A must read:
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
The Next Generation of Speakers Bureaus
The internet has impacted the speaking industry in many ways. For one, access to talent has become increasingly transparent. Ten years ago a speakers bureau may have successfully relied upon, and benefited greatly from, its employees' and speakers' collective rolodexes for access to top speakers - and consequently may have developed a reason for clients to rely on them. As the internet grew, the value of this protected rolodex diminished as consumers gained easier direct access to talent through Google, Yahoo, and other search engines. Secondly, the rise of blogging and social media has provided tech savvy speakers the opportunity to promote themselves online and gain even greater visibility without the need of a bureau to promote them; speakers such as Gary Vaynerchuk and Chris Brogan have even written books about how to best leverage these web publishing tools for self-promotion and speaking opportunities. For a speakers bureau, the days of protecting information about how to find access to speakers are gone.
For a speakers bureau to win business today and remain competitive, there are two angles on which to focus:
First, do an excellent job at covering the basics. You will put yourself in an excellent position to win business by providing excellent recommendations for your client, providing these recommendations swiftly and accurately, and including all necessary tools for your client to best review your ideas amongst their internal team. Be sure to provide up-to-date fee information, availability, and quality video of each speaker’s recent speeches. Gather all necessary information needed (When is their next committee meeting? When are they looking to make a decision? Who is the final decision maker? etc...) from the client in order to follow up with them in a timely and effective manner. Call your client prior to and immediately after their next scheduled committee meeting and take note of any potential changes in their direction leading up to, or as a result of, their meeting. This attention to detail will allow you the opportunity to re-align your recommendations and have the first shot at winning any potential business. Repeat this process until your client's team has decided (with your help) which speaker would make the most sense for their conference's or meeting's desired outcome. If you have protected yourself throughout this process by keeping all potential speakers in the loop about your client's progress, you should soon be in a position to secure the booking for the speaker and your client.
Secondly, you must have an engine dedicated to the recruitment of new talent. Traditionally, in order to be effective in talent recruitment your team needs to keep a close eye on current events, and again - move quickly. When the BP oil spill made international headlines earlier this year, former CEO of Shell Oil, founder of Citizens for Affordable Energy , and author of Why We Hate the Oil Companies, John Hofmeister became a sought after panelist and speaker for news outlets and conferences. Adding new talent to your agency’s roster is extremely important in today's competitive space ,as it not only drives inquiries to your account reps (therefore providing more opportunities to deliver excellent customer service), but it also raises your awareness inside the marketplace and differentiates your team from the hundreds of mom-and-pop speakers bureaus.
Executing these two facets well (along with quality branding, marketing, leadership, and relationships) should provide the engine needed to remain competitive.
However, with that being said, I have seen indicators for new platforms of speaking bureaus all together.
If an organization can find ways to automate activities required for either providing quality service or building a talent roster, we may see some interesting advancements in the industry.
There are two sites that come to mind when I think about this development: 1) SpeakerSite and 2) SpeakerWiki. Both have found ways to automate the development of their talent rosters and put the publishing tools in the hands of the speakers or their end clients.
SpeakerSite is a Ning based social networking platform dedicated to the career advancement of speakers. The Ning platform lends itself naturally to this idea and SpeakerSite founder Artie Isaac has done a tremendous job customizing the platform to mesh with the industry.
The advantages: For speakers looking to gain more exposure in the marketplace and build a book of business, this seems like a great place to start. Artie's slogan “Because everyone has a message. And every message has an audience” plays well into this idea. The old days of speakers having to beat on the doors of bureaus in order to be listed on bureau websites, or for a chance to pitch the bureaus on why they should recommend the speaker to the bureau's clients, are fading into the past. SpeakerSite has gained exposure within industry publications, and Ning provides web 2.0 tools for the speakers to easily share their profiles and activity elsewhere on the internet. There is a menu item to "book a speaker" across the top of the website, and if you are a client looking for inexpensive speakers to fill out your conference, this may be a source to add to your list.
The drawbacks: Although providing speakers an opportunity to boost their exposure in a collective effort may benefit the group and ultimately bring in business, the "behind the scenes" mechanics of booking a speaker and providing customer service is not any different than if you were to deal with a traditional speakers bureau. In other words, the automation on SpeakerSite clearly has everything to do with the networking of speakers, and nothing to do with the mechanics of securing a booking itself or providing quality service.
SpeakerWiki uses the open source platform OpenWiki (similar to MediaWiki which is used to power Wikipedia.org) and the idea behind SpeakerWiki is to accelerate the advancement of industry transparency around fees, contact information, and quality of individuals on the speaking circuit.
The advantages: SpeakerWiki founder, Andrew Brooks, has spent some time in the agency world and the efficient structure of his site shows it. SpeakerWiki's welcome message states:
Speaker Wiki is a free-content speaker encyclopedia that has been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Speaker Wiki exists to help speakers and event planners by providing clearer information about speakers and building stronger community.
I have seen this site build momentum, and as it continues to snowball, it may become an effective industry resource and collective talent roster for clients, speakers, and agents. Although there is no invitation on the site to submit an inquiry for actually booking a speaker -- and no indication elsewhere that it has any interest in functioning as a speakers bureau -- the organic growth of the site demonstrates the value in targeting an unfed appetite in the industry for people to contribute to a collective talent roster.
The drawbacks: SpeakerWiki is a site that greatly upsets me. Not because it's bad, but because it is so good at what it does, and because I wanted to do something like this last year but was unable to do so for multiple reasons (I guess there's a bit of the green monster coming out).
So where does this leave us?
The speakers bureau of the future should marry self-generated talent rosters (as seen on Speakerwiki and Speakersite) with a system that automates the booking process. This includes serving up recommendations and reviews from multiple speaking agencies and sources, while also empowering the end users to take the drivers seat as it relates to the logistical necessities of securing talent, (sourcing, reviewing, checking availablity, submitting offers, negotiating contracts, making payments, and promoting the event) thereby creating an environment where the account reps deliver excellent customer service by helping the clients to navigate an already user friendly experience.
For a speakers bureau to win business today and remain competitive, there are two angles on which to focus:
First, do an excellent job at covering the basics. You will put yourself in an excellent position to win business by providing excellent recommendations for your client, providing these recommendations swiftly and accurately, and including all necessary tools for your client to best review your ideas amongst their internal team. Be sure to provide up-to-date fee information, availability, and quality video of each speaker’s recent speeches. Gather all necessary information needed (When is their next committee meeting? When are they looking to make a decision? Who is the final decision maker? etc...) from the client in order to follow up with them in a timely and effective manner. Call your client prior to and immediately after their next scheduled committee meeting and take note of any potential changes in their direction leading up to, or as a result of, their meeting. This attention to detail will allow you the opportunity to re-align your recommendations and have the first shot at winning any potential business. Repeat this process until your client's team has decided (with your help) which speaker would make the most sense for their conference's or meeting's desired outcome. If you have protected yourself throughout this process by keeping all potential speakers in the loop about your client's progress, you should soon be in a position to secure the booking for the speaker and your client.
Secondly, you must have an engine dedicated to the recruitment of new talent. Traditionally, in order to be effective in talent recruitment your team needs to keep a close eye on current events, and again - move quickly. When the BP oil spill made international headlines earlier this year, former CEO of Shell Oil, founder of Citizens for Affordable Energy , and author of Why We Hate the Oil Companies, John Hofmeister became a sought after panelist and speaker for news outlets and conferences. Adding new talent to your agency’s roster is extremely important in today's competitive space ,as it not only drives inquiries to your account reps (therefore providing more opportunities to deliver excellent customer service), but it also raises your awareness inside the marketplace and differentiates your team from the hundreds of mom-and-pop speakers bureaus.
Executing these two facets well (along with quality branding, marketing, leadership, and relationships) should provide the engine needed to remain competitive.
However, with that being said, I have seen indicators for new platforms of speaking bureaus all together.
If an organization can find ways to automate activities required for either providing quality service or building a talent roster, we may see some interesting advancements in the industry.
There are two sites that come to mind when I think about this development: 1) SpeakerSite and 2) SpeakerWiki. Both have found ways to automate the development of their talent rosters and put the publishing tools in the hands of the speakers or their end clients.
SpeakerSite is a Ning based social networking platform dedicated to the career advancement of speakers. The Ning platform lends itself naturally to this idea and SpeakerSite founder Artie Isaac has done a tremendous job customizing the platform to mesh with the industry.
The advantages: For speakers looking to gain more exposure in the marketplace and build a book of business, this seems like a great place to start. Artie's slogan “Because everyone has a message. And every message has an audience” plays well into this idea. The old days of speakers having to beat on the doors of bureaus in order to be listed on bureau websites, or for a chance to pitch the bureaus on why they should recommend the speaker to the bureau's clients, are fading into the past. SpeakerSite has gained exposure within industry publications, and Ning provides web 2.0 tools for the speakers to easily share their profiles and activity elsewhere on the internet. There is a menu item to "book a speaker" across the top of the website, and if you are a client looking for inexpensive speakers to fill out your conference, this may be a source to add to your list.
The drawbacks: Although providing speakers an opportunity to boost their exposure in a collective effort may benefit the group and ultimately bring in business, the "behind the scenes" mechanics of booking a speaker and providing customer service is not any different than if you were to deal with a traditional speakers bureau. In other words, the automation on SpeakerSite clearly has everything to do with the networking of speakers, and nothing to do with the mechanics of securing a booking itself or providing quality service.
SpeakerWiki uses the open source platform OpenWiki (similar to MediaWiki which is used to power Wikipedia.org) and the idea behind SpeakerWiki is to accelerate the advancement of industry transparency around fees, contact information, and quality of individuals on the speaking circuit.
The advantages: SpeakerWiki founder, Andrew Brooks, has spent some time in the agency world and the efficient structure of his site shows it. SpeakerWiki's welcome message states:
Speaker Wiki is a free-content speaker encyclopedia that has been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Speaker Wiki exists to help speakers and event planners by providing clearer information about speakers and building stronger community.
I have seen this site build momentum, and as it continues to snowball, it may become an effective industry resource and collective talent roster for clients, speakers, and agents. Although there is no invitation on the site to submit an inquiry for actually booking a speaker -- and no indication elsewhere that it has any interest in functioning as a speakers bureau -- the organic growth of the site demonstrates the value in targeting an unfed appetite in the industry for people to contribute to a collective talent roster.
The drawbacks: SpeakerWiki is a site that greatly upsets me. Not because it's bad, but because it is so good at what it does, and because I wanted to do something like this last year but was unable to do so for multiple reasons (I guess there's a bit of the green monster coming out).
So where does this leave us?
The speakers bureau of the future should marry self-generated talent rosters (as seen on Speakerwiki and Speakersite) with a system that automates the booking process. This includes serving up recommendations and reviews from multiple speaking agencies and sources, while also empowering the end users to take the drivers seat as it relates to the logistical necessities of securing talent, (sourcing, reviewing, checking availablity, submitting offers, negotiating contracts, making payments, and promoting the event) thereby creating an environment where the account reps deliver excellent customer service by helping the clients to navigate an already user friendly experience.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Collaborative Impact Speakers
Am looking for interactive speakers that can speak to how collaboration can make an impact... any ideas??
Nando Parrado Documentary Premiers Wednesday on HISTORY
Nando is in high demand for groups looking for a keynote speaker on leadership, teamwork, crisis management, friendship, family, love and the power of the human spirit. He recently was on the cover of Speaker magazine, and I highly recommend him. I hope you get to view this documentary. 
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Ambassador Jim Glassman - Speaker, Moderator, Writer, Analyst, Economist
We just had a panel at the US Chamber of Commerce yesterday and Ambassador Jim Glassman was our moderator. A few notes on what he brings to the table:
Ambassador Glassman provides a unique combination for audiences. His subject is The Political Economy. He explains, in up-to-the-minute fashion, how the economy will influence politics, and how politics will influence the economy. He has a unique perspective. He’s not just a political speaker, and he’s not just an economic speaker. He does both – and shows how politics and economics are intertwined and what their interaction means for business.
Ambassador Glassman knows Washington politics and policy – having served as editor of Roll Call, the congressional newspaper, and having been a high-level government official and a think tank scholar. AND he knows economics – having written an economic and financial column for more than a decade, testified in Congress many times, and served as a trusted advisor to such companies as Intel and AT&T.
Here is what he can tell you organization:
- Will taxes rise? What is the shape of new tax policy?
- How will unemployment affect the results of the 2010 and 2012 elections?
- What are the chances for regulatory changes on Wall Street, and what will those changes mean to you?
- How will health reform play out in practice?
- What will happen with trade and immigration?
- Will America regain its technology edge?
- How will politics affect competition with India and China?
Personally I found him to be incredibly insightful and entertaining, he did a terrific job maintaining the flow of the conversation with the other panelists and incorporating the audiences questions into the dialog.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)