I just got back from The System Seminar in Chicago, the annual event put on by Ken McCarthy, and I must admit, it was everything I hoped it would be … and more.

I’ve attended several conferences over the last year and found most of them to be giant pitchfests, where each speaker’s primary goal is to tease you with the “what” and sell you the “how”. Not that there’s anything wrong with someone selling their products, they absolutely should if the products provide value. But if someone pays to attend a seminar and goes through all the trouble to get there and pay for airfare, hotel, etc., they should get some content that they can use as is, without having to buy something else.

This is a personal pet peeve of mine — sometimes as I’m sitting in one of these pitchfests, my mind wanders for a minute and I find myself thinking of how everyone in the room has paid to be pitched to! What a great gig for the promoter… charge people to come and listen to someone else’s sales pitch. Make money on back of the room sales. The speakers get to sell their stuff, gain exposure, ascend to guru status. Sweet. But what’s in it for the pitchee?

So imagine my surprise when I get to The System Seminar and there’s no (or very little) pitching. Sure one or two people may have gone over the line and did a full out sales pitch, but most of the time it was very subtle and limited to the last few minutes.

For the most part, the presentations were pure content. And great content at that. Afterwards you could talk to the speaker or go to their website for more info, and in the evenings there were trade fairs, where each speaker had a table. So there was ample opportunity for them to sell their stuff without cramming it down your throat during the presentation.

More seminar promoters should follow Ken McCarthy’s lead and give people what they paid for — education. After coming away from The System, my only regret was not being able to attend all of the breakout sessions live, as all of the ones I did attend were truly exceptional and I came away from each one with actionable steps to build my business.

More about my System experiences later, including photos…