Rulon Gardner’s Calendar

Updated Sunday, June 19, 2009. Contact info@marquisathletes.com for event inquiries.

January 2009

1.21.09 North Platte Schools, North Platte, NE

1.22.09 National Safety Council, Omaha, NE & Lincoln Public Schools, Lincoln, NE

February 2009

2.11.09 IMPACT! Iron Workers, Las Vegas, NV

2.13.09 UT State Wrestling Tournament (Commentating), UT

2.27.09 NBC appearance, San Diego, CA

2.28.09 Book Signing at Chula Vista Olympic Training Center, Chula Vista, CA

March 2009

3.6.09-3.7.09 CA State Wrestling Championships Autograph Signing on behalf of Asics, Bakersfield, CA

3.13.09 Air Academy High School, Colorado Springs, CO

3.20.09 WIN Autograph Show at NCAA’s on behalf of Asics, St. Louis, MO

April 2009

4.3.09 Association of Independent Corrugated Converters, Washington, DC

4.4.09-4.5.09 Chicago 2012 IOC Evaluation Commission, Chicago, IL

4.11.09 US Nationals (Broadcasting), Las Vegas, NV

4.15.09 El Reno Public Schools, El Reno, OK

4.19.09 Aker Solutions, Cleveland, OH

4.30.09 Dawes Middle School, Lincoln, NE

May 2009

5.1.09 NAIFA/NAHU Conference, La Vista, NE

5.6.09 Ann Arbor Annuity Exchange, Las Vegas, NV

5.16.09-5.17.09 Polson Wrestling Club Clinic & Fundraiser, Polson, MT

June 2009

6.3.09 Rulon Gardner Wrestling Camp, Phoenix, AZ

6.13.09 PIA Western Alliance, Cle Elum, WA

6.24.09 Rulon Gardner Wrestling Camp, Ogden, UT

July 2009

7.6.09 Bruce Baumgartner Wrestling Camp, Edinboro, PA

7.7.09-7.12.09 People to People Ambassadors Program, Vienna, Austria

7.13.09 National Farmer’s Union, Bailey, CO

7.19.09 Asics/Vaughan Junior & Cadet National Championships Autograph Signing on behalf of Asics, Fargo, ND

August 2009

8.6.09 MT Coaches Association, Great Falls, MT

8.13.09 Hoegemeyer Hybrids Customer Field Day, Hooper, NE

8.20.09 MI Municipal Risk Management Authorities Annual Conference, Traverse City, MI

September 2009

October 2009

10.5.09-10.9.09 Cheyenne Cardiology Associates, WY

10.16.09 Boy Scouts of America Western Council, Grand Junction, CO

November 2009

11.20.09-11.21.09 NE Cooperative Commission, Kearney, NE

11.24.09 IL Corn Growers Assn., Bloomington, IL

December 2009

12.1.09 Syngenta, Sioux Falls

January 2010

February 2010

March 2010

3.5.10 MN All Breeds Convention, Willmar, MN

Saving Money on Motivational Speakers

It’s no secret the economy still isn’t doing well, but I have some ways you can save money on motivational speakers–those I represent, and those you may be considering booking through other bureaus or agents.

• Event Combining-Did you know that we (and many other speakers) offer reduced rates on additional events when a speaker is already in your area? With us, you not only save on travel expenses (in many cases you’ll just be responsible for ground transportation from the last event to yours), but we also book additional events at 50% off if our speaker doesn’t need to stay any additional days to complete your event. Wondering when our speakers will be in your area? Visit our website and check out the client calendar.
• Multiple Event Contracts-If your company, non-profit or school has multiple events coming up where you’d like our speaker, let us know. We’ll negotiate a lower cost per event in return for the guaranteed business. Examples of past ways we’ve made this work for customers is to do multiple corporate events all over the country for one company, do multiple community events all over the country for one major company within an industry looking to get its name out to this target audience, do multiple events on behalf of a parent non-profit organization for its local branches and do a week’s work of school speeches throughout an entire district.
• Virtual Meetings & School Assemblies-Imagine how much money you could save by not flying all of your employees out for a meeting, then paying for their hotel rooms and meals. Our speakers are available for virtual meetings–from your corporate headquarters or their home office. Employees can listen in via conference call or see the event via web conferencing. Conferences may be saved and viewed at the employees leisure, so as not to lose productivity. Ditto for school assemblies–many school districts are cutting back assemblies altogether in an effort to save money. By using this technology, schools can have speakers piped into classrooms when it’s convenient for teachers, thereby saving money and time, but still giving their students the benefits of speakers.

Rulon Gardner to do Book Signing in Colorado Springs!

On Saturday, December 6, 2008 from 11am-1pm Rulon Gardner will be signing copies of his book “Never Stop Pushing” at the Olympic Training Center Spirit Store in Colorado Springs, CO. The signing will coincide with the after-Beijing tent sale, where all Beijing merchandise will be 75% off! We hope to see you there.

Overcoming Adversity: Motivational Speaker Rulon Gardner

Motivational speaker Rulon Gardner is an expert on overcoming adversity–he grew up the youngest of nine children on a dairy farm, struggled with a learning disability throughout his education, defeated the greatest wrestler of all time in the Sydney Olympics, survived a snowmobile accident and exposure to the elements, came back from an amputated toe due to that accident to win Bronze in Athens and recently survived a plane crash into Lake Powell. It’s no wonder our customers, like Rhonda Hale of Breakthrough in Wichita, KS, think his message is so important–

“The event went AMAZING. Everyone had so much fun and we had a great turnout! Thank you for helping me set everything up….We just appreciated him so much! I hope he knows how much he touched our organization and our community. Thank you again.”

Motivational Speakers for your Financial Services Company

In the current economic climate, your financial services company is probably looking for some motivation. At Marquis Athletes, LLC, we’ve been working with John Hancock Financial Services for years. Rulon Gardner has performed hundreds of speeches on behalf of John Hancock to various financial services companies–Morgan Stanley, UBS, Merril Lynch and others. These events are always well attended because the clients and potential clients want to meet Rulon, and follow up is facilitated by the signed photos and autographed books. If your company is interested in working with Rulon, contact us today at info@marquisathletes.com. We offer long-term, multi-unit discount deals and would be happy to work with your meeting planners to create memorable, profitable events for your clients and staff!

You’re on Facebook? We’re on Facebook!

Marquis Athletes now has a Facebook page. If your organization does as well, please add us as a friend!

Why You Should Hire Motivational Speakers (even when the economy isn’t doing so well)

Listen, the economy isn’t doing very well right now. I understand. I see the doom and gloom on the news every night, just like you do. You’re probably having a hard time rationalizing why you should spend the money on a top motivational speaker right now–fair enough. We’re all cutting back.

But here’s the thing–at times like these, when the economy isn’t doing well, when your employees are worried about hitting sales targets, these are the times you NEED a motivational speaker. You need someone who can fire up your team, who can inspire with tales of how they overcame adversity. This investment now will pay big dividends for your company’s financial well-being, as well as for your employee’s morale.

Plus, I’m running all sorts of specials right now to lure customers in…just send me an email (DanielleMarquis@marquisathletes.com) and mention that you heard about the specials on this blog, or sign up for our newsletter on the website.

Rulon Gardner and Larry the Cable Guy at the University of Nebraska

Rulon Gardner recently did a speaking event for the students, athletes and staff at the University of Nebraska. While in Lincoln, he attended the football game versus San Jose State, where he ran into Larry the Cable Guy.

Olympic Themed Corporate Events

You’re the meeting planner for your company–or someone who has never planned a meeting before, but suddenly this role was thrust upon you–and you have a corporate event planned…now all you need is a venue, a theme and a motivational speaker. Freaking out?! I can’t help you with the venue part, but I can help you with the theme and the motivational speaker part.

Since 2008 is an Olympic year, how about an Olympic theme? The Beijing Games recently ended and the Olympics are foremost in everyone’s mind–especially since it was some of the first new programming to hit the TV in months due to the writer’s strike. With all the themes of goal-setting and achievement the Olympics embody, this is a great theme for a corporate event. You could bring in an Olympic speaker (like Olympic Gold and Bronze Medalist Rulon Gardner), set up 5 breakout groups to work on specific skill sets (to coincide with the 5 Olympic rings, get it?!), even do a fun team building event (i.e., The Corporate Olympics). We’ve had past customers do team boat races (with one team–who had performed the best in the earlier breakout sessions–winning the right to have the Olympian speaker on their team!) and team bicycle assembly competitions (the bikes were then donated to a local charity). Since the Olympics were in Beijing this past summer, you could have your meeting catered with Chinese food.

Has your company done an Olympic Themed Corporate Event in the past? What did you do? What worked, what didn’t? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

Rulon Gardner Blogs from Beijing

Olympic Gold and Bronze Medalist and Marquis Athletes, LLC client Rulon Gardner will be commentating for NBC Olympics during the Beijing Games. Please visit his blog www.rulongardnerinbeijing.wordpress.com for updates!