STAFDA Announces 2020 Convention Keynote Speaker

Known as a source of wisdom about entrepreneurship, venture capital, marketing and business evangelism, Guy Kawasaki is also a bestselling author.

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ELM GROVE, WI — Members attending the Specialty Tools & Fastener Distributors Association’s Nov. 8-10 Anaheim Convention & Trade Show will be in for a special treat and privilege when Guy Kawasaki delivers the keynote address on Monday, Nov. 9, at the Anaheim Convention Center. Widely respected as a source of wisdom about entrepreneurship, venture capital, marketing and business evangelism, Kawasaki is also a bestselling author having written The Art of the Start 2.0, The Art of Social Media, Enchantment, and 12 other books. His most recent book is Wise Guy: Lessons from a Life.

Currently, Kawasaki is the chief evangelist of Canva, an Australian-based online graphic design service, and podcaster, Guy Kawasaki’s Remarkable People (http://remarkablepeople.com). He is also a brand ambassador for Mercedes-Benz, an adjunct professor at the University of New South Wales, and an executive fellow of the Haas School of Business (UC Berkeley). He achieved this high level of success by leaving his signature on brands and products everyone knows.

Kawasaki’s early business career – which spawned his entrepreneurship ventures – began at Apple where he was the chief evangelist.  After leaving Apple to lead other tech start-ups, he later returned to the company to rejuvenate the Macintosh culture.

In addition, he’s been a special advisor to the CEO of the Motorola division of Google, and in 2015, Kawasaki was appointed to the board of trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation. Throughout his business ventures, he’s maintained his writing, speaking, and consulting practice. He holds a BA from Stanford University, an MBA from UCLA, as well as an honorary doctorate from Babson College.

Kawasaki’s keynote to STAFDA members will be based on one of his books, Enchantment. The goal of enchantment is not merely to get what you want, but to bring about a voluntary, enduring, and delightful change in other people. By enlisting their own goals and desires, by being likeable and trustworthy, STAFDA members will learn how to frame a cause others can embrace by changing hearts, minds, and actions. It’s about transforming situations and relationships. Changing skeptics and cynics into believers, and the undecided into the loyal.

In today’s hyper-competitive STAFDA channel where relationships remain the key to success, Kawasaki’s advice is about action and not talk. Plus, he likes tools.

STAFDA’s 44th Annual Convention & Trade Show in Anaheim is for members only. Registration materials will be mailed to all members in late June; online registration opens on Monday, June 29, at 8:00 a.m. (Central) from the members-only section of www.stafda.org.

For more information on the STAFDA Convention & Trade Show or membership, please contact Catherine Usher, [email protected], 262/784-4774 or 800/352-2981.

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