Workshops & Speaking Engagements

Sam Davidson and Matt Cheuvront, co-founders of Proof, are sought-after speakers and authorities when it comes to messaging to Generation Y (also known as Millennials). Whether you’re trying to get more 20-somethings to join your health club, want to reach young parents via Facebook, or need college-aged volunteers at your nonprofit, Davidson and Cheuvront can help you understand what it takes to succeed with this emerging generation that is nearly 80 million strong.

The following is a sample of keynote presentations that Davidson or Cheuvront can deliver at your next conference. Either is always available to lead hands-on workshops that can help your team, association, or company understand who Millennials are and how they behave. And, as always, Davidson and Cheuvront can craft customized talks as well.

Understanding Your Branding

Time and again, people begin businesses without thinking about a company’s core values or how people will come to recognize it as worth sharing with their friends. Today’s great companies and organizations are brands, meaning we all know what to say about them when discussing them with our respective networks. In this innovative discussion, participants will leave knowing about the foundations any great brand is built on and how to implement valuable, brand-building practices at existing companies. If you want to grow your business by becoming a recognize brand, it all starts with a little understanding.

Defining and Promoting the Brand that is Your Nonprofit Organization

Apple, Starbucks, and the Dallas Cowboys – all have devoted fans that support them year after year, no matter the outcome. Your nonprofit organization can have the same kind of support and following as a major brand, but only if you focus on what your organization stands for. In this hands-on workshop, attendees will walk through a step-by-step process to define their nonprofit organization’s brand essence, articulate their brand’s action, and begin planning to promote that brand to potential volunteers, supporters, donors, and fans. Successful nonprofit brands will be highlighted, and best practices offered from how these brands became well-known and created a dedicated base of support in the process.

Using social responsibility to reach Gen Y

The biggest generation to come along since the Baby Boomers, Gen Y is a force (for good) to be reckoned with. And rightfully so; this is the first generation to graduate high school and college with service requirements placed upon their degrees. The understand civic engagement deeply, but differently. How can you get them engaged to volunteer with you? How can you position your company as one that cares about the community? After this presentation, you’ll leave with concrete ideas for crafting a message that resonates with this generation when it comes to helping you do good.

Brands are People, Too

Bob Dylan said it best, “Times they are a-Changin” - The millennial generation is here and their buying habits are dramatically different than those generations who have come before. Not to mention the way they communicate and share information is constantly evolving. They crave relationships, they demand authenticity, and above all, they want to connect with you, the representative of your brand. Are you listening? Do you know when to engage? How to communicate with them? In this talk we talk about the “humanization” of your brand and how you can truly connect with millennial consumers – and most importantly, how that contributes to your bottom line.

Your Mom has Facebook

What started as a Millennial revolution has now been adopted by the masses. The fastest growing demographic on social media are adults over 40; but what does this mean for marketers who want to use social media to reach young people? Is it time to move on? Hardly. In this talk, you’ll find proven ways to cut through the 500 million Facebook users to find the Millennials you desperate need to find. You’ll also learn what messages succeed among young people on Twitter, and why finding a Millennial influencer is worth every ounce of your energy and effort.

Brand new – learning about Millennial parents

The oldest Gen Y’ers are just turning 30, and with it, many are becoming new parents. But how will they act compared to their parents? Will buying patterns and parental values stay the same or be light years away from what was? Time and again, Millennials state that being a good parent is important to them. But what does that mean exactly, especially to a generation that is marrying later? The talk looks at the latest trends in a very new field and helps you begin to strategize how to pitch your products and story to these brand new parents.