Did YTB Acquire American Destinations? Yes or No?

Recently, I posted a blog about YTB having acquired American Destinations, Inc. (ADI). As soon as I posted it, John Frenaye attacked me and told me "Nice Try. Now try telling the truth." I didn't understand his note, nor did I understand why he was accusing me of lying. In my confusion and because I did want to double-check my facts, I immediately took my blog post down to do further research. In my research, I listened to a YTB Getting Started Call where I heard Jeanie Sharpless and ADI Founder and CEO, Curtis Edwards talk about the acquisition. OK, I thought. It is true. So I reposted the original blog post.

Of course, the tenacious Mr. Frenaye in the interim had published a very nasty post about me being a liar on his "MLMs and Travel: A Bad Mix" blog, so the drama that I thought was over, had only just begun. To keep up the drama, John sent me several other nasty little comments that I refused to publish on my blog. After a while, I thought, this is stupid. Let me talk to him directly, so I picked up the phone and called him. I'd tried emails, but he never seemed to receive those. I later found out that I might have been sending them to the wrong address.

So yesterday, I called John and we had a very long talk: about YTB, the travel industry, our positions as RTAs, you name it -- we talked about it. After our conversation, John did apologize for handling the matter the way he did with me, and he posted his apology on his blog. I thought that was a nice touch. John seemed to understand that I was only posting what I believed to be true... not deliberately posting lies (as he had originally believed) so I could build my business.

I was glad that John and I had cleared things up between us, but that wasn't good enough for me, because I honestly wanted to know the truth about the rumored YTB acquisition of ADI.

In my quest for the real deal, I sent support tickets to YTB, contacted the company's travel support team, and emailed Jeanie Sharpless. After several days and several contacts made, here's what I found out:

Apparently, there was indeed an announcement made about the acquisition of ADI by YTB at the Richmond Travel Training event. According to Jeanie Sharpless, the announcement was made by YTB Travel CEO, J. Kim Sorensen, and the founder and CEO of ADI, Curtis Edwards, who was there to confirm it. The problem, however, is that while this merger is on the planning table and discussions between the two companies are taking place, and maybe they are even close to finalizing the details... TODAY, it is still in the planning stages, and the acquisition has not yet been confirmed. In the excitement of the possibilities of this merger actually taking place, it was announced. It probably shouldn't have been, but it was. You know how excited we humans can get about things. Anyway, since more legal work must be done before it is a DONE DEAL, for now, the answer to the question at hand is "NO" YTB has not acquired ADI... at least not yet. But believe you me... as soon as it is final (and let's pray that it will be soon!) I'll be one of the first to let you know!

John, in a very strange and dysfunctional way, has been a blessing. I'm sure he didn't intend to because he really is passionate about his disdain for YTB and all MLM travel companies. Still, he did force me to do my due diligence to ensure that what I was reporting was accurate, so... for that, I must say "thank you" to John Frenaye. I only wish he was not a hater of all things YTB. If that weren't the case, perhaps we could even be friends.

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Regina Osei is a successful mentor and coach who teaches her YTB Team members and other business owners how to succeed in business and how to market their businesses using diverse strategies and approaches both online and offline. If you are interested in starting your own online travel business and want the benefit of a mentor who is committed to your success, join our team today at http://regina.vacationmedia.net. If you have questions, e-mail me at: reginaosei@gmail.com or call 901-221-1630(1)

THANK YOU HERO: DOUG BAUKNIGHT

Everyone at some time or another, needs a HERO. A HERO as I define it, is someone who, regardless of the risks, irrespective of the personal danger or attacks, and without taking into consideration how they could be negatively impacted, will selflessley put him or herself on the line, in potential harm's way for the sake of rescuing, aiding or saving another person. With this in mind, I want to take this opportunity to personally thank and applaud MY HERO, and someone that I consider to be a hero to all YTB RTA's: Mr. Doug Bauknight.

Doug Bauknight is a YTB Travel professional who I have never had the pleasure of meeting personally, but I was introduced to via his newsletter Just Picture It Now by a mutual friend. After a first read of Doug's newsletter, I found it to be so informative and enlightening that I immediately became a subscriber and to suggested to my team that they subscribe as well. Until very recently, that was pretty much the extent of my relationship with Doug. That is, until a few days ago.

A few days ago, I learned from one of my RTAs that YTB had "acquired" American Destinations. He had heard it on a Director's Call. I later learned that the announcement had been made at the recent Richmond Travel Training and that it was also archived on last Monday night's "Getting Started in YTB" conference call. This was beyond exciting news, and the potential for growth, for increasing our offerings to our clients and to build our businesses, was all a part of the excitment. So when I learned this new info, I did not waste time to post it on my blog. This was when the backlash against me began.

After I posted the information about the acquisition (I called it a merger at the time) I started receiving very nasty, negative comments from someone named "John". John, I later learned, was John Freneye, the MSNBC columnist and traditional travel agent who makes it his life's work to personally bring down YTB Travel and anyone associated with the company. In effect, John said in his MLMs and Travel: A Bad Mix blog that I was lying. For a moment, I was taken aback by him because 1. I didn't know him and he didn't know me, so I didn't understand why I was being attacked by him because of my post and 2. I was only posting what I had heard from what I believed to be reliable sources. Still, since I had been challenged and because I didn't want to be posting anything untrue, I wanted to check further, so I put my post in "editing" mode. What did I do that for? Apparently, John had put together his malicious "Wife, Mother, Minister... Liar" blog post, written solely to vilify me by then. When he learned that my original post was no longer visible, that was all he needed to know. He was delighted to then send me a note telling me that I was not only a liar but also a coward who lacked integrity.

By this time, Doug had become aware of John's post. He immediately sent me an apologetic note. I had not seen it and didn't know about it at that time. When I did see it, I was floored. Not only were the words offensive, questioning and maligning me as a person and as a minister of the Gospel, but the visual that he chose, a young child "flipping the bird" is simply inexcusable. Doug was outraged, as was I and many others. He lost no time posting a rebuttal to what John had written, on his Just Picture It Now blog.

The purpose of this post is to honor and simply say, "Thank You" to Doug. Doug is not only an advocate for me, but also for the rights of RTAs everywhere to be able to freely promote, advertise and build our businesses on our websites, blogs, newsletters, etc. without fearing the retribution and outlandish slap downs as those that have been perpetrated upon me by John Freneye. Doug has requested that everyone who does not support John's tactics to simply post your own comments on his Just Picture It Now blog or write about it in your own blog and cite his link or both. Clearly, John Freyene is a hater of everything YTB. He has gone to great lengths to damage the reputation of the YTB and its agents wherever he finds them, as is clearly expressed in his blog. Doug's response to John's post is one way of combatting John's efforts to debilitate and degrade.

What Doug has done tells more about him and his character than I can ever articulate. He is a man of high integrity, courage and faith. I believe that we all owe Doug Bauknight a debt of gratitude and thanksgiving for the stance that he has taken on this issue. THANK YOU DOUG... for standing up for me, but not only me, for all YTB RTAs and the rights of MLMers everywhere to work our businesses in peace and freedom. Thank you, Doug, for being our HERO!

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Regina Osei is a successful mentor and coach who teaches her YTB Team members and other business owners how to succeed in business and how to market their businesses using diverse strategies and approaches both online and offline. If you are interested in starting your own online travel business and want the benefit of a mentor who is committed to your success, join our team today at http://regina.vacationmedia.net. If you have questions, e-mail me at: reginaosei@gmail.com or call 901-221-1630(1)