
DATE: Thursday, March 27, 1997              TAG: 9703270398

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ERIKA REIF, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: HAMPTON                           LENGTH:  104 lines

SECRETS OF SUCCESS MOTIVATION MEANS BIG MONEY AS THOUSANDS PAY TO PICK UP TIPS ABOUT GETTING THEIR PERSONAL, PROFESSIONAL LIVES ON THE FAST TRACK

Someone somewhere in the Hampton Coliseum made big money on Wednesday. Ronald Scriven knew. He had been there since 4 a.m., cleaning, setting up chairs - and listening.

By 8 a.m., the stadium was filled with 11,000 people attending the Success 1997 seminar. They were there to hear actor Christopher Reeve, TV host Larry King, retired Army Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, former Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs and long-time motivation man Zig Ziglar and other speakers. The giant pep rally lasted until 7 p.m.

But Scriven said he would work until 10 p.m., until the chairs on the floor were folded and racked. During breaks, he reflected on what he heard in the halls. Could it be ticket prices started at $49 and went up to more than $200?

He saw suits and ties and cellular phones, and in the restroom heard banter about business and contracts. Dressed in layered short-sleeved shirts and work boots, he leaned against a door jamb with mops and two metal rolling buckets at his feet.

The custodian looked at the crowd inside, scratched his beard and said, ``Somebody's got some money. If I could spend $50 to become a millionaire - shoot . . .''

He nodded. ``Somebody knows something.''

About success, that is. And about motivation and energy and leadership and even faith in God. And, of course, money.

Delta Airlines manager Dale McCaslin, from Raleigh, came out ahead Wednesday.

McCaslin's name was drawn from a drum on stage and he won a bag of goodies worth $495, including videos on ``How To Be a Winner,'' ``The Qualities of Success: A Blueprint for Achievement'' and ``Goals: Setting and Achieving Them on Schedule.''

Others paid for those extras, stacked on tables in a ring outside the auditorium.

Brenda Smith of Buxton, N.C., put out $60 for the audio set, ``Christian Motivation for Daily Living.'' She was sent by College of The Albemarle in Elizabeth City, where she teaches a GED program part-time. She took the day off with the blessings of her full-time employer, the Dare County Board of Education.

The program, presented by Peter Lowe International, should help her be more positive with adult GED students, she says. And she admires Ziglar because he ``was able to use the `f' word: `faith.' '' His impact on her was immediate.

``I'm not a morning person, but I feel like I could be a morning person now,'' she said after hearing him.

The vending area was crowded with people juggling briefcases, purses, cups of coffee and pretzels, ``The Success Authority'' bags at their sides weighted down with books and cassettes. Breaks between speeches were punctuated with the boom of rock music: ``Good Vibrations,'' ``Turn the Beat Around,'' blared under multicolored strobe lights.

But Kathy Thomas of Chesapeake found a calm place in Ziglar's autograph line, snaking several hundred people long, as she waited for a chance to shake the hand she said helped her and a 5-year-old daughter survive a divorce.

Thomas owns a cosmetics shop and needs help coping with the ``No's'' she faces as a saleswoman. The 35-year-old in shiny silver heels and matching bag waited patiently to meet the 70-year-old author of ``Over the Top.'' More than an hour later, she had advanced half the length of the line, and had read the book's first nine pages.

Nearer the author's table, 16-year-old T.J. Soderholm had his picture snapped with his father and Ziglar. T.J. was excited about seeing Christopher Reeve. His father, Robert Soderholm, thought a day off from Lafayette High School was well worth a one-time learning experience. In the speakers, he sees role models ``with character and high ideals.''

And as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the elder Soderholm thinks the lessons of self-confidence and a positive attitude in a spiritual base tie in with his family's Scripture studies.

Nearby, a volunteer assured those waiting that everyone's book would be signed.

About 115 local volunteers pitched in to usher and help run the show. Although they were rewarded with free lunch and polo shirts with the ``Success'' logo, most were there to catch snippets of the speakers' messages.

But not everyone would do anything to be there. Coliseum custodian Shirley Watson shook her head at the idea of spending money and time to learn how to make more money.

``Suppose you buy a ticket and you do what they say and you don't make money. You're out,'' she said as she checked the walkie-talkie hanging from her belt with her plastic gloves and keys. ``Money don't just come to you.''

Although, right before her eyes, there was money - lots of money - going somewhere. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos by MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN photos/The

Virginian-Pilot

Lynda Jo Norred of Suffolk dances during an intermission at the

Success 1997 seminar in Hampton Coliseum Wednesday afternoon.

Photo by MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN/The Virginian-Pilot

Tammy Peterson of Virginia Beach makes a call from the Audiovox

Cellular Phone display during the Success 1997 seminar at the

Hampton Coliseum. People heard speakers talk about motivation and

success.

Color photos

H. Norman Schwarzkopf

Joe Gibbs