The Plains, estimated 2006 population of 289 according to City-Data.com, is probably best known in the region as the home of the famed Virginia Gold Cup steeplechase, or maybe as the closest incorporated town to Halfway, home of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Duvall. There is also reported to be a corn maze in The Plains, though I admit to never having visited. The Plains is that most idyllic of American towns, sleepy, cozy, and easy to drive right by if you blink at the wrong time or let your eyes drift to the radio dial as the signal begins to crackle and fizz.

There's a three-way stop sign at the town's main intersection, nothing that one could call rush hour traffic with a straight face, and a sense of calm and peace that seems to bake up from the sidewalks as you make your way around. About the only thing missing from the Rockwellian sense of place is a sign on the outskirts of town welcoming you to "The Plains: A Nice Place to Live." All of which were precisely the things that Dan Simms was looking for when he opened his international talent management firm, The Agency Speakers, just two short years ago and decided to drop it straight in the middle of town.

"Quality of life was a big deal for Michelle and me when we decided to locate in The Plains," says Dan, referring to his wife, the Senior Talent Liaison for The Agency Speakers. "Interaction with our clients, most typically corporate meeting planners, and our speakers, the incredible men and women with whom we get to work, more often than not takes place over the phone, or on email. We had the wonderful opportunity to literally be wherever we wanted, as long as there was broadband connectivity, FedEx, and an airport. Finding ourselves smack in the middle of hunt-country was sort of a bonus."

Based out of a non-assuming, bungalow style home on Main Street, The Agency Speakers has grown in the last two years since its founding from, quite literally, a one speaker firm to one of the most forward thinking agencies in its industry, representing an All-Star stable of well over 30 speakers, from business and political leaders to entertainment and sports hall of famers.

"I had been working as a speaker agent for several years already," recalls Dan, "when I decided to form my own agency. I'd worked with Jerry Coffee quite a bit in the past, and he was the first speaker to join our team."

Captain Gerald Coffee (ret.) served for 28 years in the United States Air Force. During his distinguished service, Captain Coffee was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for flying low-level reconnaissance missions over Cuba in his F-8 Crusader and taking the photos that helped the United States' Ambassador to the U.N. prove the existence of Soviet missiles there in 1962.

While flying combat missions over the jungles of Vietnam in 1966, Captain Coffee's jet was shot down and he was taken prisoner; after being held as a POW for seven years he was "repatriated" in 1973. He served twelve more years of active duty before retiring from the Air Force. During his service, Captain Coffee was recognized with the Silver Star, two awards of the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, two Bronze Stars, the Air Medal, two Purple Hearts, and the Vietnam Service Medal with 13 stars.

"Jerry is a remarkable man, and a gifted speaker," says Dan. Gifted speaker may not convey exactly the full extent of Coffee's speaking prowess. He has been recognized as one of the nation's top 10 speakers in a poll of corporate meeting planners and is one of only 173 CPAEs, the professional speakers' version of a Hall of Famer, in the world.

Other speakers represented by The Agency Speakers include Olympic Gold Medalists Dan Jansen, Bonnie Blair and Kerri Strug, NFL Hall of Famers Troy Aikman, Warren Moon and Steve Young, NBA Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas; John Alston, Matt Weinstein, Tim Gard and Willie Jolley, all CPAEs, members of the Council of Peers Award for Excellence, a lifetime award for speaking excellence and professionalism granted on material, style, experience, delivery, image, professionalism and communication, are all also represented by The Agency Speakers.

How Dan and Michelle have created such a titan in their industry in such a short period of time is a testament to any number of things, not least of which have been a willingness to listen to their clients and the speakers they represent, a palpable enthusiasm for the work they do, and a staff that feels more like a team, a group of dedicated individuals pulling together towards a single, simple goal: success, not only for themselves and for their speakers, but for their clients and their audience.

"Professional speaking is not for everybody. When you realize the time and effort the top speakers have put into their careers, the dedication they have shown and the sacrifices they have made, you begin to understand how similar they are to any other elite professional. Our job is to make sure that these men and women have everything they need to do their jobs at the highest level of their abilities, from liaising with hiring agents to working out all the logistical details, from negotiating speaker fees to furthering the 'brand' of that particular speaker."

As he speaks, Dan's passion for his work comes through loud and clear. "Corporate meeting planners, our primary clients, really began expecting, requiring even, that speaker managers be able to show that they had a real relationship with their speakers. That's really what we bring to the table here. We have personal relationships with each and every one of our speakers; we have to. We'd insist on it even if the meeting planners didn't. How else would we be able do the best job for our speakers if we didn't?"

Chicago and Washington, D.C., with their large numbers of associations, corporations and government agencies, are hot-beds on the public speaking circuit, so setting up shop less than 30 minutes from Dulles airport and just a bit longer to get to downtown D.C. made perfect sense. Besides, a lot of Dan and Michelle's clients like the opportunity to get outside the beltway.

"It was an unexpected bonus to opening our offices in The Plains," says Michelle. "When we do need to have a face-to-face meeting, we've really found that people love to come out here. We'll offer to meet them in D.C. or Tysons and they'll say 'No, no, let us come out to you guys.' Turns out a lot of them like to spend time out here in the area after our meeting is done, sometimes staying for the day or even the weekend. It's a real treat for people to be able to come out this way."

It's apparent how much the people at The Agency Speakers enjoy what they do and the people with whom they work. It's just as apparent how much they enjoy where they get to work, and what an asset that has become for them.

"We love what we do and we love the people we get to work with," says Dan. "But we also love where we get to do it."

The Plains: A Nice Place to Live....AND Work.