An Apology to Brian Teeman

This week, I messed up badly and owe an apology.

I published two video classes that were created by Brian Teeman.

I took Brian’s name, copyright photo and copyright biography and put them on those video classes as the teacher. I didn’t have permission to do that.

Using Brian’s copyrighted information caused confusion and put him in a really awkward situation.

I’d like to make several things clear:

  • Brian Teeman does not work for OSTraining or with OSTraining.
  • Brian Teeman does not endorse OSTraining.

I have much to do after these mistakes.

I started by unpublishing the two video classes and related blog posts.

Next, I need to improve our internal processes, with improvements such as making sure that all video classes have formal approval from the teachers before publication.

First and foremost, however, I apologize to Brian.

Author

  • Steve Burge

    Steve is the founder of OSTraining. Originally from the UK, he now lives in Sarasota in the USA. Steve's work straddles the line between teaching and web development.

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
10 Comments
Oldest
Newest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Joomla!Info
Joomla!Info
9 years ago

Look forward, continue your good work, steve & team.

steve
steve
9 years ago
Reply to  Joomla!Info

Thanks, Joomla!Club
I screwed up. Time for me to get to work and make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Buffylove
9 years ago

I applaud you for your honesty and transparency in letting everyone know. It’s not easy telling others when we screw up, but it happens to all of us. Thank you for continuing to show the integrity that I have come to expect from OSTraniing.

steve
steve
9 years ago
Reply to  Buffylove

Thank buffylove. I appreciate you saying that.

mrjosephcampbell
9 years ago

+1 to @steveburge for being upfront with the mistake (that’s what true leaders do)…here’s a quote that’s fitting for the situation…
“A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them.” – John C. Maxwell

steve
steve
9 years ago
Reply to  Joe Campbell

Thanks Joe. That’s a great quote, although there’s no profit here except in the term of lessons learned the hard way.

mrjosephcampbell
9 years ago
Reply to  steve

I disagree, you have multiple people applauding you for your honesty. I would think you have drawn them closer to you and your brand…and that’s profit (gain, win and a yield). There are various examples of individuals and organizations that were made/defined by how they reacted to their error(s)
[url=http://www.amazon.com/Forbes-Best-Business-Mistakes-Missteps/dp/0470598778]http://www.amazon.com/Forbe…[/url]

steve
steve
9 years ago
Reply to  Joe Campbell

Thanks Joe. I’ll get that book.

pixelperfectcreative
9 years ago

In my experience, the OSTraining team have been nothing but honest, helpful, and hardworking, so I am sure this was not done maliciously. Posting this apology front and center and including it in their email marketing just goes to further prove the integrity of this team. I do feel for Mr. Teeman though, and hope that both sides can work through this amicably.

steve
steve
9 years ago
Reply to  Thaddeus James

Thanks Thaddeus. You’re right it wasn’t malicious, but that doesn’t excuse or absolve me. I was unprofessional and slapdash in my work.

10
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x