| Company type | Private sole proprietorship[1](defunct) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Personal development, Large Group Awareness Training |
| Founded | February 1981 |
| Defunct | 1991 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, USA |
Key people | Werner Erhard (Founder) |
| Products | Seminars, workshops |
Werner Erhard and Associates, also known as WE&A or as WEA, was a commercial personal development program which operated from 1984 until early 1991.[2][3] It replaced Erhard Seminars Training. Initially WE&A marketed and staged est training (in the form of the est seminars and workshops), but in 1984 the est training was replaced by WE&A with a briefer, a less authoritarian and more marketable program based on Werner Erhard's teachings and called The Forum.[3][4]
In 1991 Erhard sold the assets of WE&A to a group of employees, who later formed Landmark Education. Erhard then retired[5][better source needed] and left the United States.[6]
- ^ "Accordingly, Werner Erhard and Associates ("WEA") was established as a sole proprietorship in February 1981." Erhard v. IRS, 1995. http://www.assetprotectionbook.com/erhard.htm Retrieved 2007-10-05
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
gastilwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Gottlieb, Anthony (1990-01-07). "HEIDEGGER FOR FUN AND PROFIT". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
Mr. Erhard's est encounter sessions - which, by some estimates, had as many as 500,000 takers between 1971 and 1984 - attracted plenty of criticism for their authoritarian form of indoctrination. But they also produced hundreds of obsessively eager acolytes: enough for him to set up a watered-down and more marketable organization, known as the Forum, which replaced est in 1984.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Wakefield p.98was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Site by Former Associates committed to providing accurate and reliable information about Werner Erhard". Retrieved 2007-09-09.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Goldwagwas invoked but never defined (see the help page).