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What audiences say

Adam’s talk was an eye opener for me. While I knew that my business would change drastically in the next few years, this was a wake up call that we needed to get in front of market demand. Defending the past was not going to help us survive. Since Adam’s talk, we have keyed in on what our customers value and have allocated time and money to pursue disruptive products and services. While I don’t know if we will be the next Apple, I am getting reactions from clients such as, “Wow! That sounds easy, like it would serve us better and cost less!” Thanks for the wake up call Adam!

Thomas Dodds, President of slashBlue

Adam is a dynamic speaker with his pulse on strategies for a fast evolving global world. His presentation fired up our teams with real world examples and exceeded our expectations. The message to prevent ‘lock-in’ to our strategies and push the envelope in new areas where we can see opportunity was perfect for our leadership conference. Everyone should read his book.

John H. Jacko Jr.
VP and Chief Marketing Officer, Kennametal Inc.

Adam presented practical, actionable viewpoints to our management team. Using a combination of examples and specific to-dos, he explained how we can avoid a lock-in mindset that has resulted in the downfall of many a company! His engaging style made it easy for our team to internalize the concepts.

Sudhakar Ramakrishna,
Corporate VP, Home — Networks Mobility, Motorola, Inc.

Adam, THANK YOU! The compliments just keep on rolling in about your presentation to our Members and guests. YOU WERE TERRIFIC and we really appreciate your time and insights!

Sandy Weissent, University of Chicago CEO roundtable

Your recent presentation to The Association for Corporate Growth CEO group was remarkable. The feedback we got from the leaders who attended was outstanding. Your researched based concepts and real world work experience challenged our members to create new success formulas for their business. I'm confident that the practical ideas you shared will be the foundation of new innovation and profitable growth for years to come. I look forward to having you come back and share more thoughts on how leaders can create significant breakthroughs in performance.

Bill Durkin, Vice Chair, Corporate Network, The Association for Corporate Growth

Just wanted to let you know that the Members and I enjoyed your presentation and found it to be insightful and impactful. We continue to discuss different aspects of your presentation and, in particular, use your “locked-in” concept… especially during these times.

Gregory C. Vrablik, The President's Forum

Adam Hartung presented to our University of Chicago Booth School of Business’ Consulting Roundtable (CRT). His presentation focused on how to galvanize our companies and clients — insights that are valuable in any economy and urgent in this one. Whether in a tough times or good, Adam’s insights are applicable — companies, and individuals, have to be adaptable. Adam's presentation demonstrated what makes a company adaptable, able to manage through a downturn or market shift, and enlightened us with the surprising strategies and stories of those companies. Our audience was engaged, asked many questions and the presentation was energizing — so much so that when the session was officially over, 70% of the attendees stayed an extra hour of further discussion.

Rachel Patterson, University of Chicago

It is rare that we have a speaker so engaging and so loaded with key insights that most people miss. We always pack the house when Adam speaks. He locks-in and fully engages the audience providing such relevant data that he has become a regular speaker for MENG (Marketing Executives Networking Group). Our attendees rave about Adams ability to deliver excellent content in a captivating and motivating way. I recommend Adam to anyone who wants a professional, polished speaker, who can read the audience and deliver exceptionally well!

Juli Bohm, MENG Chicago Chapter Chair and Board Member

Adam Hartung, author of "Create Marketplace Disruption", was my guest speaker at a recent FEI Career Management Group Breakfast. Adam did an excellent job of enlightening the group on the concepts in his book, tying in current business events (eg. the GM Chapter 11 filing) and bringing topic relevance to the Finance executives in attendance. Adam conveyed his material with the authority one would expect from someone who had conducted extensive research but also with a sense of humor and engaging style that sparked many questions from the audience. Adam is the type of speaker who will make business leaders think differently about what they need to focus on and how to lead so they will have successful businesses not only today but in the future.

Ron Zoromski formerly VP of Finance with Siemens Building Technologies, Inc. and current FEI Career Management Group committee member

Adam delivered an outstanding workshop for an Executive group of the Scanlon Leadership Network member companies. Utilizing the results of over 800 case studies, Adam Hartung of Spark Partners helped our executives realize that by asking the right questions and following some new steps they can identify opportunities to grow, regardless of economic conditions. By overcoming internal Lock-ins, one can adapt to become whatever you want, and thus regain growth and future success. We asked Adam to return and present again for the Scanlon Leadership Network this time delivering the keynote address for our 46th annual conference May 11-13, 2009, in Kalamazoo, MI. See www.ScanlonLeader.org for details. Adam will also lead a whole group experiential learning process for all conference attendees. Adam is a popular speaker with a solid message and our members are excited he is returning. I also recommend Adam's book "Create Marketplace Disruption: How to Stay Ahead of the Competition".

Wayne Lindholm, President, Scanlon Leadership Network

Adam Hartung was a featured panelist for our event “Stump the Innovator”. Adam was an engaging panelist who demonstrated not only a mastery of innovation, but also great insights on how organizations really need to strategically re-align their operations in order to survive. Adam’s unique style lent itself to a wonderful mix of down to earth practical advice with forward thinking expertise that helped our audience grasp a realistic way in which they could impact their own business transitions.

Nancy Munro, Co-Chair of Programs and Chair Leader for Executive Education Chicago MIT Enterprise Forum

Adam opened the eyes of our MENG members to the importance of businesses consistently re-inventing themselves. His insights are innovative, thought-provoking and challenge old-world thinking. He has given much-lauded presentations to our membership and I strongly recommend him to any organization looking to be a leader in its industry.

Lisa Petrilli, Program Director, Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG)

Adam Hartung spoke to College of DuPage's Executive Network group about Career Success and really WOWed the audience. He was so energetic and full of information, everyone felt fulfilled. We will definitely have Adam return to speak to our group in the future.

Janeen Paul, Manager, Career Services College of DuPage

Adam Hartung presented a lively and thought-provoking session at the IMC Chicagoland March 13, 2009, meeting. Our members gave Adam rave reviews and commented on the timeliness and relevance of his topic. Overall, we were very pleased to have Adam on our Spring roster and look forward to having him back again.

Christy Erbeck, Marketing and Program Chair, Institute of Management Consultants Chicago

Adam Hartung was one of the best speakers we have had in years. His presentation definitely contributed to the success of our semi-annual membership meeting. We have received nothing but favorable comments from our attendees. Even though it had been a long morning and Adam’s presentation followed lunch – a good time for a nap or golf – no one left the room as Adam spoke. Adam’s entertaining and lively style captivated the audience, while pulling them into his material with real-life cases to which they could all relate. We offered free copies of Adam’s book to our attendees, and everyone stood in line to get their copy and speak briefly to Adam. They obviously found the presentation content valuable. Adam is very knowledgeable about his subject matter, while also being an engaging speaker. He gave our attendees thought-provoking insights to long-term success that could be applied to any market., offering them clear strategic information on how to improve growth. Adam was a pleasure to work with, and we highly recommend his presentation, especially in these tough times.

Robert H. Ecker, Executive Director, Fluid Sealing Association

First, let me recommend you strongly consider Adam Hartung's presentation. It was very well received and valued by my two audiences - all 5's out of 5. I believe that Adam's presentation couldn't come at a more opportune time. The challenging of some of our strongly held paradigms and "sacred cows" may end up being just the breakthrough some need. You want to get this man, Adam Hartung in front of your groups and engage with them in some fierce conversations.

John N. Younker, PhD, Associates In Continuous Improvement (ACI),
Vistage Chair

Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Excellent job at the FSA Spring Meeting in Savannah, Georgia. Many members came up to me and indicated you were one of the best speakers we have had at any of our meetings. Your topic was very timely and helps all of us clarify the direction we are headed as a trade association. I am so pleased we were able to get you in to talk at this event.

William V. Adams, New Business Development, Corporate Marketing, Flowserve Corporation

After seeing Adam speak at a very well-attended ACG meeting, I asked him if he would like to speak at one of our events on the spot. As the incoming President for the 2 year old Chicago Chapter of the Association for Strategic Planning, I wanted to bring in a high-impact speaker to give our members and prospective members a clear sense of the quality of value that we provide as an organization and to draw others to attend. Adam was thoroughly knowledgeable, entertaining, but best of all, very insightful and provocative – I had many people thank us for having him present and I believe it helps our image and growth plans.

Rick Kaufmann, Vice President, Middle Market Commercial Banking, Charter One Bank