at the airport? Like, how do you get anywhere? It’s impossible, but I fought you. Fought Twitter, Facebook. I never had a MySpace

John Maroon  24:21

stuff like it’s, yeah, and then, if you look, I was listening to a pod the other day. I said, think about 20 years ago. 20 years not long goes like that. He was none of this shit. Nobody had these. 20 years.

Nestor Aparicio  24:36

Russians controlling our mind, getting criminals elected. John maroon is here. We’re in Costas. We’re having I always want to come on your beer thing and you’re drinking beer and I’m drinking water because you’re

John Maroon  24:47

professional. You’re supposed to be professional.

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Nestor Aparicio  24:50

I’ve been sponsored by Bud Miller. Course, built

John Maroon  24:55

a great Nestor, I want to say you never brag on yourself. I’m just. I was like, we met 30 years ago. You’ve been through a few different iterations of your business. They always admired about you is your ability to evolve. And you talk about AI now, but I also remember when you had NSD is the just the just the radio station, and then your evolution into the web and your evolution into social

Nestor Aparicio  25:20

to try to explain. No, no, listen, I’m not bagging on Rob long or Bobby. They all work for me. But in 2000 and 567, when I created w nst.net, and I brought 20 people into the basement who all worked for me, all younger than me for the most part, and I said to all of them, you don’t understand. I’ve been out trying to sell this. Nobody thinks anyone listens to us, because there’s this mafia called Arbitron that says you’re a zero, you’re a zero, I’m a zero, we’re zero, like,

John Maroon  25:51

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like this. But then what did you do the

Nestor Aparicio  25:54

minute we had NST? The minute we went to nst.net, yeah, 10s of 1000s of people were hitting our website. I remember, I remember going to the house

John Maroon  26:08

your guys, but I will tell you, like, just the fact that you were ahead of that curb is kudos to you, because you’re right. It was at that point in time when they, you know, there was a watchdog that was mandating whether people or whether you’re valuable or not, and you and then the internet said, enough of that. Well, I love how

Nestor Aparicio  26:26

the fan now has haney’s got sunglasses on, and they’re shooting all this stuff in the video. They’ve moved to video, yeah, and they were the I was doing video 18 years ago. I was doing video so much I pissed Kevin Byrne off holding my camera at a press conference. He’s like, Why do you have a Canon camera in him? Like, there’s a thing called YouTube. Kevin’s like, I don’t know anything about don’t know anything about that. I’m like, Kevin, well, you know, one day you’re gonna lose your job. We’re all gonna lose our jobs, these whippersnappers that are creating reality television out at the castle. I mean, what sports teams look you and I have had come once. I remember our drug city conversation three years ago about reality TV, right? When I first lost my press pass last year, we had a chat at a meetings about it. That’s what team websites are now, right? Team websites are a 24 hour PR reality TV spin from ins, whether it’s contracts being signed, whether it’s film in the back room

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John Maroon  27:19

and the content creation capabilities changed everything I do find it interesting. One thing, and I know you know this, I learned about AI, all these AI tools are pulling down now they’re pulling a lot more of their information from earned media. So like places like wsc.net, be more positive, and the Baltimore Sun and The New York Times, and that’s actually carrying a lot more results when you put stuff into chat and co pilot, then anything I pulled the stats. So rejuvenates the need for media

Nestor Aparicio  27:53

authenticity and trust everything. Yep, when my clone compliments me. Yeah, and the 23 million ads we’ve served on the website this year. Pretty cool, like the clout and the numbers that AI has been able to 3.4 million people on my Facebook page the last 90 days. About that the last 90 days, so but, but the the video part of of the the AI experience is different because it video now scrolls and we put this up, it’ll have a transcript that’s something that like when I was doing radio 20 years ago, and I moved to have an audio vault, yeah, I was trying to get what was that transcription program, Dragon, yeah. Dragon was a voice, and it was just lousy, yeah, and every guest that would come on the radio station, like Phil Jackman on with a weird accent or whatever, yeah, it would not pick up accents. It probably could have been trained to know the voices of my hosts. But in the modern era, how far that technology has come to I’ll give you a little piece my clone, the first thing my clone wanted from me when it found out who I was was my voice. It said, give us a sample of your voice. I was gonna give it like my Peter principles reading of a book. So it had my real voice, plus my radio gig that I do and all this, plus my when I read my column this, I read it as more Paul Harvey, so I have different voices in the way I speak to people. What it wants to do is it wants to make all my commercials for me. Oh, wow. Just take the script and my voice, put my voice on. So basically cut. It’s trying to cut time out. It’s trying to say, if we have your voice, dude, we can, we can cut the commercial for you. And you don’t have to cut a commercial to take me long. But for some people, it’s arduous writing. For some people all day, all night. It’s always offering to help. And I guess, if there’s nothing else, good way to phrase it with the AI thing for me that I didn’t understand. I was like, you, you know, help my fantasy team. Yeah, you know what? Neat when I got showed chat, G, P, T, the first time a year and a half ago. Mike Rosenthal. I’m sure, you know too, from what connection he showed it to me on the show, yeah, like, as part of our zoom. And, you know, we did, we wrote a, Roses are red, violets are purple, the ravens are pub and they’re gonna purple. You, you know, it was like a, it wrote a Ravens poem in two seconds. And I thought, well, that’s kind of neat. And it wrote it like, for real. It wrote about the radio

John Maroon  30:23

asking a kindergarten stuff when it could do post graduate work, right?

Nestor Aparicio  30:28

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Like, from Ray to Suggs, from reed to Flacco, will never know. Like, it wrote that kind of figured, and I’m like, well, that a cool toy. It’s got, like, my kid texted me. I’m like, Oh, I got a little envelope is and then the envelope becomes how I’ve gotten every deal done, how I’ve met every like,

John Maroon  30:47

I mean, Nestor, think about it. Just the the evolution of communication over the last 1015, years. It was never, it’s never been this swift in the history of the world.

Nestor Aparicio  30:58

Well, Twitter changed that for sure. Really, that was and now it’s been taken over by the Nazis. I got

John Maroon  31:03

thrown off. Hey, listen, you never asked me, though. More importantly, you never asked me. I told you early on to use chat. GBT, that’s whether it was Mike Evans or zay flowers from my fantasy team this weekend. What do you think it’s? I don’t know who Tampa’s playing. So Tampa’s playing Carolina.

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Nestor Aparicio  31:20

Zay flowers at home, Patriots defense. I don’t know I’d start zay flowers

John Maroon  31:26

because more fun. It said zay flowers. And I was a little surprised. I thought it would say Mike Evans. He’s coming off a big week, first week back in Carolina’s Carolina, but it said zay flowers. And then so I’m going to play zay and I’ll tell you, I’m going to text you on Sunday if Mike Evans has like, 32 points and he bit her, and I’m say, Look, I need to incorporate your clone, because on my own, I fail.

Nestor Aparicio  31:47

Well, if you stood next to Mike Evans, stood next to say, flowers, Mike Evan the funny thing with Mike and you say Mike Evans, of all people, the Ravens beat Tampa really, really bad in like, 2014 or 15 in Tampa, went to that game with pike, and my wife was fighting for her life at that time. So it’s 14 or 1515. Season. We’re down in Tampa. I was wearing pink, and I remember Flaco threw one touchdown, 234, it was like 41 to three at halftime. Was crazy bad game. And I remember being down on the field after the game and seeing Mike Evans and I’ve stood next to every football player there is. I’m not impressed by their Adonis Nestor or their stature or their masculinity, but I stood next to Mike Evans on the field, and I’m like, wow, shit, man, that’s a wide receive like, and I’m 25 years into standing next to wide receivers, but I stood next to him and I’m like, dude, yeah, he looks good getting off the bus.

John Maroon  32:39

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You know what you’re doing right now, like me, by the way, I can’t believe my Givens was Tampa 10 years ago. It’s amazing. And I think you’re absolutely right, yeah, and you’re changing my mind now, so I’m gonna feel like get the

Nestor Aparicio  32:55

weather report. John Baruch, here, we’re Costas. We’re having fun. It’s all brought to by the Maryland lottery candy. So it’s funny that you would jump right into that. Not funny, because it’s because it’s who you are that I’m talking about communication styles and things that make communication go faster, better, smoother. You were always trying to do that on behalf of ripkens image, on behalf of the people you’re you know, Hey, man, somebody says we got to respond. We got to respond the right way. But to think about it, we need to be polite. Chat, G, P, T, has a thing where you can be cynical, a jerk, professional, whimsical, funny, you could be anything you want to be. You just tell it the tone you Yeah, it’s amazing. I from a communication standpoint, it’s it’s Willy Wonka. I just keep saying that to anybody in our space, and that’s why I wasted a half an hour talking about it, because I think you can use it the most, and like the colonoscopy that

John Maroon  33:43

everybody needs, yes, but I think anybody out there can use it. Anybody out there can use it if you haven’t been using I think it’s still a little

Nestor Aparicio  33:50

scary to a lot of people. That’s what I’m finding out. So I’m six weeks into this. I created my clone November 13, crazy on November 18, I put my first piece of my clone in and the first question I ask is, what do you know about me? Yeah, that I don’t know about myself. What’d it say? It wrote eight pages about me being an innovator, that my special sauce is storytelling and people and trust and authenticity. It was my press release. It was literally my press release. I’m like, it knows what I want to be. I don’t know if I am that, but I’m trying like hell. And it gets it. It understands I love it. That was literally the first thing. And then I’ve been beaten on the machine for five weeks to see what it’s capable of and what it’s not capable of, what it’s good at, what it’s not good at. And what I keep coming back to is it is so much smarter and better than anything you can possibly conceive. And in the last six weeks, when, if I went through the bar and I said to everyone here, including my boy, John, who’s fantastic drummer, singer friend, all of that, he is an AI. Up yet, and I how much about beating your ears about AI the last four

8

John Maroon  35:03

weeks, John, it’s all I’ve heard for last

Nestor Aparicio  35:06

friends in the whole world. I love John, but he is like, it’s scary. It’s gonna take over the world. The Russians have it. It’s in the cosmos.

John Maroon  35:15

Both things can be true,

Nestor Aparicio  35:18

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but not you people. When I go to people, they’re looking at me like, yes, no,

John Maroon  35:24

there’s a he’s in a cult. There’s a fear. There’s a huge fear that’s okay. There’s a fear of the internet. When it first started, there was a fear of iPhones. I remember

Nestor Aparicio  35:33

when the internet happened, and my pal Scott Lindsay was a PC bank net. They were they weren’t psi net, they were bank net, and they were radicus.net one of my first one of my emails from like, my Marriott account, still nasty and radicals.net so he was the first person that came to me, and he’s one of the smartest humans I know. I mean, he said to me, you’re gonna do all your banking on your phone.

John Maroon  35:58

And I’m like, who’s gonna who’s gonna ever get it? Who’s ever

8

Nestor Aparicio  36:03

gonna buy anything on the internet? Yeah, who?

John Maroon  36:06

Who’s stupid. Who would do that? I swear to God, I can’t go three my wife, who’s here, despises it. I can’t scroll four times without buying something off of Instagram. No. Instagram just now understands me. They feed me every friggin ad, and I’m double clicking Apple Pay on everything. But you’re right. Who would have thought I’d ever do? Especially me. I’m scared of everything I would have I’m like, Yes.

Nestor Aparicio  36:33

Laughed at him when he told me, yeah. And he also told me some things that didn’t happen, yeah, of course. Like he told me that we would not have keyboards anymore, and we literally there’d be a virtual keyboard that we would just type on the table. We would just type like this, that there wouldn’t be a lack of keyboard. Now we’re gonna go way past that, because my clone, I’m never gonna have to type again. Yeah, once I haven’t voice activated my clone yet. I don’t talk to my clone. I’m understanding. I’m four weeks in, yeah, but once I start talking to my clone, it’s gonna be over, yeah? Because I’m never gonna want to type again. It’s gonna be like calling instead of texting. That’s right, I know that I’m about to make a paradigm. I’m old enough to know myself. Yeah, I know once I start talking to it, yep, I will never reach the text again. It’s within six months of doing that. Have you been in a driverless car yet? I’ve not. I went to Phoenix in September. Yeah, they’re all over everywhere in Phoenix, Vegas too. They’re the thing on top. They have way ammo thing. Yeah, it’s a wham o thing, and has all the and my wife saw it at the airport. We pulled to the sky harbor, and they’re coming through. We’re like, hey, they got them cars and driving themselves, yeah? And my wife’s like, way Mo, and she downloaded the app, yeah? I’m like, we’re getting what we’re we got addicted. We got addicted. We did like, four of them, yeah? Cuz you get in the back seat and you’re in there and it’s just you, and you’re like, Am I safe? Am I not safe? Right? Am I safer? Dude? I’ve been in some Ubers with some Yeah, no shit, yeah. I mean, totally. I’ve been in some Ubers and we’re not money up and up. I thought to myself, well, what would have somebody approaches the car to, like, hurt us, or car jack us, whatever? I’m like, this car is a safest car in Phoenix. It’s got cameras everywhere, yeah, literally everywhere. But Bill Cole was with me at Pizza John’s three weeks ago, and I had Todd Schuler, who is blonde. L Miller Schuler, best damn lawyers. Damn good lawyer in Essex. He is, no offense, an ambulance chaser. He’s accident, first thing he says, See, so the car catches on fire when you’re in it, the door is locked and you’re locked in fire in it. That’s a lawsuit for me, and I’m thinking, you’re coming at this wrong. It’s like you’re coming at AI from like, how it’s going to be terrible for you, instead of coming at it from how it’s right. So the driverless car was a little cheaper because doesn’t have a driver, right? It’s a little slower. So when I had a young girl waiting tables, they’re doing the speed limit, right? They don’t go on the highway. They did. They can now, apparently they got a new like beginning of the year, but because of the law in Phoenix, they wouldn’t let them go above 50 miles an hour or above miles an hour. So when I got my Uber, if you know Phoenix at all, I got my Uber at Sky Harbor, at an airport, airport hotel. We went to Scottsdale. It did not take the freeway. It took the canyon road through this arbor park and a zoo I would have never seen the Phoenix. Phoenix Zoo is beautiful, but we rode it in a way. Mo, yeah. Love it, and it talks to you when you’re in there. If you want music on, I will try one. I hear the coming year, I will try one. Yeah, that’s the word on the street. Will you be scared? Yeah, a little bit the niche. My first ride, I’ll be a little anxious. But we the second ride we took, I think be weird to not be anxious. We went through a stop sign, and this is a. Apparently, thing that you that you do, if you’re in Phoenix, you f with the driverless car, you jut out in front of it to see what it’ll do. Oh, right. So if you’re in a stop sign and it’s coming and you accelerate, stop real quick as a driver, yeah, it will freak out the car. Yeah. So we had a freak out. We were in the car and some jack wagon was playing the machine, basically, yeah, and, you know, our thing stopped stutter and moved around and just kept going, like, the same thing you would have done, if you That’s right, except it’s better than you. It’s AI, it is, it’s it knows more than you. Just us.

John Maroon  40:34

8

It is. Well, listen, no one’s better than you, but I think birthday tell me what’s going maroo, because we talked. No, look, we’re great, Nestor, you’re the best. I love maroon, PR room, PR comm. We’re around. Our anniversary will be our 20th anniversary next April, which I’m excited about. Yeah, I know well, way more than sports on nonprofit, great, amazing clients like the Maryland Food Bank, National Law Enforcement Officers. Memorial Ripken Foundation, Maryland Food Bank, new leadership. New Leadership. Meg Kimball, who was the COO was elevate the CEO, placing Carmen del guiccio retired. She’s in a dynamic woman taking it to new heights. I gotta get her on critical work. She would love to be on with you and one of my favorite human beings, I would

Nestor Aparicio  41:19

say this. This is on behalf of Merrill Food Bank. Everybody’s giving stuff right now, coats, food, money, all that stuff. I do, cup of Super Bowl. First week of February, we’re doing it again. That is the week where, like, the food pantries dry up. Yes, gets cold. That’s right. People just want people for thinking about this, especially with what the government’s trying to do to your health care, to food to snap, to all of that stuff. Let’s keep everybody. You know, I have a little bit too much food in my refrigerator right now. My wife’s out of town. I want everybody to have enough food to get through and enough love to make through the holidays.

John Maroon  41:50

Love Food Banks critical. Thank you for the plug on that, and great seeing us Happy, Happy Christmas. He’ll come

Nestor Aparicio  41:55

back next year. He’ll say that AI thing. It’s like a walk of Vader. I have a whole other arm on my Maroon.

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John Maroon  42:01

I got retired, Nestor, because they we

Nestor Aparicio  42:05

got to figure we’re gonna retire too. Maroon is here. We’re gonna retire to Cleveland, go back work for the Guardians. We’re here at Costas. We’re doing things. John Allen’s gonna be up next. It’s all brought to you by friends at the Marine lottery of candy cane cash. We’re gonna talk rock and roll. We’re gonna talk about life saving. And I had dear friend of mine, Jerry Piper can beer today, gave his kidney this week to save a man’s life. And Eddie Lauer got a new heart about a month ago and is doing really, really well. He’s at the hospital today. Couldn’t be with us today, but John and I got talk about Ed Lauer gonna talk about rock and roll because I child’s play. We’re gonna talk about stone horses, and we’re gonna talk about rocking around a Christmas tree where Costas and Dundalk stay with us.