How the Speakers' Bureau Works
If you belong to a community group (school, community college, retirement home, professional club, veterans association or other group) and would like a speaker to talk to your students or associates on issues of national or international security, we are here to assist you.
We maintain a list of about 30 persons who have agreed to make themselves available for talks in a given year, when their schedules permit. The list can be found on this web site: Speaker Topics. The topics listed reflect the most current interests of these speakers. However, most of the membs of our Speakers' Bureau are flexible enough to modify the talks to meet your specific needs/ interests.
If you would us to line a speaker up for you, contact the TISS Office by phone (919) 613-9280 or by email (pumphrey@duke.edu). Either Carolyn Pumphrey or Michelle Koeneke will be happy to discuss your needs. We like to know as much as possible about the audience - who are they, how well informed are they, do they respond better to formal or informal talks? Once you have decided on which speakers you would like (generally it is best to suggest at least two), please send us a formal request, noting the place, date, time of the event, providing us with your own contact information, and letting us know what speaker you would like to hear. If possible, please use the online form: Speaker Request Form.
At that point, Carolyn or Michelle will contact the speakers and see if they are available. If they are, she will put them directly in touch with you so that you can provide them with final details including directions to the meeting place.
Once the event is completed, we ask you to complete a brief form: Speakers Bureau Evaluation Form and return it to us. We provide our speakers with a modest honorarium and compensation for travel. To pay them, we need a paper trail. The returned form will also serve us as a timely reminder.
Caveats: Because our budget is limited and because we hope to be able to assist a wide variety of groups, we do not provide more than 5 speakers for any one group in any given year. Because most of our speakers live and work locally, we are in general better able to assist those of you who live in and around the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill), but our members have, at times, given talks as far afield as Wilmington and Charlotte, and we will certainly do whatever we can to assist you. If you do live far away, it is especially important that you give us plenty of notice!
