FinCon
SPEAKER
Processes & Details
Previous Keynote Speakers
Jaspreet Singh
2021
Ramit Sethi
2019
Sharon Epperson
2019
Jean Chatzky
2018
Chris Hogan
2018
Rachel Cruze
2018
Darren Rowse
2017
Nicole Walters
2017
David Bach
2017
2021: Jaspreet Singh, Vanessa Van Edwards
2019: Ramit Sethi, Sharon Epperson
2018: Chris Hogan, Jean Chatzky, Rachel Cruze
2017: Darren Rowse, David Bach, Nicole Walters
2016: Clark Howard, Kim Garst, Noah Kagan
2015: Grant Baldwin, Tess Vigeland, Kabir Sehgal, Daniel Crosby
2014: Chris Ducker, Farnoosh Torabi, Jeff Goins
2013: Derek Halpern, Pat Flynn, Jean Chatzky
2012: Adam Baker, Liz Weston
2011: JD Roth, Pat Flynn, Ramit Sethi
Previous Big Idea Presenters
short, powerful talks by key community influencers
2022: Allison Baggerly, Anthony O’Neal, Bernadette Joy, Bobbi Rebell, Chris Browning, Clark Howard, Delyanne Barros, Lauren Greutman, Patrice Washington, Pete McPherson, Rich Jones, Rob Berger, Sharita M. Humphrey, Yanely Espinal
2021: Jamila Souffrant, Julien & Kiersten Saunders
2020: Allison Baggerly, Andy Hill, Brian Jung, Carter Cofield, Catherine Alford, Chris Browning, Chris Peach, Daniella Flores, David & John Auten-Schneider, Elle Martinez, Ericka Williams, Erika Kullberg, Jason Brown, Joe Saul-Sehy, Justine Nelson, Lacey Langford, LaTisha Styles, Logan Allec, Michelle Black, Monica Louie, Nick True, Paula Pant, Rich Jones, Tai & Talaat McNeely, Tanja Hester, Teri Ijeoma
2019: Catherine Alford, Tanja Hester
2018: Emma Johnson, Joe Saul-Sehy, Joshua Becker, Stefanie O’Connell, Tai and Talaat McNeely
2017: Chris Guilbeau, Erin Chase, Kyle Taylor, Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, Paula Pant
2016: Jean Chatzky, Jeff Rose, Pat Flynn, Patrice Washington, Tiffany Aliche
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
PHILOSOPHY
FinCon is a fantastic event for personal finance speakers and creators. We aren’t about speakers flying in and looking down on the community. We’re about speakers who are part of our community (or tangentially related) and who can inspire or enlighten us. We also want keynote speakers who will attend the event and get to know the community. We intentionally de-emphasize the main stage production and status to keep the focus on the FinCon Community instead of any “stars” on stage. We aren’t “king and queen makers.”
We aren’t a corporate event simply spending its annual marketing budget. We’re a for-profit event supporting two full-time salaries with low pass pricing. Because of this, there is downward pressure on keynote speaker compensation.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
SELECTION PROCESS
Each year, we brainstorm a short list of 5-10 personal finance speakers to approach. Ideas usually come from community input via the Community Advisory Panel, surveys in the Facebook group, other events and individual recommendations, upcoming book releases, personal preferences from the team, and old and new industry leaders.
We prioritize speakers based on alignment with our philosophy, ability to bring a message that our community needs to hear, his/her demographics compared to our community’s demographics, including gender and ethnicity, and the ability to garner event pass sales.
COMPENSATION PACKAGES
We have more to offer speakers than just monetary compensation. We often offer to buy and distribute books, make media connections, include an exhibitor booth, and/or provide specialty services such as video and design services, partner on events and more. Compensation packages can both benefit event attendees (free books!) and help us financially.
In the ten years of FinCon events, our highest total keynote speaker budget for a single year’s event was $27,000. That total amount included compensation for all of the main stage speakers for that event.
Big Ideas are short, powerful talks intended to celebrate the good, innovative work being done in the personal finance space and the FinCon community. These talks typically last only 15 minutes and are presented on the Main Stage.
Big Idea speakers are compensated a flat rate of of $1,000. For Big Idea paired speakers or panels, that amount is divided equally among the pair or panelists.
Transparency and diversity are important to us, and because of that, we are committed to continue seeking input about speaker selection and processes from the FinCon Community Advisory Panel.
BREAKOUT SPEAKERS
SELECTION
Each year hundreds of people submit speaker proposals for breakout sessions. Submissions are evaluated and selected by a Speaker Selection Committee, which is a different group of people each year. The committee consists of a diverse group of FinCon Community members with expertise in a variety of content creation platforms (blogging, podcasting, YouTube, advisors, freelancing, etc) and niches within the Personal Finance space.
The most recent Speaker Selection Committee for #FinCon22 was made up of 8 community members, plus the FinCon CEO and Marketing Director. The committee included bloggers, podcasters, YouTubers, an advisor, and freelancers. Because diverse representation is important, the group included 4 female, 4 male, 4 BIPOC, and 4 white members.
Breakout session speakers at #FinCon22 were 42% BIPOC and 53% female.
