Editorial by Kelly Elbert –
I had the opportunity (well, begged, actually) to attend the “Get Motivated!” seminar in Des Moines Tuesday as a part of a class trip. How could I pass up the chance to see super achievers such as Billionaire Steve Forbes, 49’ers Joe Montana and headliner Bill Cosby, amongst others, offer insight and advice on how to get the job done? Since I couldn’t find a logical reason not to go, some classmates and I loaded up our borrowed trailblazer and headed south (at 5 AM) to the Wells Fargo Arena.
We found the arena filling up quite quickly and the atmosphere was electric. Get Motivated Seminars Inc. promises a motivational Woodstock of sorts, and the drug; enterprise. They wasted no time appealing to Hawkeye country. Pyrotechnics announced the first speaker, Kirk Ferentzhead, football coach at the University of Iowa. He told us that “the key to success is learning how to prepare.” He emphasized teamwork, good work ethics and the ability to be a good listener. He then ended his speech encouraging us to have a positive attitude. Then there was a quick word from the zany and spirited Kari Michaelson acting as MC for the event. My classmate Pamela swore up and down that she had seen her on television before, and after some fact checking I determined that she may have been Uncle Jesse or Uncle Joey’s girlfriend from 90’s sitcom “Full House”, then BAM! More pyrotechnics and Steve Forbes came bounding on to the stage to BTO’S “Takin care of business”.
Mr. Forbes said that “you can’t do what everyone else does; you’ve got to do things differently.” He also advised; “learn from failure, don’t let it discourage you.” The publishing executive also spoke about monetary policy stating that the US dollar will be linked to gold. He touched base on free enterprise in the health care industry and then addressed the audience, stating “you are over taxed”, to which he was met by a very enthusiastic applause.
A couple of speeches later, something quite puzzling happened, a man who I had never even heard of, nor was on the billing to be a speaker, came out to teach us about investing. His name was Phil Town, and he had a rags-to–riches type story about how he had saved the life of a big wig stock broker and five years later was a hippie turned millionaire. Now, I must say that being in sales for as long as I have, I can recognize a pitch when I see one, and sure enough, mysterious lights appeared at two ends of the arena and the audience was encouraged to “head for the light” and sign up for Mr. Towns three day seminar at a special discounted price of 99 dollars to “Get Motivated!” attendees (a 3000 dollar value).
After lunch, we came back to our seats to find the party in full swing. DJ X and KJ 52 were put in charge of getting us to dance for a chance to win a trip to Disney World and everyone was on their feet. Red, white, and blue beach balls fell from the sky. Some poor fools were rushed on to the stage and the one who made the biggest fool of themselves won the grand prize. Then the turn table were hoisted off stage, more fireworks went off and the theme from the Harlem Globetrotters filled the arena, and the MC announced: “You’ve known him as Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable from The Cosby Show, please give a warm welcome for MR. BILL COSBY!” and the crowd went wild.
Maybe it was the fact that we were in high girlish spirits from all the dancing, maybe it was the over indulgence of highly priced coffee, or maybe it was the excitement from the beach balls magically appearing out of nowhere. I do not know, but as we sat back down in our seats I kind of lost my head for a minute and screamed at the top of my lungs “WE LOVE YOU!!!” My voice echoed around the arena and Mr. Cosby, without skipping a beat, looked up at us girls and said “Thank you, but where were you the last time I was in town?”
Get Motivated Seminars Inc. has been met with some criticism, and it comes as no surprise to me; while it felt like a once in a lifetime opportunity to hear Dan Rather, an icon in the field of journalism, genuinely and warmheartedly share his four points to success, at times I felt like I was locked in some sort of “get rich quick” sales pitch that could have easily been seen on a late night infomercial. All gimmicks aside, it still was quite entertaining, and all of the speakers had valid points. Would I pay 225 dollars to attend? Heck no, maybe if I was stock market mogul Warren Buffett and had a few to spare, but some things did resonate with me and that makes the entire experience well worth it. I was certainly glad to get motivated.
awesome job
wow fantastic !!Can’t wait to read your next story
These events have been going on a long time. In the 70’s it would come to Des Moines and it was truly motivational with no sales pitches. It cost $300 to attend. They held it in venues that held 2 – 3,000 people, much smaller than the Wells Fargo Arena that holds 17,000. About 10 years ago a guy by the name of Peter Lowe and his wife Tamera started holding it in places like the Astrodome that allowed them to charge very little to attend. They had to add the investment and other sales pitches to make money. The $225 someone referred to is a scare tactic to get people to buy tickets ahead of time rather than wait until the seminar date. Nobody ever pays $255. In fact, most people, over 50%, get free tickets. For $20 they will send 200 or 300 tickets to distribute to anyone. The goal is to get as many people as possible to attend to expose them to the sales pitches. They even oversell capacity, knowing that a certain percentage of people that got free tickets won’t attend. If someone pays money for a ticket they will generally attend the event. In some cities Fire Marshalls have closed the doors and not allowed anyone to enter because there are more people than seats. Peter and Tamera are now in the middle of a nasty divorce. Peter sold the company to an investment company for around $11 million. The company owes past creditors hundred of thousands of dollars. The investment company that bought it also supplies some of the investment speakers
First, “Would I pay the $225 to attend. Heck no.” Then, “the entire experience well worth it” I guess I’m just confused, did you pay to attend or get in for free? Was it worth your time but not your money? I have no position on the validity of these events, I’m just not sure if you’re saying the whole thing is a scam or just the extras they try to sell you.
Hello Matt and thank you for your questions.. I got my ticket to the seminar through the collage that I attend as part of a class trip, which I’m sure they got at a great discount. My ticket stated that it was 225$ to attend the event.. which seems to be a pretty hefty price to pay to have some guy try to sell me access to his investing website, and a 99$ pass to his three day workshop. It was an enjoyable experience because I got to hear other successful and prominent people share their secrets to success. I took what I could from It and learned a lot, which is all that one can hope for… kinda like making lemonade out of lemons 🙂
This is a very well written article, makes me feel like I was also in attendance at the seminar, even made me laugh a bit. You’re a very talented writer, and I’ll look forward to reading more of your articles 🙂
As far as the seminar, it sounds like it was fairly interesting and I might have enjoyed actually attending it, however I’m also not too crazy about the surprise sales pitch. Going to these other seminars that they put on may help you, it may not. In the end, the only reason why they ever do any of these things in the first place is just to make some extra money. These people, millionaires, billionaires, etc… they got to the point that they’re at right now for a reason; they’re good at making money and have a burning desire to make more of it. They also excel at taking your money and leaving you with nothing in return.
As much as I wish I never had to worry about my bills, I wouldn’t really want to be one of them either because it seems like I’d have to step over (or on) way too many people to get there.
I don’t like any of this kind of stuff. Motivational speakers, pyramid schemes. It never ceases to amaze me that some celebrities will sign on for big bucks from companies to endorse their products whether they actually believe in them or not. There’s a new wave of so called health care/weight loss products (which the name I won’t mention) going around Mason City and North Iowa right now and I think it’s the same kind of nonsense. Use our products, lose weight, and spend, spend, spend. Then sign on with 3500 dollars and get others to sign on and hence the big pyramid. The sad thing is alot of people are falling for it and some are seeing some returns for their dollars but I think most of them aren’t seeing any returns that come close to what they’ve spent. Sad that some are so gullible.
Kelly:
You were correct in the headline. These events are mostly a get rich quick scheme but the only ones that get rich are the ones putting them on. It has been reported that 80% of the revenue at these “seminars” as they call them, doesn’t come from ticket sales. It comes from the after-seminar investment and other sessions that people sign up for. The get suckered in on the $99 deal and are told they can make fast, easy money. The cheap session doesn’t teach them anything they can use so they sign up for the real lesson that costs thousands of dollars. This is up-selling at a high level. By the time the person has gone that far they are psychologically and financially committed to doing more. A very small percentage of people that take the courses actually get anything out of them. Most people lose money on the deal and some have been taken for their entire life savings. Those speakers pay to be able to speak at the seminars and the people putting on the seminar get a substantial percentage of the total sales. If the people selling products weren’t there, there would be no seminars.
On the other hand, there are some very good paid speakers. I just wouldn’t recommend signing up for any program offered by the other guys.
Peter K
Loved the article Kelly!
Made me want to go there and “get motivated”!
J
I went to this a couple of years ago, it was the same deal. Just some ploy to get you to buy stuff.
The speeches were still good and inspiring though.