Video: Damon Brink’s SOP pitch to men for Vanguard; the story of botched SOP Weekend #7

The Society of Protectors [SOP] is a men’s group which teaches seminars based on the philosophy of Keith Raniere.

One day, Mr. Raniere, whose followers refer to him as Vanguard, said he would teach an SOP Weekend in Clifton Park if the High Council could gather 100 men to pay to attend.

The High Council agreed and a weekend was set in 2014.  The fee to attend was $1,000 or more.  It was called SOP Weekend #7.

The men of the High Council reached out to students and SOP members. When men learned that Keith Raniere would teach the course, they bought in.

SOP High Council member Damon Brink sent this video to eligible SOP members.

Here is a transcript of Mr. Brink’s message:

Hi guys, this is Damon Brink from Albany, New York, with a message about Weekend Number 7.

For those of you that don’t know, our founder, Keith Raniere, has built more than 1000 millionaires in his life. He has built multi million dollar businesses in short amount of time and at one point was making more than $100,000 per hour coaching the highest level business executives in the world.

This is man who knows how to help people make money. This is also a man who holds the vision of SOP., the vision to build character, honor and virtue in men.

Weekend Number 7 is an opportunity to do something extraordinary with your life. It’s an opportunity to invest in yourself with a man who knows how to make it work.

The only question to ask is, ‘Do you want this enough to make it work?’ Because if you do, you can. Our commitment is our power.  Thank you, men. I hope to see you there.

***

The High Council sold 97 men from Vancouver, Los Angeles, Mexico, Guatemala, New York City, Albany and elsewhere.

As the highly anticipated weekend arrived, about 50 men flew in to Albany from Mexico, Canada, Guatemala and elsewhere. Others drove in.  They took hotel rooms in the area, or rented rooms in NXIVM Village. Some of the 97 men already lived in the Albany area.

There was one unifying factor for everyone of the 97: They would be spending a weekend learning from Keith Raneire, who they hoped held the key to change in their lives.

On or about the day Weekend #7 was to begin, Keith Raniere said he would not teach. They were three short of the goal of 100.   Ninety-seven is not 100. He had to hold the line.

There was a lot of consternation; the leaders of SOP were upset. What would they tell the 97 who paid for the class and spent money to get here?

Some of the guys tried to persuade him:  The lesser harm is to teach 97, [three short of 100] and the greater harm is disappointing 97 men who came to be taught. It might cause lasting harm to the business and the mission.

Vanguard told the SOP High Council he had to hold the ethical line.

Maybe they did not have what it took to be men. He wanted to teach, sure he did. He wanted the business to thrive, but there was a deeper principle here.  There was nobody tougher than him in the room. Nobody more driven. No one with stronger principles.

He was saddened that SOP leadership had failed. But there were not 100 men, only 97.

Ethical principles are the highest value. That is more important than money, or the success of failure of any given initiative.

The only question that remained was: How would the SOP High Council handle this? Were they men enough to admit their failure?  Or would they do the dishonorable thing and blame him?

He said to his SOP High Council, to live a noble life one must have a system of ethics that requires constraint.

The SOP High Council were constrained when they told the 97 men that it was their fault that Keith Raniere would not teach Weekend #7.  The SOP High Council spoke of the extraordinary ethics of Keith Raniere – and his word which he kept at all costs.

The SOP High Council took the blame themselves. They failed. But, since the 97 men were already here, the High Council could repeat SOP Weekend #6 without Keith.

They could use the money they paid for Weekend #7 for a repeat of Weekend #6.

This did not go over well. Some of the 97 were disgusted. Some turned around and left. Some reluctantly agreed to do a rehashed Weekend #6.  But no one was happy. Many harbored a grudge.  Some people quit. The after effect lasted for years.

***

After this failure, Vanguard started encouraging SOP men to put up collateral in the form of money to insure they would succeed.  Many SOP men charged with bringing in new members put up money that they would lose if they failed to sell a certain number of people to take SOP classes.

Many men lost their collateral.

***

For those wishing to attend an SOP Weekend, there is an SOP Commitment Weekend in Mexico City, on October 6, 2017 – and another in Cancun on October 20, 2017.

Monterrey will host a S.O.P. Complete Intensive 1.0 on Nov 22, 2017.

In Albany – although you will have to wait three years to take it on December 31, 2020  – there were be an SOP. course on “Lost Collateral”.

My dear friends, I would hesitate to put up collateral that Keith Raniere will still be teaching in Albany when December 31, 2020 rolls around.

From the SOP website:

SOP is an international men’s movement, whose members seek to be the voice of character and honor in the world. The world is in desperate need of a unifying principle; a group that is independent of religion and stands against hate. This organization helps men to become more powerful and influential members of society by giving them tools and a network of honorable men for support. SOP is not only curriculum, it involves practical tests to strengthen us with respect to readiness, responsiveness, character, honor, strategic thinking and leadership.

Frank Parlato