eWomen Network Event with Robyn Spizman: Is Your Business Gifted?

Last night I attended the eWomen Atlanta Network meeting at the Ravinia Club. I attended for two reasons: because I have always been curious about this organization and to hear Robyn Spizman give a presentation on “Is Your Business Gifted?” The overall event exceeded my expectations. I have spent the last seven years in sales (which means I’ve been to hundreds of networking events) and can maybe count on one hand the number of events in which members walk up to you proactively to greet you and walk you around to meet other people. It was a very friendly, engaging group.

My notes from Robyn’s speech are below, but first I wanted to highlight the non-verbal features of her presentation which were equally impressive as her message. And I’m not saying this just because I work for her at The Spizman Agency.

Here are a few things worth mentioning:
-Robyn’s words were so effective in part because of her presence. She used NO notes or teleprompters and walked around the entire time.
-she was present; meaning, in her presentation she wove in names, situations, and stories from people she interacted with that very night. This resulted in a very engaged audience.
-we left the event with actionable takeaways. That’s the difference between a good speech and a great speech.
-Robyn elicited a lot of emotion in the audience through her storytelling. It was excellent.

And now, to share a few highlights from the presentation:
-before launching into her content, Robyn promised to increase our business platform and help us find out what our gifts are. This is using the inverted pyramid approach that I use in copywriting – “tell ‘em what you’re going to tell ‘em.” People’s attention spans have evolved and you have to capture their attention and know what they’re getting out of something from the beginning.
-she began with such a simple, yet powerful (and underutilized) practice: learn people’s names and use them which she broke down into simple steps:
1) Learn someone’s name
2) then practice
3) then rhyme it
-know that tomorrow is a gift
-examples of personal gifts can be as simple as the ability to say hello and make friends to the ability to make the best chocolate chip cookies
-people need to concentrate on “budget conscious gifts that reflect our ability to sustain them”
-how does your business serve someone? That’s your benefit.
-leave a message of goodwill; do something out of the box that says “I love you.”
-business building words: How May I Help You?
-people have to communicate and show up
-show up by giving
-Robyn’s gift is her enthusiasm
-in your life, where do you involve what you love? Start there
-you don’t always know what to give, but study the person, study the business
-tell a story, don’t sell a service
-you only succeed if you find out what someone values; ex. Give their PET a gift if they are a petlover
-play with words – ex. “you’re the smartest cookie I know” and give cookies or Starbucks gift card saying “I love you a latte”
-wake up your words, your business
-you’re not selling a product but building a relationship
-when we give, people see us as a leader
-you have to love your service; otherwise you’re doing the wrong thing
-give before you get
-finally, don’t be shy; know how people can help you and communicate that

Sales/Prospecting tips and ideas for small businesses and entrepreneurs

This week I attended a meeting with ReFocus on Careers, an Atlanta-based group that helps people practice their networking in a comfortable environment and provides great educational content for a reasonable price.
The Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Circulation Director, Michael FitzGerald, spoke to our meeting and offered these tips for people looking for jobs or sales prospects:

-the paper offers an index of all companies and people that are featured. If you see a prospect, send them a congratulatory note or follow call. Most importantly, tell them what about the article caught your eye.
-handwritten notes are an extremely under-used tool; people don’t always read their email, but they will read a note sent in the mail on professional stationary.
-who is advertising these days? These companies have money.
-this is more of a publicity tip, but if you would like to get your company featured in the paper, call up the appropriate contact, and in a very non-salesy manner, tell them you have a unique idea you would like to share with them and then in 30 seconds communicate your idea and why his/her readers would be interested.
-if there’s an interesting article (book review, leadership article, industry trends, etc), send that article to the client and write a handwritten note WHY you thought he/she might be interested.

Other tips for the holidays
-clients are doing their budgets in December and will budget in your services or position
-business is slower – this is a great time to make some personal calls
-people are happy!
-look up “odd” holidays and send your prospects/friends/clients something interesting about it
-January: send New Year’s cards
-to create a relationship, ask your contact “how can I help you?” Don’t make it all about you.
-crash holiday parties – it’s a great way to meet employed people.
-it takes 7-8 times before someone will give you a referral or lead.

Women in Technology Book Club: GenderTalk

I have been attending TAG's WIT (Women in Technology) book club and love it for several reasons:

1) It's on a Sunday from 3-5:00. Great time as weekdays are often hard and this gives my husband a little daddy time alone.

2) We read and discuss business books with topics specifically geared toward women.

3) The women are very insightful, intelligent, and savvy

4) There is a great opportunity for networking

5) ***my favorite reason***We don't actually have to READ the book. Best of all, nobody makes you feel guilty and this frees me from the guilt which is why I have dropped out of other book clubs.

I am always reading several novels and professional development books at one time. Currently, I'm reading Twilight, New Moon, A Lifetime of Riches, Good in a Room, What do I say Next, and listening to a few different audio books including a novel by Atlanta author Iris Johansen and The Power of Full Engagement.

At this past meeting we "read" GenderTalks by Connie Glaser. The book generated some GREAT discussion on communication differences between men and women and I was taken aback to learn that I commit many of these communication crimes. Here are a few of my notes:

-Women need to cut to the chase in all communication with men. It was unanimously agreed that men do not understand hints. Be direct.

-Stop apologizing. I say "sorry" all the time. Especially around my male boss.

-De-sensitize yourself

-Don't expect mindreaders. Again, be direct, especially in conversation with your husband, your father, brother, coworkers, boss, waiter, accountant, etc.

-Stick to the facts; it is proven that men's brains cannot register excess verbal chatter.

-men need to keep criticism constructive.

-We need to see the world as WE are, not as it is.

-Communicate from where others are, not where you are

-Stop interrupting with apologies.

-Have a sense of humor. It is another proven study that women cannot tell jokes. If a man tells a joke around you it means he accepts you. Same with cussing.

-Women use more qualifiers. Stop qualifying, saying "I think" and "well maybe." Be confident.

-In emails, use bullet points and 10-20 words. Brief emails.

-Be direct, don't explain.

-One of the women had a great tip - instead of apologizing for something that is not your fault or as a conversation filler, say "That's unfortunate."

-Women need to be better self promoters.

-Speak about what you do well.

I look forward to our book and discussion next month!

TSEA Event: Steps for Building Consensus and Enhancing the Value of Your Event Program

Today I had the pleasure of attending a TSEA (The Association for Exhibit and Event Professionals) event for the first time. I mostly applied because I was interested in the presentation which was going to be on "Steps for Building Consensus: Enhancing the Value of Your Event Program" given by Keith Reznick of Creative Training Solutions. As a side benefit I also sat with some really nice people. Although the presentation was tailored toward corporate exhibit managers it could also apply to sales. Here are a few of my takeaways:

-What are your clients objectives? Build value with your customers. "It ain't about you, it's about them."
-There is a gap between where your clients ARE and where they WANT to be. This gap is where you can provide value.
-what is your client/prospect trying to improve and why?
-Buy-In vs Consensus. Buy-in is where the decision has been made and you then ask for support on your decision. Example, "I need this of you." Consensus is a collaborative effort where the solution is decided upon together.
-understand your customer's perspective, goals. Help the stakeholder accomplish these.
-What's in it for them VS what's in it for me
-Always focus on the solution, not the problem.
-A golden rule in sales: Find out about them before you tell them about you.

Re:FOCUS on Careers and Daniel Silva Book Tour

The past week I attended two great, but very different, events. The first was the Daniel Silva book signing at the Barnes and Nobles in Buckhead. There were a lot of fans there and the discussion was great. I am interested in Daniel but have never read his books before, which I hope to do soon. You could tell by the Q&A and lively interaction that his fans are very loyal though, which is great.

The second event I attended was with Re:Focus on Careers. There were over 95 professionals in a packed room listening to expert storyteller Mike Wittenstein share tips and advice on how to brand yourself and to literally, tell our own story. Then for the first time I participated in speed networking. Whew - I have A LOT of follow up to do now! As I have learned, working the room is only half the battle. The majority of what networking is all about is the follow up.

Event: TAG Enterprise 2.0 - Selling Social Media Within Your Organization

This morning I was getting ready to leave for my first TAG (Technology Association of Georgia) meeting and my car wouldn't start. So I yelled at my husband to come help me because I was going to be late and there were specific people at the meeting who I wanted to introduce myself to. I caught him just before he jumped in the shower and so he came running down in his towel and showed me how to jumpstart my car. Thankfully I was still a few minutes early for my meeting so I was able to network a bit. I took a picture of the speakers (it's very close because I like to sit in the front row) - from left to right, Sherry Heyl with Concept Hub, Jeannie Ericson with PBA's Lens on Atlanta, and Andrew Wilson with the ACVB. Not pictured on the panel were Sue Klumpp with nuBridges and Lisa Aloisio with Brandware.

The content of the meeting was very good. The topic was "Selling Social Media Within Your Organization." Personally, I run into a lot of resistance when I encourage people to implement a social media component to a meeting or conference, so I was eager to hear what the panelists had to say. And I was surprised to find that my friend Sherry Heyl was moderating the panel as she is chair of this group and I didn't know that. Here are my top takeaways:

-what companies need to know nowadays is that you can't control the conversation. It's happening, like it or not.

-social media has turned into a sexy buzzword, which it is not. It is business as normal and should be treated so accordingly.

-time management should be a non-issue if you are using social media to fit with company strategies and objectives.

-to introduce social media to your organization, you need to justify either the cost-savings or explain how it will bring new business and drive leads.

-know who are your customers and how can you connect.

-introducing social media in your organization: you have to do it to prove it, but there is a huge risk associated with that and a lot of resistance. Be careful.

An objective I encounter pretty frequently is that no one is sure which department should spearhead the effort. My brilliant idea is that a committee should be created, comprised of one member to represent each department in IT, Marketing, Communications, and Sales. Although someone does need to do the initial work to begin encouraging a social media program, it definitely needs to be a very collaborative, engaged, and controlled process with parameters. Overall, great meeting!

Networking Bootcamp - AWRT Event

This morning I attended a very educational event, Networking Bootcamp, put on by the Atlanta Chapter of American Women in Radio and Television (AWRT). The speaker was Debbie Rodkin, Executive Director of re:FOCUS on Careers.

Two interesting things: 1) although I was the only person NOT affiliated in any way with AWRT, they had opened it to the public which I thought was great. Next month they are featuring a meeting on “Reverse Mentoring,” which is where the younger people mentor the older people in technology and social media. What a great idea and I’d love to attend that meeting for the sole purpose of gauging its effectiveness and attendee reactions. 2) The speaker, Debbie, has a full-tie job in addition to her Executive Director job at re:FOCUS. I asked how she managed her time effectively and she said that she averages about four hours of sleep per night. WOW.

Here are some notes I took from this morning:

-show up early, act as a host and greet others coming in. Use the time to mentally prepare what you want to get out of the meeting.
-what is the purpose for being there? For every event you should know why you’re there, who you want to meet, etc.
-small talk: use this to influence the conversation; make it about the other person and have questions ready. A GREAT question to ask in the course of a conversation is “what would be a good referral for you?” I have been asked this a few times recently and it really takes the conversation to the next level and reflects very well on the person asking.
-make conversation about the other person, but talk about topics that interest you too.
-do not be afraid to go up to a group of people who are already in conversation. This is intimidating but can produce great, unexpected results.
-know when to disengage and move along in a polite manner
-having an elevator pitch is extremely important; people cannot help you unless you can clearly communicate what you do
-don’t leave the follow-up to others; be proactive and touch base as soon as possible before life and work get in the way. **** This is a crucial, much-overlooked part of networking****
-be in the know and position yourself as a resource.

To sum up, I attend a lot of events around Atlanta and network quite a bit – I highly recommend this seminar and the useful takeaways that can be applied immediately.

Ethics in the Meetings Industry

Today I attended a GaMPI meeting at the Westin Atlanta Airport. Michael Shannon, CMP, presented on “Everyday Ethics for the Meetings and Sales Professionals.” Although not exactly the most sexy topic, the presentation addressed important items that are on all our minds these days. Specifically, TARP, SOX, and of course ethics. Here are a few highlights:

-SOX has put much more scrutiny on expenses (necessary and frivolous). More people in an organization are reviewing and signing off on budgets and expenditures and planners need to be able to support and justify choices
-Keep a paper trail and document everything (even personally, I do this with everyone from my health insurance company over the phone to our roofing contractor in person. I always document date, time, who I spoke with, outcome, and anything else noteworthy. Make this a habit in your personal and professional life!)
-TARP: it is important our industry self-regulates and holds ourselves to standards vs become subject to government intervention. Be an advocate on our behalf!
-Perception is Reality – we now need to step it up by getting educated and effectively communicate on behalf of meetings and incentives
-Ethics are very important and it’s easy to overlook things or step over the line when it comes to accepting gifts, going on FAM trips, etc. Act consciously and consistently; once your reputation gets tarnished it’s hard to fix it

LinkedIn and Social Media Tips from David Nour

So I heard a great keynote speaker the other day who is a Social Media/LinkedIn/Networking expert named David Nour. He had some great advice and tips that I wanted to share with ya’ll. I hope you find it useful and please let me know if you have any questions or need clarifications.


LinkedIn:
-less than 10% of people know how to use it (use it for growing a network and for business contacts).
-to search for a target person do an “advanced search.” Example, type in “Current VP at Disney.” The number to the side of the list that pulls up is the degree of separation between your network and theirs.
-advanced search also lets you filter by geography.
-if you are looking for an introduction to someone in your friends’ network, don’t ask for an introduction unless you know your friend very well. Ask “what can you tell me about him/her” and get creative.
-build a content rich profile
-recommend others and get recommendations for yourself
-on your profile promote what you’ve done and what you want to do, projects, etc.
-use bullet points
-join groups specific to your industry and interests. Then contribute relevant information to questions, discussions, forums, and start initiating your own thoughts and questions.


Websites to visit:
-slideshare.net is the YouTube of presentations. Visit slideshare.net/dnour for the speaker’s page.
- http://www.relationshipeconomics.net/RENetworks.html. (This is his social network/community site)
-aNobii is a social media site about books
-American Well is a social media site reinventing healthcare

Other information:
-when utilizing social media, have a voice and a perspective. Get yourself out there!
-Enterprise 2.0 is defined as “The Business Web” and you will want to be a part of it.
-Google your name and know what’s out there about you.
-Specificity drives credibility
-social media is not the place to be humble
-use social media to gather, compile, and share best practices

Social Media for Event Planners

This afternoon I attended the PYM (Plan Your Meetings) Live 2009 event at The Atlanta Event Center at Opera. The topic was Social Networking Strategies. Although this was my first PYM event, they have a reputation for facilitating events with great speakers and about 80 planners were in attendance. Prior to the keynote luncheon I spoke with several people who were hungry for knowledge on how they can apply social media strategy to their organizations. It’s interesting how our industry is still very much in the educational phase of social media. No one knows quite how to implement it for several reasons:

1. It transcends departments and no one knows who should take ownership: meeting planners, the IT department, marketing, corporate communications, or sales?
2. Setting up a social media site is easy; maintaining it purposefully on a consistent basis and using it to achieve marketing objectives is another thing.
3. ROI – marketing departments and planners are all under pressure to demonstrate returns and social media is very difficult to gauge short-term.
4. There is still skepticism and pushback from conservative (older) colleagues, internal clients, association members, direct reports and stakeholders who think social media has nothing to do with them.

Although I’m sure many planners are interested in general social media, I specifically have been educating myself on applying social media to our clients’ conferences and events. It’s a very exciting niche.

So David Nour of Relationship Economics was the keynote speaker. I have seen him speak several times and as always he engaged the crowd and essentially “dumbed it down” for people. What I appreciate is that he shows concrete examples, leaves great takeaways, and his content is relevant for both beginners and more advanced social media learners such as myself. More to come in the next post about a synopsis and review of his presentation.

GaMPI Monthly Program

This afternoon I attended the monthly GaMPI (Meeting Professionals International, Georgia Chapter) meeting at the Buckhead Hotel. I was especially interested in hearing the speaker since the topic was about Work/Life Balance. I need a lot of tips on this as I have a 6-month old and a new job! Really though, I am so blessed and lucky as I have a great work/life balance since my boss and I came to a very mutually beneficial arrangement that I work about 25-30 hours per week. Andy Masters was the speaker and he was very energetic and told entertaining stories. 3 interesting items that came up randomly during his presentation:

1)The average person spends 23 hours watching television per week - WOW. I actually think my husband is one of those people. He loves television and swears that he never gets sick of it and never will.

2) This slide is awesome:

and

3) We did a fun exercise where we had to fill out items we wanted to START, DO MORE, DO LESS, and STOP doing. Here's a photo of my list.

Overall, great GaMPI program as always.

Green Meetings Industry Council

On Thursday I attended a meeting of the Atlanta Chapter of the Green Meetings Industry Council (GMIC). A relatively new organization, the group is collaborating on green meetings and preparing to become a leader in the green movement for our industry. Once a very popular concept it got sidetracked due to the economy but is once again emerging. I have always been environmentally conscious – for years and years I have cut up the plastic that holds together 6-packs of soda cans so the baby seals and dolphins don’t get stuck and I do my part for the environment by also honking at drivers who throw their cigarette butts out the window. From an industry standpoint, I am interested and excited to hear what other companies are doing and see how we can be leaders by bringing these issues to the forefront and creating best practices for meetings and events. A couple other random thoughts that came about from this meeting:
· If advocating something, walk the talk. That’s one of the reasons why I blog. I personally believe that my company can make a lot of impact for our clients and their events by assisting them to incorporate a social media component to promote their programs and engage their attendees.
· People resist change – that is what the current economic time is all about in my opinion. People who have been securely stagnant are having to get out of their comfort zones and figure out who they are, what they want, and what new skills they need to move forward.
· Competition – in my industry, we are always crossing paths with our competition, and most of the time the exchange is friendly. I recently was listening to a panel at an industry meeting and the person next to me was making snide comments and belittling one of the panelists because he was their top competitor. It was a little uncomfortable and unfortunately made my neighbor look very petty. One of our competitors was on the GMIC panel and I thought he did a great job and had very insightful things to say. I even went up and told him so.
· Generationally, younger people are more involved in technology, CSR, and the environment. Get their guidance on any of these topics for new ideas.

AiMA Meeting

This morning I attended the Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association (AiMA) meeting at the headquarters of Cox Enterprises. I feel very privileged that my job allows me to attend various industry events all over Atlanta. This was my first time at an AIMA meeting and I was excited about it since personally I am interested in social media and professionally, I believe it has and will continue to become an integral tool for my company, dynami group.

I have mentioned this previously, but as a professional in the meetings industry, I am pretty critical and pay very close attention to the details and logistics of meetings I attend. I had registered for the event in advance and even received a confirmation email; however, when I went up to the reg desk they didn't have any record of my name and I was directed to a long line with people who were registering on site. In line, I did meet a very nice woman from Cox Radio who also lives in Brookhaven. I also met two nice guys, Chris and Jason, from a video production and graphic design company called NoodleHead Studios. I had a nice chat with Jason, who is on AiMA's board, and I am always appreciative and impressed when board members mingle with attendees. Overall, the content of the meeting was interesting and I look forward to future educational meetings. Sorry the picture is so dark...user error.

Iron Chef and PRSA

I love networking events. It’s a chance for me to learn something new and meet new colleagues, clients, and friends. I always go to events looking to meet people and am constantly surprised at how many attendees I see standing in the corner and generally being very unsociable. Especially being in sales, I notice this a lot since I’m always looking over the room to learn from and seek out who the people are that are having animated conversations and who look interesting.
Today I attended two very different, interesting events. One was Marriott’s Iron Chef competition at the Renaissance Waverly. Because I have never watched the show before and having arranged a lot of teambuilding events over the past few years, I was pretty skeptical. It’s hard to impress meeting planners and put on events since that is what we do for a living. I was very pleasantly surprised at how fun it was and the quality of people the event attracted.
After that I attended the PRSA luncheon to hear economists talk about the region and the economy. The panel included economists and speakers such as Sam Massell with the Buckhead Coalition and A.J. Robinson with Central Atlanta Progress. Sam and A.J. are both great speakers and I’ve heard them several times throughout the last few years.

As a first-time visitor, I enjoyed myself and the people I met. A few recommendations I have would be that there are handouts in our seats promoting the next few events or highlighting the speakers and topic, and also to integrate guests and members. Overall...great day!