4 Ways to Find Great Event Speakers 

April 24, 2018

Katie Cook

Katie Cook is the Marketing Communications Specialist for Expo Logic, an event registration company that works with clients worldwide to provide innovative registration and lead retrieval services.

Finding the right speakers, and speakers of quality, is one of the most important aspects of creating a successful event. With the right speaker and the right topic, your attendees will be excited to hear what they have to say and will walk away with a meaningful experience.

Many events will have a “Call for Papers” where individuals from the industry or community are invited to submit a topic to be considered. This method can be effective to find great speakers for your event however, you might find that you see the same people and topics being submitted time after time. To help you in your search for interesting and relevant speakers, we’ve put together some other ideas you can use to find the perfect speaker at your next event.

Crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing is a new way to search for speakers or session ideas for your event. Crowdsourcing solicits ideas directly from your attendees who offer their ideas and then vote on which topics they find most appealing. Ideally, crowdsourcing would allow your attendees to pick the topics and speakers they want to see at your event eliminating the legwork from the event organizer. While crowdsourcing ideas can work well to find speakers, this can prove difficult since you are relying on your attendees to provide good, quality suggestions. If you choose to use crowdsourcing, consider creating a panel or committee that will review the suggestions submitted and make the final decision.

Experience

One great way to find speakers for your event is to look for experience. Start by looking for individuals that have been a speaker at other events in your industry or have given presentations on topics you want at your event. LinkedIn’s Slideshare is an easy way to find presentations and papers that are relevant to your industry. Slideshare is a slide hosting service that allows users to upload slide decks or other files that can be shared with other users. Event organizers can use this platform to view presentations online, see how many times they have been viewed to gauge their popularity and get an idea of the quality of the person’s presentation and slide design. Once you have found a speaker you might be interested in, you can search for a video of their presentation online to see how they present and deliver their message.

Industry Blogs

Another place to look when searching for interesting speakers for your event is to check out industry blogs. Start by searching for blog articles on topics you want discussed at your event and reach out to the author of articles that you think may be a good choice as a speaker. You can also look at industry blogs to see which authors are most popular or which articles are getting the most attention to find possible speakers for your event.

Influential Attendees

You don’t always have to go far to find a speaker for your event. Look at attendee lists from previous years for individuals that attendee every year. These attendees, based on their history at your events, are generally well-informed on industry topics and may make a great speaker. Outside of your attendee list, look for industry influencers on social media. Online tools like Klout and BlueNodare great ways to find people that are making an impact on social media that could also make an impact as a speaker at your event.

These examples are just a few ways to source speakers for your event. Using these methods will help you find a variety of quality speakers that your attendees will be excited to hear from and will help ensure the success of your next event.

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Partner Voices
Less than six months ago, Lisa Messina joined the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) as the first-ever chief sales officer after leading the sales team at Caesars Entertainment. A 12-year Las Vegas resident, Messina is a graduate of Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration and serves on MPI International’s board of directors. TSNN had a chance to catch up with this dynamic leader and talk to her about her vision for the new role, current shifts in the trade show industry, creating more diversity and equity within the organization, and advice to future female leaders. Lisa Messina, Chief Sales Officer, LVCVA With Las Vegas becoming The Greatest Arena on EarthTM, what are some of the things you’re most excited about in your role? Our team was at The Big Game’s handoff ceremony earlier this month, and I couldn’t help but think, “We’re going to crush it next year!”  These high-profile events and venues not only drive excitement, but also provide unmatched opportunities for event planners. Allegiant Stadium hosts events from 10 to 65,000 people and offers on-field experiences. Formula 1 Grand Prix will take place in Las Vegas in November, after the year-one F1 race, the four-story paddock building will be available for buyouts and will also offer daily ride-along experiences that will be available for groups. And, of course, the MSG Sphere officially announced that it will open in September, ahead of schedule, with a U2 residency. It’s going to be the most technologically advanced venue as far as lighting, sound, feel, and even scent, and it will be available for buyouts and next-level sponsorships inside and outside. There’s no ceiling to what you can do when you’re doing events in Las Vegas.  Allegiant Stadium As the trade show and convention business returns to the pre-pandemic levels, what shifts are you noticing and how do you think they will impact the industry going forward? Our trade show organizers are very focused on driving customer experience. Most of our organizers are reporting stronger exhibitor numbers and increased numbers of new exhibitors, with trade shows proving to be almost or above 2019 levels. Now our organizers are really doubling down on driving attendance and focusing on the data to provide that individualized, customized experience to help attendees meet their goals and get the best value. Some companies continue to be cautiously optimistic with their organizational spend when it comes to sending attendees, but I think it will continue to improve. As the U.S. Travel Association makes more progress on the U.S. visa situation, we also expect a growing influx of international attendees. What are some innovative ways the LVCVA helps trade show and convention organizers deliver the most value for their events? We focus on customer experience in the same way that trade show organizers are thinking about it. We got rave reviews with the West Hall Expansion of the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC), so over the next two years, we will be renovating the North and the Central halls, which will include not just the same look and feel, but also the digital experiences that can be leveraged for branding and sponsorship opportunities.  Vegas Loop, the underground transportation system designed by The Boring Company, is also a way we have enhanced the customer experience. Vegas Loop at the LVCC has transported more than 900,000 convention attendees across the campus since its 2021 launch. Last summer, Resorts World and The Boring Company opened the first resort stop at the Resorts World Las Vegas , with plans to expand throughout the resort corridor, including downtown Las Vegas, Allegiant Stadium and Harry Reid International Airport. The LVCVA also purchased the Las Vegas Monorail in 2020, the 3.9-mile-long elevated transportation system that connects eight resorts directly to the convention center campus. This is the only rail system in the world that integrates fares directly into show badges and registration. For trade show organizers, these transportation options mean saving time, money and effort when it comes to moving groups from the hotels to LVCC and around the city. Also, the more we can focus on building the infrastructure around the convention center, the more it supports the customer experience and ultimately supports our trade show organizers. Scheduled to debut in Q4, Fontainebleau Las Vegas will offer 3,700 hotel rooms and 550,000 square feet of meeting and convention space next to LVCC.  What are some of the plans for advancing DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) within your organization? We’re currently partnering with instead of working with a leading consulting firm, to lay the foundation and create a solid DEI plan and be the leader when it comes to DEI initiatives. The heart of that journey with the consulting firm is also talking to our customers about their strategic approaches to DEI and driving innovation in this space.  What are your favorite ways to recharge? My husband and I have an RV and we’re outdoorsy people. So, while we have over 150,000 world-class hotel rooms and renowned restaurants right outside our doorstep, one of my favorite things to do is get out to Red Rock Canyon, the Valley of Fire, and Lake Mead. Five of the top national parks are within a three-hour drive from Las Vegas, so there’s a lot you can do. We love balancing the energy of Las Vegas with nature, and we’re noticing that a lot of attendees add activities off the Strip when they come here.  Valley of Fire What advice would you give to women following leadership paths in destination marketing? I think it’s about being laser-focused on what you want to accomplish; building a team around you that lifts you and helps you achieve your goals; and being humble and realizing that you do it as a group. No one gets this done alone. Thankfully, there are a lot of women in leadership in this organization, in our customers’ organizations, and in this city that we can be really proud of. We’re a formidable force that is making things happen.   This interview has been edited and condensed. This article is exclusively sponsored by the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority. For more information, visit HERE.