I am getting more and more enquiries for ‘voice work,’ especially podcasts. So I put together this promo.
Hollywood here we come!
Roger Collis – Business travel guru; journalist, author, veteran corporate infighter; broadcaster; and ‘Man of Many Voices’ can provide the voice (and ideas) you need for:
-Podcasts: One-on-one recorded interviews of management personalities, employees, customers, clients, on any agreed subject, suitable for power-point presentations or posting on your Web site, or e-marketing. Remember, you control the final product. Podcasts have proven to be powerful motivational and promotional tools.
(You can review some of my podcasts at http://www.redcarnationhotels.com/press-room/podcasts)
-Voice-overs: For corporate presentations; videos; radio and TV commercials; documentary films. To paraphrase Groucho, ‘I have voices – and if you don’t like them, I have others!’ Ask for a copy of my 28-track demo CD.
-Focus Groups: I plan, direct and animate/facilitate small focus groups (up to 10 people) – in your office, studio, or over breakfast, lunch or dinner. The Focus Group is a qualitative research tool involving ‘open-ended’ questioning of a small group of respondents.
Focus groups are invaluable in getting quick ‘dip-stick’ feedback on broad or specific issues; ‘verbatims’ – the words people use in describing a product or service – are a guide for creative teams to develop promotional concepts – that may in turn be tested in further focus groups.
Selection of the group is crucial: for example, you might want a mix of people who are frequent users of a product or service, occasional users, non-users and those who are familiar, but have not used, or those who are critical.
‘Success’ depends on the skill of the leader in ‘focusing’ the discussion, and the choice of participants. For example, a group of heavy/regular users of a product/service can offer guidance in how to attract like-minded people who might not have tried (or be aware of) the product. (Regular/loyal customers often provide the most revealing criticism.)
I’ve always tried to approach business travel from the point of view of the traveler, rather than that of the travel trade. Which means identifying with the traveler as a manager, an executive, struggling to survive in the Organization. Travel is just one more stress factor – thanks to congestion, hassle, degrading experiences at airports, and all manner meanness and injustice, thanks to the War on Terror, which creates ever more terror throughout the world.
Back in the old days, the road warrior could depart fairly gratefully from the office and look forward to the prospect of an enjoyable, purposeful, trip and the ability to focus on what he or she needed to achieve. You could escape more or less in peace from the corporate Kremlin.
Nowadays, thanks to information technology, the traveling executive is both enabled and obliged to do two jobs at the same time – the one on the road and the one back at the office.
So I was intrigued the other day with an invitation to link up in some way with a new venture in the UK – Diggory Lifestyle Management, with the strapline, ‘Taking care of business.’ Diggory is an online ‘concierge’ service designed to support execs – especially management consultants – in their personal and office lives.
Dee Hope, founder and managing director of Diggory, says: ‘At Diggory, we believe in making things easier. We take the busy out of business, and put the person back into personal life. Through unparalleled experience, quality service and robust systems, we run your life – so you can enjoy it.’
That’s a big promise. But having met and corresponded with this personable, dynamic lady, I think this may be one of those proverbial ideas whose time has come.
Meanwhile, check out Diggory at www.diggorylifestyle.co.uk.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has welcomed France’s adoption of a One-Stop Security system. With the new system in place, passengers that have already been screened at a European airport will no longer need to be screened a second time when making flight connections.
With this decision, France is joining the majority of the EU countries that already allow One-Stop Security for passengers arriving from another EU airport.
In France, One-Stop Security for passengers and their hand luggage will be applied to individual airports this year, starting with Lyon and selected terminals at Paris Charles de Gaulle. IATA estimates that this will impact 6 million passengers and save US$30 million a year with no compromise on the quality of security being applied.
Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s director general and CEO, says: “It is a waste of time, effort and resources to ask passengers to stand again at security if they have already been checked by a competent screening authority a few hours earlier. This frustrates passengers and drains scarce security resources. The business case for One-Stop Security is clear: faster, hassle-free connections for passengers and lower security costs for everyone involved. There is no compromise on quality. I urge other states - particularly the UK and Ireland - to come on board quickly.”
The next step, IATA claims, is to integrate One-Stop Security into the global system. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is working on developing the concept of One-Stop Security to promote it on a global scale.
“The key is common recognition of standards. We need more governments to exchange information with each other and conclude security agreements that recognise their security measures as equivalent,’ Bisignani says. ‘This is a global industry with a great track record on safety because of global standards and international cooperation including industry and governments. We must approach security with the same mindset. This is no time for complacency.”