January 21st:
Hey Binks its (A Girl), I hope you had a great Christmas and New Years eve, there’s something I would like to talk to you about, is it more convenient for you to be reached by email or phone? If its more convenient by phone could you give me your number?
Hey, neat! A message from someone I was in a class with a year ago!
I send back a message; giving her my dorm room phone number, and letting her know that I prefer email.
January 23rd:
Hey Binks,
My boyfriend and I are working on a “business idea” and we would like your input, is there a time we could get together?
Huh… that’s sort of neat…
Hey! Wait! “Business idea” is in quotes! Her boyfriend and her want to discuss something with me…
They want a threesome!
Well, I don’t know… hmmm… Well, she IS pretty cute…
I respond, letting her know when I’m available.
January 27th, 11:02 AM:
Alright, there’s a very successful leader from the business who is a friend of mine and he is going to be presenting the idea. Its at 8pm at the delta in Kitchener, do you have a vehicle or no?
Huh… that’s strange… I thought it was her and her boyfriend.
Maybe this is an angel investor of some kind?
I’m starting to wonder about this stuff though, so I send her this email:
January 27th, 11:45 AM:
Hey,Any chance I’d recognize the name of the presenter? I’d feel more comfortable having some idea who this guy is.
I’m afraid I don’t have a vehicle, and the iExpress stops running at around 6:30 tonight. I could probably take that up and bum around until 8:00, if need be.
What meeting room is booked at the Delta?
-Binks
I mean, I’d like a ride up, but I don’t want to be trapped there - I’ve got class on Monday!
She responds:
January 27th, 1:28 PM:
Hey! The speaker’s name is Claude H4m1l70n. I can pick you up somewhere if you like, that way you don’t have to wait around down town.
(I changed the last name into L33t)
Allright, cool, I’ve got a ride to…. wait… “speaker”? Speaker? This guy’s an investor, we’re discussing a business idea that this girl and her boyfriend came up with… why would there be a speaker?
All Googling systems set to maximum!
Hmmm… this “Claude” guy has some none-too-favourable hits… but, I’m not certain that that’s the guy; let’s not go off half-cocked here!
One other thing I did was call the hotel - the room they booked had a capacity of 100! One HUNDRED!
So, I send this:
January 27th, 3:01 PM:
Hey,“The speaker” - this is looking less and less like you, me, your boyfriend, and an investor discussing a business idea.
This isn’t some 2 hour long hard-sell for a time share or some franchise, is it?
-Binks
In response, 3 MINUTES later:
January 27th, 3:04 PM:
Its not a timeshare thing at all. The business idea is being presented by a very successful business owner from this opportunity. Its just information.
Hmmm… gonna have to think about this….
15 minutes later, with NO prompting from me:
January 27th, 3:20 PM:
My boyfriend and I are excited about the idea and we think it could make a difference in your life If you came and heard what claude had to say…..
Methinks she doth protest too much…
And does anyone remember the original request? Yeah, that was a business idea with her and her boyfriend. Now it’s something that will change my life if I come out and listen?!?
WHERE IS MY THREESOME!?
I send back this: (My googling on Claude indicated that this was a likely business of his)
January 27th, 3:35 PM:
Hey,This isn’t “Legacy Business Group” by any chance, is it?
-Binks
From her:
January 27th, 3:40 PM:
Hey,No, its called TEAM have you heard of it?
Note for the folks at home - this is the FIRST TIME she’s told me the name of the company. Why not be forthright about it? Why not tell me the whole truth from the start?
Well, this is why, and this is what I sent her: (block quote pooched the formatting…)
January 27th, 4:23 PM:
Well, these things are kinda difficult to unravel, but, here’s what I can tell you:
Amway is one of the larger multi-level marketing companies in the world. However, because of Federal Trade Commission investigations and overall bad press associated with the name, they changed to Quixtar (in the next 18-24 months, apparently Quixtar is going to be dissolved to be replaced once again by Amway).
Both Quixtar and Amway have been investigated a LOT over allegations of being a pyramid scheme (including an investigation by Dateline, around 2004).
Now, I’m not saying that Dateline is the most trustworthy news source ever, but it does indeed raise some questions.
TEAM, formerly Team of Destiny, was until very recently associated with Quixtar - it was their “management training” wing. The Dateline report alleges that the management training - through books, CDs, and seminars, was where the high-level individuals in Quixtar made all the real money from their “Independent Business Operators” (the people lower down in the pyramid).
Most of the CDs, books, and retreats were optional, but were pushed pretty hard as being the gateway to success through the Quixtar system.
In August of 2007, TEAM separated from Quixtar. Right now, there’re a bunch of lawsuits ongoing between TEAM and Quixtar.
Here’s the dateline investigation of Quixtar:
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot31XhgE_XE Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgnvMfDu47c Transcript: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4375477/
Here’s links showing Claude Hamilton’s affiliations: http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:UDrqZ_b4c0EJ:www.quixtarwiki.com/index.p hp%3Ftitle%3DLegacy_Business_Group+legacy+business+group&hl;=en&ct;=clnk&cd;=3& gl=ca&client;=firefox-a (he’s in the list of names)
And here’s the personal bio on him: http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:iHsMcp3fRfcJ:www.quixtarwiki.com/index. php%3Ftitle%3DHamilton%252C_Claude%2526_Lana+http://www.quixtarwiki.com/ind ex.php%3Ftitle%3DHamilton%252C_Claude%2526_Lana&hl;=en&ct;=clnk&cd;=1≷=us&cl; ient=firefox-a
And here’s a blog that he apparently set up and hasn’t updated since 2006 (which was before the split between TEAM and Quixtar): http://claudehamilton.blogspot.com/ Note how Claude indicates that he is a part of Quixtar right up top, beside his name.
Claude also indicates a relationship with Legacy Business Group on that blog. I wasn’t able to dig up too much on this company; but basically it relies upon you becoming a member (which costs money) and the buying things directly from them; then you recruit others to buy things from this company as well, and you get a cut of their profits.
Nearly 100% of the products you purchase from the company will be for your own consumption. No matter how you slice it, that’s not a healthy business.
Here’s the Legacy pitch: http://www.mvsp.net/legacy/index.html
One thing I can’t figure out is what TEAM actually SELLS - from the looks of it, all they do is seminars, books, and CDs on management. http://www.the-team.biz/
I’m really not interested in management training.
The bottom line is, from what I can research, this is a company that was formerly associated with a company that engaged in shady business practices; so I’m worried about integrity.
Secondly, it looks like what they do is sell management technique - something I’m just not interested in right now.
But, I’ve got a link from Amazon for their book, in case I’m interested in looking at it later: http://www.amazon.com/Launching-Leadership-Revolution-Mastering-Influence/dp /0446580716 (their site seems to push it a lot)
And that’s what I’ve found.
I admit, it’s just a cursory examination; and these relationships are a real tangled mess, trying to figure out which company links to which - but I’m not really interested in management training.
Her response, all of 5 MINUTES later (That’s 5 minutes from it leaving my inbox to her sending her response)
January 27th, 4:28 PM:
Thanks for being honest!
I just wish you were honest with ME. And I would’ve appreciated you reading my response, too. It’s really the least you could’ve done.
I gave her the benefit of the doubt. I figure she’s probably stupid, not evil… but on the OTHER hand, why did she feel the need to hide her true motives, and why contact ME? I hadn’t talked to her for about a year at this point, and we weren’t really close even before.
(Note: She didn’t call me “Binks”; that was an edit on my part)