The Dallas Friday Group

The Dallas Friday Group was established in 1978 by a group of CEOs and corporate government affairs people who wanted to know what government was doing that might impact their businesses. Originally, membership was limited to CEOs, presidents, political affairs officers, and the heads of political action committees. But today the Dallas Friday Group has expanded to include a broad cross-section of more than 400 members. The Executive Director is Carolyn Dunnigan, 214.948.8908.

Criteria for Speaker Selection

The DFG looks for speakers who will bring something that its members can find useful in their business and something they can apply to their daily lives. Name recognition certainly helps, but not every speaker is a Kay Bailey Hutchison, Senator from Texas, pictured above, or a John Hofmeister, President of Shell Oil Company, pictured below. Topics are important, too. And you have to make your talk relevant to your audience. As Carolyn said to me in a recent conversation, "Even if you have a global company, if you can localize the topic so people here in Dallas can see how they fit in the big picture, then you've got a good talk."

Format and Attendance

The format is a Luncheon Address at the Fairmont Hotel in downtown Dallas. Average attendance is 140. The DFG hosts 10 to 12 events a year.

Scheduling

Fridays that come before a major holiday never work well, particularly late in the year, like Thanksgiving and Christmas, and the DFG pretty much takes December off. The week of spring break is never good, so check the Dallas Independent School System calendar against your speaker's availability. July and August are vacation months, but if your topic is in the news and relevant, you can still have a room full.

Media

If the topic or the speaker is newsworthy, the media is invited. Most speakers prefer to have their own media departments handle publicity, and that’s fine with Carolyn.

Your Proposal

Carolyn wants to talk with you on the phone first, so give her a call at 214.948.8908. The next step is she will want to see media clips, news coverage, and reports on your company and a speaker bio and a summary of the talk. No need to send video unless it's really short, like two or three minutes.

Eli Lilly at The Dallas Friday Group

John Lechleiter, Chairman, President, and CEO of Eli Lilly, is scheduled to speak at the Dallas Friday Group this coming fall to address the "Human Face of Medicine," a side of the healthcare debate that's not often talked about.

Peggy Emard of Lilly's Executive Communications staff shared with me, "Why the Dallas Friday Group for this message?"

Emard: After we [the EC staff] had a discussion with Dr. Lechleiter about what his goals were, I compiled and prioritized a list of potential venues, and The Dallas Friday Group was near the top of that list. It's a great venue for top executives and it's an audience that includes people who want to share our message with folks who make healthcare decisions. They are committed to providing the right mix of audience, speaker appeal, and media opportunities, with an emphasis on Q&A and that's very helpful in getting a conversation started.