This is a letter I wrote to Kathy Love after a long call last night. I realized I may have hit a few targets I was not aiming for. I did not mean to offend everybody, please read below.
Kathy,
I would like to apologize to you for my response on the BOI. It no way was it meant to offend or disappoint you. I have not read your post, Mike told me about it.
To explain my actions I will tell you I have no belief in the BOI. No matter what anyone says you can falsify emails with the greatest of ease in 2 minutes. And there is no embedded header information that cannot be altered. Anything is easy to manipulate in electronic transmissions. So to post anything into an open forum and prove it truthful is impossible in this case. The only truth about what really happened is between Kelly and me and no matter what “investigation” takes place the truth will only be known to the parties involved because she has one twist and I know another. Knowing what I know about technology fuels my ideas about the BOI.
That said, when this issue was first posted I was sticking to my beliefs and not replying. If I don’t believe in something I don’t take part. Greg called me and asked me to reply, I argued for a bit but I have a ton of respect for him and on my way out the door to an appointment and without thinking too much I wrote a very brief reply which contained no real statements and stated I will be back later. By the time I came back and checked again there were the usual few who love to bash already on there making assumptions and bashing. This is what the BOI is known for to most and though most of the respected individuals who feel this way won’t publicly admit it in fear of backlash. Once I saw that I reverted right back to my 100% lack of respect for the BOI and wrote some comical emails that would mock every bit of info in the BOI and show how much I care about it. One thing I didn’t realize was that the people who I do respect such as you would take the post as disrespect. When I heard about your post I realized such and called you to talk about the issue. I meant absolutely no harm with those emails they were directed at the very few people who hang around and jump on anything they can to make themselves feel better, and believe everything they read on the BOI. I don’t have a problem with Fauna just the core idea of the BOI is flawed. My sincerest apologies go out to you and the logical people who took offense to that post. It needed to be a targeted strike and instead I inadvertently used a nuke.
Now onto the issue of Kelly. When Kelly and I first talked it was on the phone and that is where most of our communication took place. There were a few emails that took place one of which I told her it was off. The reason I did not post it goes back to my knowledge of technology and bringing validity to something that has none. It is very easy to fake an email copy and pasted or live. In our first conversation we discussed sponsorship of the show and these are the facts that were laid out: It is a first time, startup show; it is on the same weekend as Tinley Park and exposure will not be great. We discussed the price she wanted, $250.00, I stated I would love to help as with anything good for the community and we agreed on that. A few days after that call she called up and stated she could really use $750.00, she stated it’s a new show, it’s costing more than what she thought, and she and her new husband have 5 kids and so on. I stated that I was sorry, that was way too much for a new show. I also stated I support the Repticons and that 200 caries me very far with them (brings us to Ellrod which I will get to later). She came back to $250.00 then I got an email requesting 750 again. I called again and had close to the same conversation and that ended up the same way. I believe the next communication I received via email on my blackberry was from her which I skimmed and realized based on our last call I needed to get the check out and responded as such. When I got home and read the entire email I realized she was asking for 750 again…. Here is the email I sent in response:
(once again I hate including this because it only validates this action)
----- Original Message -----
From: David Young
To: Central PA Reptile Expo
Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2008 7:36 PM
Subject: Re: Please call me
Kelly,
I just got home and read your email, please disregard my last. We have spoken about this numerous times. Seven Hundred and fifty dollars is way too high for this show. I spent much less than that in San Diego and that show was huge. I am going to have to completely decline any sponsorship in your show at this point. Maybe next year when the show is more stable and pricing is more structured we can work something out.
Thanks,
David
At this point I considered this dead until that thread was started. I believe she also states that I am impossible to get a hold of. The customer service number at the top of the site is always answered unless we are on the other line. We field over 30 shipping questions a day. With that volume along with all the other general questions it is impossible to screen calls. It is not hard to get a hold of Reptster.
On our call this morning you also stated that someone named Ellrod from Repticon is stating something. I have never heard of her, when I deal with them I deal with Billy and Patty who I just spoke with last week about what shows we are doing in the future and nothing was brought up about this. I called Ms. Ellrod and she stated she knows nothing and that I have to talk to Billy. I have a message in and am waiting on that. But yes I did sponsor a few shows of theirs and have paid in full as far as I know.
I have not read the posts in the BOI but I can only imagine what will be said once you or I post this. For the record this is not damage control, this is an apology to those of you I meant no disrespect to. The only purpose of that post was to show how ridiculous believing anything you read on the BOI is unless you can establish transaction, and in this case you cannot. If anything we have had 10 people cancel and 30 mostly new members write emails saying that someone had to show what a joke the BOI is. It was only a point to prove validity not disrespect the community my team has worked hard to provide great services to.
Sincerely,
David Young
727-686-5456
