Keenan Perry and Justin Tognoni - Rolling with the XTV Tour - PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with SRS Distribution’s director of field and event marketing Keenan Perry, and field marketing manager Justin Tognoni. You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast.

Intro: Welcome to Roofing Road Trips, the podcast that takes you on a thrilling journey across the world of roofing. From fascinating interviews with roofing experts, to on-the-road adventures, we'll uncover the stories, innovations and challenges that shape the rooftops over our heads. So fasten your seat belts and  join us as we embark on this exciting roofing road trip. 

Hello, everyone. My name is Megan Ellsworth and  you are listening to a Roofing Road Trip. Welcome to this really exciting episode from RoofersCoffeeShop, I'm excited because we are talking about the SRS XTV and  I have Keenan Perry and Justin Tognoni here and  we're chatting. So hi, gentlemen, how are you? 

Keenan Perry: Doing well, doing well. Thanks for having us on. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yay. Absolutely. I'm just excited to learn about what the XTV is up to and where you guys are going next. So Justin, do you want to kick us off and just introduce yourself? 

Justin Tognoni: Yeah and  I appreciate you having us here, Megan. My name is Justin Tognoni and  I am the field marketing manager for SRS and Heritage. And so I mainly oversee all the XTV operations. 

Megan Ellsworth: Cool. Keenan, who are you? 

Keenan Perry: Keenan Perry, Director of Field and Event Marketing for SRS and Heritage family of companies and yeah, all events across all of our verticals here. And that involves trade shows, branch events and  of course, the XTV. So, yeah. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, exciting, absolutely. Lots going on, I'm sure, at all times. 

Keenan Perry: Yes. 

Megan Ellsworth: Okay. So what exactly is the SRS XTV? I know it stands for extreme tailgate vehicle, that's so cool. And how did this concept kind of come to life? 

Keenan Perry: Yeah, yeah. So, what is the XTV? It's exactly what the name implies, right? So it is a vehicle or really now a fleet of vehicles, that travel the country and  they bring tailgating experiences to SRS and Heritage branches and sporting events across the country. So originally, it was created just for football tailgates and  I'll get to the ideation behind it in a minute here. But more recently, it's been doing professional soccer matches, baseball games, company events at our branch locations. But truly, the XTV as a whole, is about relationship building. It's trying to bring our customers, suppliers and  our staff together in an environment that they typically wouldn't be in together outside of the branch. 

And so, our founder, Ron Ross, about 15 years ago, found himself at a tailgate thrown by colleagues, customers and  he was with a couple of his sons. And they were inspired by this whole like, "Hey, this is a really cool thing that we've got going on. What if we just did this around the country as a customer appreciation type thing?" So that's how the XTV was founded and  it's been rolling ever since, with the exception of a couple years there during COVID. But that's when Justin and I came on and  it's just taken a whole new life and it still is sort of the envy of everyone else. So, we're so happy to be on this side. 

Megan Ellsworth: That's awesome. I love it. Yeah, that's so fun. Next time you guys are in Denver, I'll have to join and come on out and see a game or something, whatever you guys are doing, so. 

Keenan Perry: Justin [inaudible 00:03:50] Denver, yeah. 

Justin Tognoni: One of our past tailgates was Denver, because I'm a big Broncos fan. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, me too. Awesome. I missed it last year when you guys had it. 

Justin Tognoni: Okay. We actually are creating this fall's football schedule right now and  we're looking to do that Cowboys game in Denver this fall. 

Megan Ellsworth: Okay. I'll put it on my calendar. 

Keenan Perry: Get it on your calendar. 

Megan Ellsworth: And I'll see you there. 

Justin Tognoni: Awesome. 

Megan Ellsworth: Okay, amazing. So how would you say, you touched on this a little bit, but let's dive even deeper. How would you say the XTV enhances the experience for roofing professionals at trade shows and events in general? 

Keenan Perry: So we have scaled back bringing the XTV to a lot of trade shows, but the one that we still go to is the IRE, that's the International Roofing Expo. It's the biggest trade show for roofing professionals. And for the last four or five years, we have been hosting a tailgate at the expo and  that's truly where it shines. It's bringing the tailgating experience to the same city as the IRE, typically right outside of the IRE venue or in this case in San Antonio this last year, inside the venue. And without necessarily having to pair it up with a football game or something, it absolutely is its own experience. So we have food, we've got beverages. We've got live music, which Megan, you've played at here a couple times. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. 

Keenan Perry: And we bring in some other artists as well. And what's so cool is that it's an open invitation for anyone that attends the trade show. And so that is our salespeople, that is our customers, that's not our customers and  that's our competitors and it's our vendors and everyone goes there. And it's really cool because the hustle and bustle of the IRE though is so fantastic, it can be really overwhelming and really tiring. And so we just try to create a much more relaxed space to where you can go get off your feet, have a conversation, meet like-minded professionals and  truly just sort of soak in the SRS ethos of make money, have fun and give back. That's what we're all about, right? 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. 

Keenan Perry: So it's another giving back opportunity for our customers. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, that's great. I love that. And those are the best core values ever and  so easy to remember and cite back, so, love it. 

Justin, I'd love to start with you on this one. Why do you all go to sports events and particularly why do soccer games make sense as venues for the XTV to show up? 

Justin Tognoni: Well, most stadiums have what they would call oversized vehicle or RV parking and  specifically NFL stadiums or cities that have NFL teams have a culture already instilled for tailgating. So there is already a site there that just promotes us to be able to bring the XTV in and park it and host these events because it already facilitates it. And I would say, 98% of the stadiums, a lot of the MLS teams will still play in those stadiums or even if they have their own stadium, they are starting to adopt those oversized vehicle parking lots. And they might not have or the MLS culture might not be as founded in tailgating, but I can see to where it's not going to be hard to create that. 

Megan Ellsworth: Cool. 

Justin Tognoni: So, this is actually our first year doing an MLS tour and  it's been widely accepted, so. 

Megan Ellsworth: Wow, that's great. That's huge. 

Keenan Perry: Justin came to me this fall with a fully built out professional soccer schedule for this spring and summer and  he was like, "Yeah, we've got Club World Cup this summer and look at this, look at all these MLS teams, a few of which we have partnerships with." And the whole soccer tailgating thing, sort of like Justin was saying, tailgating itself has been sort of a part of the culture of SRS for the last 15 years or so. And as you know, the Para Latinos program here at SRS has been growing rapidly. And so we take huge pride in being the partner, being, we want to be the partner of the Latino roofing contractor. And naturally we figured out, hey, they like soccer and  so it made a ton of sense that we had this program built out fully on the football roofing side. And so, making it fit into the box of professional soccer just made so much sense. 

And then when it came to marketing it out to our customer bases, it was a no-brainer because we've already got this growing customer base that we're trying to again, be the partner of. And hey, we've got these great customer appreciation events that we're hosting on the football side, why not just host the soccer ones too and start to grow those relationships? And it made so much sense. So when Justin came to me with that schedule, I was like, "Yep, whatever we need, let's get it done." 

Megan Ellsworth: Love it, love it. And I know this is a side question, but I know you all partner with the Rayados team through the Para Latinos program, so that's pretty cool too and get to meet some of the players and have experiences, so. 

Keenan Perry: Yeah, we've done a couple of meet and greets with Rayados. We've got a similar partnership with Dallas FC and  I think another might be in the works. So there's a couple soccer teams that we're partnering with and happy about it. 

Megan Ellsworth: That's awesome. That's super cool. 

Justin Tognoni: And to go off of that, Megan, that was kind of a big reason why this was able to grow into what it is, is specifically because the Rayados were picked to be one of the teams in the FIFA Club World Cup this summer. 

Megan Ellsworth: Oh, wow. 

Justin Tognoni: That will play here in the States. So they'll play all their three group stage games at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California. 

Megan Ellsworth: Wow. 

Justin Tognoni: And so once we started to realize that, that tournament that's going to be this year, it just kind of made sense to not only be there to tailgate at those games, but we might as well build a whole MLS tour leading up to it because their season is opposite NFL. So once NFL is done after the Super Bowl, about a month or so later, you'd roll right into spring soccer and then through the summer. And historically, that's just a perfect time for us to be able to do something like that. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, yeah. 

Keenan Perry: It gets our feet wet a little bit before next year's World Cup too. So we're hoping to do a similar tour for World Cup next year and  our new partnership with Home Depot I think is going to help out there, they're a major sponsor of the World Cup. So yeah, next summer, it's going to be awesome. 

Megan Ellsworth: That is wild. That's so cool. Major sponsor of the World Cup. What a cool thing to say. Yeah. 

Keenan Perry: Yeah, 

Megan Ellsworth: That's awesome. 

Justin Tognoni: Crazy. 

Keenan Perry: Crazy. 

Megan Ellsworth: Wow. Okay, so tell us about the map, because you all have an XTV map and it's powered by Project Map It. How does it work and how can roofers use it to see where you all are going to be next? 

Keenan Perry: Yes, so actually thanks to you guys, you guys made the introduction happen. 

Megan Ellsworth: Love it. 

Keenan Perry: Yeah. So Project Map It, they basically came to us and said, "Hey, we've got this really cool tool. It is a visual medium of where you can see where your XTV tour is going to be next." And with how many stops we make, it was good to actually put that out onto online to where you could see on a map. I'm a visual learner, so that's very helpful for me. So you can see where all the next steps are and I think there's a line that goes from one to the next. 

Megan Ellsworth: So cool. 

Keenan Perry: And yeah, so Project Map It is hosted on RooferCoffeeShop, so please go to RooferCoffeeShop and look for the SRS XTV tour because that's one of the best ways to figure out where we're going next. 

Megan Ellsworth: Awesome. Yeah, that's so cool. I actually haven't looked at it either, but I hope there's a little truck that you can kind of watch go around. 

Keenan Perry: There is. It's a little picture of the RV that's going around the country, yeah. It's pretty cool. 

Megan Ellsworth: That is awesome. I love it. 

Keenan Perry: It's pretty cool, yeah. 

Megan Ellsworth: Okay, so both of you, I'd love to get kind of an answer from both of you on this one. Which past tailgate or event stop has stood out to you the most so far and  why would you say it's stood out so much? 

Justin Tognoni: I would say that recently in San Diego, this event was just, it was so rewarding in so many different ways. This was a part of the MLS tour. 

Megan Ellsworth: Cool. 

Justin Tognoni: But because San Diego had lost the Chargers in 2016, so we're nine years ago, we're close to 10 years ago, they only had the professional baseball team there, so the Padres. And that's a great organization, but they didn't have much else to rally around. And because the Chargers went up to LA, there's kind of a little bit of, there's some spite there for that whole thing. So this is the first year that San Diego's professional soccer team was there, their inaugural season. So when I noticed that and then I saw that LA was coming to play San Diego, I thought, oh, this is going to be a great game to schedule. So there's that animosity there and  then we can also just add them to the XTV tour. 

Having also lived in San Diego, I know that the parking area at the Padre's stadium would never allow the XTV, so it's just difficult for us to get there to do it again. When we arrived and set up and people started to show up, I kind of had an idea on a headcount for the tailgate as we do. But for the most part too, it's just kind of hit or miss. You kind of get a ballpark of how many people are going. And to date, it's been the largest MLS tailgate so far, easily over 150 people. 

Megan Ellsworth: Wow. 

Justin Tognoni: And everybody that was there was so appreciative and so thankful and happy that we were there and  they were so excited to rally behind their team and  it was just super rewarding. We promote families, of course, to attend the events. There were so many kids and they're kicking soccer balls around and having a great time. 

Megan Ellsworth: Love it. 

Justin Tognoni: And I don't know if we had mentioned this too, but of course we smoke meat at every event and serve a full buffet of food, as well as cold beverages, whether they be adult beverages or soda and water. So they have all that all inclusive experience to cater themselves to and  everybody was just so happy and it just felt great. 

And then also, because I would say for the majority of MLS stadiums in the country, ticket prices, they're pretty reasonable, so in comparison to NFL. So as far as I know, everybody that attended that tailgate went to the game. 

Megan Ellsworth: Oh, nice. That's so awesome, [inaudible 00:15:41]. 

Justin Tognoni: Yeah, so it was just super cool, super cool to see. That's awesome. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, that's really cool. I love the family atmosphere that you all promote. That's just wonderful. So, well done. 

Justin Tognoni: Thank you. 

Megan Ellsworth: Keenan, what's your favorite? 

Keenan Perry: I'm going to have to go with home opener at A&M, it was Notre Dame and A&M this past football season. Sadly, A&M lost. I'm not even an A&M grad, but I find myself rooting for them. And that one was pretty unique because it was also college game day and the Home Depot partnership had really just gone through earlier that summer. So it was a cool like, Hey, what are we going to do here that sort of tells both stories? And it was pretty cool, the tailgate bus, the game day tailgate bus ended up being able to park right behind Justin and the XTV. And seeing those two together was very much like, oh, this is real. And just knowing what they do week in and week out on game day and  sort of what that takes and  how much interest that Home Depot has taken in our programming with the XTV, it's pretty cool to see those two things together and sort what the future of the XTV could look like, potentially. 

And so that was, I mean, just personally a very cool moment. And it also was a really cool tailgate too. So, yeah. 

Megan Ellsworth: As it should be. 

Keenan Perry: Without getting into the actual tailgate, it was great. But yeah, with the Home Depot bus was pretty cool. 

Megan Ellsworth: That's super cool, to see kind of what you all have been working on for years next to this big just symbol of- 

Keenan Perry: Yeah, yeah, known across the World, College Game Day, it's now going to Ireland and whatnot for games. Yeah. 

Megan Ellsworth: Wow. 

Keenan Perry: It's pretty unique, so and  it's inspired us to come up with some fun things too. So we're, yeah. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, I love it, I love it. Okay, can you share any behind the scenes stories from the road on this recent tour from this last year or  even as recent as now? 

Justin Tognoni: Yeah, I have a good one that comes to mind. We came the closest we've ever come to having to cancel a tailgate like an hour before it was supposed to start. 

Megan Ellsworth: Oh, man. 

Justin Tognoni: And it's never, ever happened. Yeah, when we arrived, so this was in Orlando for a soccer match and  when we arrived, the parking lot attendant just for whatever reason, just told us we weren't going to be allowed to come in. And so, one of the vehicles in our fleet is a smaller vehicle, it's a Ford F-450 dually truck with a bumper pull trailer, so it's not your traditional RV. And it allows us in some situations to be a smaller size and to be able to just kind of fit in smaller areas. And I foresaw that and  that's why we had that vehicle there, but for whatever reason, the attendant just didn't like it. And they walked away and got on the radio and I don't know what was said and  they came back and they just said, "Yeah, you guys aren't going to be allowed to come in." 

Megan Ellsworth: Oh, no. 

Justin Tognoni: We had a pass and we had an oversized vehicle pass, but for whatever reason, they said no. And I felt like there wasn't much that was going to be able to be done. 

Now, I do need to tell you this part too. We do have two brand new drivers that came on last fall and  they both have very diverse backgrounds. And the one that was with me that day happens to have been a detective, he is a paralegal. I mean, the guy's just incredible. 

Megan Ellsworth: Oh, wow. 

Justin Tognoni: And we learned so much more about them as our work relationship grows. But he was with me and he was out talking with the attendant and  I jumped in the truck and I needed to turn it around so that we could leave. And just before that, I had asked her, "Can I just go and drop the trailer off? We'll just keep the truck and I'll just Audible and try to throw the best party I can out of the back of a pickup truck." And she said, "No, that's just not going to work." 

So as I go to turn the truck around, which takes all of 45 seconds and I get back to Adrian and I rolled the window down, I said, "Adrian, let's go. We got to go figure something out." He says, "No, we're good. I got it figured out." I said, "What do you mean you got it figured out?" He said, "Oh, I just called the director of the stadium." And I said, "You have the director of the stadium's phone number?" And he said, "Yeah, I met a guy a few days ago here in Orlando and  he knew him, so he gave me his number. He said, 'Hey, you need anything, just call the director.'" And he called him and the director got on his walkie-talkie and called her and we were good. 

Megan Ellsworth: That's crazy. 

Justin Tognoni: I know and  he was so calm and nonchalant about it like, "Yeah, I called the director of the stadium. We're good." 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, yeah, like normal do what you do. 

Justin Tognoni: Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

Megan Ellsworth: That's awesome. 

Justin Tognoni: Saved the day. Adrian saved the day. 

Megan Ellsworth: Well, yeah, the tailgate was saved. Oh my God, I love that. Good for him, that's so good. Okay. Keenan, what's some of your favorite behind-the-scenes stories? 

Keenan Perry: Behind-the-scenes stories. See, I don't spend as much time on the road as these guys. 

Megan Ellsworth: Got it. 

Keenan Perry: Yeah. So I'm more on the trade show side. So I've gone to a couple of the tailgates and I've had just a great time and I help out where I can. 

Megan Ellsworth: Love it. 

Keenan Perry: But these guys are the operations behind it all so they see all the nitty-gritty stuff. I'm just there to have a good time. 

Megan Ellsworth: I see how it is. That's awesome though, that Justin, you all are going to all these and boots on the ground. That's really cool, so. 

Keenan Perry: Justin, I might be telling tales out of school here, but you went to every tailgate between both verticals last year, right? 

Justin Tognoni: Close to them, yes. There was a small amount that I wasn't able to go to, but I tried to schedule it- 

Keenan Perry: And we're talking Sunday night football and then Monday night football and  he's got to like- 

Justin Tognoni: Correct. 

Keenan Perry: Yeah, yeah. 

Justin Tognoni: Because both drivers were so brand new, I had to schedule it to where I could jump a flight and get to the next city because I needed to be there just because we were training them still on everything. I mean, you're not only cooking food and serving alcohol and driving and buying all the provisions and  I mean, there's so many things that go into this. 

Megan Ellsworth: Wow. 

Justin Tognoni: Yeah. I can't state that enough, that when you see a catering operation, there's usually a small army of people that facilitate this. You go to a wedding, there's 15, 20 people that handle bar and food and all that. And we have at most three per event. 

Megan Ellsworth: Wow. 

Justin Tognoni: And some of our events historically in Cleveland and  they set their own record every year and  this past year it snowed the whole time. There will be 450 people at that tailgate. 

Megan Ellsworth: Wow, Cleveland, showing up. 

Keenan Perry: Yeah and  an official staff of three to host all them. And the branch teams mostly show up and they help out where they can. 

Justin Tognoni: 100%. 

Keenan Perry: But you have three people handling 450 guests, that's no joke. 

Megan Ellsworth: That's pretty impressive. Wow, good for them and good for y'all. That's incredible. 

Justin Tognoni: Thank you. 

Megan Ellsworth: Okay, so where is the XTV heading to next? 

Justin Tognoni: So the last MLS game that we've got on the schedule will be on the 7th of June in Denver and  they'll be playing Austin. 

Keenan Perry: Oh, yes. 

Justin Tognoni: Yeah, yeah, yeah. There you go. Please go. 

Megan Ellsworth: Oh my gosh. 

Keenan Perry: That's next Saturday, right? 

Justin Tognoni: So it's out at Dicks Sporting Goods Park. 

Megan Ellsworth: Oh my gosh. Can I come? I'll totally come. 

Justin Tognoni: Please do. 

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, sweet. 

Justin Tognoni: Please do. 

Megan Ellsworth: Okay, cool. Love it. Okay, so Denver- 

Justin Tognoni: Yep and  we'll go to the game too, if you'd like. 

Keenan Perry: Go for it, yeah. 

Megan Ellsworth: Wow, that's awesome. Yay, so fun. Okay, we'll take that out, but, okay, so Denver, June 7th, Dicks Sporting Good. What's it called? Dicks Sporting Goods? 

Justin Tognoni: Park. 

Megan Ellsworth: Park. Got it, I haven't been there. 

Justin Tognoni: Oh, okay. 

Megan Ellsworth: But that's exciting. Okay, so that's wrapping up MLS. And then when does the next season kind of start for you all? 

Justin Tognoni: Well, that's just the MLS wrap up, but then we go straight to Pasadena for Club World Cup soccer, so it'll be the group stage and  we will be hosting tailgates for all three, the Rayados games. 

Megan Ellsworth: Cool. 

Justin Tognoni: Like I said, in Pasadena. So that would be June 17th, 21st and  25th. 

Megan Ellsworth: Okay, amazing. That's so exciting. Go Rayados. Okay and  then we talked about the map, but how else can people stay up to date on where the XTV will be next? 

Keenan Perry: Yeah, so we post weekly updates on our social media pages. We're mostly active on Instagram and Facebook, so Instagram is @SRS.distribution.inc. If you search @SRS, it's probably going to be the first one to come up. And then on Facebook and LinkedIn, it's just SRS Distribution and  yeah, we post weekly updates. Instagram is probably where you're going to get the most XTV content because we'll do actual posts there. And then Justin does, he does stories every week sort of shouting out where the XTV is headed next. He'll do day of stories. 

Megan Ellsworth: Awesome. 

Keenan Perry: He's become sort of our in-house personality. So yeah, yeah, yeah. So those are the best places to find us and the XTV Tour. 

Megan Ellsworth: Awesome. 

Keenan Perry: Also, go to our website, the tour's on there too. 

Megan Ellsworth: Okay, perfect. And you can see it on the map and watch the little XTV go across the country. So fun. 

Keenan Perry: Yes. 

Megan Ellsworth: Well, gentlemen, thank you so much. This is so exciting, everything you all are doing and supporting contractors nationwide and sports team. So, thank you for everything you're doing and  thank you for chatting with me today. 

Justin Tognoni: Yes ma'am. Megan, thank you so much. 

Keenan Perry: Yeah, thank you so much for having us on. 

Outro: Absolutely. Everyone can also go to the SRS Distribution directory on RoofersCoffeeshop.com to learn more and see all the other great, amazing things that SRS does. And please make sure you are subscribed and you ring the bell every time so that way you get notified every time we upload a new episode of Roofing Road Trips. And we'll see you on the next one. 

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