Due to a lot of my personal journey over the past few years, I’m realizing the extent to which promoting the “protomythology” of VisionForce is not serving me. Originally, the idea was to excite people in the midst of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars that no matter what things seem like, there are countless people all over the world standing peacefully, powerfully and creatively for their vision of a more beautiful world. These people collectively we were calling “VisionForce” and our site, academy and the tools and trainings herein had their backs.
Our new About page shares a much more humble and authentic reality behind VisionForce. Quite simply it’s my own personal journey to do whatever I (along with my allies) possibly could to bring forth a more beautiful world by inspiring and empowering world, full of grand and crazy adventures and misadventures.
The protomythology was a tool to serve the purpose of bringing hope and inspiration, and a sense that you as an individual artist, activist or other inspired individual are not alone, and to generate a sense of the power we have collectively not to force change politically or militarily but to inspire it and co-create it from grassroots everyday efforts.
I think promoting the protomythology mostly just perplexed people, as they could see/smell the difference between what was envisioned and the reality of the status of this organization. I imagine it also had people imagining that I was slightly more full of myself than I really am. 😉
The reality behind what VisionForce is, who we are and what’s happening here may be even more inspiring.
In addition to essentially evaporating the protomythology, I’m choosing to make this more about the personal journey of a small but growing number of individuals, and our invitation to others to adventure with us in standing for and creating a more beautiful world.
All of this is in line with the shifts we’re making towards gifting the VisionForce work, especially in the service of visionary artists and activists and their patrons (those labels can include ALL of us if we choose!)!
I notice that the YOUtube auto-edit cut off the top of my head. Maybe it’s a sign to think a bit less?
Michael Skye has decided to open-source and gift the VisionForce technology. More to come…
I filmed the following interview with a handheld iPad on the fly, while visiting a visionary elder and friend, Michael Richards in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The way he moves in this world fascinates me. I capture just some of his amazing story below.
Keith, Pat, etc… and my return to the States
MP3 File
An update on the site we announced two years ago: The web site you see here is not the one we hired Brooks Cole and HoloCosmos to create in December 2009. Although we announced publicly our choice to hire Brooks and his HoloCosmos team and paid them $20,000 to create a new web site for us, the one you see was created personally by VisionForce Founder, Michael Skye in his spare time using WordPress (free) and the WP Stealth Theme ($37) by Molitor. Thank God for WordPress!
My Experience With Brooks Cole and HoloCosmos by Michael Ivan Skye
(I intend to post an updates, if Brooks works for a resolution or if I am in any way being unfair.)
My choice to trust Brooks Cole and HoloCosmos/HoloGenesis has been the single most costly and painful experience of my nearly twenty years in business. Not only did he fail to deliver what he promised for my $20,000, he has made and broken promises, repeatedly gone out of communication and avoided making an effort to resolve things. Repeatedly trusting Brooks Cole to keep his word resulted in me losing far more than the $20,000 I paid him.
I would not be posting this review publicly if Brooks had made a serious effort towards resolving things with me, or gave me some sliver of hope that he is not still doing business in the same way. I have given Brooks nearly two years to take action towards making things right, but he continues to avoid any serious efforts towards resolving things. Having recently seen a video of Jack Canfield endorsing Brooks Cole, I refuse to remain silent any longer; because many people may implicitly trust Jack and thus trust Brooks as I did when he dropped names of clients like Jack Canfield and Gary Zukav.
I have good reason to believe that if I remain silent, well-intentioned people in the transformational leadership and teacher/author arena who are risking their their time, their energy and their money to make a difference could lose tens of thousands of dollars, lots of energy and years of time (as I have)—and whose businesses, employees, customers and reputations could be jeopardized (as mine was)—and who’s heart-centered and life-saving programs might have to be canceled (I had to cancel my retreat for soldiers who are defying military orders to stand for their conscience and for peace, which was absolutely heartbreaking for me and my team as these iStands have been known to save lives and Brooks knew we were counting on him to successfully launch this event.).
This whole situation is embarrassing to me, because it shows my own naivety, irresponsibility and more. I have waited twenty months to post this, hoping things would change, but they haven’t. Still, I am tempted not to post this publicly, because it could result in me never getting my money back (as he has hinted), it could embarrass me, and it could lead to an unnecessary escalation in conflict. I have made incredible efforts to resolve this in a more private way, to no avail (After he was three months late on his promises, I even flew to visit and stay with Brooks in California and find compassion for him, rather than pursue legal action. The list of things I’ve done to work for resolution is long, and somewhat ridiculous in hindsight given his pattern of dismissing me.).
Brooks Cole is without a doubt a very talented and bright man. He has great potential to present the work of luminaries, transformational leaders and spiritual teachers in a brilliant light. When I met Brooks via Skype, I was impressed. Brooks has a great ability to charm people and make a very compelling sales presentation. He definitely “talked the talk” of visionary leadership, authenticity, transparency, trust, transformation. His web site boasts his work for the likes of luminaries such as Jack Canfield and Gary Zukav, and both were names he dropped again and again while making his pitch to me and while stalling for more time to complete commitments that were far behind schedule.
In fairness to Brooks, I did get one thing for my $20,000, the logo atop this page. I designed it myself (I searched for, selected and bought the font, then sent it to Brooks, who cut the tips off of the letter ‘I’ and sent it back to me in different sizes in white and black). But we agreed to a whole lot more.
Due Diligence Suggestions:
Please don’t take my word for anything. I invite you to give Brooks the benefit of the doubt, and then also do your due diligence and make up your own mind. If you’d like to talk to others who have had a troubling experience with Brooks Cole and HoloCosmos, please contact me. In addition, here are my suggestions:
1 – See how Brooks mentions doing a major project for Gary Zukav and Seat of the Soul’s web project for Gary’s new book and course on Spiritual Partnership: The Journey to Authentic Power. Then go see how Brooks Cole of his company HoloCosmos are conspicuously absent from the site credits for Spiritual Partnership and Seat of the Soul.
2 – See if you can get in touch with people who worked with Brooks on the Seat of the Soul’ web site, especially those on the Seat of the Soul team.
3 – Notice how Brooks has had the time to create a compelling presentation and portfolio boasting his work with Gary Zukav, and to continually seek new business (perhaps yours), while continuing to offer excuses for not completing work he has been paid for or beginning to repay those whose money he’s taken in exchange for his promises–and while making no mention of how Gary and his team feel about working with him. And at the very least be careful about paying him in advance.
“Whatever you call your path, it is not spiritual if your interactions are not becoming more conscious and more loving.” – Gary Zukav
4 – Check out Jack Canfield’s testimonial for Brooks, and then take note that Jack is Brook’s most famous and high profile client. Brooks often told me his work with Jack Canfield and Gary Zukav meant he had no time for me. If you are not a well-known, high-profile name, then you may wish to take this into consideration.
5 – Notice that Carlos Santana, another big name Brooks likes to drop does not use the site Brooks designed for his Architects of A New Dawn project, which Brooks displays in his portfolio; but that Carlos instead uses the free/cheap Ning application. I don’t kno why this is, but I eventually also realized that dealing with an expensive designer, especially one who couldn’t or wouldn’t follow through, was completely unnecessary–even stupid–on my part. I designed this VF site for next to free after finally losing all hope that Brooks would ever deliver.
6 – Contact me for more names and contact info of additional references for Brooks, which he does not list on his web site. Send an email to me at miskye [at] gmail [dot] com.
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In closing I regret that it has come to this–posting publicly online, but I feel I had to do it. I realize this may result in an even greater cost to my time, energy, business and reputation, if Brooks attempts to have his attorney try to shut me up. What I have realized out of all of this, though, is I won’t remain silent to save my business or to avoid being sued or losing money or esteem of others.
In these times of growing change and uncertainty, we need to be able to trust each other. If I remain silent and others get hurt, am I trustworthy? No.
If anyone has suggestions on resolving things or stating this in a more mutually honoring way, I welcome your support.
Sincerely,
Michael Ivan Skye
If you’re seeking a web designer and thinking of hiring the person we trusted and paid $20,000, please do your due diligence. Here’s my experience, which I finally realized I must share.
Where is the honor in the violence of the NYPD on peaceful protestors? One marine stands up and calls police officers to stand with him and honor American citizens, rather than allow themselves to commit acts of violence simply because they are part of the police force, an institution infused with honor. He sees the violence of the officers, which robs them of their moral authority.
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