Brenda Keefer, Willow Mist, a former ISN employee -- Still Ripping People Off

The International Speaker's Network hates that I'm still talking about Branda Keefer on this blog -- but she was such a player in my own rip-off story, and she worked for ISN for so long before she started Willow Mist, that I still see them as one in the same.

Two comments to share with you:

From someone who heard from a new ISN employee -- Tracy Dalton -- an email received in April as a "call for presentations" -- which is no doubt as bogus as any of their recruitment pieces.

Here's the sad part about that. Tracy Dalton is probably a young woman who is sincere and thinks her new job with BookaSpeaker.net or the International Speaker's Network is a good one. She doesn't yet understand that she's working for a company that takes other people's money and doesn't deliver on their promises.

A second comment regarding Brenda Keefer and Willow Mist:

I will report Brenda after reading comments. An ebook that I contributed to seems not to be getting published either. I am out $110 and much work. Such a pity that she claims to be such a Christian woman too. A page out of Tammy Faye's book.

Still up to her shenanigans, I see!

Thanks to all of you who feed me information. Both ISN and Brenda make sure I never show up on any of their lists -- so all info comes from those of you who have found this blog.

As of today, almost 7500 people have found my BurnedbyISN blog. While I'm sure the great majority found it AFTER they lost money, I have no doubt we've saved many others the headache of dealing with ISN or Brenda Keefer.

A Typical ISN or Willowmist Email

Submitted by a blog reader who hopes it will help all of you realize why these folks aren't helpful.

If you have received this email, or one like it, you can see how to break it down from this earlier post on this blog.

Bottom line -- these conferences either don't exist, already took place, or ISN or Willowmist don't have any connections to them anyway. Yet they want you to pay upfront for marketing services that many people report they never receive -- including me. Great frustration. I would still love to have my money back.

Thanks to the person who shared! Here's that email.

We have a Property Management Group who is looking for 2 speakers for a Multi-housing Conference. Event will be June 9th & 10th, 2010. Need a keynote motivational speaker for each day. Attendees include apartment industry employees, managers, leasing, maintenance, regional directors, property management owners, executives. Looking for something motivational geared toward business. Wants someone fun and uplifting with info they can walk away with. BUDGET: $5000 plus travel expenses. DEADLINE TO APPLY: SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2010.

Girls Scouts need a speaker for their Volunteer Retreat. Audience consists of troop leaders, volunteers, and parents. Event is October 9, 2010. They need someone who can talk on communication, diversity, teambuilding, leadership, etc.; any topic that would be helpful to a group of leaders. BUDGET: Negotiable. DEADLINE TO APPLY: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010.

Organization for High School Technical students needs motivational speaker to speak to 1500 students regarding on a topic that can be customized to relate to going to college, the job market or leadership. Event will be April 14th, 2010 – April 16th, 2010. BUDGET: $2500.00. DEADLINE TO APPLY: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010.

Leadership Conference for Christian leaders needs 3 speakers who can talk on various topics to restore, equip and inspire Christian leaders with new tools they can implement to be better leaders. The budget is negotiable. Attendees will be pastors, Christian leaders in the workplace, ministers, and church staff. There will be a total of 250 attendees. BUDGET: Negotiable plus all travel, hotel and transportation fees paid. DEADLINE TO APPLY: MARCH 9, 2010.


Association of Student Nurses needs a speaker to talk to 800 student nurses at their annual convention. They need someone with great personality that has a background in the healthcare field. They are wanted topics related to careers. BUDGET: Negotiable based on level of expertise. DEADLINE TO APPLY: APRIL 6, 2010.

In order to be submitted for an event with our firm, we do require that you are a participant of one of our marketing programs. If you are not a participant and would like additional information to become available for submission on any of the above bookings, please contact us at 865.366.7155 or respond to this email with your questions. You can also visit our website, www.willowmistpro.com. If you are already a member, and wish additional information, just drop me an email and request the submission form. Thanks.

Sincerely,

Brenda Keefer
Willow Mist Professional Services
P.O. Box 1312
Kodak, TN 37764
(865) 366-7155
www.willowmistpro.com

ISN Responds!

Found in a comment to the last blog post about Brenda Keefer.... this one from ISN where Brenda learned how to run a speakers network:

I am compelled to comment as there are so many facts not being stated here and harming our reputation.

Fact 1: Brenda Keefer is not and employee of ISN and hasn't been since March 4, 2008. Nor does her business Willow Mist have any association with our company.

Fact 2: Start a blog titled Brenda Keefer and Willow Mist and stop placing false information on this blog. She cut her teeth by being a bad individual and apparently doesn't plan to change her spots. That said our company should not be targeted for another companies faults.

It is unfortunate that you feel burned but presenting false information is a crime and unfair to ISN.

And you know what? They are right. It's unfair to blame ISN for Brenda Keefer's current modus operendi. She's been on her own for almost two years.

However -- ISN -- how do you explain the lack of follow through while Brenda was still in your employ? Or the dozens of other comments made by dozens of other people YOU have taken money from without delivering since Brenda left?

You don't want to be painted with the Brenda brush, but how do you explain all these other people who have felt scammed in the two years since she left? And how do you explain the many filings with the Better Business Bureau?

Sorry -- but Brenda's departure doesn't explain any of those, does it?

Looks Like Brenda is On the Hunt

A comment today from a previous post about Willow Mist and ISN, International Speakers Network -- reprinted here:

Thank you all for your posts. I was just contacted by Brenda herself with a list of several venues that "could use my speaking expertise". I was asked only for a $95 upfront fee in exchange for 15% of the booking fee and 5000 emails sent out on my behalf. I had already filled out the paperwork and was about to push send, when I recognized the address was Tennessee. I remembered the scamming international Speaker's Network and decided to check for comments. THANK YOU ALL. We NEED to warn speakers and authors. People lost thousands with International, but no one wants to lose $95. How can we eradicate these predators of the fair and good?

You're welcome!

One more person saved from this grief!

Yet Another Scammed Speaker

I heard from Annabelle (not her real name) with the following...

Thanks for taking the time to let me know that others have been scammed by ISN and Brenda. I was scammed by both. It is a shame that they are allowed to stay in business. I have been a professional speaker for 21 years and wanted to spread my wings into another category since I just completed my next book. Very clear about what I wanted, they gave me all kinds of assurances for bookings. Without going into detail, they made commitments and did not follow through. Their bad business practices cost me time, money and disappointment.

In the meantime, they must be busy with their emails because the numbers of visits to this site LEAPED in the past month... hopefully we saved some folks grief and money.

Has this blog stopped you from signing up to lose your money, too? Please let us know: burnedbyISN (at) hotmail.com

Willow Mist and ISN - Duking it Out

A busy several days? I've received three new comments on this blog, meaning there must be plenty of those bogus emails going out from Willow Mist and ISN these days.

Sometimes the comments are thank-yous -- because the person found this blog and realized they could be scammed.

Other times the comments are confirmations -- other people who were scammed, too.

Wish I could save everyone the trouble! It's a lesson for all of us to research well and hard before we give anyone our hard-earned money. Here's how to research these kinds of things:

In a search engine, use the name of the company, then the word "blog" If that doesn't yield good information for you, then use those terms, plus the word "problem" or "scam." Like this

ISN, International Speakers Network, blog, scam

or

Willow Mist, blog, scam

You can do that for any solicitation you get from any company for any purpose. You may have to click on 3-4 pages worth of search results, but you'll be able to get an impression of how much you'll really get for your money.

Good luck! I hope this has saved you some trouble.

This Time It's Brenda Keefer and Willow Mist

Heard today from Eileen, who sent me this email (reprinted with her permission, by the way....)

First off I want to thank you for blogging…… ………I have never used it before but I was following my gut instinct about Brenda Keefer after they took me for $1000.00 bucks of very hard earned monies…………so after hunting the internet I found your pages……Though I am glad that I did it also pissed me off even more that I fell into her web of lies……..

I get this personal phone call from her and it was good…………and struggling to keep speaking and laughing I agreed to her services….but after month one my tummy said something was not right…….but then hey there are no guarantees in this business so I continue on the journey with her into month 2……. again my gut is aching so I call her to explain to her that I am not liking her way of communications and ask for changes……….. you know the answer…….. ”No problem” …. And of course still no communications during the month……

Now I get this phone call from another company called Innovators Group but strangely enough they are in the same small town that Brenda lives in… strange for a little country town I thought since I live in Tennessee...When I mentioned this on the phone to them they get nervous and cut the call short saying they will call me back to speak to me about writing a chapter in a book with others…and of course I have never heard from them again.…..now I really have a belly ache and then I find your blog………….. NOW I want my monies back and I want these people to join Bernie Maddoff ........

There has to be a way to shut them down…………… and I can tell you I am on a mission now…… And yes I am pissed off……….. but I’ll laugh my way through this one…………… Eileen

Zebras don't change their stripes. Brenda, a convicted felon and owner of Willow Mist Professional Services, cut her teeth for years at the International Speakers Network (Innovators Group). They taught her the ropes -- how to take YOUR money.

I hope this post convinces you to hang on to it.