great business speakers

THE EVENT PLANNER'S DILEMMA How comfortable are you putting political speakers on your conference or event agenda? If the answer is, “Not very,” you probably know you’re not alone. With valuable relationships in the room, being sensitive to the potential danger of offending attendees just makes sense. Many event planners are wary about booking political speakers and talking politics in the current political climate. On the heels of the most contentious election in my lifetime – one that saw families and close friendships torn apart – is it any wonder there’s apprehension about going down the path of talking politics at meetings and events?

You undoubtedly have an event planning checklist that you’ve refined/perfected over the years. Here’s a chance to perhaps refine it further.

A DOSE OF NOSTALGIA Did you ever come across something from your past that jolts you back to a different time in your life? It happened to me in October and it took me back to a time long before D'Amelio Network.

INSPIRING NEW DOCUMENTARY FEATURES BILL WALTON I just saw the greatest documentary! ON THE MAP tells the story of 1977 Maccabi Tel Aviv team, the one that brought the first European Cup to Israel and became "The Team of the Nation".

INTRODUCTION: Consultant and author Polly LaBarre has a brilliant way of creating actionable steps to address complex challenges leaders in organizations face. In this commentary, Polly offers strategies leaders can use to ramp up experimentation that leads to breakthrough innovations. To learn more about Polly LaBarre and watch videos from past speeches, click here.

YOUR EVENT PLANNING CHECKLIST: DOES YOUR ROOM SET-UP HELP SPEAKERS SUCCEED?

No-Cost Real Time Marketing Blog Generates Over $250,000 in Sales in Just Days DAVID MEERMAN SCOTT, real time marketing strategist and author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR, told me a marketing success story that got my attention. It's such a great lesson, it's worth sharing. Lindsay Lohan was having money troubles. That news caught the eye of entrepreneur Trent Silver who runs an online business called Cash for Purses. Trent’s company buys women’s handbags and then sells them to others at a profit, typically on Ebay. His biggest challenge is getting enough high-end product - Prada, Louis Vuitton, etc. Trent decided to seize the moment and post a blog post offering to buy Lindsay Lohan’s old handbags.

WHAT YOU BELIEVE ABOUT PEAK PERFORMANCE IS LIKELY WRONG What separates great achievers from everyone else? The answer might surprise you.

BILL WALTON: A DIFFICULT JOURNEY OFF THE COURT It’s amazing how we look at celebrities and presume they’re living a charmed life.

Mike Abrashoff - "It Was All About the Culture" Imagine you’re put in charge of a new project. You’re given goals and objectives and a team of people to work with. This team, though, has a horrible performance history. In fact, they are among the worst teams in the organization, yet your job is to meet the objectives – no excuses. And – you can’t fire bad performers, or financially reward good performers, or hire new help. What would you do?