Is it a motivational seminar – or a royal sales pitch?
Women who attend a seminar next month featuring Sarah Ferguson, the duchess of York, should be prepared for a day-long sales seminar, the Denver/Boulder Better Business Bureau warned Thursday.
Complimentary VIP passes to The Women’s Conference went out to thousands of metro-area women. But “there’s nothing VIP about the invitation,” said Susan Liehe, a spokeswoman for the Denver/Boulder BBB.
“Everybody and their dog got one. If you go, understand that you are probably going to sit through eight or nine hours of sales seminars.”
The event – presented by a group called Women’s Conference – will be Sept. 10 at the Colorado Convention Center. Women’s Conference is part of Provo, Utah-based National Training Conference LLC, which pitches work-at-home and financial training programs, the BBB said.
A representative of the company acknowledged that some of the speakers will have “financial planning” products for sale. But others – including Ferguson and former prisoner of war Jessica Lynch – will make motivational presentations, he said.
“Whether you chose to buy this stuff or not, you’re going to get a great education,” said Don Pendleton, director of the company’s compliance and legal department.
The group has hosted seminars featuring business mogul Donald Trump and 1970s entertainer Donny Osmond.
In Denver, the group mailed thousands of invitations to women indicating they were receiving two complimentary passes because they were referred to the president of the conference group. Although each ticket is printed with a $149 face value, the letter says other attendees will pay $69 to attend.
The seminar will be at the Colorado Convention Center’s recently opened lecture hall, which holds 5,000 people. Organizers told staff at the convention center that they expected between 4,000 and 5,000 people to attend, said Greg Lowry, director of sales for the Colorado Convention Center.
In an e-mail, Pendleton said some tickets may be sold, but the admission fee has been waived for most of the general public. The company does charge for some events, he said.
The local BBB’s consumer alert follows alerts issued in Indiana, Washington, Idaho and Montana as the conference travels across the country.
National Training Conference has a satisfactory rating with the Better Business Bureau of Utah, but an affiliate owned by the same principals has an unsatisfactory record related to the group’s unauthorized use of the BBB name on its website.
That company, MIT Financial LC, has stopped the practice but maintains that it was a a fair use of the phrase, Pendleton said in an e-mail statement.
Staff writer Kristi Arellano can be reached at 303-820-1902 or karellano@denverpost.com.
