The Business of Meetings

  Today, we are thrilled to be speaking with a phenomenal lady! Rushia Brown is the President and Founder of the Women’s Professional Basketball Alumni Association. She used to be a professional basketball player. She is now an entrepreneur, and she helps and inspires many people! Rushia has achieved a lot in her life! In this episode, she tells the inspiring story of her fascinating journey! It is all about having grit and never giving up!  We hope you enjoy listening to our inspiring conversation with Rushia Brown today! Bio: Rushia Brown, the South Carolina native, has made the world her home. As a professional athlete, Rushia played 17 seasons of basketball in 6 different countries. Furman University and Southern Conference Hall of Fame was one of the original pioneers in the WNBA, which started in 1997. She spent 6 years with the Cleveland Rockers and her final year with the Charlotte Sting. Her international career spanned ten seasons in Spain, France, Italy, Greece, and Korea. After retiring, Brown earned her Executive MBA from George Washington University. Her entrepreneurial spirit led her to be a part of starting several companies, including the Women’s Professional Basketball Alumnae, the only organization to assist women who have played professionally in the WNBA or Internationally to transition; ServCom, a non-profit organization that provides programming that cultivates personal productivity and profitability through preparedness; Hearts & Hands Catering, a family business offering healthy soul food alternatives; and Young Black Entrepreneur Magazine, a quarterly publication that serves as an educational platform encouraging minorities to start their own businesses. Brown has made her mark in various business sectors and continues to travel the world, inspiring others to use their gifts and talents to pursue their dreams. After a stint in New York at the NBA League office, Rushia served in the front office of the Las Vegas Aces as Player Programs and Franchise Development Manager and later served as Director of Community Relations and Youth Sports for the LA Sparks until Feb of 22. She is the proud mother of Morgan MacKenzie Brown. Rushia’s journey Rushia was born in the Bronx, New York, and her family later moved to South Carolina. Her father was diagnosed with cancer when he was a high school freshman. He meant a lot to their family, and Rushia wanted to help him, but she did not know how. When he eventually passed away, she felt like she had lost everything and became a problem child. Fortunately, the people around her encouraged her to make healthier decisions.   Basketball Rushia picked up a basketball for the first time when she was in the tenth grade. She fell in love with the game and found that playing sports was a way to reconnect with her father because he had been an avid sports fan. The more she played and the harder she worked, the better she got, and the cycle of improvement and reaching different goals stuck with her, so she kept on playing. College Rushia wanted to go to college and knew that sports was the only way for her to get there. She became the number two recruit in the entire state of South Carolina, so she could pick any school to which she wanted to go. She initially committed to going to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill but later decided to stay closer to home and went to Furman University in South Carolina. She had a fantastic career there, got a degree in sociology, and won every basketball award. An offer to play professionally In her senior year, her basketball coach got a call from an agent who wanted to see her play internationally. Rushia was made an offer she could not refuse, so she took the chance and played internationally for ten seasons. WNBA Three years into her international career, the WNBA started. Rushia wanted to have the opportunity to play in that league. Even though she was not selected straight away, she got picked eventually because her international team was doing so well. Open trials In their first year, the WNBA allowed franchises in eight cities to host open trials. Rushia went to the closest team in Charlotte, North Carolina, where 200 women were trying out. She made it to the final four and got cut! She was heartbroken, but her no-nonsense mom encouraged her to find a way to get in front of the right people to get an opportunity. Cleveland The following weekend, she drove to Cleveland to try again. She made it to the final four again, and the head coach invited her to be part of their practice team. That meant she would be a practice player only, and when the games came, she would sit in the stands and would not travel with the team. Having a foot in the door was enough for her, and she knew her hard work would eventually get her into the team, so she accepted. Part of the team  Three-and-a-half weeks later the coach invited her to be part of the regular roster. Seven games into the season, the coach told her that she would start her in the game they were playing the following week. She ended up playing as a starter for the rest of her seven-year career in the WNBA.  Retiring Rushia retired from the WNBA in 2003, at the age of 31, and started doing the things she loved.  ServCom She eventually started a basketball academy because she wanted to work with kids. That led to her starting a non-profit, ServCom, dedicated to providing resources for those who want to do better and be better. MBA Everyone referred to Rushia as the “Rushia the basketball player” and minimized who she was as a woman and a professional. So she thought that educating herself more would bring more opportunities her way and did an MBA at George Washington University. The Women’s Professional Basketball Alumni Association When Rushia did not know what she wanted to do, she planned celebrity games and hosted events. A former player was at one of the celebrity events. She had been a 2x WNBA All-Star and played the league for seven or eight years internationally. On that trip, Rushia discovered that she was homeless, so she wanted to figure out a way to help women in those situations. That was her initial motivation to start the WPBA. The Young Black Entrepreneur Rushia and her brother started Young Black Entrepreneur Magazine as an educational platform to influence and encourage people of color to start businesses and educate them on the process. They also do a mentorship program for kids called The Wolf Pack. Boss Girls Rushia loves helping others! She created Boss Girls at the beginning of Covid to help people because she discovered that in helping people, her spirit also did well. Writing a book Rushia plans to finish writing the book she has been working on for the last ten years. She feels that now is the right time to finish it because when she does her speaking events, it will be helpful to have the book for people to take away with them.   Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Rushia Brown On her website    On her non-profit website   On LinkedIn

Today we are delighted to speak to Samir Uberoi, one of the three partners of Designer Incentives & Conferences! Samir has had a fascinating journey! In this episode, he tells his story, and talks about what it means to do an incentive trip in India. He dives into what it takes to be a business owner and go through the rollercoaster life of an entrepreneur. He also shares some stories to inspire business owners, discusses his hopes and dreams for the future, and offers advice for entrepreneurs.  We hope you enjoy today’s captivating conversation with Samir Uberoi! Bio: Samir Uberoi is one of the three partners of Designer Incentives & Conferences, a DMC based in India. Designer Incentives and Conferences is considered a pioneer in the UK for the MICE segment to India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan. Samir has over 30 years of experience in the travel industry and has personally accompanied and been involved with the planning and operation of virtually all of the MICE programs of Designer Incentives & Conferences in these destinations. Travel is not just his profession but also his passion! Samir’s story Samir studied finance in college. After graduating in 1990, he went to New York City to start a career as an investment banker. He ran into an acquaintance who used to be with a financial company. He was working for a travel company. When Samir asked him for some contacts in the finance world, he explained that he was about to start operating in India and invited Samir to his office to help him with his India program. He then offered him a job. Samir loved the world of travel and has never looked back since then! Designer holidays Samir’s business partners started offering designer holidays in 1990. Then in 1995, they invited Samir to go back to India to join them. He agreed and he and his wife returned to Mumbai to join their designer holiday company, which specialized in tours and groups. They later started along the route of doing designer incentives. A mindset shift Samir started in a senior position at Designer Holidays and worked his way to a partnership. Switching from an employee to a business partner required a complete mindset shift. It was not easy because he had to learn to function in an entirely new way and take on a lot of responsibility. Designer Incentives In 1995, Samir’s partners received a request from a tour operating principal in France to handle some of their incentives in India, and they invited Samir to travel with them. They were all surprised to discover how interesting and challenging it was to do incentives rather than tours. They needed to make it clear that they were doing incentives, conferences, and MICE, as well as tours. They established Designer Incentives & Conferences as an offshoot of Designer Holidays so that people could identify what they were doing from an incentive and conferencing perspective. A challenge When they started doing incentives, they had to learn a lot! The challenge was to educate themselves first and then teach their partners, the hotels, and everyone they worked with that an incentive is not a tour group.  Sri Lanka and Nepal They also work with Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bhutan. They feel fortunate to have worked in destinations where they could help people understand the difference between an incentive and a tour group.  Bhutan Bhutan is not a party destination and is only suitable for more discerning groups. Even so, those who have been there described it as a trip of a lifetime! Samir believes that the post-pandemic Bhutan will become a sought-after experience because it is so interesting, and the people there are so happy! The rollercoaster of running a business Over the last thirty years, India has experienced some incredible changes. When Designer Incentives & Conferences was founded, in 1990, the country was very different from how it is today. Starting a business was a big challenge. Samir and his partners had many unforeseen issues to deal with, yet they still enjoyed building their team of about fifty people and developing close relationships with everyone. They loved both the challenge and the joy of starting and owning a business.  Starting and growing a business As a business grows, new problems tend to arise, like staffing issues and problems with authorities. Those issues can be both challenging and rewarding. Even though you can usually foresee a few issues when you start a business, you will only get to know the real joys and challenges when you do it.  Big problems When they started the business, Samir and his partners faced challenging times and dealt with big problems specific to India that affected their business badly. Fortunately there were three of them to support one another and overcome the issues with the help of their resourceful team.   Samir and his partners Samir and his partners are all very different people. It has been helpful at times in terms of creativity but challenging when they had opposing points of view.  Samir’s hope for the future In Samir’s experience, the positives of owning a business have far outweighed the challenges. He hopes to stay in business for at least another thirty years. Communication During Covid, the vital thing for Samir and his partners was communication. They decided to be honest with their team about whatever they could and could not do.  Tough decisions They had to make some tough decisions, but the priority was always to look after the team.  Downsizing They decided to downsize at the end of 2020 and work from a smaller space with a reduced team. Now, Samir is feeling motivated and enthusiastic about the business and hopes to rebuild it as things continue to improve.    Samir’s quotes: “When we started doing incentives, it was a learning process.” "In life, good friends are what makes it all worthwhile!" “The challenge was to educate our partners, the hotels, and all the people we worked with that an incentive is not a tour group.” “We have been fortunate to work in destinations where one can bring about a bit of change in the process of the realization of the difference between an incentive and a tour group.” “It has been fantastic! It has been fascinating, it’s been challenging, but it has been rewarding as well!” “I think Bhutan is going to be the next interesting destination because post-pandemic, people will look for more of those sorts of experiences which are going to be quite interesting.” “You have to pivot to be relevant today.” Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Samir Uberoi On the Designer Incentives & Conferences website Samir Uberoi on LinkedIn Designer Incentives & Conferences, India on LinkedIn

Today we have the pleasure of speaking to Cerissa Miller! Cerissa is a leader in our industry. She started the Hospitality Family Facebook Group two years ago during the pandemic, and it now has over 60,000 members!  Cerissa has a very inspiring story to share! In this episode, she talks about mentorship, networking, finding her niche in teaching, and the Hospitality Family Group she started, on Facebook. Cerissa’s story When she was twenty-one years old, Cerissa moved from Santa Cruz, California, to Austin, Texas, looking for a career. She applied for many different positions and was finally offered a job at an Embassy Suites hotel in Austin as a social catering sales manager. After experiencing the back-of-house environment, realized her passion for the industry and wanted to make a career of it.  Mentors She had some kind and wonderful mentors who taught her a lot and pushed her to be successful. Cerissa loved her job, even though it demanded a lot of her time. Sales Cerissa later developed an interest in the sales side and became a successful hotel sales manager. After working in several different markets and hotels, she moved back to California and stepped into her first Director of Sales role. After that, she fell in love with leading and teaching. She felt like she knew what she was selling because of her catering experience in the hotel industry. Learning Cerissa feels blessed to have had the opportunity to work with and learn from all the different hotel directors who took the time to answer all her questions and help her understand how the various wheels turn to make one successful product. She also loved teaching those who followed behind her. Networking All the hotels Cerissa has worked for have been active in MPI programs or other associations. She feels that getting involved with those associations is vital for networking with peers and potential clients. She also sees a lot of networking happening on the Hospitality Family Page. Cerissa’s niche Cerissa has stepped away from hotel properties. She has now found her niche in consulting for organizations and training within hotels and management companies. She has also been able to transition some of her networking online. Training company Cerissa started her training company about eight months ago after seeing many questions asked and people needing guidance on the Hospitality Family group on Facebook.  A more personalized approach She thinks her approach is different from some standard hospitality training programs because it is more personalized. She works with individuals as well as hotels. She is able to add a lot of positivity into her programs, which had been lacking across the industry. Cerissa is able to work with individuals on a more personal level and help them transition into newer practices in the industry. Hospitality Family Group Cerissa got the idea to start the Hospitality Family group on Facebook in March 2020, when Covid hit her area, and her property sent everyone home. She panicked a little because she did not know what would happen and thought she might lose her job. She decided to create the Hospitality Family page, so she sent out invitations to a few people she worked with to connect, understand what others were going through, and prepare for what could potentially happen to her career. It turned into a space for people to share their experiences, encourage each other, and offer support.  There are now more than 60,000 members, and thirty different countries are participating in the group.  Cerissa’s vision Cerissa’s vision for the Hospitality Family Group is to make it even more valuable and beneficial for everyone who is part of the group. She would like it to become a place where people can ask the questions they do not feel comfortable asking their leaders or get career support. Passion and drive To be successful in the hotel industry, you need to be driven and passionate! You also have to love people and want to be around them to provide them with service.  Getting people back into working in the hotel industry It has been hard for hotel employees in all departments to adjust to a new way of doing things. Many different issues still need to be taken care of, and many changes need to be implemented, to curb the great resignation and get people back into the hotel industry. Many resources that were plentiful prior to the pandemic were lacking; including staffing issues.  Mental health The industry was stricken hard by the pandemic and it especially took a mental toll on workers. Managers/owners had to cut budgets and positions, which often included letting people go who had been in the industry for years.  Speak up Employees need to speak up for themselves when they want to transition into different roles or schedules. Companies need to really be willing to raise people up into the company to roles that are mutually beneficial. Work/life balance Cerissa recommends standing up for yourself when it comes to work hours or schedules that do not allow them to have personal/family time. Create a list of priorities for your life. Seek positions that will help you meet your expectations. Be confident! Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Cerissa Miller On LinkedIn   The Hospitality Family on Facebook

We are delighted to be speaking to Sherry Walling, PhD, today. Sherry is an amazing person! She and her husband are both entrepreneurs. Sherry hosts the ZenFounder podcast, which has produced 300 episodes so far, and she is also the owner of a company called ZenFounder. Sherry offers mental health advice for entrepreneurs. She has a new book coming out soon, called Touching Two Worlds. It is about mental health and ensuring that you know how to take care of yourself as a business owner.  In this episode, Sherry tells her professional story, shares her experience, and talks about her new book. She describes the similarities between trauma from combat and the trauma experienced by entrepreneurs. She also talks about using psychedelic drugs to cure trauma, what we can do to prevent burnout, and coping with grief as a business owner. We hope you enjoy our insightful conversation with Sherry Walling!  Bio Dr. Sherry Walling is a clinical psychologist, speaker, podcaster, best-selling author, yoga teacher, and mental health advocate. Her company, ZenFounder, helps leaders and entrepreneurs navigate transition, loss, conflict, or any manner of complex human experience. She hosts the ZenFounder podcast, which has been called a “must listen” by both Forbes and Entrepreneur Magazine and has been downloaded more than 1,000,000 times. She is also the host of Mind Curious, a podcast exploring psychedelics and innovations in mental health care. Her best-selling book, The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Keeping Your Shit Together, combines the insight and warmth of a therapist with the truth-telling mirth of someone who has been there. Her soon-to-be-released book, Touching Two Worlds, explores new strategies for grief and wholeness in the aftermath of loss.  Sherry and her husband, Rob, reside in Minneapolis where they spend their time driving their children to music lessons. She has also been known to occasionally perform as a circus aerialist. Sherry’s story Sherry started her career as a clinical psychologist working in a traditional environment. She worked with veterans at the VA Hospital, so she developed expertise in treating trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder. She found that the traumas of the people she worked with often occurred within the context of their jobs, so she often helped them work through their relationship to their jobs. Working with entrepreneurs She later started working with entrepreneurs, helping them to explore their relationships with their business or work when their business is psychologically expensive. The mental health of entrepreneurs Sherry married an entrepreneur in the software space, so she spent a lot of time with entrepreneurs. There was not much talk going on about their mental health, so at one point, it made sense for her to start considering their mental health needs. The first tipping point  Two tipping points made Sherry decide to start a business of her own. The first happened in 2017, when Aaron Swartz, the founder of Reddit, committed suicide. It upset her husband, and Sherry realized she could help by offering some skills and insight into that community. So she started a podcast, a series of conference presentations, and some open public conversations around mental health in the entrepreneurial community. The second tipping point The second tipping point happened a few years later when her husband sold his company. They moved from California to Minneapolis, so Sherry left her job and decided to do something new and different. Similarities There are many similarities between the work Sherry does today and the work she did before with veterans. Both situations involve working with highly motivated people climbing ladders and chasing goals. She found the personalities of the people she has worked with, in both situations, quite similar. Trauma Trauma consistently affects all bodies. It causes an overwhelming amount of physiological stress. Trauma from combat looks physiologically similar to trauma related to a sexual assault or a shooting incident, so a similar conversation is required to integrate the bodies of all traumatized people with their minds and hearts in their pursuit of health.  A spectrum Trauma falls on a spectrum. PTSD trauma is on one end of the spectrum because the system gets completely overwhelmed. On the other end of the spectrum, there is some homeostasis, calm, or relaxed state. The stress that comes from entrepreneurship is somewhere in the middle. Threat For some entrepreneurs, the threat of potentially losing their livelihood can be traumatic. Psychedelic drugs to cure trauma In research studies, the use of MDMA, or Ecstasy, has shown tremendous promise for treating PTSD. Sherry co-hosts another podcast called The Mind Curious, which addresses using psychedelics for mental health. Burnout prevention Sherry recommends activities like play, exercise, and meditation to prevent burnout because those activities provide balance for the brain. The future Sherry thinks we will see a combination of hybrid, remote, and in-person for work in the future. Grief Business owners should be a little more authentic than they usually permit themselves to be around grief. Grief usually requires stopping and being still for a while. If you are a customer-facing professional or deal with people in your job, create corners in your life where you have space for grief. Sherry’s new book In Sherry’s new book, Touching Two Worlds, she wrote about what was happening in her life after losing both her dad and her brother within a few months. It contains memoirs and her thoughts as a psychologist on coping with grief a little better. It is due to come out in July.   Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website   Connect with Dr. Sherry Walling On Zen Founder Podcast and The Mind Curious Podcast On the ZenFounder website On her website

Today we are happy to speak to Evan Nierman, the CEO, and Founder of Red Banyan! Evan is the guy behind the curtain who helps people in any type of crisis! He is an amazing individual with tons of experience in communication, crisis, and public relations. He is the author of the bestselling book, Crisis Averted: PR Strategies to Protect Your Reputation and the Bottom Line. In this episode, Evan tells his story. He explains why he started his company, Red Banyan, and the challenge he had to face after starting it. He talks about his book and shares the lessons he learned along the way to becoming a successful entrepreneur.   We hope you enjoy our conversation with Evan Nierman today! Bio: Evan Nierman is the Founder and CEO of Red Banyan, an international crisis management, and public relations firm. Evan and his team have provided counsel to a diverse group of celebrity, political, corporate, and private clients, helping them navigate high-stakes situations to achieve the optimal outcome. He is also the author of the best-selling new book Crisis Averted: PR Strategies to Protect Your Reputation and the Bottom Line.  Evan’s story Evan was born and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana. He studied communications at George Washington University in D.C. After graduating, he spent the next seven years-and-a-half years working in communications between the U.S. and Israel. After that, he worked at a high-stakes and crisis communications firm in D.C. for eighteen months and then moved to South Florida to work for a startup as their Spokesperson and Communications Director. After doing that for a year and a half, he decided to start a business and founded Red Banyan. Evan’s event Immediately after graduating, Evan left to attend an event he had been planning for several months. Senator Bob Dole was the speaker, and the event took place just after he had lost the run for president.  The AIPAC Conference The biggest event Evan has ever assisted in planning was the AIPAC Conference in Washington D.C., with 20,000 people attending. Until Covid, that event happened every year for 20 years in a row, and Evan was there for every event without missing a single year. Planning those events was always a mammoth undertaking, and it involved an enormous amount of logistics. People are not always how they appear on TV In the twenty years he spent in D.C., Evan noticed that sometimes the people who seem the nicest on TV turn out to be the worst, and those with the worst reputations are the nicest. Leaving his first job Evan decided to leave his first job because he was afraid of being pigeon-holed or becoming a one-trick pony. He needed to see what else was out there and wanted to test himself.  Moving to Florida When Evan moved to Florida, his wife was nine months pregnant with their second child, and they knew almost no one. He advises anyone with an opportunity to move to Florida not to do it with a heavily pregnant wife or in the middle of summer.  Leaving the startup Evan decided to leave the startup because he knew it would soon blow up in a bad way. He got well educated at the startup and learned a lot about venture funding, but he wanted to get out and do his own thing before things went wrong.  Starting Red Banyan out of desperation He started Red Banyan out of desperation because he knew that the company he was working for would not make it. In both the jobs he did after leaving AIPAC, he ended up not enjoying the culture of the organizations or the way they did business. So he gave himself one year to see if he could make Red Banyan work. Why did Evan start the kind of business he did? Evan started his business because it involved doing what he knew. He is a communicator, and he did not know anything else.  The challenge The challenge he faced when starting his business was that he was good at doing the work, but he did not understand how to be an entrepreneur.  Building an enterprise Evan’s involvement with EO and getting coaching and mentorship from other entrepreneurs made all the difference. In time, he got the education he needed, so he transitioned from thinking of the business as a consultancy to building an enterprise and an organization that could operate with him at the helm but did not need him for the day-to-day. Looking back  Looking back, he finds it hard to believe that he was willing to make that leap. But he knows he is doing what he needs to do, and he learned many valuable lessons along the way.  Trust the process Evan believes that if you have the right mindset and mentality, all your experiences in life will lead you on a journey. So you have to trust that whatever you are doing is right for you.  Learning from your mistakes You learn more from your mistakes than you do from your wins. Lessons learned Evan learned from his experience as an entrepreneur that getting paid something was better than earning nothing. He also discovered that you can't afford to have too much revenue tied up in one client.  Evan’s book Evan wrote the book Crisis Averted: PR Strategies to Protect Your Reputation and the Bottom Line, and he also read it on Audible. PR and crisis  In his book, Evan explains that PR and crisis are not only for the big dog. They are for everyone. That has never been more important than right now because we live in a dangerous time. So a good person trying to do the right thing is never more than one bad article, comment, review, or accusation away from facing an existential crisis.   Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Even Nierman On the Red Banyan Website On LinkedIn On Facebook On Twitter Evan’s book, Crisis Averted, on Audible

Today, we are happy to be speaking to an icon in our industry who is also an amazing leader! Carrie Ferenac has been a co-owner of CNTV (Convention News Television) for fifteen years and is currently the chairwoman of the board of directors of IAEE.   In this episode, Carrie tells her story and talks about her business. She shares her business experience and insights, offers advice for business owners, and talks about transparency, virtual learning, the importance of connecting, showing up, volunteering, and what needs to be done to build a company culture in our current environment.  We hope you enjoy our interesting and insightful conversation with Carrie Ferenac today! Bio: Carrie and her business partner, Marcelo Zolessi, co-founded Convention News Television (CNTV) in 2007 after seeing a need for digital content and live production in the exhibitions and events industry. Now, the company produces live and remote content for more than seventy clients annually. The video stories bring events to life and offer associations and for-profit show organizers a new stream of revenue through sponsorships. CNTV also partners with IAEE, PCMA, TSNN, and Tradeshow Executive to produce video content and live coverage of industry events throughout the year.  Carrie has an extensive background in broadcast journalism and management. She spent eleven years at the NBC affiliate in Orlando (WESH-TV). Now, Carrie is entrenched in the meetings industry. She is the current chair of the IAEE Board of Directors, and Immediate Past Chair of the CEIR Board. She was a finalist for PCMA’s Supplier of the year in 2017 and 2019. She volunteers her time and energy to projects that forward the industry, including Exhibitions Day and the Exhibitions Mean Business campaign. Carrie’s story After graduating from the University of Florida, Carrie became a hard-core journalist and worked in TV news for more than a decade. Most of her professional career was spent at the NBC affiliate in Orlando. She then ventured out on her own and started CNTV with her business partner in 2007 CNTV  CNTV produces video content, live-streaming, and virtual events in the meetings and events industry. It is mostly for trade shows, conventions, and conferences.  Evolving Over the last year-and-a-half, CNTV pivoted, evolved, and changed. Now they are evolving into doing hybrid events. Transparency Transparency has always been important at CNTV. With the onset of Covid, they spoke to their employees every day when the news was coming out, gave them updates on what was happening with all the shows, and kept everyone informed of the latest numbers. They also communicated directly with all their employees about their lay-offs and furlough. Maintaining that level of transparency helped them get through the crisis and the tough times. Daily check-ins They still have daily ten or fifteen-minute check-ins with their staff to keep the communication lines open and answer questions. CNTV Day Every year, they have CNTV Day and spend an entire day taking every staff member on a full-day retreat where they plan for the future, answer questions about anything, do hands-on training, and even share some of their finances. It is done to keep the whole team as on board as possible and teach everyone about the business. Starting a business  Starting a business is not easy because you need the stomach for it, and you have to be ready to evolve. Carrie and her business partner recruited a convention expert to consult with them about the industry.  Ask for help It is always worth asking! Ask for help, and remember those who helped you along the way.  Taking classes Carrie took every class she could learn something from because she had to learn how to be a business owner.  Virtual trade show Carrie does not think that the virtual trade show worked. She believes that trade shows should be in-person. Virtual learning  Carrie believes that virtual learning and education are good and here to stay. A live studio Adding a live studio is a way to get thought leaders on camera to create content and assist with virtual content for virtual events. Hiring producers When it comes to event marketing and creating unique experiences, hiring a producer is a good idea. Producers can help tell a compelling story, convert it to great content, summarize an event, and post it online.  Connections Connecting is vital because people tend to remember the relationships and connections they make at events. Showing up and volunteering It is important to put yourself out there and get involved if you want to start a business. Showing up and volunteering is a great way to make connections and get involved. CIER research The CIER research predicts that we will be back to pre-pandemic numbers by the start of 2024. 2022 and beyond Although Carrie is optimistic about the future, she believes that the rest of 2022 will still be hard. We are also seeing some changes this year that we will have to get used to in the future.  A changing workforce The different and creative ways people are making money right now are changing the traditional workforce. Carrie feels that we need to be open to that and adapt to it. Building a company culture in today’s environment To build a company culture in the current environment, we need to listen more carefully to what employees want. (Most people want fair pay, flexibility, and direction.) Employees also need to conform to the company’s values.   Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website   Connect with Carrie Ferenac On CNTV website

Today, we have the great pleasure of speaking to Terry Manion. Terry is another icon in our industry! He spent many years arranging incentive travel and is currently President of the Toronto-based consulting company Inspire Consulting. He is the immediate past President of the SITE Foundation.   In this episode, Terry shares some insights from a survey being done currently by the SITE Foundation. He also discusses his career and offers nuggets of wisdom from his many years of experience in organizing incentive travel across the world and then selling his company. We hope you enjoy listening to our informative conversation with Terry Manion today! Bio: Terry is currently President of Inspire Consulting, a Toronto-based consulting company that focuses on entrepreneurial start-ups and small businesses. Inspire provides guidance, support, and access to the tools and professional services needed for a growing business.   As a former partner of Meridican Incentive Consultants, Terry was very involved in the growth of that respected incentive and meeting planning company. “We weren’t always perfect, and it is through the stumbles that the greatest lessons were learned. It is through these experiences that Inspire leads growing businesses through the challenges associated with Human Resources, Cash Flow, New Markets and Growth to name a few of the areas of expertise.” A long-time member of the Society for Incentive Excellence and the SITE Foundation President in 2021, Terry continues to support the industry through his activities on the SITE Foundation Board of Trustees. Terry’s story Terry had no idea what he wanted to do after high school, so he decided to travel. He worked in hotels in Switzerland and then returned home to do a two-year diploma course in business administration and travel and tourism. After meeting some people along the way, he moved into the world of incentive travel and spent ten years working as a salesperson for a Canadian company that was deeply involved with SITE. Co-partner He then became a co-partner in Meridican Incentive Consultants. In 2019, they sold the company to Creative Group, and Terry stayed with them for just over a year and a half.  Inspire Consulting  In May of 2021, Terry started Inspire Consulting as a semi-retirement piece. Terry uses his experience to help businesses avoid potential pitfalls and grow. A memorable experience  One of Terry’s most memorable experiences was taking over the Sistine Chapel for a cocktail party. Rwanda Terry loved going to Rwanda to see the beautiful country and walk with the gorillas. It was a life-changing experience for him! Assessing his business Terry’s business was healthy, well-run, and debt-free when he sold it. It also had tremendously loyal staff and clients. Assessing your business  About ten years ago, Terry and his partner had their business assessed to get an impartial view of how the business world might value it. After that, they decided that their business was not quite ready to be sold.  Terry feels that anyone considering selling their business should do the same.  Retiring Terry feels that it is wise to plan for your retirement. He and his wife filled in several profile surveys to help them know what to do in their retirement years. Terry was fortunate to have been President of the SITE Foundation when he retired because his voluntary position there allowed him to stay relevant, and it kept him occupied. Referrals All the business he is currently working on came through referrals from former clients or friends growing their businesses. SITE SITE is a global organization dedicated to strengthening and supporting the incentive travel industry. The SITE Association is a membership organization focused mainly on incentive travel. Anyone affiliated with incentive travel can become a member.  The SITE Foundation The SITE Foundation is an arm of SITE. Its primary role is to raise funds for research projects, scholarships, and grants to support professional development within the industry world.  Incentive travel Incentive travel creates added value and motivation for cooperation for its participants. Those who participate in incentive travel experience moments they cannot duplicate if they ever return to the same place with family or friends. Some tangible benefits of incentive travel    Incentive travel gets primarily used as a sales motivator. Incentive travel programs motivate the retention and loyalty of dealers and distributors and create a level of communication that can only happen when people get the opportunity to live together for several days or a week or two. Incentive travel provides opportunities for networking and the sharing of best practices between groups of top-end salespeople, even long after the trip is over. Incentive travel also allows for a spread of culture and provides an opportunity for leadership to communicate with their top people. Non-sales motivation Terry was surprised and a little disappointed to learn that incentive travel has not been used more for non-sales motivation. Driving best practices Different metrics exist within most companies to measure how well the employees in various positions are performing. Building incentive programs with those metrics involved will drive best practices. It will also encourage the kind of behavior the company requires. Active leadership Terry feels it is vital and valuable for leadership to be actively involved on-site with incentive travel programs.  Unique experiences The culture piece of businesses has always been important. Now, it is even more so because it brings people together. Incentive travel allows people to have unique experiences that they will not want to miss the next time!  Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Terry Manion On LinkedIn SITE Foundation  

You are in for a treat today! We are over the moon to have the phenomenal Jayson Gaignard, the creator of the MMT Community, join us as our guest for the 100th Episode of the Business of Meetings Podcast!  Jayson is an incredibly inspiring individual and fantastic entrepreneur whose name we have often mentioned on the show! In this episode, he tells his motivating story, discusses the value of relationships, and shares the secret to MMT’s success. In addition, he discusses the impact of the pandemic on his business and community and talks about what has driven and motivated him over the last two years. We hope you enjoy our stimulating conversation with Jayson Gaignard today! Jayson’s bio Named one of Forbes “Top Networkers to Watch,” Jayson Gaignard founded one of the world’s most exclusive communities for entrepreneurs. With just shy of 19,500 applications since its inception in 2013, the invite-only MMT Community has a lower acceptance rate than Harvard University, and brings together brilliant minds from various industries for curated networking, targeted troubleshooting and custom events, both live and virtual. Jayson’s work has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, Forbes, Life Hacker, Business Insider, and in Tim Ferriss's New York Times bestseller, Tools of Titans. Jayson is also the founder and host of Community Made, a top-rated business podcast on iTunes. Jayson’s story After dropping out of high school, Jayson started a personal concierge firm. He did that for some time and then realized that service-based businesses are hard to scale. So, he pivoted and started an online product business, traveled the world, and made a lot of money. Even so, he was stressed. He also developed health problems and he no longer felt aligned with the work he was doing. He began to wonder how much it all mattered until he finally understood that money and happiness scale very differently. Scaling down When he realized his heart was not in the business, Jayson decided to scale it down to zero. Unfortunately, things did not work out as planned. So he landed up a quarter-of-a-million dollars in debt. An opportunity A month or two later, an opportunity came his way. Someone he had met at an event had an extra ticket available for a Seth Godin event in New York, and it included participating in one of his workshops. Jayson had always been a Seth Godin fan, so he took the ticket. The theme of the event The theme of the event was the connection economy and the value of connecting with like-minded individuals. Hosting dinners  Jayson decided to start hosting dinners and bringing fascinating people together because he felt lonely and isolated. It ended up being a great success! It became clear to him that creating a container for bringing fascinating people together, and being in their presence, was something he wanted to do for the rest of his life. Tim Ferriss After Jayson had hosted dinners for about a month, the best-selling author Tim Ferriss learned that he would be banned from all retail distribution because he was the first big-name author to publish through Amazon. To combat that, Tim started a book-bundle campaign in which he offered to do two speaking engagements for people who bought 4,000 of his books. Jayson saw that and reached out to Tim to get the package. He also reached out to a friend who did leadership events in Canada with thousands of people attending.  Reaching out Jayson had to stretch himself to pay for all the books, so he reached out to three friends. One of them gave him the money he needed. The value of relationships  Later, when Jayson asked his friend why he made such a risky investment, he said he lent him the money because he was investing in him, not the business. That made two things clear to him: You never know the value of your relationships until you need it, and when you hit rock bottom, you will be left with only your word and your relationships. That also taught him that you should never turn against your word, and you should always invest in your relationships.  Amazing people Jayson has learned that amazing people become even better over time! He loves finding people with low confidence, investing in them, and adding fuel to their journeys! MMT When he did his first event, Jayson did not know how to put on an event. That is why MMT is more like a wedding than a conference in terms of its high-touch nature.  The first MMT event Jayson did not have the money to pay the speakers to draw an audience for his first event. So he asked the audience to vote for the best speaker and offered a $25,000 prize for the winner. He ended up having many $30,000 speakers competing for the $25,000 prize! He also had Tim Ferriss as the anchor speaker. Honesty As a result of Jayson’s honesty, the speakers wanted to support him. So they used their social media channels to promote the first event. The secret sauce MMT’s secret sauce for success is its curation process. The process only allows people who are the right fit, in terms of their core values to attend their events and become members of their community.  Raising the bar Over the years, the curation process of MMT events has become tighter. They are serving different people now than they were before, and recently, they have grown the organization differently. Rather than putting on more, or bigger events, they now scale by raising the caliber of the people attending the events. They have also upped the price-point of the events. The pandemic Jayson did not want the pandemic to disrupt the business or the community. So he offered the community either a full refund or the option to move their spot forward to 2021. All the members opted to move their spots forward to 2021. 2021 In 2021, they had to move the event a full calendar year ahead once again. Again, everyone transferred their spots. Even so, they lost a lot of revenue. Fortunately, the loyalty and support of the members have made things manageable. Tough times Jason spends ninety percent of his social time with the people in his MMT community. His love of his community drove him and motivated him to keep going when things got tough over the last two years. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Jayson Gaignard On LinkedIn MMT Community   Books mentioned: The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss The 4-Hour Body by Tim Ferriss The 4-Hour Chef by Tim Ferriss

Today, we have the pleasure of speaking to a legend in our industry! Rémy Crégut is the head of the 2m2c Montreux Music and Convention Center in Montreux, where the Montreux Jazz Festival is held. He also started the MPI chapter in France and is an active ECM member. Rémy has had some wonderful life experiences! He had a fantastic career in the hotel industry and did various jobs within the Meetings and Events industry.  Rémy is an excellent example of what servant leadership means. In this episode, he shares his fascinating story, talks about leadership, and discusses his experiences before becoming the General Manager of the 2m2c Montreux Music and Convention Center. They include participating in the Paris Dakar off-road race, joining the army, running a team of truckers in America, and rising through the ranks in a hotel. He also shares some of the lessons he learned along the way and some key points for having a successful career.  We hope you enjoy our exciting and inspiring conversation with Rémy Crégut today! Rémy Crégut’s bio Rémy Crégut is the Founder and has been the Honorary President of the MPI French Chapter since 1997, a member of the MPI Foundation European Council, and was an active ECM Member from 2006 to 2016. Rémy is a man with a diverse and rich professional background! Between 1984 -1996, he occupied senior sales and marketing positions at Sofitel, Hyatt Hotels, and Intercontinental Hotels & Resorts. He subsequently created Disneyland Paris Business Solutions, acting as a director for 3 years, and then moved to the Côte d’Azur to open the Grimaldi Forum Monaco.  Two years later, he became Executive Vice-President of LSO International, the largest destination management company in France at that time. Before accepting his current position in Montreux, he was heading Center Parcs Business Solutions in Rotterdam.  In 2005 Rémy accepted the role of General Manager of the 2m2c Montreux Music and Convention Center, host of the famous long-lasting Montreux Jazz Festival. Remy had been serving on different boards (Club Français du Tourisme d'Affaires, ANAé, and European Cities Marketing).  He now sits in various committees, such as the Coesio (French Speaking Congress Destinations), Swiss Convention Centers Alliance, the Swiss Riviera Economic Development Office, the Swiss Riviera Hotels Association, the Montreux Riviera Convention Bureau, and the Partners Club of the French Association of Event Agencies. Joining the family business  Rémy always dreamed of working in the family business. His father wanted him to get a diploma before joining the company, which constructed roads, airports, and parking lots. So Remy enrolled at the Ecole Spéciale des Travaux Publics in Paris, got a diploma, and became part of the business. Business school  After his father sold the business, Rémy enrolled in a business school in the south of France. After a year, he quit his studies because he wanted to find his own way in life.  A hotel in the south of France Around the same time, one of his aunts opened a hotel in the south of France, so Rémy started working there. He had to do almost everything from driving to cooking to being a porter because his aunt had no experience as a hotelier. Paris Dakar  Rémy always wanted to participate in the Paris Dakar off-road race. He finally got the opportunity to do it on a motorbike in January 1992, and it was a memorable experience! He gained a lot of confidence from doing it, and it afforded him the chance to learn more about the world.  The army Rémy then spent a compulsory year in the army. That was another valuable experience for him. It allowed him to get in touch with real life in France and meet people from all over the country. A new adventure While working at his aunt’s hotel, an American man who had made a fortune in specialized industrial cleaning asked Rémy to work for him and open subsidiaries in America. Rémy agreed.  Running a team of truckers Six months later, the employer went bankrupt and asked Rémy to help him run a team of truckers from Virginia to Louisiana to fetch the equipment from the various subsidiaries to sell it off. The value of experience It is vital to be curious and have diverse experiences. Learning from your experiences and applying what you learned is valuable because that will help you develop responsibility and become more competent as a leader. Hotel in Paris Rémy learned most of what he knows today from working for a Sofitel hotel in Paris, answering client requests, and organizing meetings and events. After six months, he got promoted to manager. He spent the next five years working for the hotel, doing different jobs.  The key to success Rémy’s curiosity was the key to his success in his first job.  Mission When you work for an organization, you will have a mission. Find out what the missions of those working around you are too, and get to know who does what. You will earn the respect of your co-workers when you listen to them and make an effort to understand what they do. Predict the unpredictable Rémy believes that part of any job in the events industry is predicting the unpredictable. The more experience you have, the easier it becomes. Montreaux Montreaux is a beautiful, panoramic city. Everyone Rémy has ever invited there has returned!  Entertainment in Montreaux Discovering all the entertainment in Montreaux was a whole new world for Rémy! As well as the famous Montreaux Jazz Festival, Montreaux also hosts the oldest classical music festival and the largest French-speaking humor festival in Switzerland.  Creating enjoyable and unique experiences Everything Rémy has done in his life has helped prepare him for what he does now. It is all about hosting people and creating enjoyable and unique experiences. MPI Starting an MPI chapter in France helped Rémy grow. It also helped him improve various aspects of his personality and brush up on his public speaking. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Rémy Crégut On LinkedIn On YouTube Article about Rémy Crégut

Today, we are very happy to be speaking to Hilmar Tonnemacher, the founder and owner of Abenteuer Afrika Safari! Hilmar is from Namibia, in Southern Africa. In this episode, Hilmar tells his story, talks about Namibia, and shares his knowledge and experience. We talk about enjoying life and incentive trips, and Hilmar shares some valuable nuggets that are particularly helpful for preparing for the unexpected in business in the future.  We hope you enjoy our fun and exciting conversation with Hilmar Tonnemacher today! Hilmar Tonnemacher’s bio “Abenteuer Afrika Safari”: The German name stands for Adventure Africa Safari (which is also a registered Trade Name in Namibia). The company was founded in 1993 by Hilmar Tonnemacher. Having grown up on a Namibian farm, Hilmar was accustomed to the distant horizons and the beauty of the rugged nature in between. It is believed that it was this wide expanse that gave him the vision that would later lead his business to such great success. As a toddler he was standing on his dad’s lap, hands on the steering wheel, so it was no surprise to anyone that at the tender age of 7, Hilmar started driving the farm truck, a Land Rover 88’ Series. Here began a love affair and to this very day there is always, amongst other Land Rover products, an “88 or 90” in his life. As a young adult, Hilmar studied Hotel Management and ended off his education with a Senior Hotel Executive Course in Switzerland. After over 10 years in Management positions in Hotels in South Africa and Namibia, his passion for nature led him to start a Safari Company. Turning his leisure love into a business, Hilmar started sharing the immense vastness of Namibia’s nature with clients. His passion for four-wheel driving soon expanded into Incentive and Corporate travel, as well as Leisure travel.  Allowing stressed executives from all over the world, to experience the dream of driving a 4x4 on trails that rarely were circular, but mostly a means to a remote destination of beauty. The clients experience the thrill of driving in unspoiled nature, ending at a campfire under the spectacular African sky and even occasionally sleeping under canvas, but Hilmar’s Hotel background brings an exciting twist to the experience, because there is always a luxurious surprise, whether skydivers deliver chilled bubbly and fresh oysters in the remotest desert location or an African Achapella Choir appears out of the dark at the campfire to entertain, or gorgeous Lodges are reached after a thrilling day’s drive. Always adhering to the fine line between sustainability of nature, trail driving and not compromising on luxury, Hilmar built up a multi-million operation that caters to around 40,000 clients annually. Some are self-drive clients that, armed with a detailed roadbook, experience the remote beauty of Namibian nature on their own in a rented 4x4; others are guided either in self-drive groups in rented 4x4’s with specialist guides carefully mentoring the drivers via two-way radios, and sharing copious amounts of background information and folklore about the country, it’s wildlife and tribes; or groups being taken around in coaches or specially designed and built 4x4 luxury adventure vehicles. Amongst their clients were the original Land Rover Experience trips of Namibia, Skoda Yeti adventure tours, and still are the Porsche Drive Experience groups. In fact, about every 4x4 vehicle brand has been associated with Abenteuer Afrika Safari. Whether it was the launch of Mercedes’ AMG G Series or most Japanese 4x4s, they all had a taste of Hilmar’s Creative Team in Namibia. Hilmar and his team skillfully choose the multiply different terrain to enhance but never embarrass the ability and capability of the different levels of the vehicles. As a result of this, quite a number of vehicle sales have been generated after affluent clients, wanting to bring some of the memories of the Namibian trip into their daily lives, ended up purchasing such a vehicle. Abenteuer Afrika Safari’s motto: Creative Minds Playing at Work, says it all. Hilmar Tonnemacher’s background Hilmar was born in Namibia. He grew up on a sheep farm in the south of the country. After completing his military conscription, he wanted to try something different, so he decided to get into the hotel industry. He was surprised to discover how much work it entailed, but as a child, he was taught to finish whatever he started, so he completed his studies and obtained a Degree in Hotel Management. He followed that with a Senior Executive course in Switzerland before returning home to work as the youngest General Manager in Namibia.  A midlife crisis When he turned 30, Hilmar had a midlife crisis because he was no longer the youngest person doing what he was doing.  An incentive opportunity While working as the General Manager, he was approached by a South African incentive company, asking him to host 100 people outside on the beach rather than in the beautiful, newly-restored hotel restaurant. Initially, he thought it was a crazy idea, but he thought it could be fun, so he decided to do it, and it became his first incentive opportunity. He realized that being out of the box with incentives and events was a lot more fun than being stuck in a hotel with only a couple of outlets. Still a hotelier Now, Hilmar is still a hotelier. However, he has many more outlets and beds to sell in Namibia, South Africa, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. Creating memories Helping people create unique memories keeps Hilmar going! Creating a company of his own Hilmar will soon be celebrating 30 years of Abenteuer Afrika Safari! He felt no fear when he started the business. He just started it and did it, even though it was very different from what he expected it to be. Driving When he was very young, Hilmar started driving a Land Rover while standing on his father’s lap. When he was seven years old, he drove the Land Rover on his own, for the first time - without permission. Even though he got into serious trouble, he was still allowed to drive from then on.  Africa Africa is often perceived by the rest of the world as a country when it is a continent.  Namibia On the map, Namibia is situated in southwest Africa, just north of South Africa. It is approximately the same size as Texas and Oklahoma put together. It has a population of 2.5-million people, making it one of the least populated countries on earth.  The nature in Namibia The nature in Namibia is very beautiful! The Namib Desert is considered a living desert because it is so full of life. It is the oldest desert in the world and has some of the world’s highest dunes. There is no light pollution in Namibia, so the stars are visible from horizon to horizon at night. It is also ideal terrain four-wheel driving. Flying  Namibia offers some of the world’s most affordable charter flying. Flying is an integral part of travel in Namibia because it is a vast country, and flying is relatively inexpensive.  Preparing for a crisis as a business owner Although he is an out-of-the-box thinker, Hilmar leaves nothing to chance. As a business owner, it is risky to draw money out of your business or live a high life, even when your business is doing well because that will leave you with no reserves.  Lifestyle The Namibian lifestyle is measured differently from that in the US or Europe. Namibian people do not live extravagantly, but life is very good there, and you do not need to spend much money. The nature, sunshine, fresh air, and food in Namibia are phenomenal! They also have one of the richest fishing grounds on earth. Keeping afloat in times of trouble When you live within your means, you will have the necessary reserves if trouble starts. If trouble does start, you need to recognize it and use every possible opportunity to keep your business afloat. Giving Hilmar believes in giving. His industry is about relationships. So he understands that if he saves someone a dollar today, they will willingly spend two dollars with him tomorrow.  Support During the pandemic, many of the companies that had already paid Hilmar large deposits trusted him enough to leave their deposits with him to be used for future arrangements. Invest in yourself Hilmar believes that the best investment you can make as a business owner is within yourself. Investing in the training of your staff is also vital.  Strengthen your business The assets you have in your business will carry you through unforeseen occurrences like the pandemic. Before drawing profits out of your company, strengthen your business by buying the property you are in rather than giving a large portion of your earnings away to a landlord.  Tomorrow It is important to prepare for tomorrow if you want your lifestyle to be sustainable.  Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Hilmar Tonnemacher On Abenteuer Afrika Safari website