BookWise has LAUNCHED!!!

Well, it is now official! BookWise has officially launched!

The launch event on Saturday night was fabulous! I wish all of you could have been there because there is no possible way that I'll be able to adequately put into words the energy and excitement of the night. Beyond the inexpressible, the account will suffer due to failures of memory in which I will likely neglect to include details that would make it all the better. If any of you went to the event and want to add to my account, please do. :)

The event took place at the South Towne Expo Center in Sandy/South Salt Lake. I arrived early to help provide support for one of the presenters. The exhibit hall was impressive. Directly inside the doors were rows of computers set up to handle enrollment and viewing of the website later in the evening (the site itself wouldn't go live until partway through the evening).

Beyond that were rows and rows of chairs...facing an awesome backdrop. The stage was backed by floor to ceiling banners with the faces and names of Charles Dickens, Louisa May Alcott, Mark Twain and Emily Dickinson (I think those were the 4...remember what I said about my memory). Interlaced between the banners/tapestries were three large video screens which would be used to show close up video of the speakers as well as additional presentation material through the night.

Because I was able to help with things, I was whisked around to the other side of the hall where they had a store set up. They actually had a set of iron laced glass doors and a false fence that opened into an impressive mock bookstore/library. They had brought in carpet, bookshelves, easy chairs, tables, trunks, and other materials to make the environment feel very comfortable and enticing. They had many of the books from the catalog available for purchase (at the wholesale price, naturally) as well as some very classy looking "swag" such as leather writing tablets, pen and pencil sets, silver bookmarks and fleece throws.

I spent the next little while providing moral support for those who were prepping to present. And then...the presentation began. I won't go much into the presentation of the BookWise concept since you can hop over to the website and watch a presentation there...and if you have any questions about it, you can let me know (I might post more about it later).

After a great motivational talk about BookWise generally and how we need to strive to be "More than we can be", an introduction was made for a young man named Patrick Hughes. I hadn't heard his story before, but it's very cool. I found a couple of links where you can learn a bit more.
NPR Story
YouTube video

After introducing his story, Patrick marched out accompanied by the University of Utah's marching band. He talked about how we need to not let ourselves be held back because of "little things" that bother us. We can overcome any obstacle. He played some music on the grand piano they had on stage and left with the band and a standing ovation.

The next speaker was Dave Pelzer, who I also knew virtually nothing about. I don't want to spoil much of his story since he's written books about it and you should "buy the book."
;)

Basically, he was the worst (or second/third worst or something like that) case of child abuse in California. His mother literally put him in harm's way...trying to kill him...refusing him food/comfort...forbidding other siblings/etc. to even communicate with him. He "lived" that way for 14 years...struggling to survive, praying for miracles, fighting for life. He was always looking for ways to overcome his obstacles...and he did. He was taken into the foster care program and had to learn how to be a person...learn to speak/read/etc. He also spoke about overcoming obstacles and how so many people get hung up on little things and are unwilling to stretch themselves to overcome them and how some people hold onto baggage for years and years and let it bog them down. We need to just resolve things and move on and strive for success. Embrace life and LIVE!

There were some other great speakers such as Christopher Pair (former President/CEO of Herbalife who says he sees this as the next "billion dollar network marketing company") and Robert Allen (who you should definitely read/hear if you haven't already). Naturally Richard Paul Evans also gave some great words of advice. I loved his words about "success" and how it's not easy to recognize success at first. Success doesn't usually look like we think it should...success isn't a gorgeous booming 5 star hotel...success is the hole in the ground as they prep to build that hotel. Trying to jump in and find success once the hotel is built is a lot harder than when it's a hole in the ground...but it's always scarier dealing with the uncertainties of the hole in the ground unless you truly have the vision of that 5 star hotel.

The leaders of this company have that vision of success. The members of this company have that vision of success. I have that same vision and I can see just how great this opportunity is. The great people I've had a chance to meet and work with over the past weeks/months have just solidified to me that I made the right choice by getting involved with BookWise.

There was also some time spent introducing the tools and some of the incentives. I had already seen a lot of the tools in prepping for the event, but it was still great to see them on the big screen and see the excitement of people. Some of the incentives they introduced were absolutely exciting. In the simplest terms, they are providing killer trip incentives to people. The first is in May to Key West to experience the world of Hemingway. There will be a similar trip to London this fall to explore the world of Dickens and then next spring there will be a Dan Brown trip to Rome.

With my school and work schedule the way it is, I'm thinking May is a little too soon for me, but I am setting a goal to make it to either London or Rome in the next year. I'm stoked.

I hope you made it through this lengthy post. I actually truncated it quite a bit to try and make sure people actually would read it. I came away from that meeting feeling absolutely fabulous...and not only about BookWise. BookWise is a great business. Books are a great product. But this business and these people aren't just here to try and sell books. There is a true sense of friendship and caring. Everybody wants to help their friends and family find a way to make their lives better. With BookWise, you have a very small (especially when compared with other companies) initial investment and you get a great set of products and a wonder web of support both from the corporate office and from other associates. The compensation plan is set up to try and make it as easy as possible to achieve a "break even" point by ensuring that everybody does all they can to help the people they enroll. The business is structured to encourage cooperation and teamwork.

Please head over to BookWise.com and watch the presentation. If you have questions, either reply to my blog, or bounce over to my site and hit the link to contact me directly.

I know that this business can work and I really want to be able to bring all of my friends and family along with me for the opportunity. :)