The 2021 SAC Annual Meeting occurred on October 5-7, 2021.
Our theme this year was “Ready for Rebound.”
- What trends will be impacting businesses around the world?
- What skills and capabilities will consultants need to help clients thrive in the coming business environment?
- How will savvy consultants promote their businesses in this new world?
- What do clients say about their consulting needs?
Here’s what was new:
- Three shorter days with staggered starting times each day for different geographies
- More time for networking between sessions
- More interactivity within sessions
- More breakout sessions, including a focus on Special Interest Groups (SIGs)
- Keynote by SAC Founder Alan Weiss
- See Our Presenters
- Getting Published in Top Media—discussion led by Henry DeVries with Lisa Apolinski, Bruce Werner and Robin Ryan
- The Art of Inquiry: Asking the Right Questions with Jennifer Nash
- Scaling Service Based Business Through Innovation with Steve Shapiro
- Why Subscriptions Are So Popular, And What It Means for You and Your Clients—Robbie Kellman Baxter
- Becoming a Recognized Expert by Building Social Proof: Dorie Clark
- You Oughta Be in Pictures — Building a Video for your Practice: Rob Oddi
- You Are What You Risk: The New Art of Navigating in an Uncertain World: Michele Wucker
- Client panels from different geographies
- Presentation of the 3rd Annual Corrie Shanahan Memorial Advancing Consulting Awards
Purchase the Recordings
Recordings are available to SAC Members for $199 and to Nonmembers for $299.
If you have purchased the Annual Meeting or the recordings, here is a link to the recordings. (Refer to the password provided.)
Henry DeVries: Five Books for Consultants
Lisa Anderson – SAC Executive Director
Award-winning business performance expert Lisa Anderson, the founder and president of LMA Consulting Group Inc., specializes in manufacturing strategy and end-to-end supply chain transformation that maximizes the customer experience and enables profitable, scalable, dramatic business growth. Lisa is President of the Inland Empire Chapter of APICS (national trade organization supply chain), one of the most active and innovative chapters in the United States. She has been instrumental in engaging students and has fostered the environment that has earned national recognition for the students from Harvey Mudd College and Cal Poly Pomona.
Lisa Apolinski is the Founder of 3 Dog Write, a full-service digital consulting agency. Lisa has been featured in Forbes.com, Million Dollar RoundTable, Yahoo News, and on Ticker Live News Australia. Because of her work with companies to help them develop and share their digital messaging, she has been dubbed “America’s Digital Content Futurist”. Her latest book, Persuade With A Digital Content Story, was named by Bookauthority as one of the top content marketing books in the world for 2021. Learn more at: www.3DogWrite.com.
Panel Session: Getting Published in Top Media
Henry DeVries (panel leader), Lisa Apolinski, Bruce Werner, and Robin Ryan
In these uncertain times there is something all consultants need: more clients. These are emotional times and in order to connect with clients and become more influential you need to be a storyteller that gets published in top media. Getting published in top media can give you more credibility, more impact, more influence, and more clients. Research in neurosciences proves prospects make decision based on emotion, not logic. The panelists share how to tap into the emotion part of the brain with storytelling and how to get regularly published in top media like Forbes, INC., The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, trade journals, and more.
Robbie Kellman Baxter has been advising entrepreneurs on business strategy for 20 years. Her clients have included solopreneurs and venture-backed startups as well as industry leaders such as ASICS, Netflix, Electronic Arts, and The Wall Street Journal. She has worked with nearly 100 organizations in over 20 industries on growth initiatives.
She is the author of The Membership Economy: Find Your Superusers, Master the Forever Transaction & Build Recurring Revenue, named a top 5 Marketing Book of the Year by Inc.com, based on the popular business term “Membership Economy” coined by Robbie. Her expertise with companies in the emerging Membership Economy extends to include SaaS, media, consumer products and community organizations.
Session: Why Subscriptions Are So Popular, And What It Means for You and Your Clients
If you’re thinking about incorporating subscriptions into your business model, you’re not alone. Everyone seems to be trying to build “forever transactions” with their customers. Organizations big and small, public and private, and across virtually every industry recognize that subscription-based business models are more valuable and disruption-proof than other models. In this session, we’ll talk about what’s driving the rise of this Membership Economy, as well as what means both for our clients and for us as consultants.
As an experienced organizational development practitioner, executive coach and skilled leadership team builder, Lisa Bing works with leaders and organizations of all kinds. The Brooklyn born entrepreneur boasts over 25 years experience and is known as an engaging speaker and pragmatic problem solver. She is an adjunct professor at New York University and spent years holding various management positions for industry giant Prudential Financial prior to Bing Consulting. Lisa has won numerous awards for business and service, has been profiled in the media, and is currently a regular panelist on TV talk show Brooklyn Savvy.
Panel Session: What In the World Comes Next
Lisa Bing (facilitator), Sabrina Kanner, Robert Hammond and Sabina Ewing
In light of the dramatic twists and turns over the last 18 months in particular, we will explore the following from a variety of business/industry perspectives:
- What’s changed/is changing? Temporary or permanent?
- What opportunities are emerging?
- What do you anticipate to be your biggest challenges?
Gail Bower is the founder and president of Bower & Co. Consulting LLC, a revenue strategy firm that works with mission- or purpose-driven organizations to uncover and develop reliable sources of revenue that also drive their social or environmental missions. She works with nonprofit organizations to put more money in their missions and with mid-size and larger companies to put more mission in their money.
Breakout Session: Birds of a Feather – Nonprofits
Gail Bower, Martyn Drake & Karen Eber Davis
Join us to explore the many untapped opportunities for growing your consulting business in the nonprofit world. Bring your questions and we will talk about whatever is on your mind. Our hosts and other attendees, many of whom have built thriving practices serving nonprofits, will share their experiences, thoughts, and feedback on any and all topics as they emerge.
Evan Bulmer is an expert at creating dramatic growth in businesses despite the chaos and pressure going on around them. His combined clients having generated over $500 million in value via the growth of their businesses. Evan distills his secrets to financial performance in his book, Numbers That Matter: Learning What to Measure to Achieve Financial Success in Your Business.
A serial entrepreneur and businessman, Evan has been actively buying, operating and selling businesses for over 20 years. His firm was recognized nationally two years in a row as one of the best accounting firms in Australia. In February 2017, he was inducted into the Million Dollar Consultant® Hall of Fame.
Panel Session: SME (small and mid-sized enterprises)
Vanessa Khan (facilitator), Evan Bulmer, Christian Muntean, and Phil Symchych
Join us as we explore the bountiful opportunities of engaging with small and medium enterprises, an untapped market. We will explore marketing, sales and prospecting, the benefits and constraints of consulting in this market, and share successes from an experienced panel. Whether you are new in your consulting career, on the cusp of a consulting transition from larger enterprises or looking to tap into small to medium enterprise potential, this panel discussion is sure to provide interesting insights and perspectives!
Dorie Clark is a professor at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and the author of Entrepreneurial You, Reinventing You and Stand Out, named the #1 Leadership Book of 2015 by Inc. magazine. A former presidential campaign spokeswoman, the New York Times described her as an “expert at self-reinvention and helping others make changes in their lives.” Dorie is a frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review, consulting and speaking for clients including Google, Microsoft, and the World Bank. She is also a producer of a multiple Grammy-award-winning jazz album. You can download her free Entrepreneurial You self-assessment workbook and learn more at dorieclark.com/entrepreneur.
Session: Becoming a Recognized Expert by Building Social Proof
A world filled with consultants and coaches, how can you differentiate yourself in the marketplace so you can command premium fees? Harvard Business Review author Dorie Clark will show you how to leverage social proof to enhance your credibility and ensure your expertise is recognized.
Patrick Daly is the founder and Managing Director of Alba Consulting, a business consultancy focused on international supply chain, logistics, and operations based in Dublin, Ireland. Patrick is an accomplished consultant, speaker, trainer, author and broadcaster and has been active in the logistics sector for over 25 years. He works with many top Fortune 500 companies in manufacturing, distribution, and logistics services in Europe, Asia. and the Americas, helping them achieve dramatic improvements in their supply chain capabilities and performance through supply chain excellence. Patrick has worked with clients all over the world including China, India, Uruguay, Puerto Rico, Egypt, UAE, United States, UK, Spain, Croatia, and others.
Panel Session: Collaborating Across Borders
Cheryl Williams (facilitator), Patrick Daly, Hamish Mackenzie and Karen Wilson-Starks
The panel will discuss how to gain cross-border clients, how to successfully navigate cross-border clients, special considerations with cross-border clients, and what’s unique/important for these clients.
Too many nonprofits CEOs and EDs struggle to lead their organization without a trusted advisor. Karen Eber Davis Consulting guides executive directors and CEOs to generate the resources and support they need and make stunning progress on their missions.
Breakout Session: Birds of a Feather – Nonprofits
Gail Bower, Martyn Drake & Karen Eber Davis
Join us to explore the many untapped opportunities for growing your consulting business in the nonprofit world. Bring your questions and we will talk about whatever is on your mind. Our hosts and other attendees, many of whom have built thriving practices serving nonprofits, will share their experiences, thoughts, and feedback on any and all topics as they emerge.
Henry DeVries writes a weekly business development column for Forbes.com and is the cohost of The Marketing With A Book Podcast. He is CEO of Indie Books International, has ghostwritten or edited more than 300 business books, including his #1 Amazon sales and marketing bestseller, How To Close A Deal Like Warren Buffett. In his presentations titled “Persuade With A Story!” he annually shows thousands of professionals each how to uncover hidden asset stories that communicate trustworthiness in two minutes or less. He has written for INC, the Associated Press, the New York Times, Working Woman, and many other trade journals, magazines, and daily newspapers. On a personal note, he is a baseball nut who has visited forty-four major league baseball parks and has three to go before he can touch ‘em all. Learn more at www.indiebooksintl.com
Panel Session: Getting Published in Top Media
Henry DeVries (panel leader), Lisa Apolinski, Bruce Werner, and Robin Ryan
In these uncertain times there is something all consultants need: more clients. These are emotional times and in order to connect with clients and become more influential you need to be a storyteller that gets published in top media. Getting published in top media can give you more credibility, more impact, more influence, and more clients. Research in neurosciences proves prospects make decision based on emotion, not logic. The panelists share how to tap into the emotion part of the brain with storytelling and how to get regularly published in top media like Forbes, INC., The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, trade journals, and more.
Martyn Drake is the founder of Binley Drake Consulting, the boutique management consultancy he set up in 2009 to help ambitious business leaders dramatically improve the performance of their organizations. Based in the UK, Martyn works with large non-profit organisations and mid- to large-sized closely owned businesses.
Breakout Session: Birds of a Feather – Nonprofits
Gail Bower, Martyn Drake & Karen Eber Davis
Join us to explore the many untapped opportunities for growing your consulting business in the nonprofit world. Bring your questions and we will talk about whatever is on your mind. Our hosts and other attendees, many of whom have built thriving practices serving nonprofits, will share their experiences, thoughts, and feedback on any and all topics as they emerge.
Sabina Ewing, Abbott‘s Global Chief Information Officer, Vice President of Business and Technology Services, provides executive leadership on technology strategy, policy, and capabilities across the Abbott enterprise. Prior to joining Abbott, Sabina served as the Global Head, Business Technology for Pfizer Upjohn, headquartered in Shanghai, China.
Sabina is a recipient of the 2016 Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association Luminary Award, is a 2018 recipient of the PharmaVoice Top 100 Most Inspiring Leaders in Life Sciences Award, a 2020 Women Economic Forum Iconic Leader Creating a Better World for All Award winner, and a 2020 PhillyCIO ORBIE winner for CIO of the Year in the Global CIO category.
Panel Session: What In the World Comes Next
Lisa Bing (facilitator), Sabrina Kanner, Robert Hammond and Sabina Ewing
In light of the dramatic twists and turns over the last 18 months in particular, we will explore the following from a variety of business/industry perspectives:
- What’s changed/is changing? Temporary or permanent?
- What opportunities are emerging?
- What do you anticipate to be your biggest challenges?
Robert Hammond is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the High Line, overseeing daily operations, art, cultural and family programming, events, finances, and fundraising, of which nearly 100% is raised privately. He is a tireless advocate who shares his creative energy to help influence, inform, and encourage others to step up to challenging new projects within their communities.
In 1999, Robert Hammond and Joshua David led efforts to turn an abandoned railway line on Manhattan’s West Side into one of the world’s most celebrated parks—the High Line. The High Line became a continuous 1.45-mile-long greenway featuring 500+ species of plants and trees where visitors can view art, walk through gardens, or experience a performance, all while enjoying a unique perspective of the city. The High Line now serves as a model domestically and internationally for other reuse projects and for community activism. Most recently, the organization established the High Line Network, a group of infrastructure reuse projects—and the people who are helping them come to life.
Panel Session: What In the World Comes Next
Lisa Bing (facilitator), Sabrina Kanner, Robert Hammond and Sabina Ewing
In light of the dramatic twists and turns over the last 18 months in particular, we will explore the following from a variety of business/industry perspectives:
- What’s changed/is changing? Temporary or permanent?
- What opportunities are emerging?
- What do you anticipate to be your biggest challenges?
Founding partner and CEO of Business Advancement Inc., Pam Harper is a strategic growth expert who enables visionary CEOs, boards, and senior executives of successful companies to get to the heart of complex strategic leadership issues to accelerate momentum for game-changing results. She is the author of the critically acclaimed book Preventing Strategic Gridlock®, and was cited as an acknowledged expert in Alexandra R. Lajoux’s 2019 book The Art of M&A 5th Edition. Pam is co-host of Growth Igniters® Radio, featuring best-selling authors and mid-market CEOs who are transforming the face of business. She founded and for over 5 years chaired the Association for Corporate Growth NJ’s Corporate Growth Conference & Awards, one of the association’s signature events. Pam is also the Founding Chair, of SAC’s Advancing Consulting Awards Committee.
Award Presentation: of the 3rd Annual Corrie Shanahan Memorial Advancing Consulting Awards
Dan Janal works with business leaders and professionals as a book coach, developmental editor, and ghostwriter. No matter where you are in the book-writing process, Dan can help. Dan has written more than a dozen books that have been translated into six languages.
As an award-winning newspaper reporter, he’s interviewed President Gerald Ford and First Lady Barbara Bush. For more info, go to www.WriteYourBookInAFlash.com.
Breakout Session: Birds of a Feather – Books
We’ll discuss whatever is on your mind! You’ll get feedback from Dan as well as other group members. No topic is off limits!
Sabrina Kanner is the Executive Vice President of Development, Design and Construction and responsible for overseeing Development in the Northeast U.S. for Brookfield Properties.
With Brookfield Properties and its predecessor, Olympia & York, for over 35 years, Sabrina joined the construction division of Olympia & York in 1982. In her tenure with the company, Sabrina has played a key role in the construction, design and development or redevelopment of over 40 million square feet of signature Brookfield projects such as World Financial Center, Brookfield Place, 300 Madison Avenue, Halley Rise, the restoration/renovation of the Winter Garden at World Financial Center after 9/11, and Manhattan West.
Panel Session: What In the World Comes Next
Lisa Bing (facilitator), Sabrina Kanner, Robert Hammond and Sabina Ewing
In light of the dramatic twists and turns over the last 18 months in particular, we will explore the following from a variety of business/industry perspectives:
- What’s changed/is changing? Temporary or permanent?
- What opportunities are emerging?
- What do you anticipate to be your biggest challenges?
Vanessa Khan has a passion for entrepreneurship and inventing and reinventing oneself and one’s business. As an IT Consultant, she plays a critical role in a variety of implementation projects to drive digital transformation and adoption, and help enterprises streamline processes across multiple industries. A passionate mentor and coach, Vanessa has also expanded her business to include coaching young professionals, solopreneurs, and entrepreneurs. She helps small business owners more rapidly meet their goals by helping them address the overwhelm and competing priorities that hold them back. Vanessa takes a pragmatic and empathic approach to help others build strong and marketable brands, powerful networks and develop a personalized career roadmap.
Panel Session: SME (small and mid-sized enterprises)
Vanessa Khan (facilitator), Evan Bulmer, Christian Muntean, and Phil Symchych
Join us as we explore the bountiful opportunities of engaging with small and medium enterprises, an untapped market. We will explore marketing, sales and prospecting, the benefits and constraints of consulting in this market, and share successes from an experienced panel. Whether you are new in your consulting career, on the cusp of a consulting transition from larger enterprises or looking to tap into small to medium enterprise potential, this panel discussion is sure to provide interesting insights and perspectives!
Hamish Mackenzie is the president of Hamish Mackenzie Consulting. Hamish helps businesses of all kinds, from startups to multi-billion dollar organizations, define or redefine the unique value they offer, based on the outcomes their customers want. Then, he develops the market positioning and key messages they need to make buyers believe. Finally, he helps them create the internal change required to deliver their unique value in a way that turns customers into evangelists.
Panel Session: Collaborating Across Borders
Cheryl Williams (facilitator), Patrick Daly, Hamish Mackenzie, and Karen Wilson-Starks
The panel will discuss how to gain cross-border clients, how to successfully navigate cross-border clients, special considerations with cross-border clients, and what’s unique/important for these clients.
Steve Markman is the Founder and President of Markman Speaker Management, LLC, a multi-service speaker agency founded in 1994. With over 30 years of experience in the speaker and conference business, Steve conducts customized one-on-one virtual training and coaching sessions including those created for independent consultants. These sessions enable consultants to boost visibility, generate business leads, and demonstrate thought leadership. Similarly, Steve’s firm conducts training for corporate marketing and PR/communications staff to develop or improve a company’s speaker placement process. The Executive Visibility Speaker service has helped hundreds of corporate clients – from small firms to Fortune 500 – get speaking engagements at events worldwide.
Breakout Session: Birds of a Feather – Speaking
Even during this pandemic, as most events shifted to being virtual or hybrid, public speaking remains one sure way to create visibility. In this BOF session we’ll discuss best practices for consultants to land speaking engagements to help grow their business. Points of discussion will include:
- Researching and identifying the “right” speaking opportunities aimed at your target audiences
- How and when to submit speaker proposals to event organizers
- Creating high-impact, compelling speaker proposals that win you MORE speaking engagements
Christian Muntean has helped hundreds of businesses rapidly grow, increase profitability, and expand impact. He primarily works with entrepreneurial business leaders who are scaling their businesses or preparing to exit. He partners with owners, boards, and executive teams as they make game-changing decisions.
Christian has a Masters in Organizational Leadership from Eastern University. He is a Master Coach through Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coaching. Additionally, he is a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) specializing in building freedom for owners while dramatically increasing the value of their businesses. Christian is the author of The Successful New CEO, Conflict and Leadership, and a contributor to Forbes.com.
Panel Session: SME (small and mid-sized enterprises)
Vanessa Khan (facilitator), Evan Bulmer, Christian Muntean, and Phil Symchych
Join us as we explore the bountiful opportunities of engaging with small and medium enterprises, an untapped market. We will explore marketing, sales and prospecting, the benefits and constraints of consulting in this market, and share successes from an experienced panel. Whether you are new in your consulting career, on the cusp of a consulting transition from larger enterprises or looking to tap into small to medium enterprise potential, this panel discussion is sure to provide interesting insights and perspectives!
Jennifer Nash, PhD is an executive coach, speaker, and author who specializes in accelerating the success of Fortune 50 executives and their teams at companies such as Boeing, Exxon Mobil, Ford Motor Company, Google, IBM, J.P. Morgan, and Verizon. Throughout a 25-year career, she helped organizations foster positive growth for all stakeholders as an executive in multiple strategy, human capital, and change roles.
A Harvard Business Review contributor, she is also a research fellow at the Weatherhead School of Business and has presented her coaching research at both Harvard and Columbia Universities. Jennifer’s book Human Leadership: The Art and Science of Leading with Heart will be available in 2022. You can download her free Success Toolkit and learn more at DrJenniferNash.com/Book.
Session: The Art of Inquiry: Asking the Right Questions
You know that asking questions is a powerful way to acquire information. But it can be difficult to know what questions to ask and when to ask them. And for many people, asking questions feels risky, as it may be perceived as ‘weak’. But it doesn’t have to be that way. The Art of Inquiry is an interactive and experiential session that will help you break through inquiry barriers, practice effective questioning techniques, and improve your listening capabilities. These techniques will build trust, strengthen relationships, increase collaboration, expand perspective, and generate productive conversations in all areas of your life.
Rob Oddi is an award-winning change, culture, and leadership expert with over 20 years’ experience delivering change on multi-million-dollar projects, programs, and initiatives. His best clients use his expertise, creative genius, and counsel to create strong cohesive teams, accelerate strategy development, create powerful engagement, and increase the success of change and transformation.
He’s an executive advisor, leadership coach, and consultant who helps clients focus on the people’s side of things when it comes to behavioural change and engagement. Rob has attracted an impressive client list when it comes to how to employ innovative and brain-based approaches to developing leaders and their teams. Some of his more well known clients include: Mercedes-Benz, Tiffany & Company, Global Eyewear Giant: Luxottica, Target Optical, Canada Goose, The Government of Canada, Norwegian Cruise Line and numerous others.
Session: From Crickets to Cha-Ching – What no one so far has honestly told you about making stand-out video content for your practice
For the past few years, every consultant has been told ‘You need to get on video’. With that, there are hundreds of apps for your laptop and phone that allow you to both record and edit, and yet the results for 99% of those who use them are underwhelming at best. For most consultants, their video library has become an ocean of talking heads with horrible art hanging on walls (behind their talking heads).
The secret to leveraging video to increase visibility and profitability is less about the transparent message and the medium, and more about psychology, design, and the subconscious call-to-action. In fact, without this and other powerful considerations, utilizing video often does more harm than good.
In this engaging and revealing session (which won’t be about cameras or editing techniques!), Rob Oddi, a master at creative engagement with video (and also a seasoned consultant and speaker), pulls back the curtain to share with you his framework for creating authority by video and what you absolutely need to be doing to not only have people watch your video, but share it, get in touch with you and want to hire you. It’s time to move from hearing crickets to hearing cha-ching!
Linda Popky – SAC Executive Director
Award-winning marketing expert Linda J. Popky, the founder and president of Leverage2Market Associates, transforms organizations through powerful marketing performance. Her clients range from small businesses and consultants to mid-sized companies and large Fortune 500 enterprises. Named one of Silicon Valley’s Top 100 Women of Influence and a member of Alan Weiss’s Million Dollar Consulting® Hall of Fame, Linda J. Popky has extensive experience in marketing – in industry, agencies, and consulting. She is the former president of Women in Consulting and certified as a master mentor in the Private Roster Mentoring Program. Linda is the author of Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage With Marketing That Matters.
Robin Ryan, who The Los Angeles Times called “America’s Top Career Expert,” has a busy career counseling practice helping clients with resume writing, LinkedIn profile writing, and interview coaching to enable them to land terrific jobs. Robin has appeared on over 3,000 TV and radio shows, including Oprah and Dr. Phil. She is the best-selling author of eight books, including 60 Seconds & You’re Hired and Winning Resumes. Robin currently writes a weekly career column for Forbes.com. Learn more at: www.RobinRyan.com.
Panel Session: Getting Published in Top Media
Henry DeVries (panel leader), Lisa Apolinski, Bruce Werner, and Robin Ryan
In these uncertain times there is something all consultants need: more clients. These are emotional times and in order to connect with clients and become more influential you need to be a storyteller that gets published in top media. Getting published in top media can give you more credibility, more impact, more influence, and more clients. Research in neurosciences proves prospects make decision based on emotion, not logic. The panelists share how to tap into the emotion part of the brain with storytelling and how to get regularly published in top media like Forbes, INC., The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, trade journals, and more.
For over 20 years, Stephen Shapiro has presented his provocative strategies on innovation to audiences in 50 countries. During his 15-year tenure with the consulting firm Accenture, he led a 20,000-person innovation practice. He is the author of six books, including his latest: Invisible Solutions: 25 Lenses that Reframe and Help Solve Difficult Business Problems. His Personality Poker® system has been used around the world to create high-performing innovation teams. In 2015 he was inducted into the Speaker Hall of Fame.
Session: Scaling Service Based Business Through Innovation
How can you scale a service-based business? How can you deliver more service to more clients with less effort? Some common approaches include productizing your service and licensing/certification. In this session, we’ll explore other creative solutions that will have you working less and making more.
Phil Symchych helps companies develop and implement growth strategies that drive top line sales, increase bottom line profits, and enhance valuations that build business wealth. He has created the global SME Advisor® program to help other consultants and advisors who work with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to enhance their consulting effectiveness and increase their clients’ results. His proprietary Strategy Wheel(tm) helps consultants to demonstrate their skill and speed during business development to attract clients, and during strategy sessions to help accelerate clients’ success. Phil is the author of The Business Wealth Builders, along with Alan Weiss. They combined Phil’s knowledge of Main Street businesses with Alan’s knowledge of Wall Street businesses to create a powerful book for creating business wealth. He is also the author of The Four Roads to Business Wealth.
Panel Session: SME (small and mid-sized enterprises)
Vanessa Khan (facilitator), Evan Bulmer, Christian Muntean, and Phil Symchych
Join us as we explore the bountiful opportunities of engaging with small and medium enterprises, an untapped market. We will explore marketing, sales and prospecting, the benefits and constraints of consulting in this market, and share successes from an experienced panel. Whether you are new in your consulting career, on the cusp of a consulting transition from larger enterprises or looking to tap into small to medium enterprise potential, this panel discussion is sure to provide interesting insights and perspectives!
Dan Weedin works with privately-held, small and medium-sized businesses to help them prevent, respond to and recover from the “Oh Sh**t’s” in business. Through his work around risk leadership and insurance, Dan helps his clients protect their bottom line, assets, and lifestyle. Dan has hosted the Seattle show of the nationally-syndicated Shrimp Tank Podcast since 2016. The podcast is entrepreneur-focused, as he and his co-hosts interview the best and brightest CEOs, innovators, and business thought leaders in the Pacific Northwest.
Breakout Session: Birds of a Feather – Podcasts
Podcasts seem to be ubiquitous and every consultant should consider being part of the crowd. The key is flying above the rest of the flock so you can be downloaded and heard! In this session, we will discuss how to get a podcast off the ground, creating a platform and style, and figuring out how to monetize it, if that’s one of your goals. Bottom line, podcasts are a great way to create valuable content, drive revenue, and have fun!
Million Dollar Consultant Alan Weiss, president of Summit Consulting, has been called the “rock star of consulting.” He’s published over 500 articles and 60 books on consulting, is an inductee into the Professional Speaking Hall of Fame® and the concurrent recipient of the National Speakers Association Council of Peers Award of Excellence. He has been named a Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants, one of only two people in history holding both those designations. The founder of SAC, Alan has developed the premiere global community for solo consultants.
Keynote Speaker and Q&A with Alan Weiss — the Rockstar of Consulting
Bruce Werner is a columnist with Forbes.com and is the managing director of Kona Advisors LLC, which provides advisory services to owners and investors of private and family-owned companies. He writes and speaks on boardroom issues of concern to private and family businesses. In addition to his advisory work, Bruce has acted as a principal or consultant to several investment firms, with experience in running venture, private equity, hedge and real estate funds, as well as futures and options firms. He is based in Illinois. Learn more at: www.konaadvisors.com.
Panel Session: Getting Published in Top Media
Henry DeVries (panel leader), Lisa Apolinski, Bruce Werner, and Robin Ryan
In these uncertain times there is something all consultants need: more clients. These are emotional times and in order to connect with clients and become more influential you need to be a storyteller that gets published in top media. Getting published in top media can give you more credibility, more impact, more influence, and more clients. Research in neurosciences proves prospects make decision based on emotion, not logic. The panelists share how to tap into the emotion part of the brain with storytelling and how to get regularly published in top media like Forbes, INC., The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, trade journals, and more.
Cheryl G. Williams is the founder and CEO of Hudgins Williams Associates. An ICF certified coach to CEOs and early career professionals alike, she has over two decades of corporate and nonprofit leadership including Marketing, Public Relations, Strategic Planning, and employee Leadership and Development and applies this experience to building breakthrough marketing communications strategies and plans for nonprofits ranging in size from four to ten figure annual budgets. During her twenty-year career at Procter & Gamble, Ms. Williams’ responsibilities included visibility and reputation building for domestic and global brands representing $30 billion in annual retail sales. She led brand external relations and designed and executed product launches on three continents, including an in-country assignment in Singapore.
Panel Session: Collaborating Across Borders
Cheryl Williams (facilitator), Patrick Daly, Hamish Mackenzie, and Karen Wilson-Starks
The panel will discuss how to gain cross-border clients, how to successfully navigate cross-border clients, special considerations with cross-border clients, and what’s unique/important for these clients.
Dr. Karen Y. Wilson-Starks is the President and CEO of TRANSLEADERSHIP, INC., the 2021 recipient of The RHR International Excellence in Consultation Award, host of The Voice of Leadership podcast, host of the Dr. Karen Speaks Leadership TV Show, and author of Lead Yourself First: The Senior Leader’s Guide to Engaging Your People for Greater Performance and Impact. For more than 30 years she has worked with values-based and Christian corporate executives in secular businesses. She advises executives on how to create a powerful leadership legacy that leaves the organization, the people, and themselves transformed and equipped for the next chapter.
Panel Session: Collaborating Across Borders
Cheryl Williams (facilitator), Patrick Daly, Hamish Mackenzie, and Karen Wilson-Starks
The panel will discuss how to gain cross-border clients, how to successfully navigate cross-border clients, special considerations with cross-border clients, and what’s unique/important for these clients.
Michele Wucker coined the term “gray rhino” for obvious, probable, impactful risks, which we are surprisingly likely but not condemned to neglect. A former media and think tank executive, she is founder of the Chicago-based strategic advisory firm Gray Rhino & Company. She is the author of four books including the influential global bestseller THE GRAY RHINO: How to Recognize and Act on the Obvious Dangers We Ignore and YOU ARE WHAT YOU RISK: The New Art and Science of Navigating an Uncertain World (Pegasus Books, Spring 2021).
Session: You Are What You Risk: The New Art of Navigating in an Uncertain World, a fireside chat with Michele Wucker and Linda Popky
When your clients are thinking about which direction to take in their careers and organizations, do you talk about how they see risk and why? In this provocative talk, bestselling author and strategic advisor Michele Wucker shares insights from her new book, YOU ARE WHAT YOU RISK, about how understanding our risk fingerprints and applying risk empathy can be powerful tools to help you and your clients improve your business decisions and relationships.
See Highlights from our past annual conferences.