Kind of you, but the credit goes to BDBO readers. They have been the truth seekers.

They have shown concern for investors who have chosen silence, concern for employees, concern about a lot of issues surrounding religious broadcasting in Canada.

Crossroads Christian Communications Inc. is a charity.

I wrote Crossroads and asked who is on their board.
I didn’t get an answer.
I wrote CTS and asked who is on their board.
I didn’t get an answer.

I thought Canadian charities provided board information on request.

What names I have pre-Simmonds were gleaned from:

a) screenshots off the corporate page
b) Revenue Canada Charities (Crossroads Christian Communication Inc)
c) previous organization newletters available online

Is the board I cobbled in a comment this summer the current board?
I doubt it given the turmoil this ministry is in and the goverance changes noted in The Canadian Council of Christian Charities August 2009 statement, and the delayed announcement of Donald Simmonds as Chair and CEO.

If BDBO readers ask Crossroads and CTS who is on their current boards and receive an answer, I’d be grateful if they’d post it.

Revenue Canada Agency T3010 2008 Crossroads Christian Communications Inc.
Directors/Trustees and Like Officials

Brad Bell
Kerry Carmichael
George Glover
Faith Goodman
Garth Jestley
Steven Novoselac
John Raymer
Glenn Rau

You sound well informed. Could you indicate who the directors of Crossroads are, or where such information could be found?

Hmm. The spiritual foundations of Crossroads have sustained disturbances of seismic proportions in recent months.

Ron Mainse showed surprisingly poor spiritual discernment (among other things) in becoming ensnared in the ponzi scheme so why, oh why, has the fellow been appointed spiritual director of Crossroads? Apart from anything else and however one feels about him, the expectation that he should be the spiritual gatekeeper for the organization at this early stage in recovery/ damage control at personal and corporate levels is simply breathtaking.

What is to become of the spiritually beleaguered at Crossroads?

Business people are busy with business, they know their tribe and I doubt any will be bothered to speak up.

I don’t see success or failure with CTS and Crossroads, either it goes the way of all things or not. It was built for all the right reasons, around someone who pulled it all together, built the monument, filled the archives, drove forward with the force of personality all good tv stars have, and time marched on.

TV provides a profound false intimacy, which has been replaced by our computer screens.
Maybe Don Simmonds will put the organization out of commission sooner than later.
We’ll see.

Pentecostals have a way of keeping their saints, and David Mainse, type A driven Canadian charismatic character he was, smiling and crying his way; coaxed all he could, left everything and everyone wrung out, well, he had his day on our TV. And he was very Canadian about it all.

He helped Canadian evangelicals feel good about themselves, and believe they should be players.
He’s down in Florida taping his senior show last I heard.
How appropriate.
Would anyone be surprised if he died on set?
It is who he is, what he knows.
He reigned over his business built on the donations of the faithful, the fans, the true believers.

And the business built on the Julians. And on the Doug McKenzie’s who earned his stripes in his own right, but sublimated his talents and slogged on for God in the shadow of self made celebrity.

Built by everyman who loved media, loved the idea of reaching the world and making it a better place through the boob tube.
Anyone who believes there is gold left to mine in the TV industry will hang on in that ediface and tell themselves they are doing God’s work, and by God you’d better get out of their way and let them do it.

Thousands of them came to pay homage to Oral Roberts, who paved the way for them to say, ‘we belong here’ long after a generation or two had moved on, grown up and got about the business of the kingdom. They paid tribute to their past, what was, and what has (and for awhile more will) put a lot of food on their tables. Mainse made sure he chimed in.

But you don’t see any apologists for 100 Huntley or CTS here at BDBO, any more than you saw a lonely voice or two proclaiming Gordon Driver’s innocence. What few fans of ‘Christian TV’ are left are are cheering on a Facebook page set up for them.
Re-build it and they will come. Only the spiritually beleagured are left.

So what if Don Simmonds puts the economic headstone on Crossroads/CTS?

Someone has to sell off the assets and shut off the lights.

If it isn’t him it’ll be the next board or the next CEO, and if the last zealots don’t, it’ll die of natural causes.

Fudged pr and a flattened company meets a gasping for breath religious media outlet. Seems like the perfect fit.

I have questions about Don Simmonds credentials and his track record. He appears to paint it as a record of success. He is self described as a “serial entrepreneur”. That in it self connotes success. But by most common measures, what he appears to have done at AirIQ over 10 years is succeed – in failure. There does not seem to be any hint of that in the bios.

The question is will his “success” at AirIQ be repeated? Does he have any track record of real success, or has he perhaps used the past real successes of his father’s businesses and draped them on himself? Just asking.

It is also somewhat curious that the Baptist Convention bio, posted in about 2008, refers to Lenbrook as being behind Clearnet (ie “He was one of seven founders of the Lenbrook Group, a private business incubation company perhaps best known for having created Clearnet, one of Canada’s 4 wireless networks sold in 2001 to Telus.”) Yet more recent bios apppear the skip Lenbrook’s role and appear to link only Don Simmonds to the birth, growth and ultimate sale of Clearnet. – See the bio posted above, and also see the bio posted on the Jameson Bank website (“He has founded more than 20 start-up companies during his 30-year business career, many of which have involved wireless and other technologies. Companies he founded include, among others, Clearnet, one of Canada’s three wireless networks, purchased by Telus in 2001;)”

So what does the future hold? History, at times, can help predict the future. AirIQ has lost about $100m, and now appears to be relatively very small company. Could this “success” be repeated? Will Nepotism be employed? If Nepotism is or will be employed, here is one possible course of action for the future, to consider. Not saying it has happened or will happen, just one off many possibilites:

Fire people that are not your own. Hire your relatives and friends, even to fill roles that may not even need filling. Regardless of cost over runs, inefficiency, missed budgets and overall weak financial performance, never ever fire any of your relatives or friends, even if they are very weak at what they do or supposed to do.
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I appreciate the above reference to Don Simmmonds’ daughter. Her website mentions a film series. One film is on “Honesty”. The following appears on the Makeyouthink.tv website:

” The value of honesty is speaking and acting out what is true even when it might not benefit you…
It seems that complete honesty is almost impossible to expect. Lying is now accepted and modeled in all parts of society. We celebrate spinning a conversation to our advantage. We spice up our resumes….”

Spice up our resumes? Who in the world would do that? Certainly not somone that has personally preached honesty!?

http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/craig-simmonds/13/1b9/413

Nice catch.

Older Donald Simmonds son goes into family bank.
Bouncing off his bio we find Muskoka Woods and Eagles Flight.

Eagles Flight is an international business conference program which has partnered with the Marriot in the Muskoka area on Lake Rosseau. Eagles Flight was started in Guelph.

The CEO team at Muskoka Woods partnered with YWAM for at least one project. Muskoka Woods is a Christian Resort on Lake Rosseau.

The leadership development material parallels what Ms. Simmonds is doing with Make You Think TV.

Fayton Enterprises (real estate) which which lists Craig as VP was started by Don Simmonds. Fayton Enterprises registered the domain name for Make You Think TV which is Donald Simmonds daughter’s company.

Bridgepoint Emerging Leaders is listed on the younger Simmonds Linkin as a new fund raising company.

The pr released by Crossroads to ChristianWeek on Don Simmonds is problematic, the Atlantic Baptist bio more so. I can appreciate inhouse publications don’t have professional staff to vet copy, but Crossroads Christian Communications Inc. and CTS are a media business (one branch with charitable status) and hardly in a position to be making this kind of error regardless of the disarray and fallout.

Given the losses of AirIQ and the ponzi scheme scandal with Crossroads, I’m failing to understand why, when information by a media company regarding a CEO appt. is given to a reputable magazine in Canada’s faith community, it isn’t accurate.

Has the Atlantic Baptist bio been updated the past few days?

“He was one of seven founders of the Lenbrook Group, a private business incubation company perhaps best known for having created Clearnet, one of Canada’s 4 wireless networks sold in 2001 to Telus.”

Would the business community familiar with Lenbrook, Clearnet and AirIQ accept this error, given that it is in direct contradiction of reputable copy from Telecom, and Lenbrook?

As to nepotism, the Simmonds family and the Mainse family got to where they were by keeping their business in their families. The operative word is business.

Julian is far from the only one who has spoken up about nepotism at Crossroads over the years.

I don’t think anyone knows how many Mainse family members went through Crossroads, CTS.
Mr. Simmonds as CEO and board chair isn’t going to be turfing his family members if he has been brought in to clean up, they seem positioned in his other family businesses. His daughter’s company, probably, her ties to Crossroads are deep. We’ll see.

(Interesting to note that Don Simmonds bio found in the above site reads “Don is known as a “serial entrepreneur”, having started over 20 new ventures in the last 30 years.” Note it does not read “started with others”, but “started”.)

But back to the possible issue of Nepotism and its possible practice. Craig Simmonds’ LinkedIn page lists his experience.

Here is a hint. The third item is “Project Analyst” at Jameson Bank. Not bad career start, just out of school.

Now, try a google search with “Simmonds Jameson Bank”. Who comes up?

Definition of “Nepotism” – the favouring of relatives or friends, especially by giving them jobs.

If this did/does happen, there is nothing illegal about it. But what are the chances that a relative is the best applicant for the job? Really what are they? Maybe one in ten thousand? Or 1 out of 100k, or more?

Should people in influential and trusted postions not try thier very best to hire the very best person for the job? Does the organization they represent not deserve at least that? Further, do potentially more capable people not deserve an equal chance at the job?

And if – if – nepotism has or will be practiced, what does it possibly tell you about the person that may be doing the practicing?

I’m enjoying your provocative questions.

http://www.telecomhall.ca/
The Telecom Hall of Fame entry (2008) says Donald Simmonds has:

“…been primarily involved in its strategic development and the start up and early operating phases of many of the ventures incubated from within the Lenbrook group.”

No argument from anyone some of the family was and are accomplished and outstanding.
Interestly the more accomplished do not see a need to put out press releases on themselves that are untrue.

According to Donald Simmonds Baptist bio (has to be 2008 because of years married corresponds to the 2008 entry) there are two sons.

One an economics major and one a Phys Ed major.
Hmmm, around 23 and 22.

Okay I’ll bite. Your operative word being ‘very.’
He hired youngest, the Trinity Phys Ed son?
To do what?

Has Mr. Simmonds (through his deal with Crossroads) hired (re-hired?) his daughter’s company yet?
http://www.makeyouthink.tv/MakeYouThink/index.html

Ms. Simmonds old show (Truth Quake) still airs on NRB, and is on 100 Huntley kids (26 episodes) and the Australian Christian Channel.

Is Don Simmonds the person to address such a problem?

Why did Don Simmonds father, David Simmmonds, allow his son, Don Simmonds to become CEO of AirIQ in 1997? Because Don Simmonds was the best possible person for the job?

Does Don Simmonds have a record of hiring family members himself? Maybe someone should ask if he has hired his very young son for anything recently.