Speakers Archives

The news from Virginia Tech is horrifying. At the time of this post, the reports say 33 people are dead.

Brent Scarpo, an expert on student violence and other factors that can lead to school shootings, is available for media interviews or public speaking engagements. To schedule media interviews with Brent or book him for your school or organization, contact Wendy Kurtz at 407.814.7735.

Brent, an educator for almost 20 years, has spent nearly a decade traveling the world presenting the award-winning documentary and program Journey to a Hate Free Millennium to over 1,000,000 students in all 50 states and 12 foreign countries. Brent, a former Hollywood casting director (The Shawshank Redemption, Air Force One), is the documentary's producer and creator of the corresponding student program based on the film.

Brent will be conducting multiple presentations next week for the students at Apopka High School. He'll conclude his time here by sharing the Journey program as well as his observations and recommendations at a community presentation for parents and community leaders.

Lots of great events coming up, more details to follow, but mark your calendar now:

April 26, 7:00 p.m.
Journey to a Hate Free Millennium
A Community Conversation and Program
Apopka, Florida

Featuring Brent Scarpo, producer of the multi-award-winning Journey to a Hate Free Millennium documentary and educational program. A former teacher, actor and Hollywood casting director (Shawshank Redemption, Air Force One) Brent has presented the Journey to more than 1,000,000 in all 50 U.S. states and 12 foreign countries over the past eight years.

May 24, 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
SMART Awards Luncheon
Hosted by the Association for Corporate Growth Orlando chapter
Downtown Orlando Marriott
Orlando, Florida

Featuring Wally "Famous" Amos, father of the gourmet chocolate chip cookie industry, and recognizing Central Florida companies leading our business community in financial strength, active social and community participation as well as appreciation for the company and its employees.

Nominate a client's, associate's or even your own company.
Register by May 11 to receive early bird pricing.

May 31, 2007 8:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
MEGA Book Marketing
A One Day Crash Course in Book Marketing
Hosted by Mark Victor Hansen, co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul Enterprise
New York, New York
Seating is limited. Register today!

July 26-28, 2007
HDPR: Creating the Clear Picture
PRSA Sunshine District Annual Conference
Disney's Contemporary Resort
Orlando, Florida

Hosted by the Orlando Chapter of PRSA.

I'm heading back out to L.A. this week. Actually, I'll start in Anaheim with Mark Victor Hansen at his signature MEGA Speaking Empire conference. Post-conference, my husband will join me and we're taking some time off to visit friends and family in Southern California.

Since I'm not speaking this time, there's a lot less pressure to getting packed and ready. With Mark's and Art's book tour kicking off and the addition of a few new clients, I haven't had a lot of time to focus on my own speaking engagements. That's not a bad thing. It means I'll be able to kick back and really soak up the incredible wealth of knowledge shared by some of the most successful speakers in the country.

As usual, Mark has an outstanding faculty lineup. Art Linkletter will be joining us. Although I've talked to him since we finished the first leg of the book tour, I haven't actually seen him since then.

I'm also looking forward to hearing the latest trends, tips and techniques from Tom Antion. For a man who claims to be technologically challenged, he sure manages to stay on the cutting edge!

There's still time to register.

It's pretty exciting when you're sitting at your desk, the phone rings, and you see "Wally Amos" on your caller ID. It's even more excitcing when you answer the phone to find it is actually THE Wally Amos calling, not someone from his office.

Wally was following up on some business we'd started during the MEGA Book Marketing conference but I was blessed to enjoy an extended conversation with him that was, as you would expect, quite motivational and uplifting. He emailed me his Watermelon Credo when I told him how much I'd enjoyed his presentation of it at the conference.

You can download Wally Amos's Watermelon Credo from my website.

If you are looking for an energizing, captivating, motivating, inspiring, engaging, entertaining and all around GREAT speaker for your next conference or event, I HIGHLY recommend Wally. He had nearly 800 conference participants mesmerized for 90 minutes at MEGA!! If you're interested, contact me and I'll put you in touch.

I just returned from my latest jaunt to L.A., which included Mark Victor Hansen's MEGA Marketing Magic conference. As usual, Mark tapped into his extensive rolodex and brought in a stellar lineup of industry experts, this time focused on marketing with particular emphasis on internet marketing.

Mark's MEGA conferences are high energy and high intensity. Days start with breakout sessions at 7:30 a.m. and end with special bonus sessions that run until 10:00 or 11:00 p.m. Mark definitely gives attendees their money's worth!

Normally I fly out the day before the conference starts so I can do a little pre-conference networking and get a good night's sleep before the complete immersion, but I couldn't miss FPRA's Roast of Fred Leonhardt Thursday night (more about THAT event in another post).

My flight didn't get in to L.A. until 9:30 Friday morning so I missed the opening session with Mark. I also missed Scott Hallman's Power Implementation session while Mark and I were off discussing a project on which we're working. Fortunately, Mark has Barry Ackerman record the entire three days of sessions and breakouts so I have already ordered cds for the sessions I missed.

I did take copious notes and as soon as I decipher them, I'll post them on my website. In the meantime, you can see photos from the event on my flickr site.

Yesterday I received an email from an entrepreneur (who will remain nameless) promoting an upcoming teleconference he is hosting. Within the body of the email, he notes "next Tuesday evening, July 19 I'm going to hold a tele-conference..." and provides a link to register for the call.

Unfortunately, this entrepreneur has committed a major faux pas: he did not bother to update the landing page for the link.

The headline on the landing page says "Don't miss the [John Smith] Experience Tele-conference calls May 10, May 17, and May 24." The dates are in bold red type.

If he is that careless with his own materials, how careless was he in preparing the info products for sale on his web site? How careless will he be as my consultant if I hire him? These are the questions your prospects will ask before buying your products or hiring you, so why not answer those questions in advance - by making sure your work is proofread, up-to-date, and accurate BEFORE you hit the send button.

Always do a "run-through" before you launch your promotional campaign. Even better, have a couple associates run through it for you. Test the links to make sure they work, proofread your copy (email as well as web pages), and double check your day/date combinations. I had the bad habit of putting the wrong day with a date (for instance, "Friday, July 16" instead of the correct "Saturday, July 16"), but once I enlisted the help of an editor to proofread critical announcements, that habit was broken.

It only takes a moment and the result can be monumental. Skip this critical step and the results can be devastating.

(UPDATE: 7/21/05 9:30 p.m.) When I dialed in to the call, an automatic recording directed me to a new number, which I called about 10 minutes after the published start time (I hate listening to all the pre-call chit chat and the opening sales pitches). I was surprised to hear two women talking about network marketing and one's vacation in Cancun...I held out a few short minutes but at 15 minutes after the hour, the call still had not officially started so I hung up. I don't think this entrepreneur will be building a successful business any time soon if he keeps this up.)

Before buying a digital recorder, do your research.

A few weeks ago, I bought Sony's ICD-P210 digital recorder. I needed something quick and easy to record the "Wendy Kurtz and Wayne Kelly 30 Days to Radio Success" classes. The size and weight of the P210 (and the fact that it was under $100) sold me.

Unfortunately, the software that comes with the Sony P210 does not have the capability to convert the digital files (.dvf) to .mp3 format, so I've had to do a lot of research to figure out how to do this. A solution may be on the horizon and if it works, I'll post the step-by-step process.

Tom Antion is a master of internet marketing. He's built a multi-million dollar business by using one page web sites and (in his own words), can't do the techie stuff himself, so he hires high schoolers to set it all up.

I just pre-ordered Tom's new book, The Ultimate Guide to Electronic Marketing for Small Business, which should be shipped any day. It's less than $20 and he's offering a bunch of bonuses if you pre-purchase.

(Photos of Wendy Kurtz and Tom Antion at MEGA Book Marketing University)