Three Conferences, Seven Drives, One Mountain And A Sphere

As predicted in last month's newsletter, it's been an incredibly exciting month of October with speaking engagements in the UK, Las Vegas and Cape Town interspersed with one or two podcasts and webinars.

Back in Las Vegas at the beginning of the month to speak at DELIVER Americas, perhaps the highlight of which was my fireside chat with Liquid Death . I've written elsewhere about this amazing brand which may not be everybody's cup of tea but it certainly provokes a reaction.

And as I posted here yesterday, you can now find it in your local 特易购公司 in addition to the Co-op . Even if you feel uncomfortable with some of the marketing (think playing with a severed head or waterboarding) if nothing else it is a case study for all digital marketers on how to create a cult following in a relatively short space of time.

It was just two nights in Vegas but in that time I managed to catch sight of the amazing, jaw-dropping Sphere which I imagine everyone has now seen images of (the U2 concert was on the night I flew back).

Next up was a talk I gave at the latest Retail Racing event at PalmerSport in Bedford. Mixing retail and racing is right up my street (or so I thought). Combining both topics as an after dinner speaker the evening before all the driving was great fun and gave me the opportunity to tell my George Russell story (spoiler I wish I hadn't!)

Talking about my fledgling motorsport career, there was a little voice in my ear that was telling me I just might be setting myself up. But hey, I've done this plenty of times and proud to say I've never been beaten.

And of course what happened the next day? Apart from the single seater above, I had my ass well and truly spanked, chastening hardly covers it! I know I can still do it, but sadly that's now only in my dreams. Nevertheless it was a great day and it's a great format for getting technology vendors together with retailers in an informal atmosphere.

And then with just one night to recover, it was off to Cape Town to speak at the annual South African Council of Shopping Centres Congress. And I have to say that this was such a memorable trip. My first visit to Cape Town so Table Mountain and Robben Island were at the top of my list, both made even more memorable by the incredible weather.

Addressing the elephant in the room I opened my keynote asking the audience by how many points would England beats the Boks in the World Cup semi-final? Once the (good natured) jeering had died down it was time for the big reveal. It nearly took the roof off! Who knew we would nearly do it? Congrats to the Springboks for winning the tournament.

It was also made so much better by having the opportunity to catch up with Paula Macaggi who was also delivering a keynote at the conference; two guest Boks!

I've had a great time the last few weeks and it's nearly November which for me always marks the time when I get into serious planning and preparation for NRF in January.

Covid and moving house have prevented me from attending for the last couple of years so I'm really looking forward to it. Let me know if you're going and perhaps we can meet in New York.

I admit that I've never felt comfortable about adding the 'open to work' label to my profile on LinkedIn, after all, aren't we all in a way? But the adrenaline rush I get from being on stage has replaced the similar feeling I used to get when I was racing - and it needs feeding!

So if you're looking for an inspirational speaker who will excite your audience, hit me up, I promise it will be memorable!