The Business of Meetings

**This podcast was recorded in April, during the early phase of the global pandemic. Today, we’re happy to be speaking to one of the best-known and most respected people in the meetings and events industry when it comes to legal issues. We have Tyra Warner joining us! Tyra is an attorney, and she is very knowledgeable about all things legal. In today’s episode, she talks to us about force majeure, risk management, contracts, legal issues, and the importance of human relations over and above any legal contract. Links and resources Tyra’s website The Academy of Hospitality Industry Attorneys   Connect with Eric: On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website If you’d rather watch the video of this interview, subscribe on YouTube

We’re delighted to be talking to Dr. Sherry Walling today! Sherry helps smart people do hard things and she also has a wealth of knowledge. In today’s episode, she will be sharing some practical, simple, and effective tips to help us cope with stress and anxiety during the interesting and unprecedented time we’re experiencing right now. To read the full show notes, go to: www.eventbusinessformula.com/ep16

It’s a great pleasure for us to have the opportunity to interview a true legend in the entrepreneurial world! We have Verne Harnish joining us today, to talk about how the EO (Entrepreneur’s Organization) was created. He will be discussing the balance between online and face-to-face events, moving forward, he will share some examples of people who have pivoted and re-invented themselves, and he will also explain what you need to do to thrive in the future.  About Verne Verne Harnish is the founder of the world-renowned Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), with over 14 000 members worldwide. Verne chaired EO’s premiere CEO program, the Birthing of Giants, which was held at MIT, a program in which he still teaches today. As the Founder and CEO of Scaling Up, a global executive education and coaching company with more than 180 partners on six continents, Verne has spent the past thirty years helping companies to scale up. He is the author of the bestseller, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits, which has been translated into nine languages. And along with the editors of Fortune, he authored The Greatest Business Decisions of All Times, for which Jim Collins wrote the foreword. Verne’s latest book, Scaling Up (Rockefeller Habits 2.0), has won eight major international book awards, including the prestigious International Book Award for Best General Business Book. Verne also chairs the annual ScaleUp Summits, in collaboration with Bloomberg, and he serves on several boards, including being Chair of The Riordan Clinic, Co-founder and Chair of Geoversity, and a board member of the Million Dollar Women’s Movement. Verne is a private investor in many scale-ups, and he enjoys piano, tennis, and magic, as a card-carrying member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians. To read the full show notes, go to www.eventbusinessformula.com/ep15

We’re very excited to be interviewing Andy Sharpe today! As well as being a great storyteller, Andy is the astute and awesome entrepreneur who founded SongDivision, back in 2003.  Since then, SongDivision has been pioneering ways to use the scientific principles of music to strengthen social bonds and emotional connections and to consolidate corporate culture.  Sir Richard Branson once described SongDivision as a great company that uses the power of music to connect employees and customers.  SongDivision is the official music partner of organizations like IMEX and Hard Rock Hotel and Resort. Andy is from Australia, and he lives in Maui. Andy’s background Andy played the clarinet in his school band. He also played the piano, and keyboards in a rock band outside of his school, from when he was about fourteen years old. The band played some gigs in local pubs, and a few years later, they managed to get a development deal with Sony Records.  By then, Andy had started studying at Sydney University. When the band finally got a record contract from ACDC’s record label, they all dropped everything and went off to the UK, where they stayed for the next four years.  When he got back to Australia, Andy was recruited by IBM, where he worked for the next ten years in global financing. IBM put him through an MBA. It was through working for IBM that he came to experience the event world, with incentive trips and team-building experiences. Writing songs for pop stars  While working for IBM, Andy continued writing songs for Australian pop stars. As a result, he was asked by Yothu Yindi, Australia’s famous indigenous band, to run some songwriting workshops with indigenous teenagers, at their cultural festival. The joyful experience of seeing those kids, who didn’t think they could write a song, collectively create a piece of music in the space of an hour or two, had an enormous impact on Andy.  Coming up with the idea to create SongDivision  Although Andy is described as an entrepreneur, he says that he’s not a serial entrepreneur. Creating SongDivision was the only entrepreneurial idea that he can ever remember coming up with. How it all started A friend of Andy’s in Sydney ran a telecommunications company. He was aware of Andy’s success with his songwriting workshops with indigenous kids, and he asked Andy to do the same thing for him, with his sales team.  Andy was reluctant at first, but his friend persisted. So Andy offered to take the team into a recording studio, bring in some session musicians, and some beer and wine, and help them write an original song.  It was a huge success. And having just completed his MBA, Andy saw it as a good opportunity for starting a business. It takes more than an idea to build a business Andy understands that it takes more than an idea to build a business. People tend to think that a good idea is enough but that’s not the case. You also need to have a great service or product.  It wasn’t easy in the beginning Although everyone was very supportive of Andy when he started his business, it wasn’t easy for him. The business never really exploded so he had to continue building it steadily over the last seventeen years.  Andy likens SongDivision to a band that had to build itself, fan by fan until it finally became a big, independent band. There were some great clients in the first year In their first year, SongDivision had some great clients, like three of the four major banks in Australia, AstraZeneca, and Virgin.  Andy understood the value of the service he was offering and people were willing to pay for it, so things were looking positive for the future of the business. An event with Richard Branson SongDivision has done several gigs with Virgin. And, in 2010, when the company had grown considerably, they did an event with Richard Branson himself. It was a magical experience, and at one point Richard Branson even went crowd surfing! Expanding internationally Doing a small event is just as stressful as doing a large one, so Andy chose to go into the corporate market, rather than doing many more, smaller, local events. Checking things out in America Most of the events that SongDivision does are national sales conferences. As there are only a few national sales conferences going on each year in Australia, Andy decided to go and see what was happening in America, for his music, as well as for the business.  He went over at the beginning of 2007, and did two free sessions, with PwC, and with Lehman Brothers.  At the time, the US and Australia had just signed a free trade agreement, so Andy could get a visa to work in the US.  Getting married and moving to America Andy got married in 2008, and he and his wife moved to New York.  Music works! Within about a month, they were doing events with about 3000 people, with companies that invested in their people, brought them together, and made their strategies very clear. Those companies needed help with their communication, getting buy-in from everyone, and connecting people. And they knew that using music, along with SongDivision’s proprietary techniques, was viable and it worked!   SongDivision launched in the UK soon after. And they launched in Singapore about five years ago.  Resources: You can find us at www.eventbusinessformula.com  You can find us on Facebook  Eric Rozenberg on LinkedIn   About Andy SongDivision   Connect with Eric: On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website If you’d rather watch the video of this interview, subscribe on YouTube

Today, we’re delighted to be interviewing a truly unique individual! We have Joey Coleman, the guru of customer experience and customer retention, joining us as our guest. Joey has had some incredible experiences! He is number two on the Wall Street Journal’s bestseller list for his book, Never Lose a Customer Again, he is an award-winning speaker, he has worked as a criminal defense attorney, he’s sung in the Grammy Award-nominated Washington Men’s Camerata, he’s worked at the White House, and he has even been with the Secret Service and the CIA.  Joey is the perfect person to learn from when it comes to customer experience and customer retention. In today’s episode, he will be sharing his eight-point methodology that can be applied to any independent business, and he will also share some brilliant stories to illustrate how things could be done better. To read the full show notes, go to www.eventbusinessformula.com/ep13

Today, we’re delighted to have Melissa Majors as our guest. Melissa is very bright and dynamic, and after having had an incredible career across several different fields within large organizations, she decided to step out on her own and start a business.  Melissa spent the majority of her career managing education organizations in a variety of industries, from financial services to technology, non-profit associations, and professional services.  Melissa launched her business, Melissa Majors Consulting, about a year ago. Now, she’s creating brain-friendly information. And, although her field of expertise is very broad, she’s decided to focus on strategic planning and inclusivity.  To read the full show notes, go to www.eventbusinessformula.com/ep12

We have a fabulous guest today! We’re honored to be speaking to another icon in the industry, Carina Bauer, the CEO of IMEX. Carina works in Europe, at IMEX Frankfurt, and also in the US, at IMEX America, in Las Vegas. She is a role model for everyone in the industry, especially the women.  Carina is with us on the show today to discuss the role of women in leadership, particularly the women who are involved in the industry.  You can read the full show notes at www.eventbusinessformula.com/ep11

We have a truly incredible professional on the show with us today! Brad Weaber is joining us as our guest.  There’s a lot that we can learn from Brad right now, in this very challenging time. He has been in associations, he’s been in the corporate world, he is an entrepreneur, and he has been just about everywhere in the meetings and events industry. Brad left the comfort of corporate life almost two years ago, to start his own business, Weaber Consulting.  Telling stories The ability to tell stories is an important skill.  Brad started telling stories when he was very young. He is very good at sharing stories, and he’s truly adept at conveying emotions. And he has many great stories to tell and lots of amazing experiences to share.  Brad inherited his storytelling skills from his grandfather, George Potter, who was a wonderful minister. Brad remembers, as a very young child, sitting and listening to his grandfather conveying thoughts and emotions, and in so doing, touching every single person he was ministering to. Brad believes that authenticity is the key to telling great stories. Resources: Brad’s email – brad@bweaberconsulting.com Brad’s website - https://www.bweaberconsulting.com/   Connect with Eric: On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website If you’d rather watch the video of this interview, subscribe on YouTube Join Eric's private Facebook Group - The Business of Meetings

We’re delighted to be speaking to a rock star in our industry today! We have the very insightful Sarah Soliman Daudin joining us. Sarah has been named a rising star by several magazines. She is currently the Vice-Chair of the MPI Global Board of Trustees, she’s the Co-Chair of the MPI Women’s Advisory Board, and she is the incoming President of the MPI Greater Orlando Chapter. Sarah has her own production company and she offers her services as a volunteer to many different organizations. She is very involved in the industry with the #MeetingsToo Movement, with Courtney Stanley, and she’s also an incredible entrepreneur and business owner.  You can read the full show notes at www.eventbusinessformula.com/ep09

We’re delighted to be talking with a true icon in our industry!  David Peckinpaugh, President, and CEO of Maritz Global Events is our guest for today’s podcast. Taking good care of each other first has always been David’s mantra throughout everything he has done. You’re sure to enjoy all the insights that he will be sharing on the show today! David’s career is synonymous with big brands. He has had many different roles throughout it, and he has also given a lot back through his role in the Meetings Mean Business Coalition, the US Travel Association, and the former Chair of the PCMA Foundation.  You can read the full show notes at https://eventbusinessformula.com/ep08 ******************************* Connect with Eric: On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website If you’d rather watch the video of this interview, subscribe on YouTube