Keynotes

Get ready for inspiration from two innovative minds that are leading the way for ideation and change.

Sunday, March 5

1:00–2:00 p.m.

Why Only is Better Than Best

Srini Rao

Srini Rao
Chief Creative Instigator, Unmistakable Media
Author, Unmistakable
@UnmistakableCEO

Conventional wisdom in the business world has taught us to look at what other people do, isolate the things that work for them, follow a best practice and attempt to replicate a similar result in our own lives, and our own companies. The not so obvious issue with best practices is that the result is a pale imitation of our predecessors or a mediocre result. But when our work is so distinctive that nobody else could have done it but us, our competition becomes completely irrelevant. In this session, learn how to identify the best practices that are preventing innovation and creative breakthroughs. You’ll also learn why making things that are so distinctive that nobody else could do them but you or your association will ultimately make your competition irrelevant. Rao will share how to ignore best practices, trust your intuition, attempt what hasn’t been proven to develop creative ideas, and breakthrough solutions that solve problems.

Srinivas Rao is the author of the WSJ Bestselling book The Art of Being Unmistakable and his next book Unmistakable: Why Only is Better Than Best was released in August 2016. His work has been featured on the CBS Sunday Morning Show, USA Today, The Blaze and Wall Street Journal. He’s also the founder of The Unmistakable Creative Podcast where he’s interviewed more than 600 creative professionals including entrepreneurs, best-selling authors, venture capitalists and artists. Today the show has a global audience and over 500 5-star reviews in iTunes.

Speaker Provided by BrightSight Group

Tuesday, March 7

9:00–10:00 a.m.

Team of Teams

Chris Fussell

Chief Growth Officer at McChrystal Group, bestselling author, and former US Navy SEAL officer, Chris Fussell weaves his disparate experiences together into a compelling tale for association leaders, laying out the blueprint for how your organization can break down silos and promote cross-functional collaboration. His experiences setting up cutting-edge communication systems in both the military and large, globalized private-sector companies demonstrate the universality of the lessons he learned. Associations all around the world are pressed to stay relevant in today’s turbulent environment, and Fussell’s approach holds the key to your success. You will be inspired to change the way your association communicates and operates.

Chris Fussell was commissioned as a Naval Officer in 1997, and spent the next 15 years on US Navy SEAL Teams, leading SEAL elements in combat zones around the globe. In his career as a Navy SEAL, Fussell served first on SEAL Teams Two and Eight, then in the Naval Special Warfare Development Group. He was then selected to serve as Aide de Camp to then Lieutenant General Stanley McChrystal during General McChrystal’s final year commanding the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), where they served a year together in Iraq. Fussell went on to study Irregular Warfare from the Naval Postgraduate School, earning a Master’s Degree and receiving the Pat Tillman Award.

In 2012, Fussell left the Naval Special Warfare Development Group in order to join the McChrystal Group, an advisory services firm founded by General McChrystal. Fussell also serves as a Senior Fellow for National Security at New America, a Washington, DC based nonpartisan think tank dedicated to understanding the next generation of challenges facing the United States.
New York Times bestselling author of Team of Teams and regular contributor to Harvard Business Review and Fortune Magazine’s Leadership Network, Fussell has been interviewed by a number of outlets, including MSNBC, FastCompany, and Big Think.

He is actively involved in several nonprofits dedicated to helping veterans and their families, and holds a seat on the Board of Directors for the Navy SEAL Foundation.

Speaker Provided by Leading Authorities