[Julie Williams]

HI Guys,
I just saw these posts, and I have to say that I don't see Juan as a bad person. I think he is a person who works for voice123 and is doing his best. As the marketing person, I assume he's greatly responsible for all of the clients who come to voice123.

I think that Voice123 spent a fortune on what they hoped to be a great product improvement... which is bombing. I disagree with the premise behind their SmartCast (not all their changes, just Smartcast and the ratings) and how it rewards the fastest--rather than the best. And I feel it "controls" the marketplace. And the price increase accompanying such a drop in service is shocking.

But I don't think Juan deserves to be personally held responsible for those changes, or have his character attacked. Now, I don't know if he said something that made you feel that way about him... I didn't spend a lot of time on that forum, so I really didn't see interactions between him and others. But imagine the frustration he --and all of them--must feel at this point... unveiling their baby...and it's a flop... and everyone hates it... and people are talking on their forum about it. And they just don't want to let it go.

I know of at least a dozen people who did NOT sign up because of their changes. (I know because they emailed me about it when they saw all the badmouthing of it... and some of them were my students who I had told to sign up...and then had to contact and retract my recommendation because I no longer feel that it's in their best interest to sign up there.)

I feel sorry for Alex and Juan, and all of the people over there. I believe they did what they thought would be best for clients, and ultimately, talent. And they invested a lot into doing it. I believe they did the wrong thing...and their response to complaints has been poor customer service, but I don't think it's a reflection of their personal characters.

And even if they said some unkind things... I would hope that I'm not held accountable for everything I've said when I've felt like I was under attack!

One of my favorite bible verses is "Even a fool is thought wise if he is silent." I like it cos it speaks to me. Lord knows, I've done MY share of shooting off at the mouth, reacting out of emotion!