I've just discovered this site after a colleague sent me a copy of an appeals court judge's decision from 1999. It seems Brenda thought a sentence of 10 years in prison was too long for the (in her view, apparently) minor crime of embezzling $248,000 from a former employer. It isn't clear whether she's yet served any of her sentence, but she clearly should be locked up for a long record of theft and embezzlement.
I first had contact with her when she was part of ISN, which printed the first run of my book. It was a horrific experience, primarily because the entire lot of people there, from the owner down, were clearly not bothered by the complete incompetence of the staff and the non-fulfillment of their contractual obligations.Then Brenda left and opened her own business, continuing the tradition of promising a lot and delivering little or nothing. After requesting a number times that she remove me from her mailing list, I ordered her to remove my name and made it clearn I had no desire to ever hear from her again. And yet, I still occasionally get one of her e-mail blasts telling speakers of the great opportunities she has with organizations looking for speakers on specific topics.
Stay away!
Brenda's totally bad news, as is ISN and all the other business names under their umbrella. ISN continually creates new business names, apparently to mask the entity you're really hearing from, all the easier to coax money from unaware victims who are new to the speaking business.
As I said before - these ISN and Brenda Keefer zebras never change their stripes.
2 comments:
Warning: This is STILL an ongoing problem. Tracy Dalton, Brenda Keefer and ISNWorks (a.k.a. The International Speakers Network, a.k.a. "Book A Speaker" remain visible, and active in their recruitment efforts.
ISN keeps re-branding and changing its' name, to avoid showing up in threads like this one, and the folks that work for them adjust their e-mail addresses for the same reason.
If you are approached by ISN, ISNWorks, Tracy Dalton, Brenda Keefer, Willow Mist, or Book A Speaker -- do NOT engage them. Likewise, please share this information with your fellow speakers to keep them from falling victim as well.
Just want to add my 2 cents worth. I was also burnt by them. There was no deliverly on the promises they made and Brenda Keefer bragged about being christian and republican. Run the other way!! I even took them to the BBB and spent months trying to get the issues resolved with no avail. My situation happened in 2008 and cost me thousands of dollars. To my surprise, they are marketing to me again!
Their workshop is so basic a first year marketing student would come up with a better plan, but it is an excellent platform for them to sell additonal services in which they have no intent to deliver on.
Keep your blog going because they still have a very heavy marketing campaign going on.
RM in Nebraska
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