I speak at a lot of difference conferences and am almost always pleased with both the quality of other speakers and the production of the events. Some are mostly fun, but other events are educational not just for the attendees, but for us faculty and speakers too, and the top of my list for most educational this year is undoubtedly The System Seminar, coming up in just a few weeks in Chicago, Illinois.
It’s an Internet Marketing conference and I’ll be candid: it’s expensive. But the lineup of speakers is just amazing and being able to spend three days with everyone there will undoubtedly change people’s lives, help them move onto new, better professional tracks, and significantly boost their income.
Registration just jumped up to $5000/seat (bring a pal and it’ll be less expensive) as we’re getting closer to the event, but you can get a distinct sense of how valuable the event is going to be by learning that there are less than 30 seats left, out of 300!
Don’t wait: sign up now!
Now I have to admit that I’ve been a bit unsure about moving into the slippery world of Internet Marketing, and visions of Tony Robbins clones aggressively selling their “courses” and “programs” from the front of the room have danced through my head more than once, but early on The System organizer Ken McCarthy did a masterful job of setting my anxiety to rest when he sent out the following message to speakers (reproduced with permission):
What is expected of System faculty members
Several people have asked me for faculty guidelines.
I usually do this informally, but since we have so many speakers and so many new people, it probably makes sense to commit some things to the written word.
I ask for the following things:
1. We are a teaching organization first and foremost
To keep myself on track, I strive to keep these two things in the forefront of my mind at all times:
a. The significant investment folks make to attend this event
b. The enormous difference System events have made in people’s lives and businesses because we have always focused on real teaching
We have provided – and hopefully will continue to provide – a learning environment that consistently generates the “spark” for many people to accomplish things way out of proportion to what they were doing before their exposure to the System approach.
This spark comes from the energy and focus we put into doing everything we can to truly help our students.
The success rate of our students over the years has been such that no other seminar in this field is even in the ballpark. In fact, most seminars today are entirely dependent on graduates of the System Seminar to make up their faculties.
This track record is not the result of chance or luck. It’s because we put teaching first, where others do not.
2. Having said that, feel free to talk about your products and services during your presentation
No one can share everything they’ve got in a 90 minute session, but please no “teasing without teaching” presentation methods.
Try to keep it to a 95% to 5% ratio, education to describing your offerings.
I know there are several trainings on the market today that teach speakers how to stand on a platform and say nothing in order to stimulate more sales. If you’ve received such a training, please check it at the door (Yes, you detect a bias.)
Bottom line: Our students have paid for an education and they’re counting on us to deliver one. This principle comes first and last and guides everything we do.
The quality of the information we share leading up to our events is second to none. In fact, it’s better than programs people have paid thousands of dollars for (as they tell us repeatedly)
Thanks for joining us this year in Chicago.
This event has the very real potential to be our best seminar ever and a major transformative event for everyone involved.
Ken
Don’t miss out on meeting me – and lots of other folk – in Chicago for this truly excellent event: there are only 30 seats left in the room. If you’d like to join me at this event, please make sure you sign up before it’s full!
I’ll hope to see you there.