Self-help seminars canned

Two events showcasing American self-help guru Jack Canfield have been cancelled.

The creator of the hugely successful Chicken Soup for the Soul series of books and merchandise was scheduled to speak in Auckland and Wellington next month, with tickets costing between $675 and $2995.

The visit had been planned by Inspirational Seminars Ltd, a company set up by Hawke's Bay women Natasha Bing and Sky Leigh last year. According to the Companies Office website, Leigh left the company in June.

Neither would return calls, but PR consultant Damon Harvey said he understood their company had run into financial problems.

Harvey said Inspirational Seminars owed his company, Attn PR, $8000 and he had little hope of recovering the money.

"They had incredibly ambitious plans to bring a person of that calibre over here and they possibly didn't have the business nous to do it," says Harvey.

Inspirational Seminars also has an unpaid bill for advertising the Canfield events in The New Zealand Herald.

A spokeswoman for Canfield wouldn't comment on why the visit fell through, other than to say "it has been pretty common with the current state of the economy".

She said he hoped he would get another opportunity to come to New Zealand.