I got back from a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with extended family last night just prior to the Steelers vs. Ravens game. To tell you how out of touch I was this weekend, I had no clue that Big Ben wouldn’t start last night. (Much to my shock and surprise.)

While watching the pre-game before last night’s game, I made my rounds to the various travel publications to see what else I might have missed over the extended weekend. What wasn’t a shock, or a surprise was seeing YTB prominently placed yet again on the front page of Travel Weekly with the headline YTB: ‘We’re not going away’.

Yes, it’s true, a trade publication has finally ponied up and is preparing the industry that YTB is – like it or not – here to stay.

You can probably imagine how this news is going to sit with some with more twists and outrageous claims in an attempt to turn the tables back to thier own illusions. Others will simply ignore the warning and continue on with the impossible dream of ridding “their” industry of the likes of YTB.

Nadine Godwin took advantage of one of the many Super Saturday events up in New York the previous weekend at the Park Central Hotel on November 21st. The event was hosted by a very magnetic group of TSO’s. If you haven’t heard about or seen Noah Matos, not to worry, you will. He’s one of the most dynamic new Directors in YTB these days.

Based on how Nadine’s story was written, it looks like she was a participant of this New York meeting the way she quoted Scott Tomer and his message to the group of about 100 TSO’s and guests. Unlike other eyewitness “reports” I’ve seen in years past on blogs and message boards, Nadine not only had the guts, but the foresight to actually make her presence known and was able to clarify a number of points in this well written article.

It’s no secret that YTB has been battle tested the last few years. The company has had most everything – including the kitchen sink thrown at it. That comes with the territory when you include the three letter word “MLM”. It brings out some real nut cases – including the high profile ones. One such critic thought he had the power and ability to end the model and the company based on the premise that you pay for the opportunity to recruit others into the business. That’s called a pyramid scheme – which are illegal and ultimately shut down. 

Regardless if you deal with facts or fiction surrounding what is or isn’t a pyramid scheme – YTB is not only still around, but holding meetings and trainings in cities like New York every weekend. Sure the company had changed over the years. Good companies do that. Even profitable companies like Wal-Mart and McDonalds. Have you seen the new McCafé’s sprout up the last 6 months? You know there was a time when you had a choice of a hamburger and cheeseburger (a hamburger with a slice of cheese) when you ordered there – right? YTB has always been a company that likes to introduce new ideas and products. YTB Flowers, YTB Golf, YTB Outdoors and YTB Romance were all products introduced years ago.

Today, YTB has shopYTB for even more income opportunities using a model and a team of people who have proven that ordinary people can produce some large numbers. (Travel Weekly has shown us that for years.) For some reason however, a few in the industry don’t recognize $424 million in travel sales. All they can see and all they ever talk about is the recruiting revenue that’s 1/4 of the total travel sales. YTB didn’t create the pour margins in travel – but we sure have to put up with most of the crap because recruiting revenue pays better. (Which isn’t hard to do.)

Look – I know there are people who can’t wrap their tinny little brains around the Network Marketing business model. While a simple “no thanks” would do, there are those who – for one reason or another – feel the need to dig up every negative aspect they can find about the industry. And if they can’t find it – they make it up just so they have something to do with their time. Doesn’t make much sense to me either – but like I told you last Wednesday – you have to let it go and move on.

They said the the entire travel industry would cut us off – didn’t happen.

They said California would be able to shut us down for being a gigantic pyramid scheme – Instead, we’re putting together franchise documentation.

They said the Class Action filed by the ambulance chasers was powerful. Turned out to be redundant, irrelevant, immaterial and a big ol’ pile of scandalous crap.

They said we’d be bankrupt with the doors closed by the end of last year – no, April – no, Convention – no, third quarter – no, end of this year. Well, you get the idea here – and we’ll continue to read this position until the cows come home.

Point is, that all the claims and speculation about YTB over the years from our critics have been proven wrong over time – and Scott, Kim, and Coach have pretty much been spot on. Why? Because critics don’t have the practical experience that our Founders do to make the right choices. They went through the same garbage with AL Williams when the insurance industry got all bent out of shape about part time insurance agents.

To this day, the organization they built still produces residual income some 30 years later based on the very model and standard YTB was built.

That’s not to say our Founders make all the right choices. They’re also risk takers and there are bound to be mistakes made along the way – nobodies perfect here. However, if I had my choice between three men who’ve been battle tested not once – but twice in this industry and made it – you can bet you’re life who I’m going to side with here.

Thanks for the insight Nadine for those of us who have made the right choice here. And thanks for warning our critics that all the smoke and mirrors that they’ve attempted to throw up over time is clearing out of the way.

Despite all the setbacks, I too, “knew we’d be standing at the end.”

PS - If you're involved with YTB, sign up for our FREE Newsletter. As a Website Owner or Website Seller, we'll keep you up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB.

PPS - Subscribe to the Just Picture It Now RSS feed, (including e-mail) for all the latest posts and updates found right here!

Learn How To Become A Travel Agent

Book Your Travel & Vacations With

Do You ZamZuu?

When I first saw this story in Travel Weekly about Princess doing a survey on the most stressed out cities in the US I was intrigued. I mean – cruise lines have been helping people de-stress for decades. While I wouldn’t consider this survey Pulitzer material, it’s certainly an interesting read for those of us who want to sell more vacations. (If you want Pulitzer, I’ve been telling people for over a decade that a cruise is the best vacation money can buy.)

The Princess survey was done in conjunction with Harris Interactive who specializes in custom market research. The press release also referenced Dr. Kathleen Hall, founder of The Stress Institute, who believes learning how to deal with stress is one of the most important things Americans can do to lead more balanced lives.

According to the survey the top-five things Americans feel will help them achieve better life balance include realizing financial success, improving physical fitness, getting organized and taking more breaks and vacations. Yet one in four Americans aren’t planning to take a vacation in the next year. (Siting “work-related” reasons for not taking one.) As a side note – these same Americans (particularly those living in Washington, D.C.) don’t think the President of the United States should be given any vacation days either.

Here’s the list of America’s Most Stressed Out Cities

1. Chicago
2. Houston
3. Boston
4. Los Angeles
5. San Diego
6. Denver
7. San Francisco
8. Detroit
9. Tampa (tie)
9. Portland, Ore. (tie)
10. Seattle
11. Washington, D.C. (tie)
11. Baltimore (tie)
12. Sacramento
13. Pittsburgh
14. Philadelphia
15. New York
16. Phoenix
17. Atlanta
18. St. Louis
19. Minneapolis
20. Cincinnati
21. Las Vegas
22. Dallas/Fort Worth
23. Miami

Not surprising that the least stressed city in the survey has a major cruise port. (Hummmm)

I found the Princess Press release and the findings are an interesting read. Some of them include that 72 percent of Americas say they do not have balance in their lives, but there is hope. Slightly more than half believe they can achieve life balance in the next five years. The survey also noted that the poor economy is a leading causes for life imbalance, followed by the need to lose weight.

My solution to achieve life balance? I’m going to tote the Princess line here – “escape completely” on a luxury cruise liner for a week. Have someone else do the cooking and cleaning, enjoy the romance of the sea, and there’s something about the turquoise water that just soothes the soul. 

PS - If you're involved with YTB, sign up for our FREE Newsletter. As a Website Owner or Website Seller, we'll keep you up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB.

PPS - Subscribe to the Just Picture It Now RSS feed, (including e-mail) for all the latest posts and updates found right here!

Learn How To Become A Travel Agent

Book Your Travel & Vacations With

Do You ZamZuu?

I don’t know if you saw one of the headlines on the front cover of Travel Weekly’s Power List issue on Monday or not. If you didn’t because you were too caught up in the Power List rankings, I certainly can’t blame you. Regardless of whether you saw the headline or took the time to read the story, it’s another example of why we need to conduct our own due diligence when making any decision.

I’ve told people for years “don’t believe a word I say, unless you can verify it on your own to be true”. I wish I could take credit for such an insightful quote, but I have to give credit where credit is due from individuals who are far more successful than I. I first read this quote at the beginning of “Secret’s of The Millionaire Mind” by T. Harv Ecker, and while I have not listened to Neal Boortz and his syndicated radio show in quite a while, he also quotes this same phrase continually.

With the advent of internet information and the ability to find reviews and opinions on just about any subject you can imagine, it’s not all that difficult finding something you can trust as truth these days. Long before I got involved in YTB I would frequent and post on Cruise Critic. I found it a great resource to ask questions and obtain information about a particular ship, a port of call, or things to do and see while enjoying my favorite form of vacation. Back in March, Cruise Critic and Royal Caribbean came under fire for what Tripso called “paid cheerleaders” who manipulated the board for personal and financial gain. The entire ordeal caused such an uproar that one blogger went as far as calling the Royal Champions “shills” and Royal Caribbean “puppet masters” in his blog.

Now TripAdvisor is facing some of the same issues about the integrity of some of its consumer hotel reviews. It may or may not be of interest that Cruise Critic is a subsidiary of TripAdvisor, but to find this type of manipulation out in the open once again should be noted. News broke about TripAdvisor in early June when another blogger found the following notices, posted in red type above the flagged property’s TripAdvisor rating.

“Message from TripAdvisor: TripAdvisor has reasonable cause to believe that either this property or individuals associated with the property may have attempted to manipulate our popularity index by interfering with the unbiased nature of our reviews. Please take this into consideration when researching your travel plans.”

In all, 92 such notices where found on TripAdvisor, and it has stirred questions concerning how many more reviews have been compromised on the site. When TripAdvisor uncovers hotel employees writing glowing reviews, trashing competitors, persuading guests to remove negative reviews or providing incentives for customers to write positive reviews, it posts the notices. In addition, Travel Weekly reports that TripAdvisor posts this notice regardless of whether TripAdvisor and the property have an advertising relationship.

Both Cruise Critic and TripAdvisor have gained considerable notoriety and respect over the years for its unbiased reviews and opinions when traveling. (Even from me.) Regardless of all the fuss and attention over YTB and claims about being uneducated, untrained, and unqualified to promote destinations, sites like Cruise Critic and TripAdvisor have been regarded as viable sources to collect information to form opinions. Truth of the matter is, people value other peoples experience and the relationships they form either with a site or a person. I’ve participated on a number of forums and sites like Cruise Critic and have used sites like TripAdvisor when researching any subject.

What this all boils down to is integrity. I’ve sat here for several minutes in an attempt to communicate just how we as readers can pinpoint and sense integrity or the lack thereof. It’s a gut instinct that most anyone should be able to ‘out’ when reading. (At least I know I do.) While participating in any forum or blog, I can quickly form opinions on who I can trust and who is blowing smoke simply to manipulate my own beliefs and opinions. If you truly need to understand how all this works, head over to Scam.com or over the NoTravelMLMs and in about two seconds you’ll know what I mean.

Both sites are full of doting parents who need to save you because they don’t believe you have the capability of finding or forming your own opinions. Unlike Cruise Critic or TripAdvisor, if you do form an opinion that differs from theirs…about all I can tell you is good luck with defending it. (Been there, done that, and have a T-shirt they gave me that says so.)

There are many oddities in the Travel Industry and being a doting parent appears to be one of them. While I can appreciate the concern, the way this industry gets all wrapped up in saving everyone goes beyond anything I’ve ever seen. Far too much focus and attention is geared on what’s wrong here, instead of what TripAdvisor has done in attempts to correct the issue.

We are after all adults, and adults should be able to make thier own choices and decisions be it an occupation or a vacation. If the wrong choice is made, we should take responsibility for that choice instead of playing the role of victim. It’s sad to see, especially in a country such as ours that was founded on freedom of expression. Yet there are those who spend all thier time and energy being a watchdog for everyone else and manipulating how you should think and act.

You as an individual have every resource and ability to form your own opinions and choices, especially in this day and age. If it differs from others, so be it. Who’s to say that they’re right and you’re are wrong? (Or vice versa) It’s your life and your choice and that’s what matters most.

I’m okay with that.

Are you?

PS - If you're involved with YTB, sign up for our FREE Newsletter. As a Website Owner or Website Seller, we'll keep you up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB.

PPS - Subscribe to the Just Picture It Now RSS feed, (including e-mail) for all the latest posts and updates found right here!

Learn How To Become A Travel Agent

Book Your Travel & Vacations With

Do You ZamZuu?

The annual Power List from Travel Weekly currently ranks YTB International #25 for 2008 out of a record number of agencies this year with 62 companies with travel sales of more than $100 million. All of the agencies in this years Power List faced a common enemy during the latter part of the year, that being the economy. As we are now at the half way point of 2009, many on this years list are not as optimistic as they once were about travel sales and expect a decline anywhere between 15% – 25% between 2008 and 2009.

The economy is one thing, but when a company such as YTB has to endure fear based attacks from a small, yet extremely loud group of critics who desperately need to control free enterprise and exaggerate every move the company makes, is another. With the legal attacks combined with the mud thrown up on the internet via blogs, forums, and message boards, a year over year increase of any amount should show the stability and resolve of our model for anyone who has two wits about them.

Regardless of which side of the fence you reside, the following numbers appear in Travel Weekly’s 2009 Power List.

– 2008 Sales: $424.1 million
– Employees: 317
– Previous Ranking: 26
– ARC sales of $2.76 million
– 85% of sales from leisure travel
– Hosts 92,383 travel sellers
– Owns Rezconnect Technologies Inc.
– Publicly held

True, some spent the last year focused on creating excuses and never gave YTB a chance to survive and/or make this years Power List. Accusations of bankruptcy or being prohibited from conducting business outright started the second claims were filed by the State of California which magically appeared the day before the YTB’s National Convention in August of 2008. Its sad, but some appeared to have missed or simply forgot that there was a legal process that needed to take place. As we’ve seen so many times before, relying on negative speculation rather than facts can damage ones credibility as some sort of expert.

Few have also knocked the legitimacy of the Power List with any excuse they could come up with. It was last years list with a huge jump from #35 to #26 and 84% growth that more than likely had something to do with the desperate pleas posted for anyone who would listen to in order to stop YTB from co-existing with names like American Express, Carlson Wagonlit, Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, and Priceline.

With so much press and attention on YTB it’s not surprising that Travel Weekly once again made special note of our company in this years list.

One company that has seen its share of headlines recently is YTB (No. 25), a publicly traded multilevel marketer with and ARC appointment and a reported $424 million in travel sales, most of it through a network of tens of thousands of small hosted, work-from-home recruits.

A source of unending controversy since it first gained national attention a few years ago, YTB recently settled an action brought by the State of California that accused the company of operating an illegal pyramid scheme. Even if YTB succeeds in transforming itself into a franchise operation and fulfilling the other terms of the California settlement, the company is likely to remain a galvanizing force for friends and foes alike.

For the purposes of the Power List, however, only one thing matters: total sales. Although this number is not included in YTB’s annual financial report to the Securities and Exchange Commission, it is consistent with a company statement to the SEC.

“During fiscal 2007, the aggregate value of retail travel services that have been booked by our RTA’s and independent franchises surpassed $400 million”. YTB reported in the statement.

The company has stated that the total represents retail travel sales and excludes revenue from other activities.

Like it or not, YTB continues to make headlines in this industry because YTB is a major player when it comes to actual travel sales. A few clearly don’t understand the difference between gross sales and actual income generated from those sales reported in our SEC filings. If some can’t comprehend that it takes $424 million in sales to generate $27 million in actual revenue in the travel industry, I’d question how much they truly understand thier industry. However, because there’s a very clear and distinct fear surrounding MLM and recruiting, all focus and attention points directly at revenue generated from recruiting compared to income generated from travel. Those of us that can make the distinction between the two revenue streams have understood for years how silly such comparisons are. Why the perceptions between apples and oranges and these fears persists after all these years is a question I’ve long given up asking. 

I couldn’t possibly tell you what type of excuses will come from this years list. You can be assured that like other years, something will be pointed out here that will attempt to question the validity and accuracy of this report when it comes to YTB. In order to come up with these excuses however, desperate critics will need to toss out the fact that YTB is one of very few that are publicly traded companies who answer to the SEC. They will also toss out YTB’s appearance on this list for it’s third straight year. And lastly, the special notes surrounding YTB in Travel Weekly’s introduction, like last year will be completely ignored and the beliefs and opinions of these few critics will appear to some as an overriding and dominant fact, instead of desperate pleas for attention to make all things right with thier own little world.

There comes a time when you should stop and look at the reports such as this and compare them with all the excuses we’ve seen over the years. Demands for clarification or additional questions directed at YTB and Travel Weekly have played out for far too long. Both YTB and Travel Weekly don’t appear to be all that concerned, and continue to stick with the same qualifications they always have despite the pleas and concerns.

Some will continue as they always have because changing thier beliefs would be far too upsetting and create too much turmoil. Others however, will begin to see things for what they truly are. If you’re of the latter, I welcome you to the idea of MLM and Travel as major player in the Travel Industry.

PS - If you're involved with YTB, sign up for our FREE Newsletter. As a Website Owner or Website Seller, we'll keep you up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB.

PPS - Subscribe to the Just Picture It Now RSS feed, (including e-mail) for all the latest posts and updates found right here!

Learn How To Become A Travel Agent

Book Your Travel & Vacations With

Do You ZamZuu?

One of the things I love about YTB is the industry recognition we’ve been able to attain. Of course, because it’s YTB, it’s also surrounded with what some might consider “controversy”. YTB has been a part of Travel Weekly’s Power List the last two years and there’s no reason to believe that we won’t be part of the annual publication again later this month. YTB has also gained recognition from Princess as a Top Agency Producer, Apple Vacations Platinum Award, and of course most recently YTB’s 4th Pinnacle Award from Carnival.

You might think it would be somewhat difficult to argue that YTB has made a significant impact as a Travel Agency. Unfortunately, some can’t get past the recruiting aspect of YTB Marketing to allow themselves to look at YTB as anything other than an MLM. Even more unfortunate, because they can’t look past that aspect of that business model, many have spent a considerable amount of time attempting to discredit or diminish YTB’s accomplishments as a legitimate Travel Agency model.

After all these years of awards and recognition, I’m no longer going to call this controversy however, I’m going to call it as I see it.

Nothing more than excuses.

Many thought that YTB’s first appearance in Travel Weekly’s Power List back in 2007 as the 35th largest Seller of Travel Services consisted of nothing more than “recruiting sales”. A variance of about $125 million between recruiting sales found in our SEC filings and travel sales reported by Travel Weekly. The variance didn’t matter much to critics. They only needed to come up with something to discredit YTB’s existence on the Power List.

When travel weekly came out with last years Power List with a jump to #26, Travel Weekly was kind enough to document that the numbers came only from direct travel sales, not referrals or any other nonqualified revenues.

The excuse we’ve heard in 2008/2009 is that half of the sales came from our RezConnect partners in New Jersey as “third party sales”. I’m hearing rumblings that excuse will also be put to rest this year in an attempt to educate and document keeping the spin from critics to a minimum. If what I’ve been told is true, you’ll realize just how little critics really know and understand about our company, the industry, and how Travel Weekly tabulates thier findings in this annual publication.

Travel Weekly has taken a considerable amount of heat over the last two years because they have accepted YTB as a legitimate seller of travel. Many have pointed fingers at Travel Weekly stating that Travel Weekly is being played for a sucker when it includes YTB in the annual Power List. Travel Weekly has given YTB an opportunity to respond to this criticism over the years, and has made several statements of thier own that YTB not only qualifies, but belongs right where it is on the Power List. There have been a number of articles which are linked to all over this blog from various travel publications that not only speak to YTB’s legitimacy in this industry as a Travel Agency but how productive our model truly is.

Most recently there have been attempts to spin, discredit, or excuse Carnival’s Pinnacle Award as nothing more than a simple recommendation from our BDM Ann Sedgwick. The fact that Ann was even asked via several e-mails and/or phone calls asking her to verify that this was in fact our 4th Pinnacle in as many years should cement how desperate (or just board) some critics are to find something they can use to take this recognition away. Ann, being smart, differed any questions to the Corporate Office and critics took the Corporate response and somehow twisted the response to mean that YTB’s Pinnacle was awarded based soley on Ann’s “recommendation”.

True, Ann did recommend YTB as a Top Seller in her area, which was then thrown into the mix to tabulate all agency sales from all BDM recommendations. All Agency recommendations were then selected based on certain sales criteria and ability to exhibit excellence in promoting and selling the Carnival product.

It’s getting harder and harder for critics to come up with excuses when there’s documentation like this that should stop them dead in thier tracks. Please note that I said “should” there, because in reality it doesn’t. They either move on ignoring any documentation, or attempt to throw out more questions in an attempt to take the focus of themselves. Nobody likes to be proven wrong and most will get extremely defensive when called out. You might consider it human nature, but from what I’ve learned over the years, getting defensive is nothing more than a “learned response”, much like the response they have towards MLM.

Monkey see…monkey do.

But it is getting harder and harder to keep up with their charade. The law suit that was filed in California to shut YTB down turned out to be nothing more than smoke and mirrors when it was all said and done. (We are still in business in case you hadn’t heard.) Law suits happen. It’s part of being in business, especially when you change an industry the way YTB has. Heck, take a look at what happened to Expedia a couple weeks ago when they got slapped with $184 million judgment. Makes YTB’s $1 million settlement look like chump change.

But nobody talks about Expedia, nor is there any fear of Expedia going out of business. Most of Expedia’s clients wouldn’t have a the first clue about a judgment like this. (Why would they even care?) But with YTB, somehow it’s different because of the phobias surrounding MLM. Yet, in all the years I’ve been booking travel with YTB “MLM” has never been an issue. Why? Because I don’t recruit clients, and based on two years worth of Income Disclosure Statements, neither does the rest of the company. Recuriting is reserved for about 10% of the entire company based on the facts and documentation.

Most in YTB sell travel provided by the supporting documentation in Travel Weekly, and awards from Carnival, Princess, Apple, and also supported in our own Income Disclosures.

Thus the “controversy” that still surrounds YTB and it’s business model comes to a close. I can’t tell you how long we’ll have to endure the “excuses” in an attempt to make it look like “controversy”. About all I can tell you is that there is enough documentation out there right now to expose the controversy for what it really is.

Time will tell. For myself however, I’ve made the transistion and need to call this spade a spade.

PS - If you're involved with YTB, sign up for our FREE Newsletter. As a Website Owner or Website Seller, we'll keep you up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB.

PPS - Subscribe to the Just Picture It Now RSS feed, (including e-mail) for all the latest posts and updates found right here!

Learn How To Become A Travel Agent

Book Your Travel & Vacations With

Do You ZamZuu?

You just never know where the next round of “news” is going to come from these days. Of course when I say “news”, there is no news in the travel industry unless it contains three letters…Y-T-B.  The flurry of press this past month has been so immense that it can be difficult keeping up with it all. Two weeks ago when our financials were released and the final settlement was announced, there were 35 Google Alerts for YTB for the week. (News stories that wrote about YTB.) Everyone from industry publications to main stream media sources had something to say about a company that many thought would be written off by now.

The apparent “lock” on putting an end to YTB with Jerry Browns suit back in August and claims of a “gigantic pyramid scheme” had staunch critics giddy. It was abundantly clear that the goal of this suit was to shut YTB down. What was supposed to be a suit filed for all the Reps and RTA’s that lost out due to unfair and misleading marketing practices came up $14.9 million short of it’s intended goal.

In addition, I’m seeing some real frustration now in our critics over how were still recruiting people into the business. I have to admit, and I know it’s shallow, but I am enjoying seeing how frustrated critics are over their recruiting phobia.

California was suppose to put an end to all that. Yet, here we are, still in business and continuing to sell travel web sites as a “website seller” to anyone who wants one. Our booking engine continues to work without a hitch. (Keyed in a new cruise booking for a former co-worker last night as a “website owner”.) For those of us who have been working this business the right way all along, there really isn’t much that’s changed, except for the verbage we us.

Those that took my advice weeks ago when the settlement was announced and actually looked at the legal documents instead of the spin, realized how little has changed. Sure, we’re a far different company than we were 2 years ago. Much of that is due to the discussions we had with California when they changed some legislation at the beginning of 2007. Once we were able to work through the issues over credentials we continued to make changes with an income disclosure document. We also added a statement that you could be an RTA for under $500, and there was no cost to become a Rep with the company. You could be one, the other, or both. In addition, there has been a California statement that not everyone makes money with YTB in place for well over 18 months now.

I’m certainly not a mind reader, and by no means did I have any type of inside track when it came to what California was attempting to do with all these changes. My guess is that they wanted to slow the recruiting down, and because what they mandated didn’t slow the company in the least, the suit was filed as a last resort. Truth be told, the changes actually made the company better, and it’s no coincidence that California came to the forefront recruiting wise when the changes in credentials, income disclosure, the disclaimers about two companies, and the disclosure about income potential worked to our advantage instead of disadvantage. Who knew?!

In fairness, the suit worked to a certain degree. The mere mention of a law suit scared a lot of people and many left because of the uncertainty. Guys like me however stuck around to see how California was going to pull of this miracle of proving that someone pays YTB for the opportunity to recruit others into the business. A very tall order indeed. I wish I could say it was fun to watch, but that wouldn’t be honest. Frustrating was more like it. But as in everything that happens in life, the truth always has a way of coming to the surface. Because we’re still in business, I’ll take the settlement as a firm “NO” we are not a pyramid scheme.

While keeping up with the blogs and message boards, I see far too many excuses, and far too much spin for me to really stomach right now. I do wonder why so many of the critics need to put things into their own words instead of relying on the actual court documents to prove their point. My guess is that the documents don’t mean what they want it to, so they insert their own words so they can have their way. Now that we have the legal document to show folks, it makes little difference to me what they say. The court document filed is all anyone needs to be concerned with when it comes to what YTB is or isn’t, what YTB can or can not do. Critics who want to make excuses or make it sound like something else can go pound sand.

Sorry…

Now that the dust is starting to settle a bit and the flurry of activity surrounding YTB has died down, some are looking at our company once again. Some may be doing it because they were told we were shut down, but yet find me still writing about the company. Others have heard so many variations as to what this settlement means that their head is spinning and want to find out what really happened. Still others, got so sick of the trash talking that they wanted to remove themselves from all the emotion and wait until tempers settled before they took the time to look at what really happened.

Others are actual reporters who want to help set the record straight. I have to tip my hat to Nadine Godwin once again for a very fair and mostly accurate article she posted yesterday. I know Nadine was in the dog house during the week of the settlement with most of our company. To be honest, I was even taken a little aback with the way she reported during that week. She’s a reporter, and she’s going to write what she feels is the best way to report the news at the time. It’s not her fault that the information supplied by Jerry Brown and his press release was a complete fabrication of what actually happened. I can’t expect anyone outside of the company to have the same understanding of who we are and what we do. Nor can we expect everything reported just the way we want it to be. I happen to like Nadine and think both her and George Dooley from Travel Agent Central write the most balanced pieces out of anyone I’ve read who reports on YTB.

Do I agree with everything they say? No.

Do I like everything they write? No.

Have both of them pulled what I consider bonehead moves when it comes to reporting? Absolutely.

They’re human, and like the rest of us, they have the freedom to form their own conclusions about what they read and hear. Just because they write something I don’t like however, doesn’t mean I have to hate them, nor do I have to take ownership of what they write. Both Nadine and George have been around this industry for a long time. Nadine not only writes for Travel Weekly, but she’s also a published author, (Travia: The Ultimate Book of Travel Trivia) and the fair and balanced pieces she’s done far outweigh the one sided articles.

I invite you to read her findings, without edit or input from me. I would encourage you to steer clear of the comments that are starting to roll in at this time. When people can’t figure out that Travel Weekly reports “gross” sales numbers and the SEC filing report the “revenue” generated from those sales, the people commenting might not be the best source to consider taking advice from. (Not the sharpest tools in the shed.)

While I don’t agree with everything in this article, nor do I understand why we can’t compare $414 million in gross travel sales against $122 million in gross website sales as a barometer of what YTB focuses on, I’m not going to argue the point here an now.

There are many myths about our company, and we need to take baby steps when educating those who truly want to find out the truth about YTB.

Like the settlement filed with the courts, this article is simply one more step to help set the record straight. The Travel Weekly Power list will be out in late June for 2008, and I’ve heard of what was submitted to Travel Weekly to help clarify things even further for everyone. We’ll help clarify things for everyone once that is released and we see how YTB stacks up against the others.

For now, take what Nadine has written to help dispel many of the myths and lies we’ve heard about. But please, don’t worry yourself with pointing any of this out to the critics. I can assure you, they have no interest in being called out or corrected about what they’ve been spinning.

That’s a rock you can leave alone. Just know that the truth is starting to uncover the lies, myths and misconceptions that are out there and with a little more work and documentation that will continue to come out, most will have a clear understanding of who is spinning and who isn’t.

PS - If you're involved with YTB, sign up for our FREE Newsletter. As a Website Owner or Website Seller, we'll keep you up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB.

PPS - Subscribe to the Just Picture It Now RSS feed, (including e-mail) for all the latest posts and updates found right here!

Learn How To Become A Travel Agent

Book Your Travel & Vacations With

Do You ZamZuu?

Update: Traditionalists are now adding Delta to the list of “We don’t need no stinkin’“. As they have done back in the mid 90’s and turn of the century what one does, the others follow.

After reading the comments section once again, this time there does seem to be a good solution.

Drop airlines altogether and let them handle the service issues.

——————————————————————

When I saw this Travel Weekly article last week, I wondered if anyone else would pick up on this, and after going back this weekend and seeing over 300 comments, I think it’s safe to say that the CEO of American Airlines struck a nerve. I’ll get to the comments section in a bit, but first I’d like to highlight what could be the next move American Airlines may take to put a nail in more Brick and Mortar Travel Agencies around the country. It’s been noted elsewhere and even corrected here that American Airlines was the first to reduce commissions in the mid 90’s and finally eliminating them altogether early at the turn of the century.

Now in a very bold move…a pipe dream…a flash of insanity the CEO of American Airlines, Gerard Arpey sees a day when the roles are completely reversed to reflect Agencies paying for access to the American Airline product rather than American paying Agents to distribute their product. AA certainly needs to think of something to turn things around after a $375 million dollar loss and a 15% drop in revenue in the first quarter of 2009. Based on the reaction of so many Traditionalists, something tells me that American might be going from the frying pan into the fire with this idea of Agents paying American now, which for the moment has gotten more attention than YTB. (Trust me, that’s hard to do.)

When you look at the comments section of the article you find (yet again) a very bitter, angry, and demanding group who needed to tell this CEO that they don’t approve. Don’t get me wrong, there are a few well spoken and creative ideas mixed in among the 311 comments, but the vast majority of the comments are simply spouting off how angry they are at this idea of getting shafted once again by the airlines.

What’s surprising to me is that I found several comments (if someone wants to count how many feel free) in line with “We don’t need no stinkin’ AA” which is often thrown up as an excuse by YTB when it comes to RCL and NCL. A boycott of American Airlines appears to be the move most Traditionalists seem to favor to combat this “dream” as a united voice of “Well show you who controls this industry”. I for one found it interesting that the same terminology was used by many from the Tradionalist crowd as a way of making them feel important.

I also found it interesting that this CEO doesn’t know how the travel industry actually works. There seems to be some sort of magical algorithm in place that only Traditionalist know about in order to be accepted into the fold. In this case Gerard is made out to be some snotty MBA type who is paid millions off the back of the hard working foot soldiers who pay his salaries. (Agent themselves who promote and sell his product.) And while we’re on the subject of “wealth envy”, which is what this is all about anyway, Agents praise a bailout for themselves, which was finally passed after a second push, but it’s pointed out as nothing more than greed and wasted expense when it comes to the airlines.

When you lose $375 million in a quarter, they do have a point.

Honestly, some of the comments are extremely entertaining, while others make me wonder how some have been able to survive as long as they have. Still others beg the question why they’re still in the industry with all the injustice going on that makes them nothing more than victims. When margins fell below what I thought was acceptable to live off of in the Home Entertainment Industry, I got out and moved on to something else, while others stayed on to the very end when the company finally went bankrupt.

These are very interesting and difficult times in this industry, and I’m sure venting about such things like this make some feel better, but after looking at majority of the comments I have to question where any solution can be found to help any of these agents stay in business or be happy.

But as we have seen so many times before with YTB, the best answer to solve one’s problem is elevating your temper and spouting off with threats and empty promises. While I haven’t checked, like YTB, I suspect that none of Traditionalists actually own American Airlines, and this is a free country.

Unfortunately, all that is thrown out the window when you work in the Travel Industry. You simply don’t have the freedom to think about or choose to do things any different from the way some believe it should be.

Heaven help you if you do because like I’ve seen so many times before you’ll feel the rath of a very bitter and angry segment of this industry.

PS - If you're involved with YTB, sign up for our FREE Newsletter. As a Website Owner or Website Seller, we'll keep you up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB.

PPS - Subscribe to the Just Picture It Now RSS feed, (including e-mail) for all the latest posts and updates found right here!

Learn How To Become A Travel Agent

Book Your Travel & Vacations With

Do You ZamZuu?