Successful Meetings - December 2008 - (Page 32)

Speakers Guide > Recession-Friendly Speakers attend the entire event and serve as a fill-in speaker should another presenter be unable to speak at the last minute. Contact: Gold Stars Speakers Bureau, (800) 844-4384* Conference. She quotes an attendee review, which said, “You now have it figured out how to teach ethics. It is not about rehashing others’ failures; it is about calling people to a higher standard.” Contact: Convention Connection, (310) 459-0159* GARRISON WYNN ARNOLD SANOW Fee: $5,000 His credentials are solid—he holds an MBA and is a Certified Speaking Professional—but it is the dose of humor in his presentations on business communications and people skills that makes Sanow a hit with attendees. “Arnold was excellent. In fact, his audience size grew substantially on his second day, which makes me assume people were talking,” says Heather Mathews, meeting planner for the Washington DC-based American Bus Association. With timely presentations on “Managing Chaos” and “Teambuilding and Leadership Techniques and Strategies in these Changing Times,” Sanow speaks to the problems facing companies and their employees today. He also combines topics and customizes programs to meet the needs of individual organizations. It’s a strategy that resonates with planners—particularly since he manages to weave humor into serious discussions. (Don Campfield, who attended a Sanow seminar through the Florida Independent School Business Officers Association, likened him to “a cross between Woody Allen and Jerry Seinfeld.”) Sanow also offers a variety of extras, including worksheets and handouts, articles for the organization’s newsletter or magazine to help build interest in advance, and an e-mail follow-up to all attendees with summary information. For an additional fee, he will also Fee: $6,500 Wynn takes a somewhat unconventional approach to teaching attendees how to be successful. He avoids the “be the best you can be” mantras favored by fortune cookies and grandmothers in favor of strategies for being “consistently chosen.” According to Wynn, people are most likely to make a choice based on who or what they are most comfortable with, not necessarily what is best. So the question becomes how to position your offering as the right choice. In addition to this “Truth about Success” presentation, Wynn speaks on Making the Most of Difficult Situations; Generations Working Better Together; and Getting Great Results: Turning Talent into Performance. With a solid corporate background, experience as a stand-up comedian, and a Certified Speaking Professional designation, Wynn brings the whole package to the stage. Past clients—from the Independent Jewelers Organization to Merrill Lynch—agree that Wynn is a winner. Vicky Jacobson, national director of sales for Morton’s the Steakhouse, says that Wynn “took the time to research and speak with my people and it made a world of difference. It is difficult to keep our group focused, but [he] did just that,” she says, adding that Wynn’s reviews were overwhelmingly positive. Contact: Speak Inc., (858) 228-3771* * Note: Most speakers work with multiple bureaus. Tips and Tricks Still seeing dollar signs? Here are a few more ideas for keeping costs down while keeping the level of content high. Use the connections of your members or employees. The quickest way to bring a price down is to work with someone who knows you, your organization’s mission, or one of your attendees. Look for professors who specialize in a subject matter related to the topic of your meeting. Professors are generally articulate, comfortable in front of large groups, and used to taking questions from attendees. If the university where the professor teaches is near your event, travel costs will be negligible or zero. Make inquiries to an industry trade association—the association may be able to suggest experts or executives who would be a good fit for your needs. If a speaker recently published a book, allowing her to sell copies can make her keynote fee negotiable. This doesn’t mean you have to let her hawk the book onstage. You can permit a sales table in the back of the room. Find out what speakers will be in the area for other meetings, and piggyback on the other meeting’s booking. This will save on travel costs, and the speaker may also be willing to bring his keynote fee down in return for an additional, unexpected booking. Be careful not to undercut a speaker’s price by offering him “exposure.” While this can work, more often than not, it irritates speakers—they already get plenty of exposure. DECEMBER 2008 SUCCESSFUL MEETINGS 32 successfulmeetings.com http://www.successfulmeetings.com

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Successful Meetings - December 2008 Contents Editor's Note Corporate Events On the Record Calendar Research Planner Spotlight Personal Success Technology Talk Food & Beverage Professional Development Quick Tip Tools of the Trade On Site: Retire Those Tired Power-Point Slides On Site: 12 Tips for Thriving on a South African Safari Deep Impact Recession-Friendly Speakers Showing Off Hawaii Insert Places & Spaces Mississippi Gulf Coast Fort Worth South Florida Beijing Gurus

Successful Meetings - December 2008

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