Sam Horn on Emceeing

 

I love Emceeing. I’ve had the privilege of Emceeing a  Writers Conference for many years. Every year, my priority is to create a community in the first few minutes so attendees feel welcomed, connected and confident this is a good investment of their valuable time and money.

I took this to a new level at the Invent Your Future Conference in CA.

Several participants approached me to say they thought the conference was one of the best they’d ever attended, and they were sad more of their co-workers couldn’t attend due to budget cuts. After hearing this several times, I wondered what I could do about it.

If you read the newspapers, you know that many conferences are being cancelled or downsized because of the tough economy. Corporations that used to send large contingents of employees to professional meetings are having to cut back.

After mulling it over, I thought of a way t o “scale” the conference and extend its influence to people who weren’t able to attend.

I only had a few minutes so I needed to make this quick. I walked out to the center of the stage (no lectern for me) and addressed the group.

“I’m going to ask you to do something NO conference has ever done.

In fact, every conference has asked you NOT to do this.

Please take out your cell phones, iPhones, Blackberries and digital cameras . . . (dramatic pause and imaginary drum roll) . . . and turn them ON.

Now, I’m going to ask you to do The Triple T.

What’s the Triple T, you ask? It stands for Text, Twitter and Take a Photo

TEXT: Please text a friend or co-worker and tell them about an idea from this morning’s session you found particularly interesting. Tell them about an insight you’d like to share at next week’s staff meeting or about a recommendation you’d like to discuss next time you get together.

TWITTER: Twitter your followers and let them know you’re at this conference enjoying the wit and wisdom of MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, NPR’s Cokie Roberts and Bertice Berry.

TAKE a PHOTO. Get together with someone you’ve connected with=2 0and ask a table-mate to take your picture. Swap business cards and schedule a follow-up call to share progress reports. If your organization (like Northrop Grumman, Genentech, or NBC) sponsored a group of students, take a picture with the students and swap emails so everyone can post that photo on their Facebook wall, LinkedIn page or company website.

Okay everybody. You’ve got 5 minutes to DO THE TRIPLE T.”

You should have seen what happened. A room full of people happily texting, Twittering, taking photos, swapping cards and having a great time.

When I called everyone back to their seats (no easy feat), I explained the purpose of what we’d just done.

“There are 500 people in this room. However, in the 5 minutes you texted, Twittered and Took photos with your colleagues and new friends, there are now 5000 people who k now about this conference.

When you go back to your homes and offices and blog about this, write an article for your company newsletter or respond to comments about this on your social networks, there will be at least 50,000 or 500,000 people who know what happened here.

You are SCALING and PERPETUATING the influence of this conference. People who didn’t have a chance to be here in person are now benefitting from the MoveHERS and ShakeHERS you just heard. Your epiphanies will not be20‘out of sight, out of mind’ as soon as you walk out these doors; they will live on in the photos, articles and blog posts you share with the world.

And in sharing the wealth of the lessons learned here, you are recognizing and rewarding your organization for investing in your professional development. This makes it a win for you, your company and for this conference and its speakers and sponsors.

All that in 5 minutes.”

Are you chairing a public meeting, professional conference or networking function? Why not scale its influence by doing The Triple T ?

If you do, thanks for giving me – Sam Horn, the Triple T Emcee – credit for originating the idea.

Here’s hoping The Triple T maximizes your event’s impact by taking it viral and giving it online “legs.”

 

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I want to work one-on-one with Sam Horn to craft a
book that breaks-out

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I want to attend Sam Horn’s POP! Your Book weekend
workshop.
 

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Sam Horn's ~ California Office
P.O. Box 6810 Los Osos, CA 93412-6810
Phone (805) 528-4351  Fax (805) 528-2581

 

 

 

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