The Lodgz Podcast

Roger Caneda is currently the Director of Esports for Visual Sound. During part 1 of the Roger Caneda story, we dive into his time with the Miami Flamingos, previously a professional gaming organization who competed in CS:GO. Roger initially joined the Flamingos part-time as their Director of Partnerships. He secured sponsorship's from companies such as Meta Threads, NVIDIA & Twitch. After a couple of months, he moved into a full-time position with the Flamingos as their General Manager. He shares stories & takes us through his personal experiences with the team up until their transition to a new team – Gale Force. During his time at Gale Force he was the Marketing Manager & served roles such as managing their pro players, housing operations, digital marketing strategies to grow their brand & acquiring P1 athletic visas.

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The official sponsor of today’s episode is Stream Elements! SE recently launched their newest initiative “SEMerch”. SEMerch is a new feature that allows streamers & creators to sell their own merchandise 100% free! You can create shirts, hoodies, mugs & more! To learn more & open your free merch store, click this link.

Jeff Eisenband is an esports & sports journalist. He's worked for companies such as ThePostGame, DraftKings, Front Office Sports, MSG Networks, the NBA, the NBA 2K League & others! Jeff walks us through his career in journalism including chatting about his time at Northwestern University, where he graduated with his undergrad in 2015. He shares how he navigated the journalism industry post-college. He provides insight & advice for others who are interested in a similar career path. As you'll hear from him on the episode, the success he's had in his career takes time & persistence.

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Bryce Browne is the Director of Esports at Mamba Sports Academy in Newbury Park, California. After spending 4 years in the U.S. Air Force as a structural engineer, Bryce transitioned into the fitness industry. This transition came after spending two months bedridden due to suffering major back issues. After leaving the U.S. Air Force, Bryce received his personal training certification and began interning at Mamba Sports Academy, originally known as Sports Academy. Post-internship he transitioned into a full-time position & is now the Director of Esports! He's spent over 3 years at the academy.

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• Follow Bryce on Instagram

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• Follow Mamba Sports Academy on Twitter

• Follow Juan on LinkedIn

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Justin Jacobson is an attorney & the Vice President of the Jacobson Firm in New York City! He's successfully negotiated various forms of deals with Netflix, RCA Records & Universal Music Publishing. He's worked with notable individuals including professional athletes, pro gamers, musicians & fashion designers. He is also the Founder of WorldWideJust - a platform that provides insight, analysis, news & content into the NBA 2K League. Justin is a trusted attorney with 10+ years of experience focusing in these sectors.

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• Follow Justin on LinkedIn

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• Follow the Jacobson Firm on Twitter

• Follow Juan on LinkedIn

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A very special thank you to our sponsor for this episode, Label-Aid. They are a custom label company who have become a premier manufacturer of labels, decals & graphic overlays. Visit their website here, to learn more about their products & offerings.

Rob Gonzales is an on-air personality with experience in numerous roles including hosting, commentating & broadcasting live esports events. Last year he hosted some of the biggest esports events of the year including the Fortnite World Cup, E3 (Apex Legends), DreamHack Atlanta (Rainbow 6) & others! He's been the host of the HyperX Esports truck as well as been a content producer for Team Liquid. Rob provides an inside perspective into the life of an on-air personality in today's gaming & esports industry.

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• Follow Rob on LinkedIn

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• Follow Juan on LinkedIn

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A very special thank you to our sponsor for this episode, Label-Aid. They are a custom label company who have become a premier manufacturer of labels, decals & graphic overlays. Visit their website here, to learn more about their products & offerings.

Gabriel Causse is the Esports Partnership Manager for Magic Gaming, affiliate NBA 2K League team of the Orlando Magic. Originally from France, Gabe moved to the United States in his early 20's to begin a new adventure. Shortly after graduating from the University of Colorado he spent over 3 years with the Colorado Springs Switchbacks, a tier two professional soccer team. In 2018 Gabe made another transition into his role with Magic Gaming in Orlando, FL. He was the first Esports Partnership Manager in the history of the NBA 2K League, awarded partnership of the year & local activation of the year by the NBA, has created numerous well respected & strategic partnerships for Magic Gaming, as well as been Forbes featured.

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• Follow Gabe on LinkedIn

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• Follow Juan on LinkedIn

• Follow Juan on Twitter

• Follow Juan on Instagram

A very special thank you to our sponsor for this episode, Label-Aid. They are a custom label company who have become a premier manufacturer of labels, decals & graphic overlays. Visit their website here, to learn more about their products & offerings.

Chris Smith is the Founder of BIG Esports, a gaming & esports consulting firm & agency located in Australia. Chris has spent 10+ years in the industry sitting in various different roles including playing as a semi-professional player, esports commentator, event organizer & now on the business side as the Founder of BIG Esports. I chat with Chris about his diverse career, some of the influencer marketing campaigns in gaming he's put together, PR for pro players & streamers, how he has evolved as a podcast host & more!

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Erin Ashley Simon is many things - TV Anchor at Cheddar Esports, Co-Host of the Grass Routes Podcast, Forbes featured & ex-D1 athlete, to name a few. She started her journey in media at the age of 16 when she started her blog, Box of Mess, where she highlighted top tier high school basketball players including Kyrie Irving, Austin Rivers, Michael Gilchrist & others. This started her career in journalism which led her to roles at Dow Jones, the Wall Street Journal & now - Cheddar Esports. She is a trailblazer for women in gaming & esports, as well as a leader on diversity & inclusion.

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• Follow Erin on Twitter

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Kieran John is an entrepreneur, YouTuber & Esports Agent at DULCEDO Management. At the age of 14 he grew his YouTube channel to 80,000 subscribers & over 5 million views in just two months. A couple of years later he founded Elusive Esports Agency which represents professional players, streamers, organizations & some of the most popular content creators. Though Elusive is still actively running representing different people in the industry, Kieran has taken his experiences & knowledge from an early age to currently focus on being an Esports Agent for DULCEDO Management.

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• Follow Kieran on LinkedIn

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Derric Franklin, also known as "Famous Enough", is the GM & Head Coach for Heat Check Gaming. Derric walks us through his life story beginning from his time served in the U.S. Army. He shares how he originally made a splash in the NBA 2K community & what his name, "Famous Enough", means. He also shares about the responsibilities his role carries, his NBA 2K League finals appearance in his 1st year as head coach & his experiences so far with the Miami Heat organization.

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• Follow Derric on Twitter

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• Follow Juan on LinkedIn

• Follow Juan on Twitter

• Follow Juan on Instagram