www.KarenSimmons.info

There's a new site out on the web about Karen Simmons. It's been put up by her old business partner, one who shared a fate similar to mine.

You can read all about it here:

www.KareSimmons.info

My understanding is the site is still being updated and built daily. So keep an eye out for changes.

Seether - Fake It

For the chick sending nasty e-mails and leaving nasty phone messages. Feel free to leave those people alone and say it to me.

The names have all changed but the song remains the same

The question has been asked time and again. Why go public?

The simple answer is to get a response. The more in depth answer follows.



On December 19th, Karen introduced me on the forum as an investor and owner of PWP.


As an owner, I expect to have full access to the accounting. The last entry in the accounting of PWP finances, as provided to me by Karen Simmons, is dated January 7th. However many times I've asked for the accounts to be updated, and however many times as Karen promised to update those records, it never happened.

As explained in a previous post, eventually I was able to download PWP's income from the back end of the board. I put together a spreadsheet and came to the conclusion PWP should have $15,ooo in funds available when Karen was telling me we had nothing.

I waited to speak with Karen face to face. I wanted my message to be clear. We can talk about this. We can work this out.

We spoke on Saturday, September 22nd. She promised me a full accounting by Wednesday, Sept 26th.

The speaking? It didn't go so well. It never moved much beyond "We need to talk. We can work this out." So I handed her the letter from my lawyer which demanded a full accounting of all revenues and expenses of PWP by Friday, September 28th.

On Monday, October 8th - A full 10 days past the deadline my lawyer set, 12 days past the date Karen said she'd have the accounting to me, we hadn't heard a word from anyone. So I tracked down the lawyer she is using.

Her lawyer asked for two days to respond, until Wednesday the 10th. After blowing past the initial deadline, they didn't call. They didn't fax. They didn't overnight. They sent a letter regular mail. We finally received our first contact On Monday, October 15th. At that point, we were 17 days past the date set by my lawyer.

And what was enclosed in the letter? A bunch of photocopied receipts. Not a full accounting of INCOME and expenses. And the letter? Barely touched on the issues we brought up.

A simple Google search taught me the best way to get Karen to respond is to make the issue public. And it was becoming increasingly clear that Karen was not inclined to respond. My attorneys were getting nowhere, and I was getting nowhere with the communication efforts we'd tried over the weeks that led up to my blogging. As a last ditch effort, I blogged. And as I suspected, it elicited a response.

Going public is a nasty business. One I had hoped to avoid. But I will do what I can to recoup my investment. It doesn't hurt that I may be able to help a few others by sharing my experiences.

Oh. And while we're at it.

My lawyers aren't telling me not to talk. They are telling me to make damn certain anything I say can be proven in a court of law.

Claire Dancy can be proven in a court of law.

And I believe the finances can be proven in a court of law. So do my lawyers.

All the noise on PWP

I have invested over $16K in PWP.

As an owner, acknowledge on PWP and in the letter from Karen's lawyer, I fully expect all my owner rights and privileges to be reinstated. At this time I can read threads, but not post and I can no longer receive or send PM's.

With regard to the funding issues, Karen has not provided documentation as to where $15K in missing revenue revenue from PWP advertising, membership fees, and seminars fees has disappeared to. The receipts my lawyer received from Karen's lawyer are receipts that are, for the most part, already included in PWP's expenses. What this means is that there is an accounting of all legitimate expenditures from the PWP, totalling over $15,000 less than the total PWP revenue; however the bank accounts are empty according to Karen.

When I asked Karen about the missing money, I did it when we could be face to face. I provided her with a detailed spreadsheet of the revenue, all of the membership dues, seminar registrations, advertising income, and other miscellaneous income to the board - numbers I got from the back end of the board's software. My spreadsheet also included the expenses she provided me over the last year - legitimate expenditures that totaled more than $15,000 LESS than the actual revenue of the PWP. I asked to talk about this. She refused. I gave her the letter from my lawyer. I tried explaining we didn't have to go through lawyers. She went home to Atlanta and hasn't spoken to me since.

My lawyers have received one letter from Karen's. The deadline for response was September 28th, her lawyers response was dated October 9th, sent regular mail and received October 15th. We have received no further communication from her or her lawyers since then.

I didn't want to make things public. It's bad for business. And I came into this as a business - not as a way to support her personal baby.

One thing has been made clear from history. People come up against Karen and then back down for fear of the havoc she will wreck on their personal lives and their photography careers. I have nothing to lose. I am not a photographer, so I don't fear what she can do to my career. I am trying to recoup everything I can from my investment. At $16K and counting, wouldn't you?

I want nothing more then to keep PWP alive and kicking. One thing the numbers proved was this forum is profitable - when we had our membership base. A base that is willing to return if Karen is not here.

I'm gonna keep fighting for my investment. Because I believe in PWP. Because it was my money I invested. Because there are so many people who have tried to work with Karen and failed. Because I can.

-Kiki

KAREN SIMMONS

REINSTATE MY OWNER RIGHTS ON THE BACK END OF THE BOARD RIGHT NOW.

Outgoing messages

Claire Dancy outgoing message.mp3

Will the real Claire Dancy please stand up?

Enough dicking around. Hold on to your asses, folks. Cause here's the breaking news.

Claire Dancy is a fake name, website, and identity create by Karen Simmons to gain entrance into DWF.

How do I know this, you ask? Cause she told me she was doing it. She told several others, as well. I was very adamant and vocal (those of you who know me, exactly HOW vocal can I get?) it was beyond being a bad idea.

#1 - DWF was BOUND to find out. (Which they did. I'm certain they'd be willing to share with you THEIR experience of Claire Dancy.)

#2 - A forum owner simply CAN NOT break into other forums. (For a second time, may I add) Makes it very difficult to enforce on your own forum rules. It's bad business. And I'm always against bad business.

She went on and signed up for DWF anyway. I found out about it shortly after she was booted when I verified with DWF. (We may be separate forums, but there are professional courtesies we extend one another.) I will say it didn't take them long, smart bunch that they are. But that's their story to tell.

Want even more proof? Here ya go. I've got it. Just because I love ya like that.

WHOIS%20Claire.pdf

This file is everything we downloaded to Word (then saved in PDF) in regards to domains, server names, and Karen Simmons. Everything highlighted in turquoise is from me. I could go into page breakdowns - but that would ruin your fun. Notice, though, that the info on the Claire site was in the process of being overwritten. 20 minutes later and all it showed was godaddy information.

So. Who knows Clair Dancy? No one. Every one. DWF knows Claire. Like I said, I'm certain they'll be more then happy to share their information on Claire with ya. All you have to do is ask nicely.



I'd like to end this post with a personal note to Karen.

1.) I am not a client taking you to small claims court. I am your business partner. And I have more money for lawsuits then you.

I'm in this for the long haul.

2.) I am not a photographer. So I have no fear of you hurting my business name. I work in the IT field. Even if you manage to get them to listen to you - and with all due respect to wedding photographers everywhere - all I have to do is walk into a room of IT geeks and say "she's a fucking wedding photographer for Christ sake." The only way they'd laugh harder? If you were the wedding singer.*

I'm not going to back down.

3.) You, however, are a photographer. It isn't slander if it can be proven true.

How far this goes is entirely up to you.

4.) Even THINK of locking me out of the forum... and you'll make my job a heckuva lot easier.

Game on, honey.

__________________________________

* Disclaimer: I believe that the general public hasn't the proper appreciation for the skills necessary to be a photographer. If they lack the appreciation of these honed skills, chances are, they would not take seriously the claims of a member from the industry compared to a proven member from their own industry - IT geek or not.

Depeche Mode - Policy Of Truth

By request and dedicated to Claire Dancy, with all her many personalities.

Claire Dancy sighting in Chicago

If you happen to visit Chicago and eat at Gino's East off Michigan Ave... Go up to the bathroom on the second floor. The wall on the right, under the chair rail, about dead center you'll see this:



Now, from the way I heard it, this was written about a month or two ago. By Claire herself? I wouldn't know. But evidently, she doesn't stay put in the Atlanta area.

Many photographers fear Bella encroachment in their local markets. I would suggest that photographers consider the encroachment of Claire. What, with the demise of her recently published website (feel free to Google the cached pages) and her odd interactions on DWF (both in the forums and behind the scenes), she doesn't appear to be a very stable personality.

I'm just saying.

Land of the blistery lake wind

Mr. Kiki and I just returned from Chicago. He had work to do and I had mischievous things to keep me entertained. We both had our 5 year wedding anniversary to celebrate.

I did manage to get a little Chicago PWeeP action going. We gathered at Gino's East off Michigan Ave. - where anyone who's been there can tell you there is MUCH writing on the wall. (More on that in a later post.) Here's a parting shot as we're heading out the door...


Also managed to meet up with a girlfriend I've known since middle school - my oldest girlfriend. We haven't seen each other in over 13 years. Elizabeth may very well kill me for posting this picture but I would point out, I have not edited out my devil eyes.



* DISCLAIMER. I am not a photographer. I do not pretend to be a photographer. I merely support photographers on PWP.

Do YOU know Claire Dancy?

OK Go - Get Over It

For your consideration...

Who is...

Claire Dancy?

His judgement day cometh, and that right soon.

"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee."

Seriously

Things are bit wacky right now in Kiki-land. I've had to move my hosting to another server and in the process, have lost all my old posts.

Not to worry. They're all save in Word and will be manually pasted back in eventually.
(Edited to add: I've started inputting some old entries. Don't be getting all freaked out when you see posts from over a year ago start showing up - it's not time travel.)

Until then, keep your eyes peeled. Should be lots to read and catch up on shortly.