Corporate Governance Conference
My attempt to crash the I C 2 Corporate Governance Conference was very successful.
I was tipped off about the conference by "Bob" on Wednesday night.
Thursday morning I whipped out my suit and headed over to the Barton Creek Resort and found the conference. Every single person in the room was either a CEO or member of a corporate board....and often times many boards at once. EVERYONE. In fact, "Regular" people weren't even invited.
I met tons of people there....and not ordinary people. When I asked "What do you do"...the typical response would begin with :
"I own...(insert big company here)"
or
"I founded...(insert big company here)"
or
"I am the director of...(insert big company here)"
There were LOTS of very prominent figures present, but the most well known was Herb Kelleher, the famous founder of Southwest Airlines. I got to meet, talk and sit next to Herb Kelleher.
Not a very clear picture, but that's Herb speaking.
Here is me (with the goofiest smile ever) with Herb Kelleher:
After he was done speaking, he sat down at a mostly empty table. I left my table and went to sit closer to Herb. I snapped this quick video to prove how close I was to him!
The rest of the speakers were great, but Herb was the BEST.
"Bob" and "Vinny" were both present at the conference. They are also both board members/CEO's of very successful companies. I can't give too much information about them, but both of them have companies undergoing extremely rapid growth. They are both very photogeneic:
The conference went from 10:00am till about 7:30pm. It was good food, good drinks, lots of mingling, learning and fun.
When I left, I couldn't tell which car was mine. The Camry or the Mercedes SL500???
Well it's Friday now. 'Tis time to party!
-Nev
I was tipped off about the conference by "Bob" on Wednesday night.
Thursday morning I whipped out my suit and headed over to the Barton Creek Resort and found the conference. Every single person in the room was either a CEO or member of a corporate board....and often times many boards at once. EVERYONE. In fact, "Regular" people weren't even invited.
I met tons of people there....and not ordinary people. When I asked "What do you do"...the typical response would begin with :
"I own...(insert big company here)"
or
"I founded...(insert big company here)"
or
"I am the director of...(insert big company here)"
There were LOTS of very prominent figures present, but the most well known was Herb Kelleher, the famous founder of Southwest Airlines. I got to meet, talk and sit next to Herb Kelleher.
Not a very clear picture, but that's Herb speaking.
Here is me (with the goofiest smile ever) with Herb Kelleher:
After he was done speaking, he sat down at a mostly empty table. I left my table and went to sit closer to Herb. I snapped this quick video to prove how close I was to him!
The rest of the speakers were great, but Herb was the BEST.
"Bob" and "Vinny" were both present at the conference. They are also both board members/CEO's of very successful companies. I can't give too much information about them, but both of them have companies undergoing extremely rapid growth. They are both very photogeneic:
The conference went from 10:00am till about 7:30pm. It was good food, good drinks, lots of mingling, learning and fun.
When I left, I couldn't tell which car was mine. The Camry or the Mercedes SL500???
Well it's Friday now. 'Tis time to party!
-Nev
Labels: Events, Meeting CEO's
posted by Neville @ 7:30 PM
22 comments
22 Comments:
Hook me up with your network!
Ethics of crashing this conference? I didn't have any remorse about it then, and I don't have any now.
Jim,
I DID crash a party for charity. Remember my post about meeting Sir Elton John and Andy Roddick?
That too was also a hobknob of entrepreneurs, just in a different form.
It's pretty easy to crash the parties. Just wear a suit and act like you own the place. Not hard!
-Nev
Another great analysis of a most worthwhile event.
Great to see you again.
"Vinny"
Keep up the great posts,
ncnblog.blogspot.com
I think in high school I started to become more outgoing. As for going up to people and talking, it's not really an ability. You just walk up to them and chat. Nothing to it.
Funny you mention getting busted....if you type in "ic2 corporate governance conference" in Google....my site is in the top few results!
I actually talked to the guy who came up with the idea for the conference. Nice guy...but I THINK he MAY have known I wasn't supposed to be there. We ended up having a great conversation and he even introduced me to several more people.
-Nev
I'm not in the market for a job. I went to this conference to get business experience, not a 9to5.
-Nev
So is it ethical to steal a couple hundred dollars worth of lawn furniture from a billionnaire's yard? It seems unethical in any situation to use someone else's facilities, eat someone else catered food and drink, and generally reap the benefits of someone else's event without paying or being invited. Stealing is stealing... Neville got the experience of the conference without paying admission.
Neville, I think a lot of your readers may be questioning your sense of integrity. It might be good to write a post clarifying that issue. I'm sure most successful business-people would agree on the importance of integrity.
I think you're definitely on the right track. Even if you crashed their party, I've noticed that sometimes you have to take a risk and do something to make yourself stand out.
They can either choose to reward your ingenuity or ask you to leave.
-Jennifer
Thanks for backing me up on this one. Risks like this sometimes need to be taken. And yes, Herb Kelleher was absolutely HILARIOUS when he spoke! He even lit up a cigarette during his speech.....indoors!
Anonymous,
Sometimes you have to take these risks to get ahead. If I was asked to leave by the conference personell, I would have put up no protest......but they didn't. I actually had some great conversations with the organizers of the event.
Where else can you meet this many people of such high caliber in one place?
-Nev
However, I admire Neville's ability to network. And I can learn from him that I should go to every event where successfully people meet. (although I do not know if I would take Neville's approach).
I am not very good at starting conversations. But I have to get better, and Neville inspires me.
Money and Investing
However, do not confuse creating an addition to your network with meeting somebody once. "Vinny" is networking. Herb is not.
Good info though. Sounds like it was fun.
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