Headlines:

• It's all in the numbers
• Norbert Georget is Welcomed Back to Prince Edward Island for the 4th time
• Local Credit Unions are still Norbert Georget's largest tour sponsors
• Welcome back Norbert! Repeat visits continue to dominate Norbert Georget's tour
• U.S.A. tours a success!

The popularity of Norbert Georget's tour continues to grow. Just look at the numbers:

When you figure out the numbers and take the total attendance, that's like filling up the Toronto Rogers Centre (SkyDome) over 28 times, driving across Canada or the USA 127 times, flying across North America 135+ times or add the total driving and flying together equals to circling around the world 38 times.

When asked will he ever give up, Norbert said, "The traveling and hotel stays can get to a person after awhile but it's the students that keep me going. When I get a letter or e-mail from a student that encourages me to keep spreading my message or that I made a difference in their lives, that's what keeps me reaching out to more people out there. These comments are what makes all the luggage hauling, restaurant eating, rough highways and clogged airports all worth while."

When Norbert started The Smart Youth Power Assembly™ 26 years ago, he certainly never dreamed he would become one of North America's most sought-after speakers, "If someone would have told me that I would be speaking to over 1.6 million students in over 4,800 presentations, I would have told them they were dreaming. But I guess dreams do come true. Oh, but it's not over yet, my goal is to reach over 5 million students and have 5,000 presentations under my belt. However, it's not the just the numbers, it's the amount of students that I have saved or positively influenced, that's the most important part for all my efforts. That's a number I'll never know."

Retirement is still a long ways for this young man and he wants to continue his tour for many more years, "It's always nice to be invited again to a school but there are still a few schools that I want to get my foot in the door. And I know that once I'm in the school, a relationship and friendship is immediately formed with the staff and students. My expansion into the U.S. schools have been nothing but a success. Many have been asking me back already."

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For two weeks in April, 2002, junior and senior high school students across Prince Edward Island greeted Norbert Georget with great enthusiasm. It was Norbert's 4^th tour on the Island. "Every three years I come to the island" said Norbert, "and I love it every time I come here. The people of PEI give me such a great welcome. I always look forward to this tour."

Since 1992, Norbert has spoken in all 20 Junior & Senior PEI high schools and inspired over 26,770 students and community people across the province. Given that the population of PEI is just over 100,000, it's no wonder that Norbert is so well known on the island. Since the beginning, the Credit Unions of PEI along with PEI Credit Union Central have been the main organizers and sponsors for his provincial tour. "If it wasn't for the Credit Unions, I certainly wouldn't have been able to reach so many students. They are the true heroes in saving so many lives. Giving back to their community members and taking care of them is what it's all about." says Norbert

Asked if he was looking forward to his fifth tour on the island? "You betcha, spring 2005 will be the next tour with a whole new set of students and I can't wait" said Norbert.

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When you think of a local business that gives back to their community, a business that's community oriented, a dedicated staff that supports their local youths future; when you think of all of these qualities, Norbert Georget says there is no community business leader than your local Credit Union.

For over ten years now, Credit Unions from across Canada have been the largest corporate sponsors for Norbert Georget's national tours. In fact, over 90% of all Saskatchewan Credit Unions have sponsored Norbert Georget's tours. And the same number sponsor Norbert's expenses on a yearly or 2-3 year rotation. Because of the large number of schools in their regions, Prince Albert Credit Union in Prince Albert, SK. & Battlefords Credit Union in North Battleford, SK. budget part of their annual marketing funds for Norbert's tour on a yearly basis. There are 24 schools in these regions and Norbert speaks to 5-8 schools per year eventually covering all schools every three years. These Credit Unions, along with Norbert Georget, have been working together as partners in reaching out to their local students for over 10 years now.

Norbert says that it's a great way to give back to the community and supporting their local youths. "I can't ask for a better sponsor than the Credit Unions," says Norbert, "Our values and goals are the same in reaching out to the local students. It also gives a chance for the Credit Union to show the students that there is a community business that cares about their future, not just for their dollar. And besides, I can't help but be a Credit Union fan, not only am I a member of my local Credit Union, but my brother, Allan, is the general manager of Arborg Credit Union in Arborg, Manitoba. It's a family tradition and that's what the Credit Unions support, families and the whole community at large."

Today, hundreds of Credit Unions take advantage of Norbert's powerful positive affect on their local students. Beverly Brooks, manager of marketing & member relations at Prairie Centre Credit Union, Rosetown, SK., said it best when she wrote, "I was once a student of Norbert's (1989), and now, I'm a mother of two girls. I'm not going to beat around the bush (for all Credit Unions out there), when allocating your budgets this year, do your teens a favor and have Norbert come and speak at your local school. Like Norbert says; "We're not born winners, We're not born losers – We're born choosers" – choosing to invest in the Smart Youth Power Assembly is the BEST money you will spend on your youth."

When it comes to encore performances and if you ask any student or teacher who has heard many speakers in their school years, Norbert Georget's name would be the one where students & teachers would vote for a return visit hands down.

"The biggest compliment in the world that I can get in my career as a motivational speaker is to be invited back to a school or conference," says Norbert, "It's even better when it's the student body themselves that are asking me back. Every year, I get thousands of letters and e-mails from students from across the country and the number one question that I get is 'When will you be coming back to our school?' Now that's cool! I'm hardly out the door and students are yelling, 'Please come back.'"

Repeat visits are a huge part of Norbert's annual tour schedule, "In school year 2003-2004, I was invited to speak at 207 schools across North America," said Norbert, "Of those, over ¾ of them were repeat invitations and the rest were first-time invitations. It's always nice to speak in a school that I have never been to but there's nothing better than the welcome I get from the students and staff when I return a few years later. There's one school in Saskatchewan, Aberdeen High, that holds the national record for the most return visits by me, a total of 9 invitations. When I got another invitation that year, I jokingly said to them, 'Aren't you tired of me?' and they said 'Never!' You know you've been to a school several times when you start addressing some of the teachers by their first names like friends or that you notice the color of the gym walls have changed.".

Amongst other schools that hold the record for Norbert's visits in their provinces or states are Norkam Secondary, Kamloops, BC – 5 invitations; F.G. Miller High, Elk Point, AB. & Ashmont Secondary, Ashmont, AB. – 5 invitations each; Lord Selkirk Regional High, Selkirk, MN. & Virden Collegiate, Virden, MN. – 4 invitations each; Western Secondary, Amherstburg, ON. – 6 invitations; Ste. Anne du Ruisseau School, NS – 4 invitations, all Prince Edward Island high schools – 4 invitations; Laval Catholic High, Laval, Que. – 3 invitations; and Kenmare School, Kenmare, ND – 2 invitations plus hundreds and hundreds of schools that have had Norbert back to their school 2 or more times. Some of these schools have been torn down between invitations and with the paint barely dry, Norbert had the honor of being the first speaker to speak in these schools.

"Some of the original school buildings may change and some of the students may change, but the welcome that I continue to receive never changes. Mind you, it's something I don't take for granted. When a school wants me in times of need, I'm there for them. But when I can count on a school for a pat on the back or encouragement, I can always count on my family of repeat schools."

Several years ago, Norbert Georget started getting requests to speak south of the border. It started with a few schools and conferences here and there, but since then, the requests for his Smart Youth Power Assembly^TM has been pouring in rapidly.

"My very first tour in the United States was in North Dakota," said Norbert Georget, "I figured that N.D. is not that far, just across the border from Saskatchewan, and besides, that's where my grandfather was born. I wanted to start in my late grandfather's home state of ND and the schools really made me feel at home."

Since then, Norbert has been welcomed throughout North Dakota, Montana, Minnesota, out east in Maine and as far south as Texas and Georgia. "Three years ago, I expanded my tour into Montana and Minnesota," said Norbert, "The tours were a great success and I look forward to speaking in more high schools throughout these states including North Dakota. Currently we're working on my schedule to include tours across South Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho and Washington states. It's very exciting. I wish my grandfather was here to see my success down here."

His tour dates are very limited but his Annual Red Ribbon Week USA Tour in late October and early November always fills up quickly. Last school year, the requests were so numerous that he had to add another couple weeks the following April.