International Conventions = $$$$. WTBT$ in bed with South Korean government

 I remember the whole process of selecting a host city for Australia’s last International convention. The Australian Bethel played the NSW government against the Victorian. It was so similar to choosing an Olympic city and the big boys from bethel knew how to play the game. Each city wined n dined and showed off their facilities to the bethel delegates and both offered cash rebates based upon delegate revenue estimates from hotel bookings and visitor spending dollars.

(Keep in mind hosting conventions/expos is big business down under for the hospitality industry)

The end result was that Sydney won with an offer too good to refuse. Homebush stadium was offered for next to nothing, the NSW government offered a certain amount of free hotel rooms and airfares from New York for free, as well as a big fat cash rebate.

In return the society offered to run a 6 page tourism advertisement for Sydney, check it out in the 1999 Awake July 8 pages 14-19.

The article has nothing to do with extolling Jehovah’s virtues or of his hope for a future, but is rather a blatant tourism advertisement, it even ended with the most known Australian Tourism commercial when Paul Hogan said “we might even put another shrimp on the barbecue for you!”

I couldn’t believe back then the blatant commercial aspect of that convention and of how the wtbt$ were not keeping separate from the world but rather using it to the full, though its followers are instructed to keep separate.

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any more blatant...........

South Korea hosted an International convention last year, same deals done between the bethel boys and South Korean government. This time however, all delegates and attendees were offered handy travel bags with tourist maps of Seoul, handy travel tips, local phrase books and things to do and see whilst in Korea.

Nothing really wrong with that except that all the merchandise was stamped with the South Korean Travel Bureau logo and the WTBT$ logo. The South Koreans actually paid the Korean bethel to print all of the tourism merchandise with the government and societies logos.

How is that keeping separate? These large International conventions are a facade for making big $. The costs of hosting these events are never fully explained to those attending, just the regular announcements to make voluntary contributions. The amount of free hotel rooms and airfares offered or the financial rebates offered by the hosting city are never made available to the rank and file. And these free hotel rooms are often on sold for a price to “approved” delegates from overseas.

Go back in the old w/t and awakes and see how many host cities/countries had tourism articles published only to host an international convention in the next 6-12 months.

And they accuse Christendom of riding the commercial system like a harlot.....

WT Conventions and Circuit Assemblies = Big money for the WTS

Mattieu, how do you know all this?

Hi BP, without going into too many details (have not fully outed myself yet), my background is in hospitality management, I used to have to deal with government departments/tour operators/movie & music promoters...

Anywhoo, I was sounded out for some advice in the slection city process, that person kept me updated on the progress, not because he had too, he just had a big mouth and liked to bignote himself. Then about 6 months after the convention, a city overseer couldnt help but brag as to his "free accomodation" at the hotel nect to the convention location in Homebush, it seems a few "prominent" ones were given room deals that they could not say no to.

Mattieu.

Thanks Mattieu, I don’t want you to out yourself unnecessarily. I’m assuming you’re also an Aussie which is nice to see on this board.

I am interested in this subject because I have traveled overseas to 2 intl conventions and it enver dawned on me that they would be a money-making project for the WTS. How naïve I was.

I don't want to offend anyone but my immediate thoughts are - what a bunch of pricks, sorry if i offended anyone.

they tell us not todo this and not to do that then turn around and are no less a part of the world than any other organisation

My wife and I went to an international in 96 (Tallin, Estonia)/(Warsaw, Poland)

We purchased the travel package from the societies travel agency, I remember at the time thinking it was a little on the expensive side UHM maybe someone was taking a little off the top.

I remember on one tour in Tallin our tour bus got to the same place Dan Sidlick's tour bus was. Many of the monkeys circled around him to no doubt hear some encouraging words. I remember exactly what he said, "welcome to Tallin! Spend your money!" That big voice of his, and he was a big man. I remember thinking at the time "I'll bet he thinks he's a bigshot"

LD

Hi BP, yeah you assumed correct an Aussie, living in Melbourne! And you?

BP & ldrnomo - I have been over the costing of overseas conventions arranged through the wtbt$ travel department and they were always over the top price wise.

As an exercise, I used to put together a flight/accommodation/transfers/sightseeing/meals package using similar rated lodgings. I used pricing available to the average traveller, no inside hot deals.

I always came up hundreds of dollars cheaper than the wbt$ travel department.

Now keep in mind that the society gets a huge discount as they are purchasing on behalf of at least 1000 overseas delegates. That makes them eligible for a huge bulk discount on hotel rooms and airfares and ground content. I remember the last South African international where all the Australian delegates from different states met in Singapore for the flight to SA. The society had filled every seat on that plane with JDubs (who sat in 1^st class)....

Yes, a lot of the free rooms and air travel were given to the Brooklyn heavies, but there is still a huge amount of $$ that goes back into the societies deep pockets.

It simply is big business, the revenue of which we will never see in an accounts report.......

Wow, this is very revealing. Thank you very much for the inside updates. Now,I can say  with certainity how shrewd the society heavies are in conducting themselves the way they do. They have completely brainwashed the dubs to  a level that the dubs cannot make independent decisions regarding  international Convection arrangements. Those that plan on their own are ostracised as being headstrong, risk being branded appostates or being marked out.

Scott77

Thanks for sharing.

I often used to see these eulogising articles in the Awake about cities that looked like advertising copy from the tourist authority - now I know that they often were. It must be a brilliant sweetener for a deal to offer an Awake article that would be printed in 15 million copies worldwide - at zero cost to the WTS. So much for "food for the proper time from the faithful & discreet slave."

When I was younger we went to an international convention using the WTS packaged deal. Talking to a non-JW couple at the breakfast table , they couldn't believe just how much we had paid for the hotel accommodation - far higher than what they paid & even higher than the hotels advertised "rack rate" at reception. Quite a lot of the brothers staying at the other hotels had the same gripe - some were going to complain to the WTS but as usual , nothing came of it.

Not the first time there has been both branding.

My dad went to one of the international conventions in the USA in the 1960s and still has the wine glass given out on the flight with dual branding with Pan-Am airlines and the title of the convention.

Greg Laurie of Calvary Chapel was gung ho on Conventions till he lost money on a few and then Jesus wasn't so bankable anymore 

The first int convention I went on was to Russia in 1993.

Overall, it was a good trip. One advantage of the trip (despite the overpricing) is that you are traveling with fellow witnesses, some of whom I knew so you were traveling with friends.

One fiasco that happened was with the accommodation. We were supposed to have paid for “first class” accommodation, although we knew that, considering it was only a few years since the Wall fell, “first class” may not mean the same as it does in the First World. Well, in Moscow the accommodation was fine. Maybe not the Ritz, but it was good.

However, at Novrogod, an ancient town halfway between Moscow and St Petersburg, we were accommodated at…… a brothel. Yes, we found out the next morning that the shabby little hotel we were staying at was really a brothel. I suppose that explained the skanky girls and middle aged men hanging around the hotel’s bar.

Then, we arrived at St Petersburg to find that our accommodation was CANCELLED. The story was that the Orthodox church leaders had found out that a bunch of JWs were staying at the hotel and weren’t happy, so our accommodation was cancelled. I’ll never forget the poor Russian guide (non JW) we had – she burst into tears when she told us the news!!

Somehow, we found another hotel and stayed there.

Afterwards, once we were back in Australia, we received a letter apologizing for the stuff-ups. They admitted that we hadn’t stayed in true “first class” accommodation and as a refund for the premium we had paid for the accommodation, we received a cheque for…

One hundred dollars !!!!

Umm, thanks WT Society…. I’m sure we paid more than that for the upgrade, but don’t worry, I’m sure you out our money to good use (/sarcasm)

Wow!  What eye-opening experiences!!   This truly shows what for a sham these International Conventions are.  Sorry, but these don't appear to be anything more than glorified District Conventions for the New York heavies and wealthier JW's.  How many of the poor brothers and less fortunate get to attend these big ta-dos?  NONE. 

It's a tourist trip with JW overtones.  That experience about Dan Sydlick above is sickening.  "Spend your money, brothers!!!!"   Did this man ever work a REAL f*cking job in his life, or has he always sucked on the WT's teet?  The money he spends is directly from the pockets of the "sheep" that he looks down his nose at.  DISGUSTING!!! 

Truly, they are not our servants, our shephards....they are Over Lords and they know it. 

- Wing Commander

oh my god,,,,,,this is just so awful......should i puke now or later.....i do not understand these people...do they not have a conscience....how can they claim to love god,,,,then turn around and be so awful.....how can anyone work with them,,,,,and not see this??.....

Mattieu - you have a PM.....

Very interesting.

I always wondered about those 6-page photo-filled Awake articles on "glamourous" cities that (hey! what a coincidence!) just happened to be the same cities that were scheduled to hold international conventions.

Silly naive me...I was thinking "what a nice idea, give the brothers who are going there to a convention some background of where they will visit..."

Yeah right....

And how much of this is going on at a mini-level now that "assigned hotel rooms" are being handed out for (U.S. at least) district conventions?

Mattieu, thanks for posting about this.  My MIL went to the Hawaii Int'l convention this past year and I almost fell off my chair when I heard how much she was paying, just to fly from the west coast of the US and stay for 10 days or so (less, actually).  It was easily twice what she could have otherwise done it for, especially considering she was sharing the room w/another sister. 

What makes me so mad is that she's a widow on a fixed income, you know, the ones the brothers are supposed to look out for...