Oh what a slouch I am. I really need to post more but for some reasons, speeches and their clients tend to come first.
But that hasn't stopped me from gearing up for the 2014 Ragan Speechwriters and Executive Communicators Conference in Washington, DC. Feb. 19-21. Haven't signed up? There's still time, trust me. Ragan will take your credit card.
And you should sign up because there's another great lineup this year headlined by some guy named Jon Favreau. Oh yeah! He's President Obama's former director of speechwriting. Should be a fantastic keynote. But wait, there's more:
- Caryn Alagno - well-known and respected speechwriter and communicator will be talking about how to chart your career;
- Dean Foust - the new guy at UPS will be on hand to talk about leveraging your speech via social media;
- Nate Osburn - perennial Cicero Award winner will share 10 lessons learned in 10 years. Don't miss this one!
Who else? The esteemed playwright, teacher, speechwriter and fun guy Mike Long will be there talking about time management. (Mike, remember to wear pants.) Douglass Hatcher will give career advice. (For us? Really? Isn't our job always secure and stable?) Aaron Hoover, also a Cicero Winner, will give his "New tricks for writing the old ceremonial speech." The always-favorite Rob Friedman from Eli Lilly is presenting a workshop that - finally - isn't opposite of my own.
And, yes, I will be there, too. In fact, I'm giving a pre-conference workshop on how to solve the 10 toughest problems for speechwriters on Wednesday. On Thursday, I'm joining Lori Zetlin from S3 to talk about how to develop a true thought leadership plan. Later that same day I'm joining a bevy of speech gurus and all-around great people to talk about what makes an award-winning speech.
There's enough here to keep everyone happy: the experienced, the newbie and even the slightly curious.
Feeling sad because you can't make the conference but you still want to hear what went on? Never fear. The always out front Ian Griffen has just the thing for you. He's hosting a conference call Thursday, Feb. 20th at 7:15 that will pull in some of the day's speakers - yes, I'll be on the call - to share their insights. It is obstensibly for his Silicon Valley Speechwriters group but, he says, really anyone can call in. The only catch? You must pre-register. You can do that here.
Finally, if you're there, please say hello. Stop me, accost me, hunt me down and say hello. We gotta' stick together folks!
Oh, and follow the festivities at #raganspeech.
