ROBIN ' S BIG SEMINAR
Robin ‘ Relentless Red ’ Robins
Defends Title
THE BIGGEST
Virtual Boot Camp In IT Industry History
Mike Tyson once famously said , “ Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth .” And that is exactly what the COVID-19 shutdown was for Robin “ Relentless Red ” Robins . Just three weeks before the opening night of the 13th annual IT Sales and Marketing Boot Camp — one of the IT industry ’ s largest events — they were forced to shut down .
Amid the COVID-19 outbreak and sending her entire team home because of stay-at-home orders , she shifted the live conference she ’ d been planning for over a year to a virtual one . This year ’ s theme of “ Fight Club ” turned out to be a very appropriate one .
Making this pivot not only required finding and testing an appropriate platform for the virtual event but also finding an available studio to handle the high-level requirements of such an event ; renegotiating contracts with 80-plus vendors , 1,200 previously registered attendees , and several hotels ; and rescheduling speakers and production technicians . She and her Technology Marketing Toolkit ( TMT ) team built a new website , changed the agenda to fit the problems facing the IT industry right now , and even replaced George Foreman last minute when he couldn ’ t attend . Skepticism about whether a virtual event would deliver the same value forced her to shell out $ 658,000 in refunds in cash within 30 days — an obligation she made good on . But that ’ s not the only situation she had to deal with .
Robins , despite her already heavy load , rose up and led her team , creating 12 spectacular new webinars , lead generation funnels , call scripts , and offers during the same six weeks they were creating a virtual boot camp experience . Mind you , they did this with no role model , no templates , and no prior experience doing a virtual event of this magnitude .
Champions Train Every Day
As Robins entered the stage on opening night — just six weeks after the shutdown — wearing boxing gloves and a boxing robe embroidered with “ Relentless Red ” and shared the intimate details of her own fight , I felt inspired to find my own courage to fight during these tough times . It also made what I was about to witness all that more impressive .
“ When we picked ' Fight Club ' as our theme … I had no idea what we would be facing ,” Robins confessed during her opening remarks and state of the union address . “ It has been a backalley , bare-knuckle , hardcore , no-holds-barred fight .”
Despite the difficulties , she was able to ramp up registration to a whopping 4,872 attendees , secure nine NEW sponsors , and land Marcus Lemonis as a keynote speaker . Most people wouldn ’ t have been able to pull this off with a year of planning . Robins and her team ? Six very short weeks .
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