"KNOCKING THE COBWEBS OUT"

JOE CALLOWAY TALKS ABOUT EXCEPTIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AT FFVA CONVENTION

September 17-19 - The Ritz-Carlton, Naples

Joe Calloway wants you to look at your business through new eyes and then get moving. That's the gist of this successful branding consultant and business author's upcoming keynote presentation at FFVA's 63rd Annual Convention.

Calloway doesn't think of his presentation as a speech. "I'm not a big fan of speeches. I'm very conversational and like to get the audience involved," he says. He doesn't just talk. He pauses, asks questions and gives the audience time to think and respond.

"We're bringing Joe in because his message is something Florida fruit and vegetable producers need to hear," said FFVA President Mike Stuart. "He knows how to bring a product to the market in such a way that it stands above the crowd."

Calloway says his focus for the last 26 years has been to look for the answer to the question of what differentiates exceptional organizations. In an earlier life, he served as marketing director for a large real estate firm. He became fascinated with those real estate companies that stood out from the pack. He expanded on the concept and learned all he could about other industries "and really organizations of any kind," he says.

As keynote speaker, he will address the Annual Cracker Breakfast, held early in the morning on Tuesday, September 19 at the Ritz-Carlton, Naples. He'll cover a list of areas that, he says, are critical to create and sustain success.

"Extraordinary companies are, by definition, different from their competitors," Calloway explains." The critical differences are not, however, usually found in product, price, or even service." One of those critical points he covers is that these outstanding organizations have a propensity to action. They don't just talk. They are masters of execution.

"I also believe that a truly extraordinary organization shows a willingness to fail," he says. "Mistakes are seldom fatal. You learn from them. What is fatal is the mistake of doing nothing in a dynamic marketplace."

Calloway also believes in being straightforward. He can't stand fashionable business phrases and buzzwords. In one of his books, he asks, "What would have happened if Martin Luther King Jr. had proclaimed, 'I Have a Strategic Plan' instead of 'I Have a Dream?'"

And before you do anything else, Calloway says, you must answer the question, "Who are You?" with conviction and passion. If you're hesitant, Calloway predicts failure, that signals lack of vision, focus and commitment.

Calloway's client list includes organizations like Saks Fifth Avenue, IBM, and BMW. He's a guest lecturer with the Center for Professional Development at Belmont University, and is a partner in an award-winning Nashville restaurant.

Noted branding consultant Joe Calloway will address FFVA's 63rd Annual Convention, September 19, during the traditional Cracker Breakfast.

To learn more about Calloway's ideas on extraordinary companies, pick up one of his books, Becoming a Category of One and Indispensable: How to Become the Company your Customers Can't Live Without. And plan to attend the Cracker Breakfast at FFVA's 63rd Annual Convention.

"It's really important to me that everybody walk out of this session with their wheels spinning about some things that they can actually do when they get back to work," he said. "I want them to knock the cobwebs out. It's so easy for any of us, including me, to get stuck in making assumptions about 'the way this business works,' so hopefully, I can shake some new ideas loose!"

To register for the convention, follow this link or call (321) 214-5200.