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renaissance-hotelOn a recent trip to St. Louis were I spoke to the Air Force, my client came up with a brilliant idea. It was so good I’d love to claim credit, but he reads my blog and he’d rat me out.

[See video from the hotel job here.]

My speakers fees were greater than the budget for this particular military event. What to do? My client got creative, thought outside of the Budget Box and teamed up with his host hotel. He had hundreds of Airmen staying at the Renaissance Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri. Between the meeting rooms, the hotel rooms, and all of the related expenses (room service, restaurant and coffee shop purchases, etc) he was a BIG client for the hotel.

He suggested to his hotel client that they partner with him, and have me speak to the hotel staff on the same day that I spoke to his military group.  I was speaking to the Air Force after lunch. My meeting planner knew that I’d fly into Missouri the night before… and would be free in the morning.

So he suggested that I speak to the hotel staff in the morning, and then work for him after lunch.

Bottom line: it worked perfectly. The hotel had an All-Manager meeting. Theyhotel logo brought in all of the top folks from all of their departments from the Starbucks kiosk in the lobby to housekeeping to front desk to maintenance to the kitchens.

I worked ahead of time with some of their people so that, (as I do with all my clients,) I could come in prepared to speak to THIS particular audience.

[It was a special event; the hotel industry has been hammered, and this hotel, like so many others, recently went though some deep layoffs. The staff was in shock, scared, and nervous. The CEO gave them a sort of “State of the Business” speech which was both totally cool, and a bit scary. The news wasn’t great. And then I was tasked with putting that bad news back into perspective and help them figure a way to work their morale (and fun quotient) back up to healthy and productive levels.]

The hotel was thrilled because they got access to a speaker they might not otherwise be able to afford. And they felt that helping such a huge client was good for them as well. And the Air Force was thrilled because they were able to get the speaker —that’s me! — they wanted and meet still meet their budget.

And I was thrilled because I got to work with two awesome groups, enjoy St. Louis, and work with with a fun and creative meeting planner who had an awesome idea.

What’s my point? Are you short of money? Looking to hire a Top Shelf speaker but are suffering with a reduced budget? Consider partnering with your hotel. If the Air Force was smart enough to figure it out, the rest of us ought to be smart enough to “borrow” their concept.

(Hey Bruce… I know you’re reading this. Thanks for the killer idea, and for making it happen.)

Are you looking for a motivational speaker? Go to the contact page now! (And we can talk about partnering with your hotel if you like.)

Yours,
Brad Montgomery
Missouri Motivational Speaker, Military Speaker, Hotel Speaker (All in One!)

Related:
See the St. Louis Speaker video on YouTube
Speakers Rates & Fees Explained
Does Brad Charge By the Hour? (More on Fees)

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I’m part of the National Speakers Association, and some of the Certified Speaking Professionals recently had a e-conversation that started with this great question:

Who do you THINK (you do not have to be right!) is the most expensive keynoter on the market today?
Here are some of the best responses:

  • I’d go with Bill Clinton. I understand he’s a million dollars.When he isn’t speaking for free.   — Janelle Barlow  
     
  • One speaker guessed Donald Trump at $1 Million an hour – 3 hour contract.
  • Paris Hilton was guessed by another speaker pal, also at $1 million for an hour.
  • Motivational speaker Warren Evans CSP from Toronto, Canada wrote   “Just recently talking with a planner overseas for whom I am doing a gig  this spring. She tells me thought of bringing Lance Armstrong in, but he wants $750,000 for an hour.   If she can find a sponsor, however, to do a tour . . . he’ll do 4 days, or was it 5?, for a flat million.  Richard Branson is $150,000: same event. Course, these are US dollars, so it’s not as expensive as it sounds . . .
     
  • Motivational Speaker Scott Mckain added this:  This isn’t a current speaker, but legend has it that the most money ever paid for a keynote went to Art Linkletter.  Walt Disney asked Linkletter to be the speaker and emcee of the opening of Disneyland in July 1955. However, Disney had spent every nickel on the attraction, and didn’t have the money to pay Linkletter to speak. So, Linkletter said he’d give the opening address for the park — if Disney would give him all of the sales of film and camera accessories for twenty-five years. Disney agreed.  I’ve never seen a precise dollar amount — but, can you even begin to fathom how many rolls of film, flash bulbs, and other pre-digital items were sold at DISNEYLAND over a quarter of a century? Has to be the highest paid presentation of all time…   And, by the way…Linkletter is still speaking! 

But my favorite answer came from keynote speaker Jeffrey Hansler 

  • Well, the most expensive keynoter was the guy that charged $2000 and then destroyed the entire purpose of the meeting – now that was expensive….

So what do YOU think? What is the most expensive keynote speaker?

If you want a keynote speaker who can make a difference for your organization and don’t have the $1 million for Paris Hilton, perhaps you’ll consider me? Contact me directly here.

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