One nightmare scenario and almost rite of passage for any meeting planner is dealing with a last minute speaker cancellation. No matter how many precautions are taken, disruptions happen (e.g. acts of god, sickness, family issues, airline strike, etc.). You have experienced them all and so have we but the show must go on.

While this is a situation nobody wants to go through, it is one of the value propositions of working with a dependable, knowledgeable and experienced speaker bureau. They can explore and find a solution to the challenge while you continue juggling the many other responsibilities that come with your role.

One solution we generally turn to (along with looking at speakers we may already have “booked” in the meeting city or surrounding area during that time) is finding reliable and proven speaker options who live in the area and can arrive at a venue within minutes.

Here are a few options to consider for some of the major meeting markets:

Las Vegas

Chef Jeff Henderson – Celebrity Chef and Inspiration behind NYT best-selling memoir Cooked

JB Bernstein – Sports Marketing Expert and Inspiration behind Disney’s major motion picture Million Dollar Arm 

Tim Sanders – Former Yahoo executive, and NYT best-selling business author

Orlando

Jim Knight – Former Senior Director of Training & Development for Hard Rock International

Pat Williams – Senior Vice President of the Orlando Magic

Dennis Snow – Former Disney Leadership Executive, Customer Service Expert

New Orleans

General Russel Honoré – Commander of Joint Task Force Katrina, Leadership & Preparedness Expert

Archie Manning – NFL Icon and father Super Bowl Winning Quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning

Peter Ricchiuti – Finance Professor and nationally sought after Economic Expert

Phoenix & Scottsdale

Captain Mark Kelly – beloved husband of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, retired NASA astronaut and naval aviator

Larry Winget – The Pitbull of Personal Development

Dr. Barry Asmus – Economic Policy Expert

San Francisco

Alison Levine – NYT best-selling author of On The Edge, leadership expert and extreme adventurer

Peter Leyden – Future Trends & Technologies Expert

Jeff Ma – Inspiration behind Ben Mezrich’s best-selling book Bringing Down The House, Expert on Data and Analytics

Jason Jennings – Business Leadership & Productivity Expert, NYT best-selling business author

 

If you are interested, we would be happy to provide you with a list of “local” speakers in the first, second and even third tier meeting destinations.

Gary McManis & Jay Conklin

Comments
  1. […] Speaker Recovery Options in First Tier Markets June 30, 2014 […]

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  2. […] Speaker Recovery Options in First Tier Markets June 30, 2014 […]

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  3. joaneisenstodt says:

    This is great information. Thanks! I do hope you find more women and more diversity in the people who can substitute! Some of us need that for our groups’ meetings.

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  4. Tom Morris says:

    Great information to provide, guys! I’ve substituted a few times for speakers who had to cancel a day in advance, all over the east coast, and once I got a phone call that gave me 45 minutes to change clothes, pack, get to the airport, and get onto the plane, and I made it! Twice, in 25 years, someone has had to substitute for me! It’s just something that happens. But with great speakers in your network and the attitude that the show must go on, speaker cancellations are problems that, as you say, can be fixed! And the audience can have a great experience!

    I hope lots of people come to you with such fixable problems!

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