Here we are at the end of another year! If your year hasn’t gone according to plan, you’re not alone. Be it the economic meltdown, the meetings industry crisis, or other circumstances, 2009 has been “interesting.” There’s always much to be thankful for, though, and we’re very grateful here at The Speakers Group. Thank you for reading our blog; thank you for allowing us to be of service as you seek out the best speakers for your meetings. From all of us at TSG, we wish you a wonderful 2010! May it be your best year yet! Please let us know how we can help you toward that goal.

Now, since this is a blog after all, what better way to close out the year than to revisit our nine most-viewed blog posts of 2009:

1. Social Media Speakers: 10 to Know
   Social Media / Social Networking has been on most everyone’s mind this year. Corporations, associations, hospitals, and even government entities have sought out social media expert speakers to help their attendees better understand the relevance of the social web in their endeavors. To help event planners in their search for a social media speaker, we published this starter list of “10 to know.” Our roster of social media speakers has grown since then, so you may want to check out our more extensive listing at http://SocMedSpkrs.com as you plan for 2010.
2. Twitter for Meeting Planners: How to Make It Work for You
   You may remember 2009 as the “year of the recession” or “year of the meetings industry crisis,” but it was also the year of Twitter. We all had to figure out where Twitter fit into our business, including meeting planners. Twitter offers some great opportunities in managing events and connecting with attendees, and we offered a few tips in this post.
3. 9 Business Speakers You Need to Know in 2009
   To kick off the year, we highlighted nine business speakers who were either well established and as relevant as ever, or who were on the way up with some fresh insights. If you’re planning events in 2010, these are still some great speakers for your consideration, addressing topics such as sales, leadership, employee morale and marketing.
4. Janine Driver on Body Language and Successful Selling
   We first came to know Janine Driver after an appearance on The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch. She’s a dynamic, engaging speaker, and a leading expert on reading body language who helps business professionals make this skill a powerful tool in their repertoire.
5. TSG Keynotes Magazine
   Seth Godin wrote in his blog this week that “The scalable, profitable strategy [of differentiation] is to change the game, not to become the most average.” In the speakers bureau world, everyone says “we have the best service” or “we have the best speakers.” The truth is, most of us have really good service, and most of us have the same great speakers. We’re trying to change the game here at The Speakers Group, though, thinking of ourselves as Speakers Bureau 2.0. It’s a work in progress, but TSG Keynotes came as a result of this mentality. Instead of publishing another speakers bureau catalog — which is no different than what you can find online — we published, for the first time, a mini-magazine packed with helpful meeting planning/speaker booking insights rather than speaker profiles. Our aim: to be a meeting planner’s or business leader’s most valuable partner for booking speakers. How can we be better for you? Let us know.
6. Top Motivational Speakers on Video
   When you’re ready to book a speaker, what is your #1 evaluation tool? Usually, it’s a speaker preview video. In this blog post, we put together a few videos from top motivational speakers. Want to see our full – and growing – library of online speaker videos? Visit our online speaker video viewing room here.
7. Social Media and Your Meeting: No Longer An Optional Topic
   The social media topic is back! Three of our top nine blog posts of 2009 relate to social media – another testament to the relevance of this topic this year? In this blog post, we highlighted how far-reaching social media is, affecting various industries and meeting types. Have you included social media in your meetings this year? We’d love to hear your story in the comments section below. Any advice to share with your fellow planners?
8. Peter Guber Interview – The MAGIC is Story
   I had the pleasure of sitting down with Peter just a few blocks from his office in Hollywood last year – wow, what a guy! Peter is a business genius – just look at his resume – and one of the most charismatic speakers I’ve seen. As one of the most successful entertainment executives of all time, Peter knows what makes a good story, and he brings those insights to business audiences nationwide. He’s a pretty fresh face on the speaking circuit, so if you’re looking for a dynamic addition to your meeting agenda in 2010, give us a call and we’d love to help you consider Peter.
9. The Cat’s Pajamas Video – A Cappella Corporate Event Entertainment
   At #9, it’s The Cat’s Pajamas! Never heard of them? I hadn’t either until I happened upon this quartet singing in a lounge on a cruise a couple of years ago. There are many great a capella groups to choose from, but you won’t find a foursome more talented and entertaining than these guys — and they’re budget friendly! Watch this highlight video if you’re looking to add some “wow!” and fun to your event in 2010.

And with that, 2009 is in the books. Thanks again for stopping by, and I hope we’ll have the chance to work together in the year ahead. Happy New Year!

Posted under Corporate Entertainment, Event Management, Motivational Speakers, Planner Tips, Social Media Speakers, Speaker News

When corporate comedian Judy Carter was selected to be the closing keynoter for Hong Kong’s top business leaders, she realized she had a problem: “How would my American comedy translate to an Asian audience?” she wondered. The problem was magnified when, after giving the client an outline of her talk, they responded with a list of 45 items she couldn’t mention – including the economy, relationships, and even, dogs. What’s a comedian to do?!

Judy Carter in China

Judy wondered how she could take her humor – and all of its American references – and translate it to be funny for the Asian corporate culture. Then, bingo!

“I realized that there’s one thing that unites all of us,” Judy said. “No, it’s not love. It’s technology! Whether you live in Kansas, New York, or Beijing, computers, emails, and system breakdowns are the new international language of despair.”

So, with her revelation, Judy created a new talk that featured the “Top Signs You Have Too Much Tech Stress.” Among them:

• When you talk without your blackberry, your thumbs still move
• You stay in a bad relationship – because you can’t handle any new upgrades
• You’re up at 3am to go to the bathroom and you check your email on the way back to bed
• You find yourself arguing with inanimate objects
• You have to text your kid to take out the trash
• When your friend tells you about a “hot looking server at Hooters” you think he’s talking about the IBM networked to the cash register

The end result? Judy was a hit! (Read the article in the South China Morning Post.)

Clients – from coast to coast and around the world! – consistently rave about Judy Carter. If you’re looking for a “comedy makeover” completely customized for your event, to help your attendees battle a depressed economy, consider Judy. You’ll be glad you did!

Posted under Corporate Entertainment, Corporate Entertainment Reviews, Keynote Speaker Reviews, Motivational Speakers, Speaker News, Speaker Recommendations

Everyone is looking for brilliant economic insight and commentary these days, trying to find any tidbit of wisdom that may help them survive and even thrive in these challenging times. Good luck with that! What follows is not likely to help your bank account or your balance sheet, but it may give you a laugh. Here is corporate comedian Harry Freedman’s advice on how to manage your finances in today’s market:

The automakers fly to Washington in private jets. The 350 billion dollar bank bailout has vanished from sight faster then Siegfried and Roy. And my kid still wants an Ipod for Hanukkah.

So what do we do? Well, before you jump off a tall building, or a bridge to nowhere, let’s consider the worst. A lot of people are probably going to lose their jobs, and some of them may become so desperate, they turn to crime. Ironically, that actually helps matters. Because the crime victims then have to replace their stolen valuables and their purchases stimulate the economy, which creates more jobs, etc, etc, which means, the worse things get now, the better off it will actually be later.

So, now that you’ve calmed down, let’s talk about how to stay afloat. First, make sure, whatever small amount is left of your investments are properly allocated. Most experts recommend a diversified portfolio that includes stocks, mutual funds, precious metals, and fear.

There are many schools of thought about what makes a good investment. For some, it’s securities, for some it’s bonds, and for practitioners of The Secret, it’s the belief that if you send money out into the world, it will come back fully grow, which unfortunately, seems to have only worked for the actual author of The Secret.

Next, invest by using income averaging. This is the system whereby you contribute a regular amount of your income every week, so you only lose a little bit at a time, rather then watch everything plunge into a financial black hole simultaneously.

The most important thing to do, is never, ever, under any circumstances, take advice from Suzy Orman, who’s main theory, is that if you stop drinking Starbucks coffee, and invest it at 10% interest, you’d have 200 billion dollars by the time you’re 35. I have 2 problems with that. First, I don’t trust anybody who doesn’t drink coffee, and second, who the heck gets 10% interest?

If you really want to save money, a cup of coffee is miniscule compared to the amount you can save by simply cheating on your taxes. Now, I know it’s illegal and all, but even if you get audited, it’s easy to avoid penalties by keeping your records properly. Notice, I didn’t say keeping your records neat. I said keeping them properly. Because, while most accountants recommend that you maintain your statements in an organized manner, it actually makes it too easy for the IRS to hang you. In contrast, if you keep all your receipts properly, in a large smelly box filled with thousands of old gum wrappers, dirty Q-tips, oily rags, used tissues, dental floss, and other unsanitary remnants of your disgusting existence on this planet, even the most diligent agent will weary of trying to sort through a mound of personal contents that belong in a toxic landfill.

Harry Freedman has performed corporate comedy put-ons and emceed for hundreds of Fortune 1000 companies, some of which have since gone under, including Arthur Anderson, Anderson consulting, Anderson Cooper, and pretty much the entire Anderson family. To learn more about Harry, watch some funny video clips, and see if he may be a fit for some of your future programs, visit his web site at http://harryfreedman.net/.

Posted under Corporate Entertainment, Speaker News

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The Cat’s Pajamas are an explosive a cappella vocal band from Madison, WI. Singing everything from classic rock to doo wop, from barbershop to hits you hear on the radio today, The Cat’s Pajamas repertoire transcends typical genre tastes and is sure to thrill the audience at your corporate meeting, association convention or other special event!

Since their inception in 2005, The Cat’s Pajamas have participated in the TV show, The Next Great American Band, where they advanced to the top 30 bands out of a field of 14,000. They also finished in the top 10 for the national Oreo Cookie Jingle Competition hosted by Randy Jackson, have been seen on the Oprah Winfrey Show, have two full-length albums, and have toured internationally as guest entertainers on multiple cruise lines.

The Cat’s Pajamas are able to perform at any venue of any size from 10 to 10,000 people. They have performed in Arts Centers, Parades, Festivals, Weddings, Corporate Meetings, Schools, Theme Parks, and Cruise Ships. If you’re looking for unique, engaging, high-energy entertainment for your next meeting or conference, look no further!

To learn more about The Cat’s Pajamas vocal band, view their profile on The Speakers Group’s web site at http://www.thespeakersgroup.com/The_Cat’s Pajamas, or contact The Speakers Group today.

Posted under Corporate Entertainment, Entertainment Videos