Public Speaking: 3 Speakers Driving Enterprise Leads for a Tech Services Company

Speakers: Robert Hodges, CEO, Altinity and his team

Business area: Open Source Software, Data Analytics

Services: Speaker Management

Location: Worldwide 

Collaboration Start Date: February 2023

THE CHALLENGE

Robert Hodges is an expert in open-source software and data analytics, with a talent for public speaking. Despite his expertise, Robert faced challenges in expanding his speaking engagements. His proposals were many times rejected, and his busy schedule limited his ability to manage the submission process effectively. Robert aimed to increase his speaking engagements and be accepted at conferences like DATA Con LA and All Things Open in Raleigh, where he had faced rejections in previous years.

OUR APPROACH

To address Robert’s challenges and meet his goals, we implemented a strategic approach: 

Analysis and Strategy Development: We began by analyzing the most successful topics at target conferences and reviewing the acceptance rates for Robert’s previous topics. This analysis helped in identifying trends and preferences that aligned with Robert’s expertise.

Portfolio Update: We revamped Robert’s speaker portfolio to better highlight his achievements and speaking capabilities, making it more appealing to conference organizers.

Direct Engagement with Organizers: We contacted conference organizers directly to discuss topics of mutual interest and gauge their needs, which facilitated more tailored and compelling proposals.

Abstract and Topic Refinement: We created an updated list of Robert’s topics and abstracts, organizing them by different professional fields to target specific audiences more effectively.

Extended Industry Engagement: We developed an extended list of industry events that aligned with Robert’s interests and expertise and increased the number of proposals submitted to these events.

The Result

Our focused efforts led to significant improvements in Robert’s speaking engagements:

  • Increased Acceptances: We successfully tripled the number of Robert’s accepted talks in 2023, raising the total to 17 engagements.
  • Speaking Success: Robert was accepted to speak at high-profile events including Data Con LA and All Things Open, as well as KubeCon in both Europe and North America.
  • Continued Collaboration and Expansion: Pleased with the results, Robert continued his collaboration with us into 2024, and we expanded our services to include 2 more speakers from Altinity.

By carefully analyzing opportunities, directly contacting conference organizers, and managing the proposal process, we helped Robert Hodges greatly increase his public speaking events. This raised his profile and influence in the open-source software and data analytics communities. This successful effort has set the stage for more growth and speaking chances for Robert and his team at Altinity.

 

“Speaking at industry conferences is a vital part of building a brand, but it’s time-consuming to find relevant conferences and submit talks. This year we hired Underdog Consulting to manage the submission process. It was an excellent choice.

Underdog Consulting found multiple new conferences for us and handled the submission process completely for each one. With their help we tripled the number of talks accepted in 2023 including acceptances at high quality conferences like ScaleX, FOSDEM. Not only that, they handled details related to talk deadlines including slide submissions and calendar slots at venues.

Working with Underdog Consulting saved us time and got us into many more conferences than would otherwise have been possible. As a regular speaker, it enabled me to focus on talks quality rather than details of the submission process. I’m delighted with their work and recommend them wholeheartedly. You cannot find a better partner to build brand awareness and marketing programs through conference presentations.”

Robert Hodges, Altinity

 

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