Keynote Speaker on Disruption and Innovation

Last updated: September 13, 2024

Nick Gray (that’s me!) spoke at the Motorcycle Industry Council’s 2017 annual meeting as a premium keynote speaker.

I shared business stories and lessons from our experience at Museum Hack in attracting new visitors and customers to cultural organizations.

Me speaking at the Motorcycle Industry Council’s annual meeting.

Table of Contents

Disrupting Your Industry

Me getting ready to “shake up” the audience.

The conference organizers selected me as a speaker in order to “shake up” the audience.

“We want you to give them a kick in the butt and encourage some new ideas.”

Video Testimonial for Keynote Conference Speaker

My Innovative Ideas

I did a lot of research and customized my speech for this specific meeting.

A lot of my speech was customized for this audience based on informal research I conducted. We discussed things like:

Barriers to Entry

I’m qualified for this industry! Sort of. Me on a rented scooter in Bali, Indonesia (Aug 2017). We talked about how experiences like this are great for new customer acquisition.

What barriers to entry are there to this industry? How hard is it for someone to become a motorcycle rider or owner?

Current Industry Leaders

This is a popular brand of clothes for motorcycle enthusiasts. Thanks to Elicia for telling me about them!

Who in their industry is doing well among the millennial audience? My friends told me about Riders Alley, a garage in New York City. And the Made in the USA clothing brand, Feltraiger. I showed examples from their marketing that spoke to this idea of attracting new audiences.

New Customer Acquisition

What’s the easiest possible way to get new customers and new riders? I showed some examples that I’m excited about, including the upcoming RIDE program and dirt bike schools.

Social Media Best Practices

Group of people at a dirt bike school facilitated by Ty from MIC.

We reviewed what millennials want, and talked about some fast facts that might help dealerships. Did you know that a Georgia Tech study in 2014 showed that photos with faces get up to 38% more likes on social media? More importantly for this crowd: how do helmet laws impact that and social sharing? We discussed ways to stage photos to encourage social sharing.

Millennial Mindsets

Keanu Reeves is a great mascot for anything, including motorcycles.

Millennials often times show a lack of commitment. They want experiences, not ownership. I talked about my experiences here and what I’ve seen.

Membership, Not Ownership

Cadillac’s Book program is a fresh look at luxury car ownership.

Museums have sometimes faced a decline in membership. How does that affect this industry? We looked at the Book program by Cadillac, followed by the PORSHE Passport and the Canvas ownership program (owned by Ford).

Questions and Answers and Debate

I loved the Q&A with this audience. They were hyper-involved, and we both challenged each other. As a speaker, I measure myself on how engaging the Q&A is. The worst thing for any speaker is a silent audience afterward. I’ve done a lot to improve and guarantee that there are great questions and a lively discussion.

Keynote Speaker about Innovation

In starting Museum Hack, my goal was to invent a new type of museum tour “for people who don’t like museums.”

We use disruptive marketing messages to reach new audiences.

Keynote Speaker about Millennials

The Motorcycle Industry Council asked me to talk about how to disrupt your industry.

Earlier in the day, Shama Hyder spoke to the audience about millennials and marketing.

I added to the dialogue by asking: How do we get millennials and other new audiences to be receptive to our marketing?

The tagline for the Motorcycle Industry Council that I was the keynote speaker about millennials and innovation at.

I shared our strategies for this, including focusing on the three things that make our product special:

Guides
Games
Gossip

About the Conference and MIC

The Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) is a not-for-profit trade association that supports motorcyclists across the United States. This conference was held in Carson, California near Los Angeles on November 15th, 2017.