NSA Wisconsin: Your Source for Professional Speakers

Mark Borowski's Book Receives Good Parenting Seal

The Good Parenting Seal from Parental Wisdom, a patented parenting website that recognizes parents as the real experts in knowing their children best, recognized and awarded the seal to the book, Big Slick Daddy: Poker Strategies for Parenting Success by NSA-WI President Mark Borowski.

Mark released Big Slick Daddy on June 17, 2007 and in just one year, the book has been recognized as a resource for parents that provides clear, helpful and actionable information. Evaluated by parents, the Good Parenting Seal exists to resolve the issue of parents with limited time and money to sort through the many thousand books, millions of websites and other media when researching advice on raising children.

James Abate, Good Parenting Seal Evaluator, said, "Big Slick Daddy is the rare book that inspires you to not only think about how you live your life, but to actually make adjustments.”

In an effort to reach men about the important topic of fatherhood, Mark capitalized on poker’s immense popularity by using the language and strategies of poker and relating them to parenting. The book helps fathers build strong, healthy relationships with their kids by providing practical, hands-on information that is easy to read and easy to use. Even men and women alike who do not play poker find the book engaging and easy to read.

Congrats on the honor, Mark!

NSA Rocked New York

by Jason Kotecki
Professional Member

The NSA Convention was held in New York City this year and it definitely lived up to the hype. Eric Chester and his team transformed the "convention" into a "concert." The minute the doors opened on the first General Session, attendees knew they were in for a unique experience. Rock music blasted through the speakers and people were dressed in classic concert attire.

The ushers (see Wisconsin's own Eliz Greene and Chip Lutz pictured here) were outfitted with electric guitars and stood on chairs to greet the incoming guests. Even NSA President Mark LeBlanc got into the act, sliding across the stage in white socks sporting sunglasses and white underwear a la Tom Cruise in Risky Business.

Yep, you read that right. Probably the first and only time an NSA President will show up on stage in his or her underwear.

Bill Stainton teamed up with British Mania (a world-class Beatles tribute band) to deliver "Shake It Up! What The Beatles Can Teach Us About the Speaking Business." It was a high-energy program that featured signature songs and insightful parallels between speakers and rock stars.

Marshall Goldsmith, management guru and author of "What Got You Here Won't Get You There" kicked things off on Sunday morning. One of his best pearls of coaching wisdom was this: Imagine you’re 90 years old, on your death bed, and you have the chance to give your current self advice on how to have a better life (personally and professionally). What would your 90-year-old self say?

Chris Clarke-Epstein and Mike Domitrz made our chapter proud with their own standout performances. Besides hosting her annual rock solid "Return on Attendance" session, Chris also delivered one of the most content-rich programs of the convention. Entitled "What the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Knows That You Don't: How to Develop a Purposeful Product Philosophy," Chris discussed the fact that your audience wants to take the experience you created home with them, not just a product, and she outlined how to do just that. Meanwhile, Mike was featured "Live in Concert: With The Young Guns," a showcase of six top speakers under 40 delivering 10 minutes of their best stuff. Mike's bold performance definitely rocked.

Speaking legend Les Brown handed out buckets of gold nuggets in his program, which stressed the importance of continually working on yourself. He said, "Speaking is a projection of who you are, not who you think you oughta be." He also warned about "not letting what you want to say get in the way of what the audience needs to hear."

Financial guru Steve Forbes impressed the audience with his self-depricating humor and common-sense ideas on the economy and the upcoming elections. Many people walked away wishing he had decided to run for president again this year.

Kevin Cronin, lead singer of REO Speedwagon, and Simon Kirke, founding member of Bad Company, were also on hand for a panel discussion during lunch on Monday. Kevin regaled the crowd with an acoustic version of "Take It On The Run." A big takeaway from the session was the importance of practice. The best rock stars -- and the best speakers -- spend a lot of time away from the limelight practicing their craft.

One of the great highlights of the entire convention was the CPAE Speaker Hall of Fame/Cavett Awards Banquet, in which NSA-WI member Mike McKinley received the highly prestigious Cavett Award. It is presented annually to the member whose accomplishments over the years have reflected outstanding credit, respect, honor and admiration in NSA and the speaking profession, and whose actions (in terms of sharing, guiding and inspiring other members) most closely parallel the illustrious career of NSA Founder Cavett Robert. Mike's acceptance speech was, not surprisingly, humble and humorous. He told a story about him and his wife riding in the car together one night. "I wish you would drink more," she said.

"Why?" asked Mike.

"It would help explain your behavior," was her reply.

Perhaps banquet co-host George Campbell said it best after Mike left the stage, when he said, "Does it bother anybody else that Mike's impromptu speech is better than any of our prepared speeches?"

William Strickland, Jr. helped close out the convention on an inspiring note, as he shared some of the truly remarkable things he has been able to accomplish with at-risk youth and welfare mothers in the inner city of Pittsburgh. Amazing stuff. When he was finished, Bill got the longest and loudest standing ovation of the entire convention. A video of one of Bill's speeches is below. It's from the TED conference, but it's very similar to the one he gave in New York. I promise you it's one of the most inspiring and encouraging things you'll ever encounter.

All in all, this year's convention did indeed rock, delivering on style and substance, as anyone who attended could attest. If you missed out, be sure to mark your calendar for next year's convention in Phoenix!