Hey guys, lots of new stuff on the way...including the first trailer of the 2008 Under 21 Convention!
But first check out these 2 reviews that you do not want to miss.
1. First review of the 2008 Under 21 Convention by Dasani (2 year attendee)
I had never been on a vacation alone. I had never, without the support or company of my friends or family, traveled anywhere outside of a few hours’ drive away. Three days of seminar, four nights out, forty pages of notes and about fifty sets later, I’ve managed this small step toward greater independence and arrived back in Portland. This is my story, my impressions, and everything you could possibly want to know about the 2008 Under 21 Convention, hosted by Dream.
Day 1
I arrived at the hotel about an hour before the convention began and slowly people began gravitating toward the lobby. Sitting down on a couch, reading through the paper, I was approached by what had to be a PUA. Leather wrist band, affliction style t-shirt, cool jeans, it’s the look I’ve come to associate with players. He oozes charisma, and it only takes a few sentences before I have the idea firmly planted in my head that this guy most definitely gets laid. I breathe a silent sigh of relief that there are legitimately cool guys coming to the convention.
Shortly thereafter I stopped a dude about my height who I noticed was wearing a convention badge, though I neglected to read what it said, “Hey man, are they going to have a problem with me bringing in my backpack?”
He cracks a small smile and tells me in a voice that he somehow managed to infuse with the feeling of laughter without actually laughing, “I dunno…is there a bomb in it?” For some reason I’m so caught off guard by his easy wit that I answer dumbly “nope!” and he tells me he’s sure it’s fine. Something about the guy totally won me over in those few seconds of talking.
I walk into the convention hall, pushing to the back of my mind questions of my own sexuality as a bearded Dream approaches me and calls for water. Oh wait, he was just saying my name. We greet and talk briefly before I take my seat and prepare for the presentations…
Dream Part 1
Following the opening and a brief recap of his last year’s speech, Dream began his real speech. I was impressed by the improved demeanor and relaxed state (though a bit too relaxed and conversational at times) he was able to maintain while up on stage, definitely a big shift from last year. Also, as Dream spoke he laid bare the truth on the ups and downs of his personal development while giving tips on how to create discipline in getting your life/pickup handled and what pitfalls to avoid, such as becoming so focused on pickup that you forsake all other avenues of your life. At the last minute in response to some chatter going around on my end of the crowd, Dream gave some tips on going out alone, which is an idea that chills me to my soul to this day. After some final advice on emotional stability and mastery, Dream set the stage and introduced the next speaker…
Braddock
Prior to the convention I had never heard of Braddock, though the “buzz” (watch the speech) surrounding him was that he’s a pretty big deal. He came up incredibly confident, although he powered through his speech due to time constraints. Braddock spoke about college game. He didn’t just speak about it, he outlined exactly the who, what, how, when, and why of the entire process of becoming the king of your campus. He even went so far as to explain a technique for pulling a two set back to your house that, by the time I had finished sketching out my interpretation of it, looked somewhat like a diagram of a football play. Although a lot of the speech was centered on the idea of there being frat houses at your school, the major concepts are applicable anywhere. Straight money.
Heartwork
Oh hey, that’s the guy who asked about me bringing a bomb in my bag. Heartwork comes off as an extremely positive, carefree, and just straight fun guy to hang around with. Not to mention incredibly intelligent, skilled, and knowledgeable in his area of expertise. I had the pleasure of seeing him work in field, the dude is legit.
Heartwork opened with a short segment on how to learn the game properly with his idea of Goal Centric Training. He then moved into a fairly detailed section on Shaping (the ability to make people behave the way you want in your presence) and its uses, followed by the most easy to use system of rules for cold reading I’ve ever heard anywhere in the community (who knew the word ‘sometimes’ was so useful). A little more on shaping, how to reward your girl, some practical tips and techniques, and it was onto the next speaker…
Zebra
Huh, imagine that. The guy who came up to talk to me while I was reading was actually speaking at the convention. The Tetris block comment about coming from Sweden falls into place. Zebra was, in my opinion, THE most surprising speaker at this year’s convention. In addition to presenting incredible amounts of valuable information, Zebra is an incredibly dynamic speaker. The energy, certainty and skill that came out in his presentation projected exactly the type of personality that bespeaks of true self-esteem and confidence. He laid out what he considered the three most important things to take care of before anything else when deciding to learn game; getting leverage on yourself, setting goals, and becoming conscious of yourself and how you see women. On the more practical end of the spectrum, he talked about his personal love of spewing out emotional nonsense at women (“I’m gunna put you in a box!”), an exercise on how to get good at this, the truth about having people JUST talking and laughing with you and doing nothing with it, and what I considered to be just straight funny stories:
Zebra: Their friends are here, what do we do now?
Friend: Uhh I dunno…wait until they’re done?
Zebra: Fuck no! Bust in and talk LOUDER!
Day 2
Downtown Orlando has some incredible nightlife, though I missed out on my chance to singe karaoke. Next year!
Dream (Part 2) and HomeRunKing
These two took the stage to open up the second day of the convention and spoke about vitality, health, and fitness. There was a fair bit of valuable information in the speech, but it was hard to grasp as much of it challenged almost every long held belief about eating and what to eat that I (and many other convention attendees) hold. At times it felt more like conspiracy theory than legitimate information, but despite this I managed to take some serious notes and will be attempting to go 3-4 weeks without milk products to put Dream to the test on his assertion that much of what goes into milk is basically glue.
Sinn
My hand hurt after this one. A lot. Sinn’s speech was incredibly fluid and jam packed with information. My six pages of notes boil down basically to Sinn’s model of how social interaction works, some of his philosophy “bottom line, you wanna get laid, who gives a fuck about how you do it,” the components within the model (types of comfort, qualification, and attraction), ideas on framing, beliefs, practical tips and uses, and even some stripper game. Sinn also took some time to warn all the newbies about the dangers of becoming an under 21 pickup artist. I’m sure some of the guys tuned this out, but having only a month or so before his speech discovered in myself one of the key pitfalls he outlined, I think it was a well warranted warning.
Ratisse
Ratisse genuinely looks like an unapproachable badass. His style of game and absurd number of f-closes seems to reflect this. Having spent some time taking a break and talking with him at House of Blues, I can say that Ratisse is genuinely a cool, grounded dude, who has the drive and motives of a true teacher. He spoke in large part about text game and his particular take on it, as well as sexual priming which is basically “a smart and efficient way to know where you are” or as Sinn would say “blow me or blow me out.” This, coupled with Zebra’s speech, helped me to flip the switch inside me that says “fuck it” and just go for broke if I find myself in the 20 minute set to nowhere. He also spoke a little bit on endgame and dealing with LMR. My one criticism was that he kept his notes on his cell phone, which made it look like he was answering texts during his speech. Value packed speech, very relaxed demeanor, incredibly skilled PUA.
Nautilus and Right Hand Man
Nautilus was a returning speaker from last year, and with his partner Right Hand Man, they gave a speech on a very different style of game. They spoke on Inner and Outer game, and their idea and beliefs that one should never chase a girl, ever. This includes asking for phone numbers and at times sexually escalating. If the girls on the presentation screen are actually some of Nautilus’ exs, then he is definitely onto something. They warned that their style is incredibly easy and simple to follow, though it is hard for me to break all my old patterns and start over with such a radically different method of game. Their confidence and stage presence definitely lends credibility to them however.
AFC Adam
Just. Straight. Wow. Watch the video. Seriously, watch it. This guy has to be seen or better yet, experienced, to believe. In short, he talked about the three things that every guy who is good with women has: Confidence, Abundance, and the Ability to Sexually Escalate, and ways to improve all of these. The man is so positive and giving and such a personality that…words fail to describe. Watch watch watch!!!
With day two wrapped up, that only left one more day, and with such extraordinary speakers, day three would be hard pressed to live up to the rapidly rising bar, even with my favorite speaker from last year taking a two hour chunk.
Day 3
Dream Part 3
Dream opened up the final day with a Q&A of questions that he took from the forum. It is difficult to describe this without reproducing every question here, but basically it involved some tips on pulling, beliefs, Dream’s pyramid of reasons for being out at night (which is deceptively simple, yet profoundly powerful), and more valuable information on mastering your emotions (pleasure pain principle) and leadership.
Mehow
Returning once again, one of the top PUA’s in the community came to reveal some of his newest theories and technology. Though he was still an amazing speaker with invaluable information, there seemed to be a dark cloud or some bad mood hovering over Mehow, so props to him for getting through the presentation anyway and doing an awesome job. He spoke on his idea of group attraction while breaking down a video demonstration of it in action, and also his new form of teaching via ebook, called DNA. I don’t remember what it stands for, but it in essence tells you exactly how to deliver a line, from tonality, to speed, to what you should be doing with your hands, so that guys don’t spend months repeating a line and saying it wrong over and over again. He also introduced the idea of solo winging and some tactics with wings. Mehow proved once again that he doesn’t mess around. He delivers.
Manwhore
Wow. For me personally, Manwhore’s speech hit right on the money with the type of information that I think more guys need to absorb and understand in the community. He spoke massively on the idea of presence, dominance, leadership, limiting beliefs and other profound inner game topics. I particularly loved his metaphor for game, “Inner game is the language of social interaction. Once you get it dialed, outer game is just the pronunciation of the words.” And of course, he wasn’t without his out of control stories and as-repeatable-as-schwarzenegger one liners such as, “If I wanted you to be the measure of my balls, I would put them in your mouth.” I was disappointed that a lot of the guys didn’t get as much out of his speech as I did, as I think this kind of thing is really all you need if you understand it and embody it. I’ll be listening to the audio over and over between now and the 2009 convention, where I hope Manwhore will return to speak again.
El Topo, Doc Holliday, and Entropy
El Topo is an interesting guy. He has a sense of humor unlike anybody I’ve ever seen, and is absolutely hilarious. He spoke about his RedStack concepts and was creating custom material for any guy who had the balls to raise his hand and call out answers to his questions. He also gave some tips on how to improve delivery and your overall skill.
Doc Holliday, forgive me, does not look like the kind of guy who pulls. Looks can be deceiving. Meeting him, he is a very chill cool guy. Seeing him in the field, he’s deadly. He spoke briefly on daygame and gave a quick model to follow for a specific scenario, from open to getting a solid phone number.
I didn’t write much down about Entropy, I don’t think he spoke much, but I did have the opportunity to talk with him out in field, see him critique one guy’s set, and get some feedback on a set I had just run. Really chill guy, very honest, and really made me feel like he enjoyed giving me feedback on my situation and was in no way grudging about taking time to talk with a humble noob.
Libido
Libido spoke briefly on relationships and keeping sex interesting. I saw him at House of Blues the Sunday before I flew out, and oh my god. This guy is a beast. Read some of his LR’s that he posted up. He had a method of opening that got girls instantly investing in him that I’ve never even heard of before, let alone seen work. Just wow. My jaw dropped watching him in action.
In Depth Q&A
Too much to go over here. Every remaining speaker got on stage and fielded questions from the audience. Very valuable time, I wish I could have thought of a question. I also heard the first “whispers” of the soon to be infamous ‘Circle of OI!’ routine. The most devastatingly effective routine available in the community, probably that ever WILL be available. I’m still waiting on the video, though I participated in a Group of OI at HOB. I hit state instantly.
The Last Word
Top notch speakers, and according to Dream over 22 hours of seminar footage. This really is the best quality event/product available to the community. For $100 you get what would normally cost you upward of $2000, not to mention the numerous discounts offered by some of the speakers who were providing workshops and bootcamps as well. The 2008 Under 21 Convention was a sight to behold and an experience that I won’t soon forget. Most guys have never had the opportunity to take in such a large amount of information and then CONSISTENTLY put it into practice, each night. I never even mentioned the approach a thon where more experienced guys help noobs get some approaches under their belt. It’s like a free bootcamp. Also, each of the speakers took enormous efforts to answer questions from the audience and make themselves available during the convention (and even in field a bit) to talk with about game or just to shoot the shit. Phenomenal. Does it get any better than this? Probably not. I’m reserving my ticket to next years convention ASAP, I wouldn’t miss this for the world.
Are you ever going to be finished with women in your life? No. It doesn’t matter how old you are. The Under 21 Convention is the most underrated, highest quality experience that, if you’re willing to commit to it, will take you places you never thought possible. See you in 2009.
-Dasani
2. The Dream Way review by Forkit
Being a PUA enthusiast and a regular reader of various PUA blogs and forums, I thought I knew it all when it came to picking up a chick from the club to the bedroom. Naturally, I was a little skeptical of The Dream Way. To my pleasant surprise, this book delivered all the promises made by Dream himself, and as you read on, I will elaborate.
As a member of a number of top PUA forums, I’ve discovered Dream through his threads chronicling his field and lay reports. I later viewed a copy of the 2007 “Under 21 convention” and I was impressed with Dream’s presentation of his transformation and newbie missions. After I learned that Dream came out with his first book, I was absolutely curious on its contents, particularly logistics.
The Dream Way begins with a background story of Dream’s life, recounting all the way from his childhood. He vividly narrated his high school life, which was rather socially limited and consumed with bad habits and video game addiction. His relationship with the opposite sex was devoid until he got introduced to the seduction community. The part of his story that touched me the most was the incident where he was called out “a virgin” by a drunk, angry girl in front of everyone at his first house party. I enjoyed reading about his pick-up journey, from meeting and learning from real pick up artists (Hawt, Nilatak, Zuzu, Nautilus, Devious etc.), to him practicing his skills by going out 4-5 nights every week. Within a year Dream has approached 2000 sets, comprising of about 5000 people. As you read Dream’s story, you can’t help but be amazed at his at his transformation, which led to the unfolding of the Project Orlando and the Under 21 Convention.
Dream’s story was INSPIRATIONAL. Not only could I relate my social life and relationship with women to Dream’s story to an immense extent, I was hopeful that perhaps I too can transform and live life the way I want to.
The Dream Way then progresses to the nitty-gritty of Dream’s pick-up strategy. He begins by outlining a set of positive beliefs one must embrace in order to achieve success with women. He analyzed 6 beliefs, some of which really shocked me and will shock you too. Dream then discusses natural game and his infamous “magic pill.” Part II of The Dream Way can be considered the “how-too” portion of picking up women. This book is primarily focused on same night lays. For this reason, this book is not for absolute newbies. If you have not gone out and practiced approaching a few-hundred times, close this book now and come back when you do so. Dream’s pick-up strategy assumes the attraction phase, and works towards phases progressing beyond.
An important concept Dream discussed was “ninja skills.” Ninja skills, as Dream describes them, are situations that rarely happen but are unfortunately overanalyzed by guys in the community. A good example is AMOGING, which happened in less than 2% of cases in Dream’s experience. Despite this, Dream meticulously explains how to deal with AMOGs so that in the rare case you confront such ninja skills, you can deal with them like a pro.
Having read number of PUA books by the likes of Mystery, Mehow, Carlos Xuma, Swingcat and some others, I was elated to know that The Dream Way was the first to detail the logistics of pickup. Dream divides logistics into two categories: macro and micro. Macro are the components of logistics that cannot be overlooked, such who is you target with and how are they related, her plans for getting home and so on. Micro are the specifics tasks that must be done in order to produce a good interaction with the target to get her home, such as befriending her friends. There are some very interesting and important concepts that Dream discusses that are so brilliant that it made we wonder why I haven’t thought of them first. Such concepts include “Mini Venue Changing” and “Seeding the Bounce.” The goal of “mini venue changes” is to lead the girl emotionally as well as logistically. “Seeding the bounce” is the art of telling are reason for you and the girl to bounce (move somewhere) together, with the end goal of you two being alone together. Trust me guys, the extensive information Dream provides to execute macro and micro logistics will blow your mind.
Dream also provides his “bag of goodies,” which are secrets he used to help interactions move along to a same night lay. He also discusses the advantages of bouncing to her place or yours, and explains the concept of “mini seeds,” which are excuses to take her to the bedroom or bed. Finally, Dream dissects last minute resistance and how you should trample it. He divides resistance into two categories: false and real, and what each is indicative of.
Overall, I cannot elucidate enough how much I was impressed with this book. What’s so great about this book is that with each concept he discusses, he backs them up with his field reports or personal anecdotes. His bonus material provides his field and lay reports which can be used to relate with his discussion of logistics and other concepts. This book is solid from beginning to end, easy to understand, and is a quick read because of its logical organization. This book is absolutely original in its content, backed by three years of experience in the field.
