Tens of thousands of people attended the “Get Motivated” seminar Tuesday at the Convention Center in Downtown Austin.
Nationally known celebrities, politicians and motivational speakers spoke to the sold out crowd.
After more than 18,000 people showed up for the seminar, organizers had to send 3,000 more people to Riverbend Church so they could watch from a satellite feed.
So what’s the big deal? People say it’s the chance to hear speakers like Former Secretary of State Colin Powell and Former Mayor Rudy Giulani talk about leadership and the chance to succeed in business and in life.
“Yesterday we got the bad news that nobody wants to hear, the ‘R’ word. We’re officially in a recession and in this kind of economy people need motivation and skills more than ever before,” said the Executive VP of “Get Motivated” Seminars, Tamara Lowe.
Speaker after speaker told the crowd they can succeed, just like they did.
The seminar often looked more like a concert, pumping people up with songs and dancing to get them motivated.
“It just renews your motivation and gives you a new outlook,” said Pam Dobbs, who drove from College Station for the seminar.
Tickets only cost about $5 if people attending bought in advance. But once you walked through the doors, many people found themselves spending more money.
“Their marketing got me so I signed up for the success magazine, The Fast Track to Wealth,” said participant Nathaniel Klugman.
“Some of the speakers told us, buy this. It’s a $4,000 package but you can get it today for only $99. It just sounds too good to be true,” said Amanda Mendoza.
But organizer Lowe says it’s not about the money.
“We’re true believers what we’re doing is helping people,” she said.
People they also hope will use their services again. And several told us they will.
