August 25th, 2008Get Motivated Seminar – Superb Value For An Energized Day
Today I attended the Seattle area Get Motivated seminar. According to their website:
This motivational mega-show packs more inspirational firepower than a stick of dynamite!
The Seattle seminar was held at Key Arena, and nearly all of the 17,500 seats were filled. In any given year, more than 300,000 people attend. Upcoming additional cities (Asheville, Tulsa, Nashville) for this all day motivational seminar are only $4.95 per person, or $19 for an entire office. The list of speakers for the event varies, but past speakers included United States presidents and other World leader, famous entertainers and musicians, business leaders, astronauts, and sports legends. Today’s event in Seattle included General Colin Powell, Rudolph Giuliani, Suze Orman, Zig Ziglar, Terry Bradshaw, Phil Town and others.
Each of the speakers captivated, motivated, educated and entertained the enormous crowd. There were numerous giant screen displays spread throughout the arena for those sitting far from the stage. At several points throughout the day, there were short bursts of entertainment (Santana), free prize raffles, and even an audience dance contest.
For such a low admission charge, you would be correct to assume there is also a fair amount of up selling included. My particular event in Seattle included three speakers that marketed their additional training. But the crowd saw the value in each of the deeply discounted offers, as I witnessed what must have been at least 60% of the arena crowd sign up. Most people seemed to sign up for all three opportunities, including:
- Success Magazine Investor Workshop – two day intensive plus investor toolbox access for only $99
- Financial Success 2008 – three day real estate workshop for only $49
- Store Online – one day workshop and Internet store creation software access for only $29
A few notable moments from today’s event:
- General Colin Powell was both entertaining and informative. He stated what he missed most from his days in office – the private plane.
- Giuliani recounting 911 and the aftermath
- Suze Orman announcing the government has recently hired her to redesign the FDIC program and website.
- Zig Ziglar did a unique co-presentation with his daughter in a question and answer format.
- Earl Mindell, author of over 50 nutrition books, energized the audience with information on how to live an optimum healthy life.
At the conclusion of the day, a final drawing was held for $10,000, and final door prizes (Zig Ziglar motivational DVD and CD set) were given out to everyone as they left the stadium.
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August 26th, 2008 at 4:56 am
I don’t know what seminar YOU were at, but I must tell you that if this was motivational I can hardly wait to die! That was the most boring, uninspiring crock of dung I have ever witnessed. What’s worse? It was nothing more than a Republican rally in disguise, and a comeon for other people to spend their money on learning to use a stock portfolio software package!
Being asked to stand to the “star spangled banner”, then listen to that woman talk about God and Jesus, followed by Colin Powell telling people to sit down, shut up , and listen to him while he stated the case for Bush and his illegal war and why we have to stay the course was apalling! Those people should be ashamed of themselves for such a blatant political tactic as that.
Boos and hisses to them, and anyone else who tries to pull that crap on us again!
August 26th, 2008 at 8:51 am
That last comment is kind of funny. D. seems kind of angry at something. I also noticed a few speakers cited a few religious references (closing their speeches with “Thank you and God bless”), but my mind just took it for what it was. I liked the seminar.
August 26th, 2008 at 9:25 am
I was there too. Hmmm….Now that you mention it, perhaps they were all republicans. I didn’t ask, and they didn’t tell me. But I still enjoyed the show – not 100% of it of course, but I just try to see the value in things, and ignore the rest of the nonsense. The real estate guy was great – typical quick witted New Yorker. He was probably full of B.S. – I didn’t buy his course, but I thought he was hilarious.
August 26th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
I don’t know what you guys were talking about. I had an AWESOME time!
August 26th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
P.S. Giuliani quote of the night.
“9/11, 9/11, 9/11, 9/11!”
September 28th, 2008 at 12:34 am
I was there too and I thought there was a LOT of religious and political undertones. The only person who made any impact on me was Suzy Orman who was about helping us with our finances. No religious schpeal here, just a lot of CYA. She had cautioned us about moving our money to an FDIC protected bank and hinted at the mess and almost the depth of failures we are seeing on Wall Street now.
This seminar, at $5, was marketed as motivational and inspirational, but in reality, it’s a marketing channel for the three companies who are ultimately paying the Get Motivated company.
I attended the Investools seminar and they were selling education and their Investool at costs of $5,000 (1yr), $12,000 (18 mo) and $23,000 (2yr). No wonder they wanted anyone to get into this seminar. While it did cost me $99 for my husband and I over 2 days, I did learn something, but felt that they were overselling their services.
March 25th, 2009 at 10:33 am
I was disappointed in the seminar. Their wedsite http://www.getmotivated.com lists items that you will learn:
“Attending the GET MOTIVATED Seminar is one of the best career moves you could ever make! At The GET MOTIVATED Seminar you will gain amazing new skills that will change your life!
How to be Better, Faster, and Different than Your Competition
The Top 3 Skills High Achievers Must Master
7 Ways to Keep Your Customers Coming Back for Life
Steps to Becoming a Stronger, More Strategic Decision-Maker”
… and many more, however, YOU WILL NOT LEARN ANY OF THESE THINGS. This is a classic bait and switch. They give 2 sales presentations strategically places between the big name speakers and that is all. Most of my colleagues left in the middle of the program, however, I stayed to the end. I felt that the religious tones were used as a sales tactic to buy trust from the attendees. It was very sad to see how many people trusted the presenters and were consumed by the hype and were willing to give up their money so fast. I feel that the big name speakers were slumming by participating in an event like this one. Come on General Powell, you can do way better than this.
April 8th, 2009 at 11:13 am
For those of you who want what I believe is an honest review of these seminars, here goes.
1) I don’t think most intelligent folks out there will be truly motivated by these seminars. Most of the “tips for success” could be gained by a 5-minute Internet query.
2) Attend if you don’t have anything better to do, want to be somewhat entertained, and see some quasi-famous people give their standard speeches.
3) Only 2 out of the 8 or so speakers were up-selling their get rich quick schemes, so expect this. Don’t fall for their “low cost” seminar deals, since you’ll need much more expensive additional seminars for “true success” – Right! Like they’d share their money-making secrets with others. Even if they were “on to” something, the thousands of “suckers” I mean “students” of their expensive seminars all acting upon the same advice would immediately impact the investments’ underlying prices, negating any profit potential.
4) Expect several of the speakers (not the quasi-famous ones) to tell you that accepting Jesus as your savior is key to success-pursue success because there is no need to worry about the future because you will be saved!
5) Expect there to be shills in the audience to initiate applause and cheers at “appropriate” times (see #4 above).
6) Expect theatrics-fireworks, singing, music, dancing, confetti, streamers, beach balls.
May 17th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
I attended the Sarasota Seminar and have to agree that it is just a money making scam off people who don’t realize they are being taken. The stock investing seminar is a scam you pay 99.00 and they up sell you at the Ritz Carlton. It was sad to see so many locals pay for that not knowing what would happen in the end. Rudy, for god sake don’t you have better things to do with your life after what you have been through or are you simply out there to attack America through the naivity of the poor lost souls that attended. Tamara Lowe..time to update your picture for marketing purposes…..your not twenty anymore and you were sooooo boring. Zig Ziglar will always be a great man….but its time to retire and take care of yourself…please! Dick Vitale never showed…probably polishing is bald head. The rest were so insignificant that I don’t care to waste my time typing.
May 27th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Agree with most of these comments. if you’re a fairly self-motivated person, you’re far better off spending the time getting things done on your own. Colin Powell and Rudy Giovanni were interesting but not worth a lost work day. I’d rather pay more money for more meaty content and less infomercials. Half of the presentations I didn’t even know what the topic was actually about because they bounced around so much.
The Christianity rah rah’s were unnecessary, presumptuous, and offensive to attendees with different belief systems. I felt like I was at the Davidian compound or something.
The music and dancing fillers, not to mention the emcee were simply annoying. I felt more motivated when I arrived than when I left.
Trying to shake off my grumpiness at a wasted day.
September 26th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
BIGGEST BAIT AND SWITCH EVER – These people make Bernie Madoff look like a saint
A Lion In Sheep’s Clothing:
Please see what can be done to prevent millions of people from being fleeced out of billions of dollars.
One of the biggest bait and switch scams ever seen is making its way across America and no one is doing anything about it because it is being disguised and masqueraded as a motivational seminar with celebrity speakers including Colin Powell, Laura Bush, Rudy Giuliani, and Terry Bradshaw to lure millions of these people into a big venue arenas. These people make Bernie Madoff look like a saint. Please write me for more information or google “Get Motivated scams or rip-offs”. No one really understands or sees the magnitude of the money that this scam generates. The sad thing is that it has been going on for years. President Clinton was on the tour with them in 2002.
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A motivational seminar sounds innocent enough. Who among us doesn’t need a little motivation once in a while. With the economy the way it is, most of us need a boost. Wouldn’t it be even better if such a seminar included speakers such as Colin Powell, Laura Bush, Rudy Giuliani, and Terry Bradshaw to lure thousands of these people into a big venue arena. It would be better yet if the arena was filled with giant jumbotron televisions, some exhilarating music, fireworks and a light show.
Well, a company called “Get Motivated” is doing that very thing. The only problem is that they are using the stage as a platform for perpetuating a giant fraud. They are ambushing the unsuspecting audience when they least expect it and when they are most vulnerable. It is fraud and deception at its worse. They’re dangling carrots in front of the horse and then bringing in the vultures later to clean out their pocket books. Never has there been such a “Bait and Switch” scheme of this magnitude where they lure you in on a premise to do one thing and then, very tactfully and quite effectively, sneak something else in to sell you. This should be advertised as a “Get Rich Scheme Seminar”. The only problem is that they are the ones that are getting rich.
Please check out all the feedback on the internet regarding the participants of this fraud. Look up the players and ad rip off, scams, and reviews behind them and you come up with thousands of posts. Someone needs to do something about it. You can’t advertise one thing, sell a ticket, and then magically change the format.
These famous speakers are being dooped and so are all the attendees. The venue promises the big celebrities but nothing is said, about having to listen to 3 get rich speakers that aren’t even on their posted agenda. The “Lowe’s” (who run the seminars) are pulling off a scam to rip people off. Caveat emptor or let the buyer beware doesn’t really hold true when the captive audience is at the prey of their deception and deceit. The audience is highly vulnerable in this setting and are easy victims in their emotional state of trying to learn to be successful. Their highly unethical and possible criminal approach to promising people riches isn’t necessarily new but it has definitely taken on a new approach with their wide scope of celebrity speakers as a decoy. Their big venue approach in soliciting unsuspecting and susceptible targets for their deception has taken on a whole new meaning of fraud. http://www.getmotivated.com/city.aspx?a=5106
Perhaps the biggest scam in this, is hiding the highly suspect “Investools” company under the name of “Wealth Magazine Investor Education”. This “Investools” company is under investigation from almost every Attorney General’s office in the United States. (check out the internet for scams and rip off reports for both this company and “Get Motivated”. They are selling a $3950 dollar, 2 day course in day trading, for an unbelievable price of $99 with the idea that you will get rich from their award winning software. What they don’t tell you is that after the course, you will not be able to use the complete software without taking an advanced course for as much as a $1000 more and then after that course, taking another PHD course for as much as $10,000 or more. The illusion is that you can get rich for $99 but the reality is that they will keep after you until you use up all the money on your credit cards plus whatever else you can borrow.
I think it is one thing for such a seminar to sell their books and CD’s but these events are designed to suck you in and bleed you dry. I saw about 15,000 people pack the Wells Fargo Center in Des Moines, Iowa on the 17th of September and maybe as many as 5000 or more bought in to their hype and maybe more.
Please bring this to everyone’s attention.
September 27th, 2009 at 9:58 am
Thanks for the comments Rick. I still believe the day I spent at the Get Motivated Seminar was well worth the time and money ($5). But of course for such a low fee, you have to expect some up selling. The costs incurred to rent out an entire football stadium, and book the speakers will not be recouped with $5 admission charges. They are there to sell, plain and simple. Are some of the marketing messages going to be misleading? Of course, but that’s what marketing is. At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself if any one of the dozen or so speakers was entertaining enough to warrant your $5 investment for a day out. One last thing, in case you were curious at all – I did not buy anything at the seminar.
September 27th, 2009 at 10:43 am
Don’t get me wrong, like I said, I expected a bunch of selling of books and CD’s, but the bait and switch associated with “investools” that can scam you out of the tune of $16,000 is outright fraud. Remember they told you were going to get all of these tools of theres and attend a $3,950 two day seminar to use them for the unbelievable price of only $99. Sorry, but you don’t get that untill you pay them upwards of $16,000 with 3 seperate schools. I guess it is this type of bait and switch advertising that has upset me. When you ad in that some very famous people are somewhat endorsing it by the mere fact of being there and drawing in the crowds, it is even worse. It’s all in the numbers and these people (Lowe’s) are scaming millions of people and have been doing so for years with these types of seminars. Someone has to stop this type of bait and swithch phenomena or at the very least, warn the american public so they don’t get sucked in to the hype.
September 28th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Does anyone know if the door prize is legit. I won the 10,000 dollar prize and have not received payment. Its been close to the time that they said it would be. Anyone heard if it is a scam or not? They really have not provided me with any info. It just seems fishy, but seeing how much they make off people i guess they can afford to do it.
October 21st, 2009 at 8:17 am
What a total waste of a beautiful fall day—just went to the get motivated seminar in Hershey,PA—–are you kidding me???? This was soooo about making money for wealth magazine—no bigger scam on the planet—and, by the way, if you want to know about Jesus and being saved read the Bible–God isn’t interested in your money!!!!!
November 16th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Well, I’m going to the seminar and look forward to it. Noone can make you spend your money unless you want to. In todays’ world, I believe people are well aware of scams, and so, if they’re willing to take a risk, so be it. At least they’ve got money to spend. If I feel the need to leave. I don’t think they tie you to a seat.
November 22nd, 2009 at 8:22 pm
This is in reference to what Trish said. No,you are right, God isn’t interested in your money, but Tamara Lowe once said, that you are NOT blessed untless you are rich. I wonder how God feels about that?
December 11th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
I just need to say, I enjoyed it very much, I loved the messages and took it for what it was worth. It is true, about the sales pitches, etc. But when you think about it, this happens all around us. We are bombarded by sales pitces every day. You could just leave if you don’t like it.
I do believe they overbooked and believe me,I would have left 2 hours after I got there because I could not find a seat, however, when I did find a seat, I truly enjoyed the ride. I did pay for the workshops, and scam or not, I will take advanatage of it and learn something from it. No one makes a decision for me. I listen to what poeple have to say, but ultimately, I want to experience it myself. Bottom line, I liked it very much.
February 6th, 2010 at 12:29 pm
I agree with Tina……I’m going to the seminar in Houston and looking forward to it. I want buy anything I don’t want. Dah! Zig is getting up there in age and just to see this giant is worth the day to me.
February 9th, 2010 at 6:58 am
Wow such negativism out there, you know I’m a democrat deep hearted but wow tuned out the “Secret Republican Agenda” which I never heard and listened for what it was; and enjoyed it. I guess because I’m an adult and don’t play school yard games where I don’t play with others that don’t agree with me. You see I was able to listen to people that have truly accomplished things on this world; it didn’t matter if it was by the grace of god, or some conservative agenda but truly accomplished things. I’ll say yes I might not have agreed with them but it’s still interesting to hear their story, and historical contribution. It’s no different than those people who watch TV or Sports; same story just a different venue and yet people are glued to that. You want to complain about scams, complain about how some guy fresh out of High School is making millions of dollars to play basketball, when police, fire, and other institutions you take advantage of everyday are SCAMMED to make a minimum wage to live. If there horrible GOD agenda was to help your fellow human being then sign me up because last time I checked that was more of a democratic agenda than anything else. I feel that’s the problem people with blinders on, and live a close minded life. The one thing I’ve learned is people are VERY impressionable, instead of learning on their own they listen to people who don’t see the forest for the trees. Thousands of times I’ve read horrible reviews for a new movie but loved the damn movie anyways. Maybe that’s because what’s bad for others might not be bad for me and visa versa. OMG is that because we are all different and need to learn on our own. My very long advice is if you are enthused about attending GO, keep an open mind and you’ll generally have a great time. If you’re being dragged and listen to others how dumb it is prepare to hate it because you have that mindset anyways skip it and just go home, less traffic getting there. It was well worth the $100 for the tickets, $100 for lunch, and $100 in gas I paid for me and my employees to attend. And hell I felt if it sucked is was still a great way to spend the day with my team, but it didn’t and we had a blast.
For the scam of upselling, last time I checked I was an adult that made my own decisions; and whether there is upselling in the end $2000 off is a sale and $2000 off. My Bacheolors is in International Business with a concentration on Finance and was thought to never stop learning; my portfolios are well managed but feel I might hear or LEARN something that interesting or new. So I signed up and felt that $99 is well worth learning something, compared to what I spent in school for tuition. Again the underlining picture is even with these tools I won’t invest more than $99 and my time to get access to something that might or might not be useful, but it’s an opportunity a chance to take a step out of the box.
What’s also funny is you call that a scam, but everyday huge corporations make choices in the cost of RECALLING a product or outweighing the cost in paying settlements that include deaths. I don’t know about you guys but I would take a risk with some god pushing scam that takes my money over my life any day. It’s almost like the Global Warming issue, heck it might be all hogwash but is it really that bad for you to help the environment ANYWAYS.
GREAT TIMES!!!!
November 24th, 2010 at 12:11 pm
Has any actually recieved the door prize they won at the seminar. I won a prize and have yet to get in in almost 3 months. When I called the number they gave me I was told that I had to email them to have the person named on the form to give me a call back. I di that and after a few weeks she email me..not call me.
In her email she said it would come within the next week a month later still no door prize. I have email her again replying to her email to me with her original message attached, I stated that I still don’t have the door prize.
That was 2 weeks ago and I have not heard back from them and i still don’t have the door prize I supposely won….DID YOU REALLY WIN A PRIZE IF TEHY NEVER GIVE IT TO YOU!
Has this happened to any one else???