I agree with previous posters - it would really depend on what the alias is.  if it's something reasonable, then I'd just assume that the speaker is trying to maintain their personal vs business divide.  No harm in keeping your personal life confidential... and your business life public.

Some days I wonder if we should have started blogging under aliases... especially after my boss found our blog after it was published in the Globe & Mail.

S/he might have been impressed!  So long as you didn't say your boss sucked!

Some days I wonder if we should have started blogging under aliases... especially after my boss found our blog after it was published in the Globe & Mail.

True.  Thanks Eric!

Good point FCC.  Looks like a Catch-22!

Thanks Maria!  Don't want warning bells going off or else no one would pay attention.

Maria

Financial Conflict Coach said:

I agree with Andrea.

 

If it's a professional conference or event- most people want to know a presenter's qualifications, experience & background. Anonymity makes this difficult. You can say you're an expert...but without a real name, it's hard to make people believe your claims.

 

It really depends on the subject of the presentation.

Thanks FCC!  You hit it on the head.  However, let's say you were speaking.  You tell us about yourself, give some background, and fire off some mind blowing material.  Would I view your presentation in a lesser degree because you presented as Financial Conflict Coach instead of Dave Hilton?  Perhaps initially, but if the material was top notch, I think I would slowly look past the alias.

Outstanding material definitely makes a difference. In a situation where your presentation is one of many for attendees to choose from at that time, your alias may cause a smaller audience for you to share that material.

Then again- the positive response (via Twitter, Facebook, etc.) from a smaller, but engaged, audience may make people *wish* they had gone to your presentation and cause the organizers to invite you back next year. ;)

I don't think it hurt Ninja or J Money at FinCon last year

Eric- you bring up a good point. If someone's "brand" is already well-known within the group of attendees (personal finance bloggers), then anonymity probably won't matter.

But if either of them were invited to speak at a conference for...let's say fast food franchise owners...they might have received a cooler response.

There are always exceptions.

I agree with Andrea.

 

If it's a professional conference or event- most people want to know a presenter's qualifications, experience & background. Anonymity makes this difficult. You can say you're an expert...but without a real name, it's hard to make people believe your claims.

 

It really depends on the subject of the presentation.

Thanks FCC!  You hit it on the head.  However, let's say you were speaking.  You tell us about yourself, give some background, and fire off some mind blowing material.  Would I view your presentation in a lesser degree because you presented as Financial Conflict Coach instead of Dave Hilton?  Perhaps initially, but if the material was top notch, I think I would slowly look past the alias.

I think it depends on how obvious the alias is. If someone is introduced as "Bob Porter" I can deal, even if I know it's not the person's real name.... If they were introduced as "Credit Guy" or something I would probably roll my eyes.

Thanks Andrea!  Guess as a speaker, one's goal is to minimize the eye rolling.  Haha.

If it's a professional conference or event- most people want to know a presenter's qualifications, experience & background. Anonymity makes this difficult. You can say you're an expert...but without a real name, it's hard to make people believe your claims.

It really depends on the subject of the presentation.

If you attend a conference and a speaker was using an alias, does that take away from the experience?  Just curious, thanks! 

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