The online edition of MPI’s June 2009 One+ magazine includes an article about how meeting and event professionals can manage speaker costs in the current economic climate: “Talk Ain’t Cheap: How to secure a speaker for your event with as little fiscal pain as possible.” Robert Farmer, author of the article, writes:

For planners, the art becomes how to contain speaker costs. Indeed, there are methods in which savvy planners can manage the cost of their keynotes, while also delivering a program about which their clients will surely be talking. The trick is to work with speakers and their agents to ensure both parties get what they need from the deal.

The article also includes insights from Sam Silverstein, president of the National Speakers Association, Marc Reede, president of Nationwide Speakers, and The Speakers Group’s own founder and president, Shawn Ellis. Ellis spoke of how some speakers are helping planners by discounting their fees, while others are doing so by adding value to their engagements:

“…I think the value-added element is what’s really occurring these days, and there is a wide range of ways in which that can play out. Speakers are offering everything from follow-up webinars along with their keynotes to doing breakout sessions and offering more in terms of takeaways.” [This is the essence of The Speakers Group's ROI Speakers initiative.]

While “adding value” doesn’t take money off the top of a speaker’s fee, it does have financial benefits to planners, which is discussed in the article as well our “Think Added Value” blog post here.

In the end, Farmer hits the nail on the head when he writes, “Cooperation among planners and speakers remains the key to success on both ends.” Read the full “Talk Ain’t Cheap” article on MPI’s web site here.

Posted under Book Review, Event Management, Planner Tips

photo credit: Wesley Fryer

So you’re booking speakers for your event and you find that your budget just won’t stretch as far as it used to. Maybe it’s because of cutbacks related to the economy. Maybe it’s because the speaker you want just had a #1 bestseller which caused a spike in demand and, as a result, keynote fees. Whatever the reason, it can be a frustrating predicament. What do you do?

There are two obvious approaches to your situation:

1. Try to negotiate a lower fee with speakers.
2. Shift your search to speakers whose fees are already in your budget range.

Both have spotty rates of success, though. As a better alternative, look for speakers who have made either temporary adjustments to their fee schedules in light of the challenges facing meeting planners today. For example, Vince Poscente, a best-selling author and one of the most popular motivational keynote speakers on the event circuit recently reduced his fee from $25,000 to $12,500 for an indefinite term. Also, Dr. Jackie Freiberg and Dr. Kevin Freiberg have offered “limited-time-only” (until May 31, 2009) discounts of 25-44% on their keynote fees. These instances are rare and not always well-publicized, but a speakers bureau partner can help you stay informed. If you are able to take advantage of these special deals, it’s a great way to meet your budget as well as your audience members’ high expectations.

While reducing your speaker expenditure is the most obvious way to address your budget constraints, it is not your only option. The other approach is to build additional value into your speaker engagement rather than just cut dollars off the top. “But I only have $X to spend. I can’t ignore that!” Of course not. But consider this:

Jackie Freiberg, mentioned above, has a keynote coming up with a corporate client and to increase the value of their engagement, she has taped six video segments that are being presented, one per month via internal webcast, to meeting attendees as a preview and teaser of coming attractions. The client finds that this adds to the educational value of the engagement and also helps to boost attendance at the meeting.

In that case, wouldn’t it make sense, then, for some other departments or budget line items to share in the cost of hiring Jackie? Perhaps the education department, or training and development, or HR, or marketing? Jackie didn’t charge any additional fee to tape her video segments, so whatever funds the other department/line item contributes represents a direct savings for you.

Similarly, Dr. Joseph Michelli also goes “beyond the keynote” to add value to his speaking engagements. Among the bonus services he offers:

• Customized marketing support, in the form of audio or video messages produced by Dr. Michelli
• Written customized articles for inclusion in websites, newsletters, etc. to pique interest in the keynote
• Complimentary resources for participants such as free weekly podcasts and quarterly newsletters
• Complimentary post-event webinar hosted by Dr. Michelli

So again, could you get some financial support from your event’s marketing budget for Joseph’s pre-event support? Would your communications department buy into the articles he could provide? Would your training department underwrite his post-event webinar?

Many speakers are capable of doing much more than just delivering a 60-minute keynote at your meeting. When you incorporate some of these value-adds – particularly those that extend beyond the boundaries of your meeting – into your engagement, not only do you get much more “bang for your buck,” but you also uncover multiple opportunities to maximize your buying power by partnering with others in your organization.

If you would like additional insight on how to create these high-value engagements, check out The Speakers Group’s ROI Speakers initiative. You’ll find a fun, five-minute video that demonstrates the power of an “ROI” engagement versus a “regular” engagement, and you can also read a free white paper/special report about how to maximize the value of your speaker bookings.

Posted under Motivational Speakers

Benchmark Hospitality International announced its “Top Ten Meeting Trends for 2009″ in March, based on observations from their 30 conference hotels, resorts and conference centers in the United States and Asia. A few notable highlights:

Trend #1: The Business of Meetings is Business

This year more than ever before, the business of meetings is straight-up ROI. There’s not a lot of room for leisure and extracurricular play in the current meeting environment where every single dollar is measured for its contribution to the success of the overall conference.

Meetings have never been more serious, focused, or strategic — or more regional, for that matter, as transportation expenses are trimmed. It’s good news for conference centers, which are all about serious meeting environments.

(If ROI is the aim with your meetings, check out our ROI Speakers initiative and read our free special report about how to maximize the value of your speaker bookings.)

Trend #3: We’ll Get Back to you in Six Months

Across Benchmark Hospitality’s portfolio, the first half of 2009 is proving to be a challenge with a lot of in-the-month-for-the-month meetings booked. Push-back on pricing is universal and meeting lengths are being shaved by a day, on average.

Things are looking up in the 2nd half of 2009 though. Booking pace is in recovery for the second half of the year and 2010 is on target and looking healthy.

Trend #4: Stuffed, Packed, Studded with Value!

The demise of the complete meeting package is greatly exaggerated! For the most part, demand remains strong and the value of the package – and in Benchmark’s case the company’s branded Benchmark Conference Plan — is recognized. But packages are expected to be loaded with value, add-on benefits, and, get this, there’s a growing demand for double occupancy.

Although packages are negotiated with the usual rates, dates and space considerations, today’s negotiations linger on and on and on with planners watching every penny as meeting budgets are cut from 10 percent to slash & burn proportions. Every meeting dollar must be measurable and welcome receptions, afternoons of leisure, and special dinner events are out. Working lunches and dinners, regional gatherings, doubling up in guestrooms, and value-added options are what’s in this year!

(We’re also helping meeting organizers create more value-packed speaker engagements. For instance, why book just a keynote, when for the same fee or a relatively small additional fee, you could create a sustainable, long-term learning experience with an additional workshop, article series, podcasts, webinars, video vignettes, or other follow-up content? Again, visit ROI Speakers to learn more.)

Trend #10: Getting Serious About Learning Environments

Productive meeting environments have never been more put to the test or proven their worth more actively than right now. In a business environment where every dollar – every penny for that matter — is meaningful and expected to yield a measurable ROI, dedicated meeting environments like conference centers deliver and planners are turning to them.

Ok, they may lack the glamour of center city hotels, or the status of landmark properties, or the sex-appeal of exotic resorts, but that’s a unique selling proposition these days.

Conference centers deliver on the promise of a dedicated and focused learning environment, are wired for maximum productivity, provide high quality yet non-extravagant food & beverage, offer pleasant and comfortable guestroom accommodations, and importantly, provide dedicated conference service support. In short, serious meeting environments for serious times.

To read the full list of the top ten meeting trends of 2009, click here.

Posted under Event Management, Organizational Excellence, Planner Tips

Sometimes, you just need a keynote speaker – someone who will “wow” your audience for an hour or so and leave them with some intriguing thoughts to ponder. Sometimes, you need something more.

If you want to go beyond the keynote and create a real, high-impact learning experience for your attendees, you want ROI Speakers. A completely consultative service from The Speakers Group, we will work with you to assess your unique needs and objectives and then implement a customized solution that provides much more than just an outstanding speaker for your program – all within your budget.

Watch this fun, five-minute video for a demonstration of the ROI Speakers difference:

For more information, visit http://ROIspeakers.com or call us at 615.526.6600.

Posted under Event Management, Leadership Development, Organizational Excellence, Planner Tips

NASHVILLE, Tenn., April 22, 2009 — Responding to the unique pressures facing its clients and others in the meetings industry as a result of sensational media coverage, government regulations, and reduced budgets, The Speakers Group has launched a new initiative, ROI Speakers (http://www.ROIspeakers.com), to help planners add value to their meetings and events — and increase ROI, or return on investment — by rethinking their use of professional speakers.

“Now more than ever, event planners can’t afford — literally or figuratively — to invest thousands of dollars in a speaker who shines for an hour, but whose impact is at risk of fading as soon as the session ends,” said Shawn Ellis, founder and president of The Speakers Group. “With ROI Speakers, we’re helping our clients engage speakers in ways that are aligned with legitimate business purposes, and that can be sustained well beyond the conclusion of the meeting.”

One of the keys to the ROI Speakers service is The Speakers Group’s requirement that all participating speakers meet three criteria:

1. Speakers must conduct significant pre-event research.
2. Speakers must deliver a customized presentation guided by findings of the pre-event research.
3. Speakers must offer one or more options for post-event content delivery to sustain the keynote message.

The result is an impressive roster of thought leaders and experts featuring names such as Marcus Buckingham, Kevin and Jackie Freiberg, and Patrick Lencioni, among others — including lesser-known authorities with fees as low as $10,000.

Further differentiating ROI Speakers is the completely consultative nature of the service. Every engagement begins with a needs assessment with the meeting organizer followed by a custom solution proposal. While the goal remains to secure a speaker who will receive high ratings on-site, the ultimate mission is to secure a speaker whose engagement will stimulate long-term, measurable results.

“Meeting planners should not be afraid of holding meetings, and they shouldn’t be afraid of investing money in speakers,” Ellis said. “They just need to define and defend the value of their programs, and ROI Speakers is one way we can help them in that endeavor.”

To learn more about ROI Speakers solutions, visit http://www.ROIspeakers.com and watch the five-minute video titled “The ROI Speakers Difference.” Also available on the site is a free special report: “How to Maximize the Value of Your Speaker Bookings.”

About The Speakers Group

Since 2003, The Speakers Group has been connecting meeting professionals and organizational leaders with high-content, relevant speakers who combine substance with style. Known for its friendly, knowledgeable service, the company is also considered to be one of the most innovative speakers bureaus in the country. To learn more about The Speakers Group, please visit us at http://www.thespeakersgroup.com, check out our blog at http://www.thespeakersgroup.com/blog, and follow our founder on Twitter at http://twitter.com/shawntsg.

Posted under Event Management, Leadership Development, Motivational Speakers, Organizational Excellence, Planner Tips