#after dinner speaker agency

[afterdinner-speakers]

The Value Of Diversity & Inclusion To Your Organisation

Diversity and inclusion are top-of-mind in today's ever-changing corporate world. Companies across the globe are starting to understand the significance of having a diverse and inclusive workplace. Inviting diversity and inclusion speakers to corporate events is one of the best ways to augment these values. These Speakers present refreshing insights, they face traditional beliefs, and they encourage to be good. Hiring a diversity and inclusion speaker will help your organisation greatly. These experts narrate stories which are extremely touching, help in giving some pro-tips and helps to make a difference within the workplace. In other words, their viewpoint can pave the way for a more harmonious and efficient workplace which in turn can contribute positively to business success.

So how are you suppose to find and book the proper keynote speaker? Well, this is when the event speaker agency come to play. They specialise in organising event speakers, including as well as diversity and inclusion focused speakers for organisations. They have a wide range of contacts with the ability to assess skilled professionals in order to provide support. Using an agency makes the booking process easier and ensures you encounter the right speaker to match your event's objectives and values. This starts with defining the requirements of your organisation. Do you want solutions to unconscious bias, cultural competency and inclusive leadership? Having distinct goals allows the agency to pair you with a speaker accordingly. Once your needs have been substantiated, the agency will serve you a list of potential candidates. This usually involves in-depth profiles, reels of previous events, and testimonials from past customers This kind of information is vital for making an educated decision.

Once you choose an after dinner speaker, the agency takes care of the coordination tasks like checking availability, business negotiations, and travel. This type of support means you get time to do other things event-wise. Agencies also have back-up plans for any last minute dilemmas, alleviating stress. If you hire a speaker on diversity and inclusion through an agency, the key is to make sure your event theme and audience profile is handed over to the agency. Giving some general background of your company culture and the challenges your company faced will enable the speaker to cater their message to your company. That way your message will comes across better to the audience, leading to a more powerful event for everyone involved. Using this type of event speaker provider also allows for some follow-up and feedback.

After the event, the agency will typically ask for feedback on how well the speaker did and on how the overall event went. This feedback loop is essential for the improvement process, and guarantees that the future involvement will be more successful. As much as in live events, most of diversity and the inclusion speakers provide virtual sessions, workshops, and consulting services. With this flexibility, we can provide ongoing staff training and support after the event so that these values become part of your organisational culture.

Overall, hiring a diversity and inclusion speaker via a motivational speaker agency is a smart choice. This not only makes the event logistics easier and faster but helps maximise the event impact as well. These agencies can help connect you with speakers who are likely to inspire, educate and effect real change in your organisation.

[onsitecarservicing-blog]

Building a More Equitable and Sustainable Future: Why Environmental Justice Matters

Have you ever noticed how a factory spewing smoke always appears to be near to a neighbourhood that is lower class, or how coastal villages who are not resourceful enough to adapt to rising sea levels are threatened? In actuality, marginalised populations are frequently the ones most severely impacted by environmental challenges. In order to create a future that is really sustainable, the idea of environmental justice becomes important in this situation.

Ensuring equitable treatment and meaningful participation for all individuals, irrespective of their colour, class, ethnicity, or nationality, in the formulation, execution, and upholding of environmental laws, regulations, and policies is the essence of environmental justice. The goal is to lessen the burden of environmental degradation and guarantee that everyone lives in a healthy environment.

Consider this: is a world in which we have addressed climate change but whole populations have been uprooted because of increasing sea levels really sustainable? It is crucial that a variety of viewpoints steer the discussion on environmental solutions because of this. Environmental speakers are important because we should pay attention to the people who are most impacted by environmental concerns.

You may now be thinking of the traditional after dinner speaker agency or motivational speakers in London that are hired for corporate functions. Speakers in environments differ. These individuals are fervent supporters who strive to increase public knowledge of environmental justice concerns and motivate action towards remedies that are advantageous to the environment and society at large.

Scientists, activists, and community leaders are among them, and they all bring different perspectives to the table.

Imagine hearing from a young leader from the indigenous community about the terrible consequences of oil drilling on their ancestral grounds. Or a low-income neighbourhood community organiser advocating for healthier air. Because they are rooted in the actual experience of environmental injustice, these voices have great force. They push us to address the human cost of sustainability in addition to its technical components.

We learn more about the struggles marginalised groups experience and how environmental policies may sometimes make already-existing disparities worse by listening to these speakers. This motivates us to take action, such as endorsing causes run by the most affected parties, pushing laws that advance environmental justice, or even altering our own purchasing patterns.

It goes beyond simply checking a box or feeling good. In order to create a future where social justice and environmental conservation go hand in hand, we all have a part to play.

To learn more, there are a plethora of materials accessible, including movies that give voice to these communities, websites devoted to environmental justice problems, and even future events where these motivational speakers will be present. The secret is to keep yourself informed, become active, and speak out in favour of change.

Recall that a sustainable future encompasses more than just verdant areas and pure air. The goal is to guarantee everyone has access to a healthy environment, which necessitates tackling the underlying causes of environmental injustice. Together, let's create a future in which social justice and sustainability are two sides of the same coin.

[searchladder]

How to Integrate Sports After-Dinner Speakers into Your Charity Gala and Maximise Success with an Event Speaker Agency

Integrating sports after dinner speakers into a charity gala evening can raise the event to heights of both fun and audience engagement. Inspiring stories told by larger-than-life characters will ignite the atmosphere and make your charity gala one to remember-a very successful fundraising evening. Here are some steps and tips for incorporating such speakers, how to deal with an event speaker agency, and have a smooth experience.

Choose the Correct Speaker for Your Audience The outcome of your event will come from selecting sports after dinner speakers who will appeal to your audience. First, you need to understand the type of attendees that will be at the event. Are they business executives from your city, philanthropists, or sports enthusiasts? The speaker that you book should relate to the audience's interests. For example, if your guests enjoy playing golf, it would be ideal to book a famous golf player. If your audience is more general, then a speaker with cross-sport appeal or a well-renowned commentator would be in order; the evening would be far more interactive and interesting to the customers.

Match the Speaker to Your Charity's Cause The message of the speaker should be aligned with the mission of the charity. Therefore, if your charity helps poor children, then a sports personality that has overcome personal adversity would be an excellent fit. They will be able to inspire donors by drawing parallels between their struggles and the charity's cause. Emotional storytelling is crucial to drive home the importance of giving; this could impact strongly on your fundraising goals.

The improvement of the event flow with the participation of the speaker The goal is to maximize the return from the speaker's impact-place them thoughtfully throughout the course of the evening. The speaker can be used to start the evening off with an inspirational talk, or to end the night with a rousing speech that ties together the themes of the gala. They could emcee the live auction or be part of interactive Q&A sessions, allowing attendees the opportunity for personal engagement with them. These are often more intimate moments and tend to further spur donations.

Hiring an Agency for Event Speakers Hiring the services of a professional event speaker agency can relieve much of the burden associated with finding suitable talent. The agencies represent various sports speakers and are prepared to recommend a speaker that will best match your particular needs, budget, and audience preferences for your event.

Here's how an event speaker agency can help:

Agency Briefing: Agencies will brief the speaker with whatever background information may be helpful to him about the event, the charity, and who is in the audience. This will make certain that his message is complementary to the objectives of the evening.

Contingency Planning: With Agencies, you will often find back-up plans should there be last-minute changes, such as a backup speaker or alternative arrangements that ensure your event does not have glitches.

Conclusion Bringing the sports after-dinner speaker into your charity gala will make for a pretty powerful evening. Since the closeness of any event speaker agency is already there, it will be effortless to simplify the whole process of organising and have the perfect alignment of your speaker with your cause and your audience. The right speaker will inspire generosity, drive engagement, and support the success of your charity event.

[lightseoul]

im surprised no one asked for this yet but please do no. 17 for the 2k milestone 💌 your works are amazing!!!! 🥰🫂

hello, elle! this ask gets a fast pass because SAME i was just waiting for someone to request this number, so thank you!!! and i just want to quickly thank you as well for all the love you've shown my works, i see and appreciate you sm <3

(this is lightseoul's 2k milestone event ft. bakugou katsuki! to play, view the numbered list of prompts here, then simply send an ask with your chosen number and i'll whip something up!)

17. "DID YOU BUY ME FLOWERS?" (1.3k)

ping.

you startle ever so minutely at the chime that just reverberated across your car, briefly interrupting that one song that’s been on repeat for the last few days. as your speakers resume playing the familiar melody, you glance at the phone held in place by your handy mount, and you can’t help the smile that creeps up your face when you see the notification.

(6:54 PM) katsuki🧡 : Will be down in a sec.

you kissed him goodbye and called out a ‘take care’ just this morning before he left for work, but it feels like it’s been more than 24 hours since you last saw each other.

maybe you can chalk it up to your own workday being brutal and full of mishaps, but you’re lucky enough to have been able to leave on the dot instead of working overtime like the man who just texted you.

you were set to go on a dinner date, what with today being a friday and there being a new sought-after ramen shop that just opened earlier this week downtown. the plan was to meet back at your shared apartment so that he could drive you both to the restaurant, but a message from him at 4 in the afternoon saying he had to patrol overtime required you to do a little bit of adjusting.

which explains why you’re now parked right in front of the ground riot agency, essentially picking up your boyfriend.

tapping your fingers impatiently on the steering wheel, you peer through the window to your right, eyeing the entrance to the building. true to his word, #4 pro-hero dynamight emerges from the glass doors, now wrapped in casual clothes instead of the hero gear he left home in this morning.

you barely make out him scanning the parking lot with that signature scowl on his face, but the angry expression instantly morphs into a look of recognition when he spots your car.

the man starts jogging toward you, and as he gets closer and closer to where you’re stationed, that’s when you notice he’s carrying what suspiciously looks like a bouquet of flowers.

but you don’t even get to react because, in a matter of seconds, he’s already opening the door to the passenger’s seat.

as he slides into the spot beside you, you’re instantly hit with the comforting smell of burnt caramel and that signature perfume of his that never fails to make you just a tad bit light-headed and, quite frankly, dumb.

“hey, babe,” bakugou greets you, before leaning over the console and placing a firm hand on the crook of your neck, bringing you in for a kiss.

despite yourself and the sheer number of times you’ve done this, you still flush when you feel his tongue brush over your lower lip just ever so slightly, which you’ve long identified as his way of asking for permission.

you’ve never been the type to deny him, and so you relent.

you barely stop yourself from groaning when the wet muscle enters your mouth, and for a moment you just sit there—brain empty—as he kisses you fervently, his grip on you unrelenting as ever.

bakugou katsuki doesn’t half-ass things, and that includes kissing you.

eventually, when you think he’s satisfied enough and aptly satiated, he pulls away, and it takes you a moment to ground yourself back to reality. he must’ve noticed, because the cocky son of a bitch only smirks to himself before moving again.

dazed, you watch your boyfriend as he stirs in his seat and grabs the bouquet you completely forgot about from under his feet, thrusting it toward you.

“here.”

your eyes dart back and forth between the bunch of pink tulips and the man, “are you being serious, right now?”

his eyebrows instantly furrow. “what? ‘course i am. picked them up during patrol. knew you’d like ‘em.”

at his mention of the item, your gaze drifts to the thing that’s been sitting in wait in your backseat.

bakugou studies you for a beat, probably wondering what the fuck is going on, before following your line of vision.

you brace yourself for his confusion or maybe even stunned silence in reaction to it.

but neither of those comes.

what does come, is something close to indignation.

“…who the fuck gave you that?”

you feel your face contort in confusion. “what?”

at that, bakugou turns even more toward the backseat, staring down the poor bouquet of orange lilies that absolutely hasn’t done anything wrong to be met with such disdain.

“which dipshit gave you those, hah?” he spews, evidently miffed. “was it that stupid coworker of yours who’s calling himself your fucking work husband?”

“what? no!” you exclaim, because why the hell would he think you’d even accept in the first place?

even with your denial, though, bakugou isn’t looking too pleased, now closely resembling a petulant child.

a cute, jealous, petulant child—

—holding a collection of tulips.

you try to tamp down the grin that’s fighting to take over your features, knowing better than to make him feel embarrassed for getting riled up over the idea of other guys being around you. reaching to the backseat, you take the assortment and quickly fix the areas that inadvertently got folded during the drive over, ultimately handing it to the man.

only the said man looks at you like you just grew horns.

it takes him a second to reply, voice gruff and low when he asks, disbelieving: “did you buy me flowers?”

you really don’t know how else to respond, so you nod. “got them on the way here. they were on display and they reminded me of you.”

at that, bakugou doesn’t say anything, eyes unwaveringly fixed on the bursts of orange.

but he doesn’t move to take them off your hands or something.

you feel your smile faltering just a little. “you don’t like them?”

he looks up at you, like your voice just brought him back from where he was deep in thought. “yeah—no, they’re nice.”

before you get to dwell on what nice means and if he really meant that or was just being courteous, bakugou wordlessly coaxes the flowers from your grip and sets them alongside the ones he got you.

once they’re secure in the tiny space beside him, he then leans over the console again, before planting a lingering kiss on your lips.

one that tells you all the things he can’t bring himself to say—at least at this exact moment.

one that’s definitely saying thank you and i love you.

and maybe, if you read into it close enough, an i love it—give me more in the future.

you eagerly return it before he can pull away.

you don’t think bakugou noticed, but on the silent drive to the restaurant (after you spent ten more minutes in the lot making out), you stole a glance just in time to catch him sniffing the flowers (the ones you got him) and seemingly fighting the upturn of the corners of his lips.

he also brought the bouquets with him to the restaurant, which he absolutely didn’t have to. when you playfully called him out on it, he told you off by saying you can’t just leave flowers in a car for various reasons. you listened to him as he went on and on about why that’s so, but the redness of his ears sort of gave him away.

and when you got home, the first thing he did when he thought you weren’t looking was grab two vases and get to work arranging the tulips and lilies together, placing them side by side at the center of your dining table.

it wouldn’t be until two weeks later, however, that you accidentally bump into his bedside table, causing the book he’s about halfway done reading to fall on the floor.

and when you stoop down to pick it up, you see that he’s on page 280, to be exact.

and marking that halfway point is a dried lily.

[edens-pen]

"i find myself running home to your sweet nothings"

summary | it’s always a rough day for katsuki. hero rankings and PR nightmares every time he opens his mouth. but he gets to come home to you

pairing | bakugo katsuki x fem!reader

word count | 840

warning | soft!domestic katsuki, fluff.

a/n | this is very literally based off sweet nothings by taylor swift, so you can listen if you want the full experience. also, i haven't posted in two months, so i'm sorry if this sucks. <3

[ 18+ | minors, blank, ageless blogs dni ]

—

katsuki drops his bracers at the door with a heavy sigh. he's only just got his boots off and tucked in the corner, when he hears your voice calling him from the kitchen.

"'suki?"

he feels the smile pulling at his lips entirely unbidden.

the soft notes of that song that's been stuck in your head (and by extension, his) plays from the speaker in the corner.

"hey honey," you smile, leaning up to give him a kiss when he's in range.

he'll never be able to explain how that title makes his heart clench. he couldn't verbalize how every title he's obtained has not mattered until you gave him that one. pro-hero, number 2, explosive, dynamight.

your title feels so intimate on your lips, reducing him to the man who would fall at his knees for you.

not a pro-hero or number 2. not a ticking time bomb or a hot-head.

just your honey. your husband. yours, yours, yours.

"how was your day?" you ask, still stirring the pot as you turn the stove down.

"it was alright," he mumbles. in truth his day was rough, and he's not ready to talk about it, and he knows you can tell by the way you reach your free hand out to swipe your fingers along his cheek.

you smile up at him, pinching his cheek. "you wanna wash up? dinner's almost done." when he nods slowly, closing his eyes against the feelings of your fingers, you give him a little laugh.

in the bathroom, he works with the skin care products you left on his side of the counter, the dry winter air has been harsh on his quirk and his skin.

he thinks back to the agency, to the hero rankings, to the disapproving stares of civilians when he lets out loud curses and swears. the scolding he received from his manager today. the article comparing his pros and cons against the number 1 pro hero deku.

the water runs over his chest as he tilts his face into the stream, still trying to catch his breath from the incredibly long week he's had.

by the time he's toweled off and dressed in his sweats, the tension has worked it's way up into his back and across his shoulders.

"katsu?" your voice rings out and he's immediately following the sound back to the front door. he snorts when he sees you trying to push his bracers into the corner near his shoes. "how the hell do you put these things on for hours at a time? oh my god."

bakugo only laughs when he picks up both bracers with ease, your shocked gasp ringing out in the hallway.

"you're so strong, katsuki."

and that's it. your praise comes so easy. the fantastic feats that he performs still awe you. even something as simple as his above average strength elicits cheer from you.

it doesn't matter that he does it everyday, or that it's expected of him, you treat every act like it's the most incredible thing you've ever seen. and bakugo tries to fight the blush creeping up on his cheeks when you say these things.

even after all these years, he hasn't gotten used to your praise.

you're quickly setting a plate in front of him, taking the seat right next to him. recounting the events of your day, catching your boyfriend up on your workplace drama, and your recent purchases is enough to take you both through dinner.

by the time you've got him laid on the couch, your favorite candle is lit in the middle of the coffee table, and you two are talking softly.

his head rests on your chest, his ear pressed right over your heart. your fingers work softly against the ache in his shoulder, somehow finding the right spots to touch. these are nights when he needs you to take him down and you always do so with ease. he groans softly at the tender strength in your touch.

"i like the way you sound."

and there you go again. how do you split him open with a just a few words?

"its so pretty. especially when you talk, and when you laugh, i think that's my favorite sound."

you're calling him pretty. like his body isn't a fucking live wire ready to go off when he sweats. like the natural production of his glands don't cause explosions. like people aren't out there wondering if he should be a villain because of the force of his quirk.

of course the power thrumming through his veins is nothing compared to you. to the person he is when he's resting between your legs, letting you pet and coo at him until he's pliant and soft.

you bathe him in compliments, your adoration of him washes the shitty week off his skin and coats him in a thick layer of your love.

his prickly edges become rounded and soft against your gentle touch. refining him to be composed entirely of your sweet nothings.

—

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

So Hazz being ‘stunned’ about the backlash to the Pat Tillman award, reminds me of his shock at the ‘frosty’ reception he received at Prince Philip’s funeral. How on earth does he think letting his ‘feelings’ loose via the much hated media will improve the situation is beyond me. I can’t even remember why announcement the winning of the award was done so early, but more than probably RF related. Is it a case of keeping digging to get out of the hole or a massive PR plan that’s going over my head?

Harry wants attention and legitimacy in the US. He thought being a British prince and Diana’s son was enough to make us love and respect him (like it sort of did in the UK) but it didn’t happen.

So now he’s scrambling. Except he’s been scrambling since March 2020 when Edward Young and the BRF called his bluff on half in/half out. Let’s review.

January 2020: He demanded half in/half out and they all laughed at him.

March 2020: Harry signed with the Harry Walker Agency to be a speaker on their lecture/hotel dinner circuit. He gave like two or three speeches to pathetic reception and then gave up.

April 2020: Harry became a mental health advocate during the COVID pandemic and crisis, making comments like he didn’t understand how people living in high-rise apartments could cope without having a green space and that everyone needed some kind of green space for their sanity (yeah, no shit, Sherlock. That’s why COVID was also an enormous mental health crisis.) and encouraging everyone to become certified mental health counselors if they’re bored.

Summer 2020: Harry uses Diana’s memory to justify invading an elementary school with a camera crew during peak summer COVID cycle to plant forget-me-nots. Everyone pops off and it’s clear the backlash stunned the Sussexes.

Fall 2020: The Sussexes rebrand to become misinformation activists.

Winter 2020/2021: The Sussexes rebrand to the Emancipation of Meghan Markle. Philip dies. Harry rebrands to Hero Harry by demanding to wear his military uniform, resulting in no one wearing their military uniforms. He also pivots back to William's Best Brother at the funeral by ignoring the actual arrangements to walk alongside William (as opposed to behind him; Peter was supposed to walk next to William).

Summer 2021: Meghan wants world domination and the Sussexes rebrand to become humanitarian ambassadors.

Fall 2021: Harry rebrands to become a hairdresser global vax advocate. He and Meghan become the figurehead for the Vax Live concert.

December 2021: Harry pivots back to Diana and says his work with COVID is as groundbreaking as her work with HIV/AIDS patients.

February 2022: Harry rebrands as a dude who watches American football by going to the Superbowl and looking bored af.

March 2022: Harry and Meghan buy a new NAACP award for themselves for all the work they did fighting unconscious bias and racism in the BRF.

Spring 2022: Harry goes back to being Hero Harry with The Hague Invictus Games. He pivots back to being a royal when he attends the Platinum Jubilee with Meghan.

Summer 2022: The Emancipation of Meghan Markle continues and Harry re-rebrands as a humanitarian activist, giving an unpassionate speech to a mostly-empty conference room at the United Nations. Unfortunately The Queen dies and Harry gets to pivot back again to being a royal. He gets thrown a Hero Harry PR bone when he's allowed to wear his uniform to the Grandchildren's Vigil and gets to stand behind William and Kate in the procession.

Fall 2022: The Emancipation of Prince Harry's Unconscious Bias begins, with critically-reviled Netflix docuseries.

January 2023: Harry pivots back to Diana and picks up her mantle to destroy Charles and the BRF. He takes it a step further by going after William, when everyone knows Diana only wanted to destroy Charles to put William in his rightful place as soon as possible.

Winter/Spring 2023: Harry abandons his "I hate my family, they're evil" rebrand to go back into the royal fold by attending Charles's coronation.

May 2023: Harry pivots back to Diana by claiming a near-death chase by paparazzi on the busy streets of downtown Manhattan. Damn, if only there was a white fiat instead of witnesses.

Summer 2023: Harry pivots back to his Hero Harry at the Dusseldorf Invictus Games. He also becomes Polo Harry and becomes #husbandgoals when he joins Meghan at a Beyonce concert and looks bored out of his mind.

Fall 2023: Harry pivots back to mental health when he joins Meghan for a panel with Carson Daly on the dangers of social media.

Winter 2023: Harry rebrands as Hero Harry and purchases the Living Legend in Aviation Award for himself, while accusing John Travolta of dining out on his mother. Harry pivots to Hollywood and goes to Jamaica for a movie premiere.

Spring 2024: Harry goes back to Hero Harry and Invictus Games. Harry also pivots back to being a British royal prince with a very misguided tour of Nigeria.

Summer 2024: Hero Harry continues and he purchases the Pat Tillman ESPY.

Look at all the times Harry changed tactics. He can't stick with something long enough to make an impact because he - like his wife - is so impatient for validation. He just wants to be loved! Why won't they love him?! "That's okay," crones Meghan in her soothing Southern California vocal fry as she rocks her toddler husband to calm him out of his anxiety spiral (because she's the only one allowed to collapse in a heap on the floor). "Hush little baby don't you cry. Mama's going to buy you valor and honor."

And that cheers Harry up because Americans like gold (after all, we're the land of 'everyone gets a participation trophy,' Olympic gold medals, and world domination). If we see how many gold trophies and awards he has, then we'll respect him the same way the British public respected and adored him for his titles.

But that's their mistake. They've missed the fundamental realization that Americans don't care about titles and awards. We value action, deeds, follow-through, promises made and promises kept. That's the backlash (and the cause and effect, to quote an earlier post I made) that Harry keeps getting. He doesn't understand that we're a pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps-and-don't-complain-how-hard-it-is-just-do-it nation of rebels and troublemakers. We're not going to sit idly by and watch a rich foreigner - from the monarchy that we booted in the first place - wax poetic on our national problems and pat himself on the back for buying awards that make him feel like he's fixed all our problems.

Not when there's real people doing the actual work whose credit he keeps stealing to buy those awards in the first place.

Anyway. I don't remember what my point was...

Oh, right. This is just Harry trying to find value and relevance here in the US. Everything else - Diana, COVID, misinformation, mental health, Hollywood, Meghan, racism and unconscious bias, British prince - sinks faster than he can claim he never got swimming lessons even though William was personally trained on how not to drown by David Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson themselves (or whatever his pathetic excuse is. Hero Harry and the veterans is the only thing Harry has left that people pay attention to, and the media is only paying attention to that because Meghan buys them to cover her during all of the Invictus events.

So very long rant short, Harry keeps defaulting back to Invictus Games because it's the only thing that *works* for him. It's the only thing he has left that ties him to the life he used to know (globally adored and nationally beloved British royal soldier). He's going to hold onto it harder, faster, and more angrily than a toddler holding on to something they're not supposed to have.

[strawberrystepmom]

fukuzawa x f!reader. cw alcohol is mentioned, age gap insinuated. i'm back with another weird will they or won't they situationship, everyone. wc 1.3k | divider by cafekitsune like usualllll

“Hello?”

Yukichi’s greeting nearly catches in his throat during the scramble to press his phone against his ear, cold tips of his fingers touching the heat of his earlobe. The warmth only began after he recognized your name on the device’s screen

“I’m surprised you picked up,” you tease from the other end of the phone. Stepping into your apartment, you bend your calf and lean downward to unbuckle the tiny strap of your heeled shoe while leaning against the wall. Sighing, you let the balls and arches of your feet touch the ground and your next words come out in a tipsy flutter, something you simply cannot help. “What are you doing?”

He can almost smell the subtle and clean apple and lemon notes of your favorite wine if he closes his eyes and tries hard enough. The pair of you have shared a bottle on more than one occasion and he only stopped accepting your invitation to drink when he realized he struggled to control himself with each sip and minute passed staring at the fullness of your lips. You made him vulnerable in a way he will never be able to afford being. There is no reason he should’ve answered your call but here he is, eyes glancing downward while he considers what to say next.

“Working, as always.”

You giggle at his answer and he can tell you are probably at least four glasses of wine deep solely based on the pitch of your laughter. The sound of the gradual removal of all of your clothing is audible through the speaker of his phone and he sighs, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. Fukuzawa has been around the block long enough to be familiar with what the rustle of clothing, the lowering of zippers, and the swish of bare thighs rubbing against one another sounds like. 

“And here I was hoping you were having a little fun tonight,” you tease while plopping down on your sofa in nothing but your panties. Not that he knows that (and not that you’ll tell him) but it only further increases the hazy glow of your good mood and you kick your legs behind you while resting on your stomach. “What are you working on, Fukuzawa-san?”

Letting go of the bridge of his nose and dropping his hand back down to rest atop his desk, he debates simply hanging up and ending your game before it can truly begin. The man is well aware of what you are attempting to do with this call and as much as he is a man, he is a professional first. He does not want to get drunk with you, he doesn’t want to spend time outside of professional settings with you, yet…

“You know I cannot give you that information.”

A defeated groan from you makes the man chuckle and he shakes his head. This call needs to end if not now then in the next thirty seconds and his foot taps impatiently while he tries to come up with an excuse. You are too forthcoming, although you make a paltry attempt to seem respectable when you aren’t wine soaked and clearly eager to talk to him. It makes it hard to tell you no because you will simply pout then further disarm him with another borderline intrusive question he isn’t sure he wants to answer. You are an itch he wants to scratch but it would be an indulgence to do so, for better or worse. 

“Awww, come on. I worked at the agency too.” Shaking his head again, he eyes the paperwork in front of him. Your time at the agency was both a spring breeze and a period of great stress for its President. “You were a temporary secretary who has never had a right to know privileged information.”

The staffing agency you worked for requested your return for another assignment and you parted from the Armed Detective Agency with bouquets of flowers and requests for future meetings or dinners with everyone working there nearly a year ago. You also slipped a thank you note containing glowing words for Fukuzawa and his staff with your phone number written at the bottom for good measure, in case the glimmer of interest you caught was just that.  Now here you both are, interchangeably wondering what the other thinks while keeping all the unsaid to yourselves.

Yukichi changes the subject rather than bothering to linger in the gray area of the unspoken.

“What are you up to? That seems like the more fascinating question to ask.”

Sighing, you shift and he hears it. He has never been to your apartment but given how relaxed he has seen you become at his home, he imagines you’re sprawled out somewhere or curled up in a pile of blankets, like a spoiled house cat which you tipsily admitted you felt you were more fit to be than a grown woman during your last catch up many months ago.

You’ve shared many, many things with him during tipsy evenings - your dreams of someday doing something meaningful with your life than fill-in secretary work, the past you’ve left behind, and your undeniable attraction to him being what encouraged you to poorly attempt to court him in the first place. All the reasons he decided to leave you be all those months ago.

“Oh, hmm…I had a few glasses of wine with a friend and on the way home, decided I wanted to catch up with you.”

A little piece of him wants to ask you to elaborate on the friend part although he isn’t entitled to such information. He reminds himself that he’s the one who decided to create distance between the two of you. This simple fact alone means he has no right to presume or ask or wonder.

“Lucky me,” he mutters sarcastically and you laugh raucously. He can picture the crinkle in your nose and your big smile all too easily and once more, he needs a reason to end this call. Can he pretend there is interference? Does that still work? 

“I won’t keep you if you’re busy, I just missed the sound of your voice.” Another one of those terribly honest tipsy confessions and his grip tightens around his phone. Damn that loose tongue of yours. “I know we haven’t seen each other in a bit but I would love to catch up if you ever have the time.”

He hums and you know you are asking for more than he will give you, as usual. He took his space and you should have respected it despite the many occasions where your thumb lingered over his name. The temptation to call him and talk to someone who makes you feel understood has been almost too strong to overcome on several occasions, you've still managed to overcome. A lapse in judgment is all tonight was and his silence speaks volumes.

“I’m sorry for bothering you, I hope you have a good night and take care of yourself.”

Your voice grows distant while you yank the phone from your ear but noise from the other end makes you pause, raising a brow.

“Wait a minute.” You hear Fukuzawa’s request clear as day and stop from hanging up, gingerly pressing the phone back against your ear. “You don’t have to go but I would rather hear about you than talk about me.”

His mind is already filling in the blanks of your pout, remembering that you dislike being told no although it’s mostly for show. 

“If you insist, Fukuzawa-san.” 

Sighing, he wishes you’d stop using the formality. He wishes you’d stop calling, giggling, tempting yet he leans back in his chair with his eyes closed, mind greeting him with the vision of you.

A temptation he can’t afford yet is reluctant to deny himself.

[oppaspearl]

𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚, 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐲𝐮, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬

Pairing: Idol!Mingyu x Non!IdolReader Words: 1,253 Notes:

Anyeong! this is my first shots of Mingyu, I wrote it last year when I'm feeling so tired. By reading this, I hope you can heal fast and find your warmness again! Warning that English is not my mother language, so bear with some mistaken grammar. Any constructivism critics will be helpful hehe! See you at the next shot! - with love, oppaspearl. ---

The steam was fulfilling your bathroom ceiling as you wipe the moisturizer on your cheek. It was a long day for you. Some meetings did require your attention and concentration, then some papers works also made you concentrate to read all the agreements before you sign them. Not to mention some brainstorming about upcoming events that required your creativity. Indeed, being a creative director in a creative agency had a lot to do.

So by that, when you arrived at your apartment, you straight off to your bathroom. Your muscles and brain are screaming for a hot and relaxing shower. After all, tomorrow is the weekend, and you don’t have any schedule besides being at home and taking a rest. Well, you do have a schedule that is enjoying your boyfriend's cuddles.

Speak of the devil, your boyfriend who was no other than Kim Mingyu, told you that he will be home late than usual when he called you previous that day. Dating an idol, make you realize that they spent almost their comeback preparation not only practicing, and recording, but also some meetings that take hours. It was the fourth time in a week, as you count, Mingyu told you that he will back later than usual which was usually already at home around six or seven in the evening when his schedule was not too tight.

As you step out of the bathroom wearing your bathrobe and towel on your wet hair, you glance at the digital clock hanging on the wall near the bed. It’s already half past nine, so you decide to cook an easy dinner for yourself and your boyfriend. Changing into one of your boyfriend's shirts and bike shorts, you then make your way to the kitchen.

Tonight you decided to cook spaghetti alle vongole, the clams pasta that you usually make when you are lazy to cook. Combining with Mingyu’s favorite wine, you believe that dish is the best to close both your and Mingyu long day. Putting the slow jazz music to the speakers on the storage below the television in the living room, you then begin to chop some garlic and peppers.

You were really into the music since you didn’t hear any sounds of the main door the time you cooked the pasta and the clams on your pan, you feel a pair of arms wrap securely around your waist. The smell of cooked clams was beaten by the strong cologne smell that you know so well. Smiling to yourself as you stir the pasta, you feel a familiar head on your shoulder blades.

“Hi, sweetcheeks.” you greet him. “You said you will be back late tonight, baby.”

Mingyu nods and sighs. “I told hyung-nim that my back hurt from dancing too much since yesterday, so we finished early.”

“Did you already shower, my love?” you ask softly to him as you notice that his hair was damp.

“I did, baby,” Mingyu tells you and he sniffles your bare shoulder blades that his shirt didn't cover up.

His action makes you start to wiggle since it was ticklish for you. Instead of stopping, Mingyu tightens his arms around you and lets out husky chuckles.

“Stop it will you? I tried to cook us dinner here, sweet boy,” you warn him but he keeps sniffling your smell.

Mingyu sighs in relief. “How can I stop when you smell too good to resist.”

“Well, it was your shirt, dummy.” You chuckle. “So, it makes me smell like you.”

“I know that,” he points out. “But your soap make me sleepy.”

“Oh, so I’m your pillow now?”

“I’m always your pillow, baby,” Mingyu tells.

“Fair point,”

Your hand turns off the stove, and you turn your body then give him a kiss on his lips. The softness of his lips was always your endgame whenever you are tired or even having a long day. It is similar with safe and warm whenever you feel it. You can’t lie that you are not addicted to his kisses and cuddle.

As the kiss grows intense, you pull away from him and make Mingyu pouts at you, “Don’t you want to kiss me, baby?

“I want to,” you admit. “But we need to eat, okay? How about you take your favorite wine?”

“Red or white, missy?”

“Up to you, love.”

Mingyu nods and leaves a peck on your lip, then says, “Okay then, sweetheart.”

Mingyu releases his hugs around you and does what you said. While he takes the wine, you begin to prepare the pasta on the plate before turning to the dining table that was not too far from you. You set both of your plate and glass above the marble dining table that was behind the couch. As you gonna sit, you realize that you didn’t take any utensils yet, so you go back to the counter to take them.

By the time you already got the utensil, you turn to the dining table, finding that Mingyu pull two of the seat together. It makes him sit not only in his chair but on the chair that is supposed to be yours. You grin ear to ear before looking at him with a smirk as Mingyu also smirks at you.

With smirking, Mingyu looks at you with a sneaky expression. Like it told you that there was no seat left except his lap. But then you don’t know if Mingyu was too tired or too clingy until he didn’t notice that there were also chairs in front of him. Smirking you pull your plate and your glass to that position until it makes you and him face each other.

Groaning and throwing his head back, Mingyu then whining, “Yah! Why don’t you sit on my lap?”

“You know if I sit on your lap, I cannot eat in peace, right?” smiling, you pour the wine that he got into both of your glasses. “You just gonna sniffling around my shoulder and it tickles.”

“Which means, I love your scents, baby.” Mingyu pouts. “You know it’s such a shame if you don't sit on my lap because I thought you you gonna feed me and enjoy my cuddle.”

Your jaw dropped at Mingyu’s words. After two years of dating, you are always surprised and shocked by the way Mingyu flirts with you and also his clinginess to you. Well everyone knows that Mingyu is the golden retriever of Seventeen but not everyone knows that Mingyu will be extra clingy and drop his cool boy image when it comes to you.

“Fine,” you sigh and walk to him. “You lucky that I love you, you know that?”

Mingyu grins ear to ear and wraps his arms around your waist as you sit on his lap. “I love you too--so much, baby.”

“Say Aaah.....”

You hold the spoon and move directly to his mouth, which Mingyu opens to welcome the food. You pull away the fork from his mouth as Mingyu took a bite of it. Mingyu then chew the food happily wiggling his head like a happy kid. Looking at it, you just chuckle and shake your head.

Yeah, he is something else.

“You big baby,”

“I am your baby, tho,” Mingyu says in between chewing. But when Mingyu notice that you narrow your eyes at him, he stops chewing and looks at you with his puppy eyes. “Right?”

“Right, right.”

You nod and offer him another bite which he accepts happily.

It is indeed how your long days should end; in Mingyu warmness.

[coochiequeens]

I've taken many jabs at the ACLU for defending perverted freaks now here's the HRC following their lead.

By Reduxx Team February 16, 2024

A registered child sex offender was welcomed at the Human Rights Campaign’s North Carolina Dinner gala last week, just months after a controversy involving him being awarded a top LGBT advocacy prize. Chad Severance-Turner, a former youth minister, is currently the Chief Executive Officer at the Carolina LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce.

On February 10, the Human Rights Campaign in North Carolina held its annual dinner gala, with a number of top LGBT activists in attendance. Among the speakers at the Bank of America-sponsored “Without Exception” event was HRC Press Secretary Brandon Wolf and Democrat State Senator Lisa Grafstein.

But among those featured in attendance was Chad Severance-Turner, a registered child sex offender who has managed to rise to prominence as an LGBT advocate in North Carolina.

As previously reported by Reduxx, Turner was first accused by three boys of sexual abuse in 1998.

According to a GoUpstate report on the case from 2000, all of the victims who had come forward had met Turner through his position as the music director at the New Harvest Church of God in Gaffney, South Carolina. The cases were tried separately due to the nature of the charges, and Turner was ultimately only convicted on one offense. 

Of the incidents Turner was convicted on, a 14-year-old boy had testified that Turner had invited him to spend the night at his house in the nearby community of Bessemer City, North Carolina. The victim stated that during the visit, Turner had questioned him on how he’d feel about a man performing oral sex on him. 

Turner, wearing a silver vest, at the February 10 HRC Dinner.

“I thought he was joking,” the boy told the court. He explained that Turner frequently questioned him about sexual acts between men and women, which upset him because of the man’s position in the church. The victim continued that, following a revival meeting, he and Turner stayed overnight at the home of one of the other alleged victims. 

The teen says he awoke to find Turner fondling his genitals, but didn’t immediately report it due to shame.

The second minor, who said he was 15 when the incident occurred, stated he was invited to Turner’s home where the older man showed him a pornographic video of a man and a woman having sex. He then said that later that night, after he and Turner went to sleep in the same bed, he woke up to find Turner fondling him.

The third alleged victim, who was also 15 at the time, said Turner had made the same advances to him over a three-week period when he stayed in the boy’s home. The minor said Turner had fondled him several times. 

“He told me if I ever told the pastor, he’d make me look like a fool and a liar,” the boy said.

Turner’s registration with the North Carolina Sex Offender and Public Protection Agency.

During the trial, Turner’s defense attorney, Thomas Shealy, accused the boys of perpetrating a “witch hunt,” and asserted that it was suspicious that there was a few month delay between them being sexually abused and them going to their parents. 

Turner was ultimately convicted on the charges related to the first victim, and sentenced to 10 years in prison for committing lewd acts on a minor under the age of 16. He served 2 years behind bars before being released on parole and being ordered to the sex offender registry.

Since being released from prison, Turner has become an active and notable member of the Charlotte LGBTQ advocacy community. 

In 2012, Turner was elected the president of the LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce, immediately heading efforts to push for an expanded “nondiscrimination” ordinance which many complained would have prevented businesses from maintaining spaces such as washrooms as single-sex. 

He was named “Person of the Year” by LGBT news outlet QNotes in March of 2015, but would resign from his Chamber of Commerce post in 2016 after his history as a child sex offender came to light. He would once again join the LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce as its inaugural CEO in 2021, a position he has held since. Under his leadership, the Chamber has secured partnerships with prominent organizations like Fifth Third Bank, NASCAR, Duke Energy, Wells Fargo, Sonoco, and Novant Health. He was also recently appointed by Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles to serve on the city’s Business Advisory Committee.

Turner has previously been awarded an honor by the Human Rights Campaign at their annual gala, though at the time, HRC officials refused to state whether they were aware of his child sex offender status prior to giving him the award.

Most recently, Turner was honored with the Harvey Milk Award by Charlotte Pride in a controversial move that was quickly reversed after Reduxx reported on his pedophile past.

[densi-mber]

The Gang is Back in Town

A/N: The return of Deeks at my own, very special version of FLETC and his buddies Jake, Omar, and Charlie.

***

Deeks straightened his tie, checking his reflection in the mirror for what was probably the tenth time. Blowing out a shaky breath, he closed his eyes and tried to calm the slightly too fast rhythm of his heart.

“Nervous?”

His eyes sprang open at Kensi’s question. He hadn’t heard her come in, but he saw her now, standing a few feet behind him. She looked beautiful in an olive green, knee-length dress. It was a little more conservative than her normal wardrobe in order to meet the academy’s strict dress code.

“A little,” he answered with a shrug as she drew closer, catching her eye in the mirror.

“Why?” Kensi asked. She saw him fiddling with one of his cuffs, and gently grasped his shoulders, turning him to face her. Her eyes swept over him, assessing his suit, polished shoes, and recently combed hair. “You look perfect,” she decided with a definitive nod.

“Well, this is the first time I’ve been back since graduation. And,” he sighed again, tipping his head down under the guise of fixing a button. Kensi kindly batted his hand away “People had some mixed reactions to me. Those opinions might not have changed in the last 2 years.”

“Babe, you had the highest scores in your class,” Kensi reminded him. “From what I’ve heard, you impressed almost everyone, and for those who couldn’t look beyond their preconceived notions, they’re idiots and don’t deserve your attention.”

Deeks chuckled, curling his fingers around Kensi’s. Just touching calmed him considerably.

“I appreciate your totally non-biased view. Even accounting for all that, what right do I have to present at a conference? I don’t have any formal experience in teaching.”

“Deeks, you have an entire career’s worth of experience. Think of everything you’ve taught Fatima and Rountree. Or the guys you tutored while you were here.” Kensi paused and tipped his chin up, her eye warm and encouraging. “You can do this. You have the knowledge and hands-on experience to help create better liaison programs and traditions from other agencies to NCIS.” She smoothed her hands over his jacket-covered shoulders. “And you’ve been practicing for this moment for two months.”

“Ok. Can’t be worse than the first case I presented in course, right?” He asked lightly. Then more genuinely, “Thank you.”

“You’re going to be great.” She kissed his cheek, love in her eyes as she smiled. “Now go make me a proud wife. I’ll be cheering you on from the audience.”

***

After Deeks checked his appearance one more time, and grabbed his presentation materials, he headed over to the public common room on campus. As soon as he walked in, he he heard the murmur of voices and saw three young men grouped in a semi-circle.

“Jake, Omar, Charlie, what are you guys doing here?” he asked, forgetting any tact in his surprise. They all turned, cutting across the room. Charlie reached him first, and hugged Deeks without a hint of self-consciousness.

“You really thought we wouldn’t come?” Charlie asked rhetorically. Deeks realized he’d missed his genuine openness.

“Yeah, as soon as we saw your name on the presenters list we knew we had to sign up,” Jake said, pausing to make a sweeping gesture like he was reading a marquee. “Special Guest Speaker, Investigator Marty Deeks.”

“Guys, you really didn’t have to do that,” Deeks protested. “How many days did you have to take off for this?”

“Of course we did. You’re a friend,” Omar spoke up. “After all you did for us, we had to be in the audience.”

“Besides, it counts towards our continuing education.”

Deeks felt a touch of embarrassment, like he always did in the face of their ardent admiration.”

“Well, thanks. It means a lot.”

“Plus, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to hear Investigator Marty Deeks tell all his trade secrets,” Jake added with a grin. He patted Deeks on the back. “After this is over, all of us planned to meet up for drinks and dinner. We’d love it if you and Kensi joined us.”

“That sounds great. I’ll ask Kensi,” Deeks said, then frowned. “Wait, what do you mean, “all of us”?”

“Oh, yeah, we’re not the only ones who showed up to represent FLETC Class of 2020.” Charlie grinned at Deeks’ growing dismay while Omar patted his back soothingly. “Abigail came, that red head kid, half the study group. I didn’t see Alan though.”

“Thank god for small mercies,” Deeks muttered.

“It’s going to be the best attended presentation they’ve had in years,” Jake predicted confidently.

“Yeah, definitely not increasing my anxiety here, guys.”

Jake chuckled at Deeks’ glare while Charlie bowed.

“You’re welcome.”

“You guys are just as much as trouble as I remember. Maybe more,” Deeks commented, trying to sound severe, but the three men merely looked pleased.

“And you love us for it,” Omar said.

“Yeah, I do,” Deeks agreed, laughing softly. “But you have to promise you’ll behave yourselves.”

“Of course we will,” Jake said, sounding offended. “We want you to succeed. We even prepared questions.”

“Oh good,” Deeks drawled, but he couldn’t be mad at them as they steered him towards the door.

***

A/N: A usual, this is highly indulgent, but I don’t care!

[afterdinner-speakers]

Diversity and inclusion after-dinner speakers: Why you should use an agency

After dinner speakers are a great way to add entertainment and inspiration to your event. They can also be a valuable tool for promoting diversity and inclusion in your workplace.

But with so many different speakers to choose from, it can be difficult to know where to start. That's where an after dinner speaker agency can come in handy.

Benefits of using an after-dinner speaker agency

Here are just a few of the benefits of using an motivational speaker agency:

Expertise: Motivational speaker agencies have the expertise to help you find the right speaker for your event and audience. They can also help you negotiate fees and contracts.

Convenience: Event speaker agencies take care of all the logistics of booking a speaker, so you can focus on planning your event.

Peace of mind: The speaker agency UK has a reputation to uphold, so you can be trusted to provide you with a high-quality speaker and experience.

How to choose an UK speaker agency

When choosing an after-dinner speaker agency, be sure to consider the following factors:

Reputation: Look for an agency with a good reputation and experience booking speakers for events of your size and type.

Range of speakers: Make sure the agency has a wide range of speakers to choose from, so you can find the perfect one for your event.

Fees: Get quotes from multiple agencies before making a decision.

Why diversity and inclusion speakers are important

Diversity and inclusion speakers can help to:

Promote understanding and respect for different cultures, backgrounds, and experiences.

Challenge stereotypes and biases.

Create a more inclusive workplace for everyone.

Case studies

Here are a few examples of successful events that have used diversity and inclusion after-dinner speakers:

Event: A global technology company's annual conference

Speaker: A motivational speaker who is also a woman of color

Feedback: The speaker's speech was well-received by the audience, and many attendees commented on how inspiring and thought-provoking it was.

Event: A diversity and inclusion training workshop

Speaker: A comedian who uses humor to address social issues such as racism and sexism

Feedback: The speaker's speech was both funny and informative, and it helped to create a safe and supportive space for attendees to discuss diversity and inclusion issues.

Conclusion

If you are looking for a way to promote diversity and inclusion at your next event, consider booking a diversity and inclusion after-dinner speaker. With the help of an after-dinner speaker agency, you can find the perfect speaker for your event and audience.

Additional tips

Here are a few additional tips for choosing and booking a diversity and inclusion after-dinner speaker:

Consider your audience: Who will be attending your event? What are their interests and needs? Once you have a good understanding of your audience, you can choose a speaker who is likely to resonate with them.

Choose a speaker who is authentic: The best diversity and inclusion speakers are those who are authentic and share their own personal stories and experiences. This helps to create a connection with the audience and makes the speech more engaging.

Ask about the speaker's experience: Make sure the speaker has experience speaking to audiences about diversity and inclusion. You can ask them about their previous speaking engagements and what kind of feedback they have received.

By following these tips, you can book a diversity and inclusion speaker who will help to make your event more inclusive and inspiring.

[onsitecarservicing-blog]

Event Speaker Agencies: Navigating the World of Engaging Presentations

Event speaker agencies play a pivotal role in orchestrating successful and memorable events. These agencies serve as a bridge between event organisers and charismatic, knowledgeable after dinner speakers who can captivate audiences. In this article, we'll delve into the intricacies of event speaker agencies, explore how to choose the right one, and highlight some of the most popular agencies in the industry.

What is an Event Speaker Agency?

A UK speaker bureau acts as a talent hub, connecting event organisers with professional diversity and inclusion speakers who possess the expertise and charisma to make an impact. These agencies carefully curate a roster of mental health speakers with diverse backgrounds, ranging from industry experts to motivational speakers, ensuring a tailored match for any event.

These agencies facilitate the entire process, from understanding the client's event objectives to recommending speakers who align with those goals. By leveraging their networks and industry insights, event speaker agencies streamline the speaker selection process, saving time and effort for event organisers.

How Do I Choose a UK Speaker Agency?

Choosing the right event speaker agency is a critical step in the success of your event. Consider the following factors to make an informed decision:

Expertise and Specialisation:

Look for agencies with experience in your industry or niche.

Assess their track record in providing speakers for similar events.

Speaker Roster:

Examine the diversity and expertise of the speakers on their roster.

Ensure the agency can match you with a speaker who resonates with your audience.

Client Testimonials:

Read reviews and testimonials from previous clients.

Evaluate the success stories and feedback related to the agency's speaker recommendations.

Customisation and Flexibility:

Choose an agency that understands your unique event requirements.

Ensure they are flexible in accommodating specific requests and adjustments.

Budget Considerations:

Clearly define your budget for speaker fees and agency services.

Seek transparency regarding any additional costs or fees.

What Are Some of the Most Popular Event Speaker Agencies?

Several event speaker agencies have earned acclaim for their exceptional services and ability to match the right speakers with the right events. While preferences may vary based on specific needs, here are three notable agencies:

The Right Address:

Renowned for its diverse roster of speakers, spanning business, technology, and entertainment.

The Right Address prioritises personalised service, ensuring a seamless experience for clients.

Eloquent Engagements:

Specialising in motivational and leadership speakers, Eloquent Engagements is a go-to agency for inspiring presentations.

Known for its attention to detail and commitment to understanding client objectives.

Oratorical Experts Hub:

Catering to a global clientele, this agency excels in providing multilingual speakers for international events.

Oratorical Experts Hub is recognised for its meticulous speaker selection process.

In conclusion, navigating the world of online motivational speakers involves understanding their role, considering key factors in the selection process, and exploring reputable agencies in the industry. By making informed choices, event organisers can ensure that their chosen speakers not only meet but exceed the expectations of their audience, creating impactful and memorable events.

[astteriskk]

Prologue: A New Destination

“Kaede, when are you going to visit?”

“Soon, I promise.”

Kaede chuckled and she scribbled notes onto her paper. On the other side of the continent, Shuichi was brewing a cup of coffee with his phone on the counter, set on speaker mode. “You said that a week ago.” He complained. She scoffed and flipped the page. “I have a concert soon. After that, I’ll book a flight, ok?” She tried to compromise. He sighed and gave in, letting her have her way. It had been a year since the two had seen each other. The only reason they knew where each other was because they were allowed to have contact with one person. After the killing game, the sixteen of them, minus Tsumugi, had been freed from the Team Danganronpa headquarters. But, instead of just letting them go normally, they spread them across the United States and didn’t inform them of where their friends would be. They were given a basic apartment and a mall fund of money to get them started on their new lives, but nothing other than that. Kaede found herself with a few jobs to juggle. She mainly played piano for jazz clubs across Las Vegas, but sometimes she was invited to play for the occasional dinner party. Shuichi, on the other hand, ran a detective agency in New Orleans. She had wanted to move there, but she just never had the money to do so. Shuichi had already established a good business there by the time he started making good money. He couldn’t just leave. They relied on him. So, she planned to visit him. But things kept coming up and she could just never find the time. Luckily, they were about to go into the fall. Usually, she’s freer in the fall since everyone is busy.

              “Kaede, can’t you just cancel the concert? I know you love it there but there’s a café nearby where I work that lets people reserve times for them to perform. I know the owners pretty well and I can get you a reservation if you’d like.” Shuichi tried his best to persuade his female friend. She giggled at his attempt and frowned afterward. “Maybe. I…” She trailed off, glancing down at her watch. The owners of the jazz club were messaging her about times. “Maybe I’ll cancel. When should I fly down there?” She asked. She could practically hear Shuichi’s eyes light up. “I’ll book you one for tomorrow morning. Is seven alright for you? You’ll end up getting there around ten.” He sounded deep in thought. Kaede shivered at the thought of getting up so early but agreed anyway. “That’s fine. Just let me cancel real quick.” She typed delicately on her watch, informing her superiors that she wouldn’t be there. Shuichi continued to chat about some cases he was working on as Kaede sat up from her chair at the dinner table. “What should I make for dinner?” She inquired, opening her fridge. It was half stocked, though not enough for a meal. “What do you have?” He said. She breathed in through her teeth sharply. “Literally nothing.” She shrugged, though he couldn’t see. He laughed at her bluntness. “Why don’t you just order takeout?” He suggested. She gasped and slammed the fridge door shut. “Oh my god, you’re a genius.” She grabbed her phone and opened the app for her favorite Chinese restaurant. Thirty minutes later, she had her food and was sitting, wrapped in a blanket, eating Chinese food, and chatting happily with Shuichi.

A/N: I don't have AO3 yet, so I'm posting this here first. This is the prologue to a post-game Danganronpa fanfiction. The main ship is Amamatsu (Kaede x Rantaro) with little hints of other ships thrown in there. I can't promise how often I'll update, but please enjoy my silly little story

[oliviahallwriting]

Chapter 15

Every university, from the online institutions to the Ivy Leagues, shares the same morbid nickname for the prelude to final exams. For most, Dead Week was worth its reputation, as students collapsed from several all-nighters (ironically, performing much worse on their finals as a result).

But Jun had prevailed through both Dead Week and finals, slamming out an, if he said so himself, solid, pathos-driven essay on gender performativity. He’d also scripted and led two interviews for his comms class without damaging the A/V club’s tech. He’d even finished his photography portfolio and submitted it a day in advance.

His phone flickered to life from where it rested on the desk. Hopefully it’d be Tom; they hadn’t met up since dinner the week before, though he’d been good about replying to texts. Students tended to isolate themselves as they ran up on deadlines, and Tom had fallen prey.

A trap, Jun thought, annoyed. Social interaction was good for learning, and certainly better than eight straight hours in the library. Study for three hours, break for two, then study for three more, if necessary. Nobody had followed his advice thus far. Not that he was bitter, of course, and anyway, it was too late now. His plane for winter break would leave in six hours.

The phone on his desk was still alert, as if asking him why he hadn’t replied yet. Maybe it’d be one of the agencies he’d contacted, Jun thought. After he’d learned about RAIN at the party, he’d made some calls. One was to the FDA, but, after he’d been on hold for a few hours, he didn’t have evidence to show. A sketchy summer curriculum of a university’s masters’ program wasn’t enough, apparently. More recently, he’d abandoned at least one of his minorly-held principles and called the campus police, but they’d given a similar answer. At least they’d cared enough to ask for his name. 

He checked the phone, and saw, to mild surprise, Kiyana’s name at the top of the screen.

Hey, can we talk before you leave?

Kiyana

Yeah, what’s up? Been a while! 🙂

Jun

In person. Where are you?

Kiyana

Uh, we can meet in the library, or the Quirby, or something. 🤔

Jun

Library’s fine.

Kiyana

Another boring texter, Jun decided, after putting on his coat and boots. Who didn’t like to occasionally season their conversations with an emoji or a gif or something? Besides Tom, of course, who refused to convey more emotion than a single question mark. But he thought Kiyana had been less reserved.

It was a little weird that she’d demand they talk in person. Even if she seemed okay, he decided that he wouldn’t leave her without scheduling her a visit to the campus mental health staff. And then he felt bad for not checking in more often; to his knowledge, only Tom had talked to her since the party.

He met Kiyana outside the main library. She was sitting on a bench, surrounded by gardens, and looked unaware of the chill breeze. He startled a little when he saw the eerie, unfocused expression on her face—she was definitely not doing okay—and decided how best to stage an intervention. 

“Hi,” he said, cheerfully. Then he winced; the affectation was false enough to be embarrassing.

“Hi,” Kiyana replied, her voice stilted and weird. “I wanted to show you something.”

Jun felt goosebumps on his arms. Something in him was telling him to leave, though he ignored it and took a step closer. He wouldn’t sit next to her, he decided, which should be a reasonable enough compromise.

Kiyana retrieved something from her bag, which looked like a perfume sampling bottle. She sprayed it around her, too close to Jun to be polite.

“Hey, watch the product,” he said, trying to carry a jovial tone. “Tom might judge me for wearing a scent—” he said, and faltered. The mist didn’t spray like anything.

Kiyana searched her backpack for something else. A headset, by the looks of it. She put a microphone to her mouth and fiddled with a speaker, which she wore around her neck.

“Wait a minute,” Jun started, and then, louder, “Wait!”

He grabbed Kiyana’s shoulder, but he faltered, unsure about whether his next move should be to take the microphone away from her, or to yank the speaker from her neck, or to unplug Kiyana’s phone from the speaker’s jack, and in that hesitant moment, a bell rang. The sound was from the speaker, and the world shifted. 

The bell’s peal, impossibly, seemed to sap all other sounds from the area, including Jun’s own heartbeat. It disoriented him, even as he knew it was an illusion, or, no, RAIN, that must have been it, and he should, he should—

“Focus on my words,” Kiyana said, and Jun could do nothing else. “Go to the campus police and tell them I sent you, then forget this happened.”

So he left.

…

A few blocks away, a police officer paced near the back of a conference room. She wore a headset, a badge engraved with “Catherine”, and a nervous expression.

“Stay seated,” she said, though she knew it wasn’t necessary. The student in front of her was unlikely to stand without an order.

Someone rapped on the door. George, Catherine thought, from the sharp one-two sound. He was her partner. “Partner” in a strictly business sense, until five, or wherever the local restaurants started their happy hour. Though they hadn’t been on one of those dates in ages, since this RAIN business started. Now, when they weren’t working overtime, neither of them had felt cheery enough for a celebration. 

Sure enough, it was her partner who strode into the room without waiting for a reply. 

“Bring this one to Cynthia,” he said. George was military-gruff, courtesy of a few years in Iraq, but he spoke in close to a mutter and couldn’t meet her eyes. “I looked through his file.”

Catherine glanced downwards briefly before meeting George’s eyes. Sometimes he ribbed her for her occasional overly-emotional approach to cases. She thought she’d done a pretty good job hiding her expression this time, but George shook his head.

“I know you like to protect them,” he said. “But she’ll replace us if she thinks we don’t share—” he coughed, then continued— “share her opinions.”

“You mean ‘me,’ right? You’re stoic. Pretty sure she’s always been convinced about where you stand.”

“Cath,” George said, “If she transfers you, I’m walking. And if she makes you stay, then, money be damned, I’m cracking open the gun locker.”

Catherine smiled grimly, but she felt it fade when she turned from her partner towards the subject, who, as she expected, hadn’t moved from the conference-room chair.

“It’s fucked up,” she said. “What she’s doing.”

“Yeah,” George agreed, “But at least my kids won’t have college debt. And at least we’re the ones doing this. You’ve met the city’s police department. I wouldn’t trust ‘em not to take advantage, and, you know.”

Catherine heard him falter a little at the end. It was subtle enough that no one else would have caught it, but she’d heard him stumble before, when they were laying together and he’d overcome his own personality to say something sweet.

“What do I know?”

George sighed. “Maybe she’s right. You don’t know how this works. No one does, not really. At least she’s supposed to be giving this to professionals, right? And I heard the next version won’t come with side effects.”

Catherine nodded. George crossed the room to put his arm on her shoulder.

“Knock it out, then go home,” he said. “Shouldn’t take long.”

He dimmed one of the floor lights as he left.  Catherine took a moment to think about what she’d do with her bonus five years’ salary. Maybe she’d retire early, with her dogs, or she’d go on vacation somewhere. One of those family cruises, perhaps. She could ask George to go with her, and bring his kids. Both of their spouses were out of the picture, and had been for one and two years, respectively, so there wasn’t even any harm in it. And his kids might grow to like her. She could work on her out-loud reading skills first. Unless they’d rather read their own chapter books; she’d have to ask George after this all blew over.

Catherine took out her script and opened a voice-recording app on her phone. For the first time she realized the potential security breach; the IT guys on campus told her that it wasn’t hard for someone dedicated to break into a voice memo. But Cynthia herself had told her that she could use her phone for this if she’d wanted, that it’d be easier to just send her the file when it was through, and to not worry about using secure networks or what have you. At fifty-five, Catherine was too old to care about that kind of thing. But Cynthia was young, and the leader of, what, the marketing and business side? She should care, certainly—

And then Catherine realized that she was stalling, and dangerously close to talking herself out of doing what she was paid for, so she walked towards the student on the chair.

Like the previous two interrogations—no, interviews—she’d hosted, she played the peal from her speaker and winced as the student sat upright in his chair, at attention.

“Answer the following honestly,” she started. “What is your name?”

“Jun,” the student said. It tracked with the information on the script, so Catherine nodded.

“Are you familiar with the chemical abbreviated ‘RAIN’?” she continued.

“Yes.”

“How?”

“It was a chemistry experiment from Dr. Rose’s summer class.”

“What was the experiment about?” Catherine asked, a little nervous. Her script for this section said that ‘answers may vary’ and for her to ‘gather details’ and not much else.

“Trance-inducing compounds,” Jun said.

Catherine looked at the script, at its mandatory reply, and the words ‘speak with confidence’. Her confidence shouldn’t matter, since she was the one with the speaker. Some kind of workplace-compliance nonsense. It was surprising Cynthia hadn’t been in human resources. She didn’t speak like a therapist, hypno or otherwise, that was for damn sure.

God damn it, she was procrastinating again. Her pauses would be noticeable in the recording.

“No, it wasn’t,” she said.

Jun looked at her blankly.

“Pay attention,” Catherine said. “RAIN is not a concern. It was only a college experiment about acids and bases. Dr. Rose is safe. She quit the school due to fatigue. Nod if you understand.”

Jun nodded.

“Who else knows about RAIN?”

“Tom, Kiyana, and Laura. Tom’s last name is Rose; he’s the professor’s grandson. I don’t know the last names of the other two.”

“Thank you,” Catherine replied, though it wasn’t on the script. “Be at peace with this information,” she said. “You aren’t worried about RAIN anymore. Now you can focus on other things, like your studies.”

Jun smiled, making Catherine wince. A shower sounded nicer by the minute.

“Tell your friends to come to the campus police or to Kiyana if they mention RAIN again. She will tell them the truth, too. Nod if you understand.”

Jun nodded.

“You heard this information from the Internet. You were never in this station, or in this room, and you’ve been studying for the past hour. Understood?”

“Yes.”

“Return to your living accommodations,” Catherine said. “Once you reach the quad, regain focus.”

She stopped the recording and took a deep breath.

…

Jun realized he was alert in the line at the campus mini-mart. He felt high, which was weird for a few reasons. The first was that it was five on a Wednesday. The second was that he’d spent the last hour studying in the library, though his last final was yesterday. And the last was that he’d only messed with a few drugs in his life, and didn’t even have any in his suite. But nothing else explained the weird haze he felt. Everything was moving by him, and either too quickly or in half-motion.

The cashier stared at him and told him a number. Ah, his total. The cost of whatever he was holding, which he dumbly realized was a stick of deodorant.

A few steps later, before he’d even left the store, he gazed at the deodorant in his hand, and put some on. He was sweating, and for some reason it felt like the thing to do. It felt right.

When he reached the landing to his flat, everything that was slow sped up and everything that was fast slowed down, all at once, like the world’s heart had skipped a beat. Jun threw the cologne in his backpack, and blushed a little: had he put the deodorant on while still in the store?

He walked faster and sped through the rest of his vacation packing; finals had ended, and he’d wanted to chat with Tom before his plane left.

[kenovele]

Blog 42

I have kind of gotten out of the habit of writing, three weeks off writing the blog has been appreciated, work has picked up and I have frequently found myself overwhelmed with things that I need to do and things that I have to do and writing the blog was the final drop that overflowed the glass, so I was glad to have Benoit to pick up the slack. But now it is back to me as Benoit now finds himself in the world of bureaucracy. I was able to enjoy my last toasted sandwich at Te Aroha made for me by my personal driver and chef before he started his job on Wednesday. I will miss this period, although I think it will help Benoit’s relationship with my parents the fact that he now has a job. I know that I am going to miss having him around all the time, whether it is to keep me company in Te Aroha, or to do the little things around the house so our weekends can be filled with things we want to do, or getting dinner ready so we can go climbing. It will be different, and I think it will take us a little bit of getting used to and possibly will mean we need to do a bit more organising  each week, but it is a good step for Benoit to feel more rooted and comfortable in NZ. It will also be good for him to get out there and meet some new people in the professional world.

Like all government run agencies, it is badly organised, he only found out on Tuesday that he was starting on Wednesday, but like ‘Castor Cool’, Benoit is good at going with the flow, and taking life as it comes. He spends his days checking papers for errors in the printing. He is working for the elections, two weeks before the election day on the 14th of October and two weeks after the day. Currently he is in a team of four, working at the ‘head quarters’ where they are checking that all the voting papers have been correctly printed. It is a mind-numbing job but one Benoit says he is enjoying because he is assured that it is short term. On the second day, he had already decided that the speaker system at the office was not good enough and had decided to bring in his speaker to ensure good quality sound for all the office people. He is also enjoying the perks of office life which means coffee breaks. The office apparently has a very good coffee machine that makes all sorts of coffees, including cappuccinos, so although this last month Benoit has been trying to reduce his coffee intake, he has very quickly become a slave to the wonders of caffeine in a desk job.  Three cappuccinos later and Benoit won the self-appointed challenge of checking his stack of papers the fastest, the prize however was only another stack of papers!

Apparently this job pays well though, as after two days (half days might I add 9am till about 14h) Benoit bought himself an electric bike. I may have a mocking tone, but it was a great purchase, a nice big battery, speeds up to 45kmph and made for commuting, complete with saddle bag attachments, mudguards and headlights. I will leave him to explain the wonders of the bike in more detail, but overall it was a good purchase and kiwi made so a win win. But all I see is a nice looking bike in a even better colour, a beautiful olive green, apparently the bike is unisize, so I look forward to trying it out this weekend!

In between work and bike buying we have been to the climbing gym twice so far and we plan to go on Sunday as well. Slowly I am getting more and more confident in the lead climbing part of the gym. It is showing in my fingers as once again, my fingers are getting all callused up and I can no longer fit some of my rings which I was enjoying wearing again while we were building the tiny house and too busy to climb, but not wearing my rings is a small price to pay for the joy of climbing. We spend out car rides to and from the gym sending voice messages and crocheting, then a good two hours of climbing. We rotate our sessions between bouldering, climbing on lead projecting, climbing on lead volume training and top-rope volume training which is much more intense because the breaks are shorter. We try to rotate evenly but we are very keen to get better at lead climbing, so whenever we have the time to lead climb, we have been tending towards that one at the moment.

This weekend, it was the All Black vs Italy on Saturday morning which we went into my grandparents to watch, I organised watching the game with them before we found out that Benoit had a training day for work, so he missed half of the game but luckily with his new electric bike he was able to be autonomous in his trips. I spent the rest of the day in wedding mode. As you may know, my best friend Josie is getting married and I am the maid of honour so I have a lot of dress appreciating duties. This weekend we went to a jewellery shop and then our fourth and fifth dress shops before going back to the third dress shop we went to last weekend. So a Saturday full of wedding dresses and at the end of it all I could see was white dresses and expensive price tags, but it was enjoyable none the less and I was glad to be able to help out with the decision making and do my wedding duties. As usual though, having a busy Saturday full of commitments means that you want to do two contradictory things on Sunday. One cram in everything that you didn’t do on Saturday into Sunday (jobs around the house, washing, meal prepping for the week, sport) but two, you want to relax and recharge for the week ahead. Before it was a bit easier to choose option two because I had my kept man at home that did all those domestic chores while I was at work, but now option one still needs to be done. So Sunday was spent trying to balance getting everything done, with relaxing. And I think we did well, but honestly, everyone that knows me knows that I don’t relax, so who am I kidding, we did well because we got through the list, and enjoyed each other’s company. A win in my books.

And once again, another Sunday, and the beginning of a new week, but this one where Benoit and I will both be working full time. It shall be another change to the dynamic of our partnership, one that will take a little bit of adjusting to but compared to everything else we have  had to adjust to, I think this one will be easy.

Love Kate xxx

[trans-axolotl]

ID: [screenshots of instagram posts from @BintMeetsWorld. Text reads: DMV Guide for Jan 13 March on Washington for Gaza. Directions: the Smithsonian metro station is the closest stop, which sits on the Blue, Orange, and Silver lines. Make sure you're taking your lines in the correct direction! See map for reference. Uber, lyft and etc--order your rides early due to demand. Parking: National Mall and Memorial Parks--Lot A. Colonial Parking. Capital Parking.SP + parking. There is an image of the DC Metro map, which shows that one direction for the Blue, Orange and Silver line is towards New Carrolton, Franconia-Springfield, and Ashburn, while the other direction for the three lines is Vienna and Largo. Halal bites in DC: George's King of Falafel and Cheesesteak. Muncheez. Halal wrist. Roaming Rooster. Dave's Hot Chicken (Halal location on 14th st.) Halal Guys. Sakina Halal Grill. Z-burger. Yasmine. H & Chicken. Sacrificial Lamb. Aladdin's Kitchen. The Green Zone. Masjid Locations. Diyanet Center of America (Lanham, MD). Islamic Center of Washington DC. Dar Hijarah (Falls Church, VA). Muslim American Society (Alexandria, VA). And many more, these are just the bigger ones right outside of DC. Palestinian Owned. Albi, Bawardi Mediterranean Grill, Balqees, Jenin Pastry, Jerusalem Mediterranean Restaurant, Olive Lounge, Mama Ayesha's, Haifa Grill, Falafel Inc, Hilana Filafel, Shababi Pop up, Olive Lebanese Eatery, Yafa Grill, Yellow Bakery, Z&Z Manoushe Bakery. DC Restaurants: Ilili, VIlla Yara, Agora, Ted's Bulletin, Lapis, Le Diplomate, Founding Farmers, Ala, ottoman Taverna, Albi, Dolan Uyghur Restaurant, rumis Kitchen, Eerkins Uyghur Suisine, Mezè Restaurant. VA restaurants: DCG (District Chicken and Gyro), Kabob Palace (Afghan), Saba Restaurant (Yemeni), Fettoosh (Moroccan/Lebanese), Fava Pot (Egyptian), Layalina (Lebanese), Lebanese Taverna, King of Koshary (Egyptian), Mount Olive (Moroccan), Jerusalem Mediterranean (Palestinian), Balqees (Yemeni and Lebanese), Yayla Bistro (Turkish), Shamshiry (Persian), Dunya Kabob (Afghan), Bawadi (Jordanian and Palestinian). After Dinner Cafes: Shotted (In Tyson's Corner mall). Zakriyat, Cedar's Cafe, Sir Sandwich Co, Hub Cafe, Huqqa, Le Jardin, Mint Cafe, Balqees, Cloud, Breeze Cafe. Tips for protesting in DC: Get into the city with your group, you will not have service once you get there. DC protests usually have guest speakers before the March starts, be prepared to stand for a bit. Bring water with you or cash to purchase from food trucks surrounding the protest route. Leave DC by 7pm if you're staying outside the city to avoid heavy traffic. Order your ride share early (20-30 min wait). ]

other tips that I want to add:

Accessibility of Metro and bus lines:

All metro stations have escalators and elevators. You can sign up for the ELstat alert system to get live updates when elevators are out of service. Metro stations have bumpy tiles near platforms, flashing lights when trains arrive, and have audio and visual display systems that show announcements.

Metro cars do not have a gap between the platform and car, and there is priority seating, as well as wheelchair securement spaces on all cars.

for buses, all buses are kneeling buses that have lifts or ramps. There is priority seating, and most buses have both a visual and audio display.

for public restrooms on the day of the march, all Smithsonians are free to enter and have public restrooms, including ADA accessible restrooms, but you might have to walk through a metal detector or get your bag searched to enter. Another close public restroom is the Eisenhower Memorial, which has public restrooms around the back of the building that are available from the outside.

There are many different police forces in DC, and depending on what area you're protesting on in DC, and whether or not federal police forces have jurisdiction, there might be many different agencies who have different procedures they follow. Keep an eye out for police, what uniforms they're wearing, and ask people local to DC for help identifying what cops are in the area. Here's a link with some basic info on the most frequently present cops. Here's some resources from the DC NLG about your rights and what to expect from police response, what happens if you get arrested, etc. Also check out the principles to DC organizing created by Washington Peace Center and DC BLM, especially if you have never protested in DC before and are not familiar with local activist work!

original post by @/BintMeetsWorld on instagram! as many students gather back into the DMV from our homes around the world, let’s remind everyone who we are and what we stand for! FREE FREE PALESTINE!