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Wow! What a summit!
I'm in Minneapolis for the Sale SheBang professional development event and we had a special summit yesterday just for speakers and select sales professionals. Twelve of us presented workshops to the group about our expertise. And, boy, are these women good!
It was a wonderful experience to spend a day with colleagues and learn about how they've found success, the mistakes they've made and their plans for the future as their markets shift. It just doesn't get any better than this. I learned more today than I can remember from any other event I've attended in quite some time.
I spoke about blogging and how to never be at a loss for words in writing communications that engage prospects.
Others spoke about:
coaching programs
consultative selling
referral and partner programs
podcasting
negotiating
creating multiple revenue streams
developing audio educational programs
and much more
I received valuable takeaways from each of these generous women.
Nothing was held back and no questions were brushed aside. The interest we all had for what our colleagues spoke about was seasoned with enthusiasm for the unique insights each each of us brought to the discussion. It made for a long day, but an extremely energizing one.
Today we ramp up for the first day of conference. I have a day to relax and absorb more wisdom since I don't speak again until tomorrow morning. Although I'm looking forward to hosting a table discussion about customer-focused messaging at lunch. Yep - all of us are available and involved with the attendees throughout the event. I'm looking forward to it.
I'll be blogging about the sessions I attend, so stay tuned!
The takeaway for event managers is to consider having an experts day that allows the speakers to share and learn from each other-instead of just presenting themselves to the audience and then quietly disappearing. We get a lot out of the exchange. Not to mention having the speakers be approachable and available to the attendees. There's a benefit for both sides.
Face-to-face is powerful. And, with many events struggling for attendance, adding that extra oomph might just make your in-person event more appealing to those considering whether or not to make the trip.
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