The Business of Meetings

We are delighted to have a rockstar in the speaking industry joining us today!  Joel Block was a professional blackjack player and card counter before embarking on a career in auditing and consulting for VCs, private equities, and real estate. Now, he speaks about what it takes to become an advantaged player.  Joel is a genius when it comes to explaining how the economy works! He joins us to share his unique journey and tell some fascinating stories about things that happened along the way! Bio: Former professional blackjack player and card counter, Joel was a member of one of the most elite teams in the game during the 1980s. Playing solo and with the team, he took money out of casinos before leaving Las Vegas for that giant Casino on Wall Street, where he spent the rest of his career in venture capital and Hedge funds. Joel has been a party to more than a billion dollars in transactions, and what he learned during those years about playing at the top of his game and securing a competitive advantage will fascinate your audience – enabling them to think, see, and act differently so they can know what cards are coming next in business and life. Kicked out of a casino Joel was once part of a team playing at a casino, but he got kicked out! He was afraid because he thought he might get his knees broken, but the people who asked him to leave were professional and just escorted him out. He was also worried because his teammates disappeared when he was told to leave. Fortunately, they eventually met up with him at a predetermined meeting spot. An important business lesson  Joel admits he brought trouble on himself by being too flamboyant and not following the rules while playing blackjack. He learned an important business lesson from the experience; rules exist for our protection and should be followed. He believes that the blackjack experience guides his approach to business and life because playing at the top of one's game in anything requires understanding what it means to do so. Advantage play Joel explains that the trick when using advantage play is to remain inconspicuous and not draw attention to oneself. However, he let his guard down and became too enthusiastic, which caught the attention of the casino staff. Using memory tricks for card counting Joel read a book in high school called The Memory Book, by Harry Lorayne, a memory expert. The book helped him do better in school by teaching him tricks to improve his memory. He learned to memorize decks of cards and later attended a blackjack seminar with his dad. He impressed the seminar instructor by counting a deck of cards in 18 seconds and was taken under his wing to become a professional gambler. He joined a team led by Jerry Patterson and became very good at blackjack.  How Joel’s card counting days ended Joel played poker for a few years and had a great time. He used to go to Las Vegas on weekends during college and got into playing blackjack. He became very good at counting cards, and a mentor taught him more advanced techniques. He was invited to join a team of gamblers led by Jerry Patterson. He eventually realized that he was hanging around people who did not care about his education and were using him to make money. He had a moment of self-awareness and decided to stop playing blackjack. He has not played much since then because he fears that he would get too addicted to it again. He has, however, helped others play by advising them on how to bet and which moves to make. Working for a big accounting firm Joel worked at one of the big accounting firms, Price Waterhouse, and had an assignment counting ballots for the Academy Awards. He explains that the secrecy of the process gets maintained by breaking the job into many little parts, with only a few people at the top who put the puzzle together and understand what will happen. The real estate syndication business Joel left Price Waterhouse to start his own real estate syndication business and later a venture capital operation and publishing company that was sold to a Fortune 500 company. He retired from his hedge fund and now shares what he learned with other executives because few truly understand the money business.  Teaching leaders how to be advantage players Money is a complicated business, and even with a background in venture capital and hedge funds, Joel still struggled to explain it to meeting planners and professionals. He hired a consultant who asked him to list 100 extraordinary things he had done in his career. One of the items on the list was his ability to take money out of a casino. The consultant saw that as a unique skill for Joel to use as a metaphor for teaching business principles. Joel now teaches leaders how to be advantage players using blackjack as a metaphor, helping them become more aware and better at predicting outcomes in business.  Asking the right questions While it is impossible to predict some events, many things can be predicted and prepared for in order to make real money. Asking the right questions, understanding situational awareness, and analyzing industry trends can help companies make informed decisions and place their bets strategically. Joel produces an annual Trend Report to help clients better understand how Wall Street works and how to apply predictive logic to their business decisions. Strategic retreats  Joel leads strategic retreats for senior executives and boards of directors, where he asks good questions to help them come up with breakthroughs. He emphasizes the importance of thinking, seeing, and acting differently to gain an advantage in business, and has started an Advantage Player Institute to teach people these techniques. The strategies he teaches are legal and smart but require out-maneuvering competitors aggressively and ambitiously. What is going on with the economy The market is in turmoil, and in times like this, cash is king! People with cash have an advantage as they can make the most of opportunities when others struggle. Prices have risen due to supply chain disruptions, but this is not necessarily inflation. The whole economy has reset to a new level, and the Feds are using a tactic that may be ineffective in addressing the current situation. Economists are not scientists, and the economy is a behavioral art form, making it difficult to predict. Cash is becoming obsolete Joel is concerned that the United States dollar has lost its value as countries like Saudi Arabia, France, Russia, and China are moving away from using it as their primary currency. He believes the US needs to get ahead in the cryptocurrency markets to stay competitive. He predicts that the US will move toward an electronic system within the next ten years, as cash is becoming obsolete.   Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website   Connect with Joel Block On his website On LinkedIn   Book mentioned: The Memory Book, by Harry Lorayne and Jerry Lucas

We are delighted to speak with Danica Tormohlen today! Danica is a journalist and the VP of Content for the Tarsus Group (now part of Informa).  Danica is an icon in our industry with tons of experience! She has been through many crises in the trade show industry and has been writing about it since 1994. She joins us today to discuss her fascinating career and to share her unique perspective on where the exhibition industry is heading and how we can better use technology. Bio: An award-winning journalist who has reported on the trade show industry since 1994, Danica Tormohlen is VP of Content for Tarsus Group, which was recently acquired by Informa for $940 million. In her role, she oversees content for Trade Show News Network, Corporate Event News, and Exhibitor News Network. These leading media brands publish websites, newsletters, social media channels, videos, podcasts, and online and in-person programming for the trade show, corporate event, and exhibition industries. Tormohlen is proud to be a founding member of the Women In Exhibitions Network (WIEN) North America chapter and was appointed to serve on its executive committee in March 2023. The mission at WIEN is to empower women in the exhibition industry while helping to nurture the next generation of female leaders. She served as Co-Chair of the Education & Events Committee for the North American Chapter in 2021, hosting and producing monthly Zoom meetings with guest speakers, games, breakouts, Q&As, and more during Covid. Danica’s journey Danica is proud to have been educated at the Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri. In 1994, she began writing for Expo Magazine and immediately fell in love with the trade show industry, which, for her, is very much like a magazine come to life! She loves how it has allowed her to learn about different industries and keep up with emerging trends! Danica worked for some great people Danica was fortunate to have worked for some great people. She worked for Donna Sanford, the Founder of Expo Magazine, for seventeen years and then went to work for Trade Show Executive for the next ten years.  Changes Danica has seen in the trade show industry Danica has seen the trade show industry experience many changes, including recessions, 9/11, COVID, and the digital revolution. What struck her the most was how resilient the industry is and how much people wanted to get back together with others, face to face. She also believes the ability to use digital tools and data in conjunction with an in-person experience has changed the industry. Trends in the trade show industry The trade show industry is driven mainly by products and people wanting to meet with others to do business. The trends Danica has been noticing include the use of technology, flexibility around meetings, and how people have been personalizing and customizing meetings and events to suit their needs.  People are spending less time in the digital space People have been investing less time in the digital space since the return of in-person events. Danica has seen virtual trade show platforms where people can have an avatar walking through a virtual trade show floor and stopping at booths. But nobody seems to want to do that because the experience is not particularly interactive.  E-commerce discovery Danica has seen some e-commerce sites doing well lately because people have been doing some discovery first. That means people are looking at and selecting products on the e-commerce websites before meeting with vendors on-site at events to close the deals. Using data to do better business at events In the past, obtaining data was cost-prohibitive for many events. Fortunately, the cost of technology is coming down. So people are now using their phones to track where attendees are at events and do sentiment analysis to help them improve their exhibits and make better business decisions. Verify the source of online content It is scary to know that some online content is manipulated or fake. To ensure the content you are using is real, fair, and relevant, consider whether or not the source is reputable and trustworthy. If you have any doubts, verify the source.  Women in Exhibitions Network Danica is a co-founder of the Women in Exhibitions Network. The network is to empower and support women in the exhibition industry and increase their networks. The Women in Exhibitions Network is inclusive, so any woman in the industry can become part of it. The members meet online and in person to talk to one another. They are launching their first in-person global summit in June this year in the Netherlands. Exhibitor News Network Danica's latest project, the Exhibitor News Network, launched recently. It is a media platform for exhibit managers and event marketers. It has a website for sharing daily industry news, educating exhibitors, and helping them do their jobs better. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Danica Tormohlen On LinkedIn On Twitter Tarsus Group Women in Exhibitions Network Exhibitor News Network Books mentioned: Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator, by Ryan Holiday

The Business of Meetings – Episode 165 - The Science Behind Mental Health with Dr. Romie Mushtaq We have the great pleasure of speaking with Dr. Romie Mushtaq today!  Dr. Romie is a true expert and thought leader in mental health, wellness, and mindfulness! She has done and achieved many things over the last two decades and knows our industry well! She joins us today to share her knowledge and explain what leaders should be doing for their mental health and the well-being of their teams. Bio Dr. Romie is a board-certified physician, award-winning wellness speaker, and the founder of “brainSHIFT at Work.” She brings together over 20 years of authority in neurology, integrative medicine, and mindfulness to not just deliver programs, but create cultural change. She is on a mission to transform mental health and wellness in the workplace and currently works with Fortune 500 companies, professional athletes, & global associations. Dr. Romie is also the Chief Wellness Officer for Evolution Hospitality, where she scaled a mindfulness & wellness program to over 7000 employees. Her expertise is featured in the national media such as NPR, NBC, TEDx talks, and Forbes. Find the cure for your busy brain at drromie.com or @drromie on social media. About Dr. Romie and her company, the brainSHIFT Institute Dr. Romie is a triple board-certified physician in neurology and integrative medicine, so she combines Eastern and Western medicine. She is also Chief Wellness Officer at Evolution Hospitality and knows the events industry well. The brainSHIFT Institute brings mental health programs to corporate America. People contact them because they know Dr. Romie has taken care of the well-being of employees in the workplace, and they want to know how to do that for themselves and their teams. Dr. Romie’s journey Dr. Romie is the daughter of South Asian immigrant parents. She was born and raised in the United States, and from the time she was born until she turned eighteen, her father always insisted she became a doctor. Her parents were STEMinists and raised her to be one too. When she entered the world of neurology, less than five percent of American brain doctors were women. In addition to seeing patients, she was also doing cutting-edge research. Although she loved her job, she suffered between 2008 and 2009 because she felt alone. Her patients noticed her suffering, but none of her colleagues did. She got so sick from all the stress that she had to have life-saving surgery in 2010. On her journey to healing after the surgery, she found her path to mindfulness and integrative medicine. Between working with healers around the world, returning, and getting board-certified in integrative medicine, she realized that American employees are being killed by the workload and all the stress. So she embarked on a mission to stop corporate America from hurting the brains of its employees. She did a TEDx Talk in 2018, and it went viral. Then the pandemic happened, and the mental health crisis that the experts already knew existed became publicly known, and people began to talk about it.  Dr. Romie got to where she is today because she does not want anyone else to feel alone and suffer without help. Breaking the stress-success cycle The mentality of professionals in the meetings and events industry, thinking they are only as good as their last event, must change because it is a recipe for disaster for their brains and can lead to burnout. Dr. Romie breaks it down into brain science and calls it the stress-success cycle. She points out that there is a way for event professionals to stop chasing a success high, keep an even keel in their brain, and allow that to translate to their business. Some symptoms of the stress-success cycle Waking up with no energy. Needing caffeine to get going in the morning and keep going throughout the day. Having a constantly-multiplying to-do list, yet being unable to focus. (Adult-onset ADD) Feeling anxious. Disturbed sleep. (Known as a busy brain) Not being able to take work out of your brain. Needing to use alcohol or supplements to take the edge off. Needing to take a sedative at night to calm down. A better way to function There is a better way to function. Events professionals can be successful in their business and with clients- even with a busy brain. The first step is to become aware that you are in a stress-success cycle and have a busy brain. (Take Dr. Romie’s free online test to assess your stress level.) Sleep Research has shown that sleep is the foundational requirement for resetting a busy brain. So getting enough sleep is essential for professionals who want to be successful. In the brainSHIFT protocol, they say that sleep is the new status symbol of successful professionals. Chasing the dopamine-adrenalin high Some event professionals continue to do event planning because they are chasing the rush of the dopamine-adrenalin high that comes when an event has gone well. But constantly seeking that high is unhealthy for the brain because it can damage the HPA access and deplete the cortisol and adrenalin coming from the adrenal glands.  Finding balance To find balance, you must create micro-habits or make small brain shifts to maintain sustained dopamine and adrenalin levels. That will allow you to wake up each morning feeling energized without needing a crisis to fuel you. To get a natural dopamine high each morning, you must get more than four hours- preferably six to nine hours of sleep every night.  Easy actions to take at night Modern-day lifestyles do not give most of us the luxury of having mindful morning routines. So, at brainSHIFT, they have designed some mindfulness meditation exercises for busy brains that are to be done at night after digital devices have been put away. Dr. Romie’s morning rule Dr. Romie has found one morning rule particularly effective for her clients: They must give her thirty minutes before they pick up their phones, look at their calendars, read emails, or engage with social media. Instilling corporate mindfulness BrainSHIFT has developed an entire framework called Building a Culture of Wellness to assist leaders in putting their people first and caring for the mental health of their teams. Toxic leaders When a leader is toxic, it usually means they have something toxic and unprocessed in their life. As a consultant, Dr. Romie believes her job is to show toxic leaders compassion. In the leadership talk at brainSHIFT, they engage all levels of leadership within organizations to teach them how to brain-shift for their entire team. Health advice for women entrepreneurs and their teams Dr. Romie advises women entrepreneurs to prioritize sleep and have their thyroid panels and hormones checked annually. The best thing women leaders can do for their teams is to leave them alone from 9 pm to 7 am. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Dr. Romie Mushtaq On her website On LinkedIn Dr. Romie’s book, The Busy Brain Cure

The Business of Meetings – Episode 164 - The Cancel Culture Curse with Evan Nierman Today we have the great pleasure of speaking with Evan Nierman, the Founder, and CEO of Red Banyan, a well-known specialist crisis management, and PR firm!  Evan has recently published an important book called The Cancel Culture Curse: From Rage to Redemption in a World Gone Mad. He joins us today to tell his story and talk about his book. Bio: Evan Nierman is the Founder and CEO of Red Banyan, an international crisis management, and public relations firm. He and his team have provided counsel to thousands of clients across the world, including scores who have been the targets of cancel culture attacks. Evan’s writings on issues related to communications and marketing are featured in a range of leading outlets. He speaks at various conferences and universities around the world and is often called upon by the media to provide insight and analysis.  Evan’s Journey Evan grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana. He enjoyed growing up there but could not wait to leave Louisiana, so he went to George Washington University in Washington DC. In DC, he got to do an internship while being a student. One of the organizations where he interned became his first job. He left the organization seven-and-a-half years later to work in high-stakes crisis PR for a small firm that did interesting work for some high-profile clients. He was unhappy there because he did not like the firm’s values and decided that one day he would have a firm like that one and do things differently. Before becoming an entrepreneur, Evan spent a year-and-a-half working in-house at a startup, which moved him to South Florida. Working for the startup, he learned about interacting with investors, raising money, and the challenges of exponential growth. He then left to start an enterprise of his own. He set out to build what he was looking for and create the culture he would like to have had when looking for a job. He wanted to do work that would empower people and improve the lives of his clients. Now, almost twelve years in at Red Banyan, he feels he is right where he should be and is happy with the work they're doing!  Social media Evan tries to be active on social media to let people know what is going on with Red Banyan. Crisis Averted In his book Crisis Averted, Evan spoke about pressing the truth. That means you must put your message out there and advocate for yourself. Because if you fail to do so, someone else will! Red Banyan is expanding Evan is pressing the truth about the expansion Red Banyan is going through right now. They currently have people in locations across the United States and 30 full-time team members, coast-to-coast. They are also getting an increasing number of clients from across the world. The Cancel Culture Curse Evan is patriotic and believes that America is the land of opportunity. Writing The Cancel Culture Curse was the labor of his love for democracy and America. He thinks America is off-track and believes we can and must do better. He and his co-author, Mark Sachs, wrote The Cancel Culture Curse to define cancel culture, help people better understand what it is and the devastating impact it has on people’s lives, and help small business owners prepare their organizations for dealing with potential cancel culture attacks or how to avoid them entirely. The elements of cancel culture Evan identified six key elements to cancel culture. He based the elements he identified on previous research by sociologists and academics and also added some of his own. (Most of the earlier research focused on political witch hunts.) The six key elements of cancel culture The perceived crime the targeted person committed against the collective It arises very quickly.  The nature of the offense is usually minor, or it gets fabricated. There is a disproportionate response. Everyone is afraid to defend the accused. The moral absolutism of those doing the condemning. How to survive cancel culture The first thing you must do is refuse to get canceled. Then, don’t apologize unless you are clear about what you are apologizing for and to whom you are apologizing. (Because in a cancel culture world, no mistakes are allowed. So you will not be forgiven, and your apology will become the rope on which they hang you.)  The media The mainstream media is essential for making cancel culture all-powerful because it jumps onto manufactured scandals, amplifies them, and helps spread them. Teaching our children Children should be taught the difference between journalism and sensationalism. They must learn to review online content critically and be encouraged to develop critical thinking skills. Why it is so difficult to cancel politicians Most people assume the worst about politicians and believe political leaders are unlikeable, self-interested, corrupt liars who will do anything to hold onto their power and advance their careers. So when they say stupid, objectionable, or distasteful things, people tend to accept them. Additionally, politicians refuse to be canceled. Evan's deepest wish for the future Evan hopes that his book, The Cancel Culture Curse, will contribute to moving America back to when people could disagree politically, remain friends, and be happy to be surrounded by others with different beliefs. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Evan Nierman On LinkedIn Red Banyan www.cancelculture.com Books Mentioned: The Cancel Culture Curse by Evan Nierman and Mark Sachs The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Trust Me I’m Lying by Ryan Holiday What’s Our Problem by Tim Urban

The Business of Meetings – Episode 163 - The Future of Work with Joe Mechlinski We are delighted to speak with Joe Mechlinski today! Joe Mechlinski is the Founder and CEO of SHIFT, New York Times bestselling author, and a TEDx speaker, who wants to change how we work to transform the way we live. At SHIFT, a tech-enabled management consulting firm nationally recognized as a ‘Best Workplace,’ Joe helps leaders build healthy and high-performing organizations by disrupting outdated norms, building engaged teams, and using technology to unlock human potential. Passionate about equity in the workplace, Joe is a partner at Conscious Venture Partners: a group that invests in minority and female-founded businesses. Joe’s journey Joe grew up in difficult circumstances in the inner city of Baltimore. With the help of some wonderful people who stepped into his life and gave him a hand, he was able to attend Johns Hopkins University, even though he came from an academically-challenged environment. He became an entrepreneur and started some small businesses that did well in the late 1990s. Joe lost his mom after he left college and experienced some personal challenges. At 23, he started SHIFT with a partner who had a lot of experience and began doing management consulting for companies. He used the idea of learning and development to put himself and his partner in situations where they had to figure things out and find a way. He read tons of books, attended conferences, and had some smart mentors to help him think through how to help businesses grow. After twelve years, he wrote a book about all he had learned. It became a New York Times bestseller and the number-one book in the world for three days! Then Joe started working with bigger companies, and his small management consulting company got to work with companies like John Hancock, New Balance, and Crocs at the executive level. That allowed Joe to get involved in a VC firm and start thinking of ways to help others. The best play for organizations The traffic patterns in organizations have changed since the pandemic. Right now, the best play for organizations is to figure out what makes sense for their model based on the labor market for their business and mentor the next generation. Companies should also get creative about building environments where people know they are seen, heard, and understood and feel that their team and the organization have their back. Leadership Leaders must be clear about where they want to go and what is most important to them in order to lead organizations effectively. Employees To retain employees, organizations need to look at the average tenure in their marketplace and try to meet or exceed that with their allocation of capital and available resources. They can also offer incentives. How to rise within an organization Generally, people tend to rise within an organization through learning. Whether it involves consuming content and applying it from a book perspective or learning from platforms like LinkedIn Learning, people should spend between ten and twenty percent of each week investing in themselves, their learning, and their development. TEDx When TEDx came out in 2008, Joe applied immediately and put it behind him. (He has made his audition tape available on YouTube.) Sometime later, he got a call from one of the curators in the DC Chapter looking for someone to speak about the future of work. So he began the process. He would usually ask questions and then listen carefully to the responses from the audience. However, that is not how TEDx works. Their talk process requires speakers to stick to a script. It was hard for him, so he got a speaker coach. Why the TEDx Talk was difficult for Joe Doing the TEDx talk was hard for Joe because he struggled to say everything within fourteen minutes. He was also writing a new book entitled, Who Says, which was not intended to give advice but rather to invite sovereignty, curiosity, and questioning, and the point of it is to explain why we should stop looking for answers from “the sage on the stage”. Joe believes his talk was one of the first TEDx talks that did not give advice. It was ranked the number one talk worldwide in August last year and ranked 40th out of 15,900 TEDx talks globally! It took a lot of work, and Joe is happy it turned out the way it did!  The Tony Hsieh Award Joe volunteers to be part of the Tony Hsieh Award delegation. It is a delegation established to honor the work and legacy of Tony Hsieh, the late Founder, and CEO of Zappos. He is excited to continue being part of that community and to have the opportunity to enlist others to do the same! A platform for leaders and executives Joe has built an AI-driven tech platform to work with leaders and executives to encourage asynchronous communication and to help them get their teams on the same page each week without scheduling more meetings. (Go to www.shiftthework.com/latch) Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Joe Mechlinski SHIFT On LinkedIn Books mentioned: Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman Reinventing Organizations by Frédéric Laloux Joe’s Books Shift the Work: The Revolutionary Science of Moving From Apathetic to All in Using Your Head, Heart,and Gut   Grow Regardless  

The Business of Meetings – Episode 162 – The Groove Cruise with Jason Beukema Today, we are excited to speak with Jason Beukema, the founder of the Groove Cruise!  Jason started the Groove Cruise almost twenty years ago. He joins us on the show today to tell the fascinating origin story of the Groove Cruise and to share his experiences and insights. Bio: Jason Beukema I own a couple of travel companies focused on creating unforgettable experiences that connect communities to their passions in unique & exciting ways. Under the Whet Travel umbrella, we specialize in chartering cruise ships for large-scale music and themed experiences (2000-4000 people) on major cruise lines such as Norwegian, Carnival, Princess, Royal Caribbean, MSC & Celebrity.  Whet Travel received the prestigious charter partner of the year award from Norwegian Cruise Line, and Carnival has been on the Inc 500 list twice and has been featured in media such as USA Today, NY Times, Travel Channel, MTV, NBC, WSJ, Billboard, and Forbes.  Groove Cruise is the World's Premiere Electronic Music Cruise & the only music charter that sails yearly from both coasts. Salsa Cruise is A Ship Full of Pura Salsa. MotorBoat, the Loudest Boat in the World, Inception Cruise, the World's first Spring Break Charter, & Zen Cruise is a Transformational Journey at Sea focused on yoga, health, and wellness. Cruise Event GPS specializes in corporate events & incentives on cruise ships.  Whet Foundation is a 501c3 that offers exciting experiences & programs to deserving children in South FL & the Caribbean through our Community Captains & Destination Donation programs. I'm the youngest person to single-handedly charter a cruise ship, we have executed 27 full ships to date & send up to 15,000 people on cruises each year.  I coined the concept of ‘Celebration Marketing’. I have been a featured speaker at several events, such as SXSW, Canadian Music Week & Cruise360. I created the Mentorship program for the Entrepreneur Organization as well as the Tourism + Hospitality & Emerging Leadership Councils at the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce.  I currently live in Miami and have lived across the US, Australia, Bali, and Ecuador. I am from and went to college in MI (CMU Fire up Chips). I've also been to 50 states, 68 countries, and have sailed on 149 cruises. Jason’s journey After graduating pre-med at Central Michigan University, Jason realized he did not want to join the medical industry. He decided to become an entrepreneur instead, to make enough money to help others. Unfortunately, his business failed, and he got into debt. So he found a job as a sales manager at Georgia Pacific, a big Fortune 100 company, and sold timeshares for Radisson Vacation Villas in his spare time to settle his debt.  Personal Coaching When his boss offered to pay for school, Jason declined and asked if he could hire a FranklinCovey personal coach instead. His boss agreed and during the coaching process, Jason was told to look for something he loved doing and find a way to get paid for doing it.  The travel industry He loved going on vacations, so he signed up for a two-and-a-half-week course at the International Tour Management Institute in San Francisco. Following that, he was hired by a couple of tour companies and started doing motor coach tours throughout North America.   How the Groove Cruise began Jason’s friends asked him to put a tour together for them. So in 2004, he joined a seven-day Royal Caribbean cruise ship tour, found 125 people join him on board, and called it the Groove Cruise. After the cruise, Jason saw how life-changing the experience had been for everyone! Even though he had no money and knew nobody in the cruise industry when he started the Groove Cruise, he created a business plan to charter a cruise ship within the next five years. It took seven years to charter his first cruise ship, and since then, they have done 28 full ships and have become Norwegian’s and Carnival’s Charter Partner of the Year!  Other experiences Jason offers experiences other than the Groove Cruise. They have had salsa, rock, heavy metal, country music, and yoga cruises. They even have a board game and a dental continuing education cruise coming up! A huge jump Since the Groove Cruise started twenty years ago, they have jumped from having 125 people on board to having 4000 people on each cruise! Transformational cruises Many people have shared feedback to say that they found Groove Cruises transformational. New personal and business relationships have formed on the cruises, and marriages have been saved. After the Orphanage Cruise experience, many were inspired to volunteer once they returned home. The pandemic The pandemic was beyond a nightmare for the cruise industry and the live events space! The cruise industry was the first industry to get shut down, and it stayed that way for the next two years. It was a depressing and very mentally challenging time for Jason. Fortunately, he had his young nieces around to distract him from his problems. The Groove Cruise returned in full-force after the pandemic. Online live cruise sailing events Journaling and thinking of those less fortunate than him helped Jason get out of himself, overcome his depression, and start thinking of ways to help others. He came up with the idea to utilize all his contacts and do online live cruise sailing events called Virtual Sailaways. Doing those events, he raised around $50,000 for people experiencing hardships in his community. Accommodation for events is challenging  Accommodation is always a big challenge for events because the organizers do not want to take on too much risk and do not want to get tied into a contract where they cannot fulfill all the accommodation requirements. Forced relationships No other place offers the kind of relationship-building that happens when people are on a cruise with others from the same company, with a similar lifestyle, or with the same taste in music. You cannot go anywhere on a cruise ship, so forced or serendipitous relationships tend to form, and that’s where all the magic happens! Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Jason Beukema On his websites:  http://www.WhetTravel.com   http://www.GrooveCruise.com   https://www.groovecruise.com/miami/whet-foundation  On LinkedIn

The Business of Meetings – Episode 161 – The Fabulous Story of VidCon with Colin Hickey Today we are delighted to speak with a true entrepreneur, Colin Hickey! Colin is the Senior Vice President of Operations for VidCon and Paramount! Colin’s career path has been a poster journey of American entrepreneurship, and VidCon is an amazing convention that brings up to 75,000 people to Anaheim each year! Colin joins us today to share his phenomenal story! Colin’s bio: Colin Hickey started as a music promoter turned entrepreneur and event manager who has made a mark in the industry with his innovative ideas and exceptional management skills. Starting his career as a music promoter in the early 2000s, he quickly made a name for himself and worked with various artists, venues, and performers. In 2009, he co-founded Gatherboard, an event management and promotion platform that aimed to revolutionize how people discover and attend events. Gatherboard is still going strong today and has become a popular choice for event organizers and attendees alike. From 2011-2013, he worked at the Missoula Downtown Association, as the Marketing and Events Director, contributing to revitalizing the downtown area and organizing several successful events. In 2013, he was hired as the first full-time employee at VidCon, one of the world's largest conferences for online video creators and enthusiasts. His expertise and experience were instrumental in making VidCon a massive success and reaching new heights globally. He is currently Senior Vice President of Operations and co-leads the business globally. With his passion for events and entrepreneurship, he continues to make waves in the industry, always striving for new and innovative ways to bring people together and create unforgettable experiences. Colin’s journey After spending half a semester at the University of Wyoming, Colin realized college was not for him. His brothers were heavily into the music scene in Missoula, Montana, and he was a small-time music promoter in Wyoming. A well-known club in Missoula was looking for someone to run it, so Colin moved to Montana in the summer of 2000 to run the club and become a music promoter. He ran the club for three years, became a singer in a band, began booking tours for bands, and started going on tours. That gave him the notion of doing live events. Sometime in 2004 0r 2005, Colin had an idea for people to go online to find out what was happening in the local music scene and then created a website called Gardencityevents.com. It was a hit and was acquired shortly after by an online news company. Colin continued to run websites for events in local and surrounding areas for the news company for the next few years. That was how he met and made friends with Hank Green, the founder of VidCon. VidCon One week before the VidCon convention in July 2013, Colin joined the VidCon team. A few weeks after the show, Hank told Colin they were parting ways with their production company and asked him to run VidCon and build a new team. VidCon kept growing, so they decided to expand internationally. Five years ago, Hank sold the company to Viacom, and they continued running in the same way as before but with more resources. Then Viacom merged with CBS and later rebranded as Paramount. About a year ago, Paramount made Colin a co-leader of the business. VidCon creators The VidCon creators are approachable and relate well to the attendees because many are the same age. Many of the creators also grew up being fans! Security at VidCon The core VidCon fan-track attendee is between twelve and seventeen years old and most of them are female. Fans often get into places they should not be, so VidCon takes the security of the Anaheim Convention Center very seriously. Advice for creators Colin advises new creators to stay true to themselves, be consistent with their content, and to get onto multiple platforms. That will encourage more people to connect and follow them. New platforms As new platforms arise, different kinds of creators surface to join them. The VidCon team likes that because it makes VidCon more diverse. The in-person experience Colin feels that the experience of an in-person event can never be replicated via the metaverse, no matter how life-like the virtual experience may be. Family life It can be difficult for parents to juggle their professional and family lives. Colin feels lucky to have children who are interested in and enjoy what he does. He likes to teach them about the business and tries to get them even more invested in the show. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Colin Hickey On LinkedIn VidCon

The Business of Meetings – Episode 160 – Wonderhell with Laura Gassner Otting We are delighted to be speaking with Laura Gassner Otting today! Laura is an amazing entrepreneur, executive coach, and writer who has helped people in politics and often appeared on TV!  Laura's life is rich and diverse! She joins us to share her story and discuss her new book, Wonderhell. Bio: Laura’s secret superpower is seeing your greatness and reflecting it back to you so that you can get “unstuck” and achieve extraordinary results.  A frequent contributor to Good Morning America, the TODAY Show, Harvard Business Review, and Oprah Daily, Laura’s 30-year resume is defined by her entrepreneurial edge. She served as a Presidential Appointee in Bill Clinton’s White House, helping shape AmeriCorps; left a leadership role at a respected national search firm to expand a tech start-up; and founded, ran, and sold her own global search firm, partnering with the full gamut of mission-driven corporate and nonprofit executives.  Laura is turned on by the audacity of The Big Idea and that larger-than-life goal you just can’t seem to shake. She’s an instigator, motivator, and provocateur, and she’s never met a revolution she didn’t like. Just ask her enduringly patient husband, two almost-grown sons, and two troublesome pups with whom she lives just outside of Boston, MA. Laura’s journey Laura has had a long journey of accidental successes. She did many interesting things with interesting people and many interesting opportunities arose along her path. She dropped out of law school to join the Presidential campaign of an unknown Southern governor who offered a policy solution of community service in exchange for a college education. She ended up in the White House and helped build AmeriCorps. Four years later, she wanted to get onto the campaign trail again but was too old. She took a job with her mentor as a head hunter. After five years, she left, started her own firm, grew it, and sold it fifteen years later to the women who helped her build it. She started blogging and was asked to do TEDx talk. The talk got people’s attention, and she began receiving offers to speak for money. That prompted her to write a book. She is now five years into her speaking career and is about to launch her second book, Wonderhell. Wonderhell Wonderhell is based on the concept of an amusement park that is divided into three sections, Impostor Town, Doubtsville, and Burnout City. Each section contains five “rides” that mimic the emotions people go through along the journey to becoming successful.  Figuring out who you are The first “ride” is figuring out who you are and what you are capable of. Doubt (the trapeze) tends to creep in when you want to try something new, which can be scary. That's why you have to appreciate whatever you did to get you to where you are today because it created a foundation for you to grow and build from, even though it may not get you through the next thing. In other words, you can borrow the confidence you gained in one place and use it in another until you have firmer ground to stand on. The loop de loop  The loop de loop is the ride where you keep going back to the beginning, over and over again. That is where people start self-sabotaging and have to adopt a beginner’s mindset. It is essential to notice when you get bored or complacent, stop caring about outcomes, and are no longer bringing your best to your work. The discomfort of not knowing Laura has never known exactly what she wants to do next, and she thinks that happens to many others, too. She advises anyone leaving a job to spend time sitting with the discomfort of not knowing before starting something new. Success does not make things any easier An idea that emerged in Wonderhell is that we tend to think things will get easier when we attain success. They will not! Things generally get even harder when we become successful. Becoming Everything we do in life helps us continue with the process of evolving and becoming. The idea behind Wonderhell is that when we have one foot in yesterday and the other in tomorrow, it keeps us in the process of becoming. The tunnel of love Being an entrepreneur can be lonely. If you have someone at your level you respect and admire going through the tunnel of love (the process) with you, it will keep you in check and help you avoid settling for mediocracy.  Overcoming impostor syndrome So many capable and successful people still have impostor syndrome when they embark on something they have never done before. Having a mentee or teaching something that comes to you naturally is the best way to get yourself to feel that you know something. It will also build your confidence moving forward. Overcoming impostor syndrome involves renegotiating our emotions around the doors we are walking through. Advice for women applying for positions Twenty years of executive search experience taught Laura that there are no perfect candidates and that anything people bring to the table counts, even if it is not on the list. She advises women to keep their resumes and cover letters current and apply with abandon. Even if they don’t get the jobs, they will gain experience in the interview and job application process.  Make your own luck Being in the space where you put yourself in the deal flow makes you luckier! (There is a chapter in Wonderhell called The Fortune Teller, which is about how you make your own luck.) Mentorship Rather than trying to find mentors, Laura prefers to look for mentoring moments. She is also happy to offer mentoring moments to advise anyone who asks to pick her brain or needs her help to work through something specific.  How Wonderhell came about Laura did not intend to write Wonderhell. It happened after a series of events that began when she wrote a blog post while on a redeye flight home after appearing on the Today Show, where she described the space she was in as Wonderhell.    Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Laura Gassner Otting On her website  On LinkedIn On all social media platforms @heylgo Books mentioned: Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg Wonderhell is available at www.wonderhell.com, on Amazon, or anywhere fine books are sold.  

Today, Donna Kastner, the founder of Retirepreneur, joins us to share her insight and experience and dive into what you can do if you are over 50, 60, or 70+ years old and still want to contribute to society. Donna is an amazing individual who has had a unique, fascinating, and diverse career in the events industry for many years! She has tons of experience and loves re-inventing herself!  Bio: Donna’s career journey has been described by many as eclectic, starting as a high school band director and continuing through a series of sales, marketing, and start-up endeavors. With a mid-career pivot to the events industry, working for Maritz Global Events and Velvet Chainsaw Consulting, she’s now lasering her focus on a demographic that has much to offer our industry and our world– the age 60+ segment. Donna is the founder of Retirepreneur, where she helps executives make a smooth segue from employment to entrepreneurial endeavors. She’s also a Fellow at The Dayton Foundation, where in partnership with AARP, she’s helping dozens of cities throughout the Midwest to make their communities more age-friendly.   Donna’s journey Donna’s journey has been wild and eclectic. She grew up in the greater New York City area and went to the University of Dayton in the Midwest, where she majored in music and met her husband. During the next fifteen years, she and her husband moved nine times, in and out of five states, where she taught in various school districts before starting a family. A home-based business  Teachers’ salaries were woefully low in the 80s and Donna had to figure out how to make things work financially after the birth of her first child. She started a home-based typesetting business, recruited a half  dozen moms to help out, and made more in a part-time capacity than she earned as a teacher! An eclectic career Donna’s eclectic career started as a high school band director. She was also a magazine editor and even sold real estate during her summer breaks, where she listed and sold the house next door to where John Travolta grew up in Englewood, New Jersey! The events industry After a chance meeting with a friend in her mid-career, doors opened for Donna to move into the events industry. She started working for an organization where she segued through various roles and ultimately became responsible for training across the organization. Why relationships matter Relationships must be maintained and nurtured because you never know when someone may recognize something in you that prompts them to recommend you. Becoming a champion for older adults When she reached her fifties, Donna noticed that people were leaning into working with the younger generations, and those in their fifties were not getting much attention. She decided to leave her job in 2008 to pursue her Retirepreneur idea. It was a tricky venture and there was a lot of financial turbulence at the time, so she was fortunate to have her husband’s full support.  Needing stronger filters The mistakes Donna made along the way mostly centered around agreeing to the wrong things to create more cash flow. She subsequently learned she needed stronger filters to check the opportunities presented to her. Modern elders Donna focuses her consulting side on work that aligns with age-friendly initiatives because she believes that today’s elders have much to offer. New roles should be created because people are living longer now, and sixty-something looks different from how it looked for previous generations.   Retirepreneur Retirepreneur started with assistance and workshops for people getting laid off, possibly due to age. Donna initially spent all her time speaking about it, writing about it, and taking on side gigs that did not align with it to keep it going. She now seeks out clients in the later stages of their careers and helps them develop skills and do whatever else they need to do to remain relevant and valuable. The silver tsunami Donna points out that by 2034, for the first time in history, there will be more people aged 65 and older than those aged 18 and younger. She used to focus on income, jobs, and starting businesses but now focuses on a fellowship with The Dayton Foundation, where she supports communities and works to improve health care, transportation, and housing. She also works with AARP on a program for age-friendly, livable communities.  Silver is Gold Last year, Donna was involved in another fellowship through the Dayton Foundation, Silver is Gold, to help connect organizations struggling to find talent with a pool of recently-retired executives. Two phases of life There are two phases of life when people move into their sixties. Late adulthood is when people in their sixties and seventies feel too young to be done and still want to contribute, and there is old age. Some people keep on getting older but never reach old age! Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Donna Kastner On Website On LinkedIn Email donna@donakastner.com

The Business of Meetings – Episode 158 – Intentional Growth with Ryan Tansom The Business of Meetings – Episode 158 – Intentional Growth with Ryan Tansom Today, we have the great pleasure of speaking with Ryan Tansom, the Co-founder of Arkona!  Ryan knows a lot about acquisition entrepreneurship! He joins us to share his insight along with a wealth of experience building and selling businesses. He dives into how to create value, different types of exits, and everything else you need to know when planning to sell a business. Bio Ryan Tansom started his entrepreneurial career at his family business where he was the executive vice -president and responsible for the strategic, operational, and financial strategy of a $21 million company. Ryan helped turn the company around and bring intentional focus to the right strategies, which enabled it to be sold for eight figures to a local competitor in 2014. Ryan took his experience and founded Arkona to create the Intentional Growth Framework, which helps owners grow the value of their company with the end in mind, through educational training, fractional CFO services, and strategic planning. Ryan is a passionate, energetic, and highly-skilled communicator who loves his work and the message he delivers. Both of the keynote presentations he frequently delivers are near and dear to his heart because they tell the story and solutions to the challenges he had when he was running his family business. Since founding Arkona, he has been able to teach other entrepreneurs and business owners what he wishes he had known before they sold their company, which was how to clarify a path to a more valuable business with an end in mind. He wants business owners to turn their visions into reality. Ryan also hosts the popular Intentional Growth Podcast, which has 280+ episodes and 380k+ downloads, with Todd Herman, Bo Burlingham, Jack Stack, Gino Wickman, John Warrillow, Dan Martell, and Alan Beaulieu. Ryan’s journey Ryan is on a mission to make the entrepreneurial journey worthwhile for everyone. Through Arkona, he offers education and services to help people with their businesses and business finances.  It all stems from Ryan’s experience growing up in a business his dad started from the ground up. At the end of 2009, their family business lost $940,000.00 and they had to choose between doubling down to make it worthwhile keeping or selling the business and shutting it down entirely. They decided to keep going. Over the next five years, they sold two branches, built out the managed IT services and software automation, rolled out a new ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system, replaced most of their employees, and rebranded while juggling a $240,000 payroll every two weeks. In 2014, they sold the business because they could not align their goals and strategies. What do you want? When people call Ryan to say they want out of their business, he asks them whether they want out of their job or assets. Mostly, they are sick of all the duties associated with their role in the business.   Reverse engineering an equity valuation Many entrepreneurs don’t even know if what they are doing is worth it, and their goals are often based on revenue, which is not a good indicator of whether or not they have made it. Ryan likes to ask entrepreneurs what target equity value they want for their business at a point in time, regardless of whether or not they want to sell. (If a company is viewed and run like a financial asset, it needs to grow in value!) What business owners need to have in place and do: A dashboard to monitor their numbers A goal Hire people and delegate Make it unnecessary to be in the business themselves Ryan’s 5 Intentional Growth Principles  Ryan has adopted five principles to bring clarity to business owners and crystalize and synthesize the questions they often ask:  Your vision; What do you want from the business, and why?  Your financial targets (target annual income, asset net worth, and the equity value of the company) Exit Options (Internal - Management/Family/Partners, Acquisition Entrepreneurs ESAPs, Private Equity, Strategic Buyers) Creating sustainable, predictable, and transferable cash flow (The more sustainable, predictable, and transferable the cash flow, the more intrinsic value the business will have.) Team of advisors (Hire experts to advise you on optimizing all aspects of the business.) The best outcome When most business owners consider the best outcome, they tend to gravitate toward a number. A better option would be to focus on growing the intrinsic financial value based on the cash flow valuation because that will likely guarantee five multiples within the ESOP.  (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) The benefits of ESOP If you’re in an ESOP and sell your company, you can put up to 15% of the rolled equity back into your company. You also get to be a paid CEO, make all the decisions, and do not pay taxes. What is happening in the market? Private equity raised almost a trillion-and-a-half dollars in capital, they are charging investors 2% to manage that money, and they have not yet bought anything.  Enterprise-purchasing power The US technically has 8 million dollars of enterprise purchasing power to buy companies that comprise only 4% of the market. That creates a problem for those who want to sell and for those who have invested in private equity. So private equity companies are now readjusting all their models. Prices will drop, and people will get higher earn-outs, more equity, and less debt.  A great opportunity A great opportunity exists for people to buy companies, grow value, and monetize when they want to exit.    Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website   Connect with Ryan Tansom Arkona On LinkedIn