Why do audiences come to conferences? And what kinds of speakers should you look for to truly deliver value to your audience?
I hear lots of tactical answers to that first question – things like, “I want to see the latest developments and technologies,” and “I want to learn about the latest trends,” and of course, the ever-popular “Networking!” But I think this boils down to a simple summary statement: TO ADVANCE MY CAREER.
It follows, therefore, that you want speakers who will help the attendees advance their careers. If your audience is accountants who want to know about the latest FASB regulations, I’m not the speaker you want. But if your audience includes innovators, entrepreneurs, start-ups and business owners, let’s talk.
I bring something different to the podium, which is a lot of real-world experience: I’ve lived this life and I’ve worked with a lot of others who have struggled, failed, cried, pivoted, tried again, succeeded and lived to shout it from the rooftops. There are lessons to be learned and I share those lessons. It’s solid content that’s engagingly delivered.
Topics Presented by Bob Jones
Testimonials
“I’ve used Bob’s speaking talents for the past 10-12 consecutive years in the opening session of ‘The Nuts and Bolts of New Ventures,’ which is the largest entrepreneurship class taught at MIT and the oldest ongoing offering on new ventures. It’s a tough assignment, because the audience ranges from MIT faculty and alumni to business owners from the community to college freshmen.
Even though there are 200-250 people in the room, every year Bob grabs their attention, engages them, delivers a lot of content that the audience finds incredibly valuable, and sends them out excited about what they’ve learned. And every year, we invite him back.”
Joseph G. Hadzima, Jr.
Senior Lecturer, MIT Sloan School of Management, Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship
"Invited to speak as the lead-in to a series of talks on successful innovation in the food & beverage industry, Bob led our group through real-world examples that were laser focused on illustrating his key points. His style is entertaining and incredibly engaging, which meant that the majority of the group was actively participating with Bob, creating a back and forth conversation that really helped to solidify concepts and principles.
He helped us establish an innovation framework that allowed the group to incorporate new information from subsequent speakers in a thoughtful, practical and effective manner."
Richard Black, Ph.D.
Principal, Quadrant D Consulting; Adjunct Professor, Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy
Past Event Presentations
Hagerstown Startup Week
Bob Jones spoke at the 2023 Hagerstown Startup Week, with a talk titled, “How to Not Fail in the Crucial First Two Years.”
MIT 2023 Nuts and Bolts of New Ventures - Customers
This course is a gold mine for entrepreneurs. It’s been ranked by Inc. Magazine as one of the ten best courses in the country in entrepreneurship. It’s full of great content, it’s available online, and it’s FREE. Amazing. It runs for six nights over two weeks during MIT’s Independent Activity Period in January and it’s the largest cross-registered course on the campus. (That means that it’s a lively mix of smart, accomplished people from all over the world who are interested in entrepreneurship.)
It's two units per night, three nights a week for two weeks, and it truly is like drinking from the firehose. In January 2023, it was my privilege to teach three of those twelve units: Finding Your Customer, Organizational and People Issues, and Presenting Your Venture. All of them are online.
