Fifty degrees and chilly in NYC, and Matt went underdressed to last night’s fantastic networking event—froze afterward grabbing a slice with a friend, but good times. After sharing trivia about the first White House Easter egg roll (1878—still creepy with the bunny), Jacques Cousteau’s diving apparatus patent (1952), and the Blues Brothers’ first SNL appearance (1978), he dives into what’s shifting.

The networking event was run by Lisa, truly one of the best facilitators he’s ever seen. She even did a meditation at the end, which reminded him of facilitating a global distributor meeting in Rome years ago for a Japanese cosmetics company—he felt self-conscious doing a meditation then, worried people would think he was woo-woo, but maybe they liked it. Here’s the shift: this show, which started as a daily journal while building The Bigger Stage, has a different function now—refined, elevated. He’s rebranding the Substack channel to “Backstage”—the backstage of The Bigger Stage. The show will be the Backstage podcast, where he can publish written material and really build it out. Coming week he’ll finish the rebrand, get artwork made (maybe AI first, then have someone make it well).

Now here’s the big idea: he wants to curate a dinner in Manhattan every month—very curated, new fabulous or quirky location each time (undiscovered gems). He’s partnering with someone who specializes in finding these places and his friend Meredith from improv. The concept: interactive, fun, maybe not even in a restaurant per se—bring in food, people pre-order, but make it about content creation. Interview each other, make videos, but in a fun way that makes it easier. Because we’re more creative in league with other people. Everyone walks away with not just an unforgettable memory but artifacts they can use for marketing or business. They’ll cast for the dinners. If you’re in NYC and interested, email [email protected].

Right now his brand is like a house where the bathroom on the second floor works but not everything’s connected and unified. So much progress, but it’s never done. Frequency of the podcast is shifting too—maybe three times a week on committed days. Not going away, just elevating, maturing, moving to the next stage. The question: What’s your next stage, and what do you need to get there?

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mattstone.substack.com