As someone who has stage experience in stand up comedy, music performance, corporate entertainment and presentations, as well as corporate video production, I get a lot of invitations to attend speaker meetings and events.

Right now I am getting deluged with invitations from national speakers organizations that contain what my wife calls “velfies” or video selfies. The video messages from these professional speakers are usually shot with a smart phone, very little preparation, production quality and are barely audible.

It’s hard to believe that someone would take their reputation and on screen persona on such a fall from grace. Your image is your image. It’s what you’re selling. When you degrade your only product into an afterthought, you run the risk of not being taken seriously and worse, not being taken at all.

I can just see one of these “professional speakers” sitting in a echoey room holding an iPhone at arms length and pitching one of these upcoming events.

Would I spend a couple of thousand dollars to attend this meeting after witnessing this Visine inducing experience? As Descartes wouldn’t say, “I think not”

Word to the wise: creating a video selfie to promote your event can be hazardous to your financial health and reputation.

Please try back during normal business hours.

Just got an e-mail from a company offering me hosting options because I stream live events using a certain brand of propriety software.

It was an introductory e-mail with a video from the director of sales telling me as a user of my certain product his product would be the perfect solution for streaming and storage.

I have to say it was a little off putting to have some one reach out to me in an unanticipated and unwelcome way informing me he knew what tools I use and what I use them for.

Where did he get that information? If the company I purchased the software from gave it to him I won’t be happy. I know, I know, this sort of thing happens all the time. I am not naive. But we are heading into a point in time where access and attention will be the currency we trade in.

Today it is attention, agreement and then access. An on line cold call is unacceptable in the currently abusive environment. You can’t come out the blue and expect to be taken seriously.

First, you get my attention. Find out where I get my information and contribute. Shouldn’t be hard, you seem to know everything else.

Then you get my agreement to send me information. And it shouldn’t be all about you.

Once you have that access you will promise not to abuse our relationship by selling my information or filling up my inbox. Ever.

Bye bye!