The bull market

So how do you measure the success of a success seminar? Had I gained new motivation to fuel my life to new heights? Not really. Could I count myself among "the thousands" who'd come before me whose lives had been changed by this experience? I don't think so. Had I learned innovative tools that would prepare me for the quickly approaching new millennium? I wish.

What I did sense, however, was that there is a hunger out there for positive change, a thirst to make our lives better, more meaningful, less average. It's not necessarily a money thing or an American thing. It's just a good thing. And SUCCESS 1998 does its best to tap into whatever that thing is...and exploit the hell out of it.

Because Colin Powell is such a tough act to follow, the show should end with him. But the event's final speaker is marketing consultant Dan Kennedy, who begins by urging the crowd not to leave. "Now you can either get stuck in traffic, or you can let me tell you how to double the size of your bank account in two short weeks."

But after listening to 12 speakers in 10 hours, after being confused by contradictory advice, after being denied access to "true success" in this life and the next, rush-hour traffic is all the motivation I need.