Today, we have the great pleasure of speaking to Kimberly Gerber, the Founder and CEO of Excelerate. Kimberly has had a fantastic corporate career! She started with Starbucks and became a COO before the age of 32. Twenty years ago, she started a company that focuses on executive leadership.  In this episode, she talks to us about the great resignation, how to motivate your team and the kind of competence and grit, and the executive presence people need to get promoted to executive leadership. She also shares five leaps senior leaders need to make when going up to the executive level.  We hope you enjoy our engaging and informative conversation with Kimberly today! Kimberly Gerber’s bio As the Founder and CEO of Excelerate, Kimberly Gerber has developed a transformational coaching process that combines high-touch experiences with cutting-edge science and technology to deliver programs that accelerate the thinking, behavior, and results of our clients and the companies they lead.  Before founding Excelerate in 2002, Kimberly was a Fortune 100 executive herself. She understands the unique responsibilities that come at the executive level and has created programs like the Executive Accelerator to help executives think strategically, elevate their presence, finesse their communication, achieve their goals and provide sustainable business results in a productive environment.  Kimberly has achieved an unparalleled 100% client rehire rate and has transformed over 1,600 leaders across over 100 companies, including Verizon, Allergan, Whirlpool, USC, Revance, KPMG, Biogen, UCLA, Wescom, and more. An early taste of leadership at the highest level Kimberly had some unique opportunities very early on in her career. While in grad school, she worked for a home care agency and quickly got promoted. She eventually became General Manager and then partner, and then started a home health care firm of her own and grew it to a multi-million dollar business within months. That gave her an early taste of what it was like to be a leader at the highest level. Leadership in Fortune 500 companies Kimberly went on to do marketing for several Fortune 500 companies. She noticed that many of the principles that work in marketing for consumers also work for people. She saw that the leaders who knew how to communicate with people and cared about the impact they had, were unique in their ability to create results and develop a strong fan base within their organizations.  Strong leadership Kimberly is passionate about helping leaders become the very best they can be. She loves working with executives because leaders who can lead at their highest potential can create a better experience, and a better world, for many other people. What has changed? Leadership within organizations has evolved. It is no longer the top-down leadership that it was twenty years ago. Now there are more opportunities for people to have a voice at all organizational levels. That means that leaders have to be better communicators. A generational shift A generational shift has happened in the last twenty years. As a result, many younger leaders are in high-level positions today.  More energy Ten years ago, most of Kimberly’s clients were in their fifties. Today, most of them are in their early forties. She likes working with younger executive leaders because they have more energy and vitality. They also have a longer runway. That changes how they lead and the strategic risks they are willing to take. Visibility Today, leaders are also more visible, so they are under more scrutiny. A challenge for younger leaders The challenge the younger leaders of today face is that they lack the depth of experience many C-level executives had in the past. So, they have to be confident, nimble, and responsive and find ways to figure things out quickly. They also need to have an excellent executive presence in any environment. The five leadership leaps Even excellent senior leaders need to leap to reach the C-level because C-level executives no longer have anyone looking out for them or checking in on them. The stress level at the C-level is also exponentially higher. Kimberly talks about five leadership leaps senior leaders have to make when going up to the executive level: Self-leadership, self-awareness, self-confidence, and self-regulation. Strategic leadership. (Many people today do not know the difference between a strategy and a tactic.) Organizational leadership. (This involves a shift in relationships in the organization.) Executive team leadership. (Bringing people together to work in alignment without telling them what to do.) External leadership. (Showing up with executive presence, being articulate, and making on-the-spot wise decisions.) Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurs are executives, so entrepreneurs also need to navigate those leaps.  Leaders Good people leaders do not necessarily make good executives because they might not have the grit and executive presence they need to succeed at an executive level. Identifying the people who should be promoted Kimberly guides her clients to look for three characteristics in the individuals who should be promoted: Competence Grit Strong executive presence (or the potential for developing it) Women Women still tend to be more timid than their male counterparts in certain areas. To avoid being overlooked for a promotion, women can ask for more responsibility, do more proactively, demonstrate a desire to learn, and never rely on their work to get noticed. A personal PR plan Kimberly’s clients create personal PR plans to ensure their work gets noticed. A personal PR plan is like marketing. It involves identifying your talents and making sure the world knows what they are so that you can be known for them, hired for them, and trusted for having them.  Changing people’s perception of you It takes less than six months to change the way people see you if you align in a way that corresponds with who you are. The great resignation The news is full of stories about “the great resignation” because so many people in Corporate America are leaving their jobs. After the pandemic, people are fatigued and burned out, and they have seen different ways of doing things. They are leaving their jobs because, amongst other things, they want flexibility, and they do not want to work around the clock.  Kimberly’s Executive Accelerator Program Kimberly has an Executive Accelerator Program. It is a combination of a live and an online program designed to help executives make the five leaps and become the best versions of themselves, so they can be the best leaders they can be.  Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Kimberly Gerber On LinkedIn On Website Email her – [email protected]  Book mentioned: Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg

We have the great pleasure of speaking to another rock star in our industry today! Terry Matthews-Lombardo is an experienced professional in the meetings and events industry. She plans meetings all over the world and recently wrote a book called Meetings Mayhem, in which she shares real-life stories to teach planners how to cope when projects go wrong.   In this episode, Terry tells her story. She talks about MPI (Meeting Professionals International), what you will gain from volunteering, and the benefits of having a second act. She also discusses what went into writing her book, shares some funny stories from the book, and offers some excellent advice for people starting a new business. We hope you enjoy listening to our delightful conversation with Terry Matthews-Lombardo today!  Terry Matthews-Lombardo’s bio Terry Matthews-Lombardo has spent her professional life in one aspect or another of hospitality management. In the beginning, it was just her smile and that newly-minted college degree in hotel management that got her hired at WDW, working the front desk at the Contemporary Resort Hotel at a time when it was the largest facility in the South East. After checking in (plus or minus) two zillion guests, and having only one attempt to launch a suitcase over the counter aimed at her head after being told – with a smile – “I’m sorry, there is no room reservation with your name on it, and we have no more availability this year. . .”, she and her smile successfully moved on to other industry positions. Those included being the Chief Flight Attendant and Trip Director for an international charter airline where she traveled the world, a Certified Meeting Professional that still kept her on the move globally while contracting and managing over 100+ yearly meetings, and taking a management position in Special Events on Team One at Universal Studios FL as they announced to the world they were arriving in town and meant business. Today, still working successfully as an Independent Planner and Trip Director, Terry has also added writer, author, and speaker to her bio and feels that there’s a good story to be told from every trip and event in which she’s involved, along with lessons in life management. Sometimes it will be a direct flight path and other times a detour, but that’s what will make this an interesting ride together. Terry’s story Terry has a degree in Hotel and Hospitality Management. Before she ever heard of meeting and event planners, she always imagined she would become the General Manager of a hotel.  Her first job was at the front desk of Walt Disney World, at the Contemporary Resort Hotel in Orlando, Florida. After some time, she moved on to working on conventions. The PGA Merchandise Show Terry was working in conventions at the Contemporary Resort Hotel when the PGA Merchandise Show started taking place there. Initially, the show had only some table-top displays around the perimeter of the ballroom. Subsequently, it grew to become a city-wide show that uses the entire Convention Center. Branching out Terry loved the hotel side and thought she would spend her entire career working there. However, after several years at Disney, she decided to branch out because she felt that Disney was too large an employer. Even though it was a wonderful place to start her career and get training from Corporate America, she felt like she was just a name and a number. A leap of faith Terry got the opportunity to be an international flight attendant for a private charter. So she left Disney, took a leap of faith, and joined the private charter even though it was a brand-new startup charter airline. It took her all over the world, and she had some wonderful experiences! Her first job as a meeting planner  After that, she got her first meeting planning job with an Orlando-based association. From there, her career started to take off. MPI Around that time, Terry also joined MPI. That had a huge impact on her life. MPI was instrumental in changing the global mindset around professional meeting planning and getting businesses around the world to understand that meeting planning is a viable profession and industry.   Why should you volunteer? It is fun to volunteer, and when you do, you get back ten times more than you put in! Volunteering allows you to expand your network and connect with more suppliers, industries, and planners who can help you. You can never have too many people in your professional network! Ten years Terry thought about writing her book for at least ten years before she got down to doing it. She is a meeting planner, mother, homeowner, and dog mom, so she had to figure out how to add another element to her over-challenged, full, and busy life.  A new industry Writing was a new industry for Terry. She started writing a monthly blog to make her presence known. She also solicited magazines to get assignments to write articles for industry magazines.  Collecting stories When she got serious about collecting stories about five years ago, Terry started taking notes and getting permission from people to write their stories. Once she created an outline in mind, writing the book was a fairly easy task. The biggest takeaway The biggest takeaway from Terry’s book is that no matter what happens behind the scenes, you have to put on a show once the curtain goes up. Some funny stories There are some funny stories in Terry’s book. One of them is about a well-endowed man who got part of his body caught up in the roping on a catamaran during an incentive program in Mexico. Another is about a hotel convention planner who was told to hire a stripper to get up on the stage and interrupt a professional speaker while doing his presentation. That did not go down well with the all-female audience! Preparing for unforeseen problems  As a planner, Terry has grown more from the challenges she has experienced than from her successes. She has included some learning lessons at the end of most of the chapters in her book.  A second act Terry encourages everyone in the industry to create a second act to divert them, and stop them from getting too consumed with what they are doing in their careers.  Terry’s second act is focusing on her alter ego as a writer, and doing presentations to guide others to find another passion in their career journey.  Business advice If you start a new business, Terry recommends focusing on what you can provide for your clients in addition to what you want your business to be. Be willing to “stand in the hole” and do whatever it takes to assist your clients with realizing their vision. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Terry Matthews-Lombardo On her Website On the telephone: (407) 492-4004 Email Terry at [email protected]  On LinkedIn Terry’s World Travels Terry’s book, Meetings Mayhem, is available at all book stores  Other Book Mentioned: The Alter Ego Effect by Todd Herman

I am delighted to be talking to a long-time friend and fabulous leader in our industry today! Jochem-Jan Sleiffer (JJ) has tons of experience in our industry! He is the Area President of Operations for Hilton for the Middle East, Africa, and Turkey.  In this episode, JJ discusses his career, shares his thoughts on what will happen in the industry in the future, and talks about skills needed within the industry. We hope you enjoy today’s encouraging and optimistic conversation with JJ Sleiffer! JJ’s bio JJ Sleiffer is responsible for Hilton’s portfolio of hotels in the Middle East, Africa & Turkey. Across this dynamic region, Hilton has more than 170 hotels across eight market-leading brands and is rapidly growing with more than 177 hotels in its pipeline. In his first year in the region, he was ranked #2 in the 2020 Hotelier Middle East Power 50, the annual ranking of the industry’s most influential figures.  JJ’s background Before his current position, which he assumed in January 2020, JJ spent three years as Hilton’s Senior Vice President Operations, Continental Europe. In the role, he oversaw operations in multiple markets from Russia to Iceland and the Iberian Peninsula. Having joined Hilton as Chief Steward at Hilton Amsterdam in 1990, he has subsequently held multiple positions across Europe over the past 30 years. As well as several General Manager positions in countries including Germany, France, Greece, and Belgium, he previously led Hilton’s Northern and Central Europe region. JJ graduated from high school in Huizen, the Netherlands, before obtaining a bachelor’s degree in Facilities Management (1990) and has subsequently attained an EMBA degree in Hospitality and Tourism Leadership (2014). Joining the meetings and events industry JJ knew from a very young age that he wanted to work in the hotel business. As soon as he was old enough, he got a job at a local restaurant during the summer holidays, washing dishes. A year later, he worked as a porter at a local hotel. The following year, he started working in the hotel breakfast room, carrying plates.  A great opportunity While studying Facility Management, JJ was offered the opportunity to do a six-month internship at Hilton. He started working as a Chief Steward for Hilton a year later. After that, he spent eight-and-a-half years in Brussels in various roles in food and beverage, meetings, banqueting, and sales. He moved on to Athens, then London, then back to Brussels, where he became a General Manager. After that, he moved to Paris, became the Area Manager for France, then Vice President for Northern Europe, and then Vice President for Eastern Europe and Western Europe. Since January 2020, he has been the Area President of Operations for the Middle East, Africa, and Turkey. A great company to work for! As a company, Hilton gives its team members great career and learning opportunities! They offer online learning, and Hilton University has a library of approximately 5,000 courses for people at every level within the organization.   Mentors It is vital to find a mentor in your organization. If you are in a small organization, you can look for a mentor outside of it to ensure that you keep on growing. Leaders Leaders should promote people to positions that challenge them. That will help them to learn faster. Advisors All businesses- even small businesses, should have an advisory team to help them to keep on growing. It is helpful to have advisors who are not in the same business as you and do not think in the same way as you. Growing your business To grow your business, you have to challenge yourself and be willing to be pushed beyond any boundaries you may have set for yourself. One of the team Starting as a dishwasher and rising through the ranks in the hotel made it easy for the rest of the team to accept JJ as one of them after he became the General Manager. Aligning the expectations In the hotel business, the expectations of the operator and owner of the property need to be aligned. For that to happen, good communication is vital. Something special When groups of people get together and have face-to-face contact, it is something special! That is why JJ feels confident that the hotel, hospitality, and meetings industries will soon come back again.  Coronavirus COVID forced people to act quickly and do things differently, whether that involved scaling up or down or changing their business model.  Hilton managed to change its business model and become event-ready for the meetings industry quite quickly after the start of the pandemic.  What JJ learned from the pandemic JJ learned that in times of crisis, teams work together a lot better than in normal times. People are also more willing to share information in times of crisis. Promoting the hospitality business as a whole The message JJ has been hearing from the various panels he is on is that we should stop promoting one hotel chain and promote the hospitality business and the destination as a whole. A positive business People see the hospitality industry as a positive business to be in right now. Hilton has 167 hotels in the Middle East, Africa, and Turkey currently. They will be opening another 150 hotels in that region within the next three to five years.  A big growth market Saudi Arabia is a big growth market for Hilton. They operate fourteen hotels there currently and will be opening another forty hotels within the next three years.  Developing local talent Hilton has a Manager of the Future program through which they develop locals because their goal is to operate all their hotels with local talent. Saudi Arabia has a lot of potential talent because most of its population is very young, and they will all need to find work.  Finding people with the right skills Hilton has specialized programs to grow local talent quickly and provide opportunities for locals through the organization. They focus mainly on doing that in all their markets.  Vacancies Hilton has 800 staff vacancies, so they will look at increasing their pay grades. There is no employment market in the Middle East, so they will have to fly people in and actively recruit people from surrounding countries to fill the vacancies. That is a challenge because competition for the best talent is fierce.  Internal training programs Hilton is known for developing people. They have many internal training programs to grow and develop their new employees, so people do not have to come from hotel school to work for them.  Culture  People like to join Hilton because it is known as a great place to work and their culture is all about the people. They have recently ranked fourth-best workplace in the Middle East and fourth-best workplace for women in the GCC.  Skills Those who might consider working for Hilton need to be energetic, creative, passionate, confident, open, and digitally savvy. They also need to be interested in serving people. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Jochem-Jan Sleiffer On LinkedIn

Today, we are excited to speak to Keith Roberts! Keith is a true inspiration! He has had a fascinating journey as an entrepreneur, digital marketer, author, and Founder of the OAK Journal. His tools have helped change the lives of many, and are sure to do the same for many more going forward. In this episode, Keith discusses his purpose in life and inspires others to become the very best version of themselves. He also shares his knowledge and experience, talks about the OAK Journal, explains what he is doing to help kids in the future, and shares some valuable tools that you can apply immediately to help you in your journey as an entrepreneur. We hope you enjoy our conversation with Keith Roberts today! Keith Roberts’ bio Keith Roberts is an author, entrepreneur, and keynote speaker. He created the OAK Journal to fulfill his personal why - Through kindness and generosity to help others see who they could become. Keith regularly speaks to entrepreneurs, start-ups, and corporate clients to empower them with the tools to achieve any goals. You will learn to be the best version of yourself through positive psychology and scientifically proven techniques. Keith’s life purpose is to inspire others to be the best possible version of themselves. He continuously accomplishes this with science, spirituality, and gratitude. Growing up in the 80s Keith grew up in the 80s. He was expected to follow a safe career path and become an engineer. However, when his seventh-grade teacher described an entrepreneur as someone who would have a life of hardship and go bankrupt many times, Keith set his sights on becoming a successful entrepreneur. Photography Two years later, he watched a photo develop and fell in love with photography. After leaving school, he went to Brooks Institute of Photography, got a degree specializing in undersea photography, and spent several years working for Bob Carey from the Tutu Project, a foundation that raises money for breast cancer survivors. After that, he worked for Vic Huber, the world’s top automotive photographer, and then broke out on his own and spent a year struggling as an artist. Graphic design Keith got a job at Barnes and Noble as a graphic designer. After a couple of years, he started running a business at night. Then he got into doing freelance design work and later web design. Zenman  Keith started his agency, Zenman, in April 1998. It grew into becoming one of the top agencies in Colorado. Keith sold Zenman at the beginning of 2021, but he still works there.  Not a path he would choose again Even though he learned a lot and gained valuable experience from running the agency, he would not choose that path again because egos got involved, it took a lot of money to keep it going, and there were too many peaks and valleys.   The OAK Journal The OAK Journal is a 90-day-structure journal based on positive psychology and neuroscience. It helps people set goals and then achieve them. It is based on the life-changing practice of starting each day with ten minutes of meditation, ten minutes of reading, and ten minutes of journaling. The Entrepreneurial Master’s Program Keith found the Entrepreneurial Master’s Program at MIT life-changing. It inspired him to create the OAK Journal.  Great results It took three years before Keith and his partners had a version of the OAK Journal that they were ready to present to the public. It was designed for entrepreneurs and highly driven individuals, so Keith was shocked to find that people suffering from depression and other challenges got the same results. A life-changing tool A life-changing tool from EMP is The Four Sevens: Imagine you have seven years left to live and write down the things you would like to accomplish. Do that again for seven months, then seven weeks, and finally, seven days. That will clarify what truly matters in your life. Finding your icky guy (Ikigai) Ikigai is a Japanese term that means life purpose or reason for being. It consists of four concentric circles representing what you love, what the world needs, what you are good at, and what you can be paid for. It helps you find the center of all those things so that you can have financial freedom and the time to do what you want. That will keep you happy and let you live a happier and longer life. Success If you want to be successful in today’s world, you need to be authentic. Don’t be a hypocrite, and walk your walk. Personal branding Keith hates personal branding because it’s not authentic. Your company might be a brand, but you are not!  Keith Roberts’ thoughts on character The best measure of a person’s character is how they treat someone who can do nothing for them. Finding a balance between authenticity and respect There is a fine line between being authentic and remaining respectful, and it is hard to find the middle ground. If we try to change history, we will be forced to repeat it. On the other hand, we should not be offended by descriptive words that are not insulting to anyone or anything.  Entrepreneurship is essential Entrepreneurship is essential. Keith believes that politicians are not going to save the planet, but entrepreneurs most certainly will.  Meditation and mindfulness Keith has seen that high-performing individuals from all walks of life practice meditation. Meditation and mindfulness clear the mind, bring focus, and inspire creative thought.  Good leadership Good leaders stay in touch with their workforce. Leaders get the best results when they have an intimate connection with everyone in their organization and treat everybody with equal respect.  The Acorn Journal COVID has been a lot harder on kids than it has been on adults. Keith decided to create the Acorn Journal to help this generation overcome the challenges of the last eighteen months of social distancing and isolation. It will be similar to the OAK Journal, but for tweens, and will be given away for free. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Keith Roberts On his Website OAK Journal Email Keith: [email protected] Book mentioned: The Lies My Teachers Told Me by James W. Loewen    

Today, we are delighted to be speaking to Terry Brock! Terry is a legend in the speaking and meetings and events industries. He has tons of experience as a speaker. He has traveled to more than 44 countries to talk about technology and earned almost every award you could imagine for speaking.  In this episode, Terry talks about his fascinating experiences, shares plenty of tips, and explains how to use video to improve your business relationships.  We hope you enjoy listening to our lively conversation with Terry Brock today! Terry Brock’s bio Today, more than ever, you need to know what is happening with technology and business and how to benefit from the changes.   Today’s guest is ideally suited to help you understand what is happening and take advantage of the opportunities. Terry Brock is a Communications and Marketing Advisor who works with clients around the world (44 countries and counting!) showing them how to present in a video to get the results they want.  He’s a member of the Speaker Hall of Fame, has earned the Certified Speaking Professional designation, and has received the highest award given by the National Speakers Association (1 person per year), the Cavett. He recently was asked by Ace Hardware to be their Chief Retail Advisor training their retailers around the world in video. He was asked by Skype to be their Chief Enterprise Blogger and worked with them to serve their 43 million monthly customers. His clients include sole proprietors to Fortune 10 companies.  Building relationships For Terry, the meetings industry is all about communicating, building relationships, and connecting with people. He enjoys speaking to many different kinds of organizations, from Fortune 10 companies to solo practitioners, and showing people how to leverage technology to build relationships. He is always open to learning something more and something new. Terry’s career journey Terry has been a professional speaker since 1983. He started speaking in the third grade when he stood up in front of his church to read the Christmas story. After college, he worked in radio and newspaper, and then went on to get an MBA in Marketing. After completing the MBA program, Terry taught himself to use a computer. He started using spreadsheets to help people invest in real estate. After that, he started doing spreadsheet training.  Then, Terry found a company in Atlanta looking for someone to do training on the very same spreadsheets with which he had been working, so he started working for them.  Training CPAs Terry met someone from the Georgia Society of CPAs and started training CPAs to use spreadsheets. From there, things started growing. The National Speakers Association After speaking for five years, Terry landed up speaking to CPAs in New York City. One of the speakers told him about the National Speakers Association. He decided to join the organization and also got involved with the local chapter.  Getting involved  Getting involved in the National Speakers Association made a big difference for Terry and opened many doors. It gave him training and motivation and taught him all he needed to build relationships, help others solve their problems, and become a great speaker. He initially became the Co-chair of a speaker’s school that the NPA was offering, then VP of Finance for the Atlanta chapter, and eventually President of the Atlanta chapter.  Technology Technology has always been a vital part of what Terry has been doing. He loved being around people, so he also started talking about relationship marketing and blending technology into that. Blockchain and cryptocurrency Lately, Terry has become excited about speaking about Bitcoin, blockchain, and cryptocurrencies at conferences because they open up possibilities for people everywhere. Video Terry considers video to be one of the most powerful business tools today. He believes that video has some distinct advantages. If you do not know how to communicate effectively using video, you will hamper your career. The future Terry thinks that in the future, we will be using both video and in person. Having good audio  You need to have excellent audio when using video. If people cannot hear you or you cannot hear them, they will go somewhere else. Make sure that you have an external microphone positioned so that you are looking into the webcam. The background Be aware of what you have in the background and what is going on behind you when you do video.  Video messaging If done right, video can be a valuable tool for connecting because it can humanize the virtual experience. Send a video of yourself rather than a letter or text to connect or give someone a message. You communicate your emotions better that way because people can see your facial expressions and how you react. A shift Business owners will need to make a shift in the future when managing their teams and client relations. Many people prefer working remotely. They focus better and can get more done in that way.  Managers Managers need to understand that we are going into a new world. They should learn to adapt, be flexible, focus on results, and assign tasks based on objectives rather than on the number of hours that get put in.  Using technology in the right way Technology should be used appropriately and to its best advantage, focusing on getting the best results. Technology problems Many problems caused by technology can get solved by using time-honored non-technological principles like filtering emails and using time-blocking. Successful people Terry knows many successful people who got ahead by being kind, gracious, giving individuals, and treating people with decency, honor, and respect.  Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Terry Brock On his Website      

Today, we have the pleasure of speaking to Bruce Turkel once again! Bruce has just published his sixth book called Is That All There Is?. Bruce shares many heart-warming stories in the book about people who have made changes in their lives that are sure to move, motivate, and inspire you! In this episode, Bruce discusses his journey and his latest book. He also talks about change and figuring out what you truly want in life.  We hope that you find our conversation with Bruce Turkel as enjoyable and inspiring as we did! Bruce Turkel’s bio Useful. Valuable. Enjoyable. These three words sum up Bruce Turkel’s communication philosophy and style. Whether he’s helping his ad agency clients develop robust, memorable brands, keeping audiences riveted and entertained during one of his many speaking engagements, writing another compelling post for his popular blog, or giving useful branding and advertising advice on a national news program, he lives and breathes this philosophy. Bruce conveys the importance of building strong brands to his clients, audiences, and readers, and shows them how to build their own brand value. Driven to see clients enjoy greater revenue by changing consumers’ perceptions, Bruce employs a uniquely powerful combination of creativity and marketing acumen to help them make their brands more valuable. Bruce follows the fearless business approach of embracing what’s new and adopting what works in his quest to provide outstanding value for clients and audiences. How does Bruce create successful campaigns? His first step is to understand what’s always in the back of customers’ minds – their own needs and wants and what you can do for them.  The personal journey that inspired Bruce to write his latest book Bruce has always been interested in the graphic arts. He studied art and design in college. Then he went to New York to work as an Assistant Art Director for an agency. He returned to Miami, worked for several art agencies, and after a few years, he started a design firm.  The business grew and eventually became a successful brand management firm with clients like Bacardi, Hasbro, Miami Tourism, Nike, and American Express. They even opened offices in Latin America.  After many years, Bruce began to find his business less and less appealing, so he decided to change. Keeping a journal Bruce’s successful friends kept picking his brains and telling him how unhappy they were with what they were doing. He wondered why they were all coming to him until he realized they were doing it because they thought what he was doing was creative and fulfilling. His standard answer was to tell them to get a journal, keep notes, and write down their experiences because others might want to know about them. Bruce reinvents himself  Bruce got tired of doing the same thing over and over again. Then, it dawned on him that he was advising everyone else to do what he wanted to do, so he decided to reinvent himself and started focusing on what he truly wanted. One of the things he did was write his latest book to help people who have achieved some level of success in their lives solve the problem of “is that all there is?”. Change The internet, the democratization of information, globalization, and technological advances changed how things work. Almost overnight, anyone could buy anything from anywhere at any time, and competition grew exponentially. Also, with everyone having a smartphone, having specific knowledge about something was no longer a competitive advantage. Waiting  Because the change did not happen overnight, and there have been no cataclysmic results, most people want to wait until something better comes along before they decide to change.  Rethinking Then, the pandemic happened. Supply chains shut down instantly across the world, we could no longer travel, and almost everyone started working from home. That forced people to take a step back and rethink how they were living their lives. Bruce Turkel’s book The point of Bruce’s book is to give people some proven and actionable recommendations for implementing change in their lives. He advises people not to rush and to make thoughtful changes. We all want the same things Almost all of us want the same things. We want to be happy, satisfied, good providers, and live up to our values. Learning from history We can learn from history. Viktor Frankl wrote the book Man’s Search for Meaning. In it, he spoke about what he experienced in concentration camps and explained that when you’re powerless, everything you have can be taken away from you. What cannot be taken away, however, is how you respond. The Greek Stoics said the same thing. Know what you want Get to know yourself and what you want, even though that might not be easy to do. Figuring out what you want is usually harder than figuring out how to get it. Bruce has put many exercises he used to help his clients figure out what they wanted in his book. What matters to you? If you keep what matters to you and what your values are in mind, it will help you stay on the right path. That will also help you move forward positively. Changing beliefs Before writing his latest book, Bruce believed he had to focus all his time and effort on running his business, and he had to be the best at what he did. Now, he believes that he has to be the best at who he is. He bases his future opportunities and potential clients on the quote: “People don’t choose you because of what you do. They choose you because of who you are.” Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Bruce Turkel On his Website Books mentioned: Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith    

We are delighted to be speaking to Sue Hershkowitz-Coore today! Sue is an amazing speaker, full of energy and enthusiasm! She has also authored two books about writing and choosing the right words to convince whoever you are talking to.  In this episode, Sue talks about her journey and tells some amusing stories about how she got into public speaking. She shares her knowledge about creating emotional certainty, using email etiquette, and communicating with people from different cultures, and offers advice for anyone considering starting a speaking career. We hope you learn a lot from listening to today’s conversation with Sue Hershkowitz-Coore! Sue Hershkowitz-Coore’s bio Internationally recognized communications researcher and sales trainer with multiple degrees and honors from prestigious universities, Sue Hershkowitz-Coore helps audiences increase profitability, professionalism, and productivity through improved communications. Skillfully blending persuasion research, business trends, anecdotes, insights, and studies from the social sciences into practical training, Sue has developed a winning communication system that creates amazingly successful and profitable customer relationships. Sue has authored Power Sales Writing (now in its 2nd printing: McGraw-Hill) named among the “Best Books for Sales Success” by Selling Power magazine, and How to Say It to Sell It! (Prentice Hall/Penguin). She provides a fresh, practical look at how what you say, and how you say it, can skyrocket success.  Speaker Sue is a past officer, board member, and President’s award winner of the National Speakers Association, a founding member of Meeting Professionals International’s Women’s Leadership Initiative, was designated an MPI “Platinum” speaker for 12 consecutive years and named “Best in Class″ by Professional Convention Management Association.  Sue’s educational degrees include a Masters of Counseling and a Fellowship supported by the University of California at Berkeley. Her presentations take her around the world including very recent appearances in China, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Spain, France, Canada and Mexico, and the US of course. Sue was awarded "Best Hospitality Sales Trainer - 2021" by LUXLife, the luxury lifestyle magazine. Sue’s journey Sue taught seventh and eighth grade English until her son was born. She wanted to spend more time with him, so she gave up teaching. Later, she started knocking on doors to earn a living. While pitching a bank, her enthusiasm made up for all she lacked in terms of professionalism, so they hired her. Everything else Sue achieved in her career came about as a result of that original presentation.  Becoming a speaker Sue credits the National Speakers Association (NSA) for teaching her the fundamentals of being a professional speaker. Writing a book Listening to Larry Winget explain the steps you need to take to write a book at an NSA meeting motivated Sue to write her first book, Power Sales Writing. Larry suggested writing down 110 ideas, and then fleshing them out. On her flight home, Sue came up with 102 ideas. After that, she started writing the book.  Publishing her book When trying to find a publisher for her book, Sue got 42 rejection letters. So, she published the book herself. Then an agent saw the book and offered to publish it, but Sue refused. Part of a series Later, Sue was asked to do a second version of her book. That book resulted in her being invited to be part of a popular series of “how-to” books for business communication.  Customer-centricity Some of the most well-known brands in the world are Sue’s clients. She teaches their salespeople that everything needs to revolve around the customer. Over and above that, they need to move away from transactions and towards emotional certainty.  Choosing brain-friendly words to create emotional certainty Research has shown that some words activate positive neurons in the brain and conjure up positive and pleasant images in the mind’s eye. Other words, however, activate negative neurons in the brain and cause people to imagine negative things. Most of us fail to realize how often we self-sabotage by using words that are not brain-friendly. Moving to the next level To move to the next level of emotional certainty, salespeople need to create excitement and focus on customer-centric outcomes. Cross-cultural etiquette and best practices for email and texting etiquette Always honor the recipient when sending an email to someone in another country. When communicating with someone from a different culture, honor whatever their expectations are. Do not mention your name at the start of an email. Remember to give your name when texting someone for the first time. Be as authentic as possible when writing an email and infuse your message with positivity. Do not cross the line between being friendly and familiar when emailing or texting a client or customer. Do not send texts to your clients in the middle of the night. Choose your words carefully. People do tend to judge others by the tone and language they use in an email. Connecting with someone on LinkedIn When writing a message to connect with someone on LinkedIn, take a moment to do some research. You can read their home page, their “about” section, and quickly learn about the company they work for. Use some of that information to personalize your message. Remember that it is a business relationship, so be careful not to invade the personal space of the person to whom you are sending the message. Keep your message short, and never try to sell anything. Advice for starting a speaking career First, determine where your passion lies, and what matters to you. Then, figure out how to make that matter to the buyer. Always communicate from your heart, and keep on creating new content. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Sue Hershkowitz-Coore On LinkedIn On Facebook On Website  

We are very happy to be speaking to Moon Civetz today! Moon is the Vice President of Global Sales for Maverick Helicopters. His kindness and consistent presence at trade shows have resulted in Moon becoming a well-known figure in our industry.  In this episode, he shares his fascinating journey and talks to us about the unique and memorable experiences he has created for his customers.  We hope you enjoy listening to our delightful conversation with Moon Civetz today! Moon Civetz’s bio Beginning in Hawai’i, Moon Civetz received his MBA, Master of Beach Activities, becoming the Head Designer for a theatrical, convention, and display company. Due to his involvement in the Hawai’ian Music Renaissance period, his company, Moon Lights, was born as he designed and rented lighting, staging and labor for numerous shows. With an abundance of creativity, that company soon morphed into Moon Light & Magic, offering an array of theme parties. He caught the attention of Sheraton Hotels in Hawai’i and was recruited to become their first Divisional Director of Special Events. The position encompassed opening Neighbor Island hotels directing Convention Services and Catering Departments and putting his imagination to work creating property-specific theme parties. From the Neighbor Islands he then joined the re-opening team of the historic Sheraton Moana on Waikiki Beach creating theme parties for the incentive market. Next up, Sheraton had another project that needed creativity and strong relationships in the group, meeting and incentive markets so off he went to Tucson, Arizona as the Director of Incentive & Insurance Sales of the Sheraton El Conquistador. After putting his mark on that southwestern property, he was moved back home to the Big Island as a member of the opening team re-branding the Ritz-Carlton Mauna Lani to Starwood’s Orchid at Mauna Lani. Over the course of his nearly five years at The Orchid, he created signature theme parties, setting sales records and winning corporate and individual awards for meetings and incentives. Being well-known throughout the Islands, a new challenge presented itself: he was recruited by the General Manager of the Hyatt Kaua’i to help him open the Hyatt Lake Las Vegas as the Director of Incentive and Insurance Sales. So, back to the mainland he went as part of that opening team. After a year of hard hat tours the property opened and became the number one hotel for sales in the Hyatt Corporation. He went on to open Station Casino’s first luxury hotel, Green Valley Ranch Resort, applying his creativity and utilizing his strong relationships to help establish that casino property in the meeting & incentive market. His reputation in Hawai’i followed him to Las Vegas where he became well known in the local hospitality community. He was next approached by a DMC company joining them as VP and General Manager. Today, he is Vice President of Global Group Sales for Maverick Helicopters. Still working his innovative magic, you can find him in the Las Vegas Corporate office planning events in the Grand Canyon or creating wonderful memories on Maui and Kaua’i. Moon’s background While living in the Hawaiian Islands, Moon became the head designer for a theme party production company that expanded as the convention industry grew in the Hawaiian Islands. Moon branched off and started a lighting company called Moon Lights, which morphed into a party company called Moonlight Magic that did lighting and parties for incentive groups. He did the lighting for some rock ‘n roll bands and had a lot of fun doing the lighting for some Hawaiian groups that came to be quite well-known.  Shared Hotels He was asked to join Shared Hotels in Hawaii and became their Director of Special Events. He opened hotels on the outer islands and created themed events specifically for each destination.  A party booklet Moon put together a booklet called SPLSH (Spectacular Parties Live at Shared in Hawaii) for incentive houses and people looking for things to do that contained information about the parties at each hotel.  Plantation Gardens One of the hotels that he got going in Hawaii had an unused grass area behind it, so he suggested turning it into a plantation. That became the Plantation Gardens. Maverick Helicopters After moving to Las Vegas and opening several hotels, someone from Maverick asked Moon if he knew of anyone to help them out. Moon offered to help and ended up creating a group department for Maverick. It started with Moon and two salespeople, and it kept on growing until it became Maverick Aviation Group. Since COVID, however, they scaled back and became Maverick Helicopters.  CITE Moon joined CITE more than thirty years ago and has enjoyed watching it grow. He feels that it is one of the best organizations he has ever been part of. The luckiest guy in the world When Moon sees the smiles on people’s faces after they return from an experience he created, he feels like the luckiest guy in the world! Grand Canyon Moon organized a unique experience where they flew people in a helicopter to an isolated landing site at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. After landing, they served lunch. There was no road leading to the landing site, so all the chairs and tables they used were specially constructed to fit into a helicopter. They even flew in a portable toilet for the guests to use. Las Vegas Motor Speedway Maverick is the only helicopter company allowed to fly into the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, so they fly there for the races. They also do a tour of the Grand Canyon, where they stop to allow the guests to do some fast laps on the track with one of the companies that offer that. Heliyoga They have an experience called Heliyoga, where they land on the highest peak on the Valley of Fire and do a yoga class followed by a glass of Champagne. Up there, it is very beautiful and quiet. Red Rock Canyon  They have added a new excursion, where they fly over Red Rock Canyon and land on a private landing zone to watch the sun go down and see the city lights come on. Then, they fly along the length of the Strip. The safest Maverick is the world’s safest helicopter company. Making people happy Moon is always looking to create new experiences that will make people happy because he enjoys that the most! One-on-one meetings Moon believes that one-on-one meetings will never change, even though technology will keep on increasing.  IMEX Moon feels excited about the upcoming IMEX conference and having the opportunity to reconnect with his old friends. Landing safely Most people do not realize that when the power goes down in a helicopter, it can still hover down and land safely. Hawaii Maverick opened in Hawaii five years ago. They offer some unique and beautiful experiences there! Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Moon Civetz On LinkedIn    

Today, we have the pleasure of speaking to Holly Duckworth! Holly is a Mindfulness Specialist who has had a fantastic career in the meetings and events industry! She has spent the last decade working in the mindfulness space. Holly has written several books and recently formed the American Mindfulness Association. In this episode, Holly tells her story, talks about what she does, and shares some great tips for making mindfulness part of your business and everyday life. We hope you enjoy our conversation with Holly today and benefit from her excellent advice! Holly Duckworth’s bio Holly Duckworth, CMP, CAE, CWMF, has been called the trailblazer of mindfulness for meetings. Owner of Leadership Solutions International for 20+ years she has worked to change how we think about the impacts of stress and meetings. As a certified workplace mindfulness facilitator, she leads the 2021 IMEX mindfulness efforts in Re-energize Reef. She is the founder of the American Mindfulness Association to advance mindfulness a key strategic business practice. As the author of 4 books at the intersection of leadership, sales, and mindfulness, Holly is a sought-after global keynote speaker. Look for Holly as a featured live mindfulness trainer on Insight Timer App, or as the host producer of the Everyday Mindfulness Show with more than 150 episodes, or as a co-facilitator of the monthly Chaos to Calm Challenge for mindful leaders. She has been recognized by Smart Meetings Magazine, BizBash for her innovative approach and commitment to the health and wellbeing of meetings for planners and participants.  Holly’s journey Holly’s journey in the meetings and events industry started when she worked as the Director of Corporate Communications for a baseball team in Oregon. Someone suggested that she should work for the Convention and Visitors Bureau in Portland, Oregon. She did so and loved the job! It allowed her to take her first leap into more formal meetings and conventions.  MPI While working as the Convention Services Manager for the Convention and Visitors Bureau, Holly linked up with Meeting Professionals International. Several years later, MPI recruited her to work for them.  Starting her own company Managing MPI’s volunteer chapters in the Western US remotely eventually evolved into Holly starting her own company and writing books on association leadership and meetings.   Stepping away The stress and overwhelm of the meetings caused Holly to step away from the industry.  The American Mindfulness Association Holly got a degree in mindfulness. Then, she blended the meetings, associations, and mindfulness to found and create the American Mindfulness Association.  Leaving MPI Although she loved her work with MPI, Holly reached a point where she knew that her skills, talents, and services needed to be offered to organizations worldwide, so she left MPI and wrote her first book, Ctrl+Alt+Believe: Reboot Your Association for Success.  A trailblazer Holly was one of the early trailblazers in making mindfulness mean business. She educates people in applied mindfulness practices. Mindfulness versus meditation Mindfulness is being fully present and non-judgemental in the present moment. Meditation is one of many possible practices that you can use to become fully present in the moment. Infuse some mindfulness while washing your hands While washing your hands, take a moment to feel the water temperature and the soap on your hands. Take a breath, exhale, and feel your stress flowing down your whole body, and down the drain. Mindfulness in meetings Take a moment before stepping into a meeting to center and focus yourself, and visualize what you want to happen in the meeting. If you feel stressed in a meeting, use the affirmation “I am at peace”. Inhale and say to yourself, “I am”. Then, exhale and say “at peace”. You can also send an energetic message to anyone stressing you out to ease the tension. Being present Be present and in the moment before moving into an experience, like a sales meeting, a trade show, an event, or a conference. You can do it anywhere and anytime. IMEX IMEX has always been committed to wellness. Holly will be doing a mindfulness activity at the upcoming IMEX conference in Las Vegas. Seven Practices to Be a Mindful Meeting Professional Holly created a tool to help people become more grounded and calmer while at work, a sales meeting, an incentive trip, or even a trade show. She calls it Seven Practices to Be a Mindful Meeting Professional. You can download it here. Setting an intention You should set an intention to put your energy in motion for each day. It can be just one word, like joy, happiness, or calm. Repeat the word as you move into the day. It is a great practice to share with your team at a sales meeting. Mindfulness practices You can practice mindful movement by being fully present while walking or riding a bicycle. Be present in the moment while eating a meal. Take a moment and fully experience all the food on your plate. You can also encourage everyone at the table to express something for which they are grateful. Tips for being mindful at trade shows Permit yourself to be authentic. Allow yourself to be fully present with whoever is in front of you. Take a break if you feel you need some time out. Use this time to grow closer to others in your vulnerability, and notice those who are calm and present despite everything going on. Permit yourself to say no to things you do not want to do and say yes to your mental wellbeing.   Relaxation Reef Holly will be offering mindfulness meditations and training sessions at Relaxation Reef at the IMEX conference in Las Vegas in November. Holly’s books Holly co-authored the book Sell More, Stress Less: 52 Tips to Become A Mindful Sales Professional. It has a mindfulness tip for each week of the year. Another of Holly’s books is a daily wellness check-in reader called Everyday Mindfulness: From Chaos to Calm in a Crazy World. It has a daily reminder to set an intention, a daily inspirational quote, and an inspiring story for each day.  Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Holly Duckworth On LinkedIn On her Website Email Holly: [email protected] Holly’s podcast Everyday Mindfulness Show Download Holly’s “Seven Practices to be a Mindful Meeting Professional” here.      

Today, we are delighted to be speaking to one of the most solid and savvy people ever when it comes to finances and business!  Greg Crabtree is a partner at Carr, Riggs, and Ingram, and he is the author of Simple Numbers. Greg knows how to make accounting and cash-flow management very clear, easy to understand, and efficient.  He is joining us today to share his journey, discuss his views on what is happening in mergers and acquisitions (M & A), and explain what business owners should consider when looking at their finances. We hope you gain a lot from today’s conversation with Greg Crabtree! Greg Crabtree’s bio Greg Crabtree is a speaker, author, entrepreneur, and financial expert. Crabtree has used his entrepreneurial skills to develop Crabtree, Rowe & Berger, PC, a CPA firm focused solely on the needs of entrepreneurs, helping them build the economic engine of their businesses. Working with entrepreneurs all over the country in a broad range of industries, Greg has simplified financial reporting and empowered all entrepreneurs to take ownership of their finances. He has pioneered a revolutionary metric for driving business profitability: measuring labor efficiency and developing simple benchmarks for company, team, and individual performance.  In 2011, Greg published his first book, Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits, in which he shares his core principles of how to turn your business into a wealth-building engine. His second book, Simple Numbers 2.0, was released in November 2020. Greg’s community service includes serving as Boys and Girls Clubs of America National Area Council Member, Entrepreneurs’ Organization Global Board (2006 to 2009), ALS Association of Alabama, Boys and Girls Clubs of North Alabama, Atlanta chapter of The Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) past board member. He is a frequent speaker at EO Chapter events, EO’s Accelerator Money Day program, and the U.S. State Department’s New Beginnings program for international entrepreneurs. Greg and his wife Debbie have four children. Greg is an avid golfer and enjoys playing historic golf courses whenever his travel plans permit. How Greg became an entrepreneur Greg grew up on a chicken farm in Alabama. After going to college and getting a degree in accounting, he started in the profession and realized that he hated accounting.  He got a job as a controller in a bank but soon got bored with working with the figures for just one company. So he started his practice and worked with several startup businesses in the late 1990s and early 2000s. One of his clients moved to Atlanta and invited him to see what was happening with the Young Entrepreneurs Organization. Greg signed up with the organization after attending his first meeting. He did not miss a single forum meeting for the next eleven years, even though he had to drive for four hours to get to them! That broke him away from the traditional mindset. It also forced him to look at his practice as an entrepreneur and not as a practitioner. Entrepreneurs Organization Greg joined the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO) in 2001. He found that being part of a business group and community of entrepreneurs, all trying to get somewhere, was invaluable and a great leadership experience! A record For about fifteen years, Greg held the record for the two years with the most cash sponsorship received by the chapter of EO. Breaking the chains of practice That record led to Greg getting onto the standing finance committee for the global board of EO the next year. That broke him away from the chains of practice and gave him the confidence to leave town and broaden his horizons. Ideas Coming up with ideas to help entrepreneurs has allowed Greg to have a unique practice with clients across the US.  Greg Crabtree’s books After helping entrepreneurs with his ideas, Greg gave several talks on the topic and turned that into his first book. He then gave a few more talks and wrote his second book. Fifteen years later, he became known as a successful writer. A better conceptual framework   Verne Arnish and Ron Hollis, the man who got Greg into EO, encouraged Greg to write his first book, Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits. They told him that if he knew something unique, he owed it to the world to write a book. Greg knew something that he felt everybody needed to know about the poor way that most accountants tend to serve entrepreneurs. He had a better conceptual framework for how entrepreneurs and accountants should work together and how data should be used to run a successful business. Finding the truth Greg has been looking for the financial truth number that professional standards do not create. A different mindset Greg became frustrated with the financial damage he saw entrepreneurs doing to their businesses. He realized that entrepreneurs needed to develop the mindset of understanding their businesses as investments. Return on invested capital  Greg believes that any business in a developed economy should get a minimum return of fifty percent on invested capital.  Flipping things around Greg’s business reached the point where they had more barriers to building the traditional parts of the practice than the consulting part. So, they flipped things around to make the most important part of their business helping their clients run successful businesses.  Merging After merging in the professional world, there is generally a buy-out at some point. Greg was not ready to consider retiring, so he felt that merging his business would create financial stability for his family and give him access to more resources.  M&A projects Greg probably has more clients in the middle of M&A projects now than he has ever had before. He has created a replacement return decision analysis to calculate whether or not a sale is viable. Greg’s rule of thumb His rule of thumb is that fifteen percent or lower should be the replacement return that gives the green light for a sale. If it takes more than fifteen percent to get the replacement return, you are probably not getting enough. Opportunities There are a lot of opportunities coming up right now for entrepreneurs in America. A valuation technique Greg created a simple valuation technique for businesses that he calls The Economic Value of the Business: 3 x net income + equity.  A good idea When you are getting fifty to a hundred percent return on your invested capital, it might be a good idea to purchase several highly profitable businesses and use the profit from those to invest in other things, like real estate. Scaling With most of Greg’s clients, it is execution rather than the cash that keeps them from growing. Greg built his playbook around getting his clients profitable and cash-flow positive for a growth profile before they scale.  The top three things you can do to implement the best practices in your business: Understand your profit engine (How you generate margin.) Look at the operating expenses of your management structure. (Is your management-labor performing?) Understand the concept of trade capital. (Strive to get your trade capital down and your profitability up to become a cash-flow positive generating scaling business.)   Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Greg Crabtree Email Greg at [email protected] Greg’s book Website   Book mentioned: E-Myth by Michael Gerber    

Today, I am delighted to be speaking to another icon in our industry! Miguel Neves, the Editor-in-chief of EventMB, is joining us. Miguel has had an amazing career in the meetings and events industry! In his current position, he oversees everything going on in the industry across the world.  In this episode, Miguel shares his insight and talks about what we can expect, what we should focus on, and the impact technology will have on events in the future. We hope you enjoy our fascinating conversation with Miguel today! Miguel Neves’s bio Miguel is EventMB’s Editor-in-chief and likes to describe himself as a "curious creator and caring curator of computerized content and a conscious connector of charismatic characters". He lives and breathes the event tech sector and is deeply engaged in the global online community of event professionals. He is active in volunteer roles across the industry and currently sits on the International Board of Directors of Meeting Professionals International. Miguel is a Portuguese soul who built a career in the UK and is now raising a young family in southern Denmark. Miguel’s background Miguel started his career doing stage management, playing music, and being a roadie in the music industry. He was part of the team at the MTV awards in Lisbon in 2005. He was impressed to see how the back end worked and began to develop an interest in the teamwork required to put on that kind of event. He got involved in events after that, helping a company with some corporate events. Then he and a friend decided to open an event company. Unfortunately, it failed miserably, and Miguel realized that selling the organization of events is very different from organizing events. He went to London and got a Master’s degree in Conference and Events Management at the University of Westminster. After that, Miguel wanted to build a network, so he got involved with MPI. He got an internship in California, with Synaxes Meetings and Events, after which he spent three years with the company, learning how the industry works. After that, he worked with the IMEX team for six years and then moved to Denmark where he had his own company for three years. Since February 2021, Miguel has been Editor-in-chief for EventMB. The user experience Miguel feels that even though it might be very tempting to add technology to an event, the most important thing at any event is the user experience.  Technology  Technology has developed at an incredible pace over the last eighteen months. Miguel finds it interesting to see how easy it has become to create online events. Most virtual events tend to go smoothly right now if the organizers take good care of the setup and production. Trusting and using technology  When people trust technology and use it at events, it becomes something special and makes a big difference.  Holograms Miguel thinks that a good video feed is just as effective as a hologram at an event. Invisible technology People need to trust the technology that gets used at events. Miguel’s goal is to make the technology used at events almost invisible. The business aspect of virtual events Virtual events have the potential to reach people anywhere in the world at a relatively low cost. Virtual events are vital from a top of funnel perspective when it comes to sales. Virtual events also work well in terms of content, speakers, and even exchanging information.  Social In-person events work far better than virtual events when it comes to the social aspect. Unfortunately, in-person events are more costly than virtual events. Hybrid events The best solution is to have a combination of virtual and in-person events. Although Miguel does not think that the future of events will be all hybrid, he thinks that all future events should have an online component to record the relevant content. The future  The future is about finding ways to extend the reach of events, connecting with those who are not attending in-person, and creating community. Good technology Good technology allows people to consume the live content of an event from wherever they are. Connectivity  Good internet connectivity will be very valuable in the long run. Involve the community Understanding the target audience is very valuable for business owners. That is why Miguel advises business owners to involve their community or target audience as much as possible and find out what they want and expect. Simplify Technology should help to simplify things for people. Change The pandemic has brought about a lot of change. This is a good time for small business owners to do a recheck on what is relevant because the people they knew before or the audience they think they are serving might not be where they were any longer. People’s needs have also changed since the pandemic.  Advice for small business owners Be very clear about what your product offering is. Figure out what you want to do and how you want to do it. Then, productize it by making it into something that people can easily understand and aspire to have. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Miguel On LinkedIn Book mentioned: When Coffee and Kale Compete by Alan Klement    

We have the great pleasure of speaking to a rockstar in our industry today! Courtney Stanley has received many awards. She is a keynote speaker, an emcee, and the founder of the women-inspired podcast, Dare to Interrupt. Courtney started a business just before the pandemic and is full of ideas and optimism! She is joining us to share what she has learned about the importance of being authentic and understanding why you do what you are doing. We hope you enjoy our inspiring conversation with Courtney today! Courtney Stanley’s bio: Courtney Stanley is recognized globally as an award-winning changemaker, keynote speaker, event emcee, and acclaimed creator of the women-inspired podcast, Dare to Interrupt. Courtney has spent ten years helping professionals, entrepreneurs, and organizations engage in game-changing, impactful conversations that empower individuals to tap into their true potential, improve team and culture dynamics, and drive meaningful change. Courtney is the youngest member to have ever been elected to Meeting Professionals International's (MPI) International Board of Directors. She is the recipient of Smart Meetings' 2020 Women in Events Entrepreneur Award, Meetings Today's 2019 & 2020 Trendsetter Award, MeetingsNet’s 2019 Changemaker Award, the Association for Women in Events (AWE) 2018 Disruptor Award, the 2015 MPI Chairman’s Award, and 2011 MPI RISE Award, named Collaborate and Connect Magazine’s 40 under 40 in 2011, and is recognized as one of the event industry’s most impactful change-makers. Courtney serves on the Events Industry Sexual Harassment Task Force, MPI's Women's Advisory Board, is a Meetings Mean Business Ambassador, and is the co-founder of the award-winning movement #MeetingsToo. How Courtney joined the meetings and events industry Courtney started university in the medical field, but after a year, a conversation with someone prompted her to look into a program at Central Michigan University with hospitality, event management, and international tourism. She loved the program after her first class, and she knew then that she wanted to be in the meetings and events industry. Her first role Her first role within the industry was an internship with the Country Music Association in Nashville, Tennessee.  Marketing She later worked as part of the event marketing team for an event technology company based in Toronto, Canada, where she began to explore an area that was more strategic and more focused on marketing. A side-hustler Even when working for others, Courtney was always side-hustling. As her career progressed over the next eight years, that area continued to grow significantly.  A leap of faith The exponential possibility of growth and being able to do whatever she wanted to do eventually outweighed the security of working for someone else. Courtney also realized that the side-hustles she had grown excited her more than anything else, so she decided to take a leap of faith and become an entrepreneur. How to create an authentic brand A good place to start with building an authentic brand is getting to know who you are, what you are skilled at, and the value you have to offer. You need to know how you want to be seen and if that aligns with how you feel and who you are. You cannot please everyone Know that you will never be able to please everyone. Rather than trying to be what you think others want you to be, just be yourself and do the things that feel right for you. Be proud of who you are, and the right people are sure to come along. Respect and kindness If Courtney sees anyone not operating without the right level of respect or kindness toward others, she knows that something is going on with them that needs their attention. Worth Your worth is not connected to your work. Courtney has learned that it is vital that those who have been let go or furloughed understand that they are not their job and are still valuable. Rebuilding confidence Courtney encourages those who have lost their jobs to look objectively at themselves and make a checklist of all the skills, experiences, and strengths they have, personally and professionally. Getting some feedback from supportive individuals can help to rebuild lost confidence. Overcoming life’s setbacks There is always a lot to be learned from difficult situations. There are many silver linings and opportunities to grow from any setback you might experience in your life. Being an entrepreneur There was a lot about entrepreneurship that Courtney did not know when she went into it. She feels that even though being an entrepreneur is risky and uncomfortable, it is still wonderful! She strongly believes that the most growth is to be found in discomfort. Hard times Most entrepreneurs go through hard times when they wonder why they are doing what they do and question whether or not they are doing the right thing. When that happens, it can be helpful and encouraging to speak to an entrepreneur with more experience. A tough year It took a tough year of grit, going back to her why and her purpose, and getting to understand who she is to get Courtney to where she is today. Dreaming big Dreaming big, putting her goals down on paper, and feeling everything from the inside out was the fuel that kept Courtney’s engine going last year when there was no income coming in. Coaching Coaching others to navigate the pain of rejection she went through when she lost her job makes Courtney feel purposeful, and it helps those she coaches feel more purposeful. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Courtney Stanley On her Website  

Today we are happy to speak to Don Welsh, the President and CEO of Destinations International!  Don is an energetic leader who has had a fantastic career! He is joining us to share his experiences, offer advice to everyone in the industry, and give us hope for the challenges we will be facing in the future!  We hope you enjoy our fabulous conversation with Don today! Don Welsh’s bio A seasoned tourism executive with over 35 years of experience in the industry, Don Welsh serves as the President and CEO of Destinations International. Since joining the association in March 2016, Welsh has implemented a strategic realignment for the association through a renewed commitment to focus on member needs to deliver the resources members have determined to be essential to the success of their organizations.  Before joining Destinations International, Don served as the President and CEO of Choose Chicago. Welsh also held the CEO position at the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association and the Seattle Convention & Visitors Bureau. Before joining the destination marketing industry, Don served as senior vice president for Westin Hotels at its corporate headquarters. He has also held senior leadership positions in sales and marketing for Westin Hotels and Resorts, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, and the MGM Grand Hotel/Casino in Las Vegas. Don Welsh’s journey into our industry Don was hired by United Airlines when he was in high school. He kept on working there, part-time, through college. He worked for United after college until he moved to Seattle to be part of an airline startup.  Don was hired by Westin Hotels and Resorts, eventually becoming their Director and Vice President of Marketing and Partnership Programs. He left Westin and worked for The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company for the next four years. Although Don loved traveling the world, he still accepted an offer to return to Westin Hotels and Resorts. He later took an offer to join MGM in Las Vegas.  Don also ran the Continental Basketball Association for the basketball player Isaiah Thomas, and after that, worked for Roger Helms, from Helms Briscoe, for several years.  He later returned to Seattle to get involved in the Convention and Visitors Bureau for the next five years. He spent two-and-a-half years in Indianapolis before being asked to go to Chicago to form a new organization. That was where he learned about the value of meetings.  After five years, Don got recruited to help take Destinations International to a new level. He has been with Destinations International for almost six years. Good leaders Good leaders understand the importance of human connection, and great leaders help people rise. Don has found that the best leaders are comfortable with their hearts and soul. They are humble, genuine, true, and authentic individuals.  Instability There was a lot of instability with the Destinations International organization when Don arrived in 2016. It took a lot of time and effort to make it financially and legally healthy and implement their core member benefits. Ironically, they got it all together in 2019, just before the pandemic hit. The COVID pandemic Destinations International did 64 webinars between the 15th of March and the end of 2020. They also grew their membership. Don feels proud of how the organization responded to the pandemic with webinars, zoom meetings, and virtual summits. He does not think that those things will change much for the next couple of years. Silver linings When business fell away during the pandemic, Don saw a fantastic response from destinations around the world. They adapted to their local marketplaces by supporting local restaurants and take-outs and even working with city services in local governments to ensure that there was one constant repository of information on behalf of that destination.  Businesses coming back Over the last six months, Don has been seeing businesses coming back, even though many teams still have significantly less staff.  Radical changes There is a global shortage of workers in many different service industries right now. Most hotels and restaurants, particularly those in North America, are struggling to find enough staff. That is forcing radical changes to what people have become accustomed to, particularly in full-service hotels.  Equity, diversity, and inclusion Don is proud of the work that the destinations across the world have been doing in terms of equity, diversity, and inclusion. There is a paradigm shift in terms of the diversity of the staff in convention bureaus. A pledge At DI, more than 350 CEOs signed a pledge to adhere to the principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion. As an industry, DI will ensure that young people will be trained adequately and made aware of what the organization does. Should meetings take place? Rather than recognizing organizations that are planning virtual, hybrid, or in-person meetings right now, the media has been focusing on meetings that were canceled. Don is grateful for the people who have been going to meetings without allowing the media to influence them. Great strides are currently being made around safety, security, and health measures for the attendees at meetings. Data The data shows that it is safe to travel and attend meetings again, provided that safety protocols are in place. Safety  Don has seen some great collaborations between the health departments of the various destinations and the meeting organizers to ensure the safety, wellbeing, and health of the visitors. He thinks that those measures will continue to stay in place. The destination is the expert Don believes that the destination is the expert in their marketplace. They exist to be a one-stop source of resources and information for all event planners. There are trusted tourism experts in every destination who will provide event organizers with all the information they need for free. Don Welsh’s advice for people considering starting a business: Have a solid plan and be committed to your goals. Stay passionate about what you want to achieve - even on the tough days. Flexible work schedules Flexible work schedules can work in the future for Destination members. Being an association, however, Don’s team has decided to go into the office for a minimum of two days each month. They go in with a schedule and cover the work to be done, discuss business plans and projects, and have lunch together. At least 50 to 70% of the team will be together for four or five days a month throughout the year. They use Zoom or Teams when they cannot be together in person. A new type of thinking about work Don thinks that many associations will need to start connecting via a combination of in-person and online for younger employees and the health of their organizations. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Don On LinkedIn    

We are delighted to be speaking to an amazing leader in our industry today! Carl Winston is the Founding Director of the Payne School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at San Diego State University and acts as Senior Advisor to the Caspian Agency. Carl enjoys volunteering and educating people in the industry. He is a thought leader who loves to challenge traditional ways of thinking.  In this episode, Carl shares his story and talks about what he has learned throughout his career. We also have an edgy and stimulating discussion about the value of COVID, the future of the meetings and events industry, allyship, and the importance of life-long learning. We hope you enjoy listening to our thought-provoking conversation with Carl Winston today! Carl Winston’s bio: Carl Winston has over 35 years of experience in a variety of senior executive-level hospitality, event, and tourism industry positions in academia and the “real world.”  He is the founding Director of the L. Robert Payne School of Hospitality & Tourism Management at San Diego State University. Launched in 2001, the School has earned a global reputation for its innovations, rigor, relevance, and near-perfect placement rate for graduates.   Winston acts as a Senior Advisor to Caspian Agency. In that role, he helps Caspian clients clarify their strategic goals and adapt to the rapidly changing methods for event production.   He also owns Real World Academics, a firm that conducts projects from economic impact studies to acquisition and development for small companies and large, including Disney, Marriott, and Four Seasons. RWA also provides Asset Management services to hotel owners. He served on MPI’s International Board of Directors for seven years and is the creator of the groundbreaking Master’s Degree in Meeting and Event Management in partnership with MPI Global. Carl was named one of The Top 25 Most Influential People in the Meetings Industry by Successful Meetings in 2018 and one of the Top 500 Event Producers by BizBash in 2018.  He has received numerous other industry accolades and is a sitting member of the Editorial Content Board for Smart Meetings Magazine.  He was also the founding Managing Director of the non-profit China Hospitality Education Initiative (CHEI). CHEI was launched in 2013 and supported more nearly 400 colleges and universities with 400,000 students by 2020. Before moving into academia, he had run hundreds of hotels and restaurants throughout the U.S. and Canada. He also ran a chain of small theme parks and started his professional career in public accounting. Carl Winston has been involved with more than 30 local, regional, and international industry associations and groups where he has served in leadership positions and Boards of Directors. His education includes a B.A. in Sociology from the University of California, San Diego, and a Master’s of Professional Studies in Hotel Administration, Cornell University. Carl’s story When Carl asked for a car at the age of fifteen, his mom suggested that he work as a dishwasher in the restaurant she worked in, to earn the money he needed. After a while, he told his mom that he would rather be a Vice President than a dishwasher. In fact, he wanted to be a Vice President by the time he was thirty! Studies After high school, Carl applied to Cornell University but got turned down. So he went to Community College instead to do hospitality studies. After completing his studies at Community College, he applied to Cornell University as a transfer student and got rejected again. So he went to the University of California in San Diego and received a degree in Sociology and Economics. After a while, he applied to go to Grad School at Cornell University and finally got accepted!  Life-changing Going to Cornell was life-changing for Carl because he learned about networking and how to think in creative and strategic ways.  Hotel financing After university, he moved to Los Angeles, California. He worked in hotel financing, feasibility, and appraisals for five years before moving back to San Diego. A great career He had a great career. He worked his way up to manager before he was thirty years old. Then he quit, started working in a hotel company for some of his clients, and became VP of Operations before turning thirty! The company had thirteen properties, and within five years, they grew the company to 125 hotels!  Focused on success Carl was not a nice person back then because he was way too focused on success. He was tough, hard-driving, results-driven, and unfriendly.  Changing Several bad exits and getting fired twice were humbling experiences for Carl and helped him grow up, change, and become a better person. Business failure Carl feels that the time he spent working for a repo company helped him become an expert on business failure. Hospitality school Being asked to be on the advisory board of a new hospitality school and the years he spent helping build the curriculum softened Carl into becoming a nicer person. It also helped him to understand the benefits of giving back rather than taking.  The largest school network in the industry Carl built a school network in China that included 400 schools with 400,000 students in Hospitality and Event Management just before the coronavirus pandemic. It was an initiative funded by the Marriott Family Foundation. How COVID was the best thing Carl believes that COVID was the best thing ever for meetings professionals because it froze the industry. It resulted in people doing things differently. They started asking the right questions, wanting the reason and purpose for the meetings, and asking what the value-add for the meetings would be.  Undervalued and misunderstood Meeting professionals across the world are undervalued and misunderstood. People tend to underestimate all the work and planning that goes into creating a meeting or event. Carl feels that on the other side of COVID, meeting professionals will be better understood, and their value proposition will be more solid. Carl Winston’s advice for hoteliers Hoteliers should start figuring out how to run hybrid meetings. Carl asserts that they need to start investing in technology to allow people to watch the meeting sessions from the safety of their hotel rooms or around the pool on their iPads. Allyship  We won’t get anywhere if the only people who feel passionate about diversity, equity, and inclusion are the minorities. Carl has been thinking of ways for minorities to become more effective allies. He has also been getting his team to help him get better at practicing diversity and inclusion.  Carl Winston on life-long learning We should never stop educating ourselves. Carl encourages you to keep on reinventing yourself and learning new things. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Carl On LinkedIn    

We are thrilled to finally have the opportunity to talk to Meg Fasy from eventsGIG! Meg is a star in our industry! She is a long-time member of the industry and has a vast amount of experience. Meg is joining us today to talk about the freelance economy, the changes happening in our industry, and opportunities for the future. We hope you will enjoy listening to Meg’s inspiring story today! Meg Fasy’s bio: Meg Fasy’s career spans several markets, including hotel, CVB, industry associations, event technology, and strategic partnerships, where she has been a successful sales/marketing leader. She has worked for, and with, some of the biggest brands you know.  This idea for eventsGIG came about as Meg was trying to find a way to help the Events Industry recover from the devastating impact of the pandemic. With so many of her peers out of work and many organizations struggling to figure out how they rebuild their service levels, she wanted to create an opportunity for each to connect. To further that end, it was important to Meg that a portion of our proceeds benefit Meetings Industry Fund to help our industry recover fully and thrive. Meg is well known for motivating sales and marketing teams, driving strategy, and connecting people. Meg is an energetic leader who has been a featured speaker at most major event industry conferences including CEMA, PCMA, MPI, IAEE, Cvent Connect. When not focused on making great connections, you will often find Meg on the water, training for her next dragon boat race. Meg’s story Meg has been in the events industry for twenty-five years. Like most others, she fell into the industry. While at college, Meg took a job in catering at the Grand Hyatt and fell in love with the hotel business. She stayed with Hyatt for almost a decade. She eventually reached a point where she wanted weekends and holidays, so she left catering and got into sales.  The bigger picture With all her jobs in the hotel business, Meg was interested in the bigger picture. She always wanted to know why the meetings were happening. Meg’s experience Meg worked in hotels, the Convention Visitor’s Bureau, and for event technology companies before deciding to start a business of her own.  FazeFWD Meg has been running the sponsorship management company, FazeFWD for the last six years. She works with organizations to create and sell their sponsorship packages. Growth and experience Throughout her career in the industry, Meg has always known which direction to take. It has always been about growth and gaining experience. Emotional rollercoaster Most entrepreneurs do not realize the emotional rollercoaster ride they will go through when they start their first company. Meg Fasy on why mentorship is a must Meg believes strongly in having mentors. Throughout her career, she has always had someone to mentor and advise her. Now, she is always mentoring six or seven women. Face-to-face versus hybrid Meg believes that virtual meetings will never take over face-to-face meetings because people want to be face-to-face.  Two different events Face-to-face events are very different from virtual events. They have different budgets and different levels of content. The next six to nine months will be tough Although Meg doesn't know exactly what will happen in the next six to nine months, she knows it will be a tough time. Staffing and events will have to be looked at differently. Organizations will have to prioritize who can attend their meetings and focus their content around those attendees. Between a rock and a hard place Many people have been furloughed or laid off recently. On the flip side, event service companies and agencies do not know what to do because many of their staff members have left. Freelancers Currently, 36% of the US workforce are freelancers. If the rate of growth does not change, it is anticipated that it will grow to 50% within the next five years. That is why it made sense to Meg to connect the freelancer creator community with organizations looking for people. Meg Fasy on creating new opportunities  Constantly hearing the two sides of the story motivated Meg to help out in some way. That inspired her to start a new company that could create opportunities by bringing freelancers and organizations together online. She had 150 freelancers sign up within the first two weeks! Preparing for the future It can be hard, emotionally and psychologically, to change from being securely employed to working as a freelancer. To start as a freelancer, think of your value and make a list of the skills you have to offer. Also, consider what you want to do and how many hours you would like to work. Building a culture with freelancers Companies should understand that freelancers can be part of the team. To build a culture with freelancers, companies must communicate well and bring the freelancers into the fold by introducing everyone and keeping the conversation open.  Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Meg Fasy Email Meg: [email protected] Call Meg at her office: (702) 232-1337    

Today, we are delighted to be speaking to a true professional! We have Gus Vonderheide, the Vice President of Global Sales for Hyatt, joining us. Gus has a unique perspective of our industry. He is a long-time volunteer in various associations and is always focused on sales and delivering value.   In this episode, Gus talks to us about group and business travel, what is changing in the industry, and what we can expect when we next check into a hotel.  We hope you enjoy our conversation with Gus today! Gus Vonderheide’s bio In his role as Vice President of Global Sales – Americas, Gus Vonderheide has the responsibility for Hyatt’s transient and business travel segments. He provides leadership over a global strategic team that manages relationships with Hyatt’s largest corporate, consortia, and travel management companies.  These customers, all based in the Americas and doing business globally, generate over $1B annually for the brand.  Part of a larger team, Hyatt’s Global SalesForce can be found in 20 additional locations around the world.    A 27-year Hyatt employee, Gus has led the sales teams at the Hyatt Regency Louisville, KY, Hyatt Regency Dearborn, MI, and the Grand Hyatt Washington, DC. He also spent time in the Worldwide Reservation Center in Omaha, NE, where he managed the Western Worldwide Sales Office and group call desk.  Before his Hyatt career, hotel management experience includes Sales, Front Office, Purchasing, and Convention Services.   Gus continues to fill leadership roles in many industry organizations. He is a recent past member of the GBTA Board of Directors, MPI Foundation and is currently a BTN Group Advisory Board Member. Gus’s story This year, Gus is celebrating forty-one years in the industry! After graduating from high school, he was unsure of which direction to take. His mother told him about a new hotel opening nearby and suggested that he find a part-time job there for the summer. He got hired immediately and has been working in the hotel business ever since then.  Meeting his wife Gus met his wife at that hotel, and they had their wedding reception there several years later. A good start Gus feels that rolling tables and stacking chairs was the best place for him to start his career because it gave him a foundation that has taken him into many different career levels and jobs. Staffing issues at hotels Like all hotels, Hyatt furloughed and laid off many team members when the COVID-19 pandemic started. Gus feels that hospitality is in the DNA of great hotel team members. Saying an abrupt goodbye to those people was the hardest thing he has ever done in his career. He thought that things would turn around after six months. But only now, after eighteen months, are things starting to lighten up in some areas, so he has not yet managed to bring back as many people as he had hoped to do. Different ways of filling positions Things took so long to come back that Hyatt permanently lost some of its valued employees so they are now looking at filling those positions in different ways. They are digging deep into the hospitality schools and leaning into hiring new talent from the graduating classes. A new crew They are looking for the right people to bring fresh blood into their organization. They would like to form a new crew of individuals from their commercial service teams, loyalty people, salespeople, and people from digital distribution. They feel confident that as business returns, they will be ready to start anew. Gus Vonderheide’s thoughts on change The key to dealing with change is that you have to stay in front of it, says Gus. To make it today, any company has to change as fast as the world is changing.  Partnership For a partnership to work in this time of change, both parties need to walk in the other’s shoes and understand the other’s perspective. Together by Hyatt Hyatt has introduced a program called Together by Hyatt, of which hybrid meetings are a small but important piece.  Food and beverage Hyatt is looking at a sustainable, local, clean, neat, and well-organized product for food and beverage. It looks and tastes good and accommodates the new life that we are now living.   Wellness and wellbeing Hyatt believes in wellness and wellbeing. They are doing all the right things to keep their people engaged, healthy, and part of the equation. Hybrid meetings Although Gus feels that hybrid meetings will still be around for a while, he would love to see people going back to hotels. Business and group travel Group and business travel is a big part of Hyatt’s business. They need both to increase occupancy and maximize their revenue. The return of people to their offices goes hand-in-hand with business travel starting again. Although many organizations are postponing their return-to-office date until later this year or the first quarter of next year, Gus feels optimistic that it will happen.  Leisure business They are very thankful that people are comfortable to start getting out with their families again. Flexibility  Companies need to be flexible around people choosing to work in-office, at home, or both.  Working and doing school work at a hotel Hyatt is creating opportunities for local people to check into their hotels to work for the day. They have also provided opportunities for families to check-in, and have some family time in the evenings. During the day, the parents work, and the kids do their school work. What people can expect when they go back to a hotel Hotels are short-staffed at the moment, but they are ramping up. As the occupancy returns, hotels will continue to rebuild and be better positioned to bring in and maintain new staff members. People still need to be prepared for things to be a little different, however.  Opportunities for independent business owners There are many opportunities for business owners who are willing to accept change and react fast when it happens. We are living in a different world now, so business owners need to be flexible, and they need to be creative when it comes to finding the right resources and offering the right benefits. Business owners also need to have high expectations and bring in quality individuals with the right mindset.  Moving up New people coming into the hotel industry need to be flexible and willing to do whatever they can to move up in the industry. They will gain a lot from volunteering for organizations like GBTA (Global Business Travel Association), MPI (Meeting Professionals International), and BTN (Business Travel News). Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Email Gus Vonderheide [email protected]    

Today, we are delighted to speak to a great leader in our industry! Janet Dell, the President and COO of Freeman, joins us today to talk about people, culture, technology, and what the data Freeman collected tells them about the future of the meetings and events industry.  We hope you enjoy listening to our insightful discussion with Janet today! Janet Dell’s bio Janet Dell’s impressive track record, enthusiasm, and empathic leadership empower her teams to design live experiences that cultivate business relationships and create moments that matter. As President and Chief Operating Officer, Janet leads all Freeman business operations across the globe. With expertise in global sales, process improvement, and worldwide client management, Janet has the background and the vision to guide Freeman into a new future. No matter which hat she is wearing, Janet focuses on developing opportunities for Freeman, its clients, and its people. Janet joined Freeman in 2018 as EVP and first-ever chief growth officer. Her dual-role leadership made a tremendous impact on strategy and performance. Her efforts to refine business processes, streamline systems and adopt go-to-market strategies for a digital-first world have positioned the company for growth. Janet Dell’s journey Janet has a degree in Finance and Investment Banking. After college, she used technology tools to consult for various financial modeling-type businesses to help them create more value in organizations.  Those jobs led her to Marsh McLennan, where she spent the majority of her career. She helped the company transform its paper business into a technology-enabled business and get its performing team through the turmoil and change that was going on after 9/11.  A passion for transformation Janet has a passion for transformation and people development, so she kept taking on roles that focused on transformation and helping high-performing teams get to the next level and adapt to a digital world.  Freeman Janet had never heard of Freeman before getting a call from a recruiter to talk to her about it. MPI MPI (Meeting Professionals International) has been helping Janet learn and exposes her to meeting planners and their objectives to assist her in better aligning Freeman.  A passion for people Janet believes in the human connection, and people are her passion.  A post-pandemic meetings world Janet believes that digital is a great enabler, and it is here to stay. However, there is nothing that can replace face-to-face because people need to connect.  Digital People are trying to be more inclusive now in all industries. Digital expands audiences, and it helps to include many more people in events. It is like a funnel to live events and is a way to ensure ongoing membership for valuable organizations like MPI. Digital also enables on-demand learning.  Surveys Freeman regularly surveyed millions of exhibitors, organizers, attendees, and brand marketers throughout the pandemic to understand what is working and what is not. They observed that networking and commerce did not get the job done online.  A lot of work They learned that it takes as much work to put on a digital event as it does to create a live event.  Event attendees Although events are smaller now, the attendees are more focused, and they know what they want. More buyers and decision-makers are now showing up at events. What Janet Dells says we can expect in the future Freeman has a massive data set from the millions of attendees, exhibitors, organizers, and brand marketers they serve. They tracked their sentiment regarding what they needed to feel safe returning to work. According to Janet, making that information available to everybody allowed Freeman to get some crowdsourcing and let them know early on that events would start returning on a small scale in early spring.  Second thoughts After the COVID-19 vaccine was made available, things started looking better and better for event organizers. However, after Delta and after the vaccine rates started to plateau, event organizers began having second thoughts.  People are willing to return to events Research shows that corporate travel restrictions will be released. People will return to events if they feel they will be safe and secure while there. Some industry sectors are willing to come back sooner than others.  A challenge It is hard for people right now because there is a lot of conflicting information out there.  Hiring and retaining talent  It is easier for companies to retain talent when they have a great culture, and everyone feels fulfilled on some level and connected to the purpose and mission of the company.  Work-life balance Putting on an event requires a lot of hard work, and it can be stressful. So, it is essential for those involved in the events to get enough rest and maintain a healthy work-life balance.  Flexibility Janet has found that more flexible companies tend to have more committed teams. Culture Janet comes from a military background. Freeman operates like that too. One of the things that drew Janet to Freeman was their culture of ‘no man left behind'. Freeman also has a culture of gratitude and appreciation. Technology  The pandemic forced people of all ages and cultures into using technology. Janet loves technology because it enables people to do better and more. She thinks that the tools that connect people and simplify our lives will be those that will be adopted naturally, in time. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Janet On LinkedIn      

Today we are delighted to be speaking to an amazing and inspiring leader in our industry, Dr. Debbie Stanford-Kristiansen! Dr. Debbie was chosen as the 2020 Most Inspirational Woman in Entertainment Middle East and the Female CEO of the Year.    In this episode, Dr. Debbie has a lot to share about mentorship, managing people, and the importance of building trust.  We hope you enjoy listening to today’s conversation! Dr. Debbie Stanford-Kristiansen’s bio: Dr. Debbie is an accomplished leader with more than 30 years of International experience in Venue Management, MICE Tourism, and Events & Entertainment industries. Dr. Debbie is a Leader with an extensive understanding of public, government, and private sector organizations with a proven track record of driving growth and successful business development. Dr. Debbie holds an Honorary Professional Doctorate in Global Leadership and Management from EIU, Paris, France. Her career started under the leadership of MICE Tourism Industry legends; Ray Bloom, Paul Flackett, and John Haynes in 1988 with Regent International Exhibitions and the launch of EIBTM Geneva, Switzerland. Following the sale of EIBTM to the world’s largest Exhibition Organiser; Reed International Exhibitions, Dr. Debbie took on the role of Group Director of Sales; MICE Global Events until rejoining Ray Bloom in 2001 as Vice President Global Sales with the launch of IMEX Frankfurt, Germany. In 2005, she moved to the Middle East to help establish the Bahrain Exhibition & Convention Authority, and later assuming the roles of Acting CEO and Deputy CEO for the Bahrain International Exhibition & Convention Centre, she then went on to become the CEO of events@bahrain, a company established under the Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company. How Dr. Debbie Stanford-Kristiansen got into the industry Dr. Debbie dreamed of joining the Royal Air Force and becoming an air traffic controller. Unfortunately, there were no opportunities for women when she applied, so she got a job with an exhibition company. She started as an Organizing Executive for what was EIBTM at the time, under the guidance of Ray Bloom, Paul Flackett, and John Haynes, all of whom ended up having a profound impact on her life and career. She initially thought she would only do the job for a few months and did not realize it would become her career.  A beautiful journey The MICE industry got into her soul, and she loved every minute of it! It was a beautiful journey in the exhibition world, the events world, and the MICE Tourism world. She got lots of support and many opportunities to grow within the industry. Dr. Debbie Stanford-Kristiansen’s defining moment Dr. Debbie was very nervous when she did her first presentation. Paul Flackett advised her to focus on something at the back of the room rather than looking at anybody. Even though she could hear her voice trembling, nobody noticed, and she quickly began to gain more confidence and get into the flow. That was a defining moment for her, and things went very well from there. Mentors Mentors tend to see things in you that you do not see in yourself. It helps to have someone to champion you and give you the motivation, encouragement, and confidence that you need.  Opportunities Dr. Debbie’s husband has been very supportive since the day they met. He always advised her to take the opportunities that came her way in life. He said that if an opportunity did not work out, it would be better than having regrets and wondering what would have happened if she had taken that role. Trust A lot of trust was placed in Dr. Debbie when she was allowed to run the Exhibition Center in Bahrain. She reported to the Minister of Industry and Commerce. He was a very supportive and inspiring man, and she learned a lot from him. Take chances You have to be prepared to take chances in life without being afraid of things not going your way. If you spend too much time thinking about something, you might not do it. Take the bull by the horns, be passionate, and put your heart into what you are doing. If it does not work out, pick yourself up and move on. Movie theatres in the Middle East When she was in her forties, Dr. Debbie was offered the opportunity to be the CEO of Novo Cinemas, a chain of movie theatres in the Middle East. Although the processes were similar to those in the MICE industry and the senior management team was very experienced in the cinema industry, she knew nothing about entertainment. So she had to learn from the management team and earn their trust and respect very fast. She gave herself six months and put her all into doing it. As a result, they have become a very close-knit and successful team. Gaining trust and building culture Dr. Debbie engaged with every team member regularly, listened to them, and gave them a voice. She wanted to know about all the things that worked and did not work, what they were happy about, and what they wanted to achieve. She listened carefully, took their feedback seriously, and showed them that they mattered and she cared about them. She also sat with the HR team to develop a career plan for every team member. The last eight years Everything that Dr. Debbie has been doing for the last eight years has been focused on creating a united, passionate, and supportive team and ensuring that the customer has the best time ever. Dr. Debbie Stanford-Kristiansen’s advice to young women Dr. Debbie encourages young women to trust in themselves, follow their dreams, and find a mentor. She also advises them not to worry about what others think or fear making mistakes. She explains that anything is possible if you believe in it and have passion. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website    

Today we have the great pleasure of talking to Amy Calvert, the CEO of the Events Industry Council! Over time, Amy has gained a unique perspective on where the meetings and events industry is coming from and where it is going. In this episode, Amy shares her insights and talks about the valuable resources available on the EIC website. We hope you enjoy listening to our conversation with Amy today! Amy Calvert’s bio: As CEO of the Events Industry Council, Amy Calvert oversees a global federation of more than 30 member organizations representing 103,500 individuals and 19,500 businesses in the events industry. With more than three decades of diverse event experience, Amy is a fierce advocate for all aspects of the industry’s complex, interconnected ecosystem. She is known as a community builder, strategist, and diplomat, able to tackle complex issues with empathy and a grounded business focus.  Before joining EIC, Amy served as Visit Baltimore’s Senior Vice President of Convention Sales and Services for 12 years, where she had budget oversight for a $4 million program budget. She also served as Regional Groups and Meetings Director for InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) for 10 years.  Amy’s journey Amy studied Liberal Arts in college. After graduating, she worked in sales and marketing for a while. She loves to cook, so she decided to work for a hotel and get into food and beverage and operations. From there she got an internship as a Catering Coordinator and eventually moved on to the sales side.  Relationships The people and the relationships that have been built over time fuel Amy and keep her going. A creative exercise After joining Visit Baltimore, Amy went through a creative exercise with a company called Minding Your Business. They did a lot of qualitative and quantitative research to find the right cities to align with Baltimore. That eventually evolved into an alliance with Anaheim and San Antonio.  Value proposition The alliance collaborated to create a strong value proposition for clients rotating throughout the US with their larger annual meetings.  Think tank That brought the whole community closer together, and they developed a think tank of peers in each city to help them navigate those times.  The last eighteen months Over the last eighteen months, many professionals have experienced heartache and loss and have had to navigate unanticipated challenges and changes to their careers. That has highlighted the importance of peer-to-peer engagements and networking. Amy Calvert’s thoughts on leadership  Leaders should help new people in the industry, or those with less experience, to see the value in investing in collaborative communities, according to Amy. Leaders can encourage and inspire those who feel alone or adrift by reminding them that there is a vast world of opportunity out there, and many resources are available. Reflecting and evaluating It is important to take the time to be quiet, reflect, and evaluate whether what you are doing is what you truly want to be doing, whether you are living your values, and what you could be doing to contribute more. A vision Before the pandemic, the EIC board members had the opportunity to work on a vision. They also had the chance to go back and reflect on why the EIC exists, what their purpose is, and the impact they can have when living their purpose and values. When the pandemic hit, they saw that they serve the entire ecosystem through advocacy, research, and the honing of professional standards.  The APEX Commission Amy wanted to bring the APEX Commission back to bring people together. She wanted people to think collectively about what they are dealing with in terms of Covid and how to address it.  Resources Global professionals from all sectors and regions came together to share their resources. Since then, there have been almost 300,000 downloads of the various resources in the APEX Covid Task Force library. Amy Calvert’s mission Amy’s mission is to make sure as many people as possible know about the resources in the APEX Covid Task Force library and go to the EIC website to interact and begin a journey of learning.  An EIC group There is an EIC group that is looking at new business models. They start with why things are done rather than how to do them. They also look at renewed commitment to true partnership and explore opportunities to create more value. Resources for business owners The resources on the EIC website are fantastic, and they are all meant to work together. There are some common themes woven into all of them anchored to the EIC’s principles for recovery.  Meeting and Event Design Guide  The Meeting and Event Design Guide has been one of the more popular resources on the EIC website.  B2B/B2C Guide The B2B/B2C Guide is popular because it resets the expectations around what is possible, with what destinations, venues, and organizations are facing. It explains how to share risks and objectives and create and communicate experiences that people value and feel safe participating in. Supporting our workforce is foundational to the industry right now Amy feels that how we commit to supporting our workforce, inspire people to come into the industry, and help people to reposition themselves through upscaling, rescaling, continuous professional education and wellness is foundational to the industry right now. EIC member sites The EIC member sites are full of rich resources about many topics. The topics include equity, career development, mindfulness, and cultivating leadership. Amy’s hope for the foreseeable future Change starts with all of us as individuals. As an industry, we can be a catalyst for change. Amy hopes that we can commit to driving meaningful change in the areas of equity and inclusion, and we can collectively set an expectation to not return to doing things in the way that we did them before. She hopes that we can be united in our effort to tell a better story about the business events sector, and look back in the next decade and feel proud of the path that we paved for ourselves. She hopes that we do not lose sight of the impact that staying connected can have on the future. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Amy Calvert On the EIC website      

We have the great pleasure of speaking to an amazing leader in our industry today! Jason Dunn is the Vice President of Diversity Sales and Inclusion for the Cincinnati Convention and Visitors Bureau. He is also the former Chairman of the Board of the National Coalition of Black Meeting Professionals and the current Co-chair of the Equity Task Force of the Global Events Industry Council. In this episode, Jason shares his insight and some very concrete ideas regarding necessary conversations for our industry.  We hope you enjoy listening to our insightful conversation with Jason Dunn today! Jason Dunn’s bio:  Jason Dunn has been a change-maker in Cincinnati and within the national hospitality industry for almost two decades. He feels driven to redefine how the industry thinks about multicultural and diversity meetings and their impact on the destinations.  Since joining the CVB in 2004, Jason has led efforts to deliver significant new convention business and forged inroads with the national multicultural & diverse meetings market. During his tenure, the number of multicultural/diverse meetings in Cincinnati has represented more than one-third of all CVB new business from 2008-18, with a direct visitor spend of $200 million. Jason brings deep perspective and a successful track record in connecting communities of all backgrounds to Cincinnati. As the first supplier to be elected as Chairman of the National Coalition of Black Meeting Professionals (NCBMP), Dunn found intersections between his role as GVP in Cincinnati and Chairman of NCBMP.  Under Dunn’s leadership, the partnership with global industry organizations including Meetings Professional International, Destination International, Events Industry Council, & Connect Meetings will provide an equitable exchange/introducing of professional development through educational opportunities. The partnerships will focus on unifying the MICE industry by leading with data and mutual access to untapped resources. Jason’s background Jason comes from Columbus, Ohio. He came to Cincinnati to study in 1998 and joined the Convention Bureau in 2004.  Unrest There was great unrest in Cincinnati after the fifteenth African American man was shot and killed by the police in 2001. Jason got involved on a grassroots level in protesting and leading the students and the younger generation in telling people not to go to Cincinnati. Afterward, the Vice-mayor at the time asked Jason to help find ways to bring people back to Cincinnati, collaborate in bringing people together to save the city, and have the tough discussions that they had been avoiding before the unrest. The Convention Bureau In 2004, Jason was asked to work for the Convention Bureau. He moved up from the Sales and Event Manager to become the first black Vice President of the Convention Bureau in its 76-year history. Crippling a city Jason saw that you could cripple a city by starving it of the money that comes to a destination through conventions and tourism. Insufficient economic investment does not allow for economic vitality. So corporations and small businesses feel that the location is neither ready nor stable enough to host secure conventions.  Difficulties Looking at business, Jason saw that African Americans had severe difficulty accepting who they were and a deficiency in understanding their power. Jason Dunn’s desire to empower communities That was why when Jason first joined the organization, he enjoyed discussing ways to use tourism as an opportunity to empower communities and advance policy by using macro resources to help micro discussions. Uplifting local, regional, and state organizations Jason was instrumental in bringing thousands of people to various regions to uplift their local, regional, or state organizations. Those people felt like they were part of the fabric of the communities they were visiting, and after the conventions, the local chapters felt empowered to do the work they were founded to do.  Tourism Jason looked at tourism through the economic lens. He also looked at it through the lens of empowerment to help people satisfy their group objectives and use their national resources to assist them locally.  The first international equity travel report Next year, Jason intends to publish the first international equity travel report to highlight the significance of black travelers in the hospitality industry.  New and different ways We need to be innovative and think of ways to broaden the conversation around budget and talent. We also need strategies for looking at the future and building our database and subsets of marketing opportunities. Small business owners Jason suggests that small business owners in the meetings and events industry notice what other communities are doing to become conscious of diversity and ensure that everyone has a welcoming experience. They can also look at the data coming out of his partnership with Destination International and other organizations and start looking at the future demographics of their cities, regions, and local municipalities to see if they align with their future customer.  Goals The goals of small business owners in the meetings and events industry need to have a broader sense of purpose. The Event Industry Council Equity Task Force The goal of the EIC Task Force is to accelerate the eradication of racism in the hospitality industry. They are committed to finding strategic ways to help people achieve that goal. A survey will be done globally throughout the industry to create guidelines and help solve the issues found via the survey.  Toolkit The expected outcome of the toolkit to be created by the EIC Task Force will be to assist organizations to choose their board members, assess how good their budgets and marketing targets are, and help with the HR policies that they will need when hiring employees. How the industry can help things change When facing non-inclusive or prejudiced individuals, the meetings and events industry can help bring about change by creating a space for people to have open, honest, and uncomfortable discussions.  Tourism can lead Jason believes that tourism can be the leader in almost every aspect of business across the globe.  Jason Dunn’s advice for leaders Jason advises leaders to remember to be humane, compassionate, and authentic. It will allow them to feel more centered, bring about loyalty from their stakeholders and those they lead, and make their leadership decisions a lot easier. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Jason Dunn On Website On LinkedIn

Welcome to another episode of The Business of Meetings Podcast! We are delighted to have Ami Kassar joining us today! Ami is a knowledgeable finance expert. He is the Founder and CEO of MultiFunding, and he has also written a book called The Growth Dilemma: Determining Your Entrepreneurial Type to Find Your Financing Comfort Zone.  In this episode, Ami shares his insights on the various aspects of buying and financing a business. We hope you enjoy our conversation with Ami Kassar! Ami Kassar’s short bio Ami Kassar, the Founder, and CEO of MultiFunding and author of The Growth Dilemma, has earned a national reputation as a thought leader in business finance.   An in-demand speaker and trusted advisor to growth-focused business leaders, Ami has helped thousands of business owners achieve ambitious growth goals through creative and personalized funding solutions. His work has helped create tens of thousands of jobs. For more than 20 years, Ami has challenged executives to think differently about how they capitalize growth. Regularly featured in national media, including The New York Times, Huffington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur, Forbes, and Fox Business News, Ami also writes a weekly column for Inc. Magazine. He has advised the White House, the Federal Reserve Bank, and the Treasury Department on credit markets.  Ami regularly speaks at corporate, academic, and industry events on topics that include entrepreneurship and access to capital.  Ami’s journey Ami was the Chief Information Officer for a large issuer of credit cards to small businesses in the United States, which got completely wiped out in the great recession. After helping to let more than 900 employees go, Ami’s job also got terminated by the bankruptcy trustees. He started MultiFunding the very next day. MultiFunding It took a long time for Ami to learn the business and get good at it. There were many evolutionary hiccups along the way. The core principle behind starting the company was to build a service where entrepreneurs could get clear and transparent information and make good choices for their futures. The job of MultiFunding is to help entrepreneurs slow down before they speed up and figure out their best course of action. Ami Kassar’s advice on making financing choices When making financing choices, you have to look at what the numbers on the spreadsheet are telling you. You have to account for your emotions and your prior experiences with money, too, and be aware of what your hopes, dreams, and aspirations are telling you. Ami suggests that getting a good night’s sleep and some informed opinions can help you find the right balance and avoid making irrational decisions. Risk profile  Building a company is never a straight line. That’s why it is vital to find out what your risk profile is before you start a business. When going into a business partnership, it is critical to take the time to get a risk profile score and make sure that your partner’s goals are in alignment with your goals. Building a business with no debt You can build a business without debt, but it will probably go a bit slower. That would be a better option for those who might suffer anxiety as a result of having debt. If you decide to do that, you should understand what your limiting factor is. You will also need to look at what you would do differently if you had more working capital. Tracking your investments Ami encourages business owners to find a system to track how much money they used to speculate with and whether or not it paid off.  Test your assumptions Test your assumptions to check whether or not your investments have been worthwhile.  Triple your investment Have a goal for what you want your business to look like three years after investing in it. If your investment pays off, triple it. Challenging the thinking of business owners Ami challenges business owners to think about how quickly they want their businesses to grow and how fast they would like to do it. Have a plan Do not borrow money without a plan. Ami Kassar’s thoughts on the SBA (Small Business Administration) Ami encourages people who want to buy businesses to think seriously about the SBA. The SBA lends small business owners up to 90% of the business cost, or up to $5,000,000. In Ami’s opinion, the primary benefit of SBA lending is that they give you ten years to repay them. So, if you buy a business at 3x or even 5x, you will have some flexibility with your cash flow to cover your repayments.   You can also use an SBA loan to invest in business infrastructure, working capital, growth capital, buy out your partner, and more. There is an incentive to take out a loan from the SBA before September 30th, 2021. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Ami Kassar On MultiFunding Website Ami’s book The Growth Dilemma

We are delighted to be speaking to another amazing entrepreneur today! Cesar Quintero coaches and advises people with the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS). He is joining us on the show today to share his knowledge and expertise.  In this episode, Cesar talks about the EOS operating system. He also discusses the different stages of entrepreneurship and explains the importance of vulnerability.  We hope you enjoy listening to our conversation with Cesar Quintero! Cesar Quintero’s bio: Cesar Quintero’s purpose is to empower leaders to build a business by design so that they live a life by design. His core values are to Share Vulnerably, Spark Action, Spot individuality, and Spread Passion. At age 24, in 2004, Quintero moved to Miami, given the economic turmoil in Venezuela, to pursue his dream of starting a business and helping others achieve a healthier lifestyle by founding Fit2Go. (The first corporate, healthy, meal delivery service in Miami). In 2013, Quintero graduated from the MIT Entrepreneurship Masters Program and founded two new companies: RawBar2Go (the first licensed food boats in Florida) and The Profit Recipe, a coaching firm that focuses on empowering entrepreneurs through a journey of focus ON the business and not IN the business by implementing best practices and the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS).  Cesar has been an active Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) member for over 10 years and has held multiple volunteer leadership positions at the chapter, regional and global level for the organization. His passion for teaching and business has also compelled him to get certified as a Trainer for Traction implementation, Why Discoveries, EO Accelerator Program, and EO Forum.  Cesar’s journey Cesar comes from Venezuela. Sixteen years ago, when he was twenty-four years old, he got married, moved to Miami, and started a healthy meal delivery service business called Fit2Go.  A lawsuit Cesar’s business kept on growing. He was busy and had to make all the business decisions. Then, in 2012, he was hit with a class-action lawsuit. Everything came to a halt, and Cesar started to question what he was doing. A journey of self-discovery He realized that he had nothing to show after being in business for eight years. It was a wake-up call for him, and he knew that something had to change. So, in 2012, he embarked on a journey of self-discovery and learned that he focused on the wrong things. Empowering others Cesar wanted to empower others to live the life they wanted. So, he started implementing EOS in his company to empower people to make decisions, take accountability, and take ownership. He eventually sold his business to two of his employees and started two new businesses more aligned with empowering others. One is an online university in Latin America for entrepreneurship called Emprendedor University. The other is a firm in South Florida to empower entrepreneurs to evolve by proven systems. Different stages of entrepreneurship (The Evolution Flywheel) Cesar realized that every entrepreneur goes through the same stages of the journey, so he mapped out five different stages of entrepreneurship, which he calls The Evolution Flywheel: The Opportunity (The startup phase.) Leadership by Design (Discovering your strengths and weaknesses.) Team by Design (Building an external team through coaches, mentors, and peers, and building a supportive and trusted internal team to which you can delegate.) Business by Design (Setting up systems and processes to allow your business to run successfully without you.) Life by Design (Finding your purpose and ideal life.) A cycle The final stage of Cesar’s Evolution Flywheel, Life by Design, should bring you back to another opportunity. The first time you go through the cycle it is hard, but it gets easier and easier as you go on. A realization Growing up, Cesar always thought that leaders told people what to do, so that was how he ran his business. When the class action happened, he took it personally and internalized the experience. As a result, both the company and his health began to deteriorate. When there was nothing left in his business and personal accounts, he realized that things were not working, and he had to change the way he was doing things. The power of vulnerability He had a meeting with his team. He told them that he did not know what to do and needed their help to figure things out. Everyone rallied together to help, and that was when Cesar realized the power of opening up and being vulnerable with his team. Taking ownership His entire team started taking ownership. Cesar realized that he had been depriving them of the power of knowledge, effecting change, and understanding their part in the team by not telling them the truth for so many years.  Twelve months later Twelve months later, Cesar was working less than ever because everyone took full ownership. They doubled their profit, and their sales went up by forty percent. Cesar launched his two other companies because he had more time. Two systems Cesar implemented two systems. The first one was The Great Game of Business by Jack Stack, and the other was EOS, the entrepreneur operating system.  EOS When they implemented the EOS system, everybody started taking full accountability. They also had a clear structure and a clear vision of where they were and where they were going. That was why Cesar’s employees later bought the business from him. What Cesar Quintero learned about opening up Cesar learned that opening up opens the door for people to connect, relate, buy-in, and take ownership. Now he is authentic and shares everything! EOS is a simple system Cesar went with EOS because it was a simple system for him to implement. It also matched his values and what he wanted from his business. Cesar self-implemented EOS in his business for eight months and then brought in an implementer from Chicago who stayed with them for six months to fine-tune the business. About the EOS system Cesar started implementing the EOS system for other companies in 2016. He loves teaching people the EOS system because it is tied to his purpose and also to helping people with proven processes. They do not tell owners what to do in their businesses. They teach them how to use the system to maximize their vision, and then they leave. They promote team health, solving issues, and everyone taking ownership of their roles. EOS helps business owners get what they want from their businesses. The benefits of using the EOS system in your business The EOS system is based on an agile philosophy. It creates a real environment because it gets people to be authentic, open, and honest. It is a simple process and operating system that helps business owners to align their vision and monitor their businesses at a high level in a simple way. It gets results because it is focus-driven. It does not have to be perfect initially because you will get better with it as you practice it more. The Integrator and the Visionary In the EOS system, the Integrator is someone who lives in the now. It is t Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Cesar Quintero On LinkedIn On Website A free Life by Design Assessment Books mentioned: The Great Game of Business by Jack Stack The E Myth by Michael E. Gerber Traction by Gino Wickman Get a Grip by Gino Wickman and Mike Paton  he opposite of the Visionary, who lives in the future. The Visionary focuses on many different ideas and things to do. The Integrator focuses on the things that need to be focused on and followed through to deploy the ideas of the Visionary and build consistency.  More efficient with time The EOS system helps business owners to be more efficient with time. Compartmentalizing decision-making and issues helps to move that forward.  

Today, you are in for a treat! We are excited and honored to be speaking to Richard Kane, the CEO of VeriJet. Richard is also the CEO of the Inc. 500 company, Coastal Technologies Group.  Richard is an amazing individual who is changing the way people travel! In this episode, he shares his fascinating story, talks about what he is doing to revolutionize air travel, and shares his goals for the future. We hope you enjoy listening to our conversation with Richard today! Richard Kane’s bio: Inc. 500 CEO and Company Founder  Board Member of SF, LF, NHSD, Space Canada Mining  Seven World Speed Records  Researcher in AI with patents in multiple verticals  CEO of VeriJet, where we are reinventing mobility How it all started Richard Kane started doing commercial computer work when he was fourteen or fifteen years old. At the age of seventeen, he started writing AI (artificial intelligence) programs. He was featured in the New York Times for inventing new types of security. The principal of his high school quit his job to market the software that Richard wrote, and then Richard became the school’s first computer teacher. Ancient computers  When Richard started writing AI programs, he worked on machines that would barely be recognized as computers today. A very tight code was required to get any performance out of the eight-bit processors with little bits of memory.  Richard Kane’s journey after high school The State University Systems in Florida bought the software that Richard wrote while in high school, and Richard was also doing tech support for one of the deans.  Faculty Scholars Program Richard joined a Faculty Scholars Program at the university. He was backed up by a team of professors who were, in turn, backed up by a team from Motorola. It was the best place in the US for computer education at the time. Richard was one of 100 students recruited from around the world.  Jumping two years Joining the program allowed Richard to jump two years of college. Personal Computers The program had the most amazing professors who created the PC, so Richard learned all there was to know about PCs.  Bigger computers Richard wanted to learn about bigger computers, so he went to work for a small phone company. A few of the people he had working for him there are still with him today, thirty years later!  A three-decade journey Richard’s journey has happened over three decades and has been about how to route things more efficiently. His job at the phone company involved routing phone calls, which segued into routing airplanes. VeriJet was built on top of that.  Richard Kane and routing airplanes Richard Kane and one of his board members, also a pilot, thought that routing airplanes would have a more environmental and social impact, and would be more interesting than routing phone calls. Richard spent the next decade tackling environmental-impact and efficiency problems. He eventually fixed the problems and changed the industry, but they were still flying the wrong machines for what they wanted to achieve. The last decade Richard’s last decade has been about software, solving the Traveling Salesman Problem, and making the industry run more smoothly. Changing the way people travel The SATS program and VeriJet are changing the way people travel. They are all about tripling the speed of short-haul travel and bringing it up to 300 miles per hour.  The Traveling Salesman Problem Solving the Traveling Salesman Problem is about optimizing the path of the traveling salesman to cover the most distance with the least traveling time and cost, as quickly and efficiently as possible. Quantum is a first glimpse of what might be a solution to the Traveling Salesman Problem. Three problem areas IBM has chosen three problem areas to showcase quantum. They are medicines discovery, catalyst discovery (for clean and unlimited energy), and the Traveling Salesman Problem.   Cirrus Vision Jet  Richard waited fifteen years for a Cirrus Vision Jet. Even when it came out, he waited for the second generation because it is made of carbon fiber so there is no metal fatigue. It was designed for short hops. It is extremely efficient, quiet, and safe. It can land itself, it has AI on board to help the pilot avoid problems, and it has a ballistic parachute that will lower the whole airplane to the ground if necessary. Two Collier Trophies The layered approach to safety has resulted in two Collier Trophies for the Vision Jet. One was for safety, the parachute, and its ability to land itself, and the other was for efficiency and design.  Cost efficiency Having only one engine and one pilot has dropped the cost of flying the Vision Jet. Its fuel efficiency has allowed them to drop the cost of private charter by about a third.  Their second fleet type  Their second fleet type is also fuel-efficient and also has a parachute. Their third fleet type Their third fleet type costs about $45 to fill up because it is all-electric. It has no carbon footprint, and takes off vertically, and flies horizontally. It is about a thousand times safer and much quieter than a helicopter. They will be flying electric aircraft around Florida and California by 2024. Sterilizing Richard’s planes get sterilized between hops. In-flight, they have a medical-grade FDA-approved device that cleans the air.  A goal One of Richard’s goals is to fly people in VTOL drones. XPRIZE Peter Diamandis wanted to commercialize space, so he decided to put out a ten million dollar XPRIZE for suborbital space flight. The team that won the ten million dollars ended up spending twenty-two million dollars to win the prize. Many of the other teams also came up with super-creative ideas on how to open up space. Carbon footprint The AI Richard developed for routing airplanes and using them more efficiently saves 200,000 pounds of carbon footprint every week. It does that with more efficient routing and use of the aircraft. The right tool VeriJet is the right tool for safe, efficient, and environmentally-friendly travel. Convenience  Ninety-eight percent of everyone in the US lives within twenty miles of one of Richard’s 5,400 airports. Go to www.verijet.com, type in your zip code, and you will see all the airports pop up. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Richard Kane On Website On LinkedIn On Facebook Book mentioned:  The Spirit of St. Louis by Charles Lindbergh

We are honored and happy to be speaking to an incredible businessperson today! Mike Massari is the Chief Sales Officer of Caesars Entertainment and the new Co-chair of Meetings Mean Business. Mike has had a massive impact on the Meetings and Events industry. In today’s episode, he talks about his career and discusses how he operates his business. He also explains the value of Meetings Mean Business and shares some points for business owners to focus on to build and grow their businesses and keep in touch with people. We hope you enjoy listening to our conversation with Mike Massari today! Michael (Mike) Massari’s bio: Chief Sales Officer Michael Massari is a leader and innovator in the travel and tourism industry as the leader for the meetings, conventions, and events business for Caesars Entertainment’s portfolio with more than 50 U.S. properties.  Michael Massari was recently appointed co-chair for Meetings Means Business and has served on the board for Meeting Professionals International.  Since 2011, he has successfully led a nationwide reorganization of Caesars Entertainment’s property meetings businesses into one team including sales, catering, convention services, and banquet operations. This provides unique benefits for customers. The restructured sales force-placed team members in metro areas throughout the country to be closer to customers.  The unique organizational structure gave the company a competitive advantage, changing the paradigm for the company’s meetings business and redefining managing multiple properties within a market. The groundbreaking strategies paid significant dividends for Caesars Entertainment, increasing revenue and market share and establishing Caesars Entertainment as a leader in the meetings and events industry under Massari’s guidance.  In March 2020, Caesars Entertainment opened CAESARS FORUM, a 550,000 square-foot conference facility that redefined offerings for meetings and events in Las Vegas.  Massari also made a significant impact on Atlantic City. He staked his career on the building and opening of the Waterfront Conference Center, which is an innovative meeting experience and the largest hotel conference center complex from Baltimore to Boston. This ushered in a new era for Atlantic City, resulting in a substantial boost in travel. Massari has spent more than twenty years in various executive roles within Caesars Entertainment. Before he was appointed the head of the meetings and events division, Massari was the Vice President of Las Vegas Meetings.  A Philadelphia native, Massari earned his bachelor’s degree from Cabrini University before achieving an MBA from the University of California, Irvine. He currently resides in Las Vegas with his wife and two daughters.  Athletics Mike sees it as no coincidence that so many executives today have had athletic careers. He is happy to have had an athletic background because those experiences have helped him in his business career. Mike’s career Mike has had a wonderful career! He worked at a catered event for the first time in Pennsylvania, in 1985, at the age of fifteen, and since then, all his work has involved catered events. He has done every job possible in the meetings and events world and enjoyed every moment! He has been with Caesars Entertainment for the last twenty years.   Keeping in touch LinkedIn has been a savior for Mike to know what others are up to and keeping in touch with them.  Properties Caesars Entertainment has many different properties in their company. Most of their business happens at their properties in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Lake Tahoe, and Reno.  Sales Mike came up through the operations side of the business before transitioning to the sales side, where he spent a good portion of his career. Sell or die  Mike runs a business that has only one channel. It is direct sales because that is the only way that you can purchase a meeting or event. In Mike’s business, if they don’t sell, they die. So they spend a lot of their time on sales.  Operating a business Mike urges everyone in the Meetings and Events business to keep reminding themselves that they are operating a business. Mike Massari’s formula for a successful sales process In a small business, the proprietor is often the primary salesperson. To transition to a larger business, they would have to put an executable, scalable, and repeatable sales process in place. That process should not be based on the charisma or the network of the proprietor, according to Mike. Unfortunately, most small business owners tend to struggle with doing that. Team members Mike has a great team! His team members are treated with dignity and respect. They are happy to have well-paid jobs in a great environment and help execute meetings and events again!  Las Vegas For the last thirty years, Las Vegas has been one of the fastest-growing markets in the country. It is now reaching a point where it is big enough to warrant the extra things that smaller cities generally do not have, like the big NHL games. Mike believes that Las Vegas will continue to grow. Mike Massari and Meetings Mean Business Meetings Mean Business started just after the recession began in 2007-2008. Mike was a founding member and has been a proud partner ever since then. For Mike, Meetings Mean Business is about advocacy for the Meetings and Events industry.  There are two things that people tend not to understand about Meetings Mean Business: The first is that nothing good in this world has ever happened without someone having had a meeting first. The second is that every part of society that the Meetings and Events industry touches benefits from meetings and events happening in their community. Meetings Mean Business exists to articulate that to everyone, but mostly to government officials, to help them understand how they can help their communities.  Get involved Mike urges everyone in the Meetings and Events industry to get involved with Meetings Mean Business. Many people do not understand what the meetings and events business does, so that needs to be articulated to help them understand. The strength of MMB lies in its distribution, so more people advocating both locally and nationally will ultimately be better for everyone involved. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Mike Massari Email Mike: [email protected]

Today, we have the great pleasure of speaking to Melissa Smith! Melissa is a pioneer in the world of virtual assistants. She is the Founder and CEO of the Association of Virtual Assistants and the PVA (The Personal Virtual Assistant). She is also the bestselling author of Hire the Right Virtual Assistant and Become a Successful Virtual Assistant. Melissa is with us today to explain what defines the ideal virtual assistant. She will also discuss when to hire a virtual assistant, how to communicate with them, and some common mistakes to avoid. Melissa Smith’s bio: Melissa Smith is the Founder & CEO of the Association of Virtual Assistants & The PVA (The Personal Virtual Assistant), a virtually-based firm that matches clients with the right virtual assistants. Melissa is also the best-selling author of two books, Hire The Right Virtual Assistant: How the Right VA Will Make Your Life Easier, Create Time, and Make You More Money and Become A Successful Virtual Assistant: Learn the Business Side & Ditch 9 to 5, which is an integral part of the College of Western Idaho Administrative Specialist Program curriculum. Additionally, she mentors for Remote-how Academy, the first global, online education and individual certification program about remote work, and is a passionate teacher and consultant for those looking to grow their business remotely.  In 2013, Melissa began working remotely, and in 2017, she became location independent. This transition gave her a newfound sense of freedom, allowing her to travel to 16 countries in 12 months, all while running successful virtual businesses.  Drawing from her experience while working on five different continents and numerous time zones, Melissa truly understands the challenges of running a virtual business and uses her knowledge to serve clients all over the world. She knows firsthand how and where to get the best work done and she passes her insight on to her clients so that they can create the life they love – on their own terms. Melissa has been featured by ABC News,  Forbes, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, U.S. News & World Report, & Thrive Global and most recently named a female entrepreneur to watch in 2021. No plans to become a virtual assistant Melissa never planned on becoming a virtual assistant or owning a business. She did want to be an assistant, however, so she went to secretary school. After that, she found a job she loved and was happy doing it.  Everything changed In 2012, Melissa lost her husband unexpectedly. Everything changed after that, and she moved to California.  Melissa Smith’s introduction to working virtually After a year, Melissa told her boss that she wanted to put in her notice because she wanted to return to Georgia so that her daughter could graduate in her home state. Her boss did not want her to go, and Melissa could do most of what she did virtually, so her boss agreed to let her continue working virtually. No plan  After receiving her annual contract, Melissa decided to try working for herself. She was naïve when she started and had neither a strategy nor a business plan, and although she had no idea what she was getting herself into, she felt okay with that.  The first year Melissa’s first year was a joke that she can only laugh about now.  The best time The best time to hire a virtual assistant is before you need one because by the time you need one, something is already wrong, and you are in time debt.  Where people go wrong People tend to go wrong because they think about hiring in old and antiquated terms of a specific number of hours per week.  There are many ways to hire a VA You can hire a virtual assistant on a project basis, or you can have someone on call, as you need them. You can even retain a VA for as little as ten hours a month.  If you wait too long If you wait too long before hiring someone, they will have to put out fires and rearrange things, and no one wants to walk into that kind of situation.  Red flags The most productive people think about their time in hours, not days, weeks, or months. So when someone approaches Melissa wanting to hire someone for twenty or thirty hours a week, she sees it as a red flag and lets the VA know that they need to be willing to jump into the fire because anyone needing to hire someone for that many hours will already be way behind. Time debt Time debt is when you use the time that you set aside to do one task to do another.  Melissa Smith’s suggestions for getting the most value from a VA If you had an hour to do whatever you wanted to do for yourself, and someone else could do what you normally have to do, think about what that would mean to you, advises Melissa. Hire a VA to do things that are valuable to you, and think about it in terms of an hour. Then start building from there. It could be to answer your emails, create an FAQ list, help with your social media outreach, or even do some research for you. Start small Start small and remember that there is no limit to what you can outsource and give someone else to do. The biggest mistake You don’t want to cut corners when letting someone into your business. The biggest mistake that people make is not to do their due diligence. That usually tends to happen because they hire too late. When hiring someone, you need to have more than one interview and conduct reference and background checks, rather than just relying on your gut feeling. Where to go when hiring someone Where to go when hiring someone usually comes down to your management level and what you want and expect from that person. Although there are many great resources in countries like the Philippines and India, there will be a cultural difference, a difference in communication, and a difference in English and grammar. Hiring someone from those countries will also require a lot more management and possibly even some step-by-step instructions. When people have client-facing requirements, they often ask Melissa about virtual assistance within their home country.  Matching Hire people who match your level, whether you are at the C-Suite level, a small business owner, or a startup hustler. There are virtual assistants with diverse skill sets to match people’s expectations. Match for your expectation rather than for someone’s skill set.  Communication Hire someone who likes to communicate in the same way that you do. It could be via text, Slack, or even a phone call. If you hire someone who believes in you and your business, it will make your communication even more seamless. More great advice in finding the ideal VA Find a VA who is clear about the people they serve on their website or social media. If someone says that they serve everybody, that is a red flag because it means that they haven’t been in business for long enough to know who they are best able to serve. Look for a match in the language you use, the industry you are in, and your mindset and attitude in their bio, website, or social media profile. Melissa’s journey Even though Melissa made some mistakes with her first book, she evolved, became a better writer, and revised it. She is glad she wrote the book because it launched her business, and if she had not written it, she would not be where she is today, sharing a stage with so many great people. Success  Success is a journey, not a destination, so even though Melissa has not yet done everything, achieved every goal, and realized every dream, it doesn’t matter. She knows she has made it and has reached a place where she can enjoy the journey as well! Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Melissa Smith On LinkedIn Email: [email protected]

We are happy to be speaking to another inspiring leader in our industry today! Vince LaRuffa is the Senior Vice-President of Resort Marketing at the Universal Orlando Resort. He is joining us today to share his experience and offer some great advice.  In this episode, Vince talks about what he did during the pandemic, how he leads his team, work-life balance, and how he used to be an amazing drummer!  We hope you enjoy listening to our conversation!  Vince LaRuffa’s bio: Vince LaRuffa, Senior Vice President of Resort Sales and Marketing, has been with Universal Orlando Resort since 2003. He is responsible for the achievement of on-site hotel revenues and integrating the eight on-site hotels into all appropriate Universal Orlando messaging and programming.   Vince holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Marketing from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania and a Masters in Tourism and Hospitality from the Robert Payne School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at San Diego State University. With a combined 35 years of Hospitality Sales and Marketing experience, he has worked with a variety of brands including, Renaissance Hotels, Marriott Hotels, and Crestline Hotels and Resorts. Before Universal, he served as Vice President, Convention Sales, and Services for Visit Orlando. Vince currently holds professional affiliations with MPI (Meeting Professionals International) and HSMAI (Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International) and served for five years on the MPI Foundation Global Board of Trustees, including a term as Chairman. He has also served on the International Board of Directors with MPI.  He is a past board member of Canine Companions for Independence, Past Chairman of the Universal Orlando Volunteer Board, and served as Chairman of the Universal Orlando Foundation Charity Classic since 2007. Vince was recognized in HSMAI’s Top 25 Most Extraordinary Minds in Sales & Marketing, in Biz Bash’s Most Influential People in Events, and as a Smart Meetings Supplier of the Year. Vince has been married for 29 years to Jennifer Kuehl LaRuffa and has three daughters, ages 27, 23, and 19.   An unusual way  Vince found his way into the hospitality industry in an unusual way. One day, while selling office equipment in downtown Philadelphia, he had a 300-pound copier on a pushcart, and it started sliding off. Vince ended up in the gutter with the copier on his lap when an old friend walked by. She told him that she was working as a catering manager at a new hotel in Philadelphia and mentioned that they had an opening for a small group salesperson. Vince applied for the position, and after three or four interviews, he landed the job.  A true passion For the first time in his professional life, Vince realized that he had a true passion for hotels and hospitality! He worked hard and was able to move quickly through the ranks. He ended up taking a transfer to Orlando as a salesperson at what is now the Renaissance, across from SeaWorld.  A great team A new General Manager came in and took over. He and Vince bonded and formed a strong relationship. He took Vince with him as he progressed through the organization, all the way up to Senior Vice-President of Operations. As he moved and advanced, so did Vince. They formed a great team, and Vince worked his way up to Regional Sales and Marketing. Moving on Marriott bought the company, and Vince stayed on with them for about a year. After leaving Marriott, he took a position in Atlanta with the Stormont Trice Corporation as their VP of Sales and Marketing (it later became Crestline Hotels and Resorts.) Later, Vince took a position as VP of Sales and Services with Visit Orlando, and eighteen months later, he became the VP of Resort Sales at Universal and remained there for the next eighteen years. Three years ago, he was promoted to Senior Vice-President of Resort Sales and Marketing.  A unique and evolving environment Vince has found the environment at Universal unique. In eighteen years, Universal has evolved from a regional theme park business to a destination resort. Intellectually challenging Vince finds his work at Universal intellectually challenging, and he enjoys leading his team, which is a tightly-knit group. Together, they have marshaled the growth of the organization and helped transform it into a full-blown vacation destination. Vince LaRuffa is a lifelong learner Vince LaRuffa received his Master’s degree when he was in his fifties. He had a full-time job and a family to take care of at the same time. He was motivated to do it because he enjoyed it so much! A new vocabulary Vince was hiring kids out of school with Master’s degrees, at the entry-level to management. He realized that there was a vocabulary that he had not been exposed to, so he wanted to continue learning and growing intellectually.  The San Diego University Program Last year, Vince was asked to teach the Marketing Communications class for the San Diego University program. He and one of his colleagues in Orlando created the curriculum for the class. He will also be teaching the Marketing class for the Hospitality and Tourism Master’s Program going forward. Dealing with the pandemic The pandemic was dealt with differently in Florida and California, even though both destinations share the same leadership. Vince felt that Universal managed the situation sensitively and well, even though some difficult decisions had to be made around eliminating some of the staff members.  A proactive approach The company took a proactive approach, and the safety and wellbeing of their team members and guests were at the forefront of every decision made.  Record levels In the last two months, they have had record booking levels and a record number of calls coming into their guest contact center.  A proud leader Vince is proud of how the leadership team at Universal handled the pandemic and treated all their team members. He is proud to be part of the leadership team.  Thoughtful and strategic leadership As business leaders, you cannot control all the variables. However, you can be thoughtful and strategic about how you approach the opportunities that come your way. Navigating the change The leadership group at Universal decided to come back after the pandemic with a hybrid model. That means that Vince and many other team members will be going into work, but not every day. They will try that model out for some time to see if it works over the long term.  Face-to-face Vince has learned the value of being face-to-face with his coworkers and misses it.  Working remotely Many people don’t need much team interaction and prefer to work from home. For Universal to be competitive as an employer and attract the best talent, they will need to employ some people who live far away and allow them to work remotely. That is the trend, and the team at Universal has already proven that working remotely can be done effectively.  What Vince LaRuffa says about work-life balance Although Americans are very productive, Vince feels that there is a lot we can learn from Europeans about work-life balance. The value of volunteering The value of a network is not to be underestimated. As a young person, volunteering is an excellent way to expand your network. It is also a great way to prove your effectiveness as a leader.  Effecting change The only way to effect change is to be part of the solution, and the only way to be part of the solution is to get involved. Get involved with the chapters  If you are interested and want to make a difference, you have to do it from a platform. Vince encourages young people to get involved with the chapters because they are where all the magic happens. The chapters are the essence of organizations like MPI.  A drummer Vince loves music! Although he is retired now, he used to have lots of fun as a member of a rock band. One year, he brought in The Guess Who to perform at an event in the lobby of the Hard Rock Hotel and became friends with one of the band members, a singer and guitarist. Later, Vince and some of his musician friends had the opportunity to back him up. The real joy for Vince LaRuffa For Vince, the joy in his business is accomplishing things with other people and then sharing the success.  Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Vince LaRuffa On LinkedIn

We are happy to be speaking to a highly respected icon in our industry today! Brad Mayne is the President and CEO of IAVM (International Association of Venue Managers). He has had a phenomenal career and is joining us today to talk about his experiences.  In this episode, Brad shares his most cherished memories of the MetLife Stadium, explains what it was like to work with Mark Cuban, and talks about what he sees for the future of the meetings and events industry.  We hope you enjoy listening to our interview with Brad Mayne today! Brad Mayne’s bio: Brad Mayne is President and Chief Executive Officer of the International Association of Venue Managers (IAVM) and the IAVM Foundation. IAVM represents public venue professionals from around the globe.  Professional members manage public assembly venues that are positive economic organizations within their communities. A diverse list of member venues includes arenas, convention centers, exhibit halls, performing arts centers, universities, stadiums, complexes, festivals, fairgrounds, amphitheaters, and race tracks. Under Mayne’s leadership over the past five years, the IAVM has averaged 10% membership growth each year and has grown revenues by 35.5%. In collaboration with industry associations, IAVM has created initiatives that strengthen the industries we serve with partners VMA, AMEREF, IAEE, ESCA, DI, and ISSA. Initiatives include, but are not limited to safety and security, economic impact calculator, biohazard sanitation certification and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Active in the communities Mayne has resided in, he has served on the Board of Directors for DMOs, Super Bowl XLVIII, Cotton Bowl Classic, Sports Commissions, and Chambers of Commerce. Brad has vast management experience in professional sports venues including President & CEO, MetLife Stadium 2012-2016; President & CEO, American Airlines Center 1998-2012; and GM & Regional Manager, Honda Center, Ogden Entertainment 1991-1998. How it all started At the age of 14, Brad was selling hotdogs at the University of Utah football games. He met the people in the ticket office who were also doing lots of other events. They needed staff to sell tickets, so when Brad turned 16, they employed him to do that. He sold tickets at events that were hosted by the university but held at other venues. An apprenticeship and a degree Brad’s dad wanted him to get a degree, but Brad wanted to be a plumber. So, he did an apprenticeship to be a plumber while studying for his degree at the University of Utah.  A scholarship Brad’s brother was the Assistant Baseball Coach and the Assistant Ticket Manager when Brad was at the age to go to university. So Brad got a scholarship to sell tickets in the ticket office for the Athletic Department.  Placing advertisements During Brad’s third year in college, he was asked to be responsible for placing all the advertisements to market their special events.  A drop in compensation After four years of plumbing, Brad chose to take a big drop in compensation and start doing work related to his degree.  Three arenas Brad was involved in the design and construction of three arenas.  Favorite venue Brad got asked to be the CEO for a new Dallas arena, working for the owners of the Mavericks and the Stars. He was responsible for the financing, design, and construction, and for the opening and operation of what is now the American Airlines Center.  Brad Mayne’s impression of Mark Cuban Brad Mayne met Mark Cuban for the first time when he introduced himself to Mark just after the media announced that he had bought the Mavericks. Mark is very focused, and he is loyal to those who work for him. He did not sleep much, so Brad often got emails from him in the early hours of the morning.  Mark gave Brad two tips for how he wanted him to run his company: If it ain’t broke, break it. If everyone is thinking the same way, no one is thinking. Brad found Mark to be a very good person to work for. Brad Mayne’s best MetLife Stadium memory Brad's best memory of running the MetLife Stadium was hosting the Super Bowl.  Safety and security The whole ecosystem of meetings is large, so show organizers want to be safe and are risk-averse. Insurance for major catastrophes is expensive and hard to get. The Safety Act Certification is an insurance policy because it gives money coverage in the case of an attack. You have to put together a security plan to get the certification.  Streaming When they were designing a building, Mark Cuban told Brad that if he was not building the building for future technologies, he was making a big mistake. Brad feels that the same thing applies to streaming versus broadcasting. People need to understand that if they are not in the streaming industry when it swings to become the dominant vehicle for showing their product, they will fall behind the rest. Hybrid meetings Brad believes that there will be a place for hybrid moving forward, so we need to embrace and understand it.  Virtual meetings Brad had only five weeks to put his first virtual event, their annual conference, together. They recreated what they did live. Their members appreciated it and asked for more networking opportunities. Other members who could not afford the live event were grateful to attend it online. They felt that making the conference available online was the best thing that IAVM has ever done. Brad Mayne’s suggestion for a strategic business plan Put a strategic business plan together for what you will do for people online and what you will be doing face-to-face moving forward. Do not be afraid to step forward and make something happen, Brad says. You can keep on improving things as you move ahead. The younger generation The new, younger generation coming into the business wants to flip the tables of who is in charge. So, prepare for that digitally, or else you could be in for a big awakening. Post-pandemic  People need to realize that things will not go back to the way they were pre-pandemic. Operating a venue is not simple. The staff will have to be trained to operate specific venues and all the equipment, with safety protocols in place to keep everyone safe.  Webinars The IAVM has been hosting webinars to inform people about how to hire people and discuss the available resources.  Technology There are multiple technologies to speed up the process of getting people into buildings. Infrared scanning can check peoples' temperatures. Facial recognition is also coming into play. There is no question that AI will become important for business operations and potentially for event presentations. Data and data analytics The meetings and events industry has started turning to data-driven decisions. Getting hold of the data allows you to manage things and be successful. Reverse ATMs will become commonplace going forward. They will also supply data. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Brad Mayne On Website On LinkedIn On Twitter

We are excited to be speaking to a rockstar in the ticketing industry today! Maureen Andersen, the CEO of INTIX (International Ticketing Association), is joining us! Maureen has done everything imaginable within the ticketing industry and is very well-known and respected for her insight and perspective. In this episode, Maureen shares her story and explains what it takes to ensure that the show goes on, no matter what. She also discusses the impact of COVID on live entertainment and shares her optimism and hopes for what’s to come. We hope you enjoy our conversation with her! Maureen Andersen’s bio: Maureen Andersen, as President & CEO of the International Ticketing Association (INTIX), has clear goals:  Growing multi-national membership; delivering ongoing superior learning and professional development opportunities to members and the industry; developing and nurturing strategic relationships; increasing the INTIX brand recognition; and executing the Board of Director’s strategic plan. She is deeply committed to advancing the work and the professionalism of fan and patron engagement through ticketing, marketing, and customer service innovations and best practices. Maureen brings a wealth of ticketing and live entertainment experience to INTIX, having worked with organizations as diverse and extensive as AudienceView, BroadwaySF, Paciolan, and The Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Maureen is a frequent speaker at industry conferences, seminars, and workshops and has multiple published articles on industry issues.  She is the recipient of several high-profile awards from INTIX, FutureTix, VenuesNow, and Northeastern Junior College.   Show biz From the age of nine, Maureen knew that she wanted to be in the world of live entertainment and show business. Growing up, she played in bands, sang in choirs, and acted in theater productions.  Where it all started In her junior year in college, Maureen was put into the box office of the university’s theatre for a work-study program because she could type. That was where it all started. She realized that she would manage to support herself with a career in ticketing because she had the head for it, learned quickly, and understood what she needed to do. The Denver Center for the Performing Arts Maureen spent 23 years working at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. She got to sit in all the chairs, from ticket agent to answering the telephones to the subscription department up to becoming Director of Ticketing and Treasurer.  Very little time off Working in the ticketing business has been a bit like running away with the circus for Maureen because she is always busy, gets no weekends, and has very little time off. A horror story Maureen experienced a real-life horror story when a man had a heart attack and dropped dead in the sound lock (the two doors between the lobby and the theater). People approached her in the ticket office afterward, asking if they could move into his seats. Chaos and stress Every day in the theater is a little chaotic and stressful because you have to change in the middle of it, go and meet the public, and then go to what is considered the live moment. Maureen Andersen’s transition to taking the lead at INTIX Maureen went from working at the Denver Center to working at a series of ticketing providers. Then, she got recruited by INTIX when they were searching for a CEO. She feels that after sitting in all the chairs and doing ticketing for pretty much everything, she brings something unique to INTIX.  COVID When the coronavirus pandemic happened, Maureen faced a crisis due to all the uncertainty and not knowing what to do when most of the people she served, from vendors to members to people, were forced to shut down and leave their jobs.  Maureen Andersen’s epiphany Maureen realized that she needed to be authentic and place herself in other people’s shoes to understand what they needed and how she could help them. What came to her was that they needed a place to talk, commiserate, and deal with what was going on. She also realized that she and her team were a lot stronger, smarter, and more nimble, skilled, and resilient than she thought.  Un-gating Maureen saw that people needed a community and a way to process what was happening to them. Along with her board of directors and staff, Maureen decided to un-gate parts of INTIX, which is a membership organization, and let people get involved at a deeper level to make sure that everyone remained connected. Learning Everyone in the industry started learning from each other because there was no playbook. Broadway Broadway is due to start the rolling process of re-opening in mid-September. Maureen thinks that people will have to wear masks to Broadway shows and continue wearing them well into the runs of the shows.  Travel Most Americans do not like being told what to do. So, Maureen feels that we will most likely see a similar mish-mash dynamic to that with masking and vaccinations when it gets to whether or not the borders will open and whether or not people will be allowed to travel.  The live-streaming component Maureen believes that the live-streaming component, as well as the repackaging, value-adding, and upselling that occur due to live-streaming, are all here to stay.  Live-stream theaters Many theaters are going through renovations right now. They are building live-streaming infrastructures inside the theaters to make sure that they can live-stream. A recent UK survey A recent UK survey revealed that 92% of all musicians believe that live-streaming concerts and repackaging them to sell afterward will become part of their revenue streams in the future. Adapting Even though people will have to adapt to the new technologies for theater productions, Maureen feels that they will be happy to do so. Early 2022 Maureen predicts that in early 2022, we will have a glut of entertainment and event options available. The various options will all happen simultaneously, which could cause some issues with filling the audiences over time.  Maureen Andersen: Exciting times are coming! All the vendors and providers who use this time of isolation to fix their existing products and create new ones are set for success when the theaters reopen. Maureen thinks all of that will lead to an exciting renaissance of the new songs, musicals, dances, and operas that are coming out.   Customer experience When the theaters reopen, the big productions will most likely capitalize on the initial demand. However, Maureen is hopeful that things will settle down into a more reasonable pricing structure for live performances, and theaters will start to partner with their customers once the initial bubble has gone up and out.  January 2022 From January 18th to the 21st of next year, Maureen and INTIX will be appearing, live and in-person, at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando, Florida. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Maureen Andersen On LinkedIn

We have the great honor of speaking to an icon in our industry today! Corbin Ball, aka Mr. Technology, is an influential leader who has been sharing his knowledge, insights, and technological discoveries for many years! He was inducted into the Events Industry Council’s Hall of Leaders in 2018 and was named the most influential person in the Top 25, five times! In this episode, Corbin talks to us about AI (Artificial Intelligence), AR (Augmented Reality), VR (Virtual Reality), and data insights and analytics. We hope you will enjoy listening to our conversation! Corbin Ball’s bio: Corbin Ball, CSP, CMP, DES, MS is an international speaker, consultant, and writer helping clients worldwide use technology to save time and improve productivity. After more than a decade running international citywide technology meetings, Corbin transitioned in 1997 to become a highly acclaimed speaker with the ability to make complex subjects understandable and fun. Corbin is a 2018 inductee into the Events Industry Council's Hall of Leaders, the most prestigious honor in the meetings, conventions, and exhibitions industry. He is the only person to have received both the MPI International Supplier of the Year and the MPI International Chapter Leader of the Year awards. Corbin has been named as one of "The 25 Most Influential People in the Meetings Industry" five times by Successful Meetings/Meeting News magazines. Corbin was named last month by Cvent as one of “20 Event Professionals You Should Be Following.” Corbin Ball’s journey When he left college, Corbin became the Director of Educational Media for Western Washington University. That was where his immersion in technology began. Several years later, he was asked to help a small engineering association with the technological side of their events. He continued working for that association for about 15 years, during which time they grew to run the largest meetings in the world in the area of optics.  Technology was going to change everything In 1997, Corbin saw that technology was going to change everything. It became apparent that technology would change the world of events profoundly. So, he decided to travel more and form his own business as a speaker, consultant, and writer, focusing specifically on event technology. He was the first person to do that, and it has been a fun ride for him ever since then! Corbin Ball can lay claim to the longest-running website Corbin has the longest-running event technology website (www.corbinball.com). He started it shortly after forming his business, Corbin Ball and Company. He has loved helping event professionals understand technology so that they can improve their business processes. The silver lining The pandemic taught Corbin to slow down, smell the roses, and enjoy life wherever he is. Technological changes During the last 14 months, there has been an explosion of innovation, particularly in virtual meetings. Virtual meetings have changed more during this time than they have in the past decade.  The year of hybrid event technology and innovation All the best practices that we have learned from virtual meetings will forever change the face of in-person events. Corbin thinks that 2021 will be the year of hybrid event technology and innovation. Profound changes in society The best practices that we learned and the forced increased digitization of how we do business have created profound changes in our society.  Corbin Ball’s thoughts on the future marketing of events  The way that events get marketed will be different in the future. As Corbin explains, there has been a lot of talk about establishing a year-round community and creating marketing campaigns to market events to that community. That community will use AI and do things differently and more efficiently.  Face-to-face  There is nothing that can replace face-to-face communication, interaction, and relationship-building, which are all key parts of the sales process. Exhibitors at exhibitions have complained of having low net promoter scores because they were unable to make the same connections as they do at face-to-face events. Yet, Corbin still feels that the virtual meetings piece will be substantially larger than it was in the past. The impact AI will have on meetings and events Corbin feels that AI will become one of the biggest and most profound trends of this decade. It will change everything. AI has many applications for events. In 2019, Wordly.ai created a technology for events that accurately translates voice into audio and text in 16 different languages. That technology can be used for virtual events to open the translations up to a much broader audience. Chatbots will also be helpful for events, as will AI technologies designed for biometrics. Zenus.ai does facial recognition for meeting registration and access control accurately, quickly, and securely. Anonymous facial analytics In the area of anonymous facial analytics, gender, estimated age, levels of interest, and emotions can all be measured. Facial analytics applications can also count the number of people in large groups, measure their age and gender, and even measure whether or not they are paying attention during an event. We will see facial recognition technology used more frequently for travel and hotel check-ins. Non-contact palm scans Non-contact palm scans can automatically scan the contents of a grocery basket instantly.  AI customization for events Some companies have been using the data points from people’s event registrations to create algorithms to help them find matches for their interests with the exhibitors they should see or the sessions they should attend. There is a lot of growth potential in that area. Video recap  Another company has designed video recap software specifically for events. It creates searchable transcripts that highlight the key points throughout the presentations.  Vertical markets Every vertical market, from farming to pharmacology, will also be affected by artificial intelligence. Virtual Reality  For a virtual reality experience, you put on goggles and get taken to another place. Although that is not ideal for events, it can be helpful for hotel sales, site inspections, or elaborate equipment demos. Augmented and Mixed Reality Mixed reality is similar to augmented reality. It involves layering additional objects, information, or a character within the view that you are seeing. It can provide an effective display, but the headsets are, unfortunately, quite expensive. AI on a phone or tablet The technology for using AI on a phone or a tablet is well-established. It has been around for more than a decade. Recent upgrades to android devices and iPhones have improved the technology and made it much easier to use.  Augmented reality glasses In the future, we will be using normal-looking glasses that have augmented reality components for many different applications. Projection mapping With projection mapping, you can layer a digital experience on top of something concrete. You can convert the side of a building to be animated or create a stage set where people can interact with things that are not there. The technology for projection mapping has improved recently, making it easier to use and less expensive. Data integration and analytics One of the benefits of virtual meetings is that every click is trackable, and you can get rich data from every attendee. The same thing can apply to face-to-face events, although that is a little more difficult. Many systems will automatically give you data and analytics. Data analytics typically requires three things: You have to integrate all your different data sources with the analytics technology. You need to use artificial intelligence to analyze the data and see the insights. You need to make the data accessible to humans. (For example, by making a graph or a chart.) Once all the data has been brought together, you can use it to better serve your customers by providing them with what they are interested in and what they want. 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We have the great pleasure of speaking to the one and only Nicholas Kusmich today! Nicholas is an entrepreneur who has had tons of experience with Facebook ads and online advertising campaigns. He is joining us to talk about what you, as a business owner, should be doing about your advertising and marketing. He will also explain what is happening currently in the worlds of Facebook and Apple.  We hope that you will enjoy our conversation with Nicholas as much as we did! Nicholas Kusmich’s bio: Nicholas Kusmich, Founder of the H2H Media Group and the Marketers Council and creator of The Limitless Leads Workshop & Advisory Program + Accelerator Group is best known as a Leading Facebook Advertising Strategist and for having the highest ROIs in the industry (up to 30,973.32%). Working with A-List clients, including top thought-leaders, NYT Best Selling Authors, Top Inc 500, and fast-growth companies, he creates advertising campaigns that don’t suck and allow you to scale your business at will. All his information can be found here. In the beginning Nicolas grew up knowing that he wanted to do something with his life. When he was seventeen, he got hired as a youth pastor, and at nineteen, he got ordained and started a church. Nicholas remained a pastor for the next fourteen years, feeling like he was living his life’s purpose and thinking he would change the world. He did not want to take a salary from the church, and he needed to support his family, so he decided to start a side-hustle to pay the bills.  Internet marketing He knew nothing when he started. He joined many different companies and made a lot of mistakes along the way. That was how he got to know about the world of internet marketing. Books The first book he read advised him to find a product to sell online, so he did that. The next book he read said that he should write a book and sell it as an e-book, so he did. The following book told him to turn his e-book into a course to make even more money, and he did that, too. It was all done under a pen name.  Facebook ads Nicolas got introduced to Facebook ads in the early days. Playing around with it, he started to make some money. When he discovered that very few people were profiting from Facebook ads, something clicked.  Facebook Consultant He decided to go all-in with the Facebook thing. He became a Facebook consultant and started teaching people how to do it.  An agency Then, people started asking him to do it for them. So, he opened an agency. Taking a break He took a break from the church in 2014 but ended up never going back and focusing instead on his newly-formed career. He came to realize that he could meet and help even more people that way. Committed to Facebook Nicholas is still committed to Facebook, the Facebook properties, and figuring out how to get good messages out to the world using the platform. News platforms Forbes Magazine wrote an article about Nicholas on how he transitioned from a pastor to a marketing guru. Then, CNBC News and Yahoo News picked up the article and syndicated it on their platforms. Nicholas Kusmich took a big risk It is a risk to step out on your own, especially if you have a family. Nicholas points out that being an entrepreneur is not easy. It takes a lot of work, and 99% of businesses fail within the first five years. A slow transition Nicolas advises you to make a slow transition. Keep on doing your job while you figure your new business out. Go all-in on your new thing, but don’t let go of what will cover you, and pay the bills until your new venture starts to take off. A sense of comfort Feeling a sense of comfort will indicate that the time has come for you to break ties with what you were doing before. Support It helps to have the support of your spouse and family and have them believe in you when you step out on your own. Nicholas Kusmich’s advice regarding Facebook ads Nicholas advises people not to use Facebook ads unless they have to. Advertising is expensive. It is a risky endeavor because you are spending money without knowing if that money will return for you. Direct response advertising Direct response advertising is when you put something out with a direct call to action for someone to do something, and you can track it.  Gorilla marketing For people getting started, Nicolas suggests doing gorilla marketing rather than paid advertising. Gorilla marketing is about actively tapping into your network, calling people on the phone, building relationships, and drumming up business in an old-school way. Although it is hard work, it is a way to see if you can generate business without spending any money first. It will also give you a chance to figure out your processes. The right time You can continue building referral networks until you feel ready to scale. That would be the right time to start doing advertising. Start advertising only when your processes are in place, and you are ready to grow your business.  Avoid burnout To avoid overworking and burning out, business owners should be asking who can do things in a profitable way for them, rather than asking how to do those things. Get involved   Business owners should get involved with their advertising to some degree because they know their business and their clients better than anyone else.  Providing valuable data for your marketing As the business owner, you can provide all the necessary data to either a salaried and dedicated employee from within your company or a skilled external expert with tons of experience, who will then do all your marketing for you.  Some advice Nicholas generally advises people who are getting started to hire a company to run their ads and do their marketing for them, initially, with the intention to transition, at some point, to doing all of their marketing and advertising internally.  Things you need to look for in a marketer Do they have experience in your specific space? Do they have any kind of guarantee that they will give you a good experience? Are they endorsed and referred by people you trust? Privacy Facebook has always been under the microscope regarding issues of privacy. Remember, if you are using any free social media platform, you will not have any privacy.  Why Facebook is such a good advertising platform Facebook is a good advertising platform because it is continuously tracking people’s behavior and collecting their data. That helps you to target the specific people that you want to reach. Apple Facebook and Apple are having an issue. Apple realized how much power Facebook has. So, they decided to stop allowing Facebook to track the people using Apple devices.  Some things you need to know about using Facebook as a platform There is no other platform like Facebook when it comes to targeting specific people in specific areas. The entire revenue source of Facebook comes from advertising. So if their advertising revenue ever gets threatened, they will either fight back or make the necessary adjustments. The best platforms Nicholas firmly believes that there are no better platforms on the planet than Facebook and Instagram.  A rollercoaster If you choose to advertise on Facebook (or Google or YouTube), be ready for a rollercoaster ride because things keep changing.  No more privacy People need to realize that privacy is a thing of the past. Although that can be hurtful or harmful, those platforms can be helpful tools if you try not to be upset by the lack of privacy and accept them for what they are.   Nicholas Kusmich’s thoughts on self-care It is honorable to put others before yourself. However, that is not the healthiest thing to do, according to Nicholas. You need to take care of yourself first, or else you might not be in a position to help anyone else.  Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Nicholas Kusmich On his Website or Work With Nic Book mentioned: Who Not How by Dan Sullivan

Today, we have the pleasure of speaking to another amazing person! We are delighted to have Kevin Kirby, the Executive Director of the MPI Foundation, joining us as our guest!  Kevin started his career with companies like Universal and Disney and went on to work for Hard Rock International. He has a lot of knowledge and some great points to share today that will benefit everyone in our industry!  In this episode, Kevin talks about his challenging transition from Universal to Disney, volunteering, building relationships, rebranding, and believing in yourself. Enjoy our conversation! Kevin Kirby’s bio: Kevin Kirby is a senior global sales and marketing executive with more than 30 years of experience advancing entertainment-centered hospitality brands. He has served in leadership roles for Universal Orlando, Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, and Hard Rock International. He led the marketing efforts of regional theme parks in Ohio and Western New York earlier in his career. While at Hard Rock International, he championed locally designed, multi-platform sales, promotions, and advertising campaigns in over 55 countries, including China, Russia, and India. He directed both B2C and B2B segments initiatives while collaborating with operations leaders and franchise owners. He has led teams with multiple discipline representation (creative, IT, finance, operations, and C-level roles). Kevin has been a member of Meeting Professionals International since 1998. MPI is the world’s largest meeting and event professional association spanning 70+ countries and over 15,000 members. Throughout his 23+ years as an MPI member, he has served on numerous international committees (awards, marketing, and brand development), as an international board member in 2008-2010, and as an executive committee member from 2011-2013. Throughout 2014 and 2015, he traveled extensively as the appointed chairman of the International Board of Directors due to an extended-term. His journey with MPI has come full circle with his appointment as Executive Director of The MPI Foundation (MPIF). In his new role, he collaborates with countless industry partners to develop scholarships, grants, and fund research to complement the growing demand for experiential marketers and event organizers. The foundation has been critical to assisting financially distressed individuals and ensuring that chapters continue to offer value to their community. Kevin Kirby’s story Kevin describes himself as an accidental meeting professional. Early in his career, he was involved in theme parks in Ohio and Western New York. His love of hospitality eventually got him to Universal in Orlando, where he got introduced to the meeting and events business.  Transitioning  Making the transition from Universal to Disney was not a voluntary choice on Kevin’s part. He lost his job with Universal because they went through a corporate reorganization. It was a humbling experience for him after all the good work he had done and the success he had achieved. Disney Kevin received a call from someone at Disney, inviting him to join their events team.  A challenge It was a challenge for Kevin to move from Universal to Disney, which has one of the strongest cultures and brands in the world.  Volunteering Volunteering has always been important for Kevin. He was a member of the non-profit MPI for more than twenty-four years, and now, he works there and feels passionate about it. A once-in-a-lifetime experience Kevin was fortunate to deal with some great people at Hard Rock. He loved giving people a once-in-a-lifetime experience during his time there because he feels that is what the meeting and events business is all about.  Kevin Kirby’s philosophy on building relationships Creating an emotional experience for people involves building relationships, being a good thought-partner, and helping people out. That has been a common theme throughout Kevin’s career, and it is what he enjoys about the meetings and events industry. Repositioning after 2020 Business owners have to find new ways to keep their businesses open. Rebranding   Recovery appears to be on the horizon. Have faith and take some time to self-reflect. Then take the opportunity to reintroduce your brand as something compelling. Be aware of your environment. Let people know that you care about them, and you will do your best to adapt to their changing needs. Building trust Always remember to take care of your team. That is a critical aspect of marketing. Building trust is as much about your team as it is about building external relationships.  Conferences Attending conferences is about cultivating relationships and finding business opportunities. Conferences are also there to provide professional education.  The best business relationships  The best business relationships come out of mutual respect, understanding, and genuinely caring. Face-to-face Nothing equals the impact of a face-to-face meeting. The body language, handshakes, and hugs let people know that they appreciate one another and what they do.  MPI MPI betters people’s lives by upskilling their abilities and providing career opportunities. Last year, they distributed just less than $700,000 to more than 2,230 distressed members and non-members globally. They are rolling out some initiatives towards planned giving for people in the late stages of their careers, and they will soon introduce some new partners. They are currently motivated to bring in money to help people. Support Last year, the leaders of the IMEX group decided to support the efforts of MPI by donating $250,000 to the organization.  The key Relationships have been the key to what MPI has managed to achieve. They have a board of trustees that believes in what they are doing and continues to support them. Humor Kevin has always enjoyed being able to laugh at himself and at any situation he finds himself in.  Kevin Kirby’s thoughts on faith There will always be moments of self-doubt. Have faith, trust in a greater calling, believe that there is a path for you, and don’t take anything personally, according to Kevin. Know that there is a better opportunity waiting in every circumstance,  Believe in yourself Trust yourself. Trust your gut, and surround yourself with people who support you. If you believe in something, push it. You will be surprised at the outcome. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Kevin Kirby Email [email protected] On LinkedIn On his Website

We’re delighted to speak with an icon of sales today! Jack Daly is a fascinating individual with an amazing track record! He is all about numbers. Jack has spoken all over the world and trained thousands of people. He has built six companies to become national firms, two of which were sold to Wall Street companies. Jack has fifteen “Iron Man” titles. He has played golf at over ninety-five of the top one hundred golf courses in the USA, he has completed ninety-five marathons in all fifty states in the USA, and he has bungee jumped the world's first and largest bungee jumps.  Jack is joining us today to speak about systems and processes, entrepreneurship, and business owners in the meetings and events industry. You will learn a lot from what he has to share!  Jack Daly’s bio: Jack Daly is an experienced and inspirational sales trainer and sales coaching expert who inspires audiences to take action in the areas of sales management, corporate culture, and sales training. He brings over 30 years of field-proven experience from a starting base with CPA firm Arthur Andersen to the CEO level of several national companies. Jack is a proven CEO/Entrepreneur, having built six companies into national firms, two of which he has subsequently sold to the Wall Street firms of Solomon Brothers and First Boston. Jack’s role as a sales trainer extraordinaire has helped craft “street-tested” sales methodologies that help create truly successful sales professionals and profitable companies. His professional sales trainer know-how has turned him into an accomplished sales coaching authority and author of books including Hyper Sales Growth, The Sales Playbook for Hyper Sales Growth, and Paper Napkin Wisdom, all Amazon #1 Bestsellers. Jack is an Ironman on five continents and has completed 95 marathons in over 50 states. He was married to his high school sweetheart Bonnie for 48 years before her passing in 2017, and is the proud grandfather to two grandsons and a new granddaughter. Jack received his B.S. from LaSalle University, an MBA from Wilmington College, and held the rank of Captain in the U.S. Army. His own business Jack knew at a very early age that he wanted to have his own business. When he was thirteen, he spent the summer interviewing two hundred accomplished businesspeople to find out how they became successful. They taught him that understanding numbers was vital when running a business. An accountant Jack became educated as an accountant and then went to work at Arthur Anderson directly after school. After that, he bounced around a bit in the corporate world to get his bearings on how the big companies ran because he wanted to own a big company one day. His own business He started with his own business when he was twenty-six and remained at it for the next twenty years. Since then, he has continued to run a business. He views his current business differently, however, because it is a quality-of-life speaking business. It all started with sales Although he trained as an accountant, Jack has always had a focus on sales. At thirteen, he had five employees delivering the newspapers he sold, and he grew his customer base from 32 to 275 in one year. That was where it all started for him. Southern California In 1985, Jack moved to Southern California to start a company. He started with four people, and in eighteen months, he grew it organically to 750 people. In the first three years, they made $42,000,000 in earnings, not revenue. Inspiration In the early nineties, while Jack was building that company, one of his employees hired Jim Pratte to help them grow. Jack was so impressed with Jim that he decided to take him along to his twenty-two other locations. Over the next three months, Jack learned about Jim’s life and how he was helping people and companies grow. That inspired Jack to want to do the same thing.  Jack Daly’s philosophy on systems and processes Jack is all about systems and processes. He believes that you should build the practices that work best in your business. You should then build your processes based on those best practices, hire people, and get them to practice those best practices. The rest will take care of itself. A formula for better sales results Figure out what your top people are doing. Get those things into your system and sales process. Then have the rest of your salespeople practice that. Everybody’s game will improve as a result. Military courses The courses that Jack took while in the military had a long-lasting impact on his life. They taught him about leadership in an ownership-type way. They also taught him about communication, public speaking, and the value of systems and processes. The three sins of sales management The three sins of sales management are: When a great salesperson becomes the new Sales Director, and things start to fail. When the owner or entrepreneur also wears the hat of the salesperson or Sales Manager. When the best salesperson gets made the Sales Manager, and they are also expected to sell in their territory. There are cases where Jack has identified success after taking a salesperson and making them the Sales Manager. There are very few of those cases, however. What typically happens is that you lose your best salesperson and get a mediocre Sales Manager. Often, the good salesperson misses the act of selling and leaves the company to go and sell for someone else. Jack Daly’s advice for business owners regarding sales If you have sufficient capital when you start your business, grow your sales force in quantity and quality. If you hire the right person to ensure that happens and you pay them correctly, they should pay for themselves with the increased business that their team generates in under a year. CEO coaching Jack has been doing CEO coaching telephonically for the last four years. He allows about twenty-five percent of his clients to commit the first sin of being in charge of the sales team and being the CEO. He only does that because those CEOs do not have enough capital.  Part of the answer Jack’s ideal view of compensation for salespeople is 100% commission only. Also, at least 50% of the overall compensation of the Sales Manager should be predicated on the results of their team’s sales.  Paying salespeople a significant amount of money Jack has no problem with paying salespeople a significant amount of money. He had salespeople working for him who made seven figures when he, as the owner, was not earning that much. He does not believe in capping commissions. A sales playbook Jack is creating and packaging a sales playbook. It will be Thin to Win, and contain the processes and words that have helped the owners of small businesses become successful. After the book is complete, Jack will have regular practice sessions with salespeople, following that playbook. Inc. 500 Jack built six companies from scratch to become national firms. All six were very fast-growing, and one of them got to number ten on the Inc. 500 list. Jack had 120 salespeople in that company, and all of them spent a minimum of one hour every day practicing.  Practice is the key Incessant practice is the key to success. Jack feels that sports teams are better run than most businesses. He points out that a coach would not consider putting a player on the field without a playbook and the practice that adjoins the playbook.  Double your sales More than 50% of a salesperson’s time gets spent on doing things that have nothing to do with bringing new customers in or growing the ones they have. The definition of sales is: Get new wins. Grow the ones you have. That means that if you get everything else out of the way and let the salespeople sell, you can double your sales without hiring an additional salesperson.   For the biggest impact You need to make a list of all the tasks and delegate those you can to the right people. Then figure out the things that will make the biggest impact and move the needle the most. Focus on those.  The secret potion Opening a business is a risk. Keeping everything under control is a bigger risk. Build systems and processes that work, and then delegate and empower your people to do the work. Let go, and let your people do what you hired them to do. Culture A culture, like systems and processes, needs to reflect the changing times. Some aspects of culture will never change, though. Human beings will always want to be recognized and rewarded. So taking the time to build the processes for regular and ongoing recognition is a significant foundation in any company culture. People also want to know how the company is doing, where it is heading, and how they are doing. So having processes in place for consistent communication is vital. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Jack Daly On LinkedIn On Website On YouTube Book mentioned: The E-Myth: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It  by Michael Gerber

We are happy to be speaking to Panos Tzivanidis, the Director of Corporate Events and Services for the International Olympic Committee (IOC), today.  Panos has a lot to share about the power of networking, time, talent, technology, the Tokyo Olympic Games, and what is going on in the events industry. We hope you will enjoy our conversation!  Panos Tzivanidis’s bio: Panos Tzivanidis is the Director of Corporate Events & Services for IOC, the International Olympic Committee, widely known for the Organisation of the Olympic Games, with headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. Panos and his team are responsible for a large variety of activities, including all events organized by the IOC worldwide, as well as all accommodation needs, travel, accreditation for the Olympic family for all events around the Games period, as well as the Olympic Club; the main and exclusive Hospitality area for the Olympic family, Head of States, their Top VIP & Dignitaries guests. Under his responsibility is also Facilities Management and general services for all IOC premises.  Panos has direct responsibility and decision power for a large variety of activities including all strategic marketing events organized by the International Olympic Committee worldwide. Reporting for specific projects, directly to the President and Director-General of the IOC, is accountable for a budget of over USD 50M and a team of 88 permanent staff and over 100 contractors during major events.  Panos is responsible for the strategic planning, all operational aspects, content coordination as well as all events during and around the Olympic Games period. His role often brings him to the negotiation table with local authorities and government representatives to create a win-win situation for all parties involved.  He joined IOC in June 2013 after having spent two years as the Head of Conferences for UEFA, widely known for the organization of the Champions League, Europa League, and National teams EURO soccer tournaments, and previously having spent 11 years with SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication), and organizer of Sibos, the world’s premier annual financial services event. Panos was the Head of Events at Sibos, dealing with all organizational aspects and strategic planning of the exhibition and the conference in all five continents that the Sibos event was organized.  His profession has allowed him to travel to all corners of the world becoming an expert on international relations, having represented the companies he worked for and negotiated with the highest authorities in many different countries and cultures. Panos is a great believer in the power of networking amongst the people in the events/conference & marketing industry worldwide. He is also a great believer in team spirit and its positive impact on success.  Personal motto: Those who speak, don't know, and those who know, don't speak. Some background From a young age, Panos enjoyed being in the hospitality industry, being among people, and socializing. His parents sent him to a hotel management school in Switzerland. Later, when he started working after his military service, he went into the Banqueting Department of a hotel, where he became involved with events. He realized that that was what he wanted to do, and since then, he has never left that path. The world of sports While living in Belgium, Panos got headhunted back to Switzerland and into UEFA. It was a challenge for him because he knew nothing about sporting events at the time. Panos was fortunate enough to organize Champions League Finals and European Cups and spend time with the big players. Joining the IOC and the Olympic Movement Being Greek, Panos felt that it was a tremendous opportunity for the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and the Olympic Movement.  The mix of time, talent, and technology Panos believes that if you miss one of what he calls “The Three T’s” (time, talent, and technology), nothing is happening. He feels that those three T’s are vital in all industries. Time is valuable Time is valuable. Over the last few years, every individual from the participants to the organizers, started realizing that the time that they invest is valuable and will give them a return.  Time well spent Panos wanted people to leave his events feeling fulfilled and knowing that their time was well-spent. That has not changed since COVID.  Panos Tzivanidis’s thoughts on technology  Panos believes that technology is moving so fast that the events industry will always have followers. For him, technology is not about following. It is about sometimes taking small risks. Talent Talent in the events industry has always been a challenge. Panos feels that is because there is a problem with defining the events industry and marketing it. Young people want to know what the events industry is all about and why they should get into it. Empowering the younger generation Panos feels that the events industry is not empowering the younger generation because they may not take the initiative and do things differently. Things are changing Things are changing, so we need to adapt. The President of the IOC uses the motto of “change, or be changed.” Do things differently People should have the right to think and do things differently. Management, and team leaders, should also be trusted to live up to what they say. A misconception There is a misconception that the younger generations are constantly behind screens and do not care about human interaction. Panos believes that they are capable of communicating in a way that the older generations cannot understand.  Hybrid The world will never be completely virtual in years to come. It will be hybrid. Panos thinks that many good things will come out of hybrid. Ecology and the planet In the future, new ways will have to be found for airlines to fuel themselves. Like biofuels, for example. What Panos Tzivanidis has to say about networking Networking will become easier, according to Panos. New technology will allow for the possibility for people to interact better and in more spontaneous ways. Emotions People need emotions. With events and big groups of people, Panos has not yet found a way to create the same emotions as those created in one-to-one conversations. That is why he thinks that physical networking will always be most important. The museum The museum had to close due to the coronavirus. When the coronavirus measures became more relaxed, however, and the museum reopened, Panos could see that many people were eager and willing to visit, even with the coronavirus restrictions in place. He attributes that to the emotions that the museum evokes. The museum had the same number of visitors as in any normal year recently, even with the restaurants and outlets closed due to COVID-19. Tokyo They have been pumping up everything to do with Tokyo in the museum.  Tokyo Olympics Many people from all over the world are busy gearing up for the Tokyo Olympics, even though it will be different because of COVID-19. The priority is the safety and wellbeing of the athletes because the Olympic Games are essentially about the athletes. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Panos Tzivanidis On Website On LinkedIn On Twitter Book mentioned: Humanocracy by Gary Hamel and Michele Zanini Links to some interesting videos:  The Greatest Show on Earth | IBTM Meets: Panos Tzivanidis   Olympians and Meeting Professionals - not so different after all   2019 inspirational graduation speech: Panos Tzivanidis, from Les Roches to the International Olympic Committee   - Video starts at 15:00  International & European Associations Congress   Grimaldi marketing  Greek Marketing Institute (in Greek)  

We feel honored and privileged to be speaking to a fascinating leader today! Captain L. David Marquet is the founder and owner of a company called Intent-Based Leadership International. He is a former nuclear submarine Commander, a Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the books Turn the Ship Around, and Leadership is Language. He is also a global keynote speaker. In this episode, he shares his fascinating and inspiring story and describes his leadership structure, which frees people to think for themselves. We are sure you will enjoy this episode! David Marquet’s bio: David Marquet is the author of the Amazon #1 Best Seller: Turn the Ship Around! A True Story of Turning Followers Into Leaders. He is also the author of The Turn the Ship Around Workbook, a companion workbook for implementing Intent-Based Leadership. David’s newest book, Leadership is Language, is a Wall Street Journal Bestseller and Financial Times book of the month selection for February 2020. David imagines a workplace where everyone engages and contributes their full intellectual capacity, a place where people are healthier and happier because they have more control over their work–a place where everyone is a leader. A 1981 U.S. Naval Academy graduate, Captain Marquet served in the U.S. submarine force for 28 years. After being assigned to command the nuclear-powered submarine USS Santa Fe–then ranked last in retention and operational standing–he realized the traditional leadership approach of “take control, give orders,” would not work. He “turned the ship around” by treating the crew as leaders, not followers, and giving control, not taking control. This approach took USS Santa Fe from “worst to first,” achieving the highest retention and operational standings in the Navy. After Captain Marquet’s departure, the USS Santa Fe continued to win awards and promoted a disproportionate number of officers and enlisted men to leadership positions, including ten subsequent submarine captains. Stephen R. Covey said it was the most empowering organization he had ever seen, and he wrote about Captain Marquet’s leadership practices in his book, The 8th Habit. Captain Marquet retired from the Navy in 2009 and now speaks to audiences both virtually and in-person around the globe who want to create empowering work environments that release the passion, initiative, and intellect of each person. This bold and highly effective framework is summarized as “give control, create leaders.” He is a student of leadership and organizational design and was named one of the Top 100 Leadership Speakers by Inc. Magazine.               There is nothing better than a submarine for an introvert David grew up during the Cold War. Although he did not have the profile of a typical military guy, he felt passionate about the Cold War situation. He also felt strongly about liberal democracy and wanted to do his part. So, even though it scared him, as an introvert, he could think of nothing better than a submarine because he could go underwater and hide from people, and he felt that was the place to be during the Cold War. A submariner He applied at the Naval Academy to be a submariner and became one. He always felt a bit like an outsider, however.  Getting promoted David kept getting promoted for the ability to make decisions and get the team to do what he wanted them to do.  A standard organizational design structure In the Navy, there is a standard organizational design structure. Senior people make decisions, and junior people do what senior people tell them to do. That gets done without thinking, so nobody even realizes that there are other ways to design hierarchies in organizations.  The USS Santa Fe David was sent to the USS Santa Fe, which had a reputation for being the worst submarine, with the worst morale. She was the laughing stock of the fleet. David had to go there because the Captain quit. A different kind of submarine The USS Santa Fe was a different kind of submarine. David tried using his usual ability to sort things out and make things better, but he made a technical mistake with an order he gave. In carrying out that order, the officer repeated the mistake. When David asked him why, the officer explained that although he knew better, he followed the order because he was told to do so.  People are conditioned and trained to do what they are told David explains that those things do not only happen in the military. They happen in many different organizations because people are conditioned and trained to do what they are told. Eight out of ten times, people do not speak up even when encouraged to do so.  David Marquet’s view of leadership That realization changed David’s view of leadership. He understood that because he was the most senior person in the organization, he had to get out of making decisions. The team had to make the decisions for two reasons: They knew more about the mechanics than he did, and they knew which buttons to push. He also needed them to take ownership and initiative without waiting for him to tell them what to do. A new journey So David and his team set off on a journey where David would not make any decisions. His team would tell him what to do. They would tell him what they saw, thought, liked to do, and what they intended to do. The core The core was the intent to create ownership. The senior person As the senior person at a meeting, don’t say what you think. Let people vote first. Asking the right questions David became adept at asking his team the kind of questions that would help them and ultimately allow them to feel safe in making their own decisions. They had to learn to get out from behind their eyeballs and look back at themselves. The problem The problem with modern hierarchical structures is that they were designed to be stressful. Curiosity We need to learn to react to new ideas with curiosity. Intent Intent is a magic word for David. With intent, you get your team to align, and you get them to think.  David Marquet’s thoughts on thinking out loud Leaders and team members should practice thinking out loud so that they share what is going on in their heads with others, according to David. That includes talking about how they feel about things. A structure The leader is doing things right when they create the structure for how the team will interact. Then the team can decide how they will carry out the project. Burnout Burnout comes from continuously having someone try to control you and continuously trying to control someone else. When the leader does not know All learning starts with the admission that “I don’t know.” If the leaders cannot admit that they don’t know, the team will not be able to admit when they don’t know. When the team does not admit they don’t know, you will not learn anything. The best performing submarine They became the best performing submarine in the fleet, with the highest score ever in the history of the Navy for operating a ship on the strength of the team being able to admit it when they did not know something more often than on any other submarine. Creating more leaders For David, the strength of what they achieved with the USS Santa Fe was that they created more leaders. Ten of the officers in the wardroom became submarine commanders because they were thinking like Captains when they were still junior officers. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with David Marquet On Website We simplify the concepts and mechanisms from the books into 1-minute bite-sized pieces on our YouTube channel because the reminders help people. It's called "Leadership Nudges" and I invite you and your team to subscribe: Leadership Nudges with David Marquet on YouTube

We are delighted to be speaking to an icon in our industry today! David DuBois, the current President and CEO of the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE,) is joining us!  David DuBois has tailor-made the industry to fit his experience and style of leadership. In this episode, he will talk to us about what the IAEE does, the Exhibition Day on Capitol Hill, and the Women’s Leadership Forum. You are sure to enjoy listening to our conversation with David today! David DuBois’s bio David DuBois is the President and CEO of the International Association of Exhibitions and Events® (IAEE). As IAEE’s president, DuBois is responsible for the management of 25 full-time professional staff, producing the annual business operating plan and budget, overseeing the support of all meetings of governance units, leading business development, directing fundraising efforts, advocating for the industry and the organization’s members, providing organizational leadership and strategic counsel to the board. Also, he serves as the association’s representative with industry coalitions, partner organizations, and strategic alliances. In 2019, DuBois was inducted into the Exhibition Industry Council’s “Hall of Leaders,” one of the industry’s most prestigious honors. DuBois began his career with Sheraton Corporation in various sales positions including Regional Director of Sales and the Director of Marketing Programs. He has served as both President and CEO and Senior Vice President at the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) where he was responsible for all operations and a $7 million budget. As Senior Vice President, he managed the development of 15 new chapters and was responsible for magazine advertising sales and membership recruitment and retention.  DuBois has also served as both the Chief Operating Officer at Meeting Professionals International (MPI) from 1996-2000. During this time, he supported programs and services for more than 16,000 members worldwide and served as the Executive Vice President of the MPI Foundation. David has also served as MPI’s Vice President of Sales and Key Account Management and Vice President of Corporate Services. Most recently, DuBois has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Fort Worth Convention and Visitors Bureau where he had oversight and full responsibility of 42 staff, with the responsibility of attracting convention and tourism business with an $8.5 million budget. DuBois has served as a board member of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE); Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Texas Society of Association Executives; board member and Chairman of the Dallas-Fort Worth Tourism Council; board member of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce; and Past Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Convention Industry Council (CIC). He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Destinations International, the Meetings Mean Business Coalition and the U.S. Travel Association. COVID David spent a night in Wuhan, China, in January of 2020. That was when COVID started. Today, China and much of Asia are experiencing about 75% of the exhibition business and events of 2019. As the pandemic slows down As the pandemic slows down, businesses are becoming more willing to send their staff to be exhibitors, attendees, or buyers at trade shows. We are starting to see progress from Asia, across into the United States, Mexico, and Canada. David thinks that Europe will be the last continent to get back to the levels of 2019 and before. Digital events In 2019, the meetings and trade show industry had its best year ever. That was followed by its darkest year ever, in 2020. The industry had to pivot to virtual/digital, which was the only available substitute. The revenues of all the digital meeting platforms went through the roof and the general service contractors for in-person events had to quickly hire people with different skill sets to put on digital events. In-person events are coming back We are starting to see in-person events coming back worldwide, led by Asia and coming back into the United States. Convention centers are open in fifteen states in the US right now.  The future of online versus in-person In the last half of 2021, we will see the merging of in-person and digital. Then, in 2022, we will see less digital and more in-person as people get more comfortable with traveling again. Online meetings The reality now is that we are going to see a lot more in-person events. However, only a certain amount of people will be willing to travel to those events. Now, with the addition of the digital experience, those audiences can get expanded across the world.  The IAEE Annual Expo The IAEE now has members in 52 countries. At their December 2019 Annual Expo meeting in Las Vegas, they were thrilled to have 200 people. That was the most people they have ever had. In December of 2021, David thinks they can get 1,000 people to attend their Annual Expo meeting digitally in Philadelphia. He believes they could also get a couple of thousand people to attend, in-person. Expanding Now, David is expanding his reach to his customers and members by between fifteen and thirty percent. Many salespeople in other industries are also reaching more people now through digital. The future David gets excited about the future because the future is very bright.  What David DuBois says about the blending of digital, in-person, and hybrid for exhibitions David DuBois feels that online exhibitions are mediocre, at best. People cannot truly connect unless they meet face-to-face. So, digital, in-person, and hybrid need to work together. How that gets done is the key for exhibition professionals and members of the IAEE to keep people engaged and give them an experience that they would never want to miss. A nugget The best nugget that David got from the US Travel Association’s board meeting in Tampa recently was that he learned more in a five-minute meet-up with a friend over a cup of coffee than he learned from the entire presentation of the board meeting. The exhibition industry In 2019, the exhibition industry, excluding meetings and business events, was worth 109 billion dollars and it had over 1.5 million exhibiting companies. David believes that it is vital for the people in the trade business to be on Capitol Hill to let all the elected leaders and people working in the congressional offices know what is happening in the exhibition business, trade show business, and meeting business. Exhibition Day For eight years in a row, in the first week of June, the IAEE has held a Legislative Action Day on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. It is all about advocating and talking about the importance of the industry. Up until last year, they had 125 - 140 people attending, in-person. Last year, they had 600 people attending virtually via Zoom.  The bottom line, according to David DuBois The bottom line is that they have to do a better job than before because they have just hired their first Vice-President of Government Affairs for the exhibitions industry, David DuBois explains. This VP is supported financially by seven organizations that have raised half a million dollars to have a full-time representative and lobbyist, and he is working to ensure that the exhibitions industry gets known much better than it has ever before. The business events economic impact The overall economic impact of business events on the GDP in 2019 was over 350 billion dollars, and the trade show industry produced a little over a third of that.  The Connecticut Avenue Collection Back in the eighties, David and some of his competitors in the hotel industry, who were all Directors of Sales and Marketing, decided that they needed to collaborate more. So, they came up with what they called The Connecticut Avenue Collection. Together, they competed against the local convention center, and four or five times a year, they won some business. The advocacy effort The IAEE did the same thing with their advocacy effort. Seven organizations got together and decided to collaborate. Now, they have an alliance and a full-time registered and licensed lobbyist.  The Women’s Leadership Forum The Regional Virtual Forum of the Women’s Leadership Forum happened on April 20th, 2021. The Women’s Leadership Forum also has a signature event that has always taken place in Washington D.C. That event has always sold out before. For more information on future forums, you can go to the IAEE website. Men are also invited to attend. Expanding women’s leadership skills The Women’s Leadership Forum focuses on expanding women’s leadership skills in meetings, exhibitions, and conference businesses. Their goal is to empower, embrace, and provide enhanced skills for women. Sixty percent or more of those who work in the exhibition and meetings business events industry are women. Less than fifteen percent of those women are vice-president level or higher. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with David DuBois On Website

We are both honored and delighted to be speaking to Randy Pennington today! Randy is very well-known in our industry. Not only is he a great thinker, but he is also someone who can look into implementing strategies that positively impact your organization, your business, or yourself. He is a leading voice in our industry who has been involved with many major industry associations and he has also written several books.  We are sure you will enjoy our conversation with Randy Pennington today! Randy Pennington’s bio Randy Pennington helps leaders deliver positive results in a world of endless uncertainty and change. Randy's original insights are grounded in a unique blend of solid research and continuing hands-on work with leaders and organizations in various industries. Whether you need a keynote presentation, facilitation, a strategic workshop, or in-depth consulting and advisory support, Randy's ability to develop solutions that work in your world provide a catalyst for delivering results. Randy is the author of the award-winning books Results Rule! and Make Change Work. His insights have appeared in Fast Company, Entrepreneur, the New York Times in numerous newspapers and many professional/trade association journals, and contributor to the Huffington Post. His expertise has made him a respected guest commentator with appearances on CNN, PBS, Fox News, the ABC Radio Network, and the BBC. His background is a unique blend of line, staff, and consulting experience ranging from hourly employee to senior management. He holds a Bachelors and Masters Degree in Psychology and has completed Postgraduate work in Organization Administration and Management. Along the way, Randy has been a senior executive in a start-up mental health facility, an HR professional in a 25,000 employee government agency, a CFO of a multi-million dollar professional services firm, Chairman of the Board for a 17-million-dollar non-profit, Chairman of the Board for a multi-million dollar foundation,  Entrepreneur, Adjunct professor in Southern Methodist University's Edwin L. Cox Business Leadership Center's programming for Cox MBA students since 1991, earning 21 Teaching Excellence Awards, and inducted into the National Speakers Association Speaker Hall of Fame and is a recipient of their prestigious Cavett Award. No more new normal Randy feels that there is no more new normal. There is only a new next.  Change models For Randy, all change models go back to the psychologist, Kurt Lewin. He was considered the father of social psychology and developed one of the first models around change. He said that to make change happen, you must first unfreeze the thing you want to change. Then, make the change and refreeze it. To get to normal When following Lewin’s model, one would assume that to get to normal, we have to re-freeze. What happens, however, if you never get to the point of refreezing? When things are changing all the time, there is never the opportunity to become completely normal. Frustration for businesses and organizations Part of the frustration that we have all been feeling in our businesses and organizations is that almost as soon as we get something changed, we need to change it again. Or, something else needs to get changed. A better mindset A better mindset for everyone today is to accept that we may never get back to normal. The closest thing we’re going to get to normal is change happening faster than it’s ever happened before. Threats In the strategic planning groups that Randy has been doing since COVID, he has noticed that everyone takes the threat piece way more seriously than before when they do the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis. That means that people are now thinking more realistically about threats. Things that Randy Pennington has learned from COVID Something that Randy Pennington has learned from COVID is that we have to think about probabilities and possibilities a little differently, and we need to be ready to move quickly. Flourishing and surviving In the meetings industry, we are not pivoting. We are expanding and accelerating. The more we can anticipate, the better our chances for flourishing and surviving in the ever-changing world. Small business owners Small business owners need to ensure that they always have enough cash in reserve to sleep well at night.  Live meetings Randy is sure that in our industry, we will go back to live meetings. They will also have a hybrid or virtual component, however. Challenges for meetings and events The pandemic has changed everything about how we do what we do. Two questions that we need to ask regarding meetings and events are: “What if?” and “What next?”.  The purpose of meetings The purpose of meetings is to create connections, educate, and engage, and that never changes.  Randy Pennington’s thoughts on preparing to survive and thrive Meeting and event planners need to cultivate new skills to survive and thrive. They need enough curiosity about new things to allow them to see the connections before they occur, according to Randy Pennington. The levels of change The first level of change is to adapt. The second level is to anticipate. Level three change is pursuing things that will be different and make a difference. Another level, which Randy looks at as Level 0, is about the changes we should ignore. Talent matters Talent matters, so organizations need to be sure that they provide a space where the best and brightest would want to work. More ideas In a world of uncertainty, we need more ideas, because we have to deal with experiences we have never had before right now. Forced collisions A way for business owners to get new ideas is to create forced collisions in the business. That means they have to put people together who might not normally go well together to work on a problem where more than one perspective is needed. Training the next generation Training for the next generation in the industry should focus on cultivating qualities like curiosity, collaboration, and cooperation. Also, effective communication, tapping into the things that make all of us the same and dealing with cross-cultural issues.  Earning your seat at the table Although the logistics of meetings are crucial, they are not the priority. You first need to earn your seat at the table. Learn to think like CEOs, CFOs, and VPs of Marketing think. Focus on what they focus on.  Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Randy Pennington On Website Results Rule with Randy Pennington group on Facebook Books mentioned Outrageous Empowerment by Ron Lovett  (Catch Ron Lovett’s interview with Eric HERE!) Humanocracy by Gary Hamel and Michele Zanini

We have the great pleasure of speaking to the one, and only, Julius Solaris today! In this episode, Julius tells us his story. He talks about his career, virtual versus in-person, the future of meetings, and how to use the different social media platforms. We are sure you will enjoy listening to our inspiring conversation with Julius Solaris! Julius Solaris bio Julius Solaris is the head of engagement at Swapcard. Before that, he was the founder and editor-in-chief of EventMB, which was acquired in 2019 by Skift, the largest and most influential travel media company worldwide. He has been named one of the most influential individuals in the meetings industry by many magazines and media for the past ten years. Julius has conducted some of the most ground-breaking research for the event industry, with over 3,000 events reviewed and 15,000 event professionals interviewed. Julius' analysis and reports have been downloaded by over 300,000 event professionals, and 300,000 more read EventMB every month. Over 50,000 event professionals have attended Julius's events. Julius has been a keynote speaker for events in 12 countries and for over 200,000 attendees. Moving from Europe to the United States Julius did a Marketing MBA in Australia in 2004-2005. At that time, blogging was the way to do things, so Julius started thinking about it. He returned to Italy for a year or so in 2007. While there, Julius decided to start blogging. The only thing he could write about was events because that was the only experience he had had since coming out of university.   The world of business events Julius truly liked the world of business events, and it excited him. Social media  He also had a passion for how social media and the new world of technology would impact the world of events. So, he started talking about that back in the early days.  Moving around After moving to London, back to Italy, and then back to London again, Julius moved to the United States five years ago. Blogging as a business Julius’s blog has always been the common thread running through all his moves. He has had some proper jobs while doing it. Then, in 2011, blogging finally became his business. Organically driven to move Julius feels organically driven to move constantly. He has a citizen-of-the-world mentality, so he loves experiencing new things. He moved to Australia and London multiple times and then to the US. He loved California and the west coast and wanted to move there.  Moving to the United States Julius felt as if he belonged in the United States. His business also aligned with that feeling because he had clients there. He was also financially motivated to move to the US. Julius Solaris shoots for the stars Various options were available for Julius Solaris when applying for his US visa. He decided to shoot for the stars and apply for the “Alien of Extraordinary Ability” option. He was able to prove that he had achieved a lot within the events industry, and, much to his surprise, he received a Green Card. Now, after five years, he hopes to become a US citizen. Selling his businesses In 2018, Julius sold a software business that he owned.  Then, he sold EventMB, his travel media company. It was an extremely stressful business to run even though it kept growing. Julius decided to become a part of a larger organization, instead, to feel more secure and relaxed enough in his life to focus on doing the kind of work he wanted to do. Then, he started proactively looking to sell his company.  Julius Solaris’s biggest lessons Julius Solaris initially had two unsuccessful closes when trying to sell his business. Those were major psychological setbacks for him, and the biggest lessons in his career as an entrepreneur.  Selling to Skift Later, at a dinner, Julius got introduced to the Editor of Meetings for Skift. They became friends, and the editor later introduced Julius to the CEO of Skift, to whom Julius eventually sold his business.  Peace of mind Julius left EventMB with the peace of mind of knowing that selling the business was the most logical thing for him to do.  What lies ahead Julius is passionate about event tech. Now is an exciting time for him because this is the right time for using event tech in business and he has been privy to many conversations about what lies ahead in that area. For now, the interest lies very much in virtual. Hybrid is also there and will feature even more in Q3 and Q4.  People are postponing People are postponing things as much as possible right now, with a fall-back plan to go one hundred percent virtual, if necessary.  Virtual is still the leader For North America and Europe, virtual is still the leading option, by far.  Event technology There is currently an unprecedented six-billion dollar valuation for event technology.  A monumental shift There has been a monumental shift in the area of virtual events. Now, people know that it is possible to connect with others on virtual platforms. They know that there is the potential for virtual events to become part of the B2B marketing structure of any company and operations. Unnecessary meetings Many of the previously unnecessary meetings will get replaced by virtual events in the future. Sustainability Sustainability will be top of mind in terms of all future meetings, now that we know that virtual and hybrid events work. An inclusion piece for hybrid A secondary role for hybrid events is as an inclusion piece to be built at the back of in-person events, as the digital aspect of those events. A third dimension There is also a third dimension, which is the one hundred percent in-person event. That kind of in-person event will never go away. Social media Julius feels that social media will make people want to go to in-person events, in case they miss out on all the marvelous things that are happening there.  A consideration People need to bear in mind that the requirements for in-person events are not the same as those for virtual events. Virtual events should be curated carefully to ensure that people do not feel as if they are missing out on anything. Preparing for when things re-open Independent business owners in our industry should plan on doing virtual events in the next few years if they want to make money. They will need to allocate the right amount of money for the necessary technology to do that effectively, and they should employ virtual event professionals to assist them with the production of those events.  Julius Solaris’s strategy for business owners  There is both an engagement component and a marketing component for business owners to consider if they want to be productive and successful on social media, according to Julius Solaris. A rule of thumb is to know where your audience is and where your customers are. You need to understand where things are coming from and invest in the things that are driving the most revenue or opportunities. You also need to create a list of priorities for all the different elements. Owning your community The next step is to understand that your events can be part of your marketing strategy. So, whether your event is virtual, in-person, or hybrid, the need right now is to put everything together in a community, within an overarching architecture that you own, as a new event owner. There, you can combine all the activations that you do, whether they are social media, an event, or a piece of content, under one roof. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Julius Solaris On LinkedIn  

We are honored to be speaking to Olamide “Ola” Awofeso today! Ola started her career in Public Relations, and she later created her own consulting company. Ola also does marketing and works with non-profits through multicultural events. Before that, she used to be with an agency where she worked on accounts like Walmart, J&J, Loreal, and Procter and Gamble. Ola is also a rockstar on Clubhouse! She is building a community there and sharing valuable information.   Ola is joining us to discuss her experience as an entrepreneur, talk about the power of collaboration and purpose, and share how she used Clubhouse to create a community.  We’re sure you will enjoy listening to our conversation with Ola today! Ola Awofeso’s bio  Ola Awofeso is a marketer, an event strategist, and the founder of E.K.O Consulting, a marketing and events consulting business dedicated to helping business owners, brands, and nonprofits connect with multicultural audiences through marketing, events, and partnerships. Her love for events began early in her career as she worked as a public relations specialist in New York City. It was there that she got exposed to attending and working on many events. Those events include shows, fairs, and exhibitions such as the New York Design Show, Kipps Bay Decorator Show House, and Frieze Art Fair for clients in décor, design, and entrepreneurship. Later in her career, she was able to work with the Bloomberg team on their New Energy Finance summit and knew that events led by professional and social impact were her niche. Over the years, she partnered with brands such as WeWork and General Assembly on events in her beloved New York City. Olamide is passionate about marketing, events, and community. Some background Ola started her career in PR. She worked mostly with clients in art and décor, and she went to many very detailed trade shows. She got into the events industry because those shows opened her eyes to what was happening in that industry and she grew to love that space. Project management Although some people say that meetings and corporate planning are boring, that is the space that has the most to offer Ola in terms of project management. It also entails a lot of sponsorships that you need to garner for events. With her PR and marketing background, Ola felt she could hone in on that space, and her skills could get utilized most effectively there. Non-profit Ola currently works with a non-profit that works towards getting more black people into technology. Daily, Ola looks at different tech companies. She does that to see if they are trying to get more black talent into the tech space and find out how they are doing it. She is in constant communication with the Growth Marketing Managers because their responsibility is to help the company grow. She is also in touch with recruiters and community managers.  How to create a community Find a space that is not being served and listen to your audience. Ola Awofeso Clubhouse overview Clubhouse is about community-building and allowing people to come in with their ideas and speak freely. When Ola first got onto Clubhouse, she did not see any of the planning clubs, so she created one. By doing that, she had conversations about different topics and she brought people up to the stage on Clubhouse to talk. Then, she started to post rooms more frequently. She also found someone to become her co-moderator at Clubhouse. Leveraging the power of collaboration Collaboration is vital if you want to create an impactful community. Listen to your audience, and give those people the space to speak. Also, be authentic. Ola shares what she knows, and she empowers people when it comes to the industry.  Ola Awofeso’s thoughts on understanding your purpose Finding her purpose was all about trial and error for Ola Awofeso. She had to learn to be comfortable in stepping outside of the box and allowing herself to shine. She also had to decide whether her purpose was just about her or about other people as well. She started doing events because she wanted to educate people about their careers and personal development. Once you align your call and your purpose, you can go very far. You need to step back and discover what it is that you are good at doing and know who you are serving. Her first event Ola did her first event because she wanted to educate people who were struggling in their careers.  Creating her own company Ola started her company five years ago. Creating her own company was about finding out which factors and what kind of value she wanted to add to the world, aside from corporate. She also wanted to decide what her legacy would be.  Rebranding Ola learned that it is okay to shift things and change direction. She rebranded her company last year because she wanted to shift who her client would be.  Ola Awofeso, on being mentored Ola Awofeso started her business on her own. But throughout the years, she has had mentors and people from whom she could seek advice. Her brother is a full-time entrepreneur, and he gives her advice. Breaking the solitude of the entrepreneur Tell your circle and your network about what you are doing in your business and don’t allow anyone to make you feel a certain way if you decide to become a part-time entrepreneur, because many people build their skills at their day-job while being a part-time entrepreneur. Social media can be a great tool, but not all businesses are on social media because their customers are not there.  Audience Understand where your audience is. It could be email-list heavy, or Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter-heavy. You also need to understand what your focus will be. Once you know that, you can check out different videos, e-books, and podcasts about that niche and share that with your audience. Achieving the best Having a calendar to list her daily priorities is something Ola loves. She used to feel like she was doing too many things at once, so she learned to block the time for her various tasks. Having a project management tool has also been very useful for her. Ola likes to use Asana because it is simple and easy to use. Effective sponsorship Effective sponsorship aligns with whoever your client is. Because when you are looking for sponsorship, you want longevity. Long-lasting and effective sponsorship will build trust for your brand and with others when they come to you. Relationship-building is essential for effective sponsorship. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Olamide Awofeso On Website On LinkedIn Ola’s Clubhouse community is called Event Planners and Producers United

We are delighted to be speaking to Ron Lovett today! Ron is a fascinating entrepreneur! He built a unique security company in Canada and then sold it. He has also written some books, and he has been on various boards and involved in different projects. We are sure you are going to enjoy hearing our intriguing conversation and Ron’s inspiring stories today! Ron Lovett’s bio: Ron Lovett is an Atlantic Canadian entrepreneur who successfully scaled his Halifax-based guard security company to over 3,000 staff across Canada. Ron’s leadership hallmarks of relentless learning, disrupting stale industries, fast action, and transforming staff into passionate stakeholders inspired his first book, Outrageous Empowerment, in 2018.   He sold his security company to the largest provider in the USA at a 24X multiple. He now focuses on his rapidly expanding, multi-family residential portfolio through Vida Living, whose purpose is to revolutionize workforce housing across North America and plans to reach 10,000 units by 2027.   Ron is a globally sought-after professional speaker and thought-leader in organizational culture. He hosts an award-winning podcast and will be releasing his next book and a Master Class called Scaling Culture in Spring 2021.  He also helps clients solve people and culture challenges directly through his other company, Connolly Owens.  Over the years, Ron has been recognized with many awards for the success of Source Security & Investigations and his leadership within the region. Those include:  BDC Young Entrepreneur Award, (x5) Atlantic Business Magazine’s Top 50 CEO Award, Junior Chamber International Outstanding Young Person Award, and the Remy Martin Bold Five under 35. People are usually stunned to find out Ron is only 41.  Entrepreneurship Ron feels that entrepreneurship has always been in his blood. As a child, he was always very curious and wanting to make his own way. From a very early age, he was starting micro-small businesses, making decisions, and taking jobs that were more variable compensation.  How Ron Lovett started his company, Source Security & Investigations Inc Ron Lovett has a background in martial arts. When he was nineteen, he got hired to work the door at a few nightclubs in Halifax, Nova Scotia. There, he built a name for himself. Later, while traveling in North Columbia, he read a book about a gangster who made money from renting his gangster friends to nightclub security companies in London. Ron understood the business model, so based on that, he returned to Halifax to start a nightclub security company. He registered the company as Source Security. Starting He started the company with two high school friends on the security team. He had many other friends, and he hired lots of them as the company grew, and the company grew very quickly.  Ron Lovett separates friends and business Ron Lovett made it clear to his friends that when they were at work, they were at work. He was happy to hang out with them over weekends and have beers with them after work, but he made it very clear that their working relationship was not the same as their personal relationship.  The Rolling Stones Ron got asked to do the security at a Rolling Stones concert with an audience of 85,000 people. He agreed to do it, even though he had no idea how he would manage. He needed 380 security people, but he had only about 45 employees at the time. It was a challenge, but he managed to recruit enough people. On the day before the concert, only sixty people turned up in the busses that Ron had hired to get everyone he had hired to the venue. Ron thought it was all over for him. The next day, however, most of the other people he had hired drove themselves to the venue. So they pulled it off! Nobody died that day, and the concert went off well. Becoming the authority After pulling off the Rolling Stones concert, Source Security became the authority. They became known to understand everything about running the security at large concerts, and they had a unique ability to solve any problem in the present moment, which is very hard to do. Give people back their brains  Ron became obsessive about two things when he was at rock bottom and lost a million dollars in 2011. They were to give people their brains back and build systems and processes to allow people to have autonomy, make decisions, and build culture in an industry that lacked culture. Community Ron felt that it was vital to create community for his employees. Ron Lovett’s move towards autonomy Ron Lovett was looking for a way to systemize autonomy without using any command and control. Also, to give people their brains back and get them to use them. Rather than having policies in place, he created a framework of three questions. He always asks the people in his company those questions to empower them when they make critical decisions. Those questions are: Is it the right thing for the customer? Is it the right thing for our business based on our purpose of changing the industry? And our values? Are you willing to be accountable? Coaching in real-time and scaling That decision-making process allowed Ron to coach his employees in real-time, in the present moment. It also helped to remove the bureaucracy and allowed him to simplify things as he scaled the business.  Holding people back People get held back from their potential if they do not get coached and celebrated in real-time.  Challenge everything You build a great business by challenging everything. Purpose Find a purpose that will give you goose-bumps. That purpose should, at least, make someone curious.  Ron Lovett’s thoughts on leaders Ron Lovett believes that the best leaders today don’t solve problems. They ask the right questions and let the organizations answer them. Entrepreneurs As entrepreneurs, you need to ask questions that drive you to be objective about what you have created. How To Ron is writing his second book. It’s called Scaling Culture. It is about how to build and sustain a resilient, high-performing organization. He also has a Master Class that can get taken online that will launch with the book. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Ron On LinkedIn On Website Ron’s book: Outrageous Empowerment: The Incredible Story of Giving Employees Their Brains Back Books mentioned: Drive by Daniel Pink

You are in for a treat today! We are delighted to be speaking to Ashanti Bentil-Dhue. Ashanti is the CEO of EventMind, which provides training and consultancy for businesses looking to engage virtually with their audience. She comes from the corporate world where she was Regulatory Compliance AVP for Santander Bank, Barclaycard, and the Financial Ombudsman Service. Ashanti co-created the UK’s first nation-wide anti-racism and allyship project for women in Human Resources (HR), an industry that is 83% female and white. She is also a co-founder of 100 White Allies, Diversity Ally, and Black In Events, which are consultancies that provide support for organizations to be proactively anti-racist and inclusive. In this episode, we cover three main topics. They are diversity and inclusion, starting and running your own business, and online events. You will learn a lot from our fascinating conversation with Ashanti today. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did! Ashanti Bentil-Dhue’s bio: Ashanti Bentil-Dhue is Founder and CEO at EventMind, a market leader in the virtual meetings and events sector. EventMind provides training, consultancy, and delivery for businesses looking to engage virtually with their audience and community. Ashanti is currently a judge on several awards panels, including the Eventex Awards, Independent Publisher Awards, and the Virtual Event Institute Awards. She is also a co-founder of 100 White Allies, Diversity Ally, and Black In Events, consultancies that provide support to organizations who want to be proactively anti-racist and inclusive, both internally and for their service users. You can connect with her on Linkedin.  Ashanti can bring the experience she gained from five years spent as a Regulatory Compliance AVP for the likes of Santander Bank, Barclaycard, and the Financial Ombudsman Service. This experience has given Ashanti an understanding of corporate governance and challenges associated with change management and workplace culture shifts. Diversity initiatives It was during her time in the world of compliance that Ashanti began to work on diversity initiatives, and she also started to use events as a vehicle to communicate the importance of being as diverse and inclusive as possible.  Arranging events When she was working for a bank, Ashanti did not see herself as an event planner. She saw herself as the compliance consultant who also arranged events. Building communities When she decided to start her own business, Ashanti naturally gravitated towards using events to build communities, her business brand, and her personal brand.  Racism Ashanti first encountered racism when she was four years old, and she was the only black child in her class. It was the first time she realized she was different because she got treated differently. She experienced bias, micro-aggression, and being stereotyped. An event to raise awareness During an awareness month, while she was in the financial industry, Ashanti decided to put on a diversity and inclusion event for the employees. She invited local school children to participate and help raise awareness and highlight the diversity in the area within which the bank operated. It all happened very naturally for her.  HR and diversity HR is a discipline in the UK where most of the stakeholders are female and white. Those individuals often influence the processes and systems that impact how much people are getting paid and who gets hired, fired, promoted, or trained, even though they may not have lived the experience of difference or being a minority. Ashanti’s mission was to help those stakeholders understand how to contribute to becoming more diverse. Diversity Diversity can be attained by hiring different people, paying everyone on equal scales, and investing in people through resources and training. Ashanti Bentil-Dhue’s visibility epiphany Ashanti Bentil-Dhue realized that her consistent visibility was a way to create more diversity. That realization prompted her to create 100 White Allies, Diversity Ally, and Black In Events.  100 White Allies, Diversity Ally, and Black In Events She created those consultancies with a mission to simplify things. She wanted to make it accessible for organizations and companies to become more diverse. And highlight to people of color that there is a place for them in the events industry. Encouraging more diversity  Ashanti understood that to encourage more diversity she needed to show up consistently, be good at what she does, and add value for other people. Starting her own business Ashanti always wanted to start a business. Having learned enough from the corporate experience to add value to tech startups, she thought she would have more freedom, independence, and control of her income by starting a business of her own. Instead, she discovered that being an entrepreneur is like being an employee squared. Ashanti Bentil-Dhue’s entrepreneurial challenges As Ashanti Bentil-Dhue discovered, being an entrepreneur is not easy. The challenge in owning a business is that you have to be astute, you have to make decisions under pressure, and you have to love what you do. You also need to be driven from within and able to cope with uncertainty and rejection. Monetizing your experience and skills It is vital to know how to monetize your experience and skills. Without knowing how to do that, you will struggle with starting a business. Mindset Ashanti maintains a healthy mindset with the help of several coaches and the support of a community of other entrepreneurs. She has also done a lot of work on her personal mindset.  Scaling Scaling your income is very different from scaling your business. They require different skills, resources, time, and energy. They will result in different outcomes for you as the business owner. Making more money You don’t have to create or scale a company to make more money. You need to understand how to make that happen and how to manage all the elements.  Ashanti Bentil-Dhue and online events Ashanti Bentil-Dhue got into creating online events before COVID. She started with live streaming to teach people how to do various things and sell her service. Then, other companies started asking her how to live stream and sell. That was how she got into helping companies create online experiences and events to build communities.  Since COVID  Since COVID, there is much more technology available, and the rest of the world now understands the sustainability benefits and the low cost of the online launch.  Post-pandemic Online events will become a part of a digital and social strategy. They will become more informed and sophisticated than pre-COVID. What’s new You can now have global insights on attendee behavior at online events. Online events can now get integrated into a marketing strategy, a recruitment strategy, or a brand-activation strategy in a way that they were not getting done readily, pre-COVID.  A global directory Ashanti has decided to launch an accessible global directory. She feels that her company is in a position to do that because they are unbiased. They will be listing every event technology company out there in one place.  Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Ashanti On LinkedIn

Today, we have the honor of speaking to Sir Winston Churchill, the former British Prime Minister, as impersonated by Randy Otto. Randy has been playing Winston Churchill for the last forty-seven years, and he is phenomenal! In this episode, you will learn about history. You will hear the great quotes of Sir Winston Churchill, and you will also get some great leadership advice.  We know you are going to love this show! Randy Otto’s background Randy Otto’s British history professor did a spot-on impression of Winston Churchill, and Randy thought he could impersonate him impersonating Winston Churchill. The professor walked up behind him and surprised him by telling him that he might have something, and Randy’s life changed instantly! That professor became a great mentor in his life, and Randy gave him credit every day for allowing him to see the world through the prism of Winston Churchill.  You don’t know as much as you think  Randy urges you, as business people, to always remember that you don’t know as much as you think you do. Go and find the people in your life who know more than you do, or who can complement your knowledge, and ask as many questions as you can.  Mentors Throughout his life, Randy has had several great mentors. One of them was the great actor Hal Holbrook, who impersonated Mark Twain on stage for 64 years and died recently at the age of 94.  The best advice Hal Holbrook gave Randy the best advice he has ever had, which was that he did not need a script. He told Randy that he knew enough about Winston Churchill to become Winston Churchill at any time he wanted to do so. All he had to do was to tell the stories and string them together with segues.  Some advice for business people Randy’s advice to business people is not to lose track. He advises you not to get so involved in the details that you lose track of the opportunities that come your way. Winston Churchill said, "The pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity, but the optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” Eight principles Randy has eight principles that he does on stage for groups, organizations, corporations, and associations in a piece he calls Winston Churchill CEO. One of the things he stresses in it is that you touch the troops.  Great leadership Winston Churchill set the standard of great leadership for Randy because he could stand up and sway the course of history. He did that by simply telling the truth and reminding the British people of who they were. Press Churchill had the cooperation of the press during World War Two. Although he knew they could take it, he asked the press not to give the British people all the bad news at once.   Taking ownership People appreciate leaders who take ownership of it when there is a problem or when something goes wrong and asking for help is powerful.   A painter’s eye Winston Churchill had a painter’s eye, and he used it as a leadership technique. He would choose a focal point for where he wanted to go in a meeting. He would then focus on that point. Sometimes, it was something that the audience thought of as inconsequential, but Churchill would stick to it like a bulldog for hours until they found a solution. As a result, he was very successful in the cabinet meetings when things got tough. Mein Kampf Churchill got quoted as saying that he was the only person who read the English translation of Mein Kampf as early as he did. He realized that it was a roadmap to disaster. Unfortunately, he had no proof at the time. Writing Churchill made a living by writing. When he started criticizing the Germans and the Italians, he lost the ability to be published by many magazines and newspapers. He kept on despite that, however. Painting in Marseilles Churchill painted at a chateau in Marseilles. You can see a beautiful painting that he did here.  Chamberlain When Churchill became Prime Minister, he was clever enough to invite Neville Chamberlain into his cabinet. Chamberlain was his fiercest enemy before doing so, and despite that, Churchill gave the eulogy at Chamberlain’s funeral. He was himself Churchill was true to himself as a leader. He was unafraid and honest, and he told the truth. He always said what he meant and meant what he said. Winston Churchill gives some management and leadership advice for small business owners “One must look at the past before one looks at the future.” “History is our best teacher. Study history. Study history. Study history.” “In history lie all the secrets of statecraft.” “The further back that you can look the further forward that you can see.” What is important as a leader when you are managing a team “You must find your enemies and keep them close to you.”  President Lincoln assembled a team of rivals. He found the people who opposed his policies most assiduously and asked them to be part of his cabinet. As a leader, you must do the same thing in business. You must find those who are not afraid to take you on or disagree with you, and you must welcome it. You must find the best men and women, and not the ‘yes’ men and women today, to help you, and to ask the difficult questions of you. Then you might learn to better run your company. Managing a budget and finances You should hire someone you can trust, who is good with facts and figures, to do that for you. “And don’t be afraid to spend money to make money.” (Churchill was not the greatest financier that ever lived.) Company culture You must have a vision for the future, and you must be able to communicate it. If you don’t, you had better figure out a way to find out what your vision is and communicate it. That vision must drive every single strategy that you have in your business.  Randy Otto’s bio as Keynote Speaker, Playwright, Academic, Actor Randy Otto does NOT enter onstage. He explodes into your midst. The suspension of disbelief immediately immerses the audience. It IS Winston. Without doubt, Churchill. Through Randy Otto’s astonishingly authentic portrayal of Churchill, based on decades of academic research and performance passion, the true genius of the man, the statesman and most admired leader can be fully seen, heard and even questioned! Randy Otto, with unapologetic admiration, depicts a witty, humane, accessible living portrait of the most admired leader ever.  Randy’s KEYNOTES & THEATRICAL SHOWS (Winston Churchill: CEO, Winston Churchill: Man of the Century, and Winston Churchill: The Blitz) skillfully leads the audience on an immensely entertaining Churchillian journey, imparting WHY Churchill was a VISIONARY organizational genius who harnessed a unique MAGNANIMOUS, ACTION ORIENTED STYLE infused with boundless enthusiasm; and how today’s 21st Century leaders easily incorporate Churchill’s Timeless Principles of Leadership into their personal and professional lives. Randy answers the questions: WHO was Winston Churchill, HOW did Churchill leave a timeless legacy of leadership and WHY Churchill is relevant and needs to be heard now more than ever in the 21st Century. Randy Otto’s Awards/Honors/Education/Experience: Has portrayed Winston Churchill professionally for over four decades Honorary Archivist – Churchill Archive Center – Churchill College/Cambridge University/Cambridge, UK Advisory Board – International Churchill Society - Milwaukee, WI Hosted 70th Anniversary of Churchill becoming an American Citizen - Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, MI Commissioned by National Churchill Museum to create “Painting as a Pastime” February 2014 – honoring the largest exhibition of Churchill paintings since 1976 in St. Louis, MO Rotary 20+ Years - President of 2 Clubs, Assistant Governor Randy Otto is the ONLY Winston Churchill endorsed by members of the Churchill family Native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, alumnus of the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre and numerous theatrical roles– BA graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire Missionary two years Hokkaido and Kyoto Japan 20+ Years Vice-President of Investments - Fully licensed private investment management with Stifel Nicolaus Investment Brokerage - Offices in Brookfield, WI & St. Louis, MO     Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Randy On Churchill Speaker On the telephone – (920) 988-4459  See Randy as Winston in action!

Today, we are happy to be speaking to a well-known world traveler, Sabrina Meyers, from the Hot Hospitality Exchange. Sabrina has worked in different parts of the world, from Singapore to Sydney to London. Now, she is based in Germany. Currently, Sabrina is focusing on social media. In this episode, you will learn about influencer marketing, how to use social media, create content, and create online visibility.    Be sure to join us today to hear Sabrina’s fascinating story and learn how to best leverage social media for your online visibility. Sabrina Meyers’s background Sabrina Meyers was born in Singapore. She grew up having more exposure to the hospitality industry than the events industry. From a young age, she often traveled with her father, who was a university professor. He used to travel across Southeast Asia, giving conferences on engineering.  Hotel management Sabrina loved hotels, so after leaving school, she decided to study hotel management at a private college. After graduation, she moved to Australia to continue her studies and get a degree in hotel management.  Her first job After moving to Australia, she got her first job. She became a sales coordinator in hospitality sales, and she loved everything about it! London  A while later, she moved to London. She loved it there. She continued with her career in London for the next year, after which she joined The Leading Hotels of the World, a marketing organization. When that came to an end, an opportunity came about for Sabrina to switch sides. Running events Sabrina was super interested in events. She always helped out with the running of events for the leading hotels, and she was very interested in the logistics side. Her boss, at the time, started a New York-based agency, and he hired Sabrina to open the London office. That was where her event management and logistics experience began. Germany Sabrina married a German man, and they decided to move to Germany. After taking a year or two off, she continued with her journey, in Germany, starting with venue sourcing. She was very successful and very lucky with that side of things. Freelance and social media Sabrina decided to go freelance and offer event management services. She also continued building up her logistics experience while becoming an early and passionate adopter of social media. Head-hunted Sabrina got head-hunted by George P. Johnson, an experiential marketing agency, to manage IBM’s European conferences remotely. She later went on to freelance for George P. Johnson and IBM. Vlogs In 2017, Sabrina went onto YouTube, looking for someone to follow. She did not manage to find anyone who did what she did, however. So she decided to become that person, and she started making vlogs of all her experiences as an event planner. Sabrina Meyers creates a specific community What Sabrina Meyers does with her vlogs is qualified and targeted. There is a specific community of people who will get what she is doing, and it will add value to them when they watch her vlogs. Social media  While working, Sabrina was very active on social media. She did lots of vlogging and was active on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Sabrina Meyers’s strategy Sabrina Meyers’s strategy is to never post the same thing on every channel if she can help it because people take in information differently, on different platforms. She recommends trying to cater and customize your content to the platform that you are using. No travel, no content Last year, no traveling meant no content for Sabrina. So, she decided to put all her energy and focus into making her side-hustle, social media strategy, and consulting, specifically for the events, travel, and hospitality industries, her main hustle.  To stand out Sabrina explains that to stand out on social media, you need to be shouting louder than everyone else because everyone is on social media right now. Building an online presence To build an online presence and visibility, you should block times to check into your platforms every day. The time for you to engage needs to be separate from the time you post because they are two separate things. How often you should be posting You should post three times a week on LinkedIn and Instagram. Increase it to four or five times a week, if necessary. You need to be very active and post very often and very regularly on Twitter. You should post two to three times a week on Facebook. Power platforms  Sabrina’s power platforms are LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter. She uses Clubhouse moderately. Structuring As business owners, you need to adopt the mindset of viewing social media as a marketing channel rather than a chore. To see lots of results, commit some time to create the right content, scheduling that content, and engaging with other people’s content, as well as distributing your own. Time Creating content, structuring, planning, and scheduling will take time. That is only a one-time investment per month, however.  Purpose Define your purpose before coming up with the relevant content. Identify what your content pillars are and create the content for those with your purpose in mind. You will need to dedicate ten to fifteen minutes per caption for your content to ensure that it has the right messages, calls to action, and image or video. Diversity Having diversity in your content-type is vital for business owners. Virtual assistants Sabrina feels that it is well worth investing in trusted virtual assistants to help you. Templates You can buy templates from CreativeMarket.com. Then, add your brand colors, type something up, and add a photo as a graphic.  Influencer marketing An influencer is a trusted voice in a community and industry on specific topics. Find people who influence your local, global, or online community. Bring them in to talk about your niche from the perspective of the kinds of customers you want to have. Sabrina Meyers’s bio Sabrina Meyers is the Event Industry’s GO-TO on all things social media and how to effectively use social media to optimize online visibility for your personal and professional brand.  She is a social media strategist and consultant working with individuals, brands, businesses, and organizations within the global events and hospitality industry. From social media event strategy for events to influencer marketing campaigns to optimizing social media presence for companies, she works on a case by case with clients who want to use their social media channels to raise awareness, build community, increase engagement, drive leads and generate revenue. With over 16 years of experience in the Events and Hospitality industry, she has worked for big-name brands such as Marriott, Hilton, and The Leading Hotels of the World in sales and marketing roles promoting the most luxurious to the most meeting specific hotels in the world. She has also worked for reputable event agencies such as George P. Johnson as well as independently as a freelance event planner delivering corporate events globally for clients such as Dow Jones International and IBM.  She is an event industry vlogger and founder of Hot Hospitality Exchange, her brand where she actively creates online content for, from, and with the event community across a plethora of social media platforms (as expected) from her own YouTube Channel to the newest social kid on the block, Clubhouse. An experienced industry speaker having spoken at industry trade shows such as IBTM World, Sabrina is also an online event moderator having moderated for global organizations such as EventMB and Swapcard. Be sure to follow her on Instagram, Twitter, and Clubhouse on handle @hothospitalitye and connect with her on LinkedIn. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Sabrina On Website On LinkedIn

We have the great pleasure of speaking to yet another icon in our industry today, Elliott Ferguson. He is the President and CEO of Destination DC and the current national chair of the board of directors of the U.S. Travel Association. In this episode, we will be talking about three main topics. We will discuss how DMOs (Destination Marketing Organizations) can help business owners navigate the current situation and what will come after the pandemic. We will also talk about diversity, equality, and inclusion and the leading role Elliott has taken in that area. Finally, we will look at Elliot’s role as the chair of U.S. Travel and what will be coming next for our industry. We hope you will enjoy our fascinating conversation with Elliott as much as we did! Elliott Ferguson’s bio  Elliott Ferguson serves as President and CEO of Destination DC, the official destination marketing organization for Washington, DC. A 30-year veteran of the travel and hospitality industry, Ferguson leads Destination DC’s efforts to generate economic opportunity for the District through meetings and tourism, overseeing the organization’s convention and tourism sales, marketing, finance, and business development operations. Ferguson began his tenure with Destination DC in December 2001 as the Vice President of Convention Sales, became Senior Vice President of Convention Sales and Services in 2005, and has served as President and CEO since 2009. Before working at Destination DC, he served as Director of Sales and Vice President of Sales at the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau. He has also served as Director of Sales at the Savannah CVB. Ferguson currently serves as National Chair of the board of directors for the U.S. Travel Association, where he guides the board and association’s efforts to advance policies that facilitate more international and domestic travel. He also serves on the board of directors for the following organizations: Advisory Board of the Smithsonian National Zoo; DC Jazz Festival; Ryan Kerrigan “Blitz for the Better” Foundation and the United Way of the National Capital Area. He represents Destination DC as part of the Hospitality Alliance of Washington, D.C. Ferguson received a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing and Business Administration from Savannah State University. His many industry memberships include Professional Conference Management Association, International Association of Exhibition Executives, Destinations International, National Coalition of Black Meeting Planners, Meeting Professionals International, and American Society of Association Executives. Ferguson and his wife, Telesa Via, a hospitality industry veteran, are longtime residents of Capitol Hill. He is active with Capital Partners for Education, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., and Delta Sigma Pi. Joining the industry In the early 1990s, Elliott got an opportunity to work with the Savannah Economic Development Authority organization. The focus was on economic development and bringing business to Savannah and Georgia by way of industry relocating or expanding. The person running the Business Bureau was on the board of that organization, and he approached Elliott one day to offer him the opportunity to join the Business Bureau. Back then, there was not much diversity in the industry, and the board member of the Business Bureau liked what Elliott was doing and felt that he and Elliott would work well together. Being young and naïve at the time, Elliott avoided him for six months.  Joining the organization After spending six months thinking about it, doing some research, and learning about what the organization did, Elliott joined the organization. Now, more than thirty years later, he is still doing that. Moving to Washington DC Elliott moved to Washington DC in December of 2001, just after 9/11.  The last twelve months Having lived through 9/11, Elliott felt accustomed to things affecting business travel and tourism to Washington DC. Although the last twelve months have been the hardest to deal with, there is strength in numbers. After coming out of a state of denial and dealing with the shock of the reality of the situation, all Elliott’s peers around the country started talking about recovery, being more proactive, and looking towards the future. What Americans need to work on As Americans, we need to work on our tendency to believe that some things that affect the global community will never happen to us here, in America.  The Da Vinci Code You can visit Washington DC, based on the book, The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. There is a program that shows the different places from the book in Washington. There was also a tour that showed Washington through the eyes of those who followed the Dan Brown movies. Diversity, equality, and inclusion  Elliot feels that things are improving slightly in terms of diversity, equality, and inclusion because when he entered the industry in 1992, there was only one black male who was the CEO of a DMO.  The National Coalition of Black Meeting Planners  Elliott was actively involved in the National Coalition of Black Meeting Planners. He realized that there were opportunities and diversity at the lower level of the pyramid in our industry, but as you got further up the pyramid, there were fewer and fewer opportunities. Diversity and inclusion within DMOs In 2021, America is a nation with 600-700 DMOs, and less than ten of them are run by people of color and females. There are still many opportunities and enough time to look at that and dissect it through a different lens. A wake-up call Last year was a wake-up call for Elliott. He realized that COVID could happen in America, and he needed to do a lot more in terms of diversity and inclusion within the industry.  Elliott Ferguson’s idea of doing better Doing better for Elliott Ferguson is not only about white people recognizing and understanding the plight of the black community. It is about understanding that there is something wrong with being one of only two black people walking into a room filled with white people in 2021. Also, when representing an industry that he loves and not seeing the diversity, seeing the opportunities to have conversations about that. Discrimination Most discrimination comes from ignorance. Seeing diversity in the future Because of the things they have seen and experienced, kids entering the workforce in the next few years will expect to see some diversity in the companies for which they work. If not, they won’t want to work for those companies. Those who want to believe that it is just a black problem, a Jewish problem, or a problem that does not affect them will be left behind. Diversity within companies Sometimes, people don’t even realize that the things they are saying are racist. So, people need to challenge themselves to be more purposeful with the conversations they have within their companies. They need to understand that those diverse companies are the most profitable and they are usually the places where the most people want to work. Elliott’s role is coming to an end In the next few weeks, Elliott’s role as the chair of U.S. Travel will end. He spent two years in that role, and it was an interesting time for him. Dealing with a pandemic As we continue to focus on stressors like Black Lives Matter, the change of administration, and homeschooling, we realize that we are dealing with a pandemic, and people will be losing their lives. Elliott appreciates the direction the Biden administration is taking in terms of prioritizing the focus on the pandemic.  The focus of the U.S. Travel Association In the short-term, the U.S. Travel Association is focusing on domestic markets and on building relationships. Now, when there is no travel at all, people are paying attention to what is missing and how important the travel industry is. The new chair of the U.S. Travel Association  The new chair of the U.S. Travel Association will be focusing on ensuring that the U.S. Travel Association is dealing with the priorities tied to recovery and getting back on track so that people can start traveling again. Something to be proud of The U.S. Travel Association has done two webinars with NDEI, focused on diversity from the standpoint of being black in America. There were more than two thousand people on each Zoom.  Racism that Elliott Ferguson experienced at IMEX The U.S. Travel Association won two awards at IMEX. A few seconds after Elliott Ferguson got off the stage to accept the awards, someone came up to him and asked him to fill their glass of wine. Everyone was shocked! Although Elliott’s first inclination was to reassure everyone and make them feel okay, he felt deflated. Creating awareness After that incident, he decided that he would no longer focus on making other people feel comfortable in those situations. Going forward, he would rather prioritize helping people understand what is being referred to, in terms of marginalizing people because of the color of their skin.  Leading the way Elliott feels that the hospitality industry should be leading the way in terms of understanding people’s cultural differences. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Elliot On LinkedIn On Website

Today we are thrilled to be speaking with the poster-child of entrepreneurship, Jill Garcia. Jill is the President and Owner of The Hutton Group. She bought the company just before the pandemic and is optimistically looking to the future.  Jill has been in the industry for the last thirty years, and she has a fabulously inspiring story to share with us today. We know that you will enjoy listening to Jill's story of resilience! Jill Garcia’s bio: Jill Garcia is the President and Owner of The Hutton Group - Inspired Meetings & Events, a twenty-five-year-old, woman-owned-and-operated full-service meeting planning company headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA. From large-scale events to focused incentive programs, she has planned meetings for groups ranging from 10 to 10,000 attendees. Her meeting planning expertise encompasses all major markets globally to include association, corporate, and SMERF clientele. She can provide solutions as diverse as the clients and industries she serves. With over thirty years of experience in the hospitality industry, Jill has worked for hotels, theme parks, destination management companies, and as a long-time independent meeting planner. Most recently, as a Senior Director of Global Accounts for HelmsBriscoe. In that role, Jill was a top producer. She was earning the President’s Club Award for eleven years running.  Jill holds a degree in Communications from Central Connecticut State University. She lives in Pittsburgh, PA, with her husband John, a teacher, and her children, both human and furry. Jill Garcia shares her journey Jill Carcia moved to Orlando, Florida, with high hopes of meeting some famous people by joining the hospitality industry. She started her career working as an assistant at a hotel and then worked her way up in the convention department. After leaving there, she moved to Universal Studios in Florida, where she was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to run into Steven Spielberg.  After taking some time off to have her children, Jill decided to get into meeting planning and started working with some independent planners around the country. She had some cool experiences doing some independent planning and got an opportunity to join HelmsBriscoe, the largest global site selection company, and work with them for almost fourteen years. Getting approached to purchase a company In December of 2019, Jill got approached by a woman she knew who wanted her to purchase her planning company. Jill loved the idea of being able to go out to lunch, entertain clients, and be at client events, so, in February of 2020, Jill committed to buying her company. Then, in March, the pandemic happened. An event with Steven Spielberg While working a VIP event in the VP lounge at Universal Studios, Jill got a call saying that a VIP needed to come up to wait for his car. It was Steven Spielberg - the one person in the world that Jill wanted to meet! Fate  Jill believes in fate and not in coincidences. She believes she was fated to meet Shirley Hutton, who sold her the Hutton Group. Jill Garcia’s love of Pittsburgh Jill Garcia loves Pittsburgh. She believes it is a fabulous city to hold meetings. She wants to hold meetings there and promote the city. The right time and the right opportunity Owning her own company was an evolution in Jill’s life. She had never before imagined that she would have her own company, and when the opportunity came her way, she felt like it was the right time and the right opportunity. She feels a little fearful and also very excited about where things are going for her. A year from now Jill believes that a year from now, we will be back to somewhat of a normal state. Believe If you believe in something and you believe in yourself and your abilities, you can achieve it, no matter what it is. President’s Club Jill has been a member of the President’s Club for twelve years. That is an honor you receive for selling a million dollars or more in your business. Sales Jill believes that sales are about building partnerships. She has been building firm connections throughout her career.  Jill Garcia’s persistence and resilience Jill Garcia finds it prevalent right now that people are working together to build each other up. It is vital for business owners and people in sales to be persistent and resilient.  Running smoothly Things are running smoothly for Jill, and being back in a hotel felt fabulous! They held their first hybrid meeting three weeks ago, and it went smashingly! Trying to get the word out Times are tough for people right now. Jill and her staff are having a hard time knowing what is appropriate in terms of their next meeting. They are trying to introduce themselves and get the word out, but they don’t want to be insensitive. Tough times make tough people Jill knows that tough times make tough people. She understands that from her personal experiences. Tough times push you and show you how strong you are. A DMC Jill is putting a DMC (destination management company) out in the city within the next couple of months. She does not doubt that it will be a huge success. Motivation Jill’s motivation has been coming from so many people losing their jobs, and associations will be needing help. Jill thinks that the floodgates are going to open and they are going to be there at the right time. That will help them bring in some skilled people interested in doing something to keep busy.  Inspired The people working for Jill have inspired her. She changed the name of the company to The Hutton Group Inspired Meetings and Events because she feels inspired by what they do. She also wants her employees and her clients to feel inspired by what they do.  Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Jill On Website On LinkedIn

Today, we have the great pleasure of talking to Jeff Fugate. Jeff is an icon in our industry and a rock star in sales and marketing. He never gets tired of learning, questioning the future, and making changes.  In this episode, Jeff talks about the amazing pivot he did in 2020.   Join us today to hear Jeff’s fascinating and inspiring story of resilience. We know you’re going to enjoy our conversation!    Jeff Fugate’s bio: Jeff is the Owner and Chief Queso Officer of Empty Bowl Queso. After 30 years in Sales and Leadership, he ventured out on his own to give everyone in the world the opportunity to experience good queso. He lives in Leesburg, VA, with his wife, two kids, and a menagerie of pets. Jeff’s background Jeff has been passionate about sales and marketing for a very long time. He started his career in the sales and marketing space in Kinko’s Organization. He spent much of his time focusing on sales methodology and learning and perfecting different methods of sales. It worked for him, and he continued learning and helping others.  Sales training program Jeff and his sales manager developed a sales training program for the entire Kinko’s Organization in the mid-1990s. They trained over 600 people with that method.  Moving on The sales manager then moved on to start the B2B side of the Office Max Document Services business and recruited Jeff shortly after. They kept on striving to improve their sales methodology, and they went out and deployed it. Getting into the events business A chance meeting in the airport with Bruce Harris, the founder and president of Conferon, resulted in Jeff getting brought over into the events business.  Jeff Fugate’s thoughts on leadership  Jeff believes in servant leadership. He has always viewed his role as a leader to help people develop their skills, their knowledge, and their wisdom. Part of that is allowing people to learn from their mistakes. For Jeff, real leadership is about leaders looking for ways to help their people, rather than looking for ways to catch his team members doing something wrong.  Mistakes Jeff understands that mistakes are an important part of learning. Jeff’s role Jeff has always viewed his role as helping people get better and getting the obstacles out of their way, so they can become most efficient and effective in what they do. Dealing with change Change is hard, and it involves risk. When dealing in complex, high-end sales with a lot on the line, it can be scary. So, as a leader, you need to help your people through that. Making a change In 2007, Mark Miller approached Jeff to help him write books, and Jeff jumped in with him. After 2008, Jeff realized that things were not working out in the way he thought they would. Clear A former colleague from Office Max had gone to work for an organization called Clear, which provided wireless, high-speed internet at the time. Clear was looking for someone to start up the DC area, so Jeff jumped into that boat and became employee number one in DC for the Clear Organization. It was there that he learned more about what leadership meant to him. Experient In 2010, Jeff returned to Experient, and he remained there through many changes. He became reunited with David Peckinpaugh in 2012, and they have been through several changes since then. Covid Jeff realized that Covid would be bigger than most people thought it would be, at first. Maritz Global Events struggled for several months until finally, Jeff and many other employees got furloughed.  Getting into something new Losing his position at Maritz Global Events allowed Jeff to do something that he had been working on as a side-project for quite some time.  A fundraiser In 2017, Jeff made a big pot of queso to sell as a fundraiser at the Super Bowl to help his daughter and her marching band get to Disneyland for the Veteran’s Day parade. He put a post on Facebook and got blown away by the number of people who responded and wanted to help. The fundraiser carried on for the next several years. After three years, Jeff reflected, did the math, and realized that he needed to legitimize what he was doing. So, he started with the process of getting certified by the state of Virginia, and he found a commercial kitchen to use instead of using his own kitchen. Queso In the mid-1990s, Jeff started making queso with his favorite green chile peppers that he bought in Hatch, New Mexico. In the 2000’s, making queso became Jeff’s hobby, and he started trying out some new things to make it even better.  In 2012, the Hatch chile peppers became available locally. That changed things for Jeff because he could make even more queso and share them with even more people. Coming up with a name Jeff came up with the name, Empty Bowl Queso, and his wife came up with a great logo.  Jeff Fugate’s next move After getting the news about his position being eliminated, Jeff Fugate decided that the time had come for him to start putting all his energy into his queso business. He had no anxiety and felt naturally positive about it working out.  A learning experience The queso business has been quite a ride and a tremendous learning experience for Jeff, and the business has been growing. What Jeff learned Jeff learned that starting small, you sometimes cannot get the things you need because you are just not big enough. As a result, you can’t do what you need to do. It is a classic the-chicken-or-the-egg situation. From a scale perspective, he has to keep thinking of ways to work around that and act like a big company when he is still a small company. Development Jeff is currently focusing on expanding his local retail base in the DC area, and he has been crushing it! His strategy for 2021 is to focus on the DC market, grow the retail base, and use farmer’s markets to help get the word out. He could also potentially expand to Dallas, Las Vegas, and Chicago. By this time next year, he would like to start going after mass retail. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Jeff On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website  

We are happy to be speaking to Ori Lahav today. Ori is the Vice-President of Clients and Operations for the Kenes Group and is also the current President of IAPCO (International Association of Professional Congress Organisers). He has a wealth of career experience, even having worked on the startup of an electric car.  In this episode, Ori will be talking about pandemic leadership, virtual events, and event marketing.   We know that you are going to enjoy our conversation with Ori, so stay tuned! Ori Lahav’s bio: Ori Lahav joined the Kenes Group in 2013 as AVP Marketing, bringing more than 15 years of marketing experience to the management team. Ori’s expertise includes implementing marketing strategies, above the line marketing/below the line marketing, and leading digital campaigns in online/social media channels. He began his career in the communications industry, where he held marketing positions at internet, voice, and mobile telecom providers. This was followed by a senior role in the automotive sector with a start-up that raised US$ 900M to manufacture electric cars. After 4 years at Kenes Group, Ori moved to manage the Client Accounts & Operations unit. At the beginning of 2017, Ori also became an IAPCO Council Member (IAPCO – the International Association of Professional Congress Organisers), and in 2020, he got announced as the president of the association. Lahav got recognized by event professionals in the Eventex Top 100 Most Influential People in the industry for two consecutive years. Ori holds a BA in Statistics from the University of Haifa and an MBA from the University of Derby, UK. Ori’s background Ori got into the meetings and events industry by chance. His background is in marketing, and he has worked in many different marketing positions and industries over the years.  VP marketing Shortly before Better Place, the startup he was involved with for three years, closed, and Ori interviewed for a VP marketing position at Kenes Marketing, a sub-company within the Kenes Group. He landed the job. At the time, he had no clue about the meetings and events industry and how big it is, but he learned quickly. Marketing Ori ran a team of about thirty internationally-experienced marketing people. It felt natural for him because the basics of marketing are similar, regardless of which industry you are doing the marketing for. Restructuring After Ori had been working in that position for four years, the company did some restructuring. He got asked to lead the restructuring and execute the congresses and events for the Clients and Operations Business Unit. He then became the VP of Clients and Operations.  Electric cars  Ori had his first 100% electric car more than ten years ago. The startup of Better Place was all about a mission to “drive the world electric.” They had a great team, and they managed to raise $900,000,000 from international investors. Unfortunately, it was a complicated project, the cost was huge, and it happened before the market was ready. So, their private investor lost patience and decided to stop investing in the project. Educating the market This year, Ori has been educating the market. When he talks about educating the market, he is referring to three main audiences. Those are the speakers for the virtual events, the participants, and the sponsors and exhibitors because those are the three key stakeholders of the event. Their first fully virtual meeting Their first fully virtual meeting was in the first week of April. Because of the pandemic, they had only three weeks to pivot to virtual. They had to record 250 presentations, explain everything to the speakers, connect with Zoom, and record all the sessions.  Investing in the speakers They invested a lot in educating the speakers on how to speak in a virtual space with no visible audience and no interaction. They put a lot of effort into explaining to the delegates how to get the most out of the virtual events by creating tons of different explanatory videos. Educating sponsors and exhibitors Educating the sponsors and exhibitors is still an effort and quite challenging for Ori because it is more complicated to see a return on investment in the virtual space. What Ori Lahav learned at Better Place What Ori Lahav learned at Better Place, about how to educate the market, has helped him with virtual events. Ori’s approach to shifting to virtual When it comes to leadership, business owners, and strategy, it is important for leaders, especially in crisis management, not to panic and to create a task force or a war room quickly.  Status meeting In March and April, Ori and his team had daily status meetings with all the different stakeholders within the company, including the CEO, the management, and the stakeholders from mid-level management, to help them gain control of the situation and strategize. Being proactive To ensure your financial stability, you need to be proactive with your clients and direct them towards where you want to take the meeting.  Good leadership To be a good leader, you need to be an example and get everyone to follow you. In-house solutions Initially, they worked with many third-parties and suppliers to provide virtual services. They quickly realized that they preferred to create in-house solutions. In November of 2020, they launched their in-house platform.  The future of event marketing is in real-time marketing The pandemic has accelerated many of the processes of event marketing. The current trend is real-time marketing or response in real-time. To be successful with real-time marketing, you have to have all your responses ready before you need them so that you know how to respond immediately, regardless of what happens. Hybrid and virtual marketing Virtual is here to stay, and in the future, the standard will most likely become hybrid. The in-person experience Ori thinks that the in-person experience will become a little different in the future because organizations have learned from the pandemic that education can get done online. The in-person experience in the future will be more about people getting together to socialize, network, have hands-on workshops, and meet the experts.  Added value People will need to focus on the added value of virtual versus the in-person experience. Return on investment It is hard to show a return on investment with marketing because you don’t know the specific activities that bring the participants to the event.  A rule of thumb is that you need to see something three times to be convinced. So, you might need to see an ad on LinkedIn, get some email marketing, and hear something from a colleague about it.  Lower marketing costs  Ori sees things trending in the direction of lower marketing costs. The cost of marketing has decreased a lot recently, so now you can be a lot more cost-efficient while spending the same amount of money. With $100, you can currently do targeted advertising on YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn.  Who owns the budget? Ori sees that the client owns the budget. For a profitable outcome, you need to invest the right amount in marketing, and there has to be a good connection between the business owner and the marketing team.  Ori Lahav and his relationship with IAPCO Ori Lahav got involved with IAPCO because he loves to educate people, and he likes to speak at industry events to share his knowledge. He decided to run for a council position on the board of IAPCO. After two or three years, he first became the Vice-President and then the President of IAPCO. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Ori On Website On LinkedIn

We are happy to be speaking to Roger Rickard today. Roger is an icon of advocacy in our industry.  In this episode, Roger talks about what we can do as business owners, in terms of advocacy, particularly in these challenging times and also over the long term.  Roger Rickard’s bio Roger Rickard is the Founder and President of Voices in Advocacy® and author of 7 Actions of Highly Effective Advocates. He has more than 30 years of experience as an advocacy professional, speaker, trainer, consultant, and author. As a recognized expert in advocacy engagement and grassroots activation, Roger works with a wide cross-section of organizations from diverse industries. His vibrant personality and a good sense of humor make for engaging and interactive programming that is packaged and delivered in an easy to understand, easy to apply format combining his education, experience, and enthusiasm to drive advocacy success. Roger is a proud Penn State Nittany Lion and confessed political junky having received his education in Political Science. He has been an advocate for citizen involvement since the age of 13. Elected three times to public office as a young man, served as a state legislative staff member, and has worked on many political campaigns from his very own clear up to presidential campaigns.  His work spans a cross-section of local, regional, national, and international organizations. He has served in numerous industry associations’ leadership roles, is a recipient of several international industry awards, and is a member of Meeting Professional International’s prestigious “Community of Honorees”. He is often interviewed by radio, print, and television media, highlighted by the MSNBC show Your Business. Smart Meetings Magazine did a cover story on Roger, entitled Passion & Purpose, Roger Rickard’s Call to Action. Successful Meetings Magazine named Roger one of the Six People Worth Watching in the Meetings Industry. Meetings Focus Magazine named him to their inaugural list of Meetings Trendsetters, and in 2020, Connect Magazine named Roger to their inaugural Class of 15 over 50 influencers. Roger is a BIG man at 6’8”, a BIG thinker, and he has BIG ideas for helping you succeed with advocacy. He is casually known as the BIG GUY with a BOW TIE. Roger’s history Roger started his career in security. He started working in hotels for a private security firm contracted to those hotels. His job was to learn how to deal with things discreetly and diffuse them. That later rolled into a job where he got professionally trained to be a bodyguard as well.  Getting to know the meetings industry Working in different positions in hotels, Roger came to know and understand the meetings industry. Eventually, he owned a DMC (Distillation Management Company) in the industry. After selling that, he went on to work for a national organization that did high-end corporate incentive programs.  Advocacy as a result of the meetings industry The advocacy pillar of Roger’s experience came into place as a result of the meetings industry. A boycott in Arizona in the 1990s, around whether or not the government was willing to celebrate the Martin Luther King Day holiday, cost the state of Arizona a tremendous amount of meetings business. That was the first time that meetings ever got used as a tool to get back at the government for their actions.  Getting involved with Meeting Professionals International After that, Roger got involved with Meeting Professionals International. He sat for some time on their Government Affairs Committee and eventually led the committee.  Creating programs to teach people how to be better advocates That led him to create programs to teach people how to be better advocates to help them speak out when they felt that issues of government or other groups were affecting their ability to be leaders in their business. That led Roger to where he is at today. Roger Rickard’s advocacy Roger Rickard is involved with advocacy towards everything related to government and public affairs. He is also involved with the advocacy of demonstrating that people are leaders in their field, regardless of the industry in which they are.  Roger Rickard’s advocacy myth-busting In one of Roger Rickard’s programs, he does a segment of myth-busting about advocacy because advocacy is about your ability to speak in favor of a cause or an issue. There are seven branches of myth-busting. They are: Public affairs Media Public service Brands and Industry Cause Wounded warriors Business leaders and people who advocate for things Advocacy leadership If your prospects are uncomfortable, they are not going to keep on being your customers. If your employees are unhappy with the way they get treated, and you don’t stand up as a business leader and defend and protect them, that cog of the business will not run as well as it should. You also need to stand up for your vendors and suppliers and defend them, plead for them, work with them, and share the responsibility, or they will not be there for you when you need them. The definition of an advocate An advocate is a person who pleads the cause of another person. The advocacy role of business owners in our industry  Small businesses, which make up a high majority of the people in the meetings and events industry, have the incredible power to tell their personal stories. Roger wrote a pocket guidebook called 7 Actions of Highly Effective Advocates to explain how business owners and entrepreneurs can be the most important advocates in the mix. One of the best advocacy actions they can perform is to tell their story.  Having a huge impact Anybody can reach out to get other stakeholders. You don’t need to change your lifestyle to have an impact. All you need to do is use your personal story as the vehicle to tell a bigger story. Meetings Mean Business and Global Meetings Day  If you feel you cannot reach out to other stakeholders, join Meetings Mean Business, or be a part of the Global Meetings Day on April the 8th 2021, to find out how business gets done and how people advance their businesses through education and training. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Roger On Website Or email him at [email protected] 

We are delighted to be speaking to Heather Mason today. Heather has tons of energy and lots of great ideas. She created her company, Caspian Agency, in 2005, and today, she is a rockstar, planning all the meetings and events for some of the world’s major foundations.  In this episode, Heather talks to us about how our industry needs revolution, not evolution, and that women need to learn the mantra, “men, money, and materials.” We hope you enjoy our amazing conversation with Heather Mason today! Heather Mason’s bio Heather Mason founded Caspian in 2005 to produce conferences for the innovative and social good business space. Caspian’s social enterprise clients include the Skoll Foundation, the Omidyar Network, New America, Code for America, Rockefeller Foundation, Endeavor Global, Impact 2030, The Philanthropy Workshop, and Sunnylands. Caspian has also worked with brands including HarperCollins, Vanity Fair, and Keurig Green Mountain Coffee. Caspian has had the distinction of producing the Skoll World Forum for the past 15 years.  Heather also created the Caspian 10 Essentials methodology as a system to ensure business goals could be mapped and met through live events. The Caspian 10 Essentials is offered as a training program for in-house event teams and clients include Oxford University, Swansea University, and Cheung Kung Institute of Business in London. Recently, Caspian partnered with Cvent, the largest event software provider in the world, to provide the Caspian 10 Essentials via a webinar series. The online Essentials were featured as course material for the San Diego State University Meetings and Events Masters course. Mason is also the instructor for the Masters Meetings Financials and Economics Course. Heather’s previous work experience includes Fox Studios, Fox TV, the Sundance and Cannes Film Festivals, the Bud Greenspan Olympic film crew, as well as a marketing career in technology including ShowBIZ data, Broadstream and UltraDNS. Prior to starting Caspian, she worked at Charles Schwab, producing conferences across the country.  She graduated with a degree from Utah State University, where she was awarded Woman of the Year award and the President's Leadership scholarship.  She is a strategic advisor to the Women Founders Foundation and serves on the boards of Social Venture Circle (SVC), American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC), Utah State University Alumni and on the Advisory Board for Women Founders Network (WFN.)  She has been a keynote speaker at the Western Regional MPI Conference in Las Vegas, featured speaker at Future of Cities LA, Cvent Connect Conference, Women Founders Network, Talk Forum NYC, HSMAI, LA AiP (International Association of Advisors in Philanthropy) and the Global Women’s Leadership Summit. She is an instructor for the PCMA Digital Event Strategist certificate program. Heather has been featured in Southwest Airlines, Collaborate, and Successful Meetings magazines. Mason has been named a 2020 Changemaker by MeetingsNet, a 2018 Top 500 Most Influential Event Professional by BizBash, and her event SUREFIRE was named one of the top 15 most Innovative Events of 2018 by BizBash Magazine. The film bug When she was in school, back in 1993, Heather found out about the Sundance Film Festival, and she got bitten by the film bug. She wanted to go and produce movies and thought it would be easy, so she went to Hollywood. She worked at the Fox 2000 studio, and after that, she worked for Fox TV. The internet After leaving Fox TV, she went to work as the head of marketing for two different internet companies. That took her away from Los Angeles to the Bay Area.  Producing events A friend told her that producing events is a lot like producing movies. She had no job at the time, so she decided to give it a try, and ended up working as an event manager for the next three years. That was when she learned to use a third-party agency to augment her team, and she did events all around the country. She then learned how to do what a third-party agency does. Save the world Heather wanted to save the world, so she decided that if she was going to start her own company, she only wanted to work with people who were saving the world.  Caspian So she quit her job, and with just $1400 in the bank, she started the Caspian Agency. Quora Heather became part of a civic learning platform for high school and college students, called Quora. For a brief time, they had a learning program to teach professionals how their city works, how they could engage in the democratic process, and how to become a more active citizen.  Skoll Foundation Through the program, Heather met someone who worked at the Skoll Foundation. She was looking for an event manager to do one event. The Skoll Foundation then became her client for the next fifteen years. If you want to have faith and believe in the world If you want to have and believe in the world, Heather suggests that you look at what the Skoll Foundation does. Go to www.skoll.org to read all about them. The foundation funds, connects, and celebrates social entrepreneurs. They look for those social entrepreneurs who are using business to change the world for good.  Heather Mason’s social entrepreneurship Heather Mason had never before heard of social entrepreneurship, and when she learned about it, she thought it was cool! After getting the Skoll Foundation as her client, she started getting to know all the different organizations in that world, and from there, she got many referrals. She found that once she started working in that group of foundations, things began to build on themselves because she learned all the different initiatives and knew the language. Revolution, not evolution Heather thinks that the revolution is here if we want it. She thinks this time of chaos and disruption is a lot like what was happening back in the dot-com days. During any time of disruption, things tend to rise like a phoenix from the flame. They can get better because the disruption allows for the deconstruction of the systems and models that we had accepted were written in stone, that we see are just written in the matrix. Recreating the industry in a better way People in organizations don’t know what to do currently. Those event producers who are not afraid of authority, responsibility, failure, or experimenting can own the industry and recreate it in a better way. Project managers Project managers are traditionally able to usurp the formal order chart when they are in charge of a worldwide project. Heather feels that event producers should be the same way.  The massive opportunity that Heather Mason sees Heather Mason sees that there is a massive opportunity now to revolutionize the industry. There is no option right now for people to stay at the same level and do logistics because that will trend downward into commoditization. Men, money, and materials  Heather feels that women need to learn the mantra, “men, money, and materials”. She explains that the women she works with are afraid to take on any more responsibility because they think they will have to do everything themselves. In the military, however, when an order gets given, the person always says “yes” no matter what the job is, and then they will ask for the men, money, and materials to accomplish the job.  Having authority When you have authority, you do not have to know how to build the bridge. You need to know how to direct people to build the bridge, and you need the men, money, and materials to do it. Fears Heather had lots of fears and made a lot of mistakes along the way. Now that she’s on the other side of pushing back, however, she sees that her fears were nothing more than the matrix talking to her and telling her stories that were not true. A life of hesitancy A life of hesitancy has a lot of sacrifices to it. A life of fear has sacrifices in it. Heather would rather have the sacrifice that the risky life and the bold life offer. Five people Five different people changed Heather’s life when she was fifteen. They helped her transform from being a hesitant, shy, frightened, introverted girl into someone who could see that a life of boldness had fewer sacrifices.   Among them were a walking coach, a presentation coach, her history teacher, and a dance teacher.  Surefire Heather thinks we all have a responsibility to pass on and pay forward what people have done for us.   Surefire is a collective impact model meant to go in any major metropolitan area. They get 20 girls from different schools to be ambassadors. They have to supply topics that girls want to talk about the most. They then go into the community and find all the organizations that serve girls and youth, and have a one-day conference and a community village where all the organizations get set up around the main stage to help the girls.   The future of conferences  The future of conferences for the organizations Heather works for means expanding the idea of having global audiences. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Heather On Website On LinkedIn