“The entire contents of this message are intended for the recipient only and may contain confidential information of a privileged nature. Do not copy or forward this message without the express permission of the sender.”

I received a take down notice.
While I complied with fair use in the original post, I did link the message using google docs.

I’ve requested a compliance confirmation notice from the client’s lawyer. To date I have not received it.

What copy disclaimer did you violate?

Then again, I have no trust in mega church/mega ministries with big personalities and charismatic popular leaders.

Something just doesn’t ‘feel’ right about the silence. Torontonian – very well said.

I’m not.
http://www.christianweek.org/letters.php

I think it is entirely possible a CTS investor or Crossroads donor doesn’t know the difference between a charity and a non-profit.

The point was David Mainse sent a newsletter out to supporters.

As for Walter, thank you, I didn’t see that. Gone.

“I have a friend who is involved in one of those other investment pools I mentioned. Sadly he has lost a lot of money.”

I’m sorry for your friend.
He is lucky to have you.

Why don’t you write a post? I’d be happy to have you guest blog.

I have approached Crossroads and 100 Huntley Street directly.
I have approached individuals in the organization directly.
I have asked media to use their resources to follow the money.

If you have something of substance and wisdom to offer investors such as your friend, then send me a post. Guest blog.

“Questions without accountability are not fine. Had some of the posts by your readers been done in an accountable way, they would be open to a slander suit.”

I violated a copy disclaimer.
My ignorance of that disclaimer is no excuse before the law. Readers and commenters did not receive the SLAPP, I did.
I’m accountable.

Interesting assumption you are making.

No investor asked me to post or post about that newsletter.
The client’s lawyer is paid to follow the clients wishes.

I believe that interview is a valuable snapshot of what happens when you question someone accused of an alleged ponzi scheme/affinity fraud.

I will challenge that assumption investors are to blame for commenting, for having opinions, for having them publicly.

You can’t have it both ways Garnet.

My offer stands.
If you’d like to guest post and offer your friend and the 100+ investors substance and wisdom let me know.

If you have advice for Crossroads about message and message delivery, you are welcome to guest blog. I’ll take care of the technical stuff and won’t edit a word. The platform is yours.

If you care to educate people about investigative process, running a charity, crisis management, then guest post.

I’m discouraged too.

I have a VOIP phone on my desk at work. It is my only phone and it works just like any phone. It is not a computer. A person of almost any age could operate it. Even grandma can use the Rogers Home Phone.

“If volunteers have been dismissed, what is wrong about asking for clarification on the reason?”

I think questions are fine and healthy. Questions without accountability are not fine. Had some of the posts by your readers been done in an accountable way, they would be open to a slander suit.

Ben, with postings like Walters above, do you honestly think any organization would treat this blog as credible and worthy of answering?

I was following this story on your blog at first because I found the information source helpful. I have a friend who is involved in one of those other investment pools I mentioned. Sadly he has lost a lot of money.

Lately however I have been very discouraged by some of the poor posts. They are disrespectful, they lack wisdom, they are hurtful. People on this blog seem to feel free to jump to conclusions before true facts are known or before any facts are known.

p.s. Why are you talking about Crossroads Television System? This is a completely diferent organization than Crossroads / 100 Huntley?

My bad, I could have used the term pre-recorded messages.
I find some elderly computer users do find tools such as VoIP difficult to adjust to, and there is no shame in that.

Let’s not deflect here.

If we are seeing a simple capital cost decision then why not say so?
I’m all for a charity using money wisely.

Why not tell donors and the public why volunteers are no longer needed?

If volunteers have been dismissed, what is wrong about asking for clarification on the reason?

Why it is so difficult for the ministry to communicate?
A TV ministry not using cross platforming effectively doesn’t inspire confidence, the organization’s silence on simple things comes across as fearful and reactive, not pro-active.

The internet can be a powerful tool for answering questions.

David Mainse sent a newsletter out to donors.
If anyone has a copy, I’d like to read it.

From Christian Week letters to the editor June 25, 2009:

“As an investor in Crossroads Television System and a strong supporter of Crossorads Ministries, I felt very satisfied with the letter I received from David Mainse stating that the situation is definitely one of Ron and Reynold being “duped” as you put it, not consciously aware of wrongdoing.”

For some, David Mainse reassurance is enough.
For others it isn’t going to be.
See Mark Peterson’s piece for donors.
http://markpetersen.wordpress.com/2009/06/20/a-donor-drives-down-huntley-street/

Wow you will turn anything into a conspiracy.

VOIP stands for “Voice Over IP” and IP is the protocol that makes the internet work. Many companies use VOIP to connect their phone systems in a region or country. My company uses VOIP to connect all of our offices in North America. Many calls centres use VOIP to allow them to receive calls from multiple regions and time zones and route them to a central location.

“Would elderly, faithful volunteers find Skype or other VoIP difficult to work with?
VoIP can run pre-taped messages, trace calls etc., and it’s a lot cheaper to use.”

VOIP has nothing to do with tapes. Of course like any phone system or voice mail system it can run pre-recorded messages but this has nothing to do with the fact that it is VOIP. VOIP isn’t any harder to use because to the user it is a normal phone. The new Rogers home phone is VOIP – watch the commercials – no difference in how you use it. VOIP cannot trace calls in any different a way than caller-id works on a normal phone.

You did get one thing right, it is cheaper to run (ignoring capital purchase cost) because it uses the Internet instead of paying long distance charges to a phone compnay.

The makers of Tylenol were on top of the story from Day 1.
They kept up on top of the situation until it was resolved.
For their quick action and direct honesty with the general
public, they were rewarded with no loss of market share.

A similar situation happened with Evian bottled water and
they kept on top of the situation from Day 1, also and
did not lose market share.
————
On the other hand, you have the silence of the government
on the Listeriosis situation last year and the reluctance to
be straightforward with the public. Maple Leaf was greatly
hurt in that because of the government’s stalling.

Now there is the situation with 100 Huntley Street and
Crossroads– and its reluctance to come forward and be
honest and forthright from the get-go. This reluctance
sounds as though they don’t have a co-ordinated media
outreach for such situations or they are not administratively
prepared for such a conflagration. The longer the wait,
the greater the damage to the entire operation.

————-

In short, the best PR technique is to be straightforward
from Day 1.

Everyone deserves nothing less than this.
The longer the silence, the greater the doubt about
the veracity of any statement. A recent Iranian
election should bear out that fact.

Curious, isn’t it that a Christian mission organisation
seems to be lacking in principled leadership and
internal discipline. It’s like the aging maple tree
that was on the front lawn more than 15 years ago.
The city wanted to cut it down and I said it looked
healthy. When I came back from errands, the
city forestry workers showed me the mealy texture
of the inside of the tree. It was rotting from the
inside outwards and only time would tell when it
would collapse on a passing person or car.

In both cases, Crossroads and the maple tree,
there is something greatly deficient at the core.

Is it now too late to save it?