Keynote Speaker

Bruce M Firestone, B Eng
(Civil), M Eng-Sci, PhD, Founder, Ottawa Senators; Executive Director,
Exploriem.org; Author, Quantum Entity Trilogy, Entrepreneurs Handbook II;
Entrepreneurship Ambassador, Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa;
Real Estate Broker, Century 21 Explorer Realty Inc

Dr
Firestone is available to give inspiring addresses including keynote speeches
for your organization.

He
is a successful businessperson, professor, mentor and author. He got his start
in his 20s with $10,000 for a downpayment and a lot of guts when he invested in
a faltering business which he turned into a commercial real estate empire; it
was the foundation for a successful bid to bring the National Hockey League
back to Ottawa
after a nearly 60-year hiatus. He put it all on the line, risking tens of
millions of dollars, to bring the Senators back to Ottawa. It became a high tension,
multi-faceted endeavor with all the suspense of a Borgia series, with competing
cities and political interests aligned against his team’s bid. Their resulting
success changed the City and brought a sense of pride to all of Canada which was in the process at the time of
going through another tough recession and losing two existing teams, in Quebec and Winnipeg.

Currently,
Bruce is active with Exploriem.org, a not-for-profit organization that supports
entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs and artpreneurs, teaches at the University of Ottawa’s
Telfer School of Management as well as internationally at places like Hyper Island
in Stockholm, works with Century 21 franchises
in the Ottawa
area and has had time to publish two works of fiction plus the Entrepreneurs
Handbook II. He’s an engineer (from McGill), has his Masters of
Engineering-Science (from the University
of New South Wales) and his PhD in
urban economics (from the Australian National University
in Canberra). A
popular speaker to audiences of business people, students, business improvement
associations, chambers of commerce and economic development agencies, he has
great stories to tell and lessons learned about perseverance and vision to
impart that will inspire. Bruce talks about how it doesn’t take many
entrepreneurs to change a city or town and how bootstrapped entrepreneurs are
an important part of shaping a sustainable future for communities across the
planet. Bruce also moderates an active community on Twitter via @ProfBruce.

If
you would like additional information, please contact me.

Nina
Brooks
ninabrooks @ rogers.com

NEVER BACK DOWN
How Support for Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurs
Creates a Diverse, Innovative and Sustainable Future

Audience—
Economic Development Agencies
Schools, Colleges, Universities
Banks, Financial Institutions
Entrepreneurs, Intrapreneurs and Artpreneurs
Product Managers, Project Managers
CEOs, CTOs, COOs, HR
International Aid Agencies
City, Town, County, State, Provincial Governments
Futurists
Not-for-Profits, Charities, NGOs

Type of Speech—
Keynote with learning outcomes
Length of 45 minutes to 60 minutes

Main Messaging—
• You’ll never get anywhere without analysis/focus/determination/passion
• It does not take many entrepreneurs to change economic prospects of any
community
• Economic future of city-states depends on development of entrepreneur,
artpreneur and intrapreneur class, tolerance of and encouragement of diversity
and getting the pre-conditions for economic takeoff right

Anecdotes—
• Ottawa Senators—Don’t Back Down/Mike McCuaig/Tom Lederer/Premier Bob Rae
story
• Ottawa Business News—Getting a Seat at the Table
• Apple’s iPhone—Greatest Profit Generator Ever
• Wilderness Tours—Ask for Forgiveness Rather than Beg for Permission
• Nortel v IBM—Business Models Count
• Patafies Inc— Essential Innovation
• Ottawa Senators—Character test

Learning Outcomes—
• ‘Leisure is the new infrastructure,’ Eric Kuhne, CivicArts.com
• Developing a culture of and support for a creative class of entrepreneurs,
intrapreneurs and artpreneurs as well as a tolerance for diversity
• Creating and capitalizing sustainable enterprises

Inspirational Messaging—
• Trust is number one in life and business—NHL gives franchises to people they
like and trust
• You can start over—at 55
• Teamwork—people need people
• Leadership matters—small number of entrepreneurs can change everything in a
community
• Think on your feet—flexibility and workarounds needed

Other topics covered by Dr
Firestone include—

•
Entrepreneurship
• Advanced Business Models—So that the Harder You Work the More Money You Make
• The Social Media Age
• Artpreneurship—Get Rich While You’re Still Alive
• Intrapreneurship
• Urban Development
• Real Estate Development
• Urban Planning and Design
• Leadership in the 21st Century
• Self Capitalization in the 21st Century
• Sports Industry
• National Hockey League
• Personal Business for Life
• How to Make an Elevator Pitch
• Creditor Proofing
• Guerrilla Marketing and Social Media
• Writing, Publishing in the Age of Kindle, iPad, Kobo and Nook
• Future Vision
• Quantum Entity Trilogy
• Product Management
• Design Economics
• Art and Architecture
• Development Economics—Resuscitating City-State Economies
• How to Get Sponsors for Practically Anything
• How to Start a Not-for-Profit or Charity
• Negative Cost Marketing
• Negative Cost Selling
• Fundraising for Everyone and Anyone
• Urban Nirvana
• Build and Hold– Don’t Give Away your Business
• Firestone’s Four Laws of Power Selling
• Twitter Nation and Social Media
• Get the Business Model Right so the Harder you Work, the more Money you Make

For More Information—

https://brucemfirestone.com/
1.613.566.3436 x 200 or 1.613.293.2825
@ProfBruce
@Desiradda
dawnf1 @ rogers.com
brucefirestone @ rogers.com

Selected Speeches by Bruce M
Firestone

-Moving
up the Food Chain, a New Direction for Canada, Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce,
First Anniversary Dinner, Keynote, West Block, Parliament Hill, March 2000
-Ottawa Vision—a Focus on Self-Reliance, Mayor’s Breakfast Series, Keynote,
April 2002
-Livable Cities, Carleton University Career Week, Keynote, March 2003
-The Bootstrap Entrepreneur, Brookstreet Hotel, Grand Opening, Keynote, July
2003
-Entrepreneurship, Development and Sustainability, Kiwanis, Keynote, September
2003
-Sustainable, Emergency-Prepared Cities, Speech, Shad Valley, Carleton
University, July 2004
-Secrets to Attracting (and Keeping Clients)—Advice for Accountants,
Consultants and Lawyers, Keynote, CMA, February 2006
-Importance of the Creative Class, Gordon Harrison Gallery, Opening, Keynote,
November 2007
-Entrepreneurship and Intrapreneurship in the Not-For-Profit Sector, Keynote,
Canadian Society of Association Executives Ottawa–Gatineau Chapter, January
2008
-Entrepreneurship in the Age of the Internet/Ideas are Not Enough—Execution
Still Counts, Keynote, Algonquin College, October, 2008
-Personal Business for Life, Road to Financial Security and Independence,
Keynote, CEED, Centre for Entrepreneurship Education and Development, Nova
Scotia, October 2009
-Entrepreneur Skill Set and Experiential Learning, Roundtable, Canada-EU Youth
Roundtable, HRSDC, December, 2009
-Kanata, the Next 20 Years, Kanata Chamber of Commerce, AGM, Keynote, September
2011
-Artpreneur, Get Rich While Still Alive, Opening of prototypeD.org, September,
2011
-How Do You Beat Your Competition? Ian Telfer Lecture Series, Keynote, March
2012
-Intensification: Blight or Boon? Dalhousie Community Association, Annual
General Meeting, April 2012
-Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame Acceptance Speech, June 2012
-How Entrepreneurs Can Reshape a Community, Keynote, County of Renfrew, October
2012
-Three Most Important things in Business? Sales/Sales/Sales, Sandler Training,
October 2012
-How to Really Get your New Enterprise off the Ground, Keynote, Y Enterprise
Centre | Centre d’entreprises du Y, December 2012
-Entrepreneurship, Startups and Economic Development, Renfrew & Area
Chamber of Commerce, Keynote, February 2013

Testimonials

“I
just wanted to thank you again for the event last week. All the feedback I
received from our members has been extremely positive. I have compiled the
information, and our members rated you as a speaker with an average score of
3.8 out of 4, which is tremendous. I thank you again for your fine work. We are
constantly doing events, on a variety of topics for our members. If we ever
decide to do another event where we feel your experience and expertise would
add a great deal of value to our members, we’ll be sure to consider you in the
future. In addition, if you ever wish to attend any of our events, we’d be more
than delighted to have you in attendance,” Vimal Gopal, CMA.

“Bruce
Firestone hardly needs an introduction, let alone a recommendation, but it
doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve one. Anyone who spends a couple of minutes with
him will be captivated by his speaking abilities combined with his in-depth
knowledge in real estate, entrepreneurship among other topics. What is so
admirable about Bruce is that when he decides to take on a challenge, he
immerses himself in it and doesn’t give up until he masters it. Anything from
personal to professional accomplishments he puts 110% in. Although he considers
himself semi-retired, he gives back more to the community than many others who
are dedicated full time to that cause. It’s a pleasure to work alongside Bruce
on many initiatives—personal, professional and charitable and I look forward to
continuing to helping him in his ongoing efforts to make a difference in this
world,” Brent Mondoux, CEO at N-VisionIT Interactive @betterwebsites.

“Being
involved with Exploriem.org and its incubator program has allowed my business
to grow. In particular, working with Professor Bruce Firestone, as my mentor,
has helped me find opportunities, develop advanced business models and plan and
execute the first year of my business. This was especially true at the early
startup stage where the technology was just being developed and as we moved
towards testing. As a result, we turned an early stage venture into a company
that delivers real value,” Craig Schoen.

“By
the way, I had a nice chat with some of your students at this morning’s breakfast…
they simply said you were the best prof they have had since coming to Carleton
four years ago. I am sure it is a shared belief by many of your other
students,” Luc Lalonde.

“It
has come to my attention that your teaching evaluation results for the Winter
2003-04 term were higher than the department average… I wish to thank you for
all your hard work and dedication to the student and to the School. It is much
appreciated. I look forward to many more years of excellence,” Vinod Kumar,
Director, Sprott School of Business.

“Thank
you again for joining me in the classroom to discuss business models and a
number of topics that were ‘right on target’ for the interests of our MSc
students… I would also like you to know that I believe you are remarkable
individual and huge asset to Telfer. The many contributions that you make to
student learning are likely not recognized enough. Thank you for continuing to
motivate students, advise faculty and provide entrepreneurial leadership,”
Barbara J. Orser, Deloitte Chair in the Management of Growth Enterprises,
Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa.

“Professor,
I wanted to let you know that the Elevator Pitch competition and your Business
Model Competition were a big part of what inspired me to actually go out and
start Incogna.com. Otherwise, I’d probably have just ‘gotten a JOB’ when I
graduated. But this is way more fun!” Kris Woodbeck, (Engineering Graduate, U
of O), Founder, Incogna.com.

“You
definitely deserve a great evaluation for that entrepreneurship course, Prof
Bruce. Of all the business courses I took at Carleton, yours definitely
prepared me the most for life in the real world. I’m currently working at an
advertising/direct marketing agency in Toronto
with a real entrepreneurial bent and am brainstorming with some friends to
start up our own business later on down the road. Never again will I look at a
great JOB as the final goal–I eventually hope to have my own ad agency–but it’s
going to take some learning. Your course wasn’t just a series of lessons, but
more of an overall paradigm shift. Many many thanks,” Sean MacPhedran.

“Your
class this summer has been excellent; it has really cleared up the black hole
side of architecture for me. The class connects designing for people with
getting cities built in a way that gives us more of an entire look of
architecture, rather than just an understanding of buildings and spaces. I find
that this course gives us opportunity and courage to learn what’s out there.
Thank you so much,” Joseph Adrian Sauvé.

“Approximately
a year and a half ago I walked into class not knowing what to expect. I didn’t
know anybody. All I knew is that I wanted to find out if I had any
entrepreneurship in my blood. I feel privileged to have met two
professors/mentors like you and Professor John Callahan. I’ve grown a lot; I
learned to let my mind free of any preconceived concepts… So thank you for
instilling that entrepreneurial fire inside of me and I hope I will be able to
benefit from your mentorship for years to come,” Mihnea Galeteanu.

More about Bruce M Firestone, B
Eng (Civil), M Eng-Sci, PhD

Bruce
M Firestone is best known as a professor, entrepreneur and founder of NHL
hockey team, the Ottawa Senators and their home arena, Scotiabank Place, as well as Author,
Quantum Entity Trilogy, Entrepreneurs Handbook II and Urban Nirvana (2014/15).

Firestone
is Executive Director of Exploriem.org, a Canadian registered Not-For-Profit
corporation focused on educating and mentoring entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs and
artpreneurs in Canada
and around the world. He is also coaching and teaching via Learn By Doing
School, an organization dedicated to providing student entrepreneurs with
access to research, education and a network of high achievers not available
elsewhere. Prof Bruce is also an effective keynote speaker for organizations
with a positive focus on creating opportunity for their stakeholder group.

Prof Bruce has launched or helped
launch more than 172 startups in fields including tech, real estate, design,
art and services. More about this at: What We Do,https://www.dramatispersonae.org/?p=474.
He advises clients on business modeling, self-financing, smart (guerrilla)
marketing, social media, differentiated value, strategic selling and business
development, market channel development, harnessing the Internet and mobile
web, urban design, real estate development, design economics, product
management, sponsorship, fundraising and development economics as well as
issues related to entrepreneurial organizations including not-for-profits, NGOs
and charities.

In
May of 2006, Dr Firestone joined the University
of Ottawa’s Telfer School
of Management at as its first Entrepreneur-in-Residence. He previously taught
or studied at McGill University (Bachelor of Civil Engineering), Laval
University, Harvard University, University of Western Ontario, University of
New South Wales (Master of Engineering-Science, Traffic and Transportation),
Australian National University (PhD in Urban Economics) and Carleton
University. Prof Bruce is now Entrepreneurship Ambassador for Telfer.

Dr
Firestone has been an operations research engineer, real estate developer,
hockey executive, professor of architecture, engineering, business and entrepreneurship,
real estate broker (with Century 21 Explorer Realty Inc), writer, researcher,
columnist and novelist. He is a peerless husband and father of five great kids
and one fine grandson.

“Entrepreneurs
follow a moral path when they first, take care of their business so second, the
business can take care of their families so that, third, their families can
take care of them so, fourth, they don’t become a burden on society or their
fellow human beings, so, fifth, they can help others so that, sixth, others can
help their business,” Prof Bruce, 2013.

Awards
include—

-Inducted
into Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame
-Awarded Canada 125 Anniversary Honorary Medal
-Member, Stanley Cup Monument Committee
-Member, Commercial Services Division, Ottawa Real Estate Board
-Honourary Member, Beta Gamma Sigma, International Honour Society for
Collegiate Schools of Business, March 2008
-Exemplary Course Designation, Design Economics, Canada Architectural
Accreditation Committee, 2004
-Winner, Educator of the Year Award, OCRI EduGala, Ottawa, 2002
-Member, Ottawa Commonwealth Games 2014 Bid Committee
-Member, Community Budget Advisory Team, City of Ottawa
-Member, Kanata Economic Development Task Force
-Member, Ottawa International Airport Authority Planning Committee
-Founding Member of CIRA’s (Canadian Internet Registry Authority) Marketing and
Branding Committee
-Member, NHL Executive Advisory Committee, NHL Expansion Committee, NHL
Marketing and Public Relations Committee
-Member, Ottawa 67s Advisory Board, 1998/99

For Bruce’s CV, please refer to: https://www.dramatispersonae.org/?p=164.

More images: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4975635549830.1073741851.1267565414&type=1&l=4b1ed96ab4

140
character CV–

Prof
Bruce: entrepreneur/r.e. & urban guru/novelist/Sens founder/Exploriem &
LBD ED/peerless husband/dad/EQJournal.org/DramatisPersonae.org.

References:

Barbara
J. Orser, M.B.A., Ph.D.
Deloitte Professor in the Management of Growth Enterprises, Full Professor
University of Ottawa Telfer School of Management
55 Laurier Ave., E. (6105) Ottawa
Ontario, Canada K1N6N5
Tel: 613 562-5800 Cell: 613 355-8652
Email: orser @ telfer.uottawa.ca

Dr.
Tony Bailetti, Director
Technology Innovation Management Program
Institute of Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialization
Carleton University
Ottawa, Canada, K1S 5B8
613 829 8885 or 613 520 2600 ext 8398
Email: Bailetti @ sce.carleton.ca

Chris
J. Hughes
General Manager
Emtec Canada Inc.
108 – 329 March Road
Ottawa, ON
K2K 2E1
Tel: 613-591-9131
Fax: 613-591-2640
Email: chris.hughes @ emtecinc.com