As part of our series of articles on seminars, we decided a key component to making those work is the actual attendees. Duh! So, we reached out to a group of seniors recently and asked them their thoughts on the seminar experience. Read on, to find out what they had to say. Also, if you have any good seminar tips or anecdotes, please leave a comment below or email me at [email protected].
See also: 5 Ways to Increase Your Seminar ROI
There was one I went to a couple of years ago. It was these two ladies that teamed up together. One was an expert in long-term care and the other one specialized in estate planning, I think. They were really funny, and at the end, they played a game where they said someone had a smiley-face sticker on the bottom of their desert bowl. I think they got free movie passes or something. It was a lot more fun that some of the seminars I’ve been to.
Marianne, 73
Portland, Ore.
The location: It was in the community center of the housing development where I live, so I only had to walk a block and a half to get there. The advisor was also really good—very well-spoken and very knowledgeable. He wasn’t slick or pushy like most of those guys are. He just seemed like a straight-shooter, like he was doing it because he wanted to help people out. He gave out lots of free advice at the seminar, helpful hints about how not to run out of money in retirement, that sort of thing.
David, 77
Clearwater, Fla.
My wife and I went to a seminar 8 or 10 years ago that made a favorable impression on everyone who went. It was run by an advisor who mailed everyone a small card with a choice of topics on it. He asked everyone to put checks next to the topics they were most interested in. At the door, his assistant took the cards and tallied up the results while he was giving his opening remarks. Then the assistant told him what most people wanted to learn about, and he talked about those things.
Christopher, 70
Passaic, N.J.