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Comments
Atul Dhakappa September 14th, 2015
would have been very disappointing..
I was looking forward to be at CMW this year and meet with you, but last minute schedules did not allow me to travel.. maybe some other time..
Regards
Atul Dhakappa
Ann Handley September 14th, 2015
First, it wasn’t nearly as bad as you imagined (feared) in your head. The people who WERE there loved it. I know because I was there. You had QUESTIONS at the end, for Pete’s sake. So your audience might’ve been small, but it was engaged.
Second, that chain of security guards… you’re hilarious.
Air kisses to you, my favorite mensch! (Now that I know what that means.)
Jeremy Knight September 14th, 2015
So that’s why I couldn’t find you. Shame, I was really looking forward to your session. I do hope HubSpot invite you back in 2016 – assuming a more chair free experience is assured! Are you speaking anywhere this Autumn in the UK?
Mike Essex September 15th, 2015
Congrats on overcoming the inner dicks regardless. This is why speaking at parallel track conferences terrifies me. I always worry I’ll be up against the household name guru who will draw the entire crowd. But hey you never know there may have been your next 10k a month client in that crowd and your deck will probably kill it on Slideshare like they always do 😉
Tom Anthony September 15th, 2015
Sucks about the app mixup which caused this. 🙁
This scenario has never happened to me, but I have read about it in the excellent ‘Confessions of a Public Speaker’ (http://www.amazon.com/dp/1449301959/?tag=spacewombat-20) – where (as I recall) the advice is to ask the audience to all move up to the front of the room and then you can engage with them better (and remove our mic and/or make it more interactive, depending on audience size).
Thanks for the great post – it is great getting honest insights into these sorts of things from speakers. 🙂
Jonny Watson September 15th, 2015
Well you smashed it at Silicon beach with that talk – Boston’s loss.
Digital Shoreditch 2015 was much the same experience for me. 7 or 8 plus the AV guy at the back.
Still, it’s on my CV now. They can’t take that away from us!
Dharmesh Shah September 15th, 2015
OMG, OMG, OMG — I am sooo sorry!
Being somewhat of a public speaker myself (though not quite as talented), I’ve been through similar nightmares. In any case, consider this a gold-plated, personal invitation to speak at #INBOUND16. I will take personal responsibility for promoting your session and filling every freakin’ chair.
Thanks for being such a good sport. Long-time fan, second-time commenter.
-Dharmesh
Ricardo September 16th, 2015
Doug, I am a big fan and did not see you on the programme. I take my hat off for having the balls to write about it. Event apps ohhh don’t get me started!!! Every cloud has a silver lining. You now have the personal backing of Mr. Shah himself!! See you at inbound16
Doug Kessler September 16th, 2015
Wow — I have to share more of my failures! Luckily, failure is my forte.
Dharmesh, thank you for your response.
You may not want to weld your name to my session but I’ll take you up on the offer!
(Next year’s post could be about how I had a packed room… and squandered it).
Susanna James September 17th, 2015
I was there and I loved your talk! In fact you were one of the speakers I was most excited to see. It was a shame more people didn’t attend, but for those of us who did we are glad we did! Please do come back in 2016 🙂
Nathan O’Shea All Tub Chairs Uk November 3rd, 2015
Failures always make us stronger and wiser. Great read.
Rhonda Hurwitz HMR Marketing Solutions November 17th, 2015
Just a great read. I actually have seen you speak (at CMWorld) and learned a lot. take that, inner dicks!