Are FReepers a force to be reckoned with? You could ask Peter Lowe and the Success Companies, but to their misfortune, they have either been in court or are hiding from the press since the posting and activism of FreeRepublic.com dismantled their sham of a company! Read the article on the Success Companies found at the right. Of course, there's not a nary a mention of the successful series of protests by FReepers against Lowe and his company, yet, the results cannot be disputed. FReepers, with laser-like precision, targeted, planned and executed a campaign which totally annihilated the combined enemy targets of Peter Lowe and the Success Companies!
In March of 2001, a new FReeper with the screen name Badray made his first post. His thread, "Success 2001 Seminar" concerned the selection of Bill Clinton as a featured speaker for the Success Seminars in Pittsburgh, PA. This post resulted in one of the best organized FReeps of Bill Clinton in the history of FreeRepublic and seemingly dismantled what was once a proud company founded on helping people to be the best they can be in business and in their personal lives by focusing on character and integrity.
Angry FReepers from across the U.S. were frustrated by the selection of Bill Clinton as a "role model" to speak on the subject of success by Peter Lowe and his series of speaking engagements held around the country. They took to the streets with billboards and signs at many of the scheduled Clinton speaking events. FReepers had such success at exposing this hypocrisy in selecting Clinton that Lowe actually began removing him from the website to thwart our attempt at FReeping the x42 target!!!
Initially, Zig Ziglar even pulled out of the engagements he was slated for after receiving numerous complaints. Then in what could only be described as one of the most monumental examples of Zig Zaging, Zig Ziglar zagged and decided to speak with Clinton afterall to offer the "alternative" to Clinton at the seminars!!
Ziglar in fact stated on his decision to go ahead and speak,
"I want to begin by thanking all of you who sent me emails, first expressing concern and later expressing support. When I learned that Clinton was going to be on the Success Seminar programs I ignored my own teaching and reacted instead of responding. I neither prayed about it nor sought counsel--big mistake. As the matter continued to plague me, I began the course I should have taken initially—I asked the Lord’s direction in prayer and sought the counsel of men and women I love, trust and respect ...Your presence at the seminars could be critically important, because the Clinton crowd is definitely going to be there. Ticket sales in these two cities, which have been carefully monitored, are over twice as high when Clinton is included in the advertising. I will be making basically the same talk--from a character, faith, commitment, and responsibility point of view—as I always make."
Zig went on to say,
"Peter Lowe is a Christian, card-carrying conservative Republican since age 22 with a huge ministry. His reasoning was the same as that of my pastor, and he also pointed out that thousands of people have come to know Christ as a result of testimonies at the Success Seminars."
Poor Zig, probably one of the most abused in this story. Maybe he should retire. He certainly isn't making very wise decisions these days....
Special kudos go to FReeper RonDog who did an excellent job of keeping us informed of nearly every move Peter Lowe and his organization made!
Related FreeRepublic Threads:
-
Clinton NIXED from SUCCESS2001 website~ Still SPEAKING!! Peter Lowe has sunk to an all time LOW!
-
Bill Clinton to join Zig Ziglar and Peter Lowe in "Success 2001" tour across the USA
-
Freepers are invited to freep Bill Clinton inside a Zig Ziglar Speech
And today, posted in the forum is this:
Clinton's Secret [or Clinton is Afraid of Being FREEPED!]
Clinton's secret
"Bill Clinton is telling friends that he will hit the road this summer to help at least 30 U.S congressmen and Senators raise money for their re-election campaigns. But his office won't divulge who those candidates are, or even in which states they reside. Neither will the Democratic National Committee or the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee or the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee," the Prowler column notes at www.americanprowler.com.
"So what's the deal? '[DNC Chairman] Terry McAuliffe is keeping Clinton's locations secret,' says a party fund-raiser. 'He wants the candidates to have the privilege of announcing that Clinton will be their big fund-raising attraction.' "A staffer on the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee says he, too, has heard that excuse, but says fund-raisers on the House and Senate campaign committees have heard another reason. 'Clinton asked them not make the announcements because he doesn't want there to be adverse publicity too far in advance of his arrival,' says the staffer.
He's concerned about protesters and organized opposition to his appearances.'"
Perhaps USA Today put it best
in the article found at right,
"Everyone's (Clinton) running for cover
like the cockroaches when the light goes on."
| Failure for Success Companies (spells sweet success for FreeRepublic!) By Kevin McCoy, USA TODAY
Take a century-old magazine noted for its inspirational business success stories. Add a well-known motivational-speaking business. Mix with a nationally popular tennis tournament. To organizers and investors, it sounded like a recipe for a multimedia business bonanza. Instead, it made for a financial disaster, leaving scores of creditors with unpaid bills topping $5 million and radically altering the fortunes of the three organizations:
"It's a very unfortunate saga of some very good companies," says Peter Frugone, a New York investor who says he got burned by the crash. And, he adds, "This story doesn't lack for characters." And like the parties in a bad marriage, the central characters disavow blame for what one called "a train wreck that's the size of Chernobyl." Lowe, the self-styled "America's Success Strategist," during the '90s, emerged as a star on the self-help entrepreneurial circuit, a rival of motivational guru Tony Robbins. He headlined events at which thousands of wannabe successes paid up to $200 to hear big-name speakers, product sales pitches and religious exhortations. Another figure is Stanley Van Etten, a North Carolina businessman. He's best known as a former financial broker against whom the Securities and Exchange Commission won a federal court judgment on charges he ran a pyramid scheme. Van Etten accepted the settlement of that case without admitting or denying wrongdoing. Getting started The byzantine saga began in late 1999 in New York bankruptcy court, where Success magazine had crashed after more than a century of publication. Van Etten, working through a new firm called The Success Companies, says he organized a group of investors who paid $4.75 million for the magazine at an asset sale. He moved the publication to his base in Raleigh, N.C., and prepared to relaunch it for readers made eager for business success stories by the go-go '90s. Victoria Conte, head of a media-consulting business that had previously worked with the magazine, hired on as publisher. Van Etten hoped to cross-brand the resurrected Success with new online and broadcast subsidiaries, and with a live events component: Tampa-based Peter Lowe International. Named for its founder, the firm drew tens of thousands to hear such speakers as George and Barbara Bush and motivational guru Zig Ziglar. "There were tremendous cross-promotional opportunities," says Van Etten. "The customers who were buying event tickets were the same demographic we wanted" for Success. Lowe, whose operation until then had been a non-profit, agreed to join The Success Companies in August 2000. He headed a new subsidiary called Success Events International. He called it "a match made in heaven" when the deal was announced. At about the same time, Van Etten added a third element to the cross-branding mix. Since 1993, the senior men's tennis tour had drawn crowds still eager to see McEnroe, Bjorn Borg and others past Grand Slam prime. But the tour lacked a national sponsor that would provide guaranteed income. Why not link Success magazine and Success Events to the tournament, and cross-promote all three to subscribers, arena-goers and tennis fans? Henry Brehm, an initial organizer of the tour, says The Success Companies approved a three-year, seven-figure deal for the magazine to serve as national sponsor of the matches. All the pieces fit into place by the end of 2000. The combined ventures produced roughly $2.3 million in profit during the first quarter of 2001, Van Etten says. Cancellations But the company, in need of at least several million dollars of new venture capital to grow, faced a suddenly tanking economy. Moreover, says Van Etten, personality, financial and management problems were emerging. In an April 2001 Success story, Lowe wrote that "in my business, organization is everything." But his new company seemed disorganized at best. Vendors weren't paid. Contracts with top speakers were canceled — though their names still were used to sell seats. Last September, "Peter Lowe's Success 2001" sold thousands of tickets for speeches by Clinton, TV show host Montel Williams, Mrs. Fields Cookies founder Debbi Fields and others in Chicago's United Center. But the star attractions were no-shows. And the event was shifted to the smaller Odeum Sports & Expo Center with little advance warning. The result? Angry ticket buyers and a major traffic jam. "They had canceled all the speakers, but they didn't tell anybody," says Jim Keppler, whose Virginia-based speaking agency is seeking arbitration over more than $1 million in alleged contract breaches by Success Events. "That's when it became clear to me that there was unprofessional, if not fraudulent, conduct." Jack Bohlken is typical of the disillusioned. He says he paid $165 for tickets to a Lowe-organized event in Atlanta that was canceled last year. He says he's also owed $35 for motivational tapes he never received. When he sought a refund, he says, he was told he could only get credit for yet-to-be-scheduled seminars. "The way this is being handled, with no communication with people like myself, is just the opposite of the values they espoused," says Bohlken. The Better Business Bureau of West Florida has logged dozens of complaints against Lowe's old and new companies from customers seeking refunds for arena events and motivational tapes they say weren't worth the cost. Van Etten, meanwhile, had problems of his own. Last May, the SEC sought a contempt order against him for delaying payment of $25,000 owed in a settlement involving International Heritage Inc., a separate North Carolina business. SEC investigators said the now-bankrupt firm was a pyramid scam that raised more than $150 million from investors through misleading promotional materials. And retired Georgia businessman Charles Curcio sought arbitration last October in a bid to recover $650,000 he had invested with venture capital funds organized by Van Etten. Curcio contended he didn't know some of his money would be invested in Success magazine. An arbitrator for the National Association of Securities Dealers recently rejected the claims. Van Etten says his SEC battles and Curcio's claims had nothing to do with his next strategic business move. Last summer, he bowed out of The Success Companies. "I was very frustrated with the personalities," and "the venture capital markets were drying up," he says. Confusion grows His legal departure only increased the turmoil. Since mid-2001, the company has had a tangled web of ownership. The first was The Nobility Group, a Nashville company headed by Ryan Wuerch. According to Van Etten and Conte, he shut down Success magazine, fired the publishing staff and disavowed the sponsorship deal with the Champions Tour. Preparing for this week's scheduled Champions Tour stop in Naples, Fla., tour official Brehm says the cancellation has meant layoffs and economic strain. For his part, Wuerch says he had been misled into buying a company heavily burdened with hidden debts. Wuerch's successor was Frugone, who runs New York-based Empire Capital. Frugone says he envisioned plowing venture capital in to revitalize The Success Companies. But Lowe, with creditor claims mounting, unexpectedly resigned in December. Around the same time, Van Etten's former attorney, Brent Wood, gained control of some assets. Frugone withdrew from the purchase agreement. Wood, who said he was owed more than $200,000 in legal fees, subsequently won control of some assets. Who bears legal responsibility for the mounting debts left by the collapse of the magazine, speaking business and tennis sponsorship? According to Lowe, he became merely an employee when he sold his firm to The Success Companies. Van Etten and the parent firm made all the decisions, he says. "I wish I had enough money to pay all the people The Success Companies should have paid. But I can't do that," says Lowe, who has launched a new motivational speaking firm called Life Win. "That's something The Success Companies is going to have to answer to." Van Etten calls that response "absolutely not accurate." He says Lowe served as CEO of the speaking events subsidiary and held day-to-day control, an assertion echoed by many former company employees and vendors. "I wasn't responsible for the crash," says Van Etten. "That's like saying Boeing is responsible for the jet that flew into the World Trade Center," he says. Wood, who owns some of what's left of The Success Companies, declines to comment on the record. Several of those involved predict the tangled dispute and mounting debts will return to the place the story began: bankruptcy court. "We want to know where is the money, who's got assets, what happened to the company," says Mark Kelly, lawyer for a Tampa printer trying to collect $141,134 in unpaid bills. "Everyone's running for cover like cockroaches when the light goes on." Contributing: Del Jones, Peter Eisler |
