SMPS announces Build Business 2012 keynote speakers

The Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) is pleased to announce the keynote speakers for Build Business: Take Action, the 2012 SMPS National Conference: Greg Bennick, motivational speaker and founder of One Hundred For Haiti, and Greg Bell, author and founder, Water the Bamboo Center for Leadership.

The only business development, marketing, and management conference for the design and building industry, Build Business will bring together leading experts, practitioners, and marketing and business development professionals in San Francisco July 11-13. This action- packed 3-day conference offers attendees 30 powerful learning sessions, 2 dynamic keynote speakers, and unparalleled networking to make and renew priceless business contacts.

Build Business: Take Action is a call to action for professional services marketers, business developers, and their firms: What actions do firms need to take now to position themselves as leaders in their markets? To capitalize on relationships? To win new work? To build the bottom line? Attendees of Build Business 2012 will be challenged by the keynote speakers to “Unleash Your Potential” and “Become the Change” they want to see in their companies and communities.

On Thursday, July 12, Greg Bennick will guide conference attendees, with laughter, through a program that explores perspectives on change. For him, change is something to be played with, embraced, and worked with. To take action most effectively, we first must realize that we are already agents of change.

A change agent himself and the founder of One Hundred For Haiti, Bennick has been to Haiti multiple times since the earthquake to document conditions and work to bring about transformation. Immediately after the January 12 earthquake, he sailed as part of the crew of the Liberty Schooner, an all-volunteer mission that left from Miami bringing 10,000 pounds of medical supplies and food to Haiti’s southern coast.2

On Friday, July 13, Greg Bell will draw on principles in his book Water The Bamboo: Unleashing the Potential of Teams and Individuals, to illustrate how self-responsibility, patience, and persistence can instill meaning in our work, create value for our companies and families, and help us achieve remarkable results.

Founder of the Water the Bamboo Center for Leadership, Bell is a keen observer of highly successful people and teams. He distills his findings into a metaphor for individual and team success: If you water giant timber bamboo, in the first year, nothing happens. In the second year, nothing happens. In the third year, nothing happens. But in the fourth year, that bamboo will rocket up an astonishing 90 feet in only 60 days. Those who understand the principles of the bamboo farmer will see their visions suddenly explode into reality.

For more information about these speakers and the Build Business conference, including the schedule of events, educational program, breakout session descriptions, registration fees, and sponsoring/exhibiting opportunities, go to www.buildbusiness.org. Discounted early-bird registration is available. BD+C