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Oh this is great and what a read!

I worked at GDS Bristol circa 2003-04 and I loved it.  I was 22 at the time and I was lured by the promise of high pay and career advancement.

In all honesty, it wasn't a bad place for earning the cash - in probably the most unethical way possible. You get paid to say whatever it takes to get the "Decision Maker" on the phone. They once you do the "Sales tactic" - I use this term loosely, is to drill a pitch at them without letting them get a word in edgeways.

The trouble is the people who stay there for longer than 9 months become so incredibly brainwashed that they are lucky GDS is still around because if it ever shut down, these people would have a dogs life trying to find new employment because no real corporate business would put up with any of the [***] you get away with at GDS. They are not sales people, they are Pitch Monkeys. Stick to the pitch! (God forbid you would have some free thought or ad lib a little!)

On a more positive not......

I was on Gigsy's team (not sure if he is still there). Regardless of what people say, he was a laugh and was definitely one of the more enjoyable teams to be on. He was kind and caring towards me and before anyone asks (No I didn't f*ck him!) lol

Alongside Darryl Huff (Legend & far too intelligent for that place in my opinion), Pierre Slutsky (another legend) Dawn Owen & Ben Kelly (who we're both lovely!) I noticed Owen Wilson is still there from the previous poster who yes was a ladies man, but still a nice guy.

I wasn't really around when Spencer was in the office so can't pass judgement on the guy but Jason Green was running things then. He had a heart of gold and I had some blinding times with him.

Fair enough we partied hard, dabbled in a bit of class A recreation but most of the people who I had the pleasure of working with we're good, (Deep down) and I guess I was on the right side of them or maybe all these angry posters are too dumb to realise what they were getting themselves into and if that is the case, they only have themselves to blame. I was young, we [***] around and it was a great summer. Sex, drugs and partying hard! Better than working in some [***] £12K a year job straight from Uni for sure.

I earned good money for a 22 year old, but it was never a long term career plan and I pity the fool who thinks it is. I learned some good things from GDS but I also picked up some bad habits too.

Yes it's all [***], the circulation stats, the pitch, the outlandish claims. But I can't knock it too much. I lied to business' to get the figures on the board and in my honest opinion - they're top level Sales Directors and decision makers really ought to do their homework when buying expensive advertising! One thing I did learn is how stupid even so say important business people can be. :)

One thing I am also shocked at is how righteous all you posters are on here slating how terrible GDS is when YOU ALL DID THE SAME THING?!?! You are no better than the people who are still working there. None of us are. We all did it, yes some people are still there but they are most likely trapped and in this company who the hell is going to throw their job away (especially if they have a mortgage and a family) purely on the business being unethical?  All you posters do not know what is going on in these people lives, so to call them all t*ssers and assh*les for still working there is ridiculous and no one business but their own.

It's so easy to point the finger when you are out of a bad situation.

I run my own internet business now which is nothing to do with print advertising I might add! I took the positives that I gained from GDS and the negatives I just left at the door.

It is unethical but I can hardly slag it off because Spencer Green funded may a good weekend back then. Also I agree that the business is not the most kosher out there but all these statements about the people are out of line. It could have got a lot worse though since I was there and by the sounds of things, it has.

If you are thinking of working there then give it a go, but if something sounds too good to be true, it often is.

Dave

Thats what they tell you at GDS. However to print in China it would cost $9 per mag to distribute to the US, so the distribution costs from China/India FAR outweigh any saving from printing in China. Thats why ALL reputable AUDITED publishing companies dont print in China, pick up Times, Newsweek, GQ, Vogue etc....

Dave you are so gullible....

P.S ASK SPENCER TO AUDIT THE MAGS!

Well well, GDS Publishing Ltd are not registered on the Data Protection Register. Search here:

http://www.ico.gov.uk/ESDWebPages/Search.asp

For GDS. GDS Publishing Ltd are not listed.

Seeing as how they are collecting personal data with MeetTheBoss, I'd say they are breaking the law...

your word hid behind PC? laughs. not exactly gonna stand up in a court room is it.

B2C mags there...

that are mostly sold in the west..


if u pay 9$ a copy in china ur being scammed mate


dont tell me its big bad gds again.


funny also - you all say what crooks they are - and they know who you are. if I were you I wouldnt want such people on my case, specially as they are such bad individuals. who knows what they may do?

I know their debt collection dept have crossed borde

slutsky?


he scammed gds out of fair few thousand..


sending ad contract to his mate at the take away round the corner from tower house to sign and fax back..funny as . everyone wondered why he always worked late..wasnt till he left they found out, and found him

got his legs and nose broken i heard for messing with the GDS'ers

anything to report though...they deal with B2B market publishing. They dont deal with consumers, they dont have to audit and they have a decent client database on their mags and events. They dont steal money. Clients sign ad contracts cause they want to do it, simple.

Wheres the fraud?

Even if one bends the truth ( as all sales ppl normally do - or dress it up as they call it) no GOVT or FBI (LOL) will close them - they create jobs and commerce around the world. sales is sales - they aint in a regulated sector like healthcare,or the stock markets. They print magazines and sell ads in them.

Hope gds have their name cleared for this and the trolls who started such rumours are dealt with accordingly. Talk about bite the hand that feeds, or fed you. Discraceful cowardly behaviour.

and got a really well paid in headhunting, and with a very very reputable firm. Im still in the job now and have made a lot of money. I also conduct training and development with both old and new employees on how to handle CEO's on the phone and sell more. This has helped the company masses. No one had any character before and sales suffered - they are now a much more lively workforce, with better results, better deals and bigger clients.

This is only because of the training and development that GDS provided. All you bitter people should go take a long walk of a short peir - your making yourselves look very stupid.

Thankyou Spence.

straws...clutching..springs to mind.

In my opinion Slutsky was an extremely talented sales person. A little kookie but that's what was so endearing about him. Yeah he was a joker at times in the nicest possible way, but he also from memory billed an  incredible amount of business and was even given his own publication that only he got to work on.

Why the hell would Spencer give him his own magazine if he was a scammer, I don't think he would put his business in that sort of jeopardy surely?

I don't know about him getting his ass kicked by the "GDS-ers" as you put it. My memory tells me he just upped and left one day back to NYC, he even came back for a visit about 6 months later so I'm not to sure where your facts are coming from.

Perhaps you are the bitter one who chose not to use the good points of the gruelling training GDS provided and is now a mediocre member of your community?

You may think this is clutching at straws but I think you'll find if this is true the poster is right.

"Notification is a statutory requirement and every organisation that processes personal information must notify the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), unless they are exempt. Failure to notify is a criminal offence."

But to be fair, I am registered with my business and it only costs £35 per year and all you have to do it to follow the 8 principles so it really isn't as scandalous as you might think!

I have just read the post. I am Pierre Slutsky and I would like to say that it was nice to work for GDS in the UK. They gave me a great job and it was really funny working there. Let's face it no1 likes to "work" there but everyone likes to be there. The atmosphere is funny and great and sure u rather get paid a few thousand pounds for nothing but its pretty close. I reccommend the UK office but wouldnt work in NY even though i live here cuz it would suck. To be honest if they offered me a place to stay now for a few months i would consider working there again. To sum it all up I would say its better than working for that local supermarket in england. Yes I was the best when I worked there but that was a short fuse easily outdone by people who can work a year long. It also taught me alot to say the least. Anyway may I mention my favorite part was not when I dressed like a knight one day to work with an axe or all the drugs or partying, the funniest thing was with the people I started with in training. One of them saying he wants this job cuz when he goes back to his town in the UK people will look up to him and say hey ur that guy from GDS. Lol he got fired a week later.

I remember working next to a lot of nice girls and going to travel over the weekend. See in the Uk you can work and go to to amersterdam or italy for the weekend. In ny u work and u suck. I should know Im from ny. And yeah it was a lamb shank and I was dressed like a knight barbarian and Gigsy tried to pull my pants down in the town square. PS.- They told me it was fancy dress day like the equivalent of holoween for charity. They told me everyone would be dressed up and it seemd I'm the only one who showed up for work with an axe. GDS if you listening look me up on facebook and let me run an office.

thousands of pounds from gds - fact. thats why he disapearaed so fast..

as for being bitter I left after almost 5 years at GDS -  ( and a suspension from gds for bad behaviour) :)

so how bad was i? 5 years? suspended..then back.

I now live in the med and run a very successful events and online media company.

:)


ho hum

Good luck to you I say. I'm not here to lock horns with anyone. :-) Can't have been that much of a bad place if it equipped you with the tools to run your own business?!

Intelligent people who are able to remain independent will gain a lot from GDS. If you are mature enough to know when enough is enough and what tools you use and what ones you disregard you will learn a great deal.

You have obviously done well to be there five years and then leave. I'm sure it was not the easiest decision to make. Shows remarkable strength of character to leave any job after 5 years service.

Do you have any information on 100 Thousand Club Magazine. I pulled out within 20 days of signing an insertion order and now they file a lawsuit on me for collection.

I cant quite place you, but we probably shared some time there. For me it wasnt such a bad place - I learnt alot from some very talented people, who, for very similar reasons to myself, didnt wanna work for someone else, and have complete control over my future.

GDS International does give, somebody, with the right attitude, business sense, and desire, every single tool you need to be very sucessful.

Hard closing doesnt have to be agressive  to be firm, getting someone on the phone shouldnt be underhand - and doesnt actually have to be.

The losers here, are the ones moaning, biting a hand that fed them, who, couldnt even make a sale, and keep their job, even when they did lie.

So whats the training there like?  What am I getting myself into here?

Tuttle,

Do not work there.  Find a job where the company hasn't inspired thirteen pages of resentment from past employees.  Employees who felt cheated, exploited, and abused.  Even those who admit to making money explain that they did so through unscrupulous methods.  This is not where you want to end up.  Especially of the Fed is about to attack.

You won't be able to put the company on your resume.  Any employer who does their research will be concerned to find that you worked for GDS.  

Do not work for this company.