How to be a Speaker or a Volunteer at A Conference

by Francine on November 7, 2009

We are less than a week out from the Arizona Entrepreneurship Conference #AZEC09 and once again I open my email and it is full of "volunteers." People who want to volunteer to help us with the conference, and even PR people volunteering their clients to speak. It made me furious this morning, so here's the rant.

Listen, you cheeseballs and dirtbags, we needed volunteers eight months ago when we started planning the conference, not now.  We have had them lined up forever — members of the community who have done the web site, the program, the PR, the logistics, the marketing, the video, etc.  We make them sponsors. The entire friggin conference is put on by volunteers: only the food and facility get paid. And why is that so?

Because, cheeseballs and dirtbags, this conference is a FUNDRAISER. for a CHARITY. That means we don't put the money in our pockets.  We use it to fund programs for laid-off workers, domestic violence victims, returning felons, and others who are trapped in low wage jobs or no jobs.  We want to teach them how to be self-sufficient by finding their passion or their expertise and building a business around it. We run a 501(c)3 that has NO OVERHEAD. None.  Every dime goes to give programs.

We also don't want your motivational speaker client to practice his shtick on us.  We are motivated, and so is our audience.

Our speakers are hand-picked by me or by the panel moderators because 1)they are very valuable in their own fields and have something exceptional to share about entrepreneurship 2)they are willing to contribute their time and energy to the conference, or  3)they are people from out of town that our audience wants to hear from. You can't just pop in a week or two in advance and ask if there are "holes" in the agenda.

And you can't email me and hope to defray your expenses by "offering to give a small presentation." That just tells me you have never attended.

I'm trying to create value.  This isn't the Bay Area, and we aren't charging $2995 a ticket for the day. We are charging $150 at the door, and if you wish, you can still get the Mashable discount by using the code AZEC09. Although that expires soon.

I am offended that you think I won't know it when you sign up for a ticket and indicate falsely that you are a speaker or a sponsor.  I'm not an algorithm, I'm a human, and Joan and I look at every registration. Steven Groves has walked every inch of the facility. Merlin's got all his volunteers for the day of, including people to work registration. Someone actually did that this morning, and I caught him.

Cheeseballs and dirtbags, people who don't care enough to watch the site and take advantage of the early bird discount, which was $99, I'm tired of providing bargains to Arizona's cheapo community. Get a grip, people.  If you want to grow an entrepreneurial community here, someone has to pay SOMETHING.  If $150 is too much to support entrepreneurship in Arizona, I'm outta here.

Posted via email from Not Really Stealthmode

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  • margaretdyekman
    Right on! Time for cheeseballs and dirtbags to learn that the only way to get ahead is through integrity, intelligence, creativity, and hard work. And if you don't have the first attribute, might as well stay home, because the rest won't matter. I'm looking forward to meeting all those who do show up and taking away inspiration and positive ideas.
  • Hmm...I wish Posterous allowed comments to be synced.
  • I didn't even read a comment. What did you say?
  • Was on Posterous. So many things to keep track of! Sorry for speaking too soon.
  • Interesting rant and no doubt some of this needed to be said for people to hear because some people are just oblivious, but I'm wondering if there is something larger here, revealed within the level of name-calling...

    The Law of Attraction states that whatever we hold in our thought comes true in our experience.

    The phrase "once again" suggests that I ask "is this is a common occurrence?"

    When I stumble into frustrating situations where I just want to choke people, one thing I find helpful is to ask myself "What is it that I keep doing (or failing to do) to attract these experiences?" The answers don't always appear to me instantly, but it does help me to refocus and recognize that I'm not a victim of the external world, and when things aren't going the way I had hoped or planned, it's just another opportunity for me to become better at what I'm doing and, even though it's not always easy, I really do have the ability to alter the outcome.

    I've also noticed that if don't recognize my ability to change the outcome, those frustrating experiences will keep happening to me over and over, and my complaining just seems to make them worse ...probably because we always get what we focus on and by that point I'm just focusing on the problem, not what I can do to create a solution.

    As an entrepreneur myself, I've learned the vital importance of not only advertising the results, but also actually delivering on the promised results. I believe many businesses don't make that connection with consumers well. I'm not sure the results promised in the title of this blog deliver, and in today's insanely competitive business landscape we as business leaders have to set the example that we must always, always, always walk the walk and deliver the promised results, no matter how incidental or off topic, if we're going to choose to stand up and continue to be such leaders. We can never let business owners believe 'sometimes it's okay to not deliver on promised results,' or our customers will quickly become numb and indifferent.

    Naturally, success with anything in life is about creating a strategy that gets results. So, we ask the question: How many marketing, PR and advertising people are not genuinely accountable to their actions and too often blame lack of results on ubiquitous, external factors?

    If the problem is people are willing to volunteer 'last minute,' perhaps in the future, what would your results be if you considered posting a statement about a deadline for volunteers and speakers or stating when all the slots are filled in a place where people will trip over it? Remember: The best way to make someone want something is tell them they can't have it.

    Another idea might be, what if you focused on the idea of attracting a marketing person/people who was/were willing and able to deliver measurable, tangible results by that specific, publicly posted deadline, someone who will not only get the message out but also get people to take action and commit to volunteer? If marketing methods aren't measurable and tangible, what results can be expected?

    "When we refuse to accept anything but the best, we very often get it."
    (Somerset Maugham)

    The Law of Attraction is truly a power force to be reckoned with.

    Best of luck with AZEC10.
  • While I agree with you and probably didn't need to press "send" on that, it
    worked amazingly well. We got three new sponsors the next day, and we sold
    out. I am still trying to figure out how the law of attraction worked in
    this case:-)
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