Charlotte Prepper conference September 8th, 2012

[1Admin]

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[Lowdown3]

Well attendance seemed to be a little lighter than last time but with the whole DNC being in town the week before thing, we kinda expected that.

Good crowds of like minded folks though.

I asked during my first talk how many people were new to this- about half the hands in a crowd of roughly 200 went up.
I asked again how many had been doing this less than five years- about 3/4 of the hands went up.

At one point during a brief discussion of how I got into survivalism I mentioned American Survival Guide magazine, I paused and asked if anyone knew what I was talking about- ONE GUY in that crowd knew about American Survival Guide magazine. Long story short- lots of new folks.

This was not a bad thing however because this crowd, although mostly new, had an open mind.

I'm sure I was the first preparedness speaker they ever heard that told them about a lot of the mistakes he had made in preparing. Too often the pride and ego involved in "being someone" keeps people from admitting mistakes. Heck I want people to learn from my mistakes and I want to learn from other people's mistakes- this saves time and money! I know I was the first person that works in the industry that ever told them the stuff is NOT hitting the fan tomorrow and not to run scared, cash in their 401K, etc. I told a few stories of people I know that did that, and how many of them hurt from making scared decisions for the short term while screwing up their long term plans.

I didn't give them a "list" of things to buy, quite the contrary I told them they needed to think for themselves and more importantly WHY.

I spent some time on the main stage and a lot of time in the "breakout session" discussing the real importance of getting the family on board, I went over some reasons why and indeed how. Like we always do, I did not stress quick fixes, I stress long term solutions. People walked away with the understanding that-

"Your family is going to be either your biggest ASSET or your biggest LIABILITY." Phrase Copyright COLMOLLIIN Inc. 2006 LOL Use at your own risk....

The breakout session went I'm sure well over the 40 allotted minutes, but people kept hanging out and asking questions so.... "When in Rome.." :)

Got a lot of good feedback regarding the talks. So while I'm sure some of it was cutting "close to the bone" for a lot of people, I feel most benefited from it versus a "what to buy" talk or a rehash of techniques others have been given away on the internet for 15 years...

[WiseOwl]

"Your family is going to be either your biggest ASSET or your biggest LIABILITY." Phrase Copyright COLMOLLIIN Inc. 2006 LOL Use at your own risk....

The understatement of all time. Good stuff LD3

[Lowdown3]

A woman started laughing when I said "hey it's family, we are all stuck with them." I said "hey, that wasn't what I meant!" LOL

Had a good time talking up there. I think there are too many stiff types out there trying to teach, while I'm sure some see that style as a way to look/act superior or more knowledgeable or something, I think it's better to relate to people more.

Like Vernon McGee says "put the cookies on the bottom shelf so the kiddies can reach them."

If your stiff, acting too analytical, etc. you get to a point where your unapproachable. I see that as a hindrance to real teaching. If I can't have fun and enjoy myself doing it (anything in life) I just won't do it.

[610Alpha]

A woman started laughing when I said "hey it's family, we are all stuck with them." I said "hey, that wasn't what I meant!" LOL

Had a good time talking up there. I think there are too many stiff types out there trying to teach, while I'm sure some see that style as a way to look/act superior or more knowledgeable or something, I think it's better to relate to people more.

Like Vernon McGee says "put the cookies on the bottom shelf so the kiddies can reach them."

If your stiff, acting too analytical, etc. you get to a point where your unapproachable. I see that as a hindrance to real teaching. If I can't have fun and enjoy myself doing it (anything in life) I just won't do it.

Were you able to video your presentation?

[1Admin]

The first one no. Camera tripod I brought didn't mate up with the camera.

Did tape the breakout session, unfortunately due to the way the room was setup I think the video part is going to be about worthless, audio will likely be salvageable.

I never like to tape people in crowds at these sorts of things if at all possible. So I had to set the camera on a table facing my side. The video will be worthless, just me standing there, walking back and forth, etc. but the audio should be salvageable. I'll look at it sometime in the next week or so. Will probably end up as a couple of podcasts.

[Matt In Oklahoma]

It seems that the majority of your crowd would be new. Its great that they were asking questions which means they were listening which is the ultimate goal of any instructor. It also lets you know that you made a difference to someone and as an instructor myself i call that a great day!