The end of the year is hurtling toward us like a meteor careening towards Earth.  Okay, that’s not the greatest analogy in the world, but you get the idea.

My point is that there’s a limited amount of time left to do all of the things that you want to do before 2011 bids adieu . . . which is why we’re releasing Early Bird Registration for the 2012 National Convention next week.  It’s been our experience that many recruiters prefer to register for the convention before the end of the current year, so that the expense of the event is associated with that year and not the next one—and we are more than happy to oblige them.

Where are we going for the 2012 National Convention?

As we announced recently, we’re going to the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tenn.  We were at the Gaylord for the 2005 National Convention, and we had a great time.  How great of a time?  Click here to see photos from that event.

What’s the cost of Early Bird Registration?

I don’t have the answer to that yet, but I will say this: we haven’t raised the price of registration for either our National Convention OR our Fall Conference since I started working at Top Echelon—and that was two whole recessions ago.  In fact, our Early Bird Registration price for the 2011 National Convention was the lowest that we’ve ever offered.

How can I knock some money off the price of attending, anyway?

I’m so glad you asked.  If you read my blog post last week, you know that you can reduce the cost of registration by $50 by submitting a video of you singing a country song.  And that’s just for starters.  If your video is deemed to be the BEST one submitted—by a very secret, covert, and completely objective committee—then you will attend the convention for FREE.  (Hotel and travel expenses extra, void where prohibited, your cancelled check is your receipt, sanitized for your protection . . .)  So what are you waiting for?  Start sending in your videos.  I mean right now.  Chop-chop.

What are the dates for the 2012 National Convention?

The dates for the convention are Thursday, March 22, through Saturday, March 24.

What’s the room rate that Top Echelon Network has secured for the convention?

The room rate is $155 per night for Wednesday, March 21, through Saturday, March 24.  That rate is good for either a single or double occupancy.  Each additional person to a room is $20 per night for triple and quad occupancy.

Does Top Echelon Network have a room block reserved at the Gaylord?

We do, but it’s a small room block.  That means if you know that you’re going to attend the convention, I suggest you book your room as soon as possible.  To do so, call the Gaylord Opryland Resort directly at (615) 883-2211.  Before booking your room, identify yourself as part of Top Echelon Network and/or mention group cope X-TOPEC.

Who are the speakers for the 2012 National Convention?

The keynote speaker for the convention will be Rob Mosely of Next Level Training.  Among the sessions that Mosely will present are “Great Communication = Great Compensation,” “Behaviors That Drive Revenue,” and “Four Great Truths.”  In addition, Sam Mondalfo of LinkedIn will be on hand to discuss strategies that recruiters can use when navigating this popular social media site.  Of course, Top Echelon Internet Strategies Manager Todd Bossler will once again present training about the Big Biller recruiting software.

What are we doing for the Gala Event on Friday night?

It’s a secret.  Quit asking.  Jeez.

Okay, that’s all for right now, but rest assured that we’ll be publishing plenty more about the 2012 National Convention in the weeks and months ahead.  And of course, be on the lookout for our country music video . . . because nobody is going to make fools of themselves before WE do.

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330.455.1433, x125
MDeutsch@TopEchelon.com
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As we announced in last week’s issue of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog, we’re going to Nashsville, Tenn., for the 2012 Top Echelon Network National Convention!

We even presented the perfect case study for why you should attend the convention—namely that no matter WHO you are, you can make a split placement (and maybe multiple split placements) from attending.

As for this week?  Well, we have something special planned.

We’re always looking for new ways to either help you make money or help you save money.  Attending the convention, of course, helps you to make money since it presents split placement opportunities with other Network recruiters.  So . . . how will we help you save money?

Easy.  If you’re willing to send us a video clip of you singing your favorite country song, you’ll automatically receive $50 off the cost of registration.

AND if we pick your video as the best one that we receive, then you’ll attend the 2012 National Convention FREE of charge.  (You’ll still have to pay for hotel and travel expenses, of course.)

We’re not doing this just to save you money.  It also ties into the Gala Event that we have planned for the convention.  In addition, it’s a great way to promote the event and to enhance the networking aspect of the convention.  After all, these videos would make very good conversation starters for those recruiters who attend.

Still skeptical?  Tell you what, we’ll go first.  That’s right, we’ll be record a video of us singing a country song in the near future, just to show you how easy it is to do.  Below are some additional points to keep in mind:

• We will be using the videos for promotional purposes.  That means putting them on YouTube and publishing them in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.  So when you send us a video, you’re doing so with the expressed knowledge that we’ll be using it for these purposes.  Hey—no guts, no glory.
• You do not have to sing the entire song.  Sing a couple of verses, if that’s all you can muster.  Of course, if you sing the whole song, you stand a better chance of going to the convention for FREE.
• You do not have to wear cowboy garb in your video, although it’s certainly permissible.
• You can play the song in the background while you sing along to it, or you can sing without it.
• If you want to get two or three or more Preferred Member recruiters together to sing in the same video, that’s a-okay.  You’ll all get $50 off the cost of registration.  However, we’ll have to randomly select one person from the video to attend the convention for free.
• Once you’ve shot your video, email it to marketing@TopEchelon.com.

Early Bird Registration for the convention, which will be held at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center, will be available two weeks from today.  In the meantime, keep an eye out for our video . . . and we’ll keep an eye out for yours.

— — —

330.455.1433, x125
MDeutsch@TopEchelon.com
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Okay, we’ve just announced that we’re heading to Nashville, Tenn., for the 2012 National Convention.  And since you might be wondering whether or not you should attend, we thought we’d clear that up for you.

Yes, you should attend—and the following case study will illustrate exactly why you should.

If there was a Top Echelon Network “Hall of Fame,” Sean Napoles of Career Brokers, Inc. would be voted into it on the first ballot.  Why is that?

• 11 years as a Preferred Member recruiter
• 156 Network placements
• $1.3 million cashed in during his Network career
• Has won more Top Echelon Network awards and hardware than would fit in your car

Napoles is a split placement machine.  He’s seen it all and done it all, including attending Top Echelon events like the National Convention and the Fall Conference.

On the other hand, Kaleb Dumot of the Emerald Resource Group is about as new a Preferred Member as you can be.  Although the Emerald Resource Group has been a Preferred Member firm for nearly 14 years, Dumot wasn’t added as a recruiter until September 12 of this year . . . a little over two months ago.

With Napoles and Dumot, you couldn’t have two recruiters who are more at opposite ends of the Preferred Member spectrum in terms of experience within the Network.

And yet . . . the two of them recently made a split placement together.  And why did they make a split?

Because they BOTH attended the 2011 Top Echelon Network Fall Conference.

“But for me attending the conference, I never would have met Kaleb,” said Napoles, who is currently the number-two recruiter in the Network in terms of production during the past 12 months.  “He gave me a job order [for a C# Developer] at the conference, and I just filled it.”

If it sounds that simple, that’s because it is.  Dumot gave Napoles a job order at the conference . . . Napoles filled it with a great candidate that Dumot’s client liked . . . and now the two will split the placement fee.  Not only that, but the two of them are also more likely to work together in the future and more likely to split more fees.

So . . . it doesn’t matter who you are.  You could be a tenured recruiter with over a decade in the Network and countless placements.  You could be a recruiter who’s new to the Network and how everything within it works.

You can make split placements by attending Top Echelon Network events.

Make plans to join us at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in March.  Bring your hot job orders and candidates.  And be ready to make some money.

— — —

330.455.1433, x125
MDeutsch@TopEchelon.com
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This is traditionally the time of the year that we announce our plans for the following year’s National Convention, and I’m pleased to announce that we’re going to Nashville, Tenn., for the 2012 convention.

But that’s just part of the good news.  We’re also going back to the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center, which was the site of our National Convention in 2006.  If you haven’t been to the Gaylord Opryland, it’s one of the most impressive venues we’ve ever been to and we’re looking forward to having next year’s convention there.

Okay, I know you probably have some questions, so I will answer as many of them as I can.

The dates of the 2012 National Convention are Thursday, March 22, through Saturday, March 24.  The Easter holiday next year falls on Sunday, April 8, so the convention will be a full two weeks away from that date.  This year, we held the convention in May, and it seemed many recruiters ran into scheduling conflicts with that month, so we decided that a return to earlier in the year would be in order.

We plan to release all of the information for the convention’s Early Bird Registration (preliminary agenda, logistics, etc.) sometime in December, by the middle of the month at the latest.  That way, you’ll be able to sign up for the convention before the end of 2011, which I know many recruiters like to do for tax purposes.  As always, the earlier you register for the convention, the better the price you’ll be able to secure.

As has been the case in the past, we have a block of rooms reserved at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center.  However, the number of rooms in that block is limited.  As a result, it will be in your best interest to book a room as soon as you possibly can.  In fact, if you know that you’ll be attending the convention, I recommend that you book your room at the hotel immediately.

If you have any additional questions regarding the 2012 National Convention, I encourage you to give us a call.  We look forward to a strong finish to this year, a great 2012 for the Network and the recruiting industry, and to seeing you in Nashville next March!

— — —

330.455.1433, Ext. 172
MDemaree@TopEchelon.com
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For those of you who plan to attend the upcoming 2011 Fall Conference in Chicago, we have an important announcement:

The Embassy Suites O’Hare/Rosemont is currently SOLD OUT for the dates of the conference.

Those dates are Thursday, October 20, and Friday, October 21.  We had a limited number of rooms blocked at the Embassy Suites, and those rooms are now gone.  We were hopeful that if the Embassy Suites did sell out, it would be after the end of our Early Bird Registration period.  Alas, that is not the case.

So . . . what does this mean?

Well, it means that those of you planning to attend the Fall Conference will have to book a room at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, which is basically located right next to the Embassy Suites O’Hare/Rosemont.  Below are some important points regarding this announcement:

• The rate for the DoubleTree is $169 per night.  With that in mind, if you have the opportunity to share the cost of a room with another Preferred Member recruiter, we encourage you to do so.
• We have blocked 10 room nights at the DoubleTree.  However, we expect those to get snatched up quickly, so book your rooms ASAP.
• Click here to visit the website for the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, where you can take a virtual tour and also book your room.

Remember, Early Bird Registration for the conference is still underway.  During Early Bird, you can register for the Fall Conference at the low price of $199 per person.  (This is still the lowest price we’ve ever offered for a full-blown Fall Conference, even after all these years.  We don’t raise the cost of attending our events, no matter what’s happening in the economy overall.  In fact, we’ve lowered them).

Once again, below is the registration schedule:

Early Bird Registration, from now until Monday, September 12—$199 per person

Regular Registration, from Tuesday, September 13, until Monday, October 10—$229 per person

Late Registration, from Tuesday, October 11, until the start of the conference—$249 per person

There are currently 39 recruiters signed up for the Fall Conference, and we expect many more to register before the end of Early Bird.  So don’t wait any longer—sign up now and do the things you need to do in order to make more money!

— — —

View the preliminary agenda.
Register for the Fall Conference.
See who’s already signed up.

We can guarantee that there will be Top Producers in the Network at the upcoming 2011 Fall Conference.  That’s because some of them will be presenting sessions at the conference, scheduled for Thursday, October 20, and Friday, October 21 at the Embassy Suites O’Hare/Rosemont.

One of those Top Producers is Bob Wylan of R.A. Wylan & Co., Inc.  Wylan has been ridiculously consistent in the Network since he became a Preferred Member, making split placements each and every year, including this one.  Overall, he’s made a total of 15 Network placements, many of them with hefty split fees.

The secret behind Wylan’s success?  It really isn’t a secret at all.

“It’s all about establishing relationships and building trust,” said Wylan, who started in the recruiting industry in 1979.  “I’ve found that operating with honesty and integrity is the best way to conduct business.”

One of the unique aspects of Wylan’s session in Chicago is that it revolves around the game of golf.  That’s because Wylan, an avid golfer, has discovered a correlation between the way somebody plays golf and the way they conduct themselves in a business situation.  In other words, Wylan will know if he wants to work with you after playing with you (and observing you) on the golf course.

The best part is that Wylan has applied these principles to his recruiting firm and to his Preferred Membership in Top Echelon Network, and he’s done so with great success.  These principles are proven, timeless, effective, and applicable for other Preferred Member recruiters.  That’s one of the reasons we asked Wylan to present a session at the Fall Conference.  We want him to share his insight—and his wit—with those in attendance.  Below is a brief synopsis of what to expect from Wylan’s session.

— — —

Session Title: “I Learned Everything I Needed to Know About Business from Golf” or “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Driving”

Presenter: Bob Wylan of R.A. Wylan & Co., Inc.

Date: Friday, October 21

Time: 3 to 3:45 p.m.

Session Description: How can the game of golf make you more productive as a recruiter?  Help you build better relationships?  Help you make more split placements in the Network?  Join Wylan as he educates you not only about golf, but also about how the game can help you to successfully deal with clients and other recruiters, especially in a face-to-face situation.  Regardless of whether or not you’re a golfer, everyone knows how many deals are sealed on the green.  Now you can find out how the game of golf can help you seal more deals, too!

(Editor’s Note: Wylan was recently profiled in The PinnacleNewsletter Blog because of his success as a Preferred Member recruiter.  Click here to access the “Recruiter’s Resume” feature about Wylan.)

— — —

View the preliminary agenda for the conference.
Register for the Conference at the “Early Bird” Rate.
See who already signed up.
Access more information about the hotel.

We’ve said this before . . . but we’ll say it again, because it bears repeating.

Recruiters who attend Top Echelon Network conferences and conventions are more likely to make split placements.

There’s evidence of this all the time, everywhere, after every event that we hold. No matter how many recruiters attend, split placements result from the meeting.  And why is this important?

Well, because the 2011 Top Echelon Network Fall Conference will be here before you know it.  In fact, the conference is scheduled for Thursday, October 20, and Friday, October 21, at the Embassy Suites in Chicago.  Even though that seems like it’s a long time away, it isn’t.  That’s why we’ll be releasing the preliminary agenda for the conference in the near future, maybe even as early as next week.

In the meantime, we’re going to highlight one of the many split placements that resulted from a recent Top Echelon Network event.  In this case, that event was the regional conference we held in Tampa, Fla., at the beginning of 2010.

Of the over 30 recruiters who attended the event, two of them were Amy Recker of Bridgeway Professionals, Inc. and Frank Gregg of Gregg & Associates.  Recker and Gregg met each other for the first time and discussed their business and their firms.  Those conversations eventually led to a split placement when Gregg saw a job order that Recker had posted in the Network’s Split Jobs Database and contacted her about one of his passive candidates.

Because Recker met Gregg at the regional conference in Tampa, she gave his candidate an extra bit of attention, and that investment of time paid off in the form of a split placement.

Recker and Gregg eventually placed a VP of Operations for a VERY substantial fee.  (While it’s our policy to not publish placement fees in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog, since it’s on the World Wide Web, I recommend logging into the Members’ Area to view the details associated with this placement.)

“This is proof that it pays to post your most recent job orders on the TE site,” said Recker.  “Having met Frank at the regional meeting in Florida last year, I knew enough about his opinion of the candidate he shared.  The candidate gets a great new job, our client gets a sharp new VP, we get more job orders from this client, and Frank gets a free round of golf!”

The bottom line: if Recker and Gregg had not attended the regional conference in Tampa, they would not have made this split placement and earned a large fee in the process.  When it comes to Top Echelon Network conferences and conventions, sometimes you just have to find a way to get there . . . the rest seems to take care of itself.

That’s why we want you to find a way to get to the 2011 Fall Conference in Chicago.  Meeting one recruiter at one conference could be the first step to a new Trading Partner relationship and significant split placement revenue.

So, we’ve said it before . . . and there’s no doubt we’ll be saying it again.

— — —

330.455.1433, Ext. 125
MDeutsch@TopEchelon.com
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