This is the 3rd year in a row we have counted on SPEAK! to help us find the right speaker for our annual sales meeting. And as always, working with Katrina and the SPEAK! team was PERFECT! I just love that we can completely turn the speaker portion of our event over to SPEAK! and know that everything is taken care of. I appreciate the care that SPEAK! takes to understand what we have set out to accomplish for the event and matches us with the perfect speaker. SPEAK! makes it so EASY!
–Amy Tolley, Coram Infusion Services
Marketing & Sales Communications Manager, Event Planner
This was my first experience in searching out and hiring a keynote speaker for our annual conference and SPEAK! made the process absolutely seamless. Katrina listened carefully to our key content objectives, provided several choices for review, and then offered her candid feedback on who she thought was the best fit for our organization. SPEAK! promises to make the speaker selection process ‘fun, easy and stress free’ and that was exactly what they delivered. We look forward to continuing to work with SPEAK! for all our outside speaker needs.
–Dave Nelson, Coram Infusion Services
VP Operations – NE
Selecting our keynote for this year was a challenging process. As a result of some exciting new initiatives, we changed directions several times in planning our convention and Katrina and her team never missed a beat. She continued to work with us every step of the way and ultimately helped us select the very best speaker possible! This year, we used SPEAK!’s services in a new way by having Katrina research specific speakers we were interested in, check their references and manage all the negotiations and details on our behalf. I love how easy she makes it for us and appreciate being able to hand the speaker portion of our annual convention off to someone I trust. This is the 4th year in a row we have worked with Katrina and her team at SPEAK! and I would never consider looking for a speaker or trainer without Katrina’s support and expertise backing us up!
–Jenny McCullough
Director of Training and Events
This is the second consecutive convention that we have used SPEAK! to help us with our keynote speaker and once again, Katrina and her team did a great job. They are easy to work with, their attention to detail is timely and they are extremely professional. We consider SPEAK! a valued partner in helping us create a successful franchise convention.
–Bill Sims, Steamatic
CEO
I really appreciated working with SPEAK! to help us find the right convention speaker. Katrina was very easy to work with, engaging, and friendly and being new to this role, I really appreciated her guidance and professionalism. We are already talking about what we want to accomplish for our 2013 event!
–Beth Riefert, Hungry Howie’s Pizza, Inc.
Franchise Development Coordinator & Event Manager
We just had, by far, the very best convention speaker we have ever had and you made it possible. I cannot think of a single thing I would change in my experience of working with you and your team. You delivered everything as promised, you were consistently prepared and most importantly we felt well cared for with your proactive communication and follow-up. This is the first time we have ever worked with any outside organization to help us with our speakers and you absolutely knocked it out of the park. You have earned a customer for life!
–Bob Bingham, The little Gym International
President & CEO
SPEAK! surpassed our expectations and made the process of finding the perfect dinner speaker incredibly easy. Katrina listened carefully to what we wanted to accomplish, responded with three really appropriate choices that fit our needs perfectly, provided us with concise information and clips to review for each of the three choices and scheduled an interview with our final candidate to be sure we were completely comfortable before going to contract. Our past experience with bureaus has not been all that great and I was delighted with how proactive, responsive and relaxed the experience of working with Katrina felt – not pushy in any way! What was really impressive about our experience working with SPEAK! is that we had less than three weeks to find the right speaker. Katrina did a great job of responding, guiding, recommending and proactively coordinating the process. We couldn’t be more pleased with our experience and I’d highly recommend Katrina and her team at SPEAK! to any franchise company looking for speakers, trainers, or entertainers. This was an OUTSTANDING experience!
–Cindy Gaudette, Fantastic Sams Hair Salons
Project Manager, Franchise Sales
I contacted SPEAK! to help us find the right speaker for a gathering of our field support team. We wanted a speaker who understood franchising and could really help our Business Consultants work more effectively with their Broker Owners. Katrina listened carefully, asked the right questions and ultimately recommended the perfect speaker. She and her team made the entire process easy from beginning to end. We had a great experience working with SPEAK! and will be utilizing their great service for future events!
–Paula Young, Coldwell Banker Real Estate, LLC
VP, Operations
Trying to find just the right person with the right message to address our franchisees can be stressful. Katrina makes it easy and stress-free and for the second year in a row has helped us hit a homerun. I think any franchise system looking for the right speaker should make SPEAK! their first call. Thanks for helping us make this year’s event the best conference we’ve ever had!
–Paul Erwin, Pita Pit
VP of Administration
I cannot think of a single thing that I would change about working with SPEAK! Katrina dug into what we wanted to accomplish at the event, thoroughly researched speaker options for us, and came up with several really appropriate recommendations. If I had to use one word to describe our experience working with SPEAK! it would be ‘EASY’! And in our world of planning and managing a large volume of franchise events, it doesn’t get better than that! If you need a speaker for your franchise conference, SPEAK! is the perfect resource.
–Rose Shifflet, Plan Ahead Events Tampa Bay
Founder & CEO
One word to describe working with SPEAK! – “EASY.” If you are in franchising and looking for expert guidance on how to find just the right speaker, Katrina should be your first call!
–Brian Sanders, i9 Sports
President & CEO
Working with SPEAK! was a 5 Star experience all the way around. From the first call to identify what we wanted to deliver to our franchisees, through tracking the myriad details involved in bringing an outside speaker in, SPEAK! was the perfect partner. Thanks Katrina for your great work and perfect recommendation!
–Greg Archer, Age Advantage
CEO
SPEAK! recently helped us find the perfect entertainer for our annual meeting. We especially appreciated the flexible options that Katrina offered for our group. She worked hard to find just the right fit and her recommendation was perfect. SPEAK! was easy to work with in every way and we very much appreciate having an event partner who really understands franchising and how to match just the right speakers!
–Kristi Keith, VP Marketing Communications and Amy Kuhn, VP Administrative Services/Conventions, National Association Management Group
We absolutely loved working with SPEAK! to find the perfect match for our annual franchisee convention. Katrina really dug into what we were looking to accomplish and quickly provided a short list of speaker options, with a strong recommendation of who she thought would be the best fit. And WOW was she ever right! I love having SPEAK! as a trusted resource whenever we are looking for outside talent. Katrina understands franchising and really does make the speaker selection process “fun, easy and stress free”. I highly recommend SPEAK!’s services to any franchisor looking for an outside speaker!
–Debbie Lefever, PuroSystems
Administration and Conference Planning
Working with SPEAK! to find the right customer service speaker for our recent annual franchisee convention was all around a great experience. They were thorough, efficient, timely and consistent in their follow up. Katrina and her team promise to make the speaker portion of a franchise event easy and stress free and I can say that was certainly our experience. We look forward to continuing to use SPEAK! any time we need a speaker or trainer to support our system!
–Martin Ferrill, Soft Pretzel Franchise Systems, Inc.
Chief Operating Officer
SPEAK! is a resource that every franchise system needs to know about! When I first contacted Katrina and her team to help find the right speaker for a recent franchisee meeting, it was immediately clear that SPEAK! understands franchising. Following a brief conversation, Katrina recommended Troy Hazard to help us achieve our desired outcomes for the meeting. I was completely confident in her recommendation and the end result was Troy knocked it out of the park for us in every way! SPEAK! was extremely efficient and even tenacious in helping us pull together all the necessary details in a very short period of time. I very much appreciate having such a valuable event partner and look forward to continuing to work with Katrina and SPEAK! for all future meetings – both live and remote!
–Ted Marlowe, 1-800-Flowers
Vice President, Retail & Advertising
We reached out to SPEAK! to help us find the right franchise speaker for our annual meeting. Katrina and her team worked diligently to help match us with the perfect speaker to inspire, educate and motivate our franchisees. The thing that impressed me the most about Katrina was her willingness to listen to what we were trying to accomplish and match a speaker with our specific needs. Her understanding of franchising and what we were hoping to accomplish was evident from our very first call. SPEAK! made the process easy and took all the stress and worry away. From our first call with Troy Hazard, it was clear that Katrina had found us a perfect match. Working with Katrina was an absolute pleasure – her attention to detail and genuine concern for our success was evident every step of the way. I can’t imagine every running an event without her help. If you are a franchisor looking for just the right speaker, SPEAK! should be your first and only call!
–Roger Murphy, Murphy Business & Financial Corporation
CEO & Founder
Our production partner, UME Productions recommended we work with SPEAK! to find just the right speaker for our annual franchisee convention. After determining our objectives, SPEAK! recommended T. Scott Gross and he was absolutely a perfect fit! His session on Positively Outrageous Customer Service really resonated with our franchisees. Not only was his content spot on for what we wanted to achieve, Scott was a great cultural fit for our organization and our franchisees really connected with him. SPEAK! helped us hit a home run and made it easy, every step of the way. We look forward to working with SPEAK! on future events!
–Shannon H., Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop
Marketing
Katrina Mitchell is a pleasure to work with from start to finish. I have never met an individual who listens so well to a potential client’s wants and needs. After the first 10 minutes of our conversation, she was asking all the right questions to dig deeper into our needs for our annual conference. Her knack for listening and then providing a plethora of options was astounding. The speakers she offered to us were exactly the type of people we were looking for. Katrina was able to pinpoint all of the details from our initial conversation to offer multiple and also perfect choices to fulfill our requirements. When you need to find the proper speaker, Katrina is the right person to work with first!
–Julie Rhodes,Young Rembrandts Franchise, Inc.
Director of Technology & Annual Conference Project Manager
SPEAK! has been our one-stop resource for an outstanding selection of dynamic speakers who really understand franchising. Katrina and her team have consistently over delivered in helping us develop the right topics, customer service, pre-program research and dynamic platform skills. We love working with SPEAK! and look forward to another year of fantastic content rich events featuring SPEAK! franchise speakers.
–LaShelle Fuller, Co-Chair Women’s Franchise Network, Denver
V.P. Franchise Support, Homewatch CareGivers
I wanted to thank you for bringing Troy Hazard to speaker at the FBN. He really got me thinking about my business and the current economic times. I appreciate how succinctly he was able to encapsulate the basic idea of ‘Change or Die’ and to focus on what we can influence, rather than worrying about what we can’t. He was by far the best speaker we’ve ever had at the FBN!
–Craig Dietz, CEO Special Ops
I met Katrina a few years ago at an IFA convention and immediately liked her style. We asked SPEAK! to help us find a speaker who would deliver a message of personal responsibility and empowerment to our franchisees for our annual conference. We wanted to make sure that the content was not just ra-ra motivational dribble, but had actionable tools to help our franchisees manage themselves AND their businesses from a fresh perspective. Solid business tools were a must.
Katrina recommended Troy Hazard, who I met last December. From our very first introductory call, I knew we had the perfect match. Troy ‘get’s’ franchising and related incredibility well to the challenges faced by our franchisees. Our event was a huge success thanks to Katrina and her team at SPEAK! We look forward to continuing to use SPEAK! to help us with our annual events as well as distance learning options for our team!
–Tom Bunchman, CEO & Founder Jump Bunch