Get Motivated! vs. Seize the Day!: Motivational Seminar SMACKDOWN
It’s a fight to the finish for Atlanta’s motivational seminar dollars
A wise woman once said that the most efficient route to success is spending lots of hours in a really big room where several successful — definitely rich, possibly famous — people talk at you about how and why you should become successful, too. And, friends, that wise woman was me. Just now, when I typed the previous sentence. OK, so no one wise ever said that (I fall more under “cute,” maybe “quirky”) but it so very closely resembles the cunning philosophy at work in the presumably lucrative motivational seminar business.
In early November, two huge motivational seminars — Zig Ziglar’s star-studded Get Motivated! and the very right-wingy Seize the Day! — are coming to town, exclamation points in tow, just eight days apart. So, obviously, the question that’s kept you up at night (the nights you don’t drink yourself comatose for lack of success) is which event should you attend? CL takes a look at each and helps you decide.
THE BASICS
Seize the Day!: Tuesday, November 9 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Philips Arena
Get Motivated!: Monday, November 1 from 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. at the Georgia Dome
WINNER: Tie. Both events are on a weekday, which means a day out of the office. Seize the Day!’s extra hour and fifteen minutes either means imminent suicide or more bang for your motivational buck.
STAR POWER
Seize the Day!:
The biggies: Former politician (current something?) Sarah Palin, conservative pundit Bill O’Reilly, former First Lady Laura Bush, Nixon speechwriter and eyedrops salesman Ben Stein , former football great and NFL commentator Terry Bradshaw, motivational speaker Les Brown
The people I don’t know: John Maxwell, Phil Town, Tom Hopkins
Get Motivated!:
The biggies: Actress Goldie Hawn, comedian Bill Cosby, motivational guru (and fun name-haver) Zig Ziglar, former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz, Forbes, Inc. CEO Steve Forbes, General Colin Powell, former NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani, Microsoft President Rick Belluzzo
The people I don’t know: The two unrecognizable guys on the page header (and whose names I seriously can’t find anywhere on the website)
WINNER: Get Motivated! It was a tough call, but no matter how famous Sarah Palin or Bill O’Reilly are among the Fox News set (i.e. the majority of North Georgia’s populace), Bill Cosby is Cliff Huxtable and Goldie Hawn was in the best movie ever.