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!

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.

Outstandingclub - A Group Writing Contest

In previous posts I have asked and discussed what you should be blogging about and overall entrepreneurship. Overwhelming feedback has come back time and time again that if you go down either route it needs to be about something you are passionate about. This means before you can even begin you need to be able to discover and know yourself. Once you have this you can create a cornerstone to build on and that is your personal or company mission statement. Outstanding Club, a blog I recently subscribed to and launched by a good friend of mine, is hosting a contest to do just that.

I encourage readers looking to enhance their personal brand or evaluating a business venture to take this challenge and create a mission statement. Blog about it and put your hat in for a chance at an Amazon gift card. I’ll be following the trackbacks and looking for additional inspiration as I need to also work on my mission statement.

What is Your Mission Statement - Outstanding Club Group Writing Contest

The leadership of Outstanding Club is busily working away at refining the vision and mission of the group. A great mission statement is one that is succinct but thorough, simple but all-encompassing. It is a filter through which all things must pass to be considered a part of what the group is and does. If you intend to use it as that filter, it has to be, deserves to be, chiseled to near-perfection.

With that in mind, the challenge to you this month is to define your own mission statement. What are the things that define you to the core? With a clearly defined mission statement and vision for your life, it becomes far easier to know what to say no to, what to embrace in your life, and how to spend more of your time doing what is unmistakably “you”.

Write your personal mission statement and the process you go through to determine what it ought to be, and you might win one of two US $25 Amazon Gift Certificates! For an example, here’s a link to the Personal Mission Statement of one of the Outstanding Club members. Yours does not have to be as long, structured in the same way - heck, you don’t even need to succeed in coming up with one! The process of trying to develop one is the important part.

How to Win

Write a blog entry on your own blog describing what your personal mission statement is, along with a description of the process you went through to come up with it. Only one entry per participant! It should be recent and original (up to 60 days old is OK). You’re strongly encouraged (though not required) to link back to this blog to acknowledge your participation.

Contact us via a comment on this post (see the little comment link near the top of this newsletter) or via e-mail at iainhamp at gmail no later than Wednesday, April 30, at midnight Pacific Standard Time. Include your name and the URL of your list. On May 7, we’ll post a list with all valid entries.You have until Wednesday, May 14 to read the participants’ entries and post a list with your favorite entries in your own blog. You should pick at least 3 favorite entries, and as many as you like (all, if you are so inclined).

Note: While we certainly don’t want to discourage anyone from linking to their favorite entries, regardless of whether they participated, only those who submit entries and then vote on their favorites will be eligible to win.

On May 21 the winners will be announced. Every time an entry gets mentioned as a favorite it gets one point, regardless of position. The two entries with the most votes get the prizes (if there’s a draw, the entry that was submitted first gets ranked higher).

Prizes

As mentioned before, the two top entries in the group writing contest will win US $25 Amazon Gift Certificates! Good luck, and we can’t wait to read your entries!

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Bah, I can’t blog!

At least I haven’t been able to do it as consistently as I would like, and I’m not even going to touch the topic of post quality. I have been hoping to post out to this site more frequently but lately I have been pulled in too many different directions. Not that I want to make any excuses but between family events (getting ramped up for the wedding season and my dad’s return from overseas), my second daughter’s birth (re-adjusting to life, sleepless nights, and a stressed out wife), getting in shape (trying to get to the gym at least 3 times a week and walking) and getting back into officiating soccer games (finally re-certified and refereeing competitive soccer team U12 and below…still hoping to do some U14 games this year) I seem to be too busy to log on the computer at home (unless it is a quick round of Warsong Gulch and I mean quick).

Anyways, I hope to really get back to blogging and I have much to write about and share. In the meantime check out my new mini-site on tumblr. I have been posting random thoughts, links and other misc. things to the site. It is also a free service much like WordPress so sign up for an account all of you web2.0 junkies.