Heads up: there’s another trend besides Gen Y out there. Several industry reports show that the 65 and older group is the fastest growing category of job changers. (Newest buzzword: “re-careering.”) Interesting finding according to Trend Letter: they care less about pay and prestige. Growing fields in nursing, education, and social services already have an above average percentage of these folks. Great opportunity for all you OD, workforce, recruitment, and multigenerational folks out there. Watch for more need for finding, hiring, and engaging in this category. Want to know more? Here’s a study from the Urban Institute: http://www.urban.org/publications/1001272.html
Archive for October, 2009
Upcoming trend in workforce demographics
Thursday, October 29th, 2009How buyers trim speaker fees in 2010
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009Yep, buyers are still in cost-cutting mode and industry media is too happy to help. Last month’s article in Meetings and Conventions magazine was a fount of ideas to trim the budget.
Ideas to lower speaker costs: go to universities (yep, our tax dollars at work) and to “scour the D-list.” This is a riskier move than most of them realize. My prediction: these suggestions will come back to bite many planners in 2010. It will only take one less-than-stellar keynote to make these folks scramble for higher ground. And you better believe they won’t blame the budget. These poor speakers will get slammed all over the place.
How newbies can dodge this bullet: don’t be afraid to walk away from an opportunity too good to be true. And the rest of us need to get tough with our network. If anyone asks for a “professional discount” get something in return. It’s only fair.
Top draw to trade shows
Thursday, October 22nd, 2009Interesting study from Meetings and Conventions magazine: the biggest draw to trade shows is not the booths. According to 83 percent of the respondents, the #1 reason for attending is the education seminars. And 93 percent cite that these events are extremely / somewhat important.
So why are trade shows less attended? Yep, it’s the economy and lack of time. And…one-third of respondents report that they are attending just as many shows as last year.
What’s going to happen next year? Education will continue to be the major draw, but don’t expect the inclusion of the general motivational speaker. Prediction: prominent industry folks will reign, along with tactic-driven sessions.
The power of free
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009As many of you know, I’ve been experimenting with free — and it’s been a blast. I’ve watched my video on the top four ways to position your book travel near and far. Biggest lesson: when you put a good idea out there, you never know who wants to help. Silvia Cole, CEO of smarIcast stepped up early with great ideas. Her system is pretty cool and looks like it’s catching on fast. Wanna see for yourself? Check out the book video at http://www.smarticast.com/smartIvideo/tabid/88/Default.aspx?vid=48
New definition of a cool speaker
Thursday, October 15th, 2009My favorite part about the Here’s the Deal call this last Tuesday: how community is driving the new definition of “cool speaker.” Yes, association buyers still want our community to promote attendance. What’s happening now: speakers are being judged by how fast they light up the Tweet Deck. Example: one of the Video Marketing Expo’s speakers got so much buzz via Twitter that they immediately rehired the guru for a second session — for the same meeting. Now that’s spin-off business.
I reverse engineered this dynamic on the call — one of my favorite things to do. Also dissected another way to use community in real time during the event. Here’s the link to get the MP3 file: http://www.sullivanspeaker.com/HTDcommunity.htm
The high cost of communities
Thursday, October 8th, 2009It’s conventional wisdom by now — having your own community is a fail-safe strategy for this economy. And everyone is jumping on the bandwagon, even the big-boy media, such as Business Week.
And they are the poster child of the dark side. The New York TImes article last month unveiled some ugly math: BW invested $16 million in 2007 and 2008, but generated just $600,000 in revenue last year. Ouch!
Moral of the story: “build it and they will come” strategy does not guarantee revenue. Building a community can either be a bright shiny object to pour money into or a way to solidify your base of support. Let’s explore the difference and how to create the latter on Tuesday’s Here’s the Deal call. Here’s the link to sign up.
Killer communities have great relationships
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009Everyone’s talking about building a community these days. Why? Because we all know that relationships are important. The key question: how to turbocharge relationships, especially if you’re not the perky “people person” (guilty as charged). According to Maribeth Kuzemski — one of my favorite people — having a killer toolkit makes all the difference. Her newest book The Connectors: How the World’s Most Successful Businesspeople Build Relationships and Win Clients for Life (Wiley, September 2009) has uncovered the details, the tangible how to’s of creating better business relationships. My personal favorite: how to be a connector even if you’ve never been a people person. Makes me want to get out of the bat cave and make some friends…
Seriously, Maribeth is doing one of those promotions, so if you order the book today you get tons of goodies. Go to www.theconnectorsbook.com to order and get your cool, free stuff. And I’m drilling down on the strategic use of communities in my upcoming Here’s the Deal call on October 13th. Here’s the link if you want to join the fun: www.sullivanspeaker.com/HTDcommunity.htm
