What Pokémon Cards and Bourbon Have in Common

My son Charlie is obsessed with Pokémon cards right now. Not in the "I spent my allowance and now they sit in a pile" kind of way, but in a way that actually stopped me mid-stride one afternoon and made me think.

It started a couple of months ago when one of his friends got him into it. What caught my attention wasn't the collecting part. It was the trading.

Truman (the one who got him into it) is someone we used to see a couple of times a month. Now Charlie wants to hang out a couple times a week. the Pokémon cards are the excuse to get together. Charlie has even gifted cards to other friends who didn't have any, just so they'd have something to bring to the trading table.

Once the trading is done, they're off running around like every other kid.

This past weekend, we visited a kid-friendly brewery in Austin. Within a few minutes of arriving, Charlie had connected with a couple of other kids who had cards.

They were in the corner of the play area talking about each others cards, making deals, and becoming fast friends with total strangers. It was one of those moments you watch as a parent and just feel good about.

I'd be chalking this up to a fad that happened to be harmless and social, but then I met Brian and things started to come together in a bigger way.

Brian is a fellow entrepreneur and genuinely one of the warmer people I've come across. He's building a brand called Bottle2Bond, and when we met in person earlier this week in Austin, he shared his story and something in me lit up.

A few years back, Brian hit a rough stretch. His closest friend had move away over time, pulled away by jobs and family. Those deep friendships hadn't been replaced anyone local. Then he found the whiskey community.

Through meetups and group tastings, he started forming real connections that grew into genuine friendships. They share group chats, compare notes on bottles they've tried, and ask each other for advice before making a purchase at the store or a bar.

A lot of them collect, and more than a few have (in Brian's words) "over purchased" in certain instances. He admitted he owns more of a few particular whiskeys than he could realistically drink through for years.

What he and his friends do instead is come together to do a 'bottle exchange'. You bring several very good bottles, and work out trades within the group. Sometimes you walk away with less bottles, but they're something great that you've been dying to get your hands on. Everyone walks away better off.

The moment he said that, I thought of Charlie in that corner with his new mates.

It's the exact same thing. Trading up many good cards for one rare one. Trading many good bottles for one great one. The mechanics are identical yet the people doing it are of entirely different generations.

But here is what is actually happening underneath it all: the cards and the bottles are not the point. Not for most people doing this.

They are the reason to show up.

A catalyst. Something to talk about. trade, and build a shared language around. From that starting point, friendships grow, support systems form, and people get something they probably didn't even know they were looking for when they first walked into the room. 

That idea landed on me in a real way, because it is exactly what Keg It® is about.

The keg is not the point. The point is the people around it.

Whether your catalyst is a Pokémon binder, a whiskey collection, or a Keg Kit set up on the back porch, what matters is that you use it as a reason to get together. To invite someone over. To make time for the people in your life, before life starts making those decisions for you.

Whatever your thing is, use it. The connection is what you were really after all along.

- Dallas

If this resonated, the Keg Kit is a pretty good reason to have someone over. Just sayin'