I would personally stay ten miles away from this man (for many reasons).
Not the best to get your company name and reputation to be connected with his name.
I will second this website being one of the best around for both shooting tips as well as the community. It is a great community of photographers who are all very helpful in sharing tips. Even if you are not local to the bay area, US or WW, they are always available to help. I like how it is a smaller community and not overrun with spammers like on other sites.