Many of you have read about The Elevision Network and Chris A. Hutcherson on my blog before.  I'm going to be right up front and say that The Elevision Network is a great idea with almost unlimited potential.  The SPEAKERS that have been involved with Elevision are unsurpassed.  Unfortunately, the management fell short.

One of the hazards of meeting and getting involved with people on the internet is that it is difficult to get a real feel for people.  The face-to-face interaction is limited.  As a result, we can miss important cues about people and it is easy to let your guard down.  Especially when the story is really, really good.  Such is the case with Elevision and Chris A. Hutcherson.  How could you not trust a man who was in tears describing is mission to raise 200 million for kids and how Elevision was going to help him reach that goal.  It was really touching.  There wasn't a dry eye in the house.  The more people that get involved, the more you feel like "hey, this is a great thing."  And for a while it was. 

Robin and I have been involved with Chris and Elevision (before it was even called Elevision and before it was even internet television) since October of 2007.  It was a great idea and we were more than happy to help make it happen.  Over the next few months everything and everyone seemed to be coming together.  The business kept growing. There were investors.  Famous names. Then it seemed like things were becoming out of control.  Elevision didn't launched as promised.  There were a very large number of people involved with no one really knowing what the others were doing.  A large amount of money was coming and going. 

Being the administrator that I am, I started to get worried.  There was no business plan, no marketing plan.  No one could produce financials.  People became defensive when you asked questions.  No one seemed to be communicating.  The more we pushed for answers the more questions that seemed to crop up.  No one knew how many subscribers there were.  No one knew who was answering subscriber questions.  No one seemed to know much of anything.  Then they stopped paying their bills and their consultants.

So, what happened and why? There are lots of reasons that things went very bad very fast.  This is not the first company to have these problems and it won't be the last.  (If you want to know more, you can read my series on Recipes for Trouble.  They have been published under Robin's name in various places.)  The two main problem were no business plan and no fiduciary controls.  What do I mean by fiduciary controls?  Controls should exist in any organization, but particular in an organization that is bringing in or has the potential to bring in millions of dollars.  It means that more than one person has access to the bank account.  It means that someone other than the person that is paying the bills is reconciling that bank statement.  It means that more than one person's signature is required for amounts over say $10,000.  It also means that financial statements are provided on a timely basis to investors and board members.  If any of these things are lacking in an organzation, they are just asking for trouble.  None of these existed (or exist now) at The Elevision Network.  These kinds of controls help insure that one person is trying to make all the financial systems.  It protects both the company and the CEO and/or CFO.  It also helps to deter mismanagement, theft, and/or embezzlement. 

I do think that Elevision is a great idea that has great applications in almost any industry you can name.  I hope it is reborn as a company with a plan and the proper controls.  It is just unfortunate that so many good people lost their money, their time, and their dreams.  That is something that can never be replaced.