When the Press looks at celebrity speakers it turns to the industry leader...
Greater Talent Network Talent Matters, Exclusivity Counts ...attached are some recent examples
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Press: The New York Sun
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THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL.
Press: The Wall Street Journal
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Press: The New York Times
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THEWALLSTREETJOURNAL.
Press: The Wall Street Journal
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Press: New York Magazine
It’s Good to Be Michael Lewis
He could have made a fortune in business. Instead, he made a fortune writing about it. Plus—a fortune for everyone he writes about.
By Jessica Pressler
Collins Tuohy has told this story before, and by now her delivery is spot on. It was Thanksgiving morning, and her family were on their way to pick up breakfast. “Because in our household,” she says in her Memphis drawl, and pauses for emphasis. “My mother thinks that if we go and get food.” Dramatic pause. “And bring it back to our house.” Another pause. “Then it counts as home cooking.” The audience laughs as Collins, a twentysomething Kappa Delta in a leopard-print dress and heels that bring her a good four inches closer to God, shakes her head affectionately at her parents, Leigh Anne and Sean, who are sitting next to her onstage at the Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. Then her story turns serious. As they were driving, they spotted a boy from Collins’s school walking down the street, unseasonably clad in shorts and a T-shirt. Leigh Anne asked her husband to pull over. You probably know the rest. So did the thousand or so salespeople that diamond manufacturer Hearts on Fire had invited to hear the Tuohys speak during its annual seminar. At this point, practically everyone with eyes has seen the movie The Blind Side, which tells the story of how the Tuohys adopted that boy, Michael Oher, and transformed him, by the grace of Jesus and with the help of cash from Sean’s fast-food franchises, from almost-certain lost cause to millionaire NFL star. Oher’s story might never have been told outside Memphis if Sean Tuohy’s high-school classmate Michael Lewis hadn’t happened into “MichaelDay does this over and for over again,” says Don Epstein, the agent town soon after that Thanksgiving to talk to his old friend a story he was working on about their high-school baseball coach. Lewis watched as Collins, herwho brother, Sean Junior, and a six-foot-four, mystery streamed and out of the house and quietly wondered handles Lewis’s speaking350-pound engagements, whichin are plentiful what the hell was going on.
and remunerative. Epstein also handles Lewis’ remarkable spillover:
When they were done talking, Tuohydoes escorted Lewis tohe the often door. “Well, years doesn’t about go by,” he said. WhenSean Lewis a book, putsI hope the another people25 he writes Lewis paused in the entryway. “You’re really going to let me out of here without telling me who the black kid is?” he asked. in touch with to asneed an of the movie. She Collins Tuohy hasn’t actually read the bookEpstein, that Lewis because, subsequentlyinevitably, wrote about herthey familyare andgoing that served the basis doesn’t need to, she says, and not just because she “lived it,” as she puts it, but because the story has taken on a life of its own. Last year, the agent, too. Even supporting characters are in demand: Epstein books Tuohys published another book, In a Heartbeat: Sharing the Power of Cheerful Giving, followed in February by Oher’s own memoir, I Beat for Paul DePodesta, Moneyball’s number-crunching straight man; the Odds. Leigh Anne, who was an interior decorator before she became professionally herself, has appeared on Extreme Makeover: Home “Miss tutored Michael The Blind Edition, is developing aSusan reality show aboutSue” at-riskMitchell, children, andwho has become friends withOher Sandra in Bullock, who Once thespoon,” agentshe recommends a few speakers whogood would be appropriate based onplayed the her in the movie. “I could eat him with aSide; told People, of Whitney, the actress’s own recently adopted child. whose early warnand Meredith the financial analyst meeting planner’s stated help“who the got planner offer form that speci“But it was Michael Lewis,” Sean reminds thegoals, crowd atthey the Aria, the ballcomplete rolling. And an he has a new movie coming out, Moneyings about subprime debt were highlighted in Lewis’s financial-crisis ball—” fies everything the planner is asking for. This form is used to reach a meeting of the
narrative The Big Short. “It’s almost like he stamps his own brand on minds and is considered a commitment.
“Oh, don’t plug him,” Leigh Anne interrupts good-naturedly. “He’s made plenty of money off us.” Big laughs from the crowd—she has youWithout by writing a point. But so does Sean. The Blindabout Side, theyou,” Tuohyssays wouldWhitney. be a family of local saints; with it, they are something like national heroes, touring the country from speaking engagement to speaking engagement on a kind of paid victory lap. They may be the most enterprising beneficiaries of a phenomenon now so common it deserves to be called the Michael Lewis Effect—the way the author makes his subjects into celebrities just by writing about them , endowing obscure figures with major profiles, intellectual prestige, even earning power. “He changed my life,” Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane had told me the day before, bouncing through the Oakland Coliseum on a golf cart between his own press appearances for the movie Moneyball, adapted from Lewis’s baseball book turned management manifesto. Beane had been a backroom-style executive in a forgettable market—a pretty good gig if you like baseball, but nothing that would get you recognized in the street—before Lewis’s 2003 Moneyball proclaimed him a genius for his team’s use of sabermetrics, an arcane statistical method of evaluating players. The book, which sold over a million copies, changed the way baseball was played, made “Moneyball” a shorthand term for data-¬driven innovation in any field, and turned Beane himself into a savant legend well outside of baseball circles. Though he’s still not quite as well known as the guy who sneaks up behind him and slaps him on the back as Beane walks to his next interview. “Hey, man,” says a familiar voice. That would be Brad Pitt, who plays him in the movie. “Michael does this over and over again,” says Don Epstein, the agent who handles Lewis’s speaking engagements, which are plentiful and remunerative. Epstein also handles Lewis’s remarkable spillover: When Lewis does a book, he often puts the people he writes about in touch with Epstein, because, inevitably, they are going to need an agent, too. Even supporting characters are in demand: Epstein books for Paul DePodesta, Moneyball’s number-crunching straight man; Susan “Miss Sue” Mitchell, who tutored Michael Oher in The Blind Side; and Meredith Whitney, , the financial analyst whose early warnings about subprime debt were highlighted in Lewis’s financialcrisis narrative The Big Short. “It’s almost like he stamps his own brand on you by writing about you,” says Whitney.
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Press: Crain’s New York Business
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Press: Newsweek
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Press: New York Post
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Press: The New York Times
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Press: Fortune Magazine
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Press: Office Arrow
Understanding Speakers Bureaus: Working with an Agency to Book the Perfect Speaker By: Terri Pepper Gavulic When a meeting planner needs to book a speaker for their event, they often turn to a professional speakers bureau. Many articles have been written for meeting planners about how best to negotiate with a speakers bureau. This article, based on an interview with Don Epstein, the CEO Greater Talent Network, one of the “big five” speakers bureaus, presents the industry’s perspective about their purpose and how meeting planners can work well with them. It is interesting to see the process from another perspective. There are many bureaus in existence. The five largest and most widely used are exclusive agencies, meaning they have exclusive contracts with the speakers in their roster and are the only agency authorized to book these speakers. While this may seem restrictive, the bureaus believe it’s in the best interests of their clients. A Helping Hand The ultimate goal of the speakers bureau is to make the client, company and planner look good so they will have the benefit of repeat business and steady referrals. They cull through thousands of speakers to determine whom they wish to represent. They have intimate knowledge about their speakers and use this to counsel meeting planners about which speakers may be the best fit. Often a meeting planner will have a specific speaker in mind and ignore advice that someone may not be a good fit for a particular meeting. Ultimately, if the speaker does not live up to expectations, both the meeting planner and the bureau suffer. As Mr. Epstein said, “It is more important for us to have people excited after the event than before the event.” The lesson for meeting planners? Be receptive to the advice of your agents. They want your future business so will strive to make you look good and succeed at your event. Sometimes meeting planners are suspicious that an exclusive agency is only trying to “hawk their own wares.” From the bureau’s perspective they’ve vetted thousands of speakers to ensure they represent the “best of the best.” It only makes sense to them to push those speakers they have vetted and whom they feel comfortable putting their name behind. If there’s a speaker that might be a better fit for a meeting than one represented by your bureau, they’ll work with the other bureaus to secure that speaker for their clients. Similar to the real estate business, the major bureaus buy and sell from each other’s inventory. This allows the “best of the best” to be accessible to all of the top bureaus. There is no mark-up in price when one bureau contracts with another. How It Works Mr. Epstein said there is a lot of trust in the industry. The top five bureaus have held that status for 25 years or more. When a planner expresses interest in a speaker the bureau escrows the fee (to reflect that they are taking this available date away from a speaker) and then make good on all commitments. Willing to put themselves at financial risk in this way, the agents working within a bureau think of themselves as consultants and strive to establish a long-term relationship with their meeting planner clients.
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Press: Forbes
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Press: Crain’s
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Press: The Miami Herald
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Press: Meetings & Conventions
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P U B L I C
R E L A T I O N S
TACTICS
Press: Public Relations Tactics
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Press: Successful Meetings
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Press: Corporate Incentive & Travel
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Press: Agent & Manager
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Press: Agent & Manager
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Press: The Meeting Manager
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Press: Forbes
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