Someone from my past was in a new line of work and I wanted to help them out. They were presenting a new 401(k) tool, which I thought was perfect. I thought it was a solution that could help third-party administrators (TPAs) immensely in the conversion process. Since I try to help people out, I offered that person a free spot at one of my conferences.
Then that person was no longer working for this company or presenting them around. So the brains behind the operation reached out, after some time. The principal behind the product honestly didn’t do a great job of reaching out and I felt that my goodwill was being tested. So I honestly, didn’t follow up with the event coming up with this friend no longer in the picture.
Lo and behold, I discovered the product is the brainchild of someone that people would say is a competitor of mine. Honestly, I don’t think we are in the same type of business, but I just find it weird that this was never mentioned to me when I was presented with this new product. Had I known this firm was behind the product, it wouldn’t have changed my feelings about giving a speaking slot to them, boasting about their great tool. I just think it’s weird when people aren’t open and honest about a fact that is going to be discovered anyway. The point is you should always be open and honest with people. That’s it.
