Posts Tagged ‘General Session’

Getting the Best Out of Your Industry Panel or General Session Interview

Posted: April 26, 2016 in Be In The Know, Finding Your Speaker Bureau
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To say last week’s post was not well received by our valued readers would be an understatement. Even Gary’s bride of over 25 years felt the post made little sense to anyone outside the speaker bureau industry. Consequently, we are going to skip the remaining two scenarios and the corresponding solutions. You’ll just have to trust us that there was an easy fix for both of them!

So, how is a meeting in Cancun of a bunch of speaker bureau owners and key agents relevant to the person who develops meeting content? Well the answer is pretty straight forward: the International Association of Speakers Bureaus selected and hosted some of the most in-demand speakers on the national speaker circuit, but the session that garnered the most conversation was, THE INDUSTRY PANEL.

The Speaker Experts make their living by “booking” paid speakers for association and corporate meetings, but we are also quick to point out that The Industry Panel can often be the most important and well-attended session of a meeting. One of the real keys to the success of such a panel is the role of the moderator. The importance of this job cannot be underestimated or taken lightly. Among other things, the moderator must keep the panel moving; get the best out of the panelists (while not being afraid to challenge them in a provocative manner); keep the topic relevant to the audience; and, above all else, end the panel on schedule so the exhibit hall opens on time.

The Speaker Experts feel there are three effective types of panel moderators or interviewers. Let’s take a closer look:

  1. The use of respected industry icons to facilitate the discussion or interview. A good example would be Tony D’Amelio and Rich Gibbons at IASB.  In this case, they both are very good communicators, but their stature within the industry is what commands the respect and interest of the audience and therefore creates excitement before, during, and after the meeting.

  2. The use of a respected Association or Corporate leader. These individuals are generally good communicators and speakers in their own right. They have am unparalleled understanding of the issues impacting the audience, and are able to lead the speaker or panel through a discussion that is relevant to the meeting. Below are a few examples of Association leaders in action on stage:
Volcker

NRUCFC CFC/CEO Sheldon C. Petersen interviewing former Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker at the CFC Independent Borrowers Executive Summit 2015 in Tucson, AZ

Kat Cole

NRECA Senior Vice President of Education and Training Tracey Steiner interviewing Kat Cole at the 2016 Directors Conference in Austin, TX

David Gregory

WSWA President/CEO Craig Wolf interviewing David Gregory at the 73rd Annual Convention and Exposition in Las Vegas, NV

  1. The third effective type of industry panel moderator or interviewer is the use of a media professional. These experts bring instant name and brand identification to the session. They are world-class masters at keeping the panel interesting, relevant, and compelling. The panel’s advance work with the media professional will insure that the he/she is prepared, briefed, and has a deep understanding of the desired outcome for the session. Below are examples of the world’s most in-demand panel moderators and interviewers:
Karlgaard

Innovation and the Future: Rich Karlgaard – Publisher and Columnist for Forbes

Geoff Colvin The New Rules of Business 2013 Fortune Global Forum

Economy: Geoff Colvin – Senior Editor-at-Large for Fortune Magazine

2014 Texas Conference For Women

Human Resource Management: Soledad O’Brien – Chairman of Starfish Media Group

Susan Dentzer Medicare & Medicaid Next 50 Years

Healthcare: Susan Dentzer – President and CEO of NEHI

Judy Woodruff 1

Washington Politics: Judy Woodruff – Co-Anchor and Managing Editor of PBS NewsHour

Katty Kay Panel

International Affairs: Katty Kay – Lead Anchor for BBC World News America

Nina Easton

Business Landscape: Nina Easton – Political Analyst for Fox News and Co-founder of Sellers Easton Media

Conclusion:

An industry panel can be an effective educational element for most General Sessions. You can find out more about the media experts above by clicking on the provided links. If you are going to investigate the use of a paid media expert as outlined in scenario 3, The Speaker Experts suggest you discuss this with your preferred IASB-member speaker bureau.

Gary McManis & Jay Conklin

With a Name like Hogshead, She Better Be Good!

Posted: November 12, 2015 in Uncategorized
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Earlier this year we posted an article highlighting the impact of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) Annual Meeting on the professional speaking and speaker bureau industry. To recap, this conference is the crown jewel of the association meeting industry. Being selected to speak at this particular event provides speakers with a unique showcase opportunity in front of 5,000 key association leaders. A successful performance on the ASAE stage will often lead to hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking income; two great examples from this year’s meeting in Detroit are Josh Linkner and Sheryl Connelly who have become two of the most in-demand speakers on the association circuit, with the ASAE Annual Meeting playing a key role in this success.
ficp

This week, a similar key bellwether event will take place for meeting leaders in the insurance industry as The Atlantis Resort plays host to the November 15-18, 2015 Annual Meeting of the Financial and Insurance Conference Planners. Influential meeting executives from the nation’s leading insurance companies will converge at this exclusive resort to cover topics ranging from creating an interactive meeting environment to strategic thinking for today’s leaders.
 
 
sally h

As it is with ASAE, the competition amongst speaker bureaus to place their speakers in front of these key leaders in the financial services industry is robust. It will come as no surprise to followers of this blog that Sally Hogshead (10 Most Booked Corporate/Association Speakers) was selected by FICP as the General Session speaker on Tuesday, November 17, to cover the topic of “The Fascination Advantage: Unlocking Your Personality’s Natural, Hardwired Advantages”. Along with being the CEO and Founder of How to Fascinate, Sally is also a notable Hall of Fame speaker and international author. Since publishing her first book, Radical Careering: 100 Truths to Jumpstart Your Job, Your Career and Your Life, she has conducted research and measured more than 200,000 people to identify a scientific approach to personal branding and travels the country explaining those teachings and how attendees can appropriate them into their everyday lives.

The already high demand for Sally’s speaking talents will surely increase after her General Session speech this week. Contact your IASB-member speaker bureau or reach Sally directly at her site, www.howtofascinate.com to learn how her fascination system can transform your organization and its next meeting.

Bonus: The Speaker Experts will send a copy of “The Fascination Advantage” to the first blog or Twitter follower who can tell us what a Hogshead is.

Gary McManis & Jay Conklin

Ford Futurist Connelly and Entrepreneuer Linkner Speaking at ASAE 2015 Annual Meeting

Posted: May 21, 2015 in Be In The Know
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Every year over 5,000 leaders from the association community gather at the crown jewel of association educational events – The American Society of Association Executives Annual Meeting. This year the ASAE Annual Meeting and Exposition will take place from August 8-11 in Detroit, MI. As you can imagine the competition among speaker bureaus and speaker management firms to place their speakers in front of this vibrant and energetic leadership group is fierce. ASAE can have their pick of just about any speaker on the circuit – to be selected as a General Session or Game Changer speaker is a great honor that typically leads to recognition and, frankly, an uptick in business within the association community.

A “spin-off” speech for an ASAE-member association and meeting attendee often leads to multiple engagements from corporate groups further down the line. There really is no way to determine the link between the actuarial value of being selected to speak at an ASAE meeting and then delivering a successful speech, but for many speakers it can result in a seven-figure speaking income. The majority of the speakers on our list of the “10 Most Booked Speakers” have addressed previous ASAE meetings throughout the years.

The Speaker Experts do a great deal of work with two Detroit natives who have been selected to speak at the 2015 ASAE Annual Meeting and Exposition:

General Session : Josh Linkner

Tech Entrepreneur and Bestselling Author of “The Road to Reinvention” and “Disciplined Dreaming”

Game Changer : Sheryl Connelly

Connelly S-Photo

Manager, Global Consumer Trends and Futuring, Ford Motor Company




















The Speaker Experts suggest that you reach out to your speaker bureau of choice prior to the ASAE meeting to find out more about these thought leaders’ availability and background. Followers of this blog know we are not fans of the “hold” process but in this case it might make sense to get a date “on hold” prior to the meeting as we believe the fees and demand for these speakers will be going up.

Gary McManis & Jay Conklin