Organized over the Social Web

Last week I started the journey with many other Vayniacs to bring Gary Vaynerchuk to their town as part of his book signing tour. For those of you just coming up to speed on Wine Library TV, Gary opened the tour to the community to make what probably is the biggest decisions of the tour, the cities he is visiting. The whole process started with a simple tweet which then turned into an email and then spilled into the blogosphere and every other aspect of the social web. In a weeks time Des Moines responded in a big way and locked Gary into stopping at East Village Books on June 21st. 

To me this is amazing and speaks to the power of community driven actions. To make this Des Moines book signing happen it took just a few small actions and a lot of word of mouth. Over the last week, word of mouth allowed me to connect with more people than ever through my blog and from the response I know all of them are passionate as I am and wanted to help out any way possible to make the event successful.

For those of you looking for advice, help or nearly anything else the internet provides an endless wealth of knowledge and talent from infinite niches of people who are probably just as passionate as you.  To tap into this resource it just takes you being out there, open, polling and listening. A drill down into these steps is coming in the near future but before I begin I want your thoughts and feedback on the subject. How do you use the social web and how has it provided value back to you?

Who is Gary Vaynerchuk?

From my previous post you know I am working with others in the Des Moines area to bring Gary Vaynerchuk to Iowa as part of his book signing tour but to make this a truly epic event we are going to have to introduce others, including close friends and family, to the Thunder Show for the first time. So here are a few links and events you may want to share while out spreading the word and generating interests.

Wine Library TV, episode #459. This is just a great show. Gary continues to bring the thunder but it also shows how his fans have contributed to show and how he brings the wine tasting experience to their homes. Gary also expresses his excitement about coming to Des Moines so you have to love that! Link

Gary’s announcement page for his book. This is the page that started it all and also lists the special buy two books offer. The official video announcement is also available on this page along with a list of other cities already confirmed for the book tour. Link

Upcoming TV appearances. Over the next week Gary is going to be on a number of TV shows; pass it along so others can watch and learn more about Gary. Upcoming appearances include:

• Wed, May 7th, The Big Idea w/Donny Deutsch which airs on CNBC at 10pm EST.
• Mon, May 12th, The Late Night Show w/Conan O’Brien which airs on NBC at 12:30am EST (technically Tues. 5/13).
• Tues, May 13th, Mad Money w/Jim Cramer which airs on CNBC at 6pm and 11pm EST.

Upcoming.org event page. And lastly, don’t let anyone get away without directing them to our Upcoming event page. Have them register and show their interest in coming to the book signing. Link

Thank you again, all for the support in making this event happen! We are so close to locking down the event so please continue to spread the word and I promise this will truly be an epic event!

Personal Mission Statement - Follow up

The Outstanding Club’s writing contest has ended and the entries have been posted to their site. As follow up to the contest those who have entered including myself have been asked to vote for their favorite two.

After reading the posts, my two votes go to:

• Jake Dahn’s Personal Mission Statement published at jakedahn.com by Jake Dahn
• Rob Jensen’s Personal Mission Statement published at jensenrf.wordpress.com by Rob Jensen

Jake’s post is my favorite and I feel is most deserving of the $25 Amazon gift card. In fact, my post was modeled/inspired by his format and I am sure if you compared the two you can see the similarities in how the post was broken out. I appreciate how he outlined his conclusions and let that shape his mission statement. I sense the self discovery that must have been involved to come to statement and greatly appreciate him sharing this with the internets.

I do want to give credit to Chris Brown. The mission statement is perfect in simplicity and it is key to note all of the words are actions which I believe is truly important because your mission statement should resonate through your actions, and I am sure Chris walks the talk. The only reason I wasn’t able to throw a vote to this post is because I felt it lacked the sharing of the personal discovery of Jake’s post. Once again I can identify with Jake but I don’t have enough meat in the post to know Chris and what drives the mission statement.

Iowa, help us bring Gary V to Des Moines

*Last update on this post - We have a tentative date and it looks like we are in the home stretch. Mark June 21st at 5:30pm on your calendars and sign up at http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/594746/ so we, including Gary, have an idea of how many are going to show up!*

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Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV recently completed his first book, 101 Wines Guaranteed to Inspire, Delight, and Bring Thunder to Your World . To get the word out he is kicking off a book signing tour and has asked his fan base to provide suggestions for where to go.

This weekend I was able to exchange some emails with Gary and we ended with a little deal. So here it is, Gary is seriously considering a stop in Des Moines but he needs to see the demand. If we can get 50 peeps to confirm their interest he will make it happen and schedule a stop sometime during the 3rd week of June.

This is huge and I am determined to make this happen! The great people of East Village Books have already stepped up host the event and we are kicking around ideas and spreading the word but we can use your help. So here is what we need:

1. Comment here if you are interested. We need 50 to confirm and we are looking to create a sign up list but I wanted to get this ball rolling and generating buzz now.

2. Spread the word to friends, families and everyone else. If you have any connections to radio stations, newspapers or anyone else who can help get this event exposure let us know.

3. Share your ideas. I am looking to create some flyers to post at wine shops, libraries and other free bulletin boards but the more creative ideas the better so share them here!

4. Pre-order the book. It’s a book signing tour so make sure you have your copy in advance. Gary is also offering a special deal if you order two or more books so now is a great time to capitalize.

5. Post the event on your blog, facebook page or on any other social network your are a part of!

Let’s make this happen Des Moines!

*Update: Check out the latest episode of Wine Library TV. A small comment about the event and Gary calls out 150 peeps are needed. Either way, we want something epic so I stress we need your help!

*Second Update: You can also order your book through East Village Books. For store information or to order it online check out this link.