>How are you getting these speakers to LA? I am interested because I am Programs Co-Chair of our UG and have tried to entice many heavy-hitters to our meetings with zero luck. Do you have a budget to pay for their travel expenses or are they just going to be in the area and are volunteering their time? Thanks.<

Sorry to get back to you late...

There are a lot of factors to getting speakers to come to your UG. I try to leverage them all <s>.

For most of the heavy hitters, I tried to arrange a SoCal tour for them. Many of them are really in SoCal for four days and are hitting four different UGs in those four days. This requires coordination with the other UGs, obviously, so it couldn't have been done without them. In essence, we all agreed to "line up" so that speakers could hit 'em all at the same time.

We're considered a fun group and we've been around for a while so we've established some credentials. That helps.

Expenses? Most cover 'em all, though sometimes we'll do something on their behalf. For instance, our vice-president has a conference room available to him, and others have organized a three day VMP training class to be taught by Drew.

Some like to talk at LA Fox, others have heard about it and want to speak, others do it for business reasons, some for all the above. Mike Stewart just needs a place to park his bike <s>.

Sooooooo, it's hard to pick one reason how it works for us, but I try to make it as hard as possible for someone to say no. It involves personal contacts with the speakers and the local UGs in the area.

Let me know if I can help you further,

Bill Anderson