Inaugural Youth 'Scam' Controversy Continues

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There were alot of problems throughout the conference, including my getting lost at the mall and holding up the buses(my apologies), but it was an amazing experience. We got to see Powell, Gore, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Desmond Tutu(my personal favorite), and many other key figures. As someone whose family had to work double time and scrape to get to go, i was very appreciative of the effort made by the program, and the truly unique experience all of us recieved. If ya'll are serious about disliking it, then let me ask you this. Of the millions of people who attended D.C. that year, can you say ours was the worst? Be thankful for the experience. Bad things happen, plans do not always work out as they should.

of 7:05PM January 06, 2011

Although my comment may come a year too late, I was a fortunate one who had an AMAZING time at PYIC. So apologies to all of you that had problems with your children, but it was an experience that was whatever you made out of it. I got to meet Al Gore, amongst other famous celebrities, got into the inauguration area, and made life long friends. So essentially this was the best experience I have had, and don't attribute all problems to the organization. It was the experience of a lifetime.

Terese of MI 12:34PM February 12, 2010

My son attended the inaugural conference and yes he had disappointments, but overall he feels honored and privileged to have had the opportunity to attend a historic event. It is not the organizers fault that so many others also wanted to attend. i doubt anyone could have organized a small group any better than they managed such a huge group of young people. People who had not participated in any way in electing Obama could not attend an official ball. That perk was only given to people who worked for years on his campaign. That seems fair. Having an opportunity to be in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum for an inaugural ball is a tremendous opportunity for young people. Sadly, it was crowded. But so was every other ball in D.C. that night. We should be thankful for the opportunities presented and glad the organizers are giving refunds. They will likely never again experience organizing an event in D.C. at a time when millions of others are converging there to see the same thing. Let's give them a bit of a break!

p kahn of NM 5:20PM October 16, 2009

I personally attended PYIC. It was not near as bad as everyone is making it out to be. We listened to many speakers and yes we were up early and to bed late but we did so much stuff everyday that we'll never get to do again. also we had plenty of time to sleep on busses and we made alot of new friends. also yes it was cold and we walked alot but that was on the day of the inauguration other than that we were at our hotels or the University of Maryland. also the day of the inauguration our FA gave us her cell number in case we were to get lost and everyone was with a group of friends. Everyone is throwing way to big a fit about this. honestly there were alot of flaws with the program but when your at such a historic event and you have that many people you have to expect that.

CJ of IN 6:24PM May 29, 2009

hey guys i attended the conference too and have to say i had a good time in DC but only because of the people and the other things we did independently apart from the conference. In fairness I could have done all of that by myself. the actual conference was a flop because it was too large and too unorganized. They didn't really have a solid program and hadn't thought of the logistic difficulties in getting 5000 people through a city that had been filled with an extra million or two. Al Gore and Colin Powell were good but i'm sure there will be other opportunities to watch these men speak with another 5000 people. The only reason I paid was cause I thought the group was small so we were getting a more personal address.

wayne of VA 10:45PM March 23, 2009

the event was indeed a scam. It reads like we were specially invited to be apart of history--history of billions with no priority nor concern. both my family and I still struggle with disappointment because neither the prepaid photos are apart of my memory. the event could have been accomplshed with my family for far less money and possibly tickets to a ball that really had the Obamas appearing.
I share the centiments of the hundreds of PYIC youths and hope that someone puts a stop to this scam.

Alexandira Nicholas of NY 7:07PM February 26, 2009

"On the Mall," was actually not in my invitation. I was told that I would witness the inauguration and parade from an exclusive vantage. This was only one of the lies in the "invitation" sent to me.
Even when their HQ was called, they said there was a section set aside just for students to witness these events. That was a lie.
Everything they said would happen, did not. They didn't care if students returned medical information. They didn't care if students returned to their hotel rooms - no one checked!
Imagine a 13-year old child alone in a big city. She has been promised, based upon her good grades and exemplary conduct, that she will have a place to witness this historical event and, instead, she is abandoned on The Mall. A little map her only guide. Would you want your daughter or son in this situation?
Before you criticize the parents, understand that this organization has changed from being a reputable non-profit, to a disreputable for-profit that dismisses the safety of children for the safety of mega-bucks.
Before you judge anyone else, read the literature these people sent to attendees and potential attendees. It was not an educational experience. Well, it was, but not the sort you would want and certainly not the sort you would pay over $3,000 to have.
$3,000-how many credits does that buy in your university?

j willard of ME 11:59AM February 14, 2009

I was one of the participants and I was not only led to believe I would have a ticket to the inauguration and the ball, but they also promised us seminars with the famous blind man who climbed Mt Everest, Lance Armstrong and many other high profile people. The only two people we had a conference with were Al Gore and Colin Powell. These to gentleman had amazing words of wisdom, but I still feel I missed out on many other seminars with intellectual and well traveled people. Overall the experience I had with UPIC was not up to standard with the other conferences I’ve been involved in under the Congressional Youth Leadership Conference “umbrella”, for example, The National Youth Leadership Conference. I was expecting a well organized experience with well informed advisors. Instead I found myself standing out in the frigid cold for more than an hour on multiple occasions and the advisors were not only uninformed but they didn’t have a line of communication to find out the information they didn’t know, generally they would just point to another advisor and state: “Try him/her, he’ll/she’ll should know the answer” which was continuously false! I can’t believe that UPIC was so unorganized and so disappointing!

JESSICA NANTS of OH 9:48AM February 06, 2009

This 'Conference' was a creature of Envision EMI LLC of Vienna VA a heavy-duty marketing firm mainly out for the bucks -- the bigger bucks the better (according to their vision statement) that has generated an avalanche of complaints to the web, blogs, Facebook, the BBB of Metro Washington DC etc. As far as I can tell, they have a long history of very questionable marketing practices, misrepresentations, etc. and many disgruntled and angry/furious 'customers' howling for their scalps.
A fiasco, fraud, scam, heartbreak, ... you name it. Many, many students were ripped off and missed out on the opportunity of lifetime because they (or more likely their parents) paid big bucks but didn't even get to SEE the Inauguration!!

Larry Wiley of NJ 4:23PM February 01, 2009

I went and had an amazing time.
Don't get me wrong. All of that's true.
(Except for not seeing the inauguration. We were there. It was cold. There were a lot of people. What did you expect?).
But I think everyone's looking at it in the worst possible way.
Some of the speakers we had seen made a huge impact on my life and I think waiting in the bus, in the lobby, and in the cold, were definitely worth it.
Meeting new people was also something that I enjoyed. Some people even made life long friendships.
About us not being fed, that's not completely true. If we were late for a meal and didn't get to eat, there was pizza waiting for us at our hotel. Also, I doubt the lunches served to us were the reason for some scholars coming home sick. I'm sure some came home sick without eating those lunches and some didn't come home sick with eating those lunches. I came home with a head cold. Which I believe was simply because we were outside for so long on the day of the inauguration.
They may have sent too many kids to go with this conference, but I'm sure majority of these students could say they were proud to be there witnessing history.

Jess of MI 10:36AM January 31, 2009