Oct 26, 2011
The Main Event

Well, today was the driving impetus for our trip out west: the Engage 2011 National Speakers Bureau Showcase. It's an annual event where the NSB puts some of its speakers in front of their regular clients. It was an honor to be asked to do the Toronto edition last year and Vancouver this year.

Former parliamentarian Deborah Grey was the host and I shared the stage with some amazing speakers, including Bif Naked, Trevor Linden, Bricker and Wright from Ipsos-Reid and bestselling author Joseph Michelli (pictured). Deb Grey called me and the guitar "a national treasure" and lead the room in a spontaneous rendition of "O, Canada" and Michelli (bless his heart) referred to Six String Nation repeatedly throughout his own presentation.

It was a really great event but what sent it over the top for me was the performance on Voyageur at the end of my presentation by international finger-style guitar champion Don Alder, who did simply an amazing performance of his instrumental, "The Wall", written while he was at the Great Wall in China with his day job as tour manager for Man-In-Motion Rick Hansen. Following the performance, Don presented me with an original Man-In-Motion tour button and another souvenir.

Here's hoping that the showcase helps bring us to more Canadians!

Special thanks to Perry Goldsmith, Theresa Beenken and all the staff at NSB, the VanCity Theatre staff, Don Alder, Joseph Michelli for the dedication in his book and all the other speakers and attendees.
Thanks to John Hamilton, Anita Hutchinson, Paolo Pietropaolo, Natasha Aziz and baby Mela and the Air Canada flight staff for a great trip to and stay in Vancouver.

Posted at 4:10 PM

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