Tuesday, July 28, 2009

21 Convention ’09 Review/Recap

I intend this to be as much a review of The 21 Convention put on by Dream as it is a recap of each speech and the content covered. The event, newly changed from The Under 21 Convention, now that the focus isn’t as specifically on the under 21 pickup crowd, spanned across four full days from as early as 10 am until 8 pm each night. Generally the format was, two speakers followed by a lunch break, then three more speakers after lunch, with shorter breaks between each speech. You can imagine how much content was covered in the allotted time. Let’s get to it.

Day 1

Dream

After introducing the convention, Dream launched into his speech that he titled “Rise Above.” Life lessons, personal stories, and revelations formed the meat of the content, all geared toward the idea that, in my words, no matter how bad it gets you can always come out on top and still kicking. From heartbreaking loss to financial ruin, he laid it all out on the line, putting on a solid performance.

El Topo

The second speaker, El Topo, began by talking about what makes a good instructor and what the role of the instructor is and how they can accomplish it. He then delved into his methodology of game and how to implement it. Topo quickly transformed questions from the crowd such as “what is one thing you like about yourself and one thing you dislike” through these methods into personal and specific grounding routines. The man demonstrated a complete knowledge of the topic he covered and never failed to address any specific question about himself or what he teaches. He’s one of the genuinely good guys out there who cares about helping out and giving back, putting on multiple talks at the end of each day and even taking somewhere around 10 guys out each night to work specifically with – for free.

Julian Foxx

Highlights of this speaker included several drills that he teaches to his paying students, a method of creating incentive to go out and accomplish your goals, and several specific techniques. A low energy, but none the less knowledgeable speaker.

Adonis

Everything you could want to know about same night lays: where to take her, how to do it, when to do it, and techniques for making it happen. The man is a veritable machine set to ‘Fuck’ who managed to take time off to speak about the mechanisms that turn his gears. Very solid speech from a gifted and extremely knowledgeable speaker, the man also went out and made himself available to guys in-field at no charge.

Nilatak

A return speaker from the ’07 convention and the man who gave me the single best feedback post in response to a field report ever, Nilatak just had a short time to jump on stage and do some short demonstrations. He had three guys from the audience, at different skill levels, come on stage and approach him, after which he would break down what was good, what wasn’t, and how to fix common problems. Good stuff, great guy.

Psych

From PUA Training, Psych was a convention attendee and audience member last year, turned trainer and speaker this year. He talked on his concept of social game, adding value, and what he considers to be the three keys to pickup: likeability, persuasion and sexuality. Pulling back from the game for a bit, he showed a brief clip of AFC Adam from last year’s convention, where Adam calls Psych out as the man to watch, as a man who will soon be very, very good. He then called out the entire audience; if he can come here as an attendee and come back one year later as a speaker, as a man who has accomplished his goals and become greater than the collective mediocrity, then any and every person in the audience can do the same. Great speech and a solid guy.

Day 2

Hshudo

Social circle and college game highlighted one of this year’s youngest speakers. He talked about his mindsets in pickup, told a few stories, and shared some techniques including having your girl bring over a friend for your roommate and visa versa to ease the process and expand your circle. A little nervous at first, he spoke quickly, but as time passed he eased into his groove and gave a decent speech.

Erika Awakening

I’ll hold back a little because I think a few things caused me to be closed off and biased against her presentation, but here is how I saw it. Erika talked about “Spiritual Seduction: how to change your love life through your belief system” which is actually a topic that interests me greatly. Beginning with her story of a near death experience, Erika then broke down the difference between types of beliefs, talked on the importance of vibes and becoming conscious/aware/present. Her new company does therapy for clients with limiting beliefs through a technique called Emotional Freedom Technique. Many of the guys I spoke with enjoyed her speech, but I found myself a skeptic. She nearly broke down during her story of near death, gave a rather disjointed and bare bones speech, and when I asked specific questions on the mechanics of EFT, she was unable to answer and even referred to it as ‘magic.’ I encourage anybody reading this to watch the video and form their own opinion.

Francis Adams

From the Campus Casanova crew, he talked about college game. Francis is a funny and energetic guy who was able to bring a lot of new and, as far as I know, innovative concepts to the table including his five social circle rules and his concept of female attraction ‘simmering’ and how to use this to your advantage. I especially liked his angle on being friendly and flirty with everybody, not just the girls you’re into, and his idea of “falling in love a little with every girl.” I know just what you mean man. Good stuff.

Nick Sparks

From The Social Man, Nick talked briefly on college game and then got into his main topic of sexualizing body language. This guy has reached the peak of charismatic, an incredibly gifted speaker. He demonstrated some simple techniques on how to generate sexual chemistry through body posture, touch, proximity, and eye contact on Erika, and I swear she actually fell in love with him on stage. Watch the video and tell me I’m wrong. At the end of his time he gave what I’ve been referring to as “The Piano Speech” the most inspirational and exciting speech since the ‘you’re money and you don’t even know it’ segment in Swingers. Just to get it in writing, Dream you had better have your editing guys cut that part out of the end of his speech so you can upload it as a specific video in and of itself, alongside the full talk. One of the best speeches given at the entire event.

Christian Hudson

Formerly of Charisma Arts, Christian started his own company, The Social Man. Before getting into the gamey portion of his speech, Christian gave a sort of father to son style speech, a cocktail of respect, kicks in the ass, and genuine reverent inspiration. I can’t say specifically he said as I was so enamored with his words that I forgot to take notes, except “A winner is a man who refuses to accept his situation, and does something about it.” A real man of action, he gave some specific techniques and conversational tools, as well as concepts on arousal and how to talk. Fantastic speech.

Day 3

AFC Adam Lyons

Filling in for some people who couldn’t make it, Adam gave two different talks. The first was all about closing, which included techniques for making it happen, ways of easing the transition, and hilarious stories to illustrate every point. His second speech was more in depth and advanced, covering frame control and 4 specific methods of doing so verbally. He also talked on, and demonstrated physical frame control. What I love about Adam is his speeches are so well put together and rehearsed, that they don’t even sound like they’re rehearsed and planned ahead. I couldn’t tell which parts were adlibbed and which parts he had said a dozen times in the past. Adam puts across an energy and enthusiasm that is unparalleled by anybody I’ve come into contact with in the community (and with all the talent that shows up to the 21C, that’s saying something). One of the best technical pickup speeches of ’09.

Gone Savage

Savage took things in a different direction, talking about female sexuality and what it is that women desire in a man. He talked about debriefing questions to ask your girls, how to be a unique and compelling man in her life, and the difference between the masculine and the feminine. A very chill and different speaker, he brought something entirely new to the table.

Dream #2

Controversial and the only speech to receive a standing ovation, Dream gave his second speech of the convention on proper exercise and nutrition. This speech will challenge everything you think you know about what to eat and how to exercise. Well put together, Dream really knows what he’s talking about. The relevance of this speech to becoming an attractive man is a no brainer, and as Dream put it, no woman is going to tell you “your six pack is way too tight, get out of here.”

Drew Baye

The second speech on health and exercise, Drew talked about High Intensity Training. The man knows more about exercise than most of the speakers know about pickup. For any body looking to get involved in a program that will give you the best results, for the least amount of time in the gym, this speech is the best source of fitness advice around. Without a moment of hesitation, Drew answered every question with confidence like a man who invented what he was talking about. He laid out which exercises will most effectively work which muscle groups, how much time to allow for rest and recovery, the concepts behind muscle growth, and what you can expect if you attempt HIT. Really incredible stuff and a talented speaker.

Heartwork

A speaker from last year as well, Heartwork is an instructor for Vin DiCarlo at only 19 years old. A funny and energetic guy, he talked mainly on the friendzone and how to get out of it. Bottom line, “she’s not your fucking friend.” A good speaker, Heartwork was also out in field with a lot of guys.

Day 4

Righthand Man

One of the older speakers, RHM has really been out there and experienced it all. He talked about how women tend to view men and create expectations for how men should behave, what he knows about marriage (17 year veteran), the traditional way for men to go through life (school, college, get a job, get married, have kids, get divorced), and flipping the script on women. A real consciousness raising speech that any guy who is considering an LTR or marriage should look into. Solid speaker, good content.

Nathan

Hailing from RSD, Nathan was the only speaker who was not filmed. He talked about masculine and feminine qualities, and how when you are at least 51% in the masculine, you will have attraction on some level. He did a few short exercises and drills with the group.

DJ Fuji

Fuji really stepped the fuck up this year and took charge, speaking in a second slot to fill in for some speakers who couldn’t make it. Absolutely worth every second. He spoke on the fundamentals of game, how to get better through his DaTE model (Discipline, Training, Execution, which I’ll never forget and regret not answering the questions when he asked about it haha…). Other topics were common sticking points and pitfalls to avoid while learning. The man spoke in such a way as to really grip at a person’s soul and make them realize how far from their potential they really are allowing themselves to sit, comfortably. Without a doubt, the best speech this year.

Ratisse

Returning again after speaking on text game and sexual priming in ’08, Ratisse talked about his style of game this year which is a method for creating massive social proof and really becoming the king of a venue. The guy is a model of dominance, and his philosophy of “if you’re not happy with who you are, change it” really brings this across. No questions, no compromises, just action. He demonstrated how he works a club on stage and talked in depth on his experiences and methods. What a badass.

Elite Q&A Panel

Once again, all of the remaining speakers got on stage together to take questions from the audience on anything and everything, each giving their own input and opinions on particular subjects from dates, to pulling, to strippers.

The Last Word

Once again Dream put on an event that oozed quality from the get go. One of the speakers even commented on how he has spoken at other large pickup events of this nature, and how Dream managed to put together something that was of greater scale, quality, and better organized. And he really did. Four days and 19 speakers on topics ranging from health to same night lays, the 21 convention once again delivered far more content for far less dollar than you’ll find anywhere else in the community. In addition to the speeches, nearly every speaker was more than happy (and emphasized so in their time on stage) to speak with attendees and answer questions, and even in many cases to make themselves available in field for free, or for dramatically reduced prices. This is really what the seduction community was meant to be about, men getting together to help each other improve their lives. The 21 convention is the manifestation of that ideal in reality. See you next year.

-Dasani

7 comments:

Halffull said...

Definitely a great time man.

See you next year!

Adonis said...

Thanks for the words of praise, it was certainly an honor sharing the stage with so many talented masters of the game!

Looking forward to next year!

Nathan said...

sounds like a fun weekend - I'm gonna contact Dream and get my arse to USA next year so I can also take part in this event!

Drew Baye said...

I'm glad you enjoyed the presentation. Hopefully I'll be back next year.

Anonymous said...

wish i could have made it this year, will the vids be posted on dream's site?

Dasani said...

Yeah, once all the editing and such is finished, the speeches will be uploaded to Dream's site

Dream said...

Correctomundo, and free to the world! =)