Speaking Engagements

How to Bring Robin to Speak

Would you like to have Robin come and do a workshop or a talk where you live? Yes, she does that—and loves it!  In these quasi-post-COVID times, such events are finally starting to be possible again, and we’re excited!

There are typically three ways that these events take place; you can read more about these options further down the page:

  1. By Invitation
  2. By Collaboration
  3. By Coordinating with an Existing Visit
I’m Ready, Let’s Go!
(or scroll down to learn more)
By Invitation

Organizations, schools, or parent groups can directly host a talk, workshop, or keynote. This can be initiated at any time by completing the form below or emailing Robin at robin@visiblechild.com.  The host is responsible for travel, lodging, a flat rate speaker fee, staffing the event, and local publicity. The event may be free for attendees or the organization may charge for admission. Events can be any length, content is negotiable.

By Collaboration

Organizations, schools, or parent groups can collaborate to host a talk, workshop, or keynote. This can be done in coordination with other groups in your community, so costs can be shared. The host or hosts provide a space, and coordinate staffing and publicity. Fees are either covered by the hosts charging admission that will cover a speaking fee or by Robin handling ticket sales directly. Events can be any length, content is negotiable.

By Coordinating with an Existing Visit

Sometimes, Robin already has plans to be in a location, whether for work or because of personal travel. Occasionally, she will offer limited availability for a speaking engagement during that time. In such a case, travel and lodging are already taken care of, and the only obligations of coordinators are to provide a space (making certain that admission can be charged) and helping with staffing and publicity. Robin handles ticket sales directly and collects all proceeds.

What Else Is Involved?

What Else Is Involved?

There are three main ways that this happens, as mentioned above, but are there ever other ways? 

Sure!   There are no hard and fast rules.   If you have an idea that you’d like to see happen, be in touch via the form below and we’ll see what we can do.    Sometimes local events (close to where Robin lives in the U.S.) are a bit different, and of course international gigs require a different sort of budgeting and planning, and will likely inherently involve coordination between different groups and locations to maximize the usefulness of the long distance travel and to share expenses.  

I’ve never done something like this before. Where do I start?

No worries, most of the people who plan and coordinate these events have never done it before.  We are putting together a guide to help newcomers make it work, and we’re here to support you as you go through the process.   It’s not as hard as it may seem at first!

Virtual Options?

Virtual Options?

What about Zoom?

Robin does virtual workshops and talks as well if that would work better for you and your group or organization.  Zoom events can be a single workshop or a series of classes or meetings, and they can be private for your group only.   This obviously removes the need for budgeting for meeting space, travel, and lodging.  Robin generally charges directly for these events, unless you want to fund it so that it can be free for participants–those details are worked out as we begin to shape the event together.

Rates

Rates

How much does it cost?

The cost of these events varies greatly, depending on all the moving pieces.   The general categories that need to get budgeted in are speaker fee, travel, and lodging, along with any costs on your end (space rental, food that you might want to provide, child care if you want to provide it, publicity, etc.)   It can be useful to pursue sponsors or funding options to defray costs.  Speaker fee can also sometimes be covered by Robin doing ticket sales independently. 

Just like you, we want to get the message of respectful relationships out there, so we’ll definitely work wth you to figure out a way to cover expenses.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do these events usually last?

The most typical length of a workshop or talk is 2 hours.  One hour of that time is spent in presentation, a combination of a talk and interactive conversation.  The second hour is more interactive discussion and examples, followed by a Q&A.   That being said, events can be any length, from a shorter single session to a series of sessions, a half-day or all-day session or even a weekend retreat!  It’s all about what you and your group want and need–we’ll work out the details.  Obviously, the fees will shift accordingly.

Where is Robin traveling from, so we can estimate travel time and expenses?

Robin lives in Ohio, in the United States (Midwest).  It is in the Eastern U.S. time zone.

What size audience is typical? What should I plan for?

Robin has spoken to parent groups of 12-15 people and audiences of 150-200 people, and everything in between.   You know your communty best, and you are probably the best judge of interest where you live.   As we work together, Robin can share her guesses about audience size based on her client base and mailing list, but you probably know best.  Naturally, in more heavily populated areas, as well as more progressive areas, audience tends to be larger, so we tend to plan for 50+, but we will work with you.  The only barrier to small group size is the speaker fee, so it may be best, if you want to do a small group event, to contact Robin and think through the options together.

The library where I live lets people reserve rooms to do events like this–would that work?

We don’t know the rules and regulations where you are, but in our experience, library events must be free to attend and generally must be open to the public.  If that’s manageable for you as a result of funding, that might work.  Otherwise, it generally doesn’t work because, while you may choose for events to be open to the public,  they are generally not free.  By the same token, renting a high end meeting or conference space is not usually compatible with the budget for these sorts of talks, but if your funding source wants to reserve and use such a space, there’s no problem with meeting there.

My preschool would love to have Robin come and speak, but we don’t have the budget for it. Is there any sliding scale?

After more than 40 years in the field of early education, we surely understand this predicament.  We recognize that these fees are often outside the ability of many smaller independent preschools.   Once in a great while, especially in coordination with other paid events, Robin can do a workshop for a lower fee; however, it’s not something to count on.  If you are in that position, we strongly suggest reaching out to multiple preschools or schools in your area–with multiple sites pitching in, it is often quite easy to make it work.  There is also the option of paid admission to the event, which will cover part or all of Robin’s fee.   Let us know if you’re in this situation and we’ll hopefully work it out!

Who are these events for? Parents? Teachers? Others? Is there an age range that it’s limited to?

Great question!  All of the above.  And again, partially up to you.   Would you like to do an event where you live for parents of infants or preschoolers?  Maybe your prenatal class would like to meet to prepare for impending parenthood?  A group of parents of tweens or teens?   Are you looking for a training or an inservice for teachers, whether preschool or elementary?   These are all possible–Robin has worked extensively with all of these audience groups.   The only guiding principle is that, no matter the audience, the focus of the talk will be oriented around cultivating and sustaining respectful relationships with children–if that’s what you’re after, we’re in!

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