Posts Tagged ‘Greater Talent Network’

In our posting last year, Top Ten Films That Have Influenced The Speaker Circuit, we discussed the symbiotic relationship between the success on Hollywood’s big screen and the speaking demand created for the protagonist of the film. Captain Jim Lovell from Apollo 13, Mike Eruzione for Miracle, and Frank Abagnale from Catch Me if You Can are just a few examples. While their life lessons and stories are timeless and well-known, the release of these films was a critical catalyst to market demand and success on the speaking circuit. When you combine a compelling story with savvy podium skills and a major picture, you create a perfect storm of excitement on the speaking circuit.

September 1st marks the opening of the fall movie season and The Speaker Experts have identified three that will have an impact on the speaking circuit over the next six months and beyond:

A Walk In The Woods
A-Walk-in-the-Woods
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Robert Redford and Nick Nolte hit the Appalachian trail for laughs in the film adaptation of the best-selling book by Bill Bryson. A consistently sought-after speaker in the humorist/author space, this film will greatly increase Bryson’s name value among a broad swath of interested conference planners and attendees. Also, though Bryson lives in the UK, he will be speaking to groups in the United States in March 2016.



Everest
left for dead
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Josh Brolin portrays Dr. Beck Weathers and Robin Wright plays his wife, Peach, in one of the most anticipated films of the year. Weathers has been a highly sought-after inspirational speaker for years, and this film will surely add to demand. Another prominent figure and proven speaker featured in this movie is world class climber and IMAX filmmaker David Breashears. Portrayed in the film by Micah Huptman, Breashears also serves as a senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Leadership.



Concussion
Game Brain
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Will Smith takes on the NFL through his portrayal of Dr. Bennet Omalu in a true David vs. Goliath story. Dr. Omalu is relatively new to the commercial speaking circuit but his compelling story should create high market demand from organizations with both clinical and inspirational interests within the commercial speaking market (Dr. Omalu is represented by the Greater Talent Network).


A word of caution: much like the stock market, past performance is no guarantee of future success when it comes to a speaker bureau predicting a speaker’s increased market demand based on the release of a motion picture. The Speaker Experts feel that the risk is low and the upside is high with the speakers related to these films. However, you should discuss the benefits and risks with your trusted IASB bureau partner to determine if one of these speakers is a potential fit for your next event.

Final Note: Washington Speakers Bureau announced a blog featuring “insights and resources for event professionals” and can be accessed here. WSB has been a leader in the speaker bureau industry for three decades and The Speaker Experts look forward to their industry observations and suggestions.

Gary McManis & Jay Conklin

East Coast followers of The Speaker Experts may remember the iconic slogan of Syms Clothing Chain: “An educated consumer is our best customer”. Well, The Speaker Experts feel that “An educated meeting planner will always be in the position to secure the best price and service” (you can see why we are lecture agents and not marketing jingle writers!). In our July 22, 2014 post “The Four Myths of the Speaker Bureau Co-Broker” we covered the potential pitfalls of not working directly with the exclusive agency for the speaker you are contracting. You first line of defense in this regard is to understand which speakers are exclusive with which agencies. In order to assist you in this endeavour, The Speaker Experts present an “insiders” list of 2nd Quarter Exclusive Speaker signings:

Washington Speakers Bureau

Charles Plosser
    • President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia (2006-2015)
David Gregory
    • Renowned journalist and former moderator of NBC News’ Meet the Press
Ali Wentworth
    • Actress, comedienne, and author

Harry Walker Agency

Lara Logan
    • “60 Minutes” correspondent
Joyce Banda
    • First female president of Malawi and 2nd female president of an African country
Henry Waxman
    • long-serving US House Representative from California

Leading Authorities International

Salim Ismail
    • Best-Selling Author of Exponential Organizations, Executive Director of Singularity University, and Former Vice President of Yahoo!
Mitch Joel
    • Marketing, Media Hacker and Business Innovator
Bob Schieffer
    • Former Moderator of Face the Nation and Former CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent
Mike Allen
    • Chief White House Correspondent for POLITICO and Author of Playbook
Michael Vickers
    • Former Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence
Peter Bergen
    • CNN National Security Analyst and Best-Selling Author of Manhunt

Greater Talent Network

Alan Gross
    • U.S. Humanitarian aid worker wrongfully imprisoned in Cuba for five years
Ray Kelly
    • Former Commissioner of the NYPD & leading expert on national security
Dan Harris
    • Award-winning ABC News Anchor and #1 New York Times Bestselling Author
George Takei
    • Actor, social justice activist, social media mega-power

American Program Bureau

Judy Smith
    • Crisis management expert and real-life inspiration for ABC’s political thriller show, Scandal
Dr. Henry Louis “Skip” Gates
    • Emmy Award Winning Filmmaker, Cultural Critic & Journalist
Samantha Harris
    • Fitness advocate, Breast cancer survivor and a former eight season host of Dancing with the Stars

Executive Speakers Bureau

Ronan Tynan
    • Irish Tenor, Paralympic Champion, and M.D.

Premiere Speakers Bureau

Rebekah Gregory
    • Boston Marathon Bombing survivor
Judge Jeanine Pirro
    • Fox News legal analyst and women’s issues advocate
John Acuff
    • New York Times best-selling author

Creative Artists Agency

Gerald Huff
    • Principle Software Engineer at Tesla Motors
Brian David Johnson
    • Chief Futurist at Intel
Kevin Jorgenson & Tommy Caldwell
    • The El Capitan Climbers

Keppler Speakers

Amy Curtis-McIntyre
    • Former founding Chief Marketing Officer, JetBlue Airways
Glenn Thrush
    • Chief Political Correspondent, POLITICO
Joe Tripodi
    • Former Chief Marketing & Commercial Officer, Coca-Cola

**You can access our insiders listing of first quarter exclusive speaker signings by clicking on this blog post link**


Please check back next week when The Speaker Experts release our listing of the 10 most “booked” speakers in America over the past 12 months. This was our most popular and most requested posting last year and we promise not to disappoint this year!

Gary McManis & Jay Conklin

Our most popular and, oddly, most criticized blog post to date is the July 22 article, “The 4 Myths of the Speaker Bureau Co-Broker”. In this post we discuss the practice of speaker bureaus making their exclusive speakers available to competing bureaus via co-brokering. We cover the pros and cons of this process as it applies to the actual organization that books the speaker. In order to be an educated buyer of speakers, it is important to understand which bureau is the direct source for the speakers who have opted to sign an exclusive bureau contract.

A recurring feature on The Speaker Experts will be a quarterly posting of the latest signings by the nation’s leading speaker bureaus. For the first quarter of 2015, they are as follows:

Washington Speakers Bureau

Secretary Chuck Hagel
    • Former Secretary of Defense (2013-2015) in the Obama administration
Richard Fisher
    • President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
Governor Rick Perry
    • Longest-serving Governor of Texas (2000-2015)
Charlene Li
    • Founder and CEO of Altimeter Group and the author of the New York Times bestseller, Open Leadership
Governor Martin O’Malley
    • Former Governor of Maryland (2007-2015)
Mike Rogers
    • Former Chairman of the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (2011-2015)

Harry Walker Agency

Senator Wendy Davis
    • Former Texas Senator (2009-2015); gained national attention for an 11-hour long filibuster
Michael Moss
    • Pulitzer-prize winner and New York Times Bestselling author, Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us
Senator Tom Coburn
    • Doctor and former Representative (1995-2001) and Senator (2005-2015) of Oklahoma
Governor Deval Patrick
    • Civil rights lawyer and former Governor of Massachusetts (2007-2015)

Leading Authorities International

Amy Purdy
    • Co-founder of Adaptive Action Sports, American actress, world-class snowboarder, and author
Jonathan Perelman
    • Vice President of BuzzFeed Motion Pictures and former Global Lead for Industry Relations at Google
Kevin Kallaugher
    • Editorial cartoonist for The Economist
Michael Flynn
    • Former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, and national/cyber security expert

Greater Talent Network

Representative Michele Bachman
    • Former U.S. presidential candidate and congresswoman
    • First doctor to discover and diagnose chronic brain damage in NFL athletes
Kevin Lacz
    • Former Navy SEAL and co-star of American Sniper
Eli Manning
    • Quarterback of the New York Giants and two-time Super Bowl Champion and MVP

Worldwide Speakers Group

William Joseph Burns
    • Former Deputy Secretary of State; president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Premiere Speakers Bureau

Greg Gutfeld
    • Fox News Channel host and New York Times Bestselling Author
Brian Kilmeade
    • Co-host of “Fox and Friends” and New York Times Bestselling Author
Robert Guest
    • The Economist US Editor and author of Borderless Economics
John Ratzenberger
    • Emmy-nominated actor, philanthropist, entrepreneur and host of “Made in America”

Keppler Speakers

    • Xbox visionary and former President of the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft

Next week we will be offering a new book featured on our August 4 post 10 Speakers with Upcoming Book Releases (Actually, 11. Bonus!). The books are always made available first on this blog before they are posted on our Linkedin page. Please check back next week to reserve your copy.

Gary McManis & Jay Conklin