GTD-Fast CDs Pulled From Market

[MarkChristensen]

Hi,

I called DA's office today and found out that the Getting Things Done...Fast audio program (it was a 2 day seminar edited to 7 or 8 CDs) is no longer available for sale.

Anybody know what's up? It didn't sound like there was anything replacing it in the near future. Are they trying to drive us to live seminars?

I'm sorry to hear that I won't be able to get it - it sounded like it had a lot of great stuff on it.

Mark
Mark@MarkChristensen.com

[Paul@Pittsburgh]

I am stunned by this news. And so very glad that I got my CDs back at the end of last year. They are really awesome and very complimentary to the books.

Sorry to hear that they will not be widely available anymore - unless DavidCo are bring out a new product.

Paul

[apinaud]

That is not good... can somebody of Davidco explain to us.

[ceehjay]

Drat! And I had just decided to shell out the bucks for them.

Carolyn

[spectecGTD]

I consider the FAST CD's to be one of the best investments I have ever made, and have been recommending them to everyone on or off this board who will listen. I'll be interested to see if a sequel, update, revision, etc is forthcoming.

[altruologist]

Davidco has always shown an 'abundance mentality' (sorry Stephen Covey) in the amount of material you can gain from their books and CDs. As a resident of Australia this has been fantastic since we do not have access to the seminars without forking out huge US $ to get them down here. As Davidco grows it may morph into something more like the FC behemoth that sells everything; although would never expect Davidco to have a planner.

[Liz Harward]

Hello fellow GTDers!

I wanted to respond to the GTD Fast rumor. We have about 80 left in stock (found a few more) and once those are gone, they will no longer be available. We are working on a replacement product with the intention to making implementation of the information faster and easier for the listener.

Thanks as always for engaging with us!

Liz
(Products manager)

[ratz]

If this is true.... what a mistake.... GTD fast was simply the best most approachable source for learning GTD....

[The Cactus Leaguer]

I bought the CD's about 2 months ago and they were one of the best investments I have ever made (along with a CD series to accompany the book "Crucial Conversations").

The CD's have a ton of tips and insights that were not in the book. In fact I was listening to one of the CD's on the way to work this morning and I had yet another "A-HA!" moment. I look forward to the next series.

[Danny Hardesty]

I revolutionized my office simply by purchasing and reading David's very excellent book "Getting Things Done" which cost just a few bucks at Office Depot. My "in-box" is now gathering dust over in the corner of my office--lol---and my desk is the cleanest it has ever been. E-mail site is clean as a whistle too.

Do the CD's really have any additional information over and above David's book?

Danny Hardesty

www.dannyhardesty.com

[ThomasDerwin]

Just wanted to say thanks to all, and especially to Liz Vernand, for the heads-up about the last chance to buy this CD set.

Was on my "someday/maybe" list. Now it's ordered.

Regards,
Tom

[Gameboy70]

Hello fellow GTDers!

I wanted to respond to the GTD Fast rumor. We have about 80 left in stock (found a few more) and once those are gone, they will no longer be available. We are working on a replacement product with the intention to making implementation of the information faster and easier for the listener.

Thanks as always for engaging with us!

Liz Vernand
(Products manager)

Thank you for the information. My only concern is that "faster and easier" won't mean "abridged." As I've said elsewhere, I consider GTD Fast the definitive publication on the methology, even though the GTD book is still required for orientation. The CD set has way more information on GTD implementation than any other source.

My car stereo was ripped off in December with disc 2 still inside. My next action, before repairing the broken window and replacing the stereo, was ordering the GTD Fast set again! Looks like I got my priorities straight after all.

[bvkeen]

Just wanted to say thanks to all, and especially to Liz Vernand, for the heads-up about the last chance to buy this CD set.

Was on my "someday/maybe" list. Now it's ordered.

Regards,
Tom

Ditto. I look forward to receipt and some recalibration and additional learning.

[naeem]

Good monrning all,

You might want to check out your local library for a copy of the CDs or tapes. I had seen them listed on an order page for our city library a little while ago.

Furthermore, inter-library loans are very useful. I got a copy of John T Molloy's "How to Work the Competition to the Ground..." for for about four weeks from a library in the U.S.

Good luck everyone...

[DoubleDippin]

Just ordered my copy...woohoo!

[jkgrossi]

Wow... I got mine a couple of months ago, and I have to say that they have helped my implementation by leaps and bounds!

Glad I got them when I did!

[ADD GTDer]

All this talk is inspiring me to pull mine out and listen again. (I've run through them more than a few times already! (Come to think of it I'd better move mine from the car so they last longer.)

If anyone's ever willing to part with theirs, I bet they'll go for a good price when they're no longer available here!

These CDs are great - especially for those of us that never could get to a seminar.

What a loss.... Glad I've got mine...

Janice

[Cikub]

Some months ago, a "Getting Things Done Fast" audio program started appearing on web retailers such as Amazon.com and Walmart.com for the price of about $30 (if my memory is correct). Availability was listed as May 2005. Not long thereafter, the product descriptions disappeared from the websites. My guess:

- Davidco decided to mass-produce essentially the same GTD Fast program. It was a premium product with a limited sales channel for a long time and they were ready to lower the price to sell, via conventional retail channels, to a larger audience of people who were 1) not able to afford GTDF, 2) not willing to to pay $90, or 3) not aware of the product at all.
- It was in the works, but either 1) the web postings were seen as premature, so a request was made to the vendors to pull the product from their "stores", or 2) the strategy was shifted somewhat from selling the full GTD Fast CD set to providing something more concise or abridged.

In either case, I expect we'll see a mass-market version of GTD Fast in the not too distant future.

It appears that DavidCo is following a general trend of increased commercialization and expanded margins--hence, recent efforts to protect intellectual capital while abridging and automating content delivery. Some might feel disappointed at a shift from the traditional grass roots approach, but it's inevitable, isn't it? Someday, like all other time and life managment tools/philosophies (and everything ever conceived by the mind of man), GTD will not be as exciting as it is today. DavidCo needs to capitalize while it can.

C

[DavidAllen]

The "retail product" was a mistake made by Nightingale Conant. We were totally unaware that they had sub-licensed (quite illegally, too) the product they were marketing for us, to secondary distributors (like Warner/Amazon). We found out after some of you! They subsequently pulled it, after we informed them of their ... whatever.

For those of you sorry about the "commercialization" of GTD, all I can say is, if it weren't, I'd be doing (and would have done) something else. Our contract ran out with Nightingale Conant and we didn't want to re-up, because there's newer versions of the information we want to get out, and frankly, what anyone got on the CD's is similarly packaged for $2000 - not $200, much less $20. Of course you can buy the book for, what? $6.90 (used - amazon). That's pretty mass market, with some pretty complete information.

Just want to get the info straight...

David

[spectecGTD]

All I can say is "Keep Commercializin'!"

Taking into account what GTD principles have helped me add to my earnings in the past 12 months through increased productity and not dropping the ball on some key projects, the cost of the books and the FAST CD's was a drop in the bucket. It's critical to recognizethe difference between an expense and an investment.

When a revision or upgrade is ready, sign me up.

[ceehjay]

I don't care how commercial The David Allen Company becomes. I have gained so much from the information that has been shared in the books, newsletters, and online. I did order GTD Fast and expect it to arrive Friday.

I have become more productive because of this information, and since I haven't come close to mastering it, I expect to get even better. I will continue to buy whatever my budget allows -- just wish it allowed a live seminar! Maybe someday. I'm a public employee, so my budget is quite a bit tighter than if I had chosen the private sector.

Thank you, David Allen, Jason Womack, and the rest of your staff and associates for so freely sharing so much information for those of us who don't have top-notch incomes. To me, that is a living-out of the philosophy that shines through in your work.

Carolyn

[bvkeen]

I applaud David for the clarification, from which it's easy to read between the lines that DavidCo is not just in it for the bucks. It seems clear to me that David still loves what he's doing (as is Jason and others), often freely giving away valuable time and advice. How much free information (and forum sharing) do we see on "the other" time management site?

I spent the $90 earlier this week, even though I retire or year from now, because I need the refresher for ME. I think it's going to be one of the best investments I've made in a long time.

[Jason Womack]

Thank you, David Allen, Jason Womack, and the rest of your staff and associates for so freely sharing so much information for those of us who don't have top-notch incomes. To me, that is a living-out of the philosophy that shines through in your work.

You are so, so welcome.

And, thank you for the acknowledgment. We do appreciate it!

[Arduinna]

DA and team have been "paying it forward" for some time now, and seem to have been pretty gracious about their, ah, emulators.

The information is worth, as DA suggested, many times what we've paid, based only on comparisons to programs with a similar scope and amount of information delivered. The quality of that information and the results obtained, even when imperfectly implemented, place it way about the competition.

I say bully, but then, I got my GTD FAST some months ago, at a third off regular price with free shipping. :p

[bvkeen]

I just received mine and I am AMAZED at how much information it has. I thought I would be getting a couple of CDs, but it looks like there are about eight, and the titles of all of them suggest that they are chocked full of information. I honestly don't see how DavidCo could afford to sell these at this low of a price. I am literally amazed.

Thank You David and Company!
Bruce

[Mauxmoney]

If anyone has and is willing to part with the older version of the seminar, I would be interested... mauricegavin@omaegan.net