DAY 36: Why I’m trading SnapChat accounts with Brian Fanzo @iSocialFanz || #StrubSnapSwaps
From Feb. 27 to April 16, Chris Strub will trade his Snapchat account with 50 different Snapchatters from around the globe. Add ChrisStrub on SnapChat to meet them all. During the 50 days, a portion of the proceeds from sales of Chris’s book will go to the nonprofits Chris visited during the #TeamStrub 50-state, 100-day journey. See the full list of NPOs that Chris visited here. On April 2, the nonprofit beneficiary will be the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy.
See the backwards hat in my Snapcode?
Brian Fanzo @iSocialFanz’s influence on my life goes deeper than the words I write, the Tweets I publish, the Periscope streams I watch. Brian Fanzo’s actions speak louder than words, which is tough for a man who lives by “Talk Fast, Tweet Faster.”
Brian is very well known in the social media space, but 2016 is the year we take an eraser to that second clause. Brian Fanzo, co-host of Summit Live 2016, is an extraordinarily talented evangelist, brand advocate, influencer extraordinaire and a 2016 Periscoper of the Year nominee. (He had my vote …)
A lot of people strive to be the next Gary Vaynerchuk … I won’t say I strive to be the next Brian Fanzo @iSocialFanz … (right, Roberto Blake?) but I sure draw from his characteristics and idiosyncrasies more than anyone else in the space.
Anyone who’s watched me Blab, Snap or Scope knows I can’t keep up with Brian’s full-speed-ahead chatter, but I do everything I can to hang with him and provide value in the comments at every opportunity. There’s one man who, when I see that he’s streaming, I’ll drop pretty much whatever I’m doing to tune in — Brian.
Nobody out there is more genuinely supportive of the community. Nobody out there works harder to build relationships — and yet, as a former poker professional, nobody in the industry is better at sniffing out the bullsh!t.
Brian Fanzo is the king of recognizing, understanding and appreciating value, regardless of the platform. He’s always the first to set up camp when a new platform arrives, and he’s never shy about providing immense value regardless of the audience size.
Brian Fanzo is a proud father of two young girls, and even when he’s being pulled in a thousand different directions, he recognizes what’s most important in life: family. With brands offering to fly him around the globe, it’s always paramount for him to hang out with the most important Fanz in his life: his daughters.
It’s almost unfair for me to try to sum up all the times Brian has demonstrated how great a guy he is, so I’ll tell one more story and wrap it up for now.
At Summit.Live — which Brian Fanzo personally invited me to, when my self-confidence was bottoming out last winter — I had the opportunity to take the stage for a ‘Scope Talk,’ a soliloquy about how I utilized live-streaming for social good.
I happened to be speaking in Room #3 — which Brian was in charge of emceeing all day. I had a somewhat tricky timeslot — the final speaker of the day — and understandably, the crowd was both tired and ready for food, drinks and rest.
I’m not a speaker, and my presentation in San Francisco bore that out. As I fumbled through my poorly planned out words, Brian sat in the front row, listening.
My time started to wind down. I knew I wasn’t leaving San Francisco without making a big impression.
I retreated to a table set up behind me, filled with multi-colored t-shirts, and grabbed three.
They were the t-shirts I collected from the nonprofits I visited around the country. My plan was to give them out to members of the crowd who volunteered to help.
I asked for hands. “Who is with me,” I asked, passionately, and without a moment’s hesitation, Brian Fanzo’s hand shot up. And it stayed up.
For me, that moment will forever define Brian Fanzo. The busiest man in live-streaming, the co-host of this packed summit, the keynote speaker at events around the globe, was the first man in the room to raise his hand to volunteer to help.
(How exactly that help bears out is a work in progress. Brian agreed to co-host a live-stream with me to bring awareness to a major national nonprofit, but we fell victim to scheduling conflicts. I know we will make it happen soon.)
Since Summit Live, Brian has hosted a week of live-streaming at the Super Bowl; presented in Ireland; is currently jamming in Austin; and it’s a good bet this article will cross his iPhone on an airplane from somewhere to somewhere else.
But at every possible moment, no matter where he is physically, no matter what platform he’s jamming on, you know Brian Fanzo is delivering value somewhere.
On April 2, I’m overwhelmed to welcome Brian Fanzo to #StrubSnapSwaps.
