Reality Check with Craig Price

Thom Singer (@ThomSinger on Twitter) returns to give host Craig Price some tips on being an emcee. Being an emcee or host for a corporate event is nothing like being an emcee at a comedy club. To help with Craig's upcoming hosting duties at Comicpalooza, he decided to look for a professional. Past guest and speaker pal, Thom is widely known as the "Conference Catalyst" and professional emceeing is right in his wheelhouse. The two discuss, what the goals of the emcee is at an event, how to keep things moving along, how to deal with a speaker who goes long. They also discuss another major aspect of emceeing and is far more common, hosting a panel. How do you prepare, how much do you prepare, how do you get quiet guests involved and most importantly, how do you control the one panelist that tries to dominate the time.

Learn more about Thom at http://conferencecatalyst.com and listen to his podcast Cool Things Entreprenuers Do.

APP BONUS: Read Thom's 10 Tips for Being the Master of Ceremonies

Patrick Allmond (@PatrickAllmond on twitter) returns to talk the ins and outs to video marketing with host Craig Price. Let's be clear, Craig makes no bones about it when he discusses his dislike for most video marketing. Why do you think he podcasts instead of vlogs?? Patrick talks both technical and practical as he explains what he uses and how he uses video marketing. He goes over the equipment needed (not much) as well has his process from camera to final post online, not only just creating his 3in5 videos but how he repurposes his video for blogs, podcasts, newsletters and more.

Patrick can be found at http://allaboutfocus.com

Alan Cerny (@NordlingAICN on twitter) is here to give the 2015 summer movie preview for the next 2 months with host Craig Price. It seems to be coming earlier and earlier but the summer movie onslaught has already begun. Craig declared Avengers: Age of Ultron the official start or the 2015 summer movie season and the two cover lots of ground for just the next 2 months.

Movies in this episode include (with scheduled release dates):

May 1: The Avengers: Age of Ultron

May 8: Maggie

May 15: Mad Max: Fury Road

May 15: Pitch Perfect 2

May 22: Tomorrowland

May 22: Poltergeist

May 29: San Andreas 3D

June 5: Spy

June 5: Entourage

June 12: Jurassic World

June 26: Ted 2

We'll be sure to add Alan's reviews from Ain't it Cool News as he writes them.

APP BONUS: The 2 give a spoiler filled recap and review of Avengers: Age of Ultron and discuss the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole only on the podcast app!

 

John Simons, chairman of Comicpalooza (@comicpalooza on twitter) speaks with host Craig Price about putting a comic-con together. The two discuss the modest history of Comicpalooza from it's humble beginnings in a movie theater lobby to the juggernaut can't miss festival that boast 60,000 attendees (more are expected this year!). John explains how he had hoped to grow into a hotel ballroom type of space only to see his comic-con jump into the cavernous George R Brown Convention Center. He talks about how he plans ahead (sometime up to 3 years in advance) for upcoming conventions, who they decide to ask and what type of programming you can expect this year. Craig goes on and on about how great John Barrowman was at Comicpalooza 2014 (It's kind of embarrassing), the diversity of programming available (it's really like 10 small conventions happening at once) and the love of beer while waiting in line.

Comicpalooza's mission is to provide the best and biggest annual multi-format pop culture convention in the southwest region of the United States, serving not only the fans of comics, science fiction, fantasy, video and table top gaming, anime, music and film, but also as a trade show and showcase for the studios, publishers, and manufacturers in those industries.

This year Comicpalooza is happening on May 22nd through the 25th. You can learn about all the guests currently scheduled (Craig is excited to see Haley Atwell and Henry Winkler) at http://www.comicpalooza.com

Mark Hehl with Solutions4Business joins host Craig Price to discuss conflict management. Not many people like conflict in the workplace and even fewer like getting involved when the conflict may not involve you. Mark and Craig discuss how conflict can be good for organizations, but they also discuss how planning ahead can eliminate many of the potential conflicts that could pop up on a project. They discuss the reasons for conflict, including people who just like pushing buttons and causing chaos (Craig calls them "social terrorists") as well as separate departments having separate goals and never communicating them to each other.  All of this talk will be showcased at the Southern New England Chapter of PMI Professional Development Day in Hartford CT this April 27th and 28th. If you're in the Nutmeg state at the time, register at SNEC-PMI.org. Hope to see you there!

APP BONUS: Get Mark's entire powerpoint presentation from the event! In order to be successful the project manager needs to understand and manage conflict. This session will arm the Project Manager with the skills to avoid conflict along with time tested methods to resolve conflicts within their projects. It will also explore the beneficial and negative effects of project conflict. Application of these strategies will result in enhanced project performance.

Geoff Akins Hannah (@BubbleGeoff on Twitter) joins host Craig Price to discuss performing for children. Kids are not Craig's thing. For the most part they seem like small annoying adults with little accountability and an enabler or two trailing behind them. He likes individual kids but not children and certainly not in large groups. Thankfully there are people like Geoff who have no problems with kids and in-fact seeks them out as his market as a speaker. Known as the Bubble Master, Geoff invited Craig to a performance while touring through Texas.  The two discussed Geoff's start with developmentally challenged children, is there a Bubble Cabal as well as a slew of tips on how to interact, entertain and enlighten groups of children. He literally does hundreds of shows a years for thousands of kids and adults. If you want to understand performing for children better, this is the guy to talk to. Thankfully, he's on the podcast so no need to figure out where in the country he might be today!

Geoff and his fantastic bubblemaking can be found at http://bubble-wonders.com

APP BONUS: Listen to the Bubble Wonders Show theme song "Anything is Possible!" by Jen Hannah.

Dr. Robert Weil (@SportsDocRadio on Twitter) joins host Craig Price to discuss sports medicine. With baseball season starting this week, the ice thawing across the northern territories and the flowers blooming, spring has officially sprung. With the warming weather that means more people leaving their winter lairs and heading outside to enjoy the fresh air. That also means schools are starting their sports schedule and people are doing many outdoor activities that can lead to injuries. Craig and Dr. Weil, a sports podiatrist, discuss youth sports, hydrating properly, concussions, PEDs and how important feet can be to avoiding and treating injuries. More and more of us are getting active and sports medicine becomes more and more important. If you are active in life, take a load off and listen to this podcast today!

Dr. Robert Weil, D.P.M. specializes in podiatric medicine, orthotics and sports medicine. He can be heard weekly at http://healthylife.net and you can learn more about him at his own site http://www.sportsdoctorradio.com/

Lou Sapienza (@LouSapienza on twitter) joins host Craig Price to talk about MIA retrieval. It's not often that Craig has an opportunity to talk to someone who is trying to make a difference. He talks to people who have made a difference or are making a distance but when Craig was made aware of Lou Sapienza and his company North South Polar, Inc. he knew people needed to hear more. The two talk of Lou's attempts to recover 3 men who had crashed in Greenland during World War II, what kinds of equipment and manpower are needed and how the government needs specialists like Lou to help them recover their lost soldiers. Take some time to listen to what Lou is doing and if you feel the need to help, please contact your US Representative or Senator to let them know you feel this is as an important mission as Craig and Lou do.

You can learn more about North South Polar, Inc at www.nspolar.us as well as The Fallen American Veterans Foundation at http://www.favf.us/

The Fallen American Veterans Foundation, Inc., (FAVF) is a non-profit private Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) created in the spirit and belief that every American service member (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard) who has fallen while in the overseas service of our country, and whose body remains unrecovered, be brought home. They are advocates for these fallen heroes, their families and friends, and for every service member that has served honorably overseas and in harm's way.

Barbara Lee (@BarbaraLeeAuth on twitter) joins host Craig Price to discuss sextegrity. Talking sex isn't something Craig jumps at the chance to do. Spirituality? Definitely not in Craig's wheelhouse. But the chance to talk to Barbara Lee, the Sex Minister, about her new book Sacred Sex, it was too good to pass up. The two discuss the difference between marital ethics and sexual ethics, how pornography is creating issues in society, objectifying women. how active senior citizens are thanks to modern medicine and most importantly they talk how sex is healthy and not shameful.

You can learn more about sextegrity and Barbara Lee at www.thesexminister.com or her main site www.barbaraleeauthor.com

APP BONUS: You can read Sacred Sex in its entirety via the podcast app.

Between sex as sin and sex as sport is an embrace of sexuality as a good gift. Between the teachings of "just say no" and "whatever turns you on" is a platform where we are free to love our bodies, relish sex, and marvel in this sacred gift. There can be a fine line between sex that harms and sex that heals. How will we make wise decisions about how we will and will not express our sexuality? This book advocates for the development of a Sexual Ethic that takes seriously the desires, needs and pains of our bodies. Living by a Sexual Ethic frees us to love our bodies and to celebrate the gift of sexual intimacy. A Sexual Ethic begins by recognizing that people of all sexual orientations and gender identities are sexual beings who have the innate right to experience a full and satisfying sex life. This book also discusses the movement of masculine and feminine energy in our sexual encounters. Finally, it addresses the damage caused by the separation of body and spirit in the objectification of human beings that is the mainstay of the sex industry.

Download it today!

Gina Abudi (@GinaAbudi on Twitter) returns to discuss socializing projects with host Craig Price. Whenever Craig is asked about project management experts, he immediately brings up past guest Gina Abudi. She know her stuff and has put a lot of that knowledge into her new book "Best Practices for Managing BPI Projects: Six Steps to Success". So much knowledge that when Craig asked her on the podcast, they needed to narrow her expertise down to fit the time frame. They agreed that socializing projects was one of the most important part and least utilized part of project management. The two discuss how to incorporate and engage stakeholders, dissect a project before it's implemented, ugly baby syndrome and why a failing pilot program can be so valuable.

BPI projects are some of the most difficult and challenging to manage. Improving results for the business is not an easy task! Doing so requires understanding the vision and long-term goals of an organization. It also requires the ability to engage stakeholders and manage change. Best Practices for Managing BPI Projects is a guide for project managers who want to improve how they manage BPI projects. Using a simple step-by-step, six-phase approach, project managers and others involved in BPI initiatives will increase their confidence and their effectiveness in managing the complexities of business process improvement projects. Special focus is given to the necessary leadership skills required to be successful in driving change by improving processes within an organization to improve business results.

You can learn more about Gina at http://abudiconsulting.com 

APP EXTRA: Read the 1st Chapter of  "Best Practices for Managing BPI Projects: Six Steps to Success". Also listen to the podcast to hear how you can get a discount code so you can buy the book directly from the publisher.