Client Specific Testimonial

Dear SpeakerMatch.com:

On behalf of the Hudson and Holland Scholars Program at Indiana University, I wish to express my gratitude for your assistance in finding a speaker for our Freshmen Conference. I cannot thank your service enough for performing this miracle. We were in a desperate situation, for we were lacking a speaker with only four days remaining before the conference. It was our program's administrative assistant who found your website and suggested that I try it to find a speaker. I must confess that as I prepared our notice on your website, I was very doubtful that we would be able to attract quality speakers, given the last-minute notice and our inability to pay competitive speaker fees.

Within hours after I had posted our notice on the website, my doubts had vanished and despair was replaced by hope as our phone became inundated with calls and my email inbox was flooded with more than two dozen proposals from speakers wanting to address our students at the conference. I was amazed by how quickly the speakers responded to our urgent call. I was also surprised that we were able to attract so many high quality speakers, given our limited resources. The speaker profiles and testimonials on your website were a tremendous help. In reading the profiles of those who sent in proposals, I was impressed with their high levels of experience and the breadth of topics in which they have expertise. The testimonials were convincing and assured me that we would not be disappointed with whomever we chose to speak at our conference.

As I talked on the phone and communicated by email with prospective speakers, I was also touched by their strong interest in our conference and their genuine desire to help. Some of those who showed strong interest admitted that they would not be able to attend our conference, but they contacted me, nonetheless, in order to be considered for future conferences. To my amazement, several speakers who typically command high fees were willing to work within our budget.

It truly was a miracle that we were able to attract all these speakers, but it was also a challenge to choose among candidates who were all of high caliber. In the end, we decided to invite Dr. Ramon Resa, a pediatrician who was raised by his grandparents in a small farming community in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Both the students and staff enjoyed listening to him speak about his personal experiences. Dr. Resa met and exceeded our expectations as a speaker. The style and substance of his speech entailed an engaging and witty delivery that was perfectly combined with a motivational message encouraging students to turn challenges into opportunities and commit their lives to community service. It is no easy task to maintain the interest of 160 plus freshmen undergraduates during lectures, but Dr. Resa easily held their attention for the full 50 minutes of his presentation. There was never a dull moment, and his speech was unquestionably the highlight of the conference.

The response of the students to Dr. Resa's presentation was unlike any that I had ever witnessed at our previous conferences. At past conferences only a small group of students would linger to cluster around the speaker after the presentation. In contrast, *dozens* of students wanted to speak with Dr. Resa after his speech. Because so many students wanted an opportunity to speak with him, they had to form a line, which extended from wall to wall in an auditorium with a seating capacity of 200 plus. To my amazement, students toward the end of the line were willing to wait patiently for at least 15 minutes to engage Dr. Resa in conversation. I wish that I had had the presence of mind to capture all this in a photo!

Dr. Resa is not only an excellent speaker but also a genuinely kind and humble person. After the conference, several staff members and I had the privilege and pleasure to have dinner with Dr. Resa. He is such a pleasant person to speak to and he kept us entertained throughout the evening. We look forward to having him speak again at our conferences in the future.

Once again, thank you for providing us with this powerful resource. Your website is easy to navigate and use; the rapid response to our notice demonstrates your high level of efficiency and organization; and your customer service is beyond excellent. We will always be grateful to SpeakerMatch.com, which connected us with Dr. Resa.

Sincerely,
Miriam Attenoukon
Hudson and Holland Scholars Program
Indiana University