[u:777052f60f][b:777052f60f]Landmark Forum is:[/b:777052f60f] [/u:777052f60f]
*a brainwashing seminar
*a pyramid scheme (legal because the labor is volunteered)
*group pressure/peer pressure
*skilled at harrasement
*a 'targeted marketing coorperation' (believe it, those are their own words!)
*going to target [b:777052f60f]YOU[/b:777052f60f]
*a neighborhood nightmare
*a social epidemic
*yes it IS a cult for the enthusiastic
*empty rhetoric
*a salesman that YOU pay to solicite YOU
*secretly writting down any information you share during the forum in order to solicite you in the future
*full of real estate agents, car salesmen, loan officers, travel agents and more who are WATCHING YOU ([i:777052f60f]and taking notes[/i:777052f60f])- don't worry they'll introduce themselves as new friends at a later date once they know what your interests are. They are the ones who will help you purchase, oops I mean [i:777052f60f]realize[/i:777052f60f] your true [i:777052f60f]potential[/i:777052f60f]
*not your friend
*bastardized philosophy and social science
*scripted
*owned by the former board members of EST
*a more 'polished' and up to date version of EST
*required to have you sign a consent release form because of all those messy suicide lawsuits back in the seventies and eighties during the EST version
*not therapy
*sneaky
*insidious
*a snake oil salesman with a friendly face
*full of ------ (fill in the blank) rhetorical logic riddled word games that give you that warm 'I got it!' feeling
*a really [b:777052f60f]bad[/b:777052f60f] idea
*a family and friend 'divider' not 'uniter'
*encouraging spouses NOT to tell their spouses what happened during the seminar
*a really really expensive weekend, or more
*psycologically dangerous
*full of feel good fluff
*full of feel bad stuff
*wants you, your family, your friends, and your friends friends to sign up
*wants [b:777052f60f]YOU[/b:777052f60f] to recruit them, free of charge- because intra personal relationships are the marketing mechanism of the future, oops, I mean [i:777052f60f]TODAY[/i:777052f60f]
*a class rate con job
*not an accredited educational organization
*affects more people then you would ever guess
*fools 90% of them- and that's good business
*an amazing business model because they pay NO ONE except the 'Leader' and owners and venue. Imagine that 'Leader' walking away with $10,000-$30,000 a weekend.
*definetely not harmless psycobabble
*programs devotees to use Landmark jargon which creates a covert Landmark sales pitch that they will consciously and subconsciously use everyday on everyone they know
*lying to you
*using fancy diagrams
*and confusion
*profiling you from the moment you walk in the door
*going to give you a name tag with a secret profile number 1-5 in order to best 'market' you
*may be government sponsored or condoned in order to help keep the economy spending in these trouble times (because dollar bills don't do uncle sam any good getting stale under the mattress)
*feels like church, gone to HELL
*not going out of business any time soon
*a business designed for salespeople to circumvent the national "Do not call list"
*going to get your phone number and keep calling, and calling, and calling, and calling you
*MINDCONTROL- and no, it does not require wires or implants- just changing someones choice of words is how they start the snowball rolling
*did I mention a really REALLY bad idea to get involved with?

Open yourself to the [b:777052f60f][i:777052f60f]possibility[/i:777052f60f][/b:777052f60f] that con-men can wear nice suits and shiny shoes too. Remember that you are [i:777052f60f]not allowed[/i:777052f60f] to take notes (but the salespeople in the back of the room are). Rackets? Lets keep the discussion on YOUR rackets, not Landmarks please. If you leave to go the bathroom you might break the trance of confusion and group brainwash, so you'd better return to your seat at once if you want to get '[i:777052f60f]it[/i:777052f60f]'. They just want to help you have a '[i:777052f60f]clearing[/i:777052f60f]'. When your wallet is thoroughly cleared and the real estate agent, I mean new 'friend', has sold you a condemned building in the bad part of town that no one else wants, then you will truly know you've gotten '[i:777052f60f]it[/i:777052f60f]'. You may proceed to the next level. Sign here. Oh, and open your wallet please.

Hope I saved someone $350 and several friendships.

LOL...I think you just about covered it, Marc.

Ellen

*going to give you a name tag with a secret profile number 1-5 in order to best 'market' you


Marc,

Do you know what the numbers correspond to?

I image they are similar to the five personality "types" that are used by other groups and cults:

Thinkers
Feelers
Doers
Seekers
Game-Players


Ellen

Yeah, that sounds likely for the number tag system 1-5. You probably have a better idea then me. I was figuring it went something like:
1.business/professional (nicely dressed)
2.alternative/hippy (long hair or flower dress)
3.teacher/professor (sophisticated glasses)
4.distressed house wife (nail bitter)
5.other (loner)

What ever it is they mark you as soon as you walk in the door so that they can herd you off to the appropriate and most appealing introduction room and I'm sure it goes further when you flash some cash around.

Ofcourse I can't know for sure unless I volunteer at their mission control call center and run out the back door with one of their computers while all the devotee volunteers point, gasp, and ring their hands. An idea which really appeals to me.

I have been sitting here laughing at the reasoning you have come up with for the numbers on your nametags when you go to an introduction. It is a lot more simple then you think

Each main event has several introduction leaders. you are given a number to show which introduction leader you will be with. A senior successful introduction leader may have a larger number of people to lead to while someone who is newish may only have 5 or 6 people (its easier to control a smaller group or people) the numbers dont mean anything other then this.

If an event has less people then expected then they may combine two numbers together. The cards you complete are used to count how many are in each number at any one time before you go to an introduction. they are also used to work out how well an introduction leader was i.e. how many people registered against how many were in their room.

Some landmark centres try and break groups of people who came together up but others don't.

Marc your version is a lot more fun to read about though ;)

They can barely train their volunteers as it is, can you imagine them trying to train them to have them identify personality types?! They can't even figure out how not to organize it so people don't get too many phone calls and decide to not do the course because of that harassment.

I can assure you the numbers are purely for crowd control and are assigned on a first-come, first served basis. Each admitting volunteer/assistant is given a number to give the people they do name tags for a certain number to fill in the intro rooms.

Marc,

Excellent way to describe what it looked like to me (spouse - now ex-spouse) of how it was when I attended the "grad" (of what????) night with the now ex-spouse!

I couldn't help but notice the zombie behavior of the people in the lobby, the main hall & the wunderful "guess-room" (purposely not guest :D )

I was "hit-on" by a LEC plant, oh sorry, volunteer, until I confronted the tape cassette running out of the plant's mouth....

we (the "palatial offerings" were there only to be exploited, used and signed up like our victim friends had been...)

Linda seems to have really given a good explanation of what I "experienced while being there, critically thinking during 2 guess ( :wink: ) nights

P A X

Sure I concede that maybe the number tag system is trivial and random. But I am certain that Landmark is very interested in hooking 'leaders of opinion'- people who are high ranking in their professional lives- like bosses, ceo's, entertainment industry professionals. These types of people are the pudding in the Krispy Kreme Do[b:af6bfa0928]NUT[/b:af6bfa0928] for Landmark- because they command a following. They give these people 'special' attention.

Ultaware- I had the same zombie with the same cassette tape running out her mouth hit on me in the lobby. She [i:af6bfa0928]actually[/i:af6bfa0928] spoke in a zombie voice! (you know, monotone and computerish)

She said, "Thank.. you... so....... much... for.. coming. Landmark... is.. the... best.... thing.... in.. my.... life. This... is...sooooooo... amazing... isn't... it? So are...you....... going.. to sign.... up?"

That girls' eyes were bugging out of her head. Her pupils were dialated like she was on three hits of acid. I knew right then, there must be something in the punch.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot....
They REALLY tried their damnest to seperate me from my friends. But I convinced them to 'be open to the possibility' to get the hell out of my way.

Marc you are absoloutely correct when you say landmark want the higher ups. They want people who are in a position to have other people attend the forum (and other programmes).


In New Zealand, despite one of the offices running at a large deficit LEC continue to keep the office running simply because it in the country capital and where the seat of government is. They have had several policians complete the landmark forum and other programmes.