We’re excited to bring you a great lineup of speakers and valuable education sessions as well as some excellent entertainment. Discover more about each of the presenters and check out the talented lineup of entertainers.
Keynote Speaker -- Will Roberts
Will Roberts, Motivational Speaker, Professional Actor, Guinness World Record Holder, Former Cirque Du Soleil Act
Will Roberts is an internationally renowned actor, performer and speaker known for his high-energy and insightful content spiked with humor. He prides himself on bringing back the common sense and simplicity of America in a world “Hooked on iPhone-nics”. As a former Cirque du Soleil act on the Las Vegas Strip, business owner, social networking consultant, author, TV and film actor, and certified performance coach Will truly lives by his word and passionately practices his own Simple Sense advice. Now don’t be fooled, Will is a Cowboy. The values and skills of the West are in his blood and are his true passion. He is an expert with a rope and is was a featured act in Cirque du Soleil’s Viva Elvis production on the Las Vegas Strip. Being one of the very few to work with this renowned entertainment group and being singled out as being extraordinary in skill and attitude Will applied the principles discussed in Simple Sense: Less is More Success™ to help others achieve their ultimate performance goal. Since 2000, Will has been working with leading corporations. He shares his Simple Sense message and demonstrates that it is possible to increase productivity, performance quality and work enjoyment in a fast-paced and socially networked environment by focusing on his Less is More Success™ tools. Will’s presentations are always extremely energetic, highly interactive and include tools that can be used immediately. He uses personal stories, humor and amazing trick roping, Whips, Magic demonstrations to make his motivating keynotes useful, memorable and ultimately profitable for his audiences. Will currently has a film out on Netflix – The Killer as a principal actor, Amazon – The West and The Ruthless, and the season ending episode of Lucifer on FOX. “It used to be said that you had 30 seconds to make your first impression, NOW we have 10 seconds and folks are asking for change!” – Will Roberts
Will will also perform some magic on Wednesday evening during the expo.
Simple Sense – Less Is More Success™!
Thursday, May 20, 9:15 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
When a cowboy hits the trail on a long trip the trail bag is packed as lightly as possible. Only the bare essentials are included, but the one thing packed that ensures survival throughout the trip is Simple Sense. No matter what is encountered it always comes in handy, always at the ready to ensure clear decisions and steady progress. It decides life or death on the trail. This Simple Sense is something that I think we are missing in our business and everyday lives. In our time together we will clear away the clutter and get to the Simple Sense, and hopefully find the humor of life.
KEYNOTE OUTCOMES
- Become indispensable by learning to increase your value, dependability and connections with others.
- Understand how to boost productivity and achieve your goals more efficiently by focusing your potential and sense of purpose.
- Implement self-management principles that enable you to reclaim your goals and time.
- Shift your perspective from managing change through reaction to creating change through conscious and purposeful action.
- Navigate and maximize social networks and technology to effectively prevent time and energy drain.
- Learn tools to create time to enjoy life and reduce extra stress
General Session Speaker -- Elliot Eisenberg, Ph.D.
Elliot Eisenberg, Ph.D., Economist and Public Speaker
Elliot Eisenberg, Ph.D. is an internationally acclaimed economist and public speaker specializing in making economics fun, relevant and educational. Dr. Eisenberg earned a B.A. in economics with first class honors from McGill University in Montreal, as well as a Master and Ph.D. in public administration from Syracuse University. Eisenberg is the Chief Economist for GraphsandLaughs, LLC, an economic consultancy that serves a variety of clients across the United States. He writes a syndicated column and authors a daily 70-word commentary on the economy that is available at www.econ70.com.
Dr. Eisenberg has spoken to hundreds of business groups and associations, as a keynote speaker on topics including: economic forecasts, economic impact of industries such as homebuilding, tourism, consequences of government regulation, and other current economic issues. Dr. Eisenberg has been invited to testify before lawmakers and is often asked to comment on proposed legislation. His research and opinions have been featured in Bloomberg Businessweek, Bureau of National Affairs, Forbes, Fortune, and many other publications. He is a regularly featured guest on cable news programs, talk, and public radio.
Dr. Eisenberg was formerly a Senior Economist with the National Association of Home Builders in Washington, D.C. He is the creator of the multifamily stock index (the first nationally recognized index to track the total return of public firms principally involved in the ownership and management of apartments), the author of more than 100 articles, serves on the Expert Advisory Board of Mortgage Market Guide and is a regular consultant to several large real estate professional associations, hedge funds and investment advisory groups.
Elliot’s interests include keeping the rate of restoration of his 65-year-old house ahead of its rate of deterioration and doting on his daughter. He loves ice hockey and talking economics with crowds large and small!
Graphs and Laughs Economic Update 2020
Thursday, May 20, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
General Session Speaker -- Joe Schmit
Joe Schmit, Author, Award-Winning Broadcaster, Community Leader, Keynote Speaker
Joe Schmit is an author, award-winning broadcaster, community leader and popular keynote speaker. His book “Silent Impact” Influence Through Purpose, Persistence and Passion is now in its third printing and has won numerous awards. He was recently honored with the Next Level award by the Minnesota chapter of the National Speakers Association. As a sports broadcaster he has covered every major sporting event in the past 3 decades and has interviewed many of the biggest names in sports. He joined KSTP-TV in 1985 and has won 16 Emmys from the National Television Academy. He was also honored with a National Headliner Award in 2001. Joe is also a regular on 1500ESPN radio.
Before joining KSTP-TV in 1985, he was Sports Director for WBAY-TV in Green Bay, Wisconsin. His career also includes positions as weekend sports anchor for KCRG-TV in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and WKBT-TV in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Joe earned his degree in Mass Communications from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
Joe is a long-time youth mentor committed to advocating for a number of community organizations with Big Brothers and Big Sisters is at the top of his list. He is a past president and board member of the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Greater Twin Cities. He has raised over $3 million for the organization through the Joe Schmit Celebrity Golf Tournament which had a 16-year run. In 2000, he was the winner of the Jim Kelly Distinguished Service Award from Big Brothers and Big Sisters and in 2001, a winner of the Odyssey Award for commitment to youth mentorship.
Joe was also honored as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund (JDRF) Community Leader of the Year in 2005. He is past president and board member of the Fairway Foundation and has contributed time to many other charitable organizations.
Currently Joe is a member of the PACER Advisory Board and the Minnesota Vikings Advisory Board. Joe and his wife Laura are currently chairing a 7.2-million-dollar capital campaign for VEAP, the largest food shelf in Minnesota.
Impact Leadership – Influence Through Purpose, Persistence and Passion
Tuesday, October 20, 1:15 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
In this high energy, high-impact presentation loaded with humor Joe Schmit inspires and helps you discover how to ramp up the profound power of your influence. When you become more aware and intentional with the impact you have as a leader, it will improve your bottom line and your R.O.I. – Return on Impact. Through research, Joe has discovered that we make our biggest impressions when we are not trying to be impressive. Impact Leadership is a blueprint to help you improve your company culture, help you develop a high-performance team and make you a leader of significance.
If there were a going away party at your workplace today, who would the most people show up for? That person is having a “Silent Impact” on everyone around them, but what is their secret? Who would you place on your personal Mt. Rushmore of Influence and why would they be there? What “Impact Resolutions” can you make to become a leader of leader of purpose, persistence and passion? These are answers you will learn in Joe’s session.
Power Up Entertainment
Vendor Exposition Entertainment
Wednesday, May 19
Chuck Fulcher, Creative Director, Musician, Painter
Born and raised in Great Falls, Chuck graduated from Great Falls High School. After earning a BA in design from Montana State University, Chuck became a freelance designer and illustrator in Los Angeles. After three years, he returned to Montana as Art Director for Wendt Advertising. From Wendt, Chuck started his first business venture, Fulcher Concepts. In 1996, he joined the team at Lodestone Advertising. Two years after that, Chuck purchased the company. Today, Chuck is Lodestone’s creative director as well as president and CEO of the company.
Chuck has been a member of the Great Falls Advertising Federation since 1991. He has served on the Board of Directors, and has chaired numerous Auction committees, and currently a Life Member. In 2013, Chuck received the prestigious Silver Medal Award from the American Advertising Federation.
Chuck is serving a 6-year tenure on the Parking Commission Advisory Board for the City of Great Falls, and for the past three years, Chuck has been a Russell Country FCU board member, and is up for re-election this spring.
In his leisure time, Chuck enjoys playing music, oil painting and restoring old cars.
Will Roberts, Actor, Magician
Imagine stepping into a time where the Wild West was booming and the roads and 
towns were filled with men called Hucksters, CONfidence men, Flim Flam Men, Medicine show man. Now imagine bumping into one of these men below…& imagine all these men are rolled into one and you had a chance meeting with him and in the end you were just left entertained but not EMPTY HANDED! Will Roberts magician & huckster member of the famous Magic Castle an Hollywood and The Magic Circle in the UK Will amaze and amuse you!!
Awards Dinner Entertainment
Thursday, May 20
Piano Bar Sing-Along with Phil Thompson
With over 500+ popular songs ready to perform by request, Phil Thompson has often been called the human jukebox! Phil’s collection of songs includes everything from all the piano-bar favorites (Billy Joel, Elton John, Journey, Neil Diamond, Bon Jovi, etc.), hits from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s (Franki Valli, Lionel Richie, U2), pop selections (Ed Sheeran, Adele, Michael Bublé) and even country classics too (Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell, George Strait, Garth Brooks, etc.)! Phil first performed his show at sea in the piano bars with several cruise lines including Princess & Holland America and has since shared his show for clients across the globe. Phil provides everything you and your guests will need including song request books and sheets, wireless microphones for guest sing-alongs, his portable digital piano, Bose sound system and intelligent LED stage-lighting.
In addition to performing this show solo, Phil can also create a hybrid piano-bar show adding sax (great for those 70’s hits!), guitar (perfect for those country classics!) or more to perform as a duo, trio or larger ensemble and can jump right into high-energy piano-bar requests, or can begin your event with live background music before starting the party!