“and (big shocker) julia bailey has her posts protected (hidden.) so much for transparency. ditto: fauxtographers, badassphotog, and however many other cowardly aliases are floating around out there.

shameful.”

Kay,

If you have been following this thread you know that I agree with you that people should not be hiding behind an alias. The professional thing to do, if you have an opinion good or bad, is to identify yourself and stand behind your opinion. In that way everyone can know if there is any substance and experience behind the person’s postings.

You continue to post under an alias. You said that you live in Newton, MA but gave no further information on you or your business. How do we even know that is true?

If you feel that posting under an alias is wrong then why not set an example and give us some background information on you beyond where you claim to be living. How about a web link?

Thanks,

Rick

SL wants to make a lot of $$$ (that’s what business people do, so nothing wrong on the surface). So, she brainstormed how to do that… Have the participants pay for all the costs associated with the following, and add a ‘fee’ for herself:

Hiring former winner of American’s Next Top Model;
Cost for Bui Brothers to fly to JAX, plus their production costs…
Cost for Stephen to fly to JAX (perhaps… No proof that he didn’t pay his own way, but I doubt it);
Other expenses.

If I had been there, I would have been furious about:

Being placed in the forced and awkward situation of having to be part of her DVD production (by the way, did everyone sign a release form? If not, I would make sure I wasn’t used/represented in any way in the DVD or promotional video unless PAID);
Having workshop leader’s boyfriend appear (taking away time and attention from what I paid for);
Lack of punctuality and preparation;
Workshop leader shooting for her own portfolio.

It seems there was pre-meditated audacity to create a DVD/sales piece under the guise of a ‘workshop.’ I think it’s okay to build in the cost for paying for the model, but they should in NO WAY have to offset the costs of the video production.

From Wikipedia: greed (Latin, avaritia), also known as avarice or covetousness, is, like lust and gluttony, a sin of excess. However, greed (as seen by the church) is applied to a very excessive or rapacious desire and pursuit of wealth, status, and power.

It shows an overly aggressive (yet unfortunately naïve) business approach, lack of professionalism, lack of business ethics and overall poor taste. All because of greed – one of the seven cardinal sins.

Making friends is great, but not for $1,200-$1,500, and not being ‘used’ to produce a DVD/promo piece.

Leeann did a commendable job of an ‘objective’ review. And it took courage to do so. Well done!

Thank you Brian.

Rick

While I was not there of course I do remember the huge controversy over David Jay’s no show. As someone who has presented many seminars and likes to think of himself as something of an industry veteran I was absolutely astounded by his behavior. From the report there were about 100 photographers sitting in the ballroom waiting to hear DJ’s presentation. Some had traveled over 3 hours by car (each way) to be at that presentation. On his blog I was reading his, what I felt were obnoxious vacuous, justifications for turning his back on those 100 photographers who had paid money to see him. He was blogging his reasons while the photographers were sitting downstairs! Remember that he invited himself on to that tour by the other two photographers. In my opinion, no matter what the reasons were and whether they were justified or not, he should have respected those 100 photographers by giving his presentation. Whatever the issues were (and I am sure there are two sides to that story) he could have settled that quietly in the background and if necessary pulled out of the tour’s future dates. But to handle it like he did with those 100 photographers already waiting downstairs just goes, in my opinion, to show what Mr. Jay’s real feelings are regarding his “lovecat” image. He then went on his forum and elsewhere in a smear campaign about the two photographers who organized that tour. The more he tied to justify his actions the more, IMO, he dug himself into a deeper hole. It still amazes me today that he has managed to cleanse his reputation back to the “lovecat” that he tries to promote.

As you may recall, I have had other run ins with DJ who did everything he could on six different forums and elsewhere to stop me from discussing slideshows and mention FotoMagico which competes directly with his ShowIt software.

What is most valuable about this thread is the disrobing of some of our industry icons to expose them for what their real motivations are. We can do that most successfully, like you and many others have, by relating real world experiences with some of these folks.

I hope for everyone’s sake, theirs included, that they are following the sentiments expressed here. Unfortunately, I think most of them will just ignore this or dismiss it as “trooling” and continue on, egos inflated by those followers that they still have now and in the future.

Change in this profession is sorely needed and it can begin with the first steps expressed here by so many.

Rick

There is a lot of good things being said the comments here once you get past some of the anger. I’ve met a good number of big names at WPPI and everyone was engaging and kind. I don’t have any real qualms as I didn’t even see the twitter post that went down. Whatever happened it’s good to see people speaking up for what they believed … on either side, and also keeping the conversation going.

@Rick, always great to read your insights!

I just go by what I was taught know your basics! Read, re-read, and practise more. Know your gear before you ‘think’ you need more. Find a mentor…by offering something to them first. Like Liana said hundreds of people email asking for help to start up their business. Why should your request stand out?

Oh, and research a workshop before you go! it’s less about who is giving it and more about the content and what can be taken away from it. Find people who have been …that you can identify with…and see what they thought.

Brian

And by the way – I made more typos than you – sorry

Unfortunately, he was throwing a hissy fit in his hotel room upstairs while wearing PJ’s and a wife-beater shirt while demanding several thousand dollars to be wired into his bank account. He never did walk down those stairs to come talk to us So……I never did meet the infamous David Jay.

As Maxwell Smart used to say “missed him by that much”.