A Tale of Two Events

Last Friday, I attended a conference at the London Convention Centre called The Power Within. It featured a lot of top speakers, including Anthony Robbins. It would have cost me over $200 to attend, but my wife won the ticket in a raffle.

I didn't know what to expect, however, it was huge. I estimate that about 2,000 people attended. That comes to over $400,000. Wow! Here is what I learned.

If you have done something special and have a good story (having appeared on Oprah helps), then you can make a lot of money. The Power Within seems to be the power to hype people up for one day, make them feel good and send them out the door happy. Like a hangover, the effect may wear off. It did for me.

As I entered the room, speakers throbbed with music from the 70s and 80s. In order to return to your seat, you had to find a landmark. Way up there on the stage was the podium. The people there were like ants. Fortunately, there were big screens with projected video images. Hold it! Do you mean that the experience was similar to sitting at home and watching TV?

All of the speakers had high energy. And so they should. All entered to thunderous standing ovations. Funny, I thought standing ovations were the result of doing something, not for just merely entering a room. I could understand if it was somebody who had been paralysed moments before.

Some had you doing crazy things. Others had you hugging your neighbour or shouting. It was all positive entertainment.

The finale was saved for Anthony Robbins. Like a rock star, he kept the crowd waiting. He also gave the people the impression he was giving more by going over the time limit.

Robbins is an impressive individual. Like a charismatic pastor, he knows how to work the crowd. Unlike a charismatic pastor, his language is something to be desired. If his message is so wonderful, I don't see why he has to throw in words that might be offensive to some. I also had the impression that he blamed poor teachers for the problems in the classroom. Forget about how our society has changed the classroom. Forget about how poor parenting might contribute to the problem. No, it was poor teaching. I have a problem with that.

Now, let's look at another event I didn't attend. Jean Vanier, founder of L'Arch, addressed about 1700 students. Some were moved to tears by what he said. Others were inspired by his message.

What were the differences between the two events? One lasted all day and cost a lot of money to produce. I'm sure the speakers got tremendous fees for their appearances, plus their expenses paid. The other cost a lot less and was a lot shorter. Not being at the student event, I can't tell you about the effectiveness of the message, but it seems to have been wonderful.

This makes me think. Why do we spend oodles of money to discover our power within? Why don't we just walk down the street, meet someone we admire and respect, and ask them their secret to success.

I think the event with Jean Vanier would have been my choice if I hadn't had the free ticket.