The Keynote ….

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One of the “funnist” (as my daughter would say) and most challenging tasks in putting on a conference is selecting a keynote speaker. If you have unlimited funds, the choice is endless as almost any famous person that you ever heard of is willing to speak for 45-60 minutes for a price. Even Donald Trump Jr. is listed with speaker bureaus at over $40,000. What is that about?

The second challenge is finding someone who can deliver a message to a broad audience of people that perform a wide range of functions within the company.

So, with a limited budget and a good understanding of the Xplor audience I ventured out looking for a keynote speaker.  I spent hours looking for the right person, at the right price. (Certainly supports our theme this year “making it relevant”.

The Xplor community is unique, it is a close knit group of professionals who love to share and continually support the association. It is from within our community that fate took over and I found the right person.

I received a call from Ken Leslie, an Xplor member, President of E-DocTalent, former chair of the association, formerly homeless and founder of 1Matters.org.

I had not heard from Ken for a while as he has been spending most of his time supporting 1Matters.org.  To read more about this incredible member of the Xplor community visit http://1matters.org

Anyway, he said “Skip, I have this incredible person you need to meet. You need him as a keynote.”  To make a long story short, I drove over to Celebration, Florida to meet him for breakfast. He had 45 minutes as he was taking a client into Disney to try and close some business.

After I spent 20 minutes with Patrick I knew he was a fit, especially after hearing his story on how he got to meet the pope. (Come to St. Pete Beach and I am sure he will share it.)

I am pleased to present, our keynote for 2012:

Patrick Welch, Chief Simplicity Officer, Making Sales Simple

Our keynote is a noted motivational speaker, sales and marketing trainer, author and business turn-around specialist who has appeared on the Today Show, among others. Patrick is the ultimate “door opener.”

Patrick will present: The 9 Skills You Need To Be The Best At Anything You Try — In Business Or Life!

Patrick’s promise? If you master his 9 critical skills and then go back to the office, boardroom, or home, you’ll be more successful than ever before in all aspects of your work and personal life.

Patrick is also doing an exclusive session for our Vendor Forum participants and event sponsors.

Getting You In Any Door (Vendor Forum Exhibitors Only, Please) This session is a bonus for our Vendor Forum Exhibitors and will take a look at the following:

  • Five aspects of a company that potential clients look for when selecting a new supplier-company
  • The most important part of any sales call — and the part most often not done
  • Concrete tips for connecting more quickly in order to make more sales

The question I know you want to ask. Can you afford him?  Probably not, but when I asked him what his fee was he simply said, “You are a friend of Ken’s, don’t worry we will work it out.”  And we did.

Come to the 2012 Xplor conference and Vendor Forum to listen and meet Patrick Welch. Also, I am pleased that Ken Leslie will also be in St. Pete Beach. After you read about him, you will certainly want to meet him also.

Talk about a dynamic duo!!!