One thing I don’t know if a lot of people consider when watching video content is the amount of effort that goes into coming up with interesting videos that will get more people to watch them.
As someone who just turned 40, I like to think I’m a little more of a “normal” person when it comes to being a food influencer. What I mean is, I don’t like to chase the “You’ll never believe what happened next” style of video. But that doesn’t mean I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about ways to get more views.
For me, it’s simple: The more people who watch the videos, the more people who go visit the restaurants I post about.
I could go to The Fair and film every video I need in three days, then go home, sit back and schedule them out. But a lot of times, ideas come to me as The Fair progresses. I’ll think of a different take on a video and try to come up with ways to get more eyes on it.
That’s where today’s video comes in: The Mukbang with the Fair Director, Julie LaFave.
I sent Julie an email and said, “Do you want to do a video with me? And if so, would you do a Mukbang?”
She said yes.
By the way, if you have no idea what a Mukbang is, it’s basically a video where people eat a ridiculous amount of food while talking to the audience.
Now, the video we made isn’t really a Mukbang — it’s close enough, but not quite. Really, it’s just the two of us shoving a bunch of food in our faces and taking a bite or two of each. We didn’t finish nearly anything, but what we had was delicious.
We started with tenders from Tully’s, dipped in a full cup of their outstanding honey mustard. Honestly, this part wasn’t crazy — I’d do this any day of the week. The tenders were prepared by Stephen, someone I met last week who’s worked for Tully’s for 15 years at The Fair. He takes incredible pride in the chicken tenders he makes.
Next stop was Elm Street Taco for their Birria Ramen — Instant noodles filled with elote, barbacoa, cheese and Hot Cheetos.
Delicious.
Then we hit The Fair Deli for their Julius: They take a half loaf of bread, hollow out the center and stuff it with a chopped Caesar salad and chicken, then top it with crushed pistachios. We got an extra side of Caesar dressing to pour on top. Salty, crunchy and a really great handheld option.
And finally, we indulged in a bucket of chocolate chip cookies filled to the brim with chocolate milk. That’s right — we went to the Dairy Building, got a bucket of cookies from the Bake Lab, filled it with chocolate milk and ate it with a spoon like a bowl of cereal.
Honestly, incredible.
I spent 2.5 hours with Julie, and I came away with more than a fun video and a full belly — I came away with a real understanding of her passion for the New York State Fair, how much she genuinely cares, and also got a glimpse into “a day in the life” of what it means to be the fair director.
The whole time we were together, she was fielding calls about emergency trainings, parking lot capacity and attendance numbers, all while stopping to check on individual food vendors and say hello.
She was truly excited about the changes coming to the Dairy Building next year and how things will open up more. She told me about the dairy inspectors who constantly check the milk supply at the Milk Bar to make sure everything’s perfect. And even on the last Friday of The Fair — with three more days to go — she was reminiscing about past vendors she loved having there and talking about plans for the future.
So. if you get a chance to see the fair director walking around The Fair, stop and say hello — she’ll be glad to meet you and hear where you’re visiting from.
