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
The Speaker Experts 