A number of SoCon 08 attendees have found they 'met' a new friend at the event this past weekend. It seems that Jack Scherer of The Sales Group (sorry no link for you), subscribed all the attendees to his sales newsletter. Nice.

Jack, in your e-mail to me you said we recently 'met'. I'm really sorry, I don't remember meeting you. Of course it could be my bad....I did meet a bunch of new people at SoCon08 and sometimes I forget names. So....if you could refresh my memory about when we 'met' and 'talked':

1. What did we talk about?

2. During our 'meeting' what did I say that lead you to believe that I'd be interested in receiving your sales newsletter? I mean I don't remember saying, "Hey, if you have some great spam on sleazy sales tactics, I'd love to read it."

Thanks in advance for refreshing my memory.

Of course there is another explanation. We never met, and your initial sales pitch to me is based upon a lie. Great way to get new business :-)

Update: A few minutes later and a Google search for "Jack Scherer" shows this. Um...wow.

Update 2: On April 29th I received the following e-mail from Jack:

Josh,
I am responding to your blog listed on my website (www.salestalent.com) on 2/14/08.

1) I met you after your presentation at the SoCon08 at Kennesaw. We spoke about e-marketing and its application to the recruiting industry. My wife was with me and our conversation lasted about 90 seconds.
2) I was sitting in the front row of the auditorium and was introduced by a friend and a client. After that introduction, I raised my hand to speak and I mentioned that I was interested in meeting people during the conference who had recruiting techniques that were passive in their approach. I mentioned that we were in the sales recruiting and sales training business and that we were interested in other techniques for recruiting candidates, other than using Monster and Careerbuilder. I also said that we publish a monthly newsletter, Driving Profit, which I emailed to the database from the SoCon08 list.
3) As a result of my presentation, I met some very interesting people. One was an attorney who then visited us in our office. I spent two hours with him, giving him marketing ideas to help him launch his new business. There was NO fee for my service.
4) I am not a liar. Quite to the contrary. Consider the following…
a. Elected to the parish council of my church for 3 years
b. Director of a Career Ministry for the last 7 years that helps people network through our church. This ministry has helped many people in their quest to network and refine their job-seeking skills
c. I have provided numerous sales and marketing seminars for the following colleges and associations, as well as many businesses:
- University of Georgia
- Georgia Tech
- Kennesaw State University
- Furman University
- National Association of Women Business Owners
- SHRM (Society of Human Resource Mangers)
- GAPS (Georgia Association of Personnel Services)
- Georgia Society of CPAs
- TAG (Technology Association of Georgia)
d. We have received excellent reviews from these associations and organizations. For specific comments, please visit our website at www.salestalent.com
e. The newsletter that we publish was the driver for my new book “21 Laws of Sales Success” which will be published this year.

In conclusion, I do not feel that your blog is a fair portrayal of Jack Scherer and The Sales Group. I would appreciate it if you would remove this blog by April 30th. It creates a negative image of The Sales Group which has earned a fine reputation during the last 17 years in business.

I responded to Jack that I don't remember talking to him, but what concerned me was that a number of people received similar e-mails/pitches. I also said that I don't remove blog posts, but that I would be willing to post his response, which I have.

I think overall, the larger issue at hand is that he doesn't seem to feel that e-mailing all the attendees was a bad thing. I (as well as other commenters) disagree.