Executive Education

Supporting the Playmakers' strategy management services is our family of executive academies, clinics, boot camps, corporate retreats and workshops. Used successfully throughout North America, South America, Asia and Europe by Fortune 500s and start-ups alike, these continuing education offerings receive consistently high ratings from attendees.

Playmaker academies, clinics and boot camps can be conducted in-person, by webinar and telepresence, or in combinations of on-site and virtual settings.

They are ideal for executives and managers in strategy and planning, sales, corporate and product marketing, public affairs, corporate communications, analyst relations, and social media. They answer critical questions like these:

What plays do our competitors and allies run?
How can we collaborate with allies and partners?
How do we typically respond?
What plays keep our rivals off-balance?
Like chess, what moves can we make in turn?
And then what? And then what?
Which plays are out-of-bounds ethically, culturally and legally?
Which plays to we favor?
Which plays should we avoid?

Playmaker's Academy™

7 Sessions in 7 Weeks

For executives and managers of influence-based functions.
First of its kind professional certification in influence strategy.
A seven-session frontier course based on the full-credit graduate class, JOUR 599, Influence Strategies, taught at the USC Annenberg School for Communication.
Comprises a series of interactive, case-based lectures and intensive off-site clinic.
Improve participants' awareness and mastery of public discussions and the competitive strategies that vie to influence them.
Enrollees receive The Elements of Influence, Playmaker's Table reference card, Playmaker's Glossary, Code Cracker booklet, and one-year StrategyMapper™ webtool subscription.

Pro Playmaker's Clinic™

Half or Full Day

For graduates of the Playmaker's Boot Camp and Playmaker's Academy.
Intensive half-day or full-day clinic led by The Playmaker's CEO & Founder, Alan Kelly, and a Standard-certified consultant.
Reviews in summary the component parts of The Playmaker's Table, focusing on the individual illustrated play types, definitions, prescribed uses, and their associated risks.
Introduces Alpha and Beta plays and the principle of Fit and Friction.
Introduces The Playmaker's Process, a sequencing methodology for calling, running, decoding, and countering influence strategies, and Factors at Play, a complete reference diagram of prevailing variables that influence play-filled marketplaces.
With prepared cases from your industry, puts you and your team in the driver's seat to develop play action analyses and option scenarios using the StrategyMapper™ webtool.
With pre-drawn Playmaker Strategy Maps, organizes attendees into teams to play Crazy Ivan's Disco™, a game of strategy speed chess.
Attendees receive The Elements of Influence, Playmaker's Table reference card, Playmaker's Glossary, Code Cracker booklet, and one-year StrategyMapper subscription.

Playmaker's Boot Camp™

Half or Full Day

For professionals in strategy and planning, sales, corporate and product marketing, public affairs, corporate communications, analyst relations, and social media.
A half-day or full-day workshop conducted by Standard-certified consultants.
Reviews in detail the component parts of The Playmaker's Table, focusing on the individual illustrated play types, definitions, prescribed uses, and their associated risks.
Challenges attendees to analyze plays and the play action of their industry, particularly the habits and moves of competitors as well as those of their own organization.
With pre-drawn Playmaker Strategy Maps, Standard-certified consultants present business case studies to connect attendees with real world playmaking. Examples from politics and popular culture are also showcased to help acclimate playmakers to The Standard's lexicon.
Attendees receive The Elements of Influence, Playmaker's Table reference card, Playmaker's Glossary, and one-year StrategyMapper™ subscription.

Corporate Retreats and Workshops

Planning a retreat? Training employees? Brainstorming off-site? Developing a plan? The Playmakers offer custom-designed academies, certification clinics, and game-based workshops.
Ideal for executives in management, strategy, marketing, product marketing, sales, communications, public affairs, advertising, social marketing, our programs may include these popular and productive exercises:

Crazy Ivan's Disco, a game of strategy speed chess.
War room simulations to analyze plays and the play action of your industry
Strategy mapping to isolate the habits and moves of competitors as well as those of their own organization.

Speaking Engagement and Seminars

Alan Kelly, The Playmaker's Standard CEO & Founder, is a seasoned presenter with a speaker's résumé that spans four continents in a variety of forums, from executive training programs to graduate seminars to professional associations. Kelly's talks are remembered for their provocative and engaging content and, most important, their carry-over to an attendees daily duties.