National Speakers Bureau

Speakers bureau account executive has connection to Corner Brook

CORNER BROOK — When it came to finding speakers for the Canadian Student Leadership Conference it helped that the National Speakers Bureau account executive working with conference organizers had a connection not only to the event itself, but also to the city.

Corner Brook Regional High School is hosting the conference from Sept. 27 to Oct. 1.

John Dennison, organizing committee co-chair, said his research on lining up speakers lead him to the National Speakers Bureau.

The person he spoke with at the Toronto office was Jeff Lohnes.

Lohnes it turned out knew quite a bit about Corner Brook.

One of his best friends from university, David Ogbuah, grew up and still lives in the city.

Even though he’s never been here, Lohnes said he knows “lots and lots” about the city.

He said a lot of friends have come to the area to ski and stayed with the Ogbuah family. Over the years he’s also become good friends with Ogbuah’s younger brother Chris.

So, when he got a chance to help Dennison line up one of the keynote speakers for the event, Lohnes was more than willing to go that extra mile.

He’s arranged for Chantal Kreviazuk to come and speak to the more than 1,000 students and teachers expected to attend.

“I’ve told John this,” said Lohnes, “the connection really helped make things possible in a really big way.”

The connection also made Lohnes’ job easier, too.

“It’s always exciting to hear from and work with people when you have people in common,” he said.

“I think that’s an inherent East Coast trait. To love to chat with people you know and work with them.”

Being a former conference participant also helped.

Lohnes, who’s originally from Lunenburg, N.S., attended two leadership conferences while in high school — one in Lower Sackville, N.S. and the other in Saskatoon, Sask.

“So, I actually know the conference quite well and it’s something I’m really interested in.”

To come up with a speaker, Lohnes said he talked with Dennison to find out what the goals of the conference are in terms of what they want to accomplish and to find out what the students are looking for, what’s popular. Then it was just a matter of finding and matching names with people who were available and affordable and who could “really wow the students.”

Kreviazuk fit the bill.

“She’s someone who I think is just great for that group because she’s got a pretty high profile.” Lohnes said not only is she an incredibly popular Canadian artist, she also stays connected with youth.

Cleveland Homeless: National Speaker's Bureau

Steve Thomas and George Siletti are also members of the National Coalition for the Homeless' speakers bureau. "Seemed like all of a sudden, people walked by me like I wasn't even there," Harrison tells the group. "I remember going into a restaurant to get what I called a 'two for one.' And the 'two for one' for the person experiencing homelessness is the warmth and the food for the price of the food. And so, I was optimistic. They took my order. But when they brought me my food, it was to go. Because that was the message. Go," he says. For speakers in Cleveland contact Larry Davis at NEOCH at 216/432-0540 ext. 103. We have a Street Voices program with trained volunteers with experience in homelessness. We do around 40 presentations a year mostly at area high schools, colleges or in front of religious organizations. We have both women and men, and until last week we had a high school student who would go out to do presentations. This blog is dedicated to distribute current information about the Coalition for the Homeless in Cleveland or poverty or the state of homelessness. Entries are written by board or staff of the Coalition. The opinions contained in this blog reflect the views of the author of the post. This blog features information on shelters, affordable housing, profiles, statistics, trends, and upcoming events relating to homelessness. We welcome comments, and will remove offensive or inappropriate messages. All postings are signed by the author.

National speakers bureau

ABA Journal

National directory of speakers on PR topics

ABA Journal

American Bar Association journal