Dejan’s involvement with The 21 Convention started out as that of an attendee in July of 2007. Through a week long workshop Anthony Johnson was hosting at the time, Dejan and Anthony became friends. Despite living half way across the world in Sweden, Dejan and Anthony spoke frequently over the following year.

Mid way through that year it became apparent to Anthony that Dejan’s proper role at The 21 Convention 2008 was not that of an attendee, but that of a speaker.

Dejan accepted the speaking invitation, and went on to give a phenomenal speech that year.

Come late 2009, Anthony decided it was time to expand The 21 Convention to Europe. Being Anthony’s most trusted contact in Europe, and living in Stockholm at the time, it was a natural choice for the first ever T21C Europe.

In his own words, Anthony Johnson has stated that

“Dejan was the key to Europe. Without him, it is unlikely The 21 Convention would have ever landed in Europe. For this I thank him. And for this — as the expression of a deeper understanding Dejan possesses, at such a young age — his thoughts should be heard, applied, and respected to the highest degree. He is wise beyond his years.”

~

Dejan is dual citizen of the United States and Sweden. He is well traveled, and currently a student and small business owner in Stockholm Sweden.

In this speech Dejan speaks on relationships, integrity, and purpose.

• Read his blog at Fading Stripes.
• View his full speech from The 21 Convention 2008.

I’d like to take the time today to re-post some classic written reviews of the live event, from 2009, 2008, and even 2007. Admittedly, these are my favorite reviews, written by people I consider some of my closest friends – even though I have only hung out with them 2 or 3 times my entire life.

Funny how that works.

From Dasani – three year attendee.

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

From Dasani – 2 year attendee (at this point)

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

Zebra and I on set for The Community Tapes [Volume 2] in Stockholm Sweden

From Zebra

Made this review for a Swedish forum I post on, figured i might aswell post it here to for anyone that didnt get a chance to go.

The under 21 convention that hit Orlando Florida last month was a big success. Besides all the great speakers that were there giving huge amounts of value and the great people that attended, the whole thing was just 30 dollars (206 kr). This was more of a POOAH charity event then a summit.

Arriving the first day I met up with some people who had made the trip from across the states to be there. It was fun to meet guys who were dedicated to seduction, and who had different styles in sarging. Even the guys who had no idea what a set even looked like were at least eager to get out in the field and start ripping Orlando apart.

The first night anyone that wanted to could take part in an approchathon. This was not an official convention event, but was organized by the local lair for the convention students. People staying from the hotel gathered in the lobby and we all shared taxies to downtown Orlando. This place had a whole street full of all sorts of venues.

Meeting the lair people at a square close to the club area we all got some time to get to know each other. We headed off to a parking garage to get a quick brief for the night, and to get into teams. It was pretty ghetto getting the first seminar in a parking garage, and we had to move a few times cause the security people thought a group of 50 guys standing around seemed suspicious. Fight club is the only thing that comes to mind thinking back on it.

Dream, the guy who organized the convention and the approachathon, explained how the whole thing worked. We would each go in teams of 3, one instructor per every two students. Sounds like an awesome ratio, but I got to mention that some of the instructors were less then what would be expected from a low level approach coach. As long as the 2 students were paired up with someone who was better then they were, they could at least learn something.

Night started out pretty good. Got Dream as my guide and we hit the town with a 50 man entourage (needles to say, any routines would soon be totally valueless. I cant count how many times I herd guys get blown out cause they re-used some material other guys tried).

Starting off was slow, and while Dream and the other guy started approaching like they were on fire, I started to get inside of my head. I got pushed into a horrible walking set and decided to get the worst set of the night out of the way. This way I knew that nothing that night could be worse then that. After that was done, sets started opening and I started to really enjoy Orlando. All the clubs had different themes and the girls were all cool (not to mention hot).

At the end of the night 2 guys pulled, but didn’t close the deal. Everyone else went home pretty empty handed. I was a bit surprised at the amount of new guys that were that this convention.

With about 4 hours of sleep, my wings and I rolled out of bed to get some good seats for the convention. The convention officially started at 11 am.

List of speakers:

Dream – Introduction to the event, some own life experience, newbie mission,
and how to handle guys. Gave a small Intro to all the other speakers

ManWhore – Unofficially from RSD. This man talked about frame control,
communication, and cavemaning.

***** – Something about identity…..oh and take his boot camp!

Mehow – Kino, routines and blowing AMOGs out.

Orleans – Words of wisdom and Vin DiCarlo Escalation ladder.

Nilatak – Profound inner game. Good stuff.

Libedo – Sex, peacocking, and having MLTRs.

Nautilus & MK – Fashion and style.

After Dreams nitro to the convention the first speaker stepped up, ManWhore. To describe MW, in short, he looks like an army guy. The man steps up and I swear “I don’t give a fuck” is stamped on his forehead. He talked about really having a strong frame and being congruent with what your doing. Backing every statement up with a story that I found to be hilarious. His whole attitude was: be the person you chose to be. If you had a strong enough frame, people wouldn’t question you. This naturally went into communicating your identity to other people and cavemaning. At one point I think he said that he actually had conversations with women…witch was not cool, but then he made up for it by telling us about how he tied this one girl up and…ok moving on.

EDIT

Moving on, we have Mehow. Starting with one of his signature videos I was a bit disappointed. Lets face it, the audio and video isn’t always the best quality, and I wanted to hear him speak about stuff. One cool thing though was that he broke the video down step by step. He went on to talk about how important kinoing was, and how his whole system is basically built around playful touching. Second day he went on to speak about how to handle group sets and AMOGs. His formula was that as long as his target was engaging the obstacles and AMOG he would to, but as soon as she started ignoring them he wouldn’t even bother anymore. All in all, I felt like his presentation was a bit bare bone for him being one of the top industry guys. He seemed like a pretty cool guy though, even off the stage.

Libido was the man with the peacocking plan. Starting his presentation off by telling us he joined the community because he loved sex was a new approach to it. I figured that his whole angle would be sexual technique, and mostly it was. Interesting point he made was that guys focus way too much on making the girl orgasm. The entire experience should be the main event; orgasm is like the cherry on top of the ice cream. Then he went on to talk about his extreme peacocking, and how to handle social pressure. One of the days he walked around in a toga. Also he said he was from Sweden…but that was just a lie…made me sad.

Besides Dream, Orleans was the first real under 21 speaker of the convention. The word colected comes to mind when trying to describe Orleans. His whole presentation was based on his successes and how he became the person he is. He advocated not making out with girls in clubs, and I actually saw him in-field once giving a girl the cheek. After some stories and LR he talked about the Vin DiCarlo escalation ladder. Vin DiCarlo being the company he works for, this was a sort of kino escalation rutin that would take you from opening to sex. To be honest it did have some moves in there that I personally never heard of. The strangest step I thought was when you pull up the girls and your shirt, and then have your abdomen touching hers. Apparently this sort of touch only happens during sex and makes the girl think about getting it on.

Nilatak focused on identity and deep inner game. His speech included how to really act like a man in relationships, and how to set standards for those relationships. A big part of his speech was centered about knowing, and being cool with yourself. This way if other people fucked with you, at least you knew you were cool and you could stay uncreative. If you understood that last part pm me cause sometimes inner game gets so confusing that it totally losses it’s meaning to me. Nilataks presentation stood out a bit because he talked more about being a strong person in general.

Nautilus was the only speaker with a female pivot. Nice looking girl that worked for Maxim as a party organizer or something to the extent. Their whole topic was fashion and how to dress with style. Not peacocking, but dressing good. I have to say I enjoyed this presentation a lot. The whole concept was that all guys in clubs dress differently, and that one needed to stand out by trying different styles. Was a bit sad when they showed a picture of all the guys that dress the same and me and my wing realized it was exactly how we dressed. Some styles they recommended were the rocks star, the really fancy style (they haven’t seen people in Sweden I guess), and the ghetto style. Interesting point made was that any guy with the right look could be atleast a 8 in looks.

That covered the two days of the convention. Through the day you could see POOAHs walking around the Holiday Inn, buying weird looking peacocking items, eyeing family sets. The Holiday Inn staff would grill me every time I tried to get my key about what the convention was about. Once every year we get together and play X-Box video games. Why else would it be called the gaming convention? When the girl finally called us out that it was a convention about talking to girls we had screwed with her so much. Ironic that I walked out with her number when I left the place.

Every night during the convention everyone would head out to a club to go sarge. A lot of people complained that the clubs were out-sarged with so many POOAHs there, but honestly I never had that problem. After an hour just not using rutines and a bit of plowing through the bitch shield and the girl was so happy to meet someone that didn’t want to know the color of her cube. Besides that, rolling with a 50 man entourage gives you social proof where ever you go. I was literally high fiving someone every other step I took in the club.

I heard something about one instructors blowing a student out of set as revenge for all the sets the students ruined for the instructors. Sounds really bad, but then again this wasn’t an in field boot camp. I had a few sets ruined to by some random dude coming in who started screaming how awesome I was, and how I was a New York Times best seller…Yepp it actually happened.

To sum it all up the convention was a really good event. A lot of value given, a lot of skills learned, and if you walked away without bettering your game well then that was completely on you. I don’t see how anyone could have not pumped their learning curve there. Besides all that, a lot of new friends were made. One note I was surprised by was that most if not all the guys (exception of one) that attended were really cool people. Community events sometimes draw out some weirdo people to attend, but this was not the case here.

That’s my review of the under 21 convention, rock on

-Zebra

Happy fourth of July everyone. Remember to sign up for The 21 Convention 2010 before July 6th to save $150 off the door price, receive over $250 in DVD discounts, and most importantly of all, reserve your seat. We are running out of room fast and seating is limited before there is standing room only.

‘Zebra’ will be returning to The 21 Convention stage this June 11th-13th in Stockholm Sweden at The 21 Convention being held there. Sign up online by June 9th for a 50 euro discount.

Support T21C and vote to have ‘Zebra’ at the 2010 Orlando convention as well as Stockholm by purchasing “Zebra’s” 2008 speech on DVD here.

This post has been in the back of my mind for some time now, and I think it’s finally time to speak freely about the people who have been or are currently a part of The 21 Convention – because believe it or not, I don’t run this show all on my own. I’ve had a lot of help over the years, and while credit may not be demanded by the following individuals, it is certainly due for their various contributions to the convention itself, or my personal life and well being.

This is meant to be a thanks more than a “top ten list”, and as such, the following individuals are not in any particular order of importance.

With that preamble out of the way, let’s begin shall we?

Peter Murphy

Peter Murphy (the 2009 co-host and face of The 21 Convention) is somewhat of an old, and new friend alike – if that makes any sense. We grew up in the same town, and knew of each other vaguely while attending the same middle school together. Ironically, we traveled to Paris France together on a school trip in the 8^th grade.

After middle school I didn’t hear much about Peter, until meeting him at a mutual friends birthday dinner in Orlando. Someone he was with, sitting far across a large tabled whispered to him “Dude… is that Dream?!”

Peter of course recognized me from middle school, and at about the same time I recognized him. At which point – from memory – I shouted out PETER MURPHY!

As if we knew each other well from long ago. Of course, we didn’t. But we knew of each other well enough to recognize faces.

Peter had seen PPC ads on Facebook (join The 21 Convention fan page here) for The 21 Convention not long before this birthday dinner, and had read The Game not long before that. Needless to say, he was very well aware of both “the community” and The 21 Convention.

Knowing me personally from grade school, and living in Orlando currently, he was highly interested in attending the event.

We eventually began going out to bars, meeting women – the usual. As it turned out, Peter had hosted a show for MTV over the past summer, as well as for the local FOX News affiliate in our home town of Cape Coral.

Knowing full well The 21 Convention needed someone exactly like Peter … well, his involvement kind of grew organically as time went on. It was a no brainier. Peter not only had a passion and interest in helping “the community” equal to or greater than my own, but he also had a visible enthusiasm and talent for being on camera.

Something I sorely, and very obviously lack most of the time =)

Come July 2009 Peter performed an outstanding job as co-host of the event, and “show man” for the trailer that was literally created on the spot – yet blew people’s socks off upon it’s release.

Peter Murphy is currently something of a “micro-celebrity”, now hosting a local Orlando TV show called “Orlando Live”. And as previously mentioned, he had a short debut on MTV. He’s also starred in a few short films, including Call Girls.

His involvement with The 21 Convention is widespread, and crucial. He is constantly trying to get the convention press, and socially spreading the word about the event and website/free footage.

Peter will be the official host of T21C 2010 (Orlando). It’s time for me to step aside in that regard, and pass that torch on for all intensive purposes. I’ll still be there of course, and will open the event – but I leave the role and responsibility of host to him, as a friend, and someone I trust.

You can follow him on Twitter here and view his official site at PeterMurphy.TV. Expect to see him on the big screen some day

Michael Gottino

Michael is probably someone you have never heard of before, unless you are in the film industry. Never the less, his role in The 21 Convention, and my personal mental health surrounding the event, has been easily as important as anyone else s over the years.

We met at a local coffee shop he owned in the Spring of 2008 regarding my local Craigslist ad for video/audio production at T21C 2008. He was the first to respond, the first guy I called, and the first guy I met regarding the audio/video required at the event.

Lucky I did too. Had I not met and chosen his production company for the 2008 event, it’s very possibly I would not be sitting here writing this post for you guys.

Michael is a man of principles, and recognizes the value in a man’s word. When I severely missed budget in 2008, and was short funds I owed him for the job – he stuck by me. I promised I would pay him at all costs, no matter what it took – and he stood by me.

Others in his situation? Would have walked.

In fact, once some of the free lance camera men found out that money was coming up short … they threatened to walk. Michael actually drove to the bank, and payed them cash to finish the job.. Not money from the event, but from his own personal bank account – all on my word to pay him as soon as humanly possible.

Had he and his men walked off set, the event would not have been filmed past day 1. A blow like that would have permanently crippled The 21 Convention.

He trusted me though, and in due time, was paid in full – plus some extra for unexpected costs. Weeks later, 2008 footage was delivered and released in online streaming format on an old partner site we used before The21Convention.com launched.

Michael is currently in his mid 40′s, and has a family. The constant wisdom and insight he has provided me with regarding the entrepreneurial side of this event has been of immense value over the years. Without him, I honestly don’t know where this event would be right now.

And all of this aside, his creative and professional talent with video production have been like rocket fuel for this event.

Check out his lengthy and impressive resume here.

Steve “El Topo” Mayeda

In all honesty, I could sit here and rant on about 99% of the speakers from The 21 Convention over the years. They all deserve a special thanks, but, this post would then turn into another one of my too long and drawn out posts teetering on 10,000 words =).

Steve (El Topo) deserves a special mention in my book though, primarily because he is another one of the few people who stuck by me and this convention when it was down and seeing stars.

No lie, when I was thousands of dollars short for the event in 2008, I was scared. I was nineteen years old, and had very little experience to draw upon for a situation like that. Steve spoke with me one on one though, and explained different ways the situation could turn out, and the options I had as such.

Even more importantly, Steve had the idea to do a special dinner after the convention one night. $50 and you could eat with and pick the brains of most speakers at the event. We ended up raising over $800 dollars for the convention that night. All money was donated to the convention deficit.

There was still a long way to go, but never the less it helped ease tension on the audio/video production side.

Steve is also a person that is passionate about helping individuals, and moving this “community” forward – rather than maintaining the status quo. He is one of the few genuine dating instructors that I know of, and has helped set my head straight many a time, on a range of different topics.

Perhaps most importantly of all, he’s helped me question my own long held beliefs and visions for this convention in the coming years. By questioning them, I’ve refined them – and this convention is all the better for it, along with my personal sanity

Visit Steve’s official website here, and view his documentary teaser clip here (it’s good).

“Nilatak”

“Nilatak” is probably a guy you haven’t heard of, unless you were at T21C 2007, or were fortunate enough to stumble upon his speech – which in my opinion, is one of the best ever given minute for minute at this event.

Nilatak is a former administrator of Toplair, and a long time close friend. He is a lot older than myself, but far and wide has helped guide me since we met at my first approach a thon some 4 years ago. In a lot of different (and strange) ways, I feel that I have followed in his foot steps maturing through college, life, work, women, and beyond.

He is one of the few people to have seen me, and this event, progress through the years – from behind the scenes. He’s helped and given me advice, through thick and thin – hell, he even walked me through my first “pull” from a bar.

I can not stress enough how critical his help and words of wisdom have been over the years, in so many different areas. We don’t see eye to eye on every little thing – but I feel we are both better off because of it, and our willingness to communicate.

“Nilatak” is now approaching his 30′s, and was married not long ago to a beautiful woman from his home country in Eastern Europe.

View his website here, and see his 2009 convention speech when you purchase a 2009 DVD set in the coming weeks.

Nilatak currently focuses on helping get The 21 Convention featured in major news and publications. We’ll see if he can pull it off … if so, see you on CNN =)

Jared “Ratisse” Dwyer & “Slikk” (not pictured)

Jared “Ratisse” Dwyer is a 3 year attendee and 2 year speaker at The 21 Convention. He is also a close friend and former house mate from Project Orlando.

“Slikk” is also a former house mate at Project Orlando and for a short time also helped coach workshops with me back in the days of Under 21 Lifestyle.

I don’t have an immense amount to say about these two, but I mention both because living with them in the same house was a truly unique and helpful experience. I was exposed to a lot of new things and ideas living with them, and in the long run, I believe it helped my personal development tremendously.

Especially regarding “success with women”. Both of these guys, Jared especially, were frikin players with women. We had a blast going out and bringing women home.

And while I hardly recognized it at the time… learning and experiencing this process with them was priceless. Something I’ll never forget, and look back on consistently for guidance – as goofy, unorthodox, and annoying as some of the experiences were =). I learned how to get along with people that were very different from myself, and how to pick up chicks in the process.

Jared has also been a huge supporter of The 21 Convention over the years. Definitely an underrated speaker.

Find Ratisse on Facebook here and see him at both T21C Orlando this year as well as T21C Stockholm.

Dejan “Zebra” and “Dasani” (not pictured)

Dejan aka “Zebra” is a long time friend, 2 year convention attendee, former student (who’s far surpassed me with women), 2008 speaker, and a critical part of T21C 2010 (Stockholm) – our first event outside of the United States.

Dasani is one of the few 3 year convention attendees that has been here since the very beginning, when the event was completely unknown, and in it’s infancy. He’s also the author of two reviews of the event, that in my opinion, are two of the best ever written.

More importantly, Dejan and “Dasani” have helped guide me along all these years. This is probably news to both of them (no one mentioned in this post was notified beforehand), but it is the truth never the less, from my perspective.

Talking with these two on infrequent occasions via cell/skype, and at the live events … I don’t know how to explain it.

I suppose they’ve helped make the event more “real” for me on a personal level. Perhaps that’s because we are 3 young guys on separate, but similar paths. And speaking with/meeting them on rare occasions serves as a reference point of sorts. With Dejan it always seems to be work/school/women related, and Dasani, more “philosophical” related, but then again that trickles off into a lot of other fields.

Such as “what the eff am I doing with my life?” type stuff.

In any case, their expertise, experience, and ability to understand my crazy goals slash idealistic ambitions are much appreciated, and not to be forgotten.

Look forward to Zebra’s speech in Stockholm this year and visit his official site by clicking here. Visit Dasani’s blogspot here.

“Nautilus” & “Right Hand Man”

Nautilus and Right Hand Man are two older gentlemen who have been around, since the very beginning. I met Nautilus long before the first convention (which he went on to speak at), and I met RHM for the first time at the 2007 “approach a thon”.

What’s most intriguing about these guys to me, now (besides their unconventional and drama free approach to meeting women), is that they have shown exceptional patience for my pig headed and stubborn ways over the years.

That’s right (and probably not a surprise to many of you!). I was once very stubborn … and still am. The difference between “then” and now however is that it wasn’t an especially positive trait then. It often resulted in a LOT of unnecessary headache and abrasive arrogance, that got me into a good deal of trouble every so often.

Both of these men recognized this … and did their best to not fuel the fire. They told me what I needed to hear, when I needed to hear it – and you know what? – I eventually listened. Both were right on a variety of different life issues, and I appreciate their combined wisdom and patience with me as I went through a few growing pains.

Without the help of these two men, my life would be a lot different right now – not to mention, The 21 Convention.

Check out RHM’s blogspot here, and look forward to seeing him in our coming documentary. And of course, RHM will be at T21C 2010 (Orlando). We also did a local radio interview together last spring here in Central Florida … maybe someday I can get the video from it. Was definitely a kick ass experience.

Tim L. and Jonas Sandstrom

Tim is my current room mate, and long time friend. He was literally the first person I talked to about hosting some sort of convention, and the first person to openly support it. Above even that … he was the original web designer for Under21Convention.com and other web properties once used.

The work was relatively basic, but never the less, I didn’t have the slightest clue how to do any of it back then. He did everything, for free, or damn near free. From helping register the domains, to hosting, and even setting up the original Vbulletin forum that was home base of The 21 Convention for quite some time.

Without Tim, there is little doubt in my mind that this convention would have ever even gotten off the ground, let alone become what it has today. Basic work, but of paramount and foundational importance. I hope to some day repay him for this debt, be it financially or otherwise.

Jonas Sandstrom is a person of similar relevance to The 21 Convention. From memory, I met him through my blog, The Dream Lounge. Like Tim, Jonas has helped behind the scenes with technical issues that would have otherwise eluded me, cost me hundreds if not thousands of dollars to fix, or dozens upon dozens of hours of my time that is constantly needed elsewhere.

While not as foundational as Tim’s work, I find it to be of equal importance as The21Convention.com and TheDreamLounge.net gain momentum in the digital world we live in today. I look forward to meeting Jonas in Stockholm this summer (he lives just a few hours away in Sweden). Check out his blog here.

Johnny “Manwhore” & Mehow

Manwhore – now there’s a classic convention speaker. Johnny Manwhore was present at both T21C 2007 and 2008 – and rocked the house both years.

Mehow was also a 2007/2008 speaker.

The primary reason I mention Manwhore and Mehow is that they came to speak at the event when it was in it’s infancy – for free. They flew across the country, and pulled in a lot of credibility to the event when it was needed most, as a result. They didn’t know me, and risked quite a bit coming to Orlando on word of mouth alone (as if the attendees didn’t!).

Never the less, without these two present in 2007, I am unsure as to where the event would be today.

In addition, Manwhore is someone who’s “had my back” on many occasions, as well as the convention in and of itself.

Check out Manwhore’s blog here and Mehow’s blog here. Look forward to the return of Johnny Manwhore at T21C 2010 (Orlando).

Dj Fuji & Dodger/Hshudo

Last but certainly not least: Dj Fuji and Hshudo – both new to the event in 2009.

I mention these two due to their grass roots involvement leading up to and post T21C 2009. Both have been highly involved with the online side of the convention. Dj Fuji has frequently blogged about T21C, spoken highly of it on and offline, and given a lot of care to the massive discussion of his 2009 speech.

Dj Fuji is also someone that has been very pro-active about his exposure from T21C 2009, and benefited greatly from it …

That’s right, T21C is here to help everyone, not just attendees. With guys like Dj Fuji, speaking at this event helped “put him on the map” and really gain a foot hold in a somewhat stagnant (and misguided) industry.

For someone to skyrocket in popularity from this event – that actually cares, and loves what he does!?

One word: awesome =)

Similarly, Dodger (Hshudo) has been by far the biggest contributor to The 21 Convention Community. He posts frequently, and helps fill the gap left behind as my role in this convention shifts (sort of like Peter being the host). Along with guys like Zebra and Right Hand Man posting on there, the forum remains value packed as ever.

Dodger also writes original content for The21Convention.com, and reviews products from T21C speakers – something I do no feel unbiased enough to do any longer.

For this, I thank Dj Fuji and Dodger. They may be relatively new, but have helped out in a big big way – and I look forward to having them back at the event for years to come.

Check out Dj Fuji’s blog here and his documentary teaser clip here.

Find Dodger on the discussion forum linked above, and all of his T21C content here.

*Also, be sure to bitch at Dodger on the forum about starting a coaching service. He’s been reluctant to do so, but I keep egging him on – because he’s good! And I feel it’s something he will excel at.

…

I wish I could go on, but this post is now over 3,000 words, and it has to end somewhere.

There are a lot of people who have helped this convention in very real and actionable ways over the years, and many were mentioned. If you are someone who has (even indirectly) and were not mentioned however, don’t sweat it. It’s unavoidable that I missed someone, and never the less, I do appreciate what you’ve done, even if I haven’t specifically stated so in this shout out.

Thanks guys, let’s continue kickin ass.

-Anthony/Dream

A remarkable idea- gather the world’s authorities on dating and relationships and open up the floor for an on the spot group Q and A. Great content- especially for those who experienced it first hand. This Q and A panel has now become a convention tradition.

Speakers Featured on This Panel Include::

• “Entropy”
• Steve “El Topo” Mayeda
• “Doc Holiday”
• Jon Sinn
• “Zebra”
• Chris “Heartwork” Nolin
• Jared “Ratisse” Dwyer
• Anthony “Dream” Johnson
• “LibidoEscape”

Post notes and view further discussion of this panel on the forum.

This post has been retired. See the full speech here.

Dejan, AKA Zebra is a former student of Dream’s, and a 2007 convention attendee. In 2008 he gave one of the most suprising- and perhaps best- speeches. As one attendee said, Zebra shined “true self-esteem and confidence”.

In This Video, Dejan Speaks On:

• Getting Leverage on Yourself
• Setting Goals
• Becoming Conscious of Yourself and How You See Women
• Spewing Emotional Nonsense

Visit Dejan at DNAstripes.blogspot.com.

Other Posts Featuring Dejan:

• Dejan Speaks On Integrity, Relationships, and Purpose at The 21 Convention 2010
• A Talk by Dejan for Charismastic Revolution

Post notes and view further discussion of this speech on the forum.