When not at the drafting table, Tom Fishburne gives keynote talks to audiences around the world. He uses his cartoons to help tell the story, along with his extensive experience in marketing and business.
With a speaking style that is inspiring, engaging, comedic, and visual, Tom excels in the tricky agenda slots, including early-morning wake-ups and post-lunch food comas.
Tom has road-tested keynote talks on marketing, technology, innovation, and the future of work in over 200 events in more than 30 countries (and half the US states).
We now have the ability to deliver more consistent and creative customer experiences than ever before. So why does customer engagement so often fall flat? We’ve all felt the pain of customer engagement that doesn’t work — customer journeys that break, consumer data without insight, attempts at personalization that misfire. A sense of humor can help us probe those pain points and explore how to become better marketers.
Technology changes exponentially; organizations change logarithmically.
Most organizations haven’t kept pace with the potential brought by technology. From AI to data to digital transformation, technology initiatives are often adopted shallowly, missing their full potential. If we want to pursue technology transformation, we ultimately have to think about organizational transformation.
The creative process shouldn’t end after the brainstorm, yet ideas often suffer a thousand cuts on the path to launch. In this keynote talk, Tom will unpack the mindset that organizations need to adopt in order to develop remarkable marketing and innovations. He will frame ways to build a culture that champions creativity and overcomes idea killers. No idea is born perfect, and innovation requires the collective creative efforts of everyone in an organization.
Humor is the language of culture change. As former Apple executive Hiroki Asai put it, “Fear kills creativity and humor is our most powerful tool to drive fear out of the system.” Through humor, we are able to talk about topics that are otherwise difficult to talk about. We can better connect with others, whether in external marketing or driving internal culture change. In this keynote talk, Tom uses cartoons and case studies to help us all tap into our innate sense of humor and unlock the power of laughing at ourselves.
Here’s a full 45-minute keynote on “Thriving in the Awkward Adolescence of AI and Technology”, delivered at the CMO Symposium in Denver in June 2024.
Included in every keynote, Tom runs a cartoon caption contest to get audiences excited before the event and laughing at the collective sense of humor during the keynote talk.
Tom frequently includes interactive exercises to help push audiences out of their comfort zones in a fun way. Simple drawing exercises can unlock creativity and capture takeaways from the whole event.
Cartoons can capture the essence of themes and conference tracks to promote the event (and can also make fun swag giveaways).
From twenty years of Marketoonist archives, we can also pull cartoons in a custom frame that can be used for pre-event marketing. Five licensed cartoons in event frames are included in the price of a keynote.
Book signings, panel discussions, and interviews are welcome additions to an event.
Remote speaking is also an option for virtual or hybrid talks with an integrated picture-in-picture video feed from Tom’s cartoon studio just north of San Francisco.
My standard speaking rate is $15,000 for keynote talks in the US and $20,000 for talks in other parts of the world. I discount in non-peak times of year, so let’s talk about what works for your budget.
In addition to the keynote, Tom’s speaking fees include 5 licensed cartoons in an event frame to help promote the event, a cartoon caption contest, 50 copies of “Your Ad Ignored Here”, a book-signing, and all related travel expenses. He’ll help promote the event in his Marketoonist newsletter and social media. He also loves participating in panel discussions and interviews.
A couple times a year, I give pro bono talks for nonprofits with limited budgets and really amazing missions. Let’s talk.
I live and work just north of San Francisco and travel far and wide for keynote talks. I’ve given keynotes in more than 30 countries and half the US states.
