What does the future hold for the meetings and conventions industry? According to Rohit Talwar, new business models, radical price incentives, deep personalisation and onsite transactions will shape the industry landscape in 2020. His conclusions are based on the findings of the ‘Future Meetings Experience’ online survey. The research was conducted as part a study on the future of meetings, venues and destinations. The founding survey members are the ICCA and IMEX, as well as Rohit Talwar’s Fast Future Research.
I've just returned from Utah, where I attended CompHealth's Symposium in Park City at the Canyons Resort. The sessions were fantastic and the attendees had so many unique experiences I wanted to share a little bit about the event.
Technology speaker Terry Brock talked about Social Networking and its impact for heathcare recruiters- a most important issue now and likely to remain relevant for years to come.
Adventurer Steve Donahue had us glued to our seats as he told his story of crossing the Sahara Desert, teaching us to follow our internal compasses. His program was longer than the usual hour keynote- he spoke for nearly two hours with an intermission, but he kept the audience enthralled with his unique storytelling abilities and breathtaking desert photographs. Steve recently completed another visit to the Sahara Desert so his program now includes an update on his seminal experiences there.
Tim Gard had all in absolute hysterics teaching us to not take ourselves too seriously- turn the "Bummers" into "WooHoos!".
One of the most unique event details I've seen was Thursday's dinner with former White House Chef Walter Scheib. Walter Scheib coordinated with the Canyons to produce an unbelievable four course dinner featuring dishes prepared for both the Clinton and Bush White House. In between courses, he provided stories galore on the behind-the-scenes details of working at the White House.
Another exceptional event for attendees, and something you can only experience in a meeting venue like Park City- all of us went snow shoeing Saturday morning, bright sunny skies and fresh, powdery new snow!
The annual Comphealth Symposium is coming up this week in Park City, Utah. Speakers include Steve Donahue, Terry Brock and Tim Gard. Look for my updates on the event later this week. CompHealth is one of the nation's largest providers of healthcare staffing services—#1 in healthcare jobs for 30 years, and the largest "locum tenens" staffing firm in the U.S. They offer temporary healthcare job opportunities and permanent positions for healthcare providers of all types. Click here for the website on the event.
What's an excellent indicator of an outstanding speaker, with ever-changing and always customized material? They get invited back again and again- to the same exact group.
Institute for Trend Research Economist Alan Beaulieu speaks today at the the NPES 2010 Industry Summit. His session is titled "From Recession to Recovery: The Road Ahead"- and he's back with the group for the second year in a row- by popular demand. I've read about keynote speakers being chosen by crowdsourcing and I think this is an excellent example of how that concept- speaker choice by attending audience members- can work well when considering speakers from prior years, especially when the data is there to back up the choice to rebook. Last year Beaulieu presented "The Recession...How Deep, How Long?" which was rated 4.8 out of 5, the highest of any session at the entire event.
"Alan’s straightforward assessment of the worldwide economic situation, and recommendations for actions that companies should take to weather the storm, received rave reviews—and an immediate call for a return engagement in 2010." At this year's event, Beaulieu will provide analysis and forecasts for the print industry- giving them a better understanding of where they are in the economic cycle, what the recovery will look like moving forward, and how attending members can prepare their to take advantage of upcoming opportunities.
Excellent strategy to have a speaker like Beaulieu return, because year over year, you're getting up to the minute information about the economy and how it directly impacts your business. Having the same speaker back allows time to reflect on the past year's growth and changes in your business, and reassess your business plan moving forward. The NPES is just one of many groups with multiple bookings for Alan Beaulieu.
Sandy Shaw brought my attention this week to keynote speaker Dan Buettner, the author of Blue Zones. Who doesn't want to live an extra ten years? You may have seen him on Oprah, but he's also making waves in the corporate speaking world with his message on creating a culture of longevity. That's an issue that can be brought to all types of audiences, regardless of industry.
Dan's presentation combines research, personal anecdotes from his travels around the world, and beautiful National Geographic photographs. As a keynote speaker, he's the total package. As an inspiration- he's got a message that can change all of our lives.
Thousands of the country’s top corn, soybean, wheat and sorghum producers and representatives from leading agribusinesses were in Anaheim, California for the 2010 Commodity Classic, agriculture’s premier trade show and convention, March 4-6.
During the opening general session comedian Mark Mayfield kept the program running smoothly and entertained the crowd. He also was moderator for a panel made up of the presidents of the National Corn Growers Association, American Soybean Association, National Association of Wheat Growers and the National Grain Sorghum Producers discussing what is on the minds of the members of these groups and issues facing today’s growers.
Following the panel we heard from Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, who highlighted USDA's focus on strengthening the U.S. agriculture economy and revitalizing rural communities.
The general session closed with a presentation by Dr. Jay Lehr who passionately urged attendees to become strong advocates for agriculture. He explained that by speaking out about agriculture, growers can dispute the misinformation that is becoming increasingly common.
Last Friday I was able to attend a National Fluid Power Association's meeting as a guest of keynote speaker Alan Beaulieu. Traveled down with Kiela Hine and Sandy Shaw. First of all if you've ever been to Laguna Beach you know it's beautiful, and the Montage resort is stunning. Ok yes, our offices are in Malibu but Laguna is really a special place.
Beaulieu has spoken for the NFPA before, but it was the first time I'd heard him address a group with such specific customization, and it blew me away. Beyond the data for fluid power, his take on China was particularly eye-opening, and of course he touched on the commercial real estate market as well. You can check out a more detailed recap of the talk on Michael Ference's Hydraulics & Pneumatics blog.
If you've read Make Your Move, Alan and Brian Beaulieu's new book, or if you've heard them speak recently, you know that they address the idea of a recovery. That's something a lot of speakers and pundits are discussing right now. What most people are looking for is some direction- how to form a strategy to move forward through the pre-recovery and recovery phases. The best place to look for that strategy: a firm that lives and breathes economic trends and has a track record of 60 years of accurate calls. That really played out for me when I heard their talk last Friday- I took notes, I absorbed the information, and I'm sure the audience is going to be able to use the strategies Beaulieu offered in coming months.
The solutions offered, both in the book and in their keynotes and consulting practice, are actually counterintuitive to the way most people imagine you should handle challenging times- there's no way you'll come up with these steps on your own.
As the book puts it, during "phase A" of the business cycle, the economy is improving, so businesses must become aggressive and make firm plans and commit to expenditures to capitalize on the upcoming boom. However, most will not. They, like most of those around them, will be stuck in recession mindsets: hoarding money, employing skeletal staffs and keeping inventories low. They will be afraid to change and will just sit tight, which will decrease their future profits and affect their very survival.
Highly recommend checking out the book, and if you have an event coming up, Alan and Brian can bring their insight to you with literally up to the minute actionable information and economic research centered on your industry.
Here's a list I'm guessing will be fairly useful to a lot of you out there planning for meetings on a budget. We have a lot of experience with groups on small budgets; here are our recommendations on five fantastic speakers you can bring to your event for $5,000. Contact us if you're interested in additional suggestions- we have a database full of ideas, but it's our direct experience with speakers that is our best qualification for suggestions to you.
Kelly McDonald is a marketing speaker. For over 25 years she's specialized in marketing to Latinos and her programs reflect that depth of research and experience. But she's also an excellent fit for a variety of marketing topics, and anything related to reaching out to customers you haven't worked with before.
Mark Nizer is an entertainer- a juggler, to be exact- and his latest show is in 3D. Something a little different if you're interested in a departure from a behind-the-podium keynote.
Billy Riggs- they call him the "Dr. Phil of Magic" and he's also an excellent speaker. Barbara Rosenbloom, one of our client executives, suggests him quite a bit because he's so good about customizing his talks, and he's great with clients as well.
Damian Mason- well known to our ag customers, he's a humorist with a business background. In his downtime, he lives and works a grain farm in Indiana. And he's also one of the country's best-loved Bill Clinton impersonators.
Jack McCall- Jack just spoke for us at an event in Colorado last week. The meeting planner reports that he related well to the audience, and they found him humorous and entertaining.
One of the benefits to having more than 25 years of experience with our clients is that we've not only learned a great deal about what your audiences appreciate, we've also watched literally thousands of keynote speakers, live and on tape, and we've formed deep relationships with the speakers we know we can recommend with confidence. We simply won't offer up a speaker we don't feel we can fully back at your event. This week I asked Donny Conn, our founder, to share a few words about a speaker we find that we recommend time and time again. Donny was a keynote speaker himself when he started our bureau, so he knows a great deal about what it takes to succeed in front of an audience. "Back when I performed as a humorist speaker for conferences, I often shared the convention platform with Dr. James Melton," shares Donny. "I was amazed with his ability to captivate an audience. His range of topics, his expertise on whatever he was addressing and skillful use of humor was impressive. Jim has an uncanny way to appeal and relate to a great range of audiences. A hard act to follow. As a person, he is socially aware and a compassionate individual." James Melton has a new book on Leadership and speaks on management topics including building client relationships, future trends as they apply to leadership, as well as customer service. Find out more about his other topics, view his video, and let us know if you'd like more information or to check his availability for your event.
Check out the new video Steve Donahue sent us. He spoke recently for the MDRT, in front of an audience of 8,000. The speaker selection committee reviewed 2,000 keynote videos before they selected Steve. Talk about pressure! The keynote clips are great, please let us know what you think.
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Tuesday, 30 March 2010 00:00
What's an excellent indicator of an outstanding speaker, with ever-changing and always customized material? They get invited back again and again- to the same exact group.
Thousands of the country’s top corn, soybean, wheat and sorghum producers and representatives from leading agribusinesses were in Anaheim, California for the 2010 Commodity Classic, agriculture’s premier trade show and convention, March 4-6. 
Last Friday I was able to attend a National Fluid Power Association's meeting as a guest of keynote speaker Alan Beaulieu. Traveled down with 
Christine Johnson
