Ever since I watched Eric Thomas’ most famous Youtube viral hit video, “As bad as you want to breathe” (Vimeo original) I’ve been wondering what it’d be like to be in the same room as him, with his energy, passion, desire and pure motivation causing through your veins to push you beyond fear, or as Thomas states; “At the end of pain is success, get a reward for it”.
Since that original video, posted more than 6-7 years ago, ET’s phenomena has grown exponentially; voicing Nike adverts, doing motivation for sports teams, basketball teams and even recently has range of shoes designed with his words adorning the range of sneakers.
His ability to motivate, inspire millions around the world still carries on; his ventures in the USA have seen him sit with Warren Buffett and other dignitaries. He has, in his own words, “blown up” and is a testament to him and the many people around him.
ET’s venture’s this side of the pond have been far and few between; his corporate speaking price point is very high. His engagements in the UK are very rare, and when he does come, he only ever seems to come to London.
If anyone in ET’s team is reading this; the North would love to see you, I include in that Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, and yes; even, Newcastle upon Tyne.
So when the opportunity came to go see ET in London on Sat 11 May at Sofitel Heathrow Airport, I, like many others, simply wasn’t sure if he was actually coming. I will cover this further in my critique.
In the end, I bought a ticket and got on 6-hour overnight bus ride to the location; with a return 6-hour journey to hear the great man speak.
I was unsure if I’d ever see ET live, so I decided that a twelve hour journey, a 6-7 hour event, just to see ET was worth it.
A twelve hour journey, a 6-hour event. All to see ET speak.
I arrived at 6AM and was in the lobby and then … ET himself walked straight through the lobby and right past me, he acknowledged me sitting in a chair. But I never got up to say hello. How I now regret that decision! I should have said hi!
Anyway, the event started and I found a seat quite well. Having paid a bit more for the VIP ticket, I was interested to see what it would actually get me; whilst it got me closer to the stage, but I never got to actually say hello to ET, and introduce the idea of coming to Newcastle, to the North had past me by.
The conference suite with approximately 1500 (I didn’t count them) was empty at first and the event was due to start promptly at 10AM — but by 10.10 it was clear something was wrong.
Soon 10.30, 10.45 … now 11AM was creeping up; the event had still not started. People were still coming in at around 11.30.
Perhaps there was simply not enough staff/logistics of being able to handle the processing of so many people?
Whilst this was going on, I had the chance to speak to a few people; I was surprised and delighted to hear and meet so many people who had travelled miles to get here. I talked with two guys who flew all the way from Cyprus to be here. There was two people from Rotterdam, and I believe a lady came from Lebanon, but I might be mistaken.
I always feel at these events, its always good to speak to people; find out how far they had come. I met so many people who have come far and wide to listen to ET.
I met with a guy from Hamburg, great guy. I also chatted with a motivational speaker who was also a firefighter too; wow a great combination.
I got to briefly say hi to some of the other speakers. These speakers were competition winners and runners up from a past event. Although I was unfamiliar with who all the people were, I felt it was important to show them respect and got to chat with a few of them.
I thought the two guys who were sat in front of me were speakers, from their co-branding; but they were premium ticket holders and we got chatting a little. I think they said they were from South London. Later on, they had an issue getting their seats back. I was able to at least direct them to speak to one of the organisers; who promptly got their seats back with minimal fuss. I’m not sure who you were, but it was good to talk to you both.
Eventually the event started, and we got to see the big man himself; ET, heading the stage for the first of two talks he was scheduled for. ET, as usual, killed it. Despite the jet lag, the lack of recuperation; he was able to bring something.
A question from the crowd from someone, “how should we deal with lateness?” – it drew laugher from the crowd, with ET responding with his usual style and finesse.
After ET finished, it was a lunch break; and the second half was due to start soon.
Throughout the show, the main host spoke how he wanted to clean up the industry and was sick of conferences were you were being sold from the second from the moment you were in – until you left; and to underline this, he had decided to bring new, upcoming talent to the stage – a fantastic idea at such an event.
It was during this second half we got to listen to a collection of new, upcoming speakers; for the most part they were great.
I however, got the feeling the crowd were becoming increasingly restless in the second half.
The signs were there early on into the conference, and like a wind starting to breeze across a third of the crowd to my left.
As the host went into his own speech, the crowd seemed to get increasingly angry and hostile. The host was losing the crowd. A quick look around and I saw faces of people who were confused as to what the event had turned into. An event about ET, an event that wasn’t about selling; became about selling.
Whether the host knew it at the time or not, the crowd was increasingly getting restless for ET’s second return. I wasn’t joining in; I wasn’t really sure what was causing it.
The host brought up some kids to the stage to talk about success, and a guy joins them and wants to ask the host a question…
Suddenly the crowd gets incredibly hostile, the host/member of the crowd start arguing and the 1/3 of the crowd to my left are now all on their feet chanting “Let him speak! Let him speak!” whilst some of the the people on my right are disgusted with this crowd; about the lack of respect. And the mini-crowd around the main stage, a scuffle ensued and the event seemed to turn ugly.
The people around me were in shock, we all said in unison “I’ve never seen this thing before! Wow!” I couldn’t believe it. It was crazy! I didn’t know what was going on. It felt like I was watching a car crash in slow motion!
The confusion, anger seemed to go on forever; and then — ET comes back on stage and the crowd are happy — it seemed all they wanted was to see ET.
ET brought calm within seconds, and brought the crowd to a calm. ET brought his charm and answer questions, and even brought the crowd to laugh. Its amazing to see such a talent being able to do that in such circumstances.
ET took many questions during the day; mostly from a strategic perspective. These are my notes from the event:
- Have a vision
- People will pay you if you can solve problems
- Have a goal for the next 30 days, 60 days, 90 days
- Be seen as the expert in your chosen field
- If you can, dominate the conversation
- Don’t just focus on creating content, focus on documenting the journey
- Get to the ball first; if shipping arrives in 2-4 weeks, can you deliver in 24-48 hours?
- Get/find mentors or someone to push you; or form a master mind group who you meet with regularly.
- Prioritise: On work to be done immediately, or later.
- Focus: Focus on whats important in a project, and get it done; have that dog to get the project delivered.
- Be accountable: Reflect daily, and use goal tracking, accountability partners to keep you on track
- Don’t give up, success is on the other side of pain
As ET finished his second speech, to great applause; a majority of the crowd left; even though the event had not ended. All that remained were the first three tables and a few pockets of the audience.
As the show ended, we all made our way; and I noticed a crowd, I assumed they were the premium members with the chance to take a photo with ET himself.
I decided to hang around and see what was going on; perhaps ET would come back out and thank everyone personally — I had a few hours to burn and I thought I’d hang around.
But then … then without warning, an individual in the premium crowd suddenly got hot, aggressive and it was pandemonium. I could hear shouting, confusion — wow, “not again” I thought.
I heard a rumour that the security entourage had cleared the room where ET was, or something occurred where ET had to leave; and this is why the scene got heated. Yet again, another ugly scene marred the event.
I walked back to the train station unpacking the entire day with a colleague I met on the day, we were trying to unpack the event, trying to make heads and tails of the event.
We loved the fact that young people were getting a chance to speak, but lamented the poor planning, logistics; especially in the early morning lead to the issues in the afternoon.
A few of us speculated whether the whole thing had soured relationships between ET and the company, and indeed; one of my fellow colleagues speculated that ET would probably not come back to London.
Whilst I do think these issues can be resolved, I do hope that ET will indeed return to the UK, and not just visit London.
My critiques of the event
(1) The lack of consistent marketing messages about the event.
ET himself cited a Instagram video in which he confirmed his attendance at the London event. He later went on to explain how he doesn’t get involved with corporate marketing events himself and see’s it as doing the work of the company involved.
I’m not sure I can buy this argument. In a world of fake news, e-mail scams, deep fakes, the idea of enabling trust in your customer journey should be your top priority.
If we were to break down the messaging, and using this framework:
- Tell me < Most of the marketing messages were placed here
- Show me
- Ask me
- Prove it
Perhaps future events can use this model, as the basis of how to enable trust in a customer journey for an event.
(2) Poor logistics on the day, but the people running the logistics were very helpful and accommodating.
My own experience of the found the people running the event very helpful, nice and accommodating. There was an occasion where two guys could not get their seats back and I helped direct their attention to one of the facilitators and they got back their seats.
However the late start may have underscored the poor logistics of getting so many visitors into the room.
I do not begrudge the organisers for this, I however think a doubling of staff would have helped enormously.
(3) Everyone just wanted to see ET?
I believe at the heart of the issue was that crowd just wanted to see ET. I’m not sure how you can address this an event where its geared around other speakers.
I wonder what could have been done to ensure that people could see and meet ET in a more formalised, safe and comfortable way. I wonder; perhaps you could see him throughout the day in a scheduled window rather than just at the end.
Perhaps scheduled windows of time would have been a better way to allow as many people to see ET.
(4) The crowd/host interaction marred the event
As stated earlier, at least 1/3 of the crowd got hostile/angry. I’ve never seen such scenes before, I’ve never seen a host lose the crowd or explode on an audience before.
Maybe it was the constant referencing to “me and I” in the speeches, maybe it was not reading the crowd, maybe it was the idea of not selling; and then breaking this vow to sell. Or maybe it’s just because the crowd wanted to see ET.
One of the props I’ll give to the organisers was not providing alcohol at the event, this was a smart move; I cannot imagine the consequences if alcohol were mixed with an already hot crowd.
Regardless, the interaction between the crowd and main host soured the event and made us question whether ET would even return to the UK after this incident.
(5) The young speakers were great idea, but they’re talks could have been grouped together and with a fixed-timed delivery.
It takes balls to take to the stage and address 1500+ delegates, even when the crowd is hot; it takes a lot of courage to get on stage.
I enjoyed the talks, though to make more impact; it would have been great to have structured it so that they spoke in set periods, one after the other; for a fixed delivery.
Sadly the structure of when they spoke was sporadic; and some speakers seemed to talk longer than others.
One example of poor structure was putting an act after the main event, whilst this scheduled speaker showed class and was very good; its always very hard to follow a main event, and one only needs to see the lessons learned by WWE and other similar events about how they treat the main event.
Despite this, and some of the audience’s reactions; I thought the idea of bringing new, fresh speakers onto the stage sharing a platform with ET was a great idea and hope other events follow this concept.
“Everyone in the future will have their 15 minutes of fame”
Andy Warhol (Wikipedia)
I just want to touch upon a commentary of the trend of Youtube social media/Instagram stars hosting live events; and what it means for us and society in the future.
I just want to touch upon a commentary of the trend of Youtube social media/Instagram stars hosting live events; and what it means for us and society in the future.
I wonder whether this is a hyper-realisation of Andy Warhol’s classic 15-minutes of fame quote; or simply a realisation of the democratisation of fame through the medium of the Internet.
Whether its the boxing match between KSI and Logan Paul, or seeing a make-up artist who made it big through Youtube, or whether its seeing ET, or any other Youtube star. Regardless, this is a trend that I’m sure will continue.
Summary
When I think back of what originally attracted me to Dr Eric Thomas, I think of the viral video As bad as you want to breathe” (Vimeo original), I think of the many Youtube videos he’s posted on his channel; and the power of his motivational speaking to effect, influence and move so many people from around the world.
Seeing him live is a wholly different experience, seeing this larger than life character is something else and wholly different to consuming videos I am so happy that I got to see and listen to him live.
But I must stress; have a goal of why you are attending.
If you’re looking for specific business advise, I wonder if there is a better route; finding a business mentor, finding a marketing expert, or watch Youtube videos that explain marketing on a tactical level. If however, you want to be motivated; then ET is the man to see.
So was the event any good, was it worth it and would I recommend it?
Yes and no. Obviously seeing ET was the main attraction and reason for going; and yes, I still rue my chance of not saying hello to him at 6/7am in the morning when he past me by in the lobby of the hotel; when no-one else was around.
If there is anything I can learn from this event, if you’re the first one at the event, be on the look out for the main speakers; you never know if you will bump into them!
It is a shame that the VIP section didn’t get a chance to meet the guy; but then again, so many people didn’t for one reason or another.
However, the event was soured by poor logistical issues, which I understand because it was their first event; and by a crowd/host interaction which was crazy; it felt like watching a car crash in slow motion. It’s not something I’ve ever seen or witnessed before and soured the event.
And for that reason I am unable, in good conscious, to recommend future events.
I’m sure there will be lessons learned all round, and the next event will be greater, bigger, bolder; but because of this issue, I simply cannot see myself attending new events.
The lessons I learned from seeing ET live, being able to witness how he was able to calm a baying crowd right through to making them laugh within minutes of this ugly-ness has made me respect the guy even more.
Whether there is more value in seeing him live verses simply watching his videos is up to the individual; for some, the value in all the videos is all that is needed; for others, just want to see him, want to say hello and give thanks.
The big question we felt left unanswered was, despite the issues, whether he will he becoming back? Whilst there is an EventBrite page for an appearance in 2020 again, in London; there are question marks for everyone involved.
Despite all of this, I would love to see Eric Thomas back in the UK; but I must emphasise this, the whole of the UK – not just London. A tour of venues that encompass Ireland, Scotland, and especially the North of England.
I wish to extend my thanks to the organisers for bringing Dr Eric Thomas to the UK. I extend my thanks to all the people I met; and wish to thank Eric for coming, I hope despite the issues we will get a chance to see him again in the UK.
Overall rating: 6/10
As a final word, I’ve decided to open this page to comments and thoughts; please keep your comments civil. I will be moderating them and closing the comments in 7 days time.