I received a random unsolicited phone call the other day from a woman claiming MY NAME was chosen "from hundreds of applicants" to be included in the 2011 Continental WHOS WHO. I declined, but have received several more call. So I decided today to have some fun with her on the phone.
She said she needed to ask me some biographical questions to qualify me for this :huge honor". EH HEM!.yeah.........anyway. Every question I answered was given a "great, wow, superb, excellent" by this woman. Basic stuff such as whats your profession, how long have you been in your current profession etc. So here is where I started to yank her chain a bit. I started to really say some off the wall crap. Just to see what the response I would get would be. I told her I was next in line to be considered for the position of Dali Lama, "wow that is a great accomplishment". I told he I was helping NASA design a new space program which was top secret..."You are just the kind of elite person we are looking for, you sure do qualify".....
Obviously the nonsense I was saying to her was NOT TRUE, but she didn't care.
I asked her if I could have some time to research their organization so I could consider if it was for me. NONONO!!!!! We need to know right now because of the exclusivity of our program, you must make a professional choice...blah blah blah.
I could have told her I was the royal s**t shoveler for the prince of Siam or the reincarnation of Jimmy Hoffa.....it would have been "perfect"!
I have a feeling they are running out of suckers in the industries they normally target and are now heading to the martial arts crowd. BE AWARE, they make it sound very nice, very exclusive and will play upon the ego making you think "wow, Ive been chosen for this honor"....oh yeah...all for the one time fee of $800 ......
Now Im not one to s**t on what someone else does, I could acre less...but these organizations (pay to play) will RUIN your reputation, and damage the integrity of your martial art.
The real read flags were any thing I said was "absolutely great" and went w/o questioning...even the obviously blatant nonsense I told her to have fun at her expense, as well as the fact that I was not allowed to investigate them and had to "make a decision right now on the phone. All we need is your valid cc number".
Its one thing to belong to an organization, a hall of fame or paying minimal fees for the expenses of that organization to be covered. Its totally different to buy your way in, to sell awards and to risk damaging your good reputation by associating with these phoney's.
CONTINENTALWHOSWHO.COM is their website. I checked out their member list.....um no!!!!!
This woman also told me that they were associated with Forbes magazine and CNN but "this information has not been made public yet"..."we will send them a press release announcing your inclusion to our Whos Who"....I pressed her further with : will those media (Forbes & CNN) publish or broadcast the press release.
Silence the "the press release is sent directly to Forbes & CNN".....she had no answer. I also inquired why the asscociation with Forbes Magazine & CNN have not been made public....again silence then a "um um um ....we try to keep our business private and we dont advertise for members".....THEN HOW DID YOU GET MY EMAIL AND PHONE NUMBER....."um you filled out a form online"....I THOUGHT YOU DIDNT ADVERTISE BECAUSE YOUR SO EXCLUSIVE"....."WELL WE UM...MAYBE SOMEONE RECCOMMENDED YOU".
The entire rest of the conversation was her talking around her own bull crap.
Pass this on......these groups are out to rob you of you cash.....there is no elite nature to them, they are nothing special. Its pay to play.....stay away!
The best part is the ONLY people who will have access to or a copy of their WHO'S WHO "beautifully leather bound" copy of their member listing...IS THE MEMBERS WHO PAID TO BE IN IT! No one else sees it.