Category: Past Speakers

Cam Marston is an author, advisor, radio talk show host, and top-rated keynote speaker on the trends shaping the workplace and marketplace. His presentations are informative, engaging, humorous, and full of concrete research that is tailored to his audience. Cam enlivens the data with anecdotes, tales from the real business world, attention-grabbing visuals, and quips that make the messages and actionable strategies memorable.

His original focus was on generational differences and their impact on the workplace and marketplace. Cam and his firm, Generational Insights, have provided research and consultation to hundreds of organizations, ranging from small businesses to multinational corporations, as well as to major professional associations. Cam’s four books and countless articles describe and analyze the major generations of our time, explaining how generational workplace and marketplace preferences affect every aspect of business, including recruiting and retention, management and motivation, and sales and marketing.

In 2018 Cam began a podcast called What’s Working with Cam Marston that was soon picked up by an FM radio station in his hometown of Mobile, Alabama. Cam interviews guests to understand the trends influencing their workplace, workforce and marketplace to help listeners adjust their own organizations to face similar changes. Today, with well over 225 shows behind him, the show is now broadcast in Huntsville, Birmingham, and Montgomery, as well as Mobile. In the spring of 2022 he released a book called What Works: The Ten Best Ideas from the First 200 Episodes.

Cam also records commentaries for Alabama Public Radio called Keepin’ It Real. They’re his humorous and inspirational observations of the world around him and have won both statewide and national awards. You can find both his radio show and his commentaries on your favorite podcast app. The commentaries have recently been converted into short, subscription-based videos to be used as inspirational and motivational weekly training content for the workplace.

Cam’s expertise and acumen are the products of over 20 years of research and consultation across a wide range of industries. He has provided insight and advice to leadership at the some of the world’s most prominent corporations, including Kaiser Permanente, Charles Schwab, BASF, Nestle, Schlumberger, Fidelity, Warner Brothers, ESPN, Qualcomm, RE/MAX and Eli Lilly. He has also offered presentations and consultations for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Internal Revenue Service, NASA and the U.S. Army, as well as for major professional associations such as the American Bankers Association, the Health Care Compliance Association, FMI/The Food Industry Association, the Financial Services Roundtable, and the Million Dollar Round Table.

Tom McGehee

Tom has served as Museum Director for Bellingrath Gardens and Home for 30 years.  In his capacity as curator over the collections there, he has participated in numerous study courses dealing with decorative arts and garden estates in the United States, Great Britain, France and Germany.

In addition he has been researching the history of Mobile and south west Alabama for more than 35 years and has appeared weekly on NBC’s Gulf Coast Today with his series “Lost Mobile” while his Ask McGehee column has been a regular feature in Mobile Bay Magazine for more than 20 years.

He is a past president of the Rotary Club of Mobile where he is a Paul Harris Fellow and was named Rotarian of the Year in 2012.  He is the author of “A Century of Service Above Self:  A History of the Rotary Club of Mobile, 1914-2014.”

Tom serves on the board of the Rotary Children’s Foundation, the Friends of Magnolia Cemetery, the Historic Restoration Society and the Friends of the Alabama Governor’s Mansion.

Tom is married to the former Ceil Smith of Monroeville and he has a daughter, Megan, currently residing in Athens, Greece.

Chris Andrews is the founder and CEO of Bienville Bites Food Tour in Mobile, Alabama and Taste of Fairhope Tour in Fairhope, Alabama. Chris was born in Mobile, Alabama and a graduate of Satsuma High School. In 2017, Chris combined his passion for food and history when he launched the first and only food tour in Mobile. Since then, Bienville Bites has been named the “Best Food Tour in Alabama”, awarded the “Certificate of Excellence” by TripAdvisor which is given to the top 10% of attractions worldwide based on excellent five star reviews and recently finished #2 in the “10Best” Food Tours for 2023 by USA Today. 

 

In the fall of 2020, Chris and his wife Laney launched the Taste of Fairhope tour giving people an opportunity to connect through food and drink on both sides of Mobile Bay. He is a 2019 graduate of Leadership Mobile, host of the Port City Plate Podcast, and is the author of “A Culinary History of Mobile”. Through these endeavors, Chris is passionate about connecting people to the city through food and drink while giving them experiences and stories to share with others.

 

He lives in Saraland and enjoys spending time with his wife Laney and three children, Audrey, Sawyer, and Carson.

Born and raised in Mobile, one of six children to Jim and Mary O’Donnell.

Davidson HS, class of 1987

South Alabama, class of 1992

Put myself through college working full time at Winn Dixie

First job out of college was an outside sales rep for Lamar Advertising.  Spent one year in Roanoke VA with Lamar.  Best sales training year imaginable.  While I wasn’t very good at selling outdoor advertising they taught me a great deal about B2B sales.

Moved into the roofing industry in 1993 in Atlanta GA as an outside sales rep for a shingle manufacturer

My first roof coatings job was in 1994 with Gardner Asphalt covering 13 states.  With such a large territory I was able to move back home to Mobile in 1996.

Soon after I met my wife Laura.  We weree married Feb 7^th 1998.

In 2000 I started an Ind Rep firm in order to learn and sell all other roof coating chemistries I was not working with

In 2004, with help from Laura, I stared American WeatherStar in our home.  That same year we had our first two children, Ryan and Ainsley

In 2006 we had our third child Maggie, and moved the business from our home into a small office.

American WeatherStar has moved two more times since and is now on a 10 acre complex in Irvington.

My older two children are now 19 and are sophomores at UA.

Maggie is a Junior at McGill Toolen HS.

Laura and I have been married for 25 years.

 

During Clarke’s time as CFO, Silver Ships saw revenue increase more than 40%. Since 2015 Clarke has focused on diversification of the Silver Ships customer base. This includes segmenting the customer base from more than 80% military focused to a more even mix. The shipyard has expanded to include industries such as fire rescue and law enforcement.

Clarke began his career as a data analyst at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in North Carolina. He then became a financial analyst at West Coast-based Coast Crane Co., a subsidiary of Essex Rental Corp. In 2015, Clarke joined the Silver Ships as co-owner and CFO.

“Since joining the team in 2015, I have had a passion for working to create and refine our business processes and continue to vertically integrate our manufacturing. Through strategic hiring, employee development, marketing, and business development, we have invested in Silver Ships,” Clarke said in a statement. “This investment has had a direct impact to broaden our customer base and grow our revenues. I am honored to be able to serve as CEO, and eager to work alongside my team to meet our customer’s demanding missions, continue to innovate in our field and grow the profitability of Silver Ships.”

Bellingrath’s Magic Christmas in Lights – Behind the Scenes

For almost three decades, the 68 acres of Gardens at Bellingrath have annually been transformed for Magic Christmas in Lights using dozens of custom-built set pieces and millions of colorful lights. The resulting show has earned the Gardens a top ranking on annual lists of the best holiday light shows in the United States.

Three years ago with the arrival of Executive Director Todd Lasseigne, a nationally recognized designer was hired to reimagine the show and provide a new “wow” factor each year.  A master plan has been created to delight first time and repeat visitors alike.

Additions to the visitor experience include open fire pits for “S’mores” and hot chocolate as well as  a selection of beers and wine.

Today’s program will feature Bellingrath staff members Melissa Wells and Ralph Drury who will give a behind the scenes look at all that it takes to create Magic Christmas in Lights each year.