2022 Cigar PEG Celebrity Auction at Party Fowl Sunday Night, July 10

(Small Print: for the auctions in which you prevail, you will have one year following 7/10/22 to use your package or it expires.) 

Mark Levy Auction: Your Big Sexy Idea® Quickstart

This package could potentially change your business and life.
If you’ve ever wanted to stand out in the marketplace around a top-notch point of differentiation, or you wanted to strengthen the differentiation you already have, now’s your chance.
The celebrity for this package is Mark Levy. Mark is a positioning strategist extraordinaire.
Mark is the expert who helped create Simon Sinek’s famous differentiation (Simon: “Mark Levy is the man who helped me find my why”), as well as the differentiation for other society-shaping people, including the former head of the strategy unit at the Harvard Business School and speakers like David Meerman Scott (whose book, “The New Rules of Marketing and PR,” is the biggest selling social media book of all time).
Most of you know prominent Cigar Peg member, Joel Block. Joel is, in fact, Mark’s client. A few months back, Joel appeared at a conference as the opening keynoter, and he launched a brand new speech — based on an idea he created with Mark. Not only did Joel receive a standing ovation, but every speaker who took the stage after him referenced Joel and his new idea! Joel became the talk of the conference. Since then, he’s used the idea to reposition his entire brand and is reaping the benefits.
In this package, Mark will work with a few handpicked auction-winners to help them differentiate their work more forcefully. He’ll advise them, not only on their differentiation, but on how they might increase their visibility and win business by using their idea in pitches, speeches, and books.
The sessions will consist of a handful of group Zoom meetings as prework. Then, the group will come to work on their differentiation for a full day on Mark’s historic farm in New Hope, Pennsylvania.
ABOUT MARK

Mark Levy is the founder of Levy Innovation LLC, a positioning and strategy firm that helps organizations and thought leaders differentiate by using, what he calls, a Big Sexy Idea®. The ideas Mark and his clients have created are known worldwide by hundreds of millions of people.

Mark has consulted to some of the world’s most prominent companies and individuals, including CEOS of major brands, like Popeye’s; the former head of Strategy at the Harvard Business School; and thought leaders, such as Simon Sinek of “Start with Why” fame. Mark has also consulted to a TV special on the History Channel, as well as to the iconic TV and streaming series, “Mystery Science Theater 3000.”

In 2018, he was elected into the Million Dollar Consulting Hall of Fame. The hall’s founder calls Mark’s positioning and messaging skills “unparalleled.”

Before devoting his work full-time to Levy Innovation, Mark served as Chief Marketing Officer of an Inc. 5,000 experiential branding organization with clients such as Nordstrom, Time Warner, and Stanford University.

Mark is a keynote speaker. He’s spoken about strategy to dozens of organizations, including Adobe, American Express, and Google. He is in fact a member of the National Speakers Association, and is serving as the organization’s 2023 Winter Conference chairman. Previously, he served as an organizer for TEDx.

Mark is a writer. He has written for the New York Times, and has written or co-created five books, including  “Accidental Genius: Using Writing to Generate Your Best Ideas, Insight, and Content,” which has been published in eleven languages, and has been a bestseller in three different formats.
He has taught entrepreneurial strategy and persuasive business writing at Rutgers University.

Besides his positioning work, Mark creates magic tricks and shows. One of the shows he co-created, “Chamber Magic,” has run for over two decades, and appears on TripAdvisor as New York City’s highest-rated live show, ranked higher than even the musical “Hamilton.”

Auction Winners:

  1. Dan Knight
  2. Kristen Arnold
  3. Carolyn Strauss
  4. Marcey Walsh
  5. Vivian Cobb
  6. Mark Stiving
  7. Christine Torisk
  8. Sheryl Green
  9. Mike Staver
  10. Nelson Griswold

2022 Chuck Gallagher: The Up Your Video Game Package

Want to create a demo video that sells?  If your demo video was done in late last decade (yea, I know that seems like a long time ago), then it’s time for a refresh.  Most meeting professionals that are selecting speakers these days are between the ages of 35 and 50 and their attention span is short (did I say short, I mean real short).  So…if your video doesn’t get to the point and provide visual stimulation, you’ll be passed over for those who are showing the meeting professional exactly what they are looking for.  What problem do you solve?  But I’m funny, engaging, entertaining, and a great opening keynote!  I hear ya, but to grab their attention you need to let them know what problem you solve so you can get them to watch past the first 30 seconds of your video.  And, did I mention, it has to be visually stimulating?  The next time you watch a show on TV notice the image on the screen will change every 3 to 5 seconds.  That’s what we are trained to see and imagery that lasts much longer is – well boring.  So here’s the deal…We’ll walk you through the process of creating amazing for your demo video.  That includes:

  • Intro conversation about your offering, benefits, etc.
  • Zoom conference about scripting your video so the message is relevant and coherent.
  • Shoot in the studio your message (simulating if need be stage footage).
  • Integrate your B-Roll of prior events showing the depth of your experience.
  • Add external B-Roll to augment the visual stimulation piece and/or add animation to enhance your message
  • Edit all of the above into a demo video lasting from 3 to 5 minutes.

Value for the above – $8,000

So, if you want to improve your odds of being selected in this new (very not normal) decade…this is the package you want to bid on…Happy bidding!

Auction Winners:

  1. Ray Leone
  2. Jeremy Torisk

2022 Ray Leone: The Game Changer Package

Ray has been a member of the Million Dollar Speakers Group for 10 years with no employees.

Two days at my home in Charleston, SC on the Stono River 10 minutes from downtown on his 40’ boat.

Pool, spa, Bocce court, power boat, wine cellar, media room, pinball machine.

Subject – Working on your business model. My specialty is converting one speech into 6 figure retainers.

(Ray is the creator of the “Sales Funnel” and enjoys long-term contracts with high-level corporations…you will learn his secret)

Bonus –  a ride in my 59 Caddy if you dare. It has 700HP. Weather permitting, we could also go to  a spectacular vineyard owned by a friend of mine.

This package is valued at $20,000+

 

 

Auction Winners:

  1. Lisa Ryan
  2. Jeremy Torisk
  3. Anne McKinney

2022 Joel Block’s $30K Crush the Seminar Business…Own the Gate Auction Package

It’s back…

By popular demand – the most highly sought-after auction, practically in Cigar PEG history is back. And judging from the response of the participants from the auction, 2019 in Denver, which took in more money that evening than any other item by a factor of almost 10, Joel (in a bonus partnership with Michelle Villalobos) put on a pretty great program. Check it out below…

Joel Block’s wildly successful seminar business model has propelled him into the NSA Million Dollar Speaker Group. If you would like to be a Million Dollar Speaker, the seminar business could be for you. The people who make the most are not trainers, developers, or even keynoters. Even most of the highly paid keynoters have to look up to seminar providers who offer an upsell.

Joel will provide a series of working zoom sessions carefully designed to provide you with an understanding of the seminar business and why it’s the top of the speaking mountain for revenue production. No part of our business allows one to print money the way the seminar business does.

The last program features hot seats for each participant to expose their new model and receive high level feedback so you can dive into this business – and be ready to succeed – on steroids.

We will focus on the strategy, concepts, philosophy, and tactics for content development, topic choice, audience targeting, backend sale development, making your upsell pitch, and so much more. Joel will pull back the curtain on what he does and how he does it.

If you don’t make 10+ times your investment, then you were not listening to Joel’s advice.

Imagine:

Ø    Owning your own stage;

Ø    Keeping all the money you generate;

Ø    Keeping all the upsell proceeds you sell;

Ø    Deciding which speakers you might like to share the stage with;

Ø    Getting a piece of the action from your invited speakers’ sales;

Ø    Having an audience (or a tribe) to sell to in the future;

Ø    Having a loyal following that is hungry for what you have to say; and

Ø    So much more…

This is how the business works if you do it right. Let Joel show you how to do it right and take the return on your Cigar PEG investment to the bank.

A Few Words from a Past Participant

Joel & Michelle’s “Crush the Seminar Business” auction package was an extraordinarily insightful experience. Many of us in the speaking business often think growing our businesses comes down to doing more gigs. But what we really need to be thinking about is how to evolve our business models and reimagine our revenue channels. Seminars and retreats can provide an informative and transformational experience that naturally aligns with an existing speaking business and raises the prospect of selling a ‘big back end’ product — such as a consulting engagement, mastermind, or implementation. This auction package literally walked us step-by-step through the process — from identifying seminar/retreat objectives and target audiences, to marketing and sales strategies, to announcing the ‘big reveal’, and to the logistics of facilities, hotels, and food and beverage. It was extremely insightful to explore my future business with people who’ve already built a successful seminar/retreat business model.

-Carl Seidman, CSP

I was one of the auction winners for the inaugural Crush The Seminar Business Auction Package and it is one of the best speaking business investments I have ever made.  Joel Block and Michelle Villalobos, the leading experts in this field, teach from their own success in learning what works and what doesn’t, and hold nothing back. What I gained from this experience goes beyond increased income; it helped me to have greater insight into myself and the direction I want to take my speaking business.

This is not “In a perfect world” babble or theories of what is “supposed” to work.  It is about what does work in the real-world.  It may make you uncomfortable as you will need to be honest with yourself, because Joel and Michelle will be honest with you (lovingly but real).  And, you will have to put in work. The reward is that you will come away with a clear understanding of exactly where you are, a specific vision of where you want to go, a focused understanding of what will be required of you, a detailed plan of actions to get there; and importantly, real-word tools and actionable knowledge to accomplish your plans.

You will also have fun and create lasting bonds of friendship and support with the other speakers who take this journey with you. Is this package worth the bid price? A better question is, do you value yourself enough to invest in your own success.

-Jeffrey Owens, CTM, CVP

 

Joel Block, CPA, CSP Bio

Joel’s a futurist and longtime venture capitalist & hedge fund manager (gobbledygook for professional investor) who lives in a Shark Tank like on TV. Since selling his publishing company to a Fortune 500, Joel’s cage-rattling keynotes expose Wall Street insights and the inside track on high-velocity innovation – empowering businesses to predict and prepare for their futures.

(The small print: winning bidders has one year from the date of auction to utilize this service. Any travel and lodging will be at winning bidder’s expense. Be respectful of Cigar PEG Celebrity’s time. This person donated the service and receives no financial remuneration for the service.

Auction Winners:

  1. Tom Freeman
  2. Susan Fitzell
  3. Sima Dahl
  4. Brian Wagner
  5. Scott Cooksey
  6. Candy Campbell
  7. Ray Leone
  8. Chuck Gallagher
  9. APRIL BIRCHMEIER
  10. Nelson Griswold

Render Media at Cigar PEG 2022Render Media: Digital Twin Content Creation

We all know we need to create more video content, but it takes time, money, and effort. But what if there was a way to produce high-quality, personalized video content quickly, without ever having to get in front of a camera? What if you could create your very own Digital Twin?
With Render Media, we’ve pioneered the custom avatar space to create synthetic media options to provide video and audio clones that allow you to be in many places at once with your content. Have a message you need to personalize to multiple audience members? Need to replace training content? Want to create fast micro-learning on the fly?
Our proprietary application process makes it as simple as typing a note.
In just 90 minutes in one of our mobile studios–even on Monday–that’s right, after the auction, here in Nashville–you can have the groundwork done for your own avatar and start using it just a couple weeks later. Must have avatar shoot done by January 31, 2023 (expiration).
The package includes unlimited content production with their digitized avatar for a full year, plus an initial strategy call on using synthetic media in their business. We are doing a promotion at NSA where we are doing the avatar production for free, so the normal cost is $8500, the NSA cost is $5000.

Auction Winner: Jan Spence