Contact

Melinda Cervantes
Director of Corporate Partnerships

Conference Speaker Resources

The Conference Speaker Co-chair is responsible for working with the Corporate Partnerships (CP) office to obtain approval for all keynote, panel and moderator solicitations, as well as securing keynote speakers, panelists and moderators for the conference.  Once the speaker has confirmed, it is also his or her responsibility to collect information from the speakers to help with the marketing and logistics of the conference (i.e. speaker bio’s, picture and speaker information forms). The Speaker Co-chair should also be communicating regularly with confirmed speakers to ensure they are well informed and their needs are being met.  

 
Quick Tips
Contacting a Speaker (Keynote and Panelist):

• When preparing your agenda, please limit your day to 5 pieces of programming.  The typical conference day is made up of either 2 keynotes and 3 panel sessions or 3 keynotes and 2 panel sessions.
• If your conference does not historically draw more than 175 attendees, we do not suggest splitting the audience with concurrent panel sessions.
• Typical panel makeup is 3 panelists and a moderator. Panelists should be of similar levels.
• If you are planning on approaching very senior level panelists, we recommend extending the panel time.
• We recommend starting your keynote speaker solicitation process 6 months before the conference and panel speaker solicitations 4-5 months before the conference.  We expect all speakers to be confirmed 6 weeks before the conference.
• When developing a speaker list, utilize business contacts, personal relationships, Kellogg alumni, and the Kellogg CP staff.
• If you are interested in inviting an international dignitary to speak at a conference, please follow the guidelines in the International Dignitary Proposal Process (.doc)
• Please do not reach out to any speakers until you have received approval from your CP contact, as the school has relationships with many of the speakers and companies you may be targeting.
• If a relationship exits, your CP contact would be happy to help facilitate an invitation for you from the dean’s office. You may use the sample keynote solicitation letter to begin with. (.doc)
• Typically, unless a relationship exists, panel invitations are sent via email from the student co-chair team.  Please make sure to send your letter template to your CP contact for approval before sending.
• We suggest giving a 2-3 week response time to your potential speakers.
• Follow up with an email 3-5 days after the letter was mailed and attach a PDF copy of the formal letter.
• Please let your CP contact know when a speaker has confirmed.

Things to Keep in Mind:

• Do not send too many speaker invitations at once. We recommend sending 1-2 more letters than you have spots for depending on the strength of the relationships. 
• We encourage you to have a variety of companies represented within the conference programming and recommend having only one speaker per company.
• One of the most valuable benefits to offer a conference sponsor is the opportunity to fill a slot on a panel. Please work closely with the Sponsorship Chair to determine if this is being requested by a sponsor.
• Speakers should not be solicited less than 6 weeks before the conference.  This is to ensure that we are respecting their schedules and it is helpful for you when collecting marketing material.
• If a speaker confirms, we will not back out on the invitation.
• Kellogg does not pay honorariums for conference speakers.
• Out of respect for a person’s time, we do not recommend soliciting a speaker who has been on campus within the last 12 months.  Please check the Speaker Database before submitting the name for approval.  The speaker database (.xls) is a comprehensive list of past speakers at Kellogg since 2000 managed by the Corporate Partnerships Office.
• Often, speakers ask for the opportunity to pass out promotional materials/gifts to conference attendees.  The distribution of promotional materials to conference attendees is a benefit of sponsorship only.

Once a Speaker Confirms:

• Send the Information Request Form (.doc) and Media Release (.doc).  Once returned by the speaker, please share these documents with your CP and SA contacts.  If a speaker does not sign off on the media release, no media can be present at the conference.
• If needed, Kellogg will reimburse speakers for economy class flights.
• As a good host to our conference speakers, the conference will provide ground transportation to and from the airport, and one night lodging in the Hotel Orrington, Evanston, IL.  (Two nights for international travelers).
• The conference will host a speaker dinner the night before the conference.  Attendees may include all speakers and moderators, members of the executive committee, panel leads who have a speaker in attendance and Kellogg administration.  Additionally, your CP and SA contacts will attend, if available.
• Request a bio and high resolution picture (300dpi) for marketing material and website promotion.
• If the speaker is an alum, we will include his or her graduation year in all material, i.e. John Smith ’89, President, ABC Corporation.
• When listing panelists (website, printed marketing materials) please list them in alphabetical order by last name. 
• Within speaker bios, individuals are referred to in the same way, i.e. Mr. John Smith went to Northwestern University vs. Bob went to Harvard Business School.
• We encourage moderators to reach out to panelists to discuss topics. The co-chair should offer to setup a conference call 1-2 weeks before the conference to facilitate these discussions.
• Please assign each speaker a “buddy” for the length of their stay at Kellogg to take care of their needs. We recommend exchanging cell phone numbers as well as greeting the speaker at the door when they arrive for the conference. 

Additional things to remember:

• If a speaker needs to be reimbursed for travel expenses, please have them fill out a vendor request form immediately, as typical turnaround time is 3-4 weeks.
• Within one week following the conference, send the speakers a thank you note for participating and providing insight to the conference programming.