Thursday, May 25, 2006
Standing Room Only for ‘Two Proposal Managers’
Our presentation here at the APMP conference in New Orleans - ‘Two Proposal Managers Walk Into A War Room’ – proved to be a popular one, if the number of people who chose to attend this session from among the several others offered at the same time is an indicator. The room was, quite literally, packed (We collected 180+ feedback forms…and the room was set up for 100 people. And someone showed us a picture of people sitting and standing outside the doors as well!)
This is, of course, most flattering. It also suggests the ideas and concepts resonated with the conference participants. For those of you who couldn’t be with us, Jon and I put together a ‘collection’ of sorts of some of our favorite ‘war stories’. Each of the war stories illustrated an important proposal concept – the importance of understanding your audience, tailoring your message to staying ahead of the competition, planning and several others.
And interspersed among these were ‘The Top Ten Signs That You Might Be a Proposal Professional’. These were done in the style of Jeff Foxworthy, the comedian famous for his ‘You Might Be a Redneck’ routine. An example of out ‘Top Ten Signs’ is, ‘If you’ve ever maxed out a credit card…buying pizza…you might be a proposal professional. The comments after would suggest that our #1 Sign was the favorite with the people in attendance. (And of course, I’d be happy to share that with you…just send me an e-mail and I’ll put it in my reply to you. ;-)
The session was great fun to develop and present. And if the laughter throughout, the very flattering feedback – ‘Always entertaining, enlightening and refreshing,’ ‘Give these guys more time.’, ‘Always the best presentation of the conference.’, etc. – is any indication, the participants greatly enjoyed it as well.
So Jon, what shall we present NEXT year?
It truely was the oasis in the middle of the desert. Thanks for the smiles. See you in Savanna!
Glad to hear of your success at the conference!
Our team at URS made up our own Top 10 list and had it printed on the back of T-shirts. Some managers didn’t get it at all. We should have pointed them out to the canibals sooner. ;)
Laura - thanks for the comment… and love your blog! - best wishes - Jon