Trust, Dan O’Day, Lies and other thoughts

(UPDATED NOTE: The links should now all be working again.)

A year ago my long time mentor Dan O’Day reached out to me to ask if I would be willing to link on my blog to some videos he was preparing about a series of teleseminars on audiobook narration and production that he was going to conduct with David H. Lawrence XVII.The series was and is called the ACX Master Class.

I watched the videos and, though I didn’t agree with every word, thought they were worth sharing. So I did. A few people clicked through and I know at least one of my friends signed up for the ACX Master Class. I also know she enjoyed the experience a great deal and has good things to say about the value of the experience and what she learned.

On the other hand, there have been lots of words spilled by way of attack on what Dan and David are teaching, and in particular on the way they are presenting and promoting these classes.

As I said above, I don’t agree with every single thing said. (Or, maybe it would be more accurate to say that I personally would have presented some of the information in a different way.)
One specific example is in the new video that Dan has prepared to answer some questions that have been raised and to respond to some of the criticism leveled at the class and the promotion of it. Personally, I would not have included the names and/or images of the people being critical of the ACX Master Class or its promotion.

If you would like to know more about the specific approach to audiobooks that Dan and David are teaching again this year, check out the latest video.
By way of a conclusion to this blog post, I want to offer a few thoughts for those who wonder about my connection to Dan and why I am posting these messages and links to these videos. The fact is, Dan has offered to pay me a commission of $200 for each person who signed up for the ACX Master Class and identifies me as the reason they are taking the class.
But I am not posting this information in hopes of getting lots of commissions. In fact, if you decide to sign up for the class, unless you specifically and fervently want me to get that commission, I’m asking you not to put my name down as the reason you made that decision. This blog is not a source of revenue for me. I don’t do affiliate links except under very rare circumstances and then only when I identify that exactly is going on. Though as I am typing this note, I realize that I failed to make note of this information in my blog post from a few days ago. This blog has always been a place for me to write about what I have learned in my 30 plus years of doing voiceovers professionally and to link to things I think you might want to know about.
So, back to Dan O’Day. I have known Dan personally since the summer of 1997. I met him online in a forum on CompuServe a couple of years before that. Over the years, every time I have signed up for one of Dan’s classes or seminars, I have received value well above what I paid. I know Dan to be a man who consistently delivers what he says he will deliver, and most of the time more than that.
While I don’t know him as well as I do Dan, I know David H. Lawrence XVII to be a person of significant talent and insight, with a reputation as an excellent teacher.