Today I had the opportunity to \u201cGet Motivated!\u201d\u00a0 If you are a Memphian it\u2019s been hard to miss the billboards and radio ads for it.\u00a0 From the beginning I thought it was gimmicky, but secretly wanted to go because it had a really impressive line-up: Rudy Giuliani, John Walsh, Leigh Anne Tuohy, Terry Bradshaw, Laura Bush, Brian Tracy, Lou Holtz, Steve Forbes, and Colin Powell.\u00a0 When I had the opportunity to go through work I took it.<\/p>\n
This morning I woke up at 4 a.m. (thanks jet-lag) and had no trouble getting to the FedEx Forum early.\u00a0 My \u201cPremier Level\u201d seating ended up being at the top section of the Forum and I was separated from some of my coworkers who got better seating on the floor level.\u00a0 Fortunately a couple of other coworkers were late due to the crazy traffic and sat with me.<\/p>\n
Steve Forbes opened up the morning and wasn\u2019t as motivational as I had hoped.\u00a0 He was very candid about the fact he was lucky to be born into a wealthy publishing family and I appreciated the honesty.\u00a0 His anecdotes about his grandfather\u2019s start in the business were interesting, but then he took a turn into ranting about the value of the dollar and how it needs to be as good as gold.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if he was implying we need to revert to the gold standard, but if he was I think it\u2019s a bit ridiculous.\u00a0 If the economy collapses, gold is not going to be worth shit.\u00a0 Why don\u2019t people understand that?\u00a0 When he touched on the healthcare system I agreed with some of his comments and would be interested to hear more about his views on it because it\u2019s something I\u2019m passionate about too.\u00a0 However, none of these rants were really about motivation or business skills so I\u2019m not sure why he was talking about them.\u00a0 But hell, if I was a millionaire I would say whatever I wanted whenever I wanted too.\u00a0 I give him a C.<\/p>\n
Terry Bradshaw was the next speaker and was hilarious besides a couple of gay jokes that were funny but a bit heterocentric in my opinion.\u00a0 Nevertheless, I laughed at them.\u00a0 My main takeaway from the presentation was to remain optimistic and keep a smile despite adversity.\u00a0 Grade: B<\/p>\n
Following Terry Bradshaw was Rudy Giuliani.\u00a0 He did have some interesting anecdotes about 9\/11, and I took away some interesting notions about being informed before making decisions and learning to love reading.\u00a0 I\u2019m a big advocate of reading and I liked how much he emphasized it.\u00a0 He did talk a lot about computers as if they were a brand new invention that we had never heard of.\u00a0 It was a bit odd, but maybe it was targeted at the older members of the audience who are afraid to fully embrace computer usage.\u00a0 Grade: B-<\/p>\n
Following \u201cAmerica\u2019s Mayor\u201d was a random spiel by an Indian guy who was skilled in rhetoric.\u00a0 He offered a lot of cliches and sounded like an evangelical pastor.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure what his point was but he was very adamant that \u201cPolitical Correctness\u201d was going to be the downfall of America, yet, he offered no definition of this.\u00a0 Additionally, I felt there was a lot of pandering to the base fears of people about a progressive government stamping on the rights of social conservatives.\u00a0 It was a bit ridiculous but the crowds overall seemed to eat it up.\u00a0 Grade: C (but I bet others would mark him higher).<\/p>\n
Next was a financial speaker named Bob.\u00a0 All I know is he was trying to hawk a weekend seminar and while it was not exactly a hard sell, it was kind of an obnoxious sell.\u00a0 He seemed like a nice enough guy and talked a lot about using web tools to better invest.\u00a0 Covered calls were a big topic and I plan on investigating them.\u00a0 However, I\u2019m wary of calls and options and things that are too good to be true.\u00a0 Nevertheless, he got what looked like thousands of people to sign up for a weekend long class and get a free trial to the website.\u00a0 Grade: C<\/p>\n
There was a break after Bob and if I recall correctly a musical number.\u00a0 It was random and definitely Christian themed which I thought was awkward.\u00a0 I knew there were allegedly subtle Christian themes at these events but this was rather overt.<\/p>\n
John Walsh spoke next and his story was one I only knew a little bit about.\u00a0 His topic was \u201cAchievement\u201d and out of horrific experiences he and his wife made a huge, positive impact on the way the justice system and law enforcement handle missing children cases.\u00a0 Grade: B.<\/p>\n
Post John Walsh was a \u201cbonus\u201d presentation that was about spirituality.\u00a0 It was by the Indian pastor-esque man who I didn\u2019t care for.\u00a0 My coworkers and I left.\u00a0 \u201cProof-texting\u201d really sets me off and I don\u2019t want to hear what I imagined would be prosperity gospel.<\/p>\n
When we returned from lunch break Laura Bush was up.\u00a0 I must confess I\u2019m a Laura Bush fan.\u00a0 I think she\u2019s just a very lovely person.\u00a0 Sadly, her speech was nothing overly memorable.\u00a0 It started off like a long version of the Bush family Christmas Card as we were given an update on where everyone in the family was now.\u00a0 We then heard about 9\/11 (a recurring theme in a lot of presentations) and it was interesting to think of how scary it must have to be in the White House at the time.\u00a0 Obviously I don\u2019t agree with all the actions that followed 9\/11, but it\u2019s not impossible to understand how fear and a desire for control led the President to make the decisions he made.\u00a0 Grade: B- (I\u2019m probably soft because of my crush on her).<\/p>\n
Lou Holtz was up next and I have to say that I didn\u2019t know who he was.\u00a0 Thankfully my sports obsessed coworker was there to explain.\u00a0 He ROCKED the house.\u00a0 He was by far my favorite speaker and had a mixture of humor and good advice that was the most motivational of the whole lot.\u00a0 I actually want to read some of his books now.\u00a0 His advice was not anything new, but his presentation was good and he really connected with you.\u00a0 Grade: A.<\/p>\n
James Smith was up next.\u00a0 He\u2019s a real estate guru and honestly started off pretty funny.\u00a0 He had some valid points, but I was distracted by all of his talk of Satan creating obstacles and God and he made several comments about how he knew he was going to heaven (in a really smartass way).\u00a0 He was abrasive and in the end was hawking a weekend real estate seminar.\u00a0 I ended up tuning out.\u00a0 Grade: D.<\/p>\n
General Colin Powell was after Mr. Smith and the audience was glad to have him.\u00a0 I enjoyed his presentation and thought he made some good points about connecting with people and showing appreciation for everyone in your organization.\u00a0 His story about missing the use of a private 757 from his Secretary of State days was also quite amusing.\u00a0 Grade: B.<\/p>\n
We left after Colin Powell but there were still 3 speakers to go!\u00a0 However, it was already almost 5 and I was exhausted.\u00a0 Overall, I would NOT recommend one of these seminars to anyone. While the big names are interesting, they do not make up for the cheese factor and feeling you are in the audience of an infomercial for wealth building systems. Nobody likes a bait and switch.<\/p>\n
Note: There is a slight chance I\u2019ve mixed up the order of some of the speakers, but I tried my best to recall the order correctly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today I had the opportunity to \u201cGet Motivated!\u201d\u00a0 If you are a Memphian it\u2019s been hard to miss the billboards and radio ads for it.\u00a0 From the beginning I thought it was gimmicky, but secretly wanted to go because it had a really impressive line-up: Rudy Giuliani, John Walsh, Leigh Anne Tuohy, Terry Bradshaw, Laura… <\/p>\n