Inside The Greenroom | AYR

Welcome to Inside the Greenroom! Today we speak with the founder and CEO of Acceleration Partners, a global marketing agency, Robert Glazer.

Gain some major insight into a foundation that will help launch you into a consistent long term virtual team, content marketing, and thought leadership. Robert is a master at content strategy and how you can stretch your content to gain stages, audiences, and even “breakthrough” and start to show the impact of your brand. 

Speakers, learn about overcoming biases for agency speakers, how you can gain more audience by branding yourself as a speaker separately from your company, and building an inbound demand. 

If you’re an Event planners or entrepreneur you’ll want to hear how direct connections and generosity can bring in some amazing opportunities and clients to take your event and business to the next level. 

Here’s what we cover:

• Building World-Class Remote Culture 
• How a book can be a breakthrough tool
• How important is it actually to have the CEO as the main voice 
• How Robert grew a huge newsletter
• How companies transition to Collective Thought Leadership
• Why Robert never sells from stage 
• Overcoming biases for agency speakers 
• Building inbound demand for speaking 
• Give 110% on any stage no matter the audience size, people talk
• How to make the most out of your content with Content strategy
• And much more!

LINKS:

Connect with Robert:

• Website: www.robertglazer.com
• Connect: robertglazer.com/connect 
• Newsletter: www.robertglazer.com/fridayfwd
• Book: geni.us/ELEVATE/
• Acceleration Partners: www.accelerationpartners.com

Learn More About our Stage Agency: 

www.advanceyourreach.com/stage-agency

[email protected]

Connect with Blair:

• [email protected] 

Connect with us:

• Facebook: ​​www.facebook.com/advanceyourreach
• Website:​​ advanceyourreach.com
• Email​: ​[email protected]

Influential Speakers in Robert’s life: 

• Cat Hoke
• JT McCormick 
• Adam Gran

Episode Minute By Minute:

• 0:02 What to expect today
• 3:17 Meet Robert
• 6:45 How Robert has leveraged and E-book
• 10:13 Conversion comes at the end
• 11:47 What to do with FAQ
• 18:32 Leveraging books for speaker
• 20:23 The roll of a CEO in content creation
• 30:21 How Robert monetized his morning routine
• 38:59 Using less energy to complete task
• 42:20 What are we doing on social media?
• 45:48 The speakers who have impacted Robert the most
• 47:43 Roberts favorite moment inside a green room

More About Robert:

Robert Glazer is the founder and CEO of Acceleration Partners, a global partner marketing agency and the recipient of numerous industry and company culture awards, including Glassdoor’s Employees’ Choice Awards two years in a row. He is the author of the inspirational newsletter Friday Forward, author the Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller, Elevate, and of the international bestselling book, Performance Partnerships.  He is a sought-after speaker by companies and organizations around the world and is the host of The Elevate Podcast.

As websters dictionary describes it, self-awareness is the “conscious knowledge of one's own character, feelings, motives, and desires.”

Today on Inside the Greenroom we switch up the pace a little bit because we believe developing relationships and your personal awareness is one of the most powerful things you can do in 2020. 

Pete and Kim Vargas invite you into a conversation with Ian Morgan Cron. He is a champion of the Enneagram, the awakener of people, and bestselling author of the popular Enneagram book, The Road Back to You. 

Learn how the enneagram has impacted every area of Pete’s life and why he believes it is the best personality assessment tool on the market.

Speakers: Learn your unconscious’s motivation and how you can leverage it.

Event Planners: Learn more about the 9 numbers and how to recognize them to create better connections with your speakers and attendees.

Entrepreneurs: You are your best asset. The more you know about yourself, the more you will get ahead! 

These are just a few examples of what you will learn from this insightful interview. Listen in and learn more about how to leverage the power of your enneagram number. 

Here’s what we cover:

• How the enneagram has enriched the Vargas’ life
• What is the Enneagram
• How Ian got into the enneagram world
• A quick overview of each number
• Why most people live on audio pilate 
• Why you want self-knowledge
• How Ian uses the enneagram in office settings
• The result of self-awareness
• Navigating a rocky relationship
• And much more

LINKS:

Connect with Ian:

• Ianmorgancron.com
• Ians Podcast
• Buy the book
• Sleeping at Last Podcast

Connect with Blair:

• [email protected] 

Learn More About our Stage Agency: 

www.advanceyourreach.com/stage-agency

[email protected]

Connect with us:

• Facebook: ​​www.facebook.com/advanceyourreach
• Website:​​ advanceyourreach.com
• Email​: ​[email protected]

Episode Minute By Minute:

• 0:02 What to expect today
• 4:31 Mett today’s guest
• 11:26 The first thing you need to think about when building a list
• 16:36 Building the right list
• 19:41 Speaking the languages of your ideal customer
• 21:16 Choosing the right privacy policy
• 24:26 Maximizing email deliverability
• 31:12 How to know if your privacy has been violated
• 34:17 Building and maintaining trust with your audience
• 37:08 The speakers that have impacted our guest the most
• 40:35 A summary of why privacy notices matter

More About Ian Morgan Cron:

Ian Morgan Cron is a champion of the Enneagram, awakener of people, and bestselling author of the popular Enneagram book, The Road Back to You. As a pioneer in the contemporary Enneagram movement, Ian is a highly sought-after speaker for large conferences and corporate boardrooms alike. 

Ian is a master teacher of the Enneagram, an ancient personality typing system that identifies nine types of people and how they relate to one another and the world. The Enneagram is a powerful tool for understanding why we behave the way we do, and how our personalities are powerfully influenced by our motivations. It provides a framework for how we can begin to live into our most authentic selves, and also reveals the wisdom each personality type can offer to others. The Enneagram is therefore not just a powerful tool for personal growth, but also a great resource for transforming our relationships in every sphere of life. In daylong workshops, Ian can provide an overview of the Enneagram, describe the nine personality types in-depth, and speak to the myriad ways in which the Enneagram can enrich our personal, professional and spiritual lives. The Enneagram is perfect for marriage and parenting seminars, church staff and lay-leadership training, corporate settings, non-profits, and board of director’s retreats.

If we were to open your inbox we would probably find it jam-packed with emails about everything from large retailers talking about their next sale to receipts from the small coffee shop down the road, shipping notifications, meeting confirmations, correspondence, and more.

Chances are, your ideal audience and customers’ inbox looks similar. So, how can we stand out?

Join Blair Bryant Nichols as he speaks with data privacy expert Jodi Daniels and digital marketer Melanie McMurrain. They talk about how you can increase your conversions, build trust with your customers, how to deal with international audiences, data protection, and so much more.

You’ll receive an upgrade to your digital marketing knowledge and what you need to do to create an ion clad “Privacy Notice”. 

Speakers: if you find yourself relying on physical stages now is the time to create a powerful email list. 

Event Planners: Learn how to prevent damage to the health of your lists. 

Entrepreneurs: Build your influence and increase conversions by a simple change in your language.

These are just a couple of examples of how this powerful interview will boost your next email campaign while protecting you and your business.

Here’s what we cover:

• Why trimming your email list can get you better results
• Why Privacy Notice Matters
• How to build trust and relationships with the customer
• How to hear what your clients are saying and cater to them
• How changing your language can increase your conversions
• Understanding how to create a privacy notice & where your audience is coming from 
• How to show up in an email and increase your open emails
• Privacy Notice Requirements 
• What to avoid when marketing for your audience
• Dealing with international audiences & Data protection
• Knowing your audience & your goals 
• Spending money on opt-ins and the key to getting subscribers 
• How to prevent damage to the health of your list 
•  the techy details & limitations of ESPs and CRM databases. 
• designing and managing seven-figure launches

• And much more!

LINKS:

Connect with Jodi:

• Website: redcloveradvisors.com/speaking
• Email: [email protected]
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/RedCloverAdvisors
• Twitter: twitter.com/redcloveradvsrs
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLGt7BWRom0

Connect with Melanie:

• Website: rizemarketing.com
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/MelanieMcMurrain
• Instagram: @the_email_project
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/melaniemcmurrain

Connect with Blair:

• [email protected] 

Learn More About our Stage Agency: 

www.advanceyourreach.com/stage-agency

[email protected]

Connect with us:

• Facebook: ​​www.facebook.com/advanceyourreach
• Website:​​ advanceyourreach.com
• Email​: ​[email protected]

Influential Speakers in Jodi’s life: 

• Zig Ziggler 
• Tom Hopkins

Influential Speakers in Melanie’s life:

• Stu McLaren
• Jeff Walker 

Episode Minute By Minute:

• 0:02 What to expect today
• 4:31 Mett today’s guest
• 11:26 The first thing you need to think about when building a list
• 16:36 Building the right list
• 19:41 Speaking the languages of your ideal customer
• 21:16 Choosing the right privacy policy
• 24:26 Maximizing email deliverability
• 31:12 How to know if your privacy has been violated
• 34:17 Building and maintaining trust with your audience
• 37:08 The speakers that have impacted our guest the most
• 40:35 A summary of why privacy notices matter

More About Jodi:

Jodi Daniels is a Certified Informational Privacy Professional (CIPP/US) with more than 22 years of experience helping a range of businesses from solopreneurs to multi-national companies in privacy, marketing, strategy, and finance roles. During her corporate career, she proved a valuable asset to companies like Deloitte, The Home Depot, Cox Enterprises, and Bank of America where she most recently served as the privacy partner for Digital Banking and Digital Marketing. Ms. Daniels started her privacy career by creating the comprehensive privacy program at Cox Automotive. She launched an online advertising network for Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book.

More About Melanie:

Melanie McMurrain has a unique insight into the mindset triggers and needs of an audience—while understanding the techy details and limitations of ESPs and CRM databases. Over the last five years, she’s put these skills to good use in the trenches of the online business world, designing and managing multiple seven-figure launches on behalf of countless entrepreneurs, authors, course creators, teachers and thought leaders, a former professional Arena League football player and one of the original sharks from the first season of Shark Tank.

As event planners, speakers, and entrepreneurs, we can all share stories of how we have had to quickly pivot and innovate during the coronavirus crisis...It's been chaotic, disruptive, and we have all learned a lot. 

Today on Inside the Greenroom, Blair Bryant Nichols speaks with Co-director of the Advance Your Reach Stages Agency, Dolores Hirschmann. If you have listened to Inside The Greenroom long, you know that Dolores knows intimately the struggle it takes to get onto stages. She is an internationally known expert strategist and coach that works with speakers to hone their craft and advance their reach to larger audiences like TEDx and beyond.

During this conversation, you will hear the top 10 Things Blair, Dolores, and the AYR team have learned while running the Stage Agency during the pandemic! 

This episode will help you master each stage and event by getting a pulse on what is happening in the industry today. 

Here’s what we cover:

• How our Stage Agency was born 
• How to get a leg up with a post-stage strategy 
• How new technology and platforms provide ample opportunities for speakers to connect and convert customers 
• The digital marketing tools that provide more opportunities for sponsors exposure
• The 3 Core Components you need to make stages a successful tool for business growth 
• How to Leverage your community & reciprocate with new audiences
• Leveraging your own stage to elevate the voices of others
• How to rethink your core audience
• The importance of Diversifying your content
• Be a fresh and disruptive voice with this one step
• How to leverage your community as a meeting planner
•  
• And much more!

LINKS:

Connect with Dolores:

• Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
• Website: www.mastersinclarity.com

Connect with Blair:

• [email protected] 

Connect with us:

• Facebook: ​​www.facebook.com/advanceyourreach
• Website:​​ advanceyourreach.com
• Email​: ​[email protected]

Episode Minute By Minute:

• 0:02 What to expect today
• 5:34 Get to know Dolores 
• 8:55 What Dolores learn from TEDx that you need to know
• 9:32 The one thing that holds speakers back from their dream stage
• 11:46 How Dolores and Pete met
• 16:57 Why Blair left the speaker bureau   
• 27:40 What speakers are saying about the pandemic
• 28:57 The 10 Things We Learned Booking Stages During a Pandemic
• 48:55 Final thoughts

More About Dolores:

Dolores is an internationally recognized STRATEGIST & COACH. She helps clients clarify their “idea worth sharing”, design their communication strategies, and implement business growth systems. Her clients become speakers and authors and take their message to larger audiences like TEDx and beyond. She works through group coaching, workshops, one on one coaching, as well as public speaking. Dolores is a writer, TEDx Organizer, and participant in TED conferences. She is a CTI certified and ICF accredited coach and has a business degree from the Universidad de San Andres, Argentina. Originally from Buenos Aires, Dolores speaks fluent Spanish, English, and French and lives in Dartmouth, MA with her husband and four children.

There’s something about learning from an expert that can enhance every part of your life. 

Today on Inside the Greenroom we talk to Gianna Guadini. She is an industry expert, best-selling author, and event planning master. You can tell Gianna has found her purpose and calling in event planning because her wisdom and passion goes far beyond a day job, it translates into every part of her life. 

Learn Gianna’s keys and insight to creating unforgettable experiences to uplevel your virtual events and online presence, she shares her best tips for event planning that took her to the top and landed her the event planning spot with the biggest names like Google, the White House, and more.

This episode is for all of you who want to create better content, hone your speaking skills, strengthen your virtual events, and learn how the best event planners make their events stand out amount the rest

Here’s just a fraction of what you’ll learn!

Here’s what we cover:

• Cyber Security w/ high-profile groups
• Ultimate high-end experience for tech companies
• Being Thoughtful on what information needs to be communicated to who
• What information a CEO needs, vs a team member
• Compelling invitee lists + Speaker Lists
• How to approach Privacy & security
• Getting into the persona of your executives
• Surprise & Delight & how to make things extraordinary
• Encouraging connection outside of work topics
• Customizing food & mini bar in the room for your guests
•  

Interactive Virtual Exercises:

• Virtual Wine Tasting
• Networking Randomized format for digital
• Crowd-sourced content
• Giving attendees the power to create their own breakout rooms
• VR- using it where it makes sense & keeping it engaging

Creating Content:

• Surveying your audience on what they want to learn about next
• What types of events will be the first to come back
• Goals of company retreats
• Privacy & Security

Speaker Tips:

• Being able to go with the flow and read the audience for adjustments
• Taking comments and questions
• Being authentic and flexible
• Being distinct in having a clear point of view and clear takeaway
• Simplify and have the main idea to have people walk away with
• Stay Humble and be Authentic

LINKS:

Connect with Our Gianna:

• Website: giannagaudini.com
• Facebook: The Art of Event Planning
• LinkedIn

Connect with Blair:

• [email protected] 

Connect with us:

• Facebook: ​​www.facebook.com/advanceyourreach
• Website:​​ advanceyourreach.com
• Email​: ​[email protected]

Episode Minute By Minute:

• 0:02 What to expect today
• 3:01 Episode starts
• 3:45 How Gianna started in the events business
• 5:19 What inspired Gianna to write her book
• 7:12 The most exciting event Gianna has planned
• 13:42 Creating brand Evangelist 
• 14:55 Gianna’s invite on Exclusive Retreats
• 23:32 What makes digital events more engaging
• 28:190 Don’t try to force new tech
• 30:28 Implementing VR to your events
• 33:19 How Gianna selects speakers for her events
• 36:37 How Gianna believes speakers bomb
• 39:08 The speaker who have impacted Gianna the most
• 42:46 How to upstage any event

More about Gianna:

Gianna is former Global Head of Events for the SoftBank Vision Fund, Google Event Executive Producer, and author of Amazon best-selling book, The Art of Event Planning. Gianna drives global event strategy, directs content, strategic sponsorships, portfolio company + investor relations events, and delivers experiences that build community and brand equity.

Other career highlights include producing Google’s largest event, Google Cloud Next, a B2B enterprise conference in San Francisco for 30K+ attendees, producing Google’s VIP Brand and Reputation and Policy Events such as White House Correspondents Dinner and the RNC/DNC, and leading Google’s most prestigious executive retreats and thought-leadership events. Gianna has a powerful platform supporting the industry as a speaker and writer and published The Art of Event Planning to share her personal strategies for successful engagement in event planning. Gianna also holds her Court of Master Sommeliers certification, is a certified interior designer, former concert pianist and marathon runner.

This week on Inside the Greenroom, we have the top three finalists from our recent Speak Off. As you know, the Speak Off looked different this year as we shifted from our annual Reach Live event, into A360i.

The stage was set, the signature talks were written, rehearsed, and ready to go, and the speakers were managing the butterflies in their stomachs in the weeks leading up to what we call “The American Idol of Speaking.”

Then, in what felt like a split second, everything changed. The Speak Off contestants went from preparing to wow a live crowd to speaking into a webcam.

These top three contests represent the best in the business. Speakers who can flip on a dime, go with the flow, and approach the stage and the screen with the same energy and passion is something we all can learn from in a digital age.  

Join Blair Bryant Nichols Inside The Greenroom as he interviews Ganelle Elliott from Essentially Woman, The Founder at Extreme Martial Arts, Garrett Poole, and Grand-prize Speak Off winner and music therapist, Tim Ringgold.

Learn their secret on how they have pivoted in this time of crisis, how Pete and Pat have impacted their lives, and what you can do to be a more powerful speaker in 2020 and more. 

Here’s what we cover:

• Our guests journey to becoming speakers
• The Power of community 
• Using your backstory to fuel your success
• What attracted each speaker to the Speak Off
• The shifts they made to be successful during COVID
• How sharing your personality can bring people into your community
• How therapy can impact your success
• Why every successful person needs accountability
• The one thing that all three speakers did that got them in the top spot
• And much more!

LINKS:

Connect with Our Speakers:

Tim Ringgold

• Company: Sonic Recovery
• Target market: health, wellness, and recovery
• Website: www.timringgold.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Facebook: /tim.ringgold
• LinkedIn: /timringgold

Garrett Poole: 

• Company: Fit Feat Inc
• www.fitfeatevents.com
• LinkedIn
• Email: [email protected]

Ganelle Elliot

• Company: Essentially Woman, LLC 
• ganelleelliott.com 
• Email: [email protected]
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• sunsetreset.com

Connect with Blair:

• [email protected] 

Connect with us:

• Facebook: ​​www.facebook.com/advanceyourreach
• Website:​​ advanceyourreach.com
• Email​: ​[email protected]

Episode Minute By Minute:

• 0:02 What to expect today
• 4:22 How Ganelles journey started
• 6:45 How Tims journey started
• 9:67 How Garrett's journey started
• 16:03 How Tim pivoted 
• 20:22 The power of accountability 
• 26:28 What inspired Ganelle to join the speak off
• 30:00 How Tim increased his stages during covid
• 42:40 How Garrett shifted during covid
• 51:03 The speaker that impacted our guest the most

More About Tim:

Tim Ringgold has been a board-certified music therapist in Orange County, CA since 2008, and is the author of the book, Sonic Recovery: Harness the Power of Music to Stay Sober. He has provided music therapy to thousands of teens and adults in residential treatment, and is a sought-after international speaker, having shared the stage with some of the top minds on the subject of music, the brain, and addiction. Tim was the first person to give a TEDx talk on music therapy in 2012. Tim is also a former Regional President of the American Music Therapy Association.

More About Garret:

Over the last 20 years, I have devoted my life to self-defense and training with professionals, even winning a world championship, but none of that touches my heart more than the 9,654 students I have taught in-person to date how to defend themselves. I founded “Lady In Defense” a roadmap for abused women that focuses on the whole person. Mind, Body, Heart & Spirit. Where we focus on escaping the chains of our past, healing our wounds, rediscovering who we are and finding our courage and bravery again

More about Ganelle: 

Ganelle Elliott is an IT professional, speaker, and women's empowerment coach.  With a 19 year career in IT, Ganelle understands the unique challenges that professional women face when attempting to balance career aspirations with creating a fulfilling home life.  

Building a successful career in a male-dominated industry held its own unique challenges. The years were full of chronic stress, fleeting confidence, and crippling fears of rejection... all exacerbated by the relentless need for perfection.  After being hospitalized from spontaneous lung collapse, Ganelle needed a change.  She sought out other women who could help her navigate the jungle of burnout, but that pool of mentors was completely bare.  In 2014, she decided to educate herself on burnout and study personal development.  After 4 years of trial and error, Ganelle finally discovered how an ambitious woman could break the vicious cycle of burnout and overwhelm.   

Today, Ganelle lives burnout free with her husband and step-daughter.  She has stepped into her courage and determination, faced her inner critic, and gave herself permission to live a fulfilled life.  Now Ganelle is on a mission to help other professional women break free from burnout, step into their power, to live their most epic lives.

“Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity - not a threat” - Steve Jobs 

As one of the top names in innovation, Steve Jobs pushed the boundaries of “how it’s always been done” and created a new wave of technology that changed how the world worked. 

One of the most fascinating things about the Apple founder is that his most revolutionary ideas were actually a new take, on something old.

He made the clunky computer accessible to the average home-owner, and he made a phone with no buttons. 

Sometimes, the small tweaks are what lead to the biggest breakthroughs.

The virtual craze in 2020 due to the coronavirus is nothing new. You are probably an old pro, but just don’t realize it. If you have streamed a live video on social media, built a sales funnel, created a website, or hosted a webinar, you have created a virtual event. 

We believe that now is the time to experiment, have fun, and innovate with your virtual events. Our guest today, on Inside The Greenroom shares the same sentiment. 

Join Blair Nichols and founder of Endless Events, Will Curran as they talk about how you can take your virtual events to a new level.

Meeting planners, learn how you can create a better, more engaging experience for attendees with creative networking,  breakout rooms, and how to create a better ROI for virtual sponsors.

Speakers, you will learn what Will and his team look for when booking virtual stages, and how preparing your tech and space ahead of time can help you show up more powerfully.

These are just a couple of things we cover in today’s episode of Inside the Greenroom!

Here’s More Of What We Cover:

• How Will grew to be one of the biggest event production companies
• The strategy behind a virtual exhibit hall
• How digital marketing is connected to virtual events
• Upgrade your sponsor’s investment
• How to provide a better experience for everyone
• How to bring the entertainment element to your virtual event
• Why we are approaching webinar fatigue
• Personalizing your attendee’s experience
• Create more engagement by crowdsourcing
• The importance of showing your personality as a speaker
• And much more!

LINKS:

Connect with Will:

• Facebook: www.facebook.com/thewillcurran
• Twitter: twitter.com/ItsWillCurran
• Instagram: instagram.com/itswillcurran 

Connect with Endless Events:

• Instagram: instagram.com/helloendless 
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/helloendless 
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/helloendless
• Website: www.helloendless.com

Connect with Blair:

• [email protected] 

Connect with us:

• Facebook: ​​www.facebook.com/advanceyourreach
• Website:​​www.insidethegreenroompodcast.com, 
• advanceyourreach.com
• Email​: ​[email protected]

Influential Speakers in Will’s life: 

• Gary Vee 
• Brian Fanzo
• Tim Ferriss

Episode Minute By Minute:

• 0:02 What to expect today
• 2:30 Get to know Will
• 4:40 How Will started in the event industry
• 7:46 Virtual events aren’t new
• 8:47 How Will got his community on board with virtual events
• 13:21 How to make virtual sponsorships a good investment 
• 18:38 What is your “why”
• 21:48 Virtual swag bags
• 25:04 How to bring entertainment into a virtual event 
• 33:44 Getting the best speakers possible for your event
• 38:14 Why Will hates virtual backgrounds 
• 40:00 The speakers who impacted Will the most
• 44:34 Wills favorite memory inside a greenroom

More About Will:

Founder & Chief Event Einstein and Endless Events

As the founder of Endless Events, Will Curran has been named one of the most influential people in the meeting & events industry, one of the 40 under 40 event industry leaders, 35 entrepreneurs under the age of 35, and Inc Magazine’s Coolest College Start-up all before graduating college. Will has been producing in-person and virtual events since high school when he started his first company and has now worked in the production of large event clients such as Emerald City Comicon, Anheuser-Busch, Warner Brothers, Morton Salt & Uber. His team’s mission is to simplify the event planning process by creating the equation for an event’s perfect solution. They also relentlessly seek to be the name in customer service in the events industry. From event logistics to business development to technical production, Will Curran has a diverse background in growing events and companies to the next level.

Netflix in the TV industry, Uber in the Taxi industry, Airbnb in the hotel industry, Tesla in the car industry, and countless others. These are just some of the incredible brands or companies that came into an industry and disrupted the norm with brilliance and innovation. 

The emphasis in 2020 on digital events isn’t a company or service but has disrupted the industry just the same.

That’s not always a bad thing you can embrace disruption and push yourself to new heights, or you can be the person dreaming about the “good old days” or waiting for everything to be “normal again”. The choice is up to you.

In today’s podcast, Blair interviews Greg Beach from Event Strategy Group. Greg has 27 years of experience in the event space. From running an exhibit house that serviced the event industry, 

helping companies grow through events, booking speakers, planning, coordinating, and everything in between, Greg is a true industry expert.

In this conversation, you will hear Greg explain how the pandemic has pushed the industry to new levels of greatness and why he thinks this is one of the best things that could have happened. 

This episode will leave you inspired to reimagine the way you approach events as a speaker, entrepreneur, or meeting planner.

“This is a disruption, not an interruption in the event industry” - Greg Beach

Here’s what we cover:

• How past experience helped create an amazing virtual event
• Overcoming the stigma that “virtual” events are any less impactful
• How virtual can solve common problems in live events
• How engaging content is more important than ever
• How speakers can upgrade their digital storytelling
• Refining the delivery of your message 
• Speakers being used as experiential engagement tools
• The importance of virtual problem solving
• How to pivot from a traditional keynote to the competing attention of a digital audience
• Taking suggestions and responding to live feedback
• The type of events that will return as live
• And much more!

LINKS:

Connect with Greg:

• Website: esg.us and esgincentives.com
• Email: [email protected]
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/glbeach13

Connect with Blair:

• [email protected] 

Connect with us:

• Facebook: ​​www.facebook.com/advanceyourreach
• Website:​​ advanceyourreach.com
• Email​: ​[email protected]

Influential Speakers in Greg’s life: 

• Rich Roll
• David Goggins

Episode Minute By Minute:

• 0:02 What to expect 
• 3:40 Get to know Greg
• 4:00 How Greg started running events
• 5:49 The events Greg has ran
• 11:18 Virtual events are here to stay
• 11:40 Why Greg hates the word “virtual”
• 13:50 Recreating the live experience 
• 16:10 The speaker hiring process for Greg’s clients pre-covid
• 19:03 The speaker hiring process for Greg’s clients post-covid
• 24:57 how to support the event as a speaker and not distract from it
• 26:48 The screen is now the stage
• 27:34 The speakers who have impacted Greg the most
• 29:16 Creating community
• 32:26 The strategy and logistics

More About Greg:

Greg is a 27 year veteran in the event industry and a leader in helping organizations grow via event marketing. At Event Strategy Group, he is currently helping find opportunity in the chaos of COVID-19. While the tools may be different, brands still need to communicate with their customers and employees to achieve results.

In the words of Plato, “You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than a year of conversation.”

As meeting planners and speakers, it can be easy to focus on the numbers, the data, filling the seats, getting the slide deck right, and all of the other little details we tend to worry about.]

As important as these things are, we must not get distracted from our main goal. 

Creating a great experience for the attendees.

In our industry we are all creators, creators of moments, creators of experiences, creators of breakthrough. 

This is a concept that today’s guest fully understands and brings into every aspect of his business and events. 

Chad Collins is the CEO of Collins Commerce Inc, an inventor, author, speaker, active philanthropist, and staunch LEGO fanatic.

His event production company produces nationally acclaimed family events that include Brick Fest Live, a LEGO Fan Experience, Comic-Con for Kids, and Minefaire, an Official MINECRAFT Community Event. 

In today’s episode, you’ll learn how to upgrade your business and next event with imagination, creativity, and innovation.

Here’s what we cover:

• How you can work with existing communities of fans to build events with HUGE brands
• How to handle large volumes of virtual attendees
• How Chad sold 20K tickets for his FIRST ever event
• How to create awareness in a marketplace a huge brand
• How they leveraged YouTube to generate 12M video views
• What to do while you are rescheduling & postponing events 
• How to start over-delivering to your audience now
• Leveraging Digital Assets 
• The winning strategy for selling tickets first-time event
• How group platforms build trust with your audience 
• How to break into the event business with no experience
• A fresh perspective on what success looks like for your audience
• How text message marketing generated 80% more sales during COVID
• Chad’s upcoming events you can participate in!
• And much more!

LINKS:

Connect with Chad:

• www.chadevancollins.com
• www.dailydealtext.com
• Brickfestlive.com
• textsummit.com 
• Minefaire.com 
• Comicconforkids.com
• Join the Facebook group
• LinkedIn
• Instagram

Influential Speakers in Chad’s life: 

• The 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss:  how to unlock outsourcing and hiring the right types of people. 
• Launch by Jeff Walker
• Ask by Ryan Levesque

Connect with Blair:

• [email protected] 

Connect with us:

• Facebook: ​​www.facebook.com/advanceyourreach
• Website:​​ advanceyourreach.com
• Email​: ​[email protected]

Episode Minute By Minute:

• 0:02 What to expect today
• 3:18 Get to know Chad
• 4:40 How Chad’s journey with events began
• 5:57 How BrickFest began
• 13:25 How Chad collaborated with huge brands for his event
• 20:00 How Chad built an event with 10,000 people
• 24:08 How COVID affected Chad
• 28:51 How text message marketing changed everything for Chad
• 32:08 How Chad is creating virtual family events
• 36:27 How Chad recruits speakers that will attract kids and parents
• 41:24 The books that changed Chad’s life
• 43:55 The speaker that blew Chad away
• 46:24 Closing thoughts

More About Chad:

Chad Evan Collins is an American entrepreneur where he is the founder and CEO of Collins Commerce Inc. He is an inventor, author, speaker, active philanthropist, and staunch LEGO fanatic.

His event production company produces nationally acclaimed family events that include Brick Fest Live, a LEGO Fan Experience, Comic Con for Kids, and Minefaire, an Official MINECRAFT Community Event.

He holds the Guinness World Record for selling the most tickets to an event for a single video game: 18,000 tickets sold for Minefaire at the LA Convention Center.

In addition to his event production company, Chad is also a thought leader in the digital marketing space with a focus on text message marketing where he is the host of the Text Message Marketing Summit.

In addition to frequent media appearances, Chad was featured in Gary Vaynerchuk’s New York Times best-selling book “Crushing It”.

His latest venture, DailyDealText, is using the power of virtual events like Family Trivia Night to build a base of raving fans by providing FREE family entertainment while simultaneously building trust and loyalty with his audience.

“Pivot, essential, shift, social distancing, testing, herd immunity.” These are all buzz words we are sick of hearing, but the fact is we have to learn how to live in the digital word.

If you have been to a Reach Live event, most likely one of your favorite parts of the event was the Speak Off. We like to say it’s like the “American Idol” of speaking. The energy is high, the crowd is buzzing and ten speakers fight their butterflies as they go head-to-head with only five minutes to speak to prove they are the best. 

Earlier this year, when we decided to have a digital-only event, Advance 360i, we had to reimagine the way we did the Speak Off. How could we bring that same energy to a digital stage?

Thanks to the AYR dream team, SAGE Events, and countless other people, we did it. 

In today’s episode, Blair interviews Liza Millan, Susie Beaty, Kera Wasserbach, Lea Woodford, Dolores Hirschmann, and LaVonna Roth, who were just some of the incredible judges that determined this year's winner.

Before they judged the Speak Off, they joined us in our private Facebook Group to give us the best practices and tips you need to know to learn how to bridge the gap between a pre-covid and post-covid world, what works, what doesn’t work, and how to show up powerfully on every digital stage as a speaker in 2020.

Meeting planners, learn the industry-changing tools that the best in the business are using to create a more engaging and impactful event and so much more. 

Here’s what we cover:

• How to present better on zoom
• How virtual events help with affordability and attendance
• What tools to use and help with interaction and engagement
• Smoothly breakthrough introversion virtually
• How group conversations can lead to more connections for your participants
• No nation is off limits with virtual
• Go deeper, utilize the tools by recording the conversations, and even share digital tools together.
• The opportunity for Strategic Partnerships 
• Connections & bonds you can build digitally 
• Identifying rules of engagement in the new territory
• Speakers, body Language is still key: Eye contact, standing up vs sitting down, high-energy, not reading from a script.
• Experience over accountability
• And much more!

Connect with Blair:

• [email protected] 

Connect with us:

• Facebook: ​​www.facebook.com/advanceyourreach
• Website:​​ advanceyourreach.com
• Email​: ​[email protected]

Guest Info:

• Lea Woodford: CEO SmartFem Media Group  [email protected] and SmartFem.com
• Wendi Freeman: Founder and CEO Be Bright Events email: [email protected] website:  www.bebrighteventsco.com
• Liza Millan: Masterpiece masterpiecelm.com
• Lavonna Roth Founder of Ignite Your Shine: www.igniteyourshine.com
• Dolores Hirschmann: Advance Your Reach Stage Agency Director [email protected]
• Kera Wasserbach: On the Edge Events ontheedgeevent.com
• Susie Beaty ShowStoppers ShowStopperDesigns.com and StretchSails.com

Quick Episode Summary:

• 0:02 What to expect today
• 7:29 What tools to use as a meeting planner
• 13:35 Model what others are doing
• 18:37 Be in tune with
• 21:00 How
• 31:04 Don’t depend on the tools
• 33:29 the importance of knowing your 'why'
• 35:27 Connecting with the camera
• 41:11 How the best meeting planners judge speakers
• 49:33 The advantages of speaking past the keynote
• 52:09 Serving with you expertises
• 53:48 Other ways to promote your speakers
• 57:11 Your events matter