The Journey Never Ends...Sharing What We Learn Along The Way
Gail Davis, 23 June 2021
I always appreciate the opportunity to help women who are in the early stages of building their own business. 23 years ago when I founded GDA, the number of women owned businesses was certainly less than it is now. I was fortunate to have received advice from Jo Kling, Mary Charles and Alicia Marie. I am also a life-long learner and truly took in as much as I could from books, articles and speakers (naturally) to help me navigate my way as I started my speaker’s bureau. And while it is more common today to have women leaders and women business owners, I always appreciate when someone spotlights people who started a business and they can share their stories so others can learn and grow.
Business Growth Speakers
Gail Davis, 20 May 2021
Check out our Top Ten Business Growth, Strategy and Trends keynote speakers who will help you cultivate the right leaders for your company and help your business stay competitive.
The Other F-Word You Don't Want to Hear
Gail Davis, 14 April 2021
GDA Speakers had 190 events impacted by the pandemic. Imagine someone walking into your office and asking to see all the current contracts. You hand them over and they rip them to shreds and say "good luck" as they walk out. That is how it felt starting in March of 2020. It was as if everything was up in the air. And as I started to figure it all out, another dreaded F-word glared at me.
Let’s face it, sometimes you just gotta say it...Force Majeure. Except there isn’t that sense of satisfaction after expressing it. More like an overwhelming sense of frustration. With the global pandemic everyone got real familiar with force majeure.
Celebrity Booking Tips
Gail Davis, 18 March 2021
Virtual speaking opportunities have made celebrity keynotes more accessible than ever. In addition to the below video, here are some considerations when booking a celebrity or high-profile speaker.
A Woman Owned Business
Gail Davis, 09 March 2021
The significance and timing of the WBENC certification is particularly meaningful as we celebrate Women’s History Month. I think back on when I started GDA Speakers over 22 years ago, and the important women in my career who encouraged and inspired me to leave my 20 year corporate event career at Electronic Data Systems (EDS) and start GDA. My leader for many years, Vicki Yacovoni, was my role model.
2021: To Smoother Roads Ahead
Gail Davis, 07 January 2021
I love a road trip. I often drive from Dallas to my hometown in Oklahoma to visit my family. I enjoy the scenery, listening to podcasts, and just the relaxation of the familiar route. Most of the time, it’s an easy drive. But occasionally, I’ll run into that dreaded orange road “detour ahead” construction sign and I feel the frustration set in. When the sign indicates 5 or 10 miles ahead, I think to myself “OK, this won’t last too long.” But then there are those times, I’ll come across a detour sign and there is no mileage listed. Suddenly, I find myself on some uneven, bumpy road that’s taking me way off track - and I don’t know when it’s going to end.
To me, that was 2020. I think it’s safe to say the last 9 months we’ve all been traveling a no-mileage indicated detour path.
- Celebrating Nando Parrado: A Journey of Friendship, Impact, and Inspiration
- Celebrating 25 Years Part 9: Providing Value Through Decoding the Speaking Industry
- Celebrating 25 Years Part 8: Revolutionizing the Ultimate Client Experience
- Celebrating 25 Years Part 7: The Village Behind The Vision
- Celebrating 25 Years Part 6: The Three-Legged Stool
- Celebrating 25 Years - Part 5: The Cornerstones of GDA's Speaker Family
- GDA's Top Trending Speakers
- Celebrating 25 Years - Part 4: New Office, Same Mission
- The Husband & Wife Duo That Every Event Needs: Sandra Joseph & Ron Bohmer
- Celebrating 25 Years - Part 3: Cultivating Culture
- Dandapani: The Risk Worth Taking
- Celebrating 25 Years - Part 2: Turning Points
- Meet our NEW Gold Star Speaker: Liz Murray
- Celebrating 25 Years of Setting Stages Worldwide
- Nando's Timeless Story: Coming Soon to Theaters & Netflix
- Introducing Ankit Fadia 2.0
- End of Year Speaker Booking Tips
- Staying In The Learning Lane
- Why NOW Is The Time For Nando
- Nicole Malachowski: Nobody Wants To Live A Scripted Life
- Ken Schmidt: Standing Out Among The Competition
- Why ESG Matters for Business: Insights from Fortune's Geoff Colvin
- The Message of Hope that Supersedes Media Clickbait
- Adding Value with Emcees & Moderators
- Women Bred, Women Led
- Buyer's Remorse: Signs & Solutions
- Dear Celebrity...
- The Power of Momentum: Insights from Suneel Gupta
- Nando Parrado: Celebrating 50 Years of Influential Impact
- IASB Convention Recap
- Making the Client the Hero: GDA's Client Portal
- Meet Our NEW Gold Star Speaker!
- Meeting & Event Planning Tips
- Speaker Fees: To Negotiate Or Not To Negotiate
- How Speaker Fees Are Like Handbag Shopping
- 23 Years of Unforgettable Experiences
- GDA Polling Feature: Speaker Selection Just Got Easier
- The VIP Experience: Going Out of Style, Or Just on Pause?
- What Flavor Is Your Speaker?
- 2022 Events Forecast
- The Anniversary
- Visualizing and Training for Success
- The Journey Never Ends...Sharing What We Learn Along The Way
- Business Growth Speakers
- The Other F-Word You Don't Want to Hear
- Celebrity Booking Tips
- A Woman Owned Business
- 2021: To Smoother Roads Ahead
- Virtual Events are Fun, Engaging and on the Rise.
- Case Study: "Quarantine...let's binge watch our meeting"
- When will large and in-person events make a comeback?
- Case Study: "Virtual Made it Possible"
- You need a good moderator/host for your event. Here's why.
- How are fees being adjusted for virtual appearances?
- Celebrating 20 Years- Part 8: Staying Tech Savvy
- Celebrating 20 Years- Part 7: IASB and EO
- Celebrating 20 Years- Part 6: Gratitude
- Look Who's 20!
- Celebrating 20 Years - Part 5: New Discoveries
- Celebrating 20 Years - Part 4: The Big Move...the Rebrand
- Celebrating 20 Years - Part 3: Growing Pains and Gains
- Celebrating 20 Years - Part 2: Turning Points
- Celebrating 20 Years - Part 1
- 18th Anniversary Celebration - Founder's Talk
- GDA Podcast Recap | Nando Parrado Episode 7
- GDA Podcast Recap | Richard Resnick Episode 6
- GDA Podcast Recap | Dr. Michael "Misha" Auslin Episode 5
- GDA Podcast Recap | Herb Meyer Episode 4
- GDA Podcast Recap | David Polinchock Episode 3
- GDA Podcast Recap | Jim Carrol Episode 2
- GDA Podcast Recap | Jeff Kirschner Episode 1
- The Story of the GDA Podcast
- The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same: 30 Years Of Perspective
- An Inspirational Story of Perseverance
- Less Is More
- Six Speakers, Six Days, Three Cities….. Impressions.
- The Entrepreneurial Spirit
- Top “Plan B” Questions When Bad Weather Strikes
- Business Advice From a Veteran
- Top A-Team Traits That Deliver Successful Results
- Setting Your Moral Compass
- Don’t Drop the Ball on Introductions
- A Role Model for Those Who Stay, Leave and Everyone Else
- Secret Weapons
- Celebrating 15 Years With HR Houston
- A Unique Speaker You Need
- Rex Lewis-Clack: Class of 2013- A Guest Blog from Cathleen Lewis
- A Magical Event
- The Impact of a TED Talk- A Guest Blog From Leslie Morgan Steiner
- The Day That Changed Our Lives- A Guest Blog From Steve Palermo
- Everyone Should Book John O'Leary
- Eric Saperston is Another Gift
- Create an Oscar Award Winning Event with Eric Maddox
- Cruising into 2013
- Hope for the Holidays
- Don't Wait to Book Your Speakers Part 2
- Don't Wait to Book Your Speakers
- A Guest Blog From Kristina Wandzilak
- A Guest Blog from Nando Parrado
- Do You Take the Stairs?
- Dr. Gary Chapman Brings the Love to Our Office
- DON'T HIRE MOVERS!
- Designing Women
- TEDxSMU - What a day!
- The End of the Up Experience Didn’t Leave Me Down
- Up, Up, Up. The Up Experience Part 3
- Round 2 of the Up Experience
- The Up Experience, Truly Uplifting
- An Audience with the Dalai Lama
- The Best Email Tip I've Ever Heard
- Don't Just Book a Speaker, Create a Revolution
- Kids of the Suburbs Take Note
- Visiting Their Cells Emotional. Energy.
- Sex, Mentors and Thank You ... An unexpected sort of day.
- Powerful. The only word for today.
- The Give Back Tour Begins
- Andre Norman and Giving Back
- Energy and Synergy with Ankit Fadia
- Momentum, Passion and Transformation
- Partnerships
- An Epic Trip
- Tom Martinez- A Story of Hate, A Message of Hope
- Kids and Speakers
- Ethics
- Live From New York
- Growth
- Customer Service: Going Above and Beyond
- In Remembrance of Randy Snow
- A Sense of Connection
- Event Wisdom: Simple things that make a difference
- International Events
- A CEO Who Gets It!!!
- Celebrating 10 Years of Inspiration
- Domestic Violence
- Milestones and Celebrations
- Meeting...No meeting? Speaker...No speaker? What's a planner to do?
- It Was No Coincidence
- Let's Get Healthy with Todd Whitthorne and Gail's Tips for Healthy Meetings
- Nando, Sonia, Tim and 2008
- Timing is Everything ... and Steve Forbes, too.
- Rex Lewis-Clack and Cathleen Lewis