Festool Live is DEAD.

[CloudFlare]

Sedge has been working on his internet presence for quite some time. There is a group of influencers that help each other with. advice and I know that he has many friends. In 2016 and 2017 Festool Live was held at their headquarters in Indiana and the influencers - at that time Festool referred to them as the Media - were first coming mainstream. I met more of them in 2018 at their event in Las Vegas but was still very ignorant as to the whole workings of influencers. I found it interesting how they would go off for strategy and planning as well as working on their social media posts. I gave Sedge at that time about 900 Dominos that I had laser engraved with a caricature of him with his arms crossed and his phrase " I hope this helps" to give out to his followers.

So with all this said, I would venture a guess that he has been working to build up exposure planning on taking it bigger once he retired. Now might be sooner than before, but having a gig where he did personal training and then supplemented with Social Media income might be a reasonable gig I imagine.

No matter what he does, I only wish him the best.

Peter

I do know "festool live" was a random discovery which came upon during covid. Rick Bush said it was an "ah hah" moment

As far as the influencer thing, i know theyve had some great brand ambassadors as far back as early 2000's such as Gary Katz, but i heard even his experience with Festool ended in a not so great manner. That seems to be the norm even when speaking with brand ambassadors after him, and present day, which is a shame as those ambassadors really shed a positive light on Festool and what the tools were capable of. When you saw Gary using a Kapex, you knew it was probably the best choice due to Garys great reputation. Now with these DIYERS, the brand has lost a lot of its equity and seems quite cheesy. One gentleman i saw was advertising the Air systainer filtration system, and his next post was showcasing Kregs new powertool line up, and that really showcased how cheesy it all seemed.

 

[ChuckS]

I'm new to this podcast thing so thanks for the "Three Splinters" introduction and excuse my ignorance, but that was a real podcast, is the dreary pace normal? Hmmmm, thanks for the education but if that's what people willingly listen to, then how totally bored must the listeners be? Really? there's nothing better to waste your time on than that? My wife is a big golfer and I always said golf was like watching paint dry...well the podcast thing is like listening to water evaporate. These folks need to get some blood once again coursing through their veins and become alive again. I feel bad for Sedge but after a 30 second exposure that's about all I could take before it put me to sleep. Sheesh...

You nailed it, with due respect to the listeners.

I tend to think that we woodworkers loved New Yankee Workshop episodes because they were only 30 minutes long, no matter how complicated the subject projects might be. I also suspect that in today's social media world, some followers are willing to or are getting "conditioned" to accept (tolerate?) anything from their "influencers" even if it's hot air sometimes.

As a woodworker, I'm influenced only by ... myself, but we can learn from all other woodworkers.

 

[CloudFlare]

FestoolLive 2026: Cordless but not Speechless?

Now hiring if anyone is interested

 

[luvmytoolz]

@CloudFlare That's curious, I just tried to have a look but couldn't find it, but I'm positive I saw a similar job vacancy for Festool here in Oz. only a week or two back,

Part of a global "re-alignment" or push?

 

[MacBoy]

On his latest video, Sedge responded warmly to a comment left by @peter halle

He also said on another comment there will be more content on Festool tools.

It’s good to see Sedge is on a crest of the rollercoaster of emotions. Hopefully it will be a steady and enjoyable plateau for him.

 

[peter halle]

@CloudFlare That's curious, I just tried to have a look but couldn't find it, but I'm positive I saw a similar job vacancy for Festool here in Oz. only a week or two back,

Part of a global "re-alignment" or push?

I doubt the two situations are related. I may be wrong, but Festool AU has been a strange situation where it is owned / operated separately. It may have changed but it has fluctuated in the past.

Peter

 

[luvmytoolz]

I doubt the two situations are related. I may be wrong, but Festool AU has been a strange situation where it is owned / operated separately. It may have changed but it has fluctuated in the past.

Peter

I do monitor the job vacancies at Festool, I'd love to get a job there! Staff discount! ;-)

 

[CloudFlare]

@CloudFlare That's curious, I just tried to have a look but couldn't find it, but I'm positive I saw a similar job vacancy for Festool here in Oz. only a week or two back,

Part of a global "re-alignment" or push?

Cant speak for the global part of it, but the Sedges position was open for applicants about 4-5 days after his departure via LinkedIn.

 

[peter halle]

I don't think that was officially his position. He was a corporate trainer as was Brent. It may have morphed into doing those videos as part of his job whereas there was a lack of trainees walking in the door. It seems to me that those positions were eliminated and another one was created that would be a hybrid with different responsibilities and compensation.

 

[CloudFlare]

I don't think that was officially his position. He was a corporate trainer as was Brent. It may have morphed into doing those videos as part of his job whereas there was a lack of trainees walking in the door. It seems to me that those positions were eliminated and another one was created that would be a hybrid with different responsibilities and compensation.

It seems to me that this was similar to when they eliminated the "road show" as the semi truck got sold just before covid really took off, but im really not sure what the true benefit was to the sale, other than having a couple hundred thousand dollars to spend elsewhere as you couldnt have close up contact with other people.

Im going to assume that this content creator will fulfill sedges position digitally only, as that person can read a script and do multiple takes for the camera, but the days of hitting up the Festool booth at JLC to see sedge are long gone, and boy did he pull a crowd every year. There was also something quite unique about getting to see him do a festool live right in front of you, it was like being behind the scenes.

Festool had also cut back majorly on their JLC budget, heavily relying on the most popular Festool dealer, US Tool & Fastener, to carry a lot of the bill for the space, and even for the Festool employees to attend. Still every year, the Festool booth would manage to pull the biggest crowd.

They still have a handful of really solid reps to my knowledge, unless theyve been terminated too, as that could help carry on some sales at the show if they decide to do it for 2026, but even missing someone like brent will play a huge impact. I just hope that if they try to invite sedge and/or brent to these events like JLC, that both of those guys decline it after being such loyal employees.

 

[mino]

... which push an already pricey product line even higher while most Americans are feeling the crunch from increased costs on all fronts.

Do keep in mind the economy situation in US is a paradise compared to (Western) Europe. So this argument is a bit off in context.

The growing markets are "Global South", think India or China and Brazil, not Kongo or Mali.

This DOES have an effect though - the sales-related value of "Made in Germany" is WAY less so when selling to India as opposed to US or Spain .. making a serious case for more "off-shoring" anything that can be off-shored. Case in point the /I believe/ Taiwan sourced drill guide etc.

 

[onocoffee]

Do keep in mind the economy situation in US is a paradise compared to (Western) Europe. So this argument is a bit off in context.

"Paradise" is relative. You may look at USA pricing and think: "Wow, you blokes have it so easy there." However, that does not eliminate nor diminish the fact that the average American budget is being pinched by the current government here. So, while America may "enjoy" lower MSRP in relation to Europe, that does not mean that the people here are able to freely and wildly spend money in 2025 and moving into 2026. This budget pinch is being felt by businesses all across the USA as consumers here pull back from their spending - especially to pay for higher groceries and what promises to be incredibly dramatic increases in healthcare premiums.

 

[bwehman]

especially to pay for higher groceries and what promises to be incredibly dramatic increases in healthcare premiums.

Yup. Self-employed here and our premiums went from $800/mo for the three of us (me, wife, toddler) with subs to $2600/mo starting in January for the most basic of plans

 

[mino]

"Paradise" is relative. You may look at USA pricing and think: "Wow, you blokes have it so easy there." However, that does not eliminate nor diminish the fact that the average American budget is being pinched by the current government here. So, while America may "enjoy" lower MSRP in relation to Europe, that does not mean that the people here are able to freely and wildly spend money in 2025 and moving into 2026. This budget pinch is being felt by businesses all across the USA as consumers here pull back from their spending - especially to pay for higher groceries and what promises to be incredibly dramatic increases in healthcare premiums.

I was referring to the overall situation relative to a couple yrs ago.

In most EU countries the purchasing-power adjusted income of households went DOWN since 2022.

Over here, in CZ, the prices /average of all of them/ are 40% above level from late 2021. For lower-income people it is even worse as the inflation statistics are kept lower by luxury stuff /Festools included/ remaining mostly stable while essentials went up +50% to +100%. Yes, basics like bread now cost 1.8 x it did in 2021 and housing rents went up 40%+ as well over just 4 years. While eastern side saw the biggest shock from the EU-RU economic war, the rest of EU is not doing much better. Germany included.

Compared to this disaster, the US situation is indeed a paradise. Plus, there is no light in sight as the Green Deal is still in full swing and the EU-RU economic war /and related Energy price problems/ are ongoing with EU plans to escalate it in next years.

Sorry for the rant.
Just wanted to put this into perspective. The US economy may not be in the middle or a post-war boom, but specifically the Festool's Home Turf is doing incomparably worse.

 

[DANR]

I agree that the "Three Stooges" woop-woop was enough to make me hit mute every time, but there were some gems in there, especially for the RENO-FIX grinder. I'm curious to know what happened and hope all the best for Sedge, especially since he has real-world experience.

I recently went to a local Festool event and expected the local sales guy... he's, um, not so good. Fortunately, it was a different guy and he knew a lot. Granted, I sent him off on some lesser-known accessories that really make the tool so much better ("are you sure these are current?" "yes, but I bought them 10 years ago" "oh, they might be gone now" "um, no, I guarantee they are live" *checks* "oh, I have to order one to try!" yay!) If it wasn't for this guy, I would have submitted my CV to Festool-USA to become a demo-dude. I'll likely see him again at some new dealership north of me that looks ridiculous... let's hope!

Paul - I would DEF support you being the new host of Festool Live and would look forward to enjoying your style of teaching. I spent many hours watching your reviews and teaching (from your garage) and your influence on my adopting Festool is notable.
Please do contact Festool!

 

[guybo]

Me to, one in a hockey uniform that would be real slapp stick

 

[PaulMarcel]

Paul - I would DEF support you being the new host of Festool Live and would look forward to enjoying your style of teaching. I spent many hours watching your reviews and teaching (from your garage) and your influence on my adopting Festool is notable.
Please do contact Festool!

Thanks, DANR! And nice first post after 8+ years! (I'm highly biased tho)

Me to, one in a hockey uniform that would be real slapp stick

Adjacent story: I wrote a sales address yesterday for a Black Friday question. The guy answered back with lots of detail. Two minutes later, he replies, "wait, are you in Canada?" I wondered why but noticed my gmail profile pic is the one associated with my Google account and same as YouTube so it's the hockey one you've seen. I like the hockey idea, btw