Facebook Founders' College Antics!

[Note: An update has been added below on 8.10.09]
Facebook is a topic of discussion in our new media marketing class this week and coincidentally the author of The Accidental Billionaires, Ben Mezrich, and I are following each other on Twitter. (I think he, or his publicist, found me through my link to the Harvard Book Store on this site.)

The Accidental Billionaires is Mezrich's eleventh book. Impressive since he looks about 25 years old in his interview with Craig Ferguson on the Late Late Show. Mezrich has created his own unique style of non-fiction by recounting stories about young geniuses and their creative shenanigans; sometimes leading to the creation of greatness as is the case with this pre-Facebook tale. One of his earlier bestseller books, Bringing Down the House, was recently turned into the movie "21" about the expert card counting MIT students who beat the system in Las Vegas.

Just released, The Accidental Billionaires is currently ranking #6 on the New York Times bestseller list and #1 on the Boston Globe bestseller list. The cover looks a bit chic lit, don't you think? I initially missed the fact that it was about Facebook's, Mark Zuckerberg and his Harvard College roommate, Eduardo Saverin. These two math geniuses were a bit awkward with women, and in their frustration hacked into the Harvard computer system; they managed to create a database, capable of rating all of the female students, which ultimately crashed the servers and almost got them expelled.

The excerpt Craig Ferguson reads on the Late Late Show also indicates this is a bit chic lit in nature, but it is on my must-read list for sure. Sounds like a fascinating tale. Sony pictures has purchased the film rights with Kevin Spacey producing.

So the book is about new media; the marketing is about new media; the movie is traditional media, but you can bet it will be combined with new media. The whole phenomenon is incredible to immersed in.

Blogger's Note: If you get a chance follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mgnetworks or find my Facebook Page under MGNetworks (I need some fans there ... just started a business fan page this week - so far, not many fans!) Oh, and thanks, Mark Zuckerberg, and Eduardo Saverin, for being creative, mischievous nerds! You've given Ben Mezrich a story to tell and jumped some of us up a rung or two on Groundswell's Social Technographics ladder.

Blogger's UPDATE 8.10.09: I finished reading The Accidental Billionaires this past weekend. It is a quick, easy, fun read. The insight into how Facebook got its start, in a college dorm room, just 6 short years ago is really amazing. Filled with intriguing characters, and ethical dilemmas, the book serves as a teaser for more information about all of it. I can't wait to see the movie. I will also be much more interested in reading about Mark Zuckerberg, and all of the real-life characters mentioned in this book (Eduardo Saverin, Sean Parker, Peter Thiel, Tyler & Cameron Winklevoss, Larry Summers, and more), in the future, as a result of this glimpse into the founding of Facebook. I realize the author, Ben Mezrich, took creative license with the dialogue and some of the events in the book (as mentioned in his note at the beginning of the book) but it's clear he did his best to piece together the real story using the sources he had available to him-minus any input from the key character, Mark Zuckerberg.

Vanished by Joseph Finder - New Media Phenomenon

Let's talk about new media and book sales. Recently Joseph Finder [Photo Credit: Amazon.com] showed up as one of my Twitter followers. Now, I do not consider myself gullible, but I found it fascinating that a New York Times Best Selling author found me on Twitter. I started reading his tweets and realized he had a new book coming out in August called "Vanished".

Recently, he tweeted about an offer that for some reason or other I found too enticing to pass up. If you pre-order his book and then send him the receipt, prior to an August date, he will send you a signed paperback of one of his previous books, a signed book plate, and a comic book, based on some character in his new book, Vanished. It was all too intriguing especially since I am taking this New Media Marketing Class and trying to get a grasp on how powerful social media can be for marketing. (Note: I did have a Barnes and Nobel gift certificate sitting here just waiting to be spent.)

Anyway, I pre-ordered the book (it does sound like a great mystery) and sent in (all through my Twitter link) my request to take advantage of the special offer. We'll see what happens and once I read the book, I'll update this post and let you know how I liked it. And to think some people think Twitter is just a big waste of time. Doesn't seem to be for Joseph Finder ....

Invite Some Friends ...

When you start your book club, you may want to consider only asking friends who are "tech savvy" enough to be on-line and capable of opening an email, or evite. It is so much easier to organize groups of people using the internet!

Even if the people you want to include in your book club aren't currently on-line - use this as an opportunity to do a good deed and get them set up with an email account. They don't even need a computer (although seriously, are there still people out there who aren't on-line?) as they can check their email accounts on the local library computer, if need be.

Appearing organized for your first book club meeting will help set the tone - this is a real group, with a real mission, and we're really going to meet and be active. Talking to other book clubs is a good way to learn how to organize a group and also benefit from the lessons they've learned along the way. I would sugggest you plan to meet once a month to get started and I think the group size is optimum when limited to 10 - 15 active members. Anything larger than this gets really hard to coordinate. If you are starting with just a handful of friends, that's fine. Once word gets out that you are an active, interesting group - friends of friends will be clamoring to sign on!

Get started by sending out your first evite, on-line invitation. There are some wonderful resources out there. Here's a list of on-line invitation recommendations:

• http://www.evite.com/ - free on-line invitations with a great book club template;
  
• http://www.mypunchbowl.com/ - free on-line invitations;


• http://www.sendomatic.com/ - free version has some ads attached, but if you upgrade to a paid version you can get no ads;


• http://www.pingg.com/ - free version - these designs are terrific;


• http://www.socializr.com/ - free version has a great book club template;


• http://www.purpletrail.com/ - free on-line invitations, with no ads
  

Many of these on-line invitations can even be sent to cellphones and social networking sites like facebook, twitter, etc. Most will track rsvps for you, and send reminders, eliminating time consuming follow-up for the organizer.

So decide on a time and place to meet (some groups rotate homes, and others meet in public places like libraries, Starbucks , Peet's, or some other local gathering spot), and get your first book club meeting on the calendar. You can start off your first meeting by having the organizer choose the first book or you can make the first meeting an organizational one. Either way, be sure to include all the details for your first meeting on your evite, including: time, place, date, and a reminder to 1) read the first selection and be prepared for discussion or 2) bring along two or three book suggestions so that your group can start the process of calendaring each month's reading selection.

You're now ready to get on with the fun of sharing the joy of reading and talking about books.