Russ: This is The BusinessMakers Show, heard right here and online at thebusinessmakers.com. It's featured guest time on The Business Makers and this morning, my guest is Ernie Rapp. Ernie is here to talk about something different. Something very unique-The Up Experience. Ernie, welcome to The Business Makers Show.

Ernie: Russ, thanks for having me.

Russ: And tell us about The Up Experience.

Ernie: The Up Experience up stands for unique perspectives from unique people. It's a one day event where we are going to bring in 20 passionate experts, each to deliver 20 minute presentations guaranteed to educate, motivate, entertain and inspire. We are not selling anything-it's really a day for somebody to get out of what they normally do and take a look at what's going on around the world.

Russ: Wow. So let's say I spent the day with your 20 passionate experts, what would I walk away with?

Ernie: At the end of the day, you are going to be mentally and physically exhausted and happier than you've ever been. And I say happy-it's not a motivational seminar in so much as it's educational in the sense that you are going to find out what 20 different experts are doing in their worlds so that you can apply that in what you are doing in your world.

Russ: I guess the topics are going to be very broad, very unique-very different.

Ernie: Very broad.

Russ: Okay, twenty domain speakers, one day, twenty minutes-that seems kind of short but I guess if you've got twenty of them, that's about just right?

Ernie: It's perfect. This is all patterned after a very successful event that I attended several years ago back in California. And really it allows you the right amount of information from someone who's been spending their life on an expertise and they can deliver it in twenty minutes. It's amazing what twenty minutes can deliver to you.

Russ: Okay. Well, I think its appropriate now for you to share maybe some of the guests that are going to be part of The Up Experience.

Ernie: Well, we are certainly glad to talk about all twenty of them if we've got time Russ but just in case you don't, let me give you some of the highlights. There is an author that many of us have read and really, really enjoy. He authored two books-Tipping Point and Blink-Mr. Malcolm Gladwell. This guy is just beyond amazing in terms of his ability to see things into the future.

Russ: Oh, absolutely. I'm a big Tipping Point fan for sure. So wow, Malcom Gladwell will be here.

Ernie: And live and in person. Along with a bunch of other folks and really when we talk about all of these individuals, their focus is very much, "What is the future going to hold for all of us?"

Russ: Okay, well share another keynoter.

Ernie: Well, I've got a technologist. His name is Woz-or at least they call him Woz-Steve Wozniak, the cofounder of Apple. He's coming in to talk about some of his passions now which is really robotics artificial intelligence. He's a big segway fan so he's actually asked to have a segway here so he can give us the presentation on a segway.

Russ: Technologists might be an understatement for Steve Wozniak. So, The Up Experience is going to include Malcom Gladwell and Steve Wozniak right?

Ernie: Absolutely. We've got more that's just the beginning.

Russ: All right. So let's keep going then.

Ernie: There is a woman by the name of Lisa Ling. Now, here is a lady that's doing some worldly things-reporting on amazing stories around the world. She's a Discovery Channel correspondent. She's an Oprah correspondent. Actually I think she was on The View several years ago. She's so excited about this thing; she's got twenty or so different topics she's working on. She won't commit to us at this moment which one she wants to talk to us about until we get closer to the event. All these speakers are really amazingly excited. When we started talking to them about, "You can only present for twenty minutes," they said, "Wait a minute. That's not enough. I want more time." And we convinced them that was in fact the right amount of time because simply in our day and age-with the people that will attract to this event-the business owners, the executives, high net worth individuals-we are busy. And that's the whole purpose of this event.

Russ: Well, we are talking to Ernie Rapp. He is the founder and producer of The Up Experience along with his wife Sheryl. So, this is a team effort right?

Ernie: Absolutely. I could not do this without my wife Sheryl. She has been an inspiration to me and obviously a huge supporter of what we are doing and like other business entrepreneurs, this business started with just an idea and we work on it day and night-twenty four by seven. We aggregated what we call "The Founders Group." The Founder Group is about 70 people initially- it's actually now closer to about 150 individuals that heard what we were doing. They said, "I want to be involved." What happened next was simply, "Well, what 20 speakers should we bring in? What should the topics be?" I'm not smart enough by myself to know the answer to that so, Sheryl and I got together with 5 or 6 people within this founder circle-and these are individuals, entrepreneurs, business owners that are clearly smarter than I am. We asked them for topics. Asked them for ideas. And would you believe we ended up with over 350 suggested speakers?

Russ: Okay. Well, I'm really impressed with the 3 we've talked about so far. It must not be a real easy thing to do to get these people to agree to do it and make it work out on the schedule. Would that be an understatement?

Ernie: Some of them were skeptical at first. Once we convinced them that this was going to be a great day, that this was going to be one of those passionate days where everybody was going to be able to sit back and listen to-and even the speakers are coming in to listen to the other speakers-they really got the message that 20 minutes was going to be enough for them to present something that was going to really make a difference.

Russ: Well, it sounds like you are aiming at a true extraordinary event. What sort of gave you the idea to put together The Up Experience?

Ernie: Well, in my consultancy and in my profession, I got so focused on what I was doing. I could tell you everything about my business, I could tell you everything about my family, but if you asked me a question-anything outside of those two worlds, I was clueless and I attended a conference and got motivated to bring an event like this to Houston.

Russ: Wow. So, when one leaves they are going to come out with just a broad spectrum understanding of many, many categories. Would that be accurate?

Ernie: You are going to be educated in 20 different perspectives-20 different topics and you are going to be profoundly changed in the sense that you are going to be happy to know that these people are out there doing some amazing things.

Russ: Okay well, can we continue to go down this list after the break?

Ernie: Certainly.

Russ: You bet. We are listening to Ernie Rapp. He is the founder and producer of The Up Experience. This is The BusinessMakers Show, heard right here and online at thebusinessmakers.com, brought to you by Comerica Bank. We'll be back with more after this.

[Aflac Commercial]

Russ: This is The BusinessMakers Show, heard right here and online at thebusinessmakers.com. We are in a discussion with Ernie Rapp about his upcoming event, The Up Experience. Ernie what's the exact date?

Ernie: February 7, 2008. It's right around the corner.

Russ: Okay. And we've talked about these 20 incredible speakers that are going to be there. Is there more to it other than hearing them in their 20 minute presentation?

Ernie: Yeah. Absolutely. The the concept of the day goes like this-in the morning, the first session will be about a couple of hours. There'll be 4 or 5 speakers. Each one will give 20 minutes. We'll take a break. What happens at the break is really interesting. You can go check your blackberry, you can go to the restroom, have a cookie, coffee-but the speakers that just presented are going to give another 20 minutes. They'll be in the break room in 5 different corners-in a Q and A session. This time you'll be able to get up-close and personal with them. On the stage, they will give their presentation but in the break room, you'll be able to ask them questions, meet them, really get an understanding of what they are talking about and where they are headed.

Russ: Sounds pretty cool man. So it might be a little tough though to decide which one you want to spend time with during that break but-

Ernie: That's our challenge in making sure that we give you 4 or 5 presenters that hopefully are diverse enough that 1 or 2 will be really compelling and you'll want to spend a little time with them in the break. And then of course the other ones will be interesting and then you'll be ready to come back to the next session which will repeat itself-4 or 5 speakers-another 20 minutes each. We'll go to a lunch. We'll also have at lunch time an opportunity to meet with those speakers in the Q and A session.

Russ: Sounds great. Let's start moving on the list again. I got pretty excited with those 3. Who else is going to be there?

Ernie: You know, we are mixing up the topics so that it's not just one area-it's very diverse. John Mariani for example has been called the most influential food and wine critic for wine spectator and Esquire Magazine. Another topic which is really fascinating to me is the future transportation grid. Doctor Christine Economides is coming in to talk about what the next transportation grid might look like for the 40 years.

Russ: Man, we went from food and wine to the transportation grid. This sounds diverse and exciting.

Ernie: Let's go to nanotechnology. Ray Kurzweil-many of you might have heard-heard of him. He owns an amazing amount of patterns. He's just one of those guys that has invented so many different things. He's now turned his sight in the nanotechnology and literally when humans transcend biology.

Russ: Okay. Anyone else?

Ernie: We've got another character. His name is Alan Beaulieu. He is a national economist. I know that we are all concerned about what is going to happen in the economy but this guy-again in 20 minutes-is going to tell us, are we going to have another 20 year run of great wealth or are going to have a recession? I don't know. He's going to come in and tell us about it.

Russ: This sounds so cool and you've already mentioned that several of these people have already indicated that they want to stick around to hear the other speaker but I guess some of them will be jettisoning out as soon as they are finished.

Ernie: Most of them-all of them actually have told us that they are just as excited about being in the audience as they are being up on stage. One of the things that really resignates with people when I talk about this Up Experience is simply the diversity of the topics. We are also focused, Russ, in what we are doing in our professions that we really don't take just even 1 minute to see what's going on outside of our area of expertise. And that's why this event was created. That's why Sheryl and I put it together.

Russ: Okay. So, you are going to come out of this experience with a much broader understanding of what's happening on the globe these days.

Ernie: Profoundly, to have all these different people talk about what they are doing in their worlds-I promise you will make a change and make a difference in the way you see things.

Russ: Okay. February 7, 2008. Is it open to the public?

Ernie: Absolutely.

Russ: Anybody can come?

Ernie: We are opening registration today. And if you go onto the website, www.theupexperience.com, you can register today.

Russ: My God, I hope you're holding it at Reliant Stadium. I think it's going to be very popular.

Ernie: You know, we have a thousand seats. It's in a very intimate environment in The Stafford Performing Arts Center. If no one has ever heard of this place, they will. It's only two and a half years old and it's one of the most amazing theaters. We really want this to be an intimate experience for people that are going to attend.

Russ: There is only a thousand and I would assume that there are some of those seats that might already be gone?

Ernie: We have our founders group that again is about 150 people and their friends so registration has already began with those early adopters.

Russ: Well, I want to get a little bit deeper into the cool people that you have there. Can we do that after this break?

Ernie: Love to.

Russ: Okay. We are talking to Ernie Rapp. The founder and producer of The Up Experience along with his wife Sheryl Rapp. And you are listening to The BusinessMakers Show brought to you by Comerica Bank, heard right here and online at thebusinessmakers.com. More with Ernie after this.

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Russ: This is The BusinessMakers Show, heard right here and online at thebusinessmakers.com. I'm continuing on with my discussion with Ernie Rapp. Founder and producer of The Up Experience and Ernie bringing in 20 world renown speakers to spend the day can't be an inexpensive endeavor. Tell us a little bit about what it might cost.

Ernie: No. It's certainly an expensive endeavor. We've got some wonderful sponsors-Mercedes Benz of Sugarland, Citigroup's Smith Barney-but for the individuals attending, it's really only a thousand dollars to attend and meet all these amazing, amazing presenters. Other conferences around the west coast and east coast are way, way more expensive than that.

Russ: Well, it sounds to me like it could definitely be a good deal just to be able to be in the same room with these people, to hear what they have to say and then even to be able to go up and talk to them individually during the breaks and lunch period.

Ernie: You know Russ, that's a big part of it. Really being in the same room with them, meeting these people, getting to an understanding of what they are all about, and meeting other people in the room that are passionate about the same things.

Russ: Well, you've shared about 7 or 8 names. I guess all of these people are listed on the website right?

Ernie: Absolutely.

Russ: And the web address is?

Ernie: www.theupexperience.com. All one word.

Russ: And today, Saturday, September 22nd is the first day that you can sign up for it right?

Ernie: That's right. We are opening up registration today.

Russ: Okay. That's real cool. So, share with us more some of the cool people that are going to be there.

Ernie: Well, the topics are broad, the people are broad. How about Robin Meredith? She's a Forbes senior editor coming in from Hong Kong. She just wrote a book about The Elephant and The Dragon-all about the India and China economy and what might happen to us as it relates to what's going on over there. I have a doctor from MD Anderson, Dr. Garth Prowis-personalized medicine.

Russ: Well, this all sounds so cool Ernie but I also happen to know that you are very compatible with our audience having an entrepreneurial background yourself. I think it takes that to put an event like this. But give us a quick overview of your history.

Ernie: I spent a bunch of time in technology companies over the last 20 years as a chief financial or a chief operating officer. Over the last 6 years I've been a business consultant to a number of small businesses. Really, when I got down to it, one of the things that I needed personally was this diverse perspective of what's going on, what's going on in the future, and to a large extent, these topics-these speakers and what we are doing with The Up Experience is all about making sure people like me have an ability to see-kind of pass what we do on a daily basis.

Russ: The future is racing ahead in a more diverse way than ever.

Ernie: Yeah. I had someone say to me that the whole point of this is simply to bring yourself-even your employees up to speed with what's going on out there as we "race" towards the future. It's a unique way to cover a lot of ground in just one day, led by people that are really ground breaking thinkers and doers. That's The Up Experience.

Russ: I'm going to be there. I'm really looking forward to it and I congratulate you for putting this thing together.

Ernie: And please check out the website because we didn't even get a chance to go through all the speakers. There are even more.

Russ: Okay. That's fantastic. We've been talking to Ernie Rapp. The founder and producer of The Up Experience. You are listening to The BusinessMakers Show heard right here and online at thebusinessmakers.com.