Monday, January 28, 2008

Who's Who in the World

La freakin' cucaracha! I am being considered to appear in the 2009 edition of Marquis' Who's Who In The World:

DEAR Wilhelm, It is my pleasure to inform you that you are being considered for inclusion in the upcoming 2009 Edition of Who's Who in the World®, which is scheduled for publication in November 2008.

Distributed globally, Marquis' Who's Who in the World is relied upon by business leaders, journalists, academics, and other professionals for its accuracy and currency of information. Additionally, it is found in the collections of many of the world's leading libraries and corporations.

As the Marquis Who's Who editors begin assembling the 2009 Edition of this historic publication, the original Who's Who in the World continues to be recognized internationally as the premier biographical data source of notable living individuals from every significant field of endeavor.

To be considered for inclusion as a biographee in this prestigious publication, you need only provide the requested information by completing the Biographical Data Form by 2/11/08. Through this link you will also find information about the edition of Who's Who in the World currently in print.

The information you provide will be evaluated according to the selection standards Marquis Who's Who has developed over 110 years as the world's premier biographical publisher. If you are selected for inclusion in the new 2009 edition, we will contact you prior to the book's publication in November.

Inclusion in Who's Who in the World offers...


* More than just a personal achievement; being honored in a Marquis Who's Who publication offers prospective business contacts an authoritative, full representation of your credentials and accomplishments.
* A historical archive of your achievements, recorded for generations to refer to time and again.
* Exclusive offers that are available only to members of the Marquis Who's Who family.

I congratulate you on the achievements that have brought your name to the attention of our editorial committee. We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Robert Docherty
Director, Editorial and Selection Committee

P.S. Inclusion of your biography in Who's Who in the World, of course, carries neither cost nor obligation to you of any kind. Our goal with each new edition is to have full representation of noteworthy and accomplished men and women across all fields and industries.

Holy Mackerel - I've made it now. Big Time, Here I come!

19 comments:

Unknown said...

Congrats !!!!!!
You're DA man !!!!

Wilhelm said...

Thanks, although I was being somewhat sarcastic when I expressed my unbridled enthusiasm

Anders said...

Naw. Isn't Times Man Of The Year the next step in your grand scheme to take over the world?

Wilhelm said...

..so you noticed the charts and schematics in our living room?

/This is a nice hustle to part fools and their money though, as the people in the "WWITW" are sure to buy the books

Anonymous said...

Dear Wilhelm,

I just received a similar message "Who is who in the world". I google the phrase and I reach your blog. Also another guy faced the same situation (http://thwackumsquare.blogspot.com/2007/10/youve-been-nominated-for-whos-who-in.html) and says that "i also thought this MUST be spam, but the scary thing is that it isn't".

Is it a hoax OR is it serious?

What you did?

(April 1 as the closing date also makes me suspicious)

Costas

Wilhelm said...

Hey there,

Yeah; sadly it's the real deal. I've gotten several reminders where the publishers appear to be baffled by my not wanting to be included in that list.

I'm quite convinced it's legit, but it would also serve as an efficient way to spam you, as it contains biographical info. I passed, as the inclusion of my name in such a volume means quite little to me.

Unknown said...

I received a similar email.
Marquis Who's Who is one of these "vanity" publications. Usually a publication of this sort requires some form of payment from teh author to the publisher. According to the email I got- there is no payment required for Who's who. Although, i suspect that there is a hidden one somewhere down the line...
I would put these emails in the Viagra pile ;)

Wilhelm said...

True that,

It's got that Dogbert scheme character written all over it

jimiflan said...

I received this email as well, and also googled it, and came up with this blog.
Im not sure about this particular book, but generally they hit you up for a copy of the book and at a price of:

November 2008 978-0-8379-1141-0 2,800 pp. $590.00 WO26C
First-Time Standing Order Price: $531.00

Im not yet that vain, to include myself

Wilhelm said...

...very good point.

If you've gotta shell out $531 to have your name and a short bio in a book, odds are you're not in the upper segments of the totem pole

P. said...

I just got an invite too, and have been looking online to see if it is legit.

I don't know whether it is a spam-generating concern or not (there seems to be nothing online from burnt contributors, but there are certainly hard copies in my local state library, and at quite a few libraries nationally, so they are not just selling to those listed.

I am pretty suspicious though because, objectively-speaking, I am just not a "who" in a world-wide sense, the pond would have to be pretty small before I'd count as a big fish!

NuvolGris said...

Dear all,

I was also approached by the people of Marquis Who's Who recently (by letter, not email), and when I saw that they were one of the original W'sW-publishers, I decided to play along as long as I didn't need to pay for anything. It seems that my biography will finally appear in a few months, without having had to part with my money (except for a few stamps).

In any case, Marquis is a comercial company, so they must be doing this for money, not just to make friends. It's true that many people would then buy the book just to show off with family, friends and coleagues (specially if they can get their company to pay for the book), but in this case you don't really seem to need to.

I'm sure that many other publishers do provide 'fame & glory' just to those who buy the books, and those publishers give bad name to the ones who don't.

About the selections process... well, I have done my phd and some research in some flashy universities (alongside a few millions more), but nothing to get a Nobel price about. Then I guess that if these companies collect for their books the data of say 100,000 people or 1M, and the selection is made on the bag of "people who's name has ever been in a web site in the english-speaking developed world", that might already cover about 1/3 of that population. So, let's not get too excited about being told we are such important bigwigs!!

;-)

Mmmmhhhh... actually... the correction process of the bio you submit is long and requires several rounds of sending back corrected proofs... may be it is the post office who is behind this scheme?

X-D

Anonymous said...

I am also recieving mail from Marquis to say that my name is there in 2010 issue, They are asking 347$ for a copy. I think if I'm such an important. I should get this copy free of cost from Marqis.

Unknown said...

its a legit organization, but not worth wasting your time on. it would cast doubts for me if I saw such a publication on an academic resume, as with all other vanity pubs. get back to work on that Nobel prize-winning Nature paper ;)

Anonymous said...

I´ve been also "selected" and asked to send my bio since 2004 or 2005 but I have not done it. My basic question is, does someboby really use or need this Who-is-who -list for some reasonable purposes? Sometimes I should need a good world-wide listing with bios of a limited special group as journalists or top videomakers or reserachers of cultural anthropology & cetera. But will somebody need listing of "Whos" in the whole world and obviously based on quit random selection. OK, I´m researcher of cultural contacts and conflicts and journalist writing for daily newspapers but that´s nothing to be in "Whos" of the globe.

Anonymous said...

Guys,
I was also contacted by Who's Who. I think they try to make money with vanity.
brazilian VIP

Anonymous said...

Hi,
I got like 20 emails asking
from them this year ...

They insist, I must be important :-)

Anonymous said...

Hi,

I've been contacted too...

...same as others, PhD, papers, etc. etc.

received 3 letters.

Ignore.

Anonymous said...

I've been in WW in the World and in America for years. There is no obigation to buy. I've never bought a book or any of the plaques, clocks, etc., yet I continue to be included.