I haven’t been that focused this morning, so it was a huge surprise to me to remember that I needed to move on to Day 2 and (probably) Day 3. I need to close up Seminar and there a few pictures that I need to post. So, let’s move on…
Day 2 of Seminar is the meat of the whole event. In the morning you can go to Workshops that are taught by the best of the best in your Seminar. Yeah, kinda like Top Gun instructors… however there is no soft-porn volleyball game going on.
I think that I mentioned before that the first question that most ask when they discover that Jen is in Mary Kay is “Does she have her pink Cadillac yet?”. Now apart from have the use of a $36,000 “Trophy on Wheels” (as the late Mary Kay once declared) for 2 years, there is an advantage to being part of a Cadillac Unit.
Would you feel intimidated having to cook for 8000+ people breakfast and lunch. Uh, I would. So what would you feed them? How about this:
This is what you get in the general dining area. But, it’s not what you have to settle for. If you want to give your arm and leg you can purchase 2 sandwiches, chip and drinks for around $20 out in the convention center. Or you be part of a Cadillac Unit.
When you are part of a Cadillac Unit, your “bowl” is replaced with a real, honest-to-God ceramic plate… that will break if you drop it. Plastic utensils… nope. Your silverware wasn’t extruded from some plant in China, nope… it was probably forged somewhere in China. Don’t worry… it’s not gold plated cutlery… or pink plated cutlery for that matter but it clinks against the plate. And the food, well, I didn’t get a picture of it, but it’s much better than a small portion of cereal.
At my first Seminar in 2004, Jen was part of a Cadillac Unit (her Senior Director had the Caddy) so we got access to the good stuff. I will appreciate the Cadillac food next year after Jen wins her car this year.
Now, the Cadillac Dining is not the end all, be all of dining. If there is anything you want to do when coming to a conference, is to complete the luncheon contests. Last year, Jen met one of the luncheon and we ate wonderful food. Oh… it was so good. This year, my wife didn’t earn squat. So, Day 2’s lunch was just a salad with chicken in it.
The bulk food this year was better than last year and I shouldn’t complain, because I got to talk to some great women at lunch.
The afternoon session is broken into more classes for consultants or the director meeting. The director meeting is where the company reveals some secrets and gives training specifically from the company to the directors. So, as a director’s husband, I know some of the new products that are coming out in the fall…
So with the classes over, it’s time to get ready for the Corporate Awards night. That’s right… another night in a tuxedo. One of the coolest things about Awards Night is the dance/signing group called Friends of Tyme. Mary Kay used to bring in headliners to the Seminars. She then commissioned to have their very own group which performs at all the large company events.
Friends of Tyme started out awards night with a catchy little number, but it was a shorter segment… maybe 5-7 minutes. Then there were some awards, they get bigger (naturally) over the course of the night. The first long segment that Friends of Tyme was themed about Women Ruling the World. It started out with a country song and then went into different women singers. However, we think that the singer for Cher (who we saw in Atlanta in January) is actually (or was) a guy.
After the next round of awards, the theme of Friends of Tyme was Disco Inferno. It was a high energy set of disco music. And more than halfway through the segment, Jen taps me on the shoulder (I was sitting in front of her) and gestures me to look up. Cool! There’s people on the ceiling! It looked like the had rapelling gear on… but what the hell were they wearing???
Can anyone guess what song came on when the men rapelled down from the ceiling? It’s Raining Men, of course. Not only, men, but FIREmen. It was cool because they slid about a third of the way down and did some dancing, then slid another third for some more mid-air gyrations and down to the floor.
This is another reason why (if you like men) that acheivement had its privileges. Seating in the Arena has some heirchy to the madness. First, you have to qualify for the Arena. Once your are in Arena, seating is loosely based on how you and your Unit did. The better your unit did, the lower to the floor you are. If your unit did real well, you are on the Arena Floor. The “front” row is reserved for the National Sales Director (the highest consultant level in the company).
So, a few select women were blessed to be next to the firemen as they hit the floor because these just weren’t any ordinary rapel-from-ropes firemen… they were dancing firemen!
Maybe next year I can be near the dancing firemen… to take better pictures (because I know how all of you go Go-Go-Ga-Ga over them) of course!
The evening concluded with the Top Units of the Pearl Seminar. It’s amazing how much jewelry (sparkly things) they gave away! All this jewelry definitely takes the pressure off of me to buy jewelry for Jen… she can win it. So, for the Directors… there are two (actually three) levels that hold great esteem in the Mary Kay world. First is the Circle of Achievement which is part of the awards called ‘Unit Club’. Jen made it about halfway this year to ‘Unit Club’. The next level is Circle of Excellence. These Directors win the coveted Cruise. Last year’s trip was a 7 day cruise to Greece, this year it’s Spain. And if you are in the Top of the Circle of Excellence, you get an extra 3 day event before joing up with the rest of the cruise people.
Apart from Jen wanting to get to the Circle of Excellence, one of my friends and his wife acheived the Million Dollar Unit. What is inspiring about this is that right after last year’s Seminar she was diagnosed with Cancer and had to get chemo and everything. However, her unit still acheived this award and she’s in qualification to become a National Sales Director!
When you acheive the Million Dollar Unit Level, the company gives you a $5,000 bonus. So there were 4 Million Dollar units this year and they interviewed and videotaped the couples on what they are going to do with the money and show it during Awards Night. James, a husband, of a very prolific director last year settled with going to the NFL Pro Bowl in Hawaii instead of the Superbowl in Detroit (in the winter)… this year, he’s going to put a “down payment” on a huge Home theatre, surround sound, entertainment, contact the space station system. Another husband, Ron, wasn’t so fortunate… his wife said that she’s going to give it ALL to him, but then quickly asks him “So, what are you going to buy me?” (I bet it won’t be Jewelry or a Cruise!)… Ah women… always the comedienne.
So, that wraps up Day 2 of Seminar… Don’t worry Day 3 is just half day and not too much involved. I think there is just one picture too and it’s not of Firemen (sorry…)
PLANET3RRY 