The Secret We Kept for Months: Working With OpenAI
Wow, what a year we’ve had.
At the beginning of the year, we had the opportunity to connect with the team at OpenAI. That conversation quickly turned into something we never saw coming. They asked if we would be interested in filming a story about our family, our business and how Derek and I use ChatGPT behind the scenes at ATV Big Air Tour.
Being contacted by the people behind the software we use every day was completely surreal. Then came the hard part: keeping the entire thing quiet for months.
After months of planning, conversations and working through all the logistics, we packed up all three girls and took them on another family adventure to South Bend, Indiana.
The OpenAI team met us at the St. Joseph County Fair and spent two days filming our family, our crew and the ATV Big Air Tour. They followed along as we prepared for the show and captured what running a small, family-owned touring business actually looks like.
In other words, a fairly normal weekend for us, except this time there was a full film & production crew following us around.
We couldn’t believe our eyes when we stepped out of the bus and saw the size of the team OpenAI had sent to film us!
Our Director Was Stacy Peralta
As if being contacted by OpenAI wasn’t already surreal enough, they chose the legendary Stacy Peralta to direct our story.
We knew Stacy would be joining us, but it was still pretty incredible when he stepped onto our tour bus and sat down to learn about our family and our business.
The girls had recently watched Lords of Dogtown, so having Stacy sitting beside them on the bus not long afterward was a pretty surreal little moment for them too.
What made the experience especially interesting was realizing how similar Stacy and Derek’s paths have been, just in completely different industries. They both took something they loved, turned it into a career and then built businesses around it.
In doing that, they each helped move their industries forward and created a ripple effect that reached far beyond anything they probably imagined when they first started.
Watching them sit together and compare their experiences was pretty bloody cool.
The People Behind the Story
Getting to work with the OpenAI team was an experience in itself. Some of their résumés were honestly mind-blowing, but everyone was so down-to-earth and made our two days of filming genuinely fun.
They made the whole process feel relaxed and enjoyable, even while capturing everything happening during a very busy show weekend.
Our OpenAI Story Is Live
The finished story shares how Derek and I use ChatGPT behind the scenes to help manage everything involved in running ATV Big Air Tour.
We use it for planning, marketing, writing, organizing information, solving problems and turning our many ideas into things we can actually use. It has become part of how we work every day and has helped our small team take on projects that once would have felt completely out of reach.
Now, after months of keeping it quiet, we can finally share the finished story.
There is still so much more to tell about how this opportunity happened and what went on behind the scenes. We’ll share the full story a little later.
For now, a huge thank you to Harry, Nat, Sean, Whitney, Stacy, Clint and the rest of the team for making this such a fun and memorable experience.
Another big thank you to our friends Dean and Emily for opening their home to us and giving us a place to stay on our way through Chicago. Breaking up the trip with three kids was very appreciated!
After keeping the biggest secret we have ever kept for our business, we can finally say it:
Our OpenAI story is live. See it now at www.OpenAI.com
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