Archives: Podcasts

Today, we have the great pleasure of talking to Jeff Fugate. Jeff is an icon in our industry and a rock star in sales and marketing. He never gets tired of learning, questioning the future, and making changes. In this episode, Jeff talks about the amazing pivot he did in 2020. Join us today to hear Jeff’s fascinating and inspiring story of resilience. We know you’re going to enjoy our conversation! Jeff Fugate’s bio: Jeff is the Owner and Chief Queso Officer of Empty Bowl Queso. After 30 years in Sales and Leadership, he ventured out on his own to give everyone in the world the opportunity to experience good queso. He lives in Leesburg, VA, with his wife, two kids, and a menagerie of pets. Jeff’s background Jeff has been passionate about sales and marketing for a very long time. He started his career in the sales and marketing space in Kinko’s Organization. He spent much of his time focusing on sales..

We are happy to be speaking to Ori Lahav today. Ori is the Vice-President of Clients and Operations for the Kenes Group and is also the current President of IAPCO (International Association of Professional Congress Organisers). He has a wealth of career experience, even having worked on the startup of an electric car. In this episode, Ori will be talking about pandemic leadership, virtual events, and event marketing. We know that you are going to enjoy our conversation with Ori, so stay tuned! Ori Lahav’s bio: Ori Lahav joined the Kenes Group in 2013 as AVP Marketing, bringing more than 15 years of marketing experience to the management team. Ori’s expertise includes implementing marketing strategies, above the line marketing/below the line marketing, and leading digital campaigns in online/social media channels. He began his career in the communications industry, where he held marketing positions at internet, voice,..

We are happy to be speaking to Roger Rickard today. Roger is an icon of advocacy in our industry. In this episode, Roger talks about what we can do as business owners, in terms of advocacy, particularly in these challenging times and also over the long term. Roger Rickard’s bio Roger Rickard is the Founder and President of Voices in Advocacy® and author of 7 Actions of Highly Effective Advocates. He has more than 30 years of experience as an advocacy professional, speaker, trainer, consultant, and author. As a recognized expert in advocacy engagement and grassroots activation, Roger works with a wide cross-section of organizations from diverse industries. His vibrant personality and a good sense of humor make for engaging and interactive programming that is packaged and delivered in an easy to understand, easy to apply format combining his education, experience, and enthusiasm to drive advocacy success. Roger is a proud..

We are delighted to be speaking to Heather Mason today. Heather has tons of energy and lots of great ideas. She created her company, Caspian Agency, in 2005, and today, she is a rockstar, planning all the meetings and events for some of the world’s major foundations. In this episode, Heather talks to us about how our industry needs revolution, not evolution, and that women need to learn the mantra, “men, money, and materials.” We hope you enjoy our amazing conversation with Heather Mason today! Heather Mason’s bio Heather Mason founded Caspian in 2005 to produce conferences for the innovative and social good business space. Caspian’s social enterprise clients include the Skoll Foundation, the Omidyar Network, New America, Code for America, Rockefeller Foundation, Endeavor Global, Impact 2030, The Philanthropy Workshop, and Sunnylands. Caspian has also worked with brands including HarperCollins, Vanity Fair, and..

Today, we have the pleasure of speaking to another icon in our industry, Ed Rigsbee, of Rigsbee Research. Ed has spent his entire career helping associations and societies to recruit and maintain their members and increase their revenue. He has written five books: one of them on soccer, one on member recruitment, and three of them on strategic alliances, and he has also written more than 2,500 articles. In this episode, Ed shares his story and talks to us about providing value and the amazing community he started, called The Cigar Peg. It is very important right now for associations to provide value, so we’re sure that you will enjoy our conversation with Ed. Ed Rigsbee bio: Ed Rigsbee, (CSP) Certified Speaking Professional, (CAE) Certified Association Executive, is the ROI Guy. He is obsessed with helping individuals and organizations to both receive and give more return on investment (ROI) in everything that they do...

We are delighted to be speaking today with Joel Block, a rock star in the worlds of speaking, finance, and real estate! Joel has a background as a venture capitalist, a CPA, and in real estate. He is also an entrepreneur and a board member of the National Speakers Association. In this episode, we focus on what will be coming up in 2021. We discuss the changes and trends that Joel foresees and who he thinks will own the assets in the future. We hope that you will enjoy this very interesting and thought-provoking conversation and benefit from Joel’s knowledge as much as we did! Joel Block’s bio Joel Block’s CPA experience started in 1985 at PriceWaterhouse, where he first got exposed to the syndication business as a team member doing tax returns for 500 real estate limited partnership syndications. While he did not love the tax work, he was fascinated by the partnership agreements. Futurist and money business..

Today, we are extremely grateful to be speaking with Melanie Bradshaw, the Vice-President of Global Events for the direct sales company, SeneGence. Melanie has a wealth of experience in meetings and events. Like most of us, she had to switch to virtual last year, and she learned a lot from doing that. In this episode, she will be speaking to us mainly about two things. She will talk about her international experience with working in more than twenty-five different countries, and she will also be sharing her virtual experience. We gained a lot from our conversation with Melanie, and we are sure that you will too! Melanie Bradshaw’s bio Melanie Bradshaw has spent her entire professional career in event organization, production, and management. Working across a wide variety of industries and with extensive experience in both the association and the private sector, Melanie has led teams that have organized business events..

We are delighted to be speaking with David Burkus today. David is an amazing human being with a great mind, and he is full of very concrete ideas that you can apply to your business. He has just released a book called Leading From Anywhere, the Essential Guide to Managing Remote Teams. In this episode, David talks to us about adapting to what the future has in store. He discusses the idea of working flexibly and remotely and explains how to do that easily, effectively, and successfully. We are sure you’re going to enjoy today’s conversation! David Burkus’ bio: One of the world’s leading business thinkers, David Burkus’ forward-thinking ideas and bestselling books are helping leaders and teams do their best work ever. He is the best-selling author of four books about business and leadership. His books have won multiple awards and have been translated into dozens of languages. His insights on leadership and..

Today, we are extremely happy to be talking to Megan Grant. Megan is an amazing entrepreneur! She started her business after getting laid off four times in five years. After the last time, she decided that enough was enough. Megan is joining us to talk about her business, how she grew it, how she qualifies leads, and how to get into a mindset of abundance. We have a very inspiring conversation today, and we know you will enjoy it! Megan Grant’s bio From unemployed to a business owner, here’s Megan Grant’s story, in a nutshell. Megan has been writing professionally for 11 years, sometimes on the side of a 9-to-5, and other times, as her full-time income. However, it was when she got laid off for the fourth time in five years that she made a decision: she’d had enough. At that exact moment, Megan told herself, “I will never be laid off again.” Megan quickly grew her small freelance writing gigs into a..

We are extremely happy today to be speaking with Simon Bowen, the founder of The Models Method. Simon is an amazing man! He is a true genius in sales and communication, and he has created something truly unique! In this episode, you will learn how to position your pricing, how you can differentiate yourself, and how you can use models to explain to your customer and your team what you are doing. You will also find out how to start building loyalty from the sales process onwards. We are sure you are going to enjoy our unique conversation with Simon! Simon Bowen’s bio With a strong belief that, if held in the hands of the right leaders, public and private commerce and enterprise can be one of the most powerful forces for good on the planet, Simon Bowen has invested over two decades in facilitating the resolution of complex issues for businesses and organizations of all sizes, across all sectors. Born and raised in the..