Today, roughly 18,000 people crowded into the Sprint Arena in the Kansas City Power and Light District to hear Rudy Giuliani, Colin Powell, Bill Cosby, Laura Bush, Steve Forbes, and more motivational speakers. The event is a day-long seminar called Get Motivated, and it was created by a personal training and development company with the same name. I assumed there's a catch when I purchased tickets for $1.95 a piece (face value of $225). A cynic, nay, a reasonable person knows no all-day event at Kansas City's premiere venue is that cheap. The day after I ordered tickets online, a representative from Get Motivated called me, selling a seat closer to the stage and a seminar workbook. I politely declined, and quickly realized the low ticket price was to attract you to the seminar, where you would be subjected to infomercial-style sales pitches. What came as a surprise to me was the Christian evangelism some speakers incorporated into their motivational talks.
In between the highly-promoted Colin Powells and Laura Bushes, an unadvertised, but energetic speaker touted too-good-to-be-true software that promises you can always beat the stock market by following a set of simple principles. Then, this personable speaker urged the crowd to sign up for Wealth Magazine Investor Education for only $99, although the original price for the software is $3200. This guy was a great salesman--first he took aim at educating the crowd about personal finance. He attempted convince the audience that amateur investors have the advantage over the "big boys" on Wall Street. Then, he revealed he had a foolproof system that can help you make intelligent stock trading decisions. To demonstrate how simple this software was, he brought four volunteers on stage and show the software in action. On monstrous overhead screens, the audience followed along as a chart displayed the price of a stock moving through time. If three green arrows appeared, the volunteers shouted, "Buy!" and when three red arrows marked the screen, the volunteers screamed, "Sell!" When his presentation was finished this guy explained all these benefits are only available by signing up immediately while staff members waved white colored lights to indicate sign-up locations. In addition, if you signed up, you received a free lunch and a red tote bag. According to my estimate, approximately half of the audience signed up.
Later this evening, I found myself wondering how Get Motivated makes money. The expenses are extraordinary- full page ads in the KC Star for four weeks, billboards along highways, renting out the Sprint Center. Not to mention, some of these highly reputable speakers charge six figures per appearance.
Another mysterious aspect of Get Motivated were the undertones of Evangelical Christianity. Many business professionals follow other faiths or are non-believers. Just from observing the people around me, I could deduce I was not the only one confused by the overt Christian message. One speaker spoke of his own religious journey. In college, he lost faith, but after he finished his degree, he realized that Jesus cannot be known through the intellect alone. Instead, he argued Jesus must be known through the spirit and the heart. I have no problem with proselytizing, but isn't it misleading to promote an event as a business seminar, and then lace it with Christian messages?
If this seminar comes to your town and you decide to attend, expect a full day of tremendous talks by reputable individuals, but also anticipate sales pitches for questionable stock market software, heavy, but short doses of Evangelical Christianity, and political bias from some guest speakers. Don't fall for the "low-cost if you buy now" scams. Expect several of the speakers to imply that accepting Jesus is a key element to financial success. Expect dramatics- fireworks, singing, music, confetti, and beach balls.
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