SPEAKING

Ideas themselves aren’t worth much – it’s the ability to execute that matters. In this dynamic master class, you will receive the action-oriented insights that you didn’t get in school,  highlighting real-world best practices for making ideas happen. You will be exposed to proven productivity hacks and best practices from some of the most successful and productive people on the planet. Ideas are easy, but doing stuff is hard. With the right tools and practices, you’ll be able to consistently turn your ideas into reality.

According to a recent survey by Ernst & Young, one third of full-time workers globally say that managing work-life has become increasingly difficult. Workers in the United States, Germany, Japan, China, Mexico, Brazil, India and the United Kingdom revealed that they are working longer hours and harder than ever before, leaving very little time for much else. One could argue that we’re living in a golden age of workplace stress, largely due to the changing role of work in our lives. When work and life blend into each other, how can you begin to achieve an equilibrium that supports your physical, emotional and mental health? Perhaps it’s time to resist the binary construction (or fallacy) that is work-life and consider a new framework altogether. This talk explores the transition from overachiever to high performer.

Let’s face it—change is damn hard. And most people and organizations who attempt to undergo change end up failing. More often than not, the inability to change is driven by fear. Our inclination in the face of fear is to give up. However, the growth that we need is on the other side of that fear; what we seek is usually least where we’re willing to look. This talk is for youth and early talent who are in period of change. Whether they’re starting school, graduating, or beginning their career—this talk, powered by Hamza’s unique stories, will inspire attendees to locate their fears, harness it, and convert it into the energy needed to cross the unknown chasm before them.

In 2012, Hamza Khan built a one-man marketing department. While the challenges of earning library patrons’ attention and loyalty continues to increase day by-day, the resources allocated – both human and financial – seem to be shrinking. As such, both trained marketers and library staff members responsible for promotions must learn how to do more with less. In this dynamic master class, award-winning marketer Hamza Khan will walk Marketing Libraries Think Tank attendees through the steps it takes to build a one-person marketing team. By the end of the session, attendees will learn what it takes to craft a compelling online/social media presence. And they will get an overview of the best tools and tactics to create and maintain this online presence. With the right tools and practices, you’ll be able to consistently turn your ideas into action.

Stories are the fundamental unit of human understanding. Yet some brands continue to make the mistake of taking their audiences for granted instead treating them with genuine care. This session explores how brands can utilize social media to humanize themselves and tell authentic and compelling stories. If you’re looking to run your own business or work to craft the image of someone else’s, this workshop will examine how to use utility, information, amusement, and inspiration as “magic ingredients” to earn the attention, trust, and ultimately the loyalty of online audiences.

The competition for students’ attention & interest grows increasingly difficult with their rapidly changing online behaviour & expectations. Developing a tactical understanding of how students are interacting with digital products – websites, mobile applications, and social media channels – requires a more nuanced understanding of the student journey; what are the most common touch-points? Pain-points? Where are conversions being lost? Where is more nurturing needed? User Journey Mapping is a key component in the building of digital products.

Organizations need to be managed. However, millennials are fundamentally incompatible with traditional management practices. This session explores strategies for managing the next generation, as well as ways in which the next generation can thrive in a multi-generational workplace. managing millennials and knowledge workers the way we used to manage traditional factory workers can be disastrous. Speaking through his own experience of being managed and alternatively as a manager, Hamza makes the case that millennials must be lead, instead of managed and given autonomy to complete their tasks, so that they may grow and reach their full potential.

Have you ever wondered if your digital identity is affecting your chances of landing a job? Would you like to learn how to build an online brand that is appealing to employers? It’s been said that your personal brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room this session explores the ways in which individuals can begin to understand their personal narrative and communicate it through social media. Stories are the fundamental unit of human understanding. Yet some brands continue to make the mistake of taking their audiences for granted instead treating them with genuine care. This session explores how brands can utilize social media to humanize themselves and tell authentic and compelling stories. If you’re looking to run your own business or work to craft the image of someone else’s, this workshop will examine how to use utility, information, amusement, and inspiration as “magic ingredients” to earn the attention, trust, and ultimately the loyalty of online audiences.

Hamza Khan is all-too-familiar with the tendency of overachieving leaders to lose their drive within ambitious and/or successful organizations. A multi-award winning marketer with an extensive background in student services, Hamza is someone who once embraced the prevailing notion that longer hours, aggressive hustle, and a “whatever it takes” attitude is required to succeed within a successful student organization. But after experiencing a deadly brush with burnout himself, his perspective has completely changed. Today, he directly counters the chaos, anxiety, and stress that plagues millions of organizations and hampers billions of people every day. And in always-on cultures of overwork, the consequences of not working smart can sometimes be fatal. Longer hours, an excessive workload, and a lack of sleep have become a badge of honour for students and early talent alike. But it should be a mark of foolishness, Hamza argues. The answer to better productivity isn’t more hours—it’s less waste and fewer things that induce distraction and persistent stress. It’s time to stop celebrating crazy, and start celebrating calm. In this dynamic and engaging workshop, student leaders will receive the action-oriented insights that they didn’t get in school, highlighting real-world best practices for getting (the right) things done. Student leaders in attendance will learn how to establish priorities, avoid meeting overload, stay on top of their inboxes, and know with certainty when something is ready to ship. They will be exposed to tried-and-tested productivity practices and best practices from some of the most successful and productive people/organizations on the planet. By the end, student leaders will embrace the idea that busyness is a reflection of disorganization. And that in order to support student success, they must focus on getting the right things done.