Teri Thompson – författare

Since its limited release just after the turn of the twentieth century, this American Tobacco cigarette card has beguiled and bedeviled collectors. First identified as valuable in the 1930s, when the whole notion of card collecting was still young, the T206 Wagner has remained the big score for collectors who have scoured card shows, flea markets, estate sales, and auctions for the portrait of baseball''s greatest shortstop.

Only a few dozen T206 Wagners are known to still exist. Most, with their creases, stains, and dog-eared corners, look worn and tattered, like they''ve been around for almost a century. But one—The Card—appears to have defied the travails of time. Thanks to its sharp corners and its crisp portrait of Honus Wagner, The Card has become the most famous and desired baseball card in the world.

Over the decades, as The Card has changed hands, its value has skyrocketed. It was initially sold for $25,000 by a small card shop in a nondescript strip mall. Years later, hockey great Wayne Gretzky bought it at the venerable Sotheby''s auction house for $451,000. Then, more recently, it sold for $1.27 million on eBay. Today worth over $2 million, it has transformed a sleepy hobby into a billion-dollar industry that is at times as lawless as the Wild West. The Card has made men wealthy, certainly, but it has also poisoned lifelong friendships and is fraught with controversy—from its uncertain origins and the persistent questions about its provenance to the possibility that it is not exactly as it seems.

Now for the first time, award-winning investigative reporters Michael O''Keeffe and Teri Thompson follow the trail of The Card from a Florida flea market to the hands of the world''s most prominent collectors. They delve into a world of counterfeiters and con men and look at the people who profit from what used to be a kids'' pastime, as they bring to light ongoing investigations into sports collectibles. O''Keeffe and Thompson also examine the life of the great Honus Wagner, a ballplayer whose accomplishments have been eclipsed by his trading card, and the strange and fascinating subculture of sports memorabilia and its astonishing decline.

Intriguing and eye-opening, The Card is a ground-breaking look at a uniquely American hobby.

The first inside account of the international soccer scandal that rocked the world and the American at its center—the incredible story of how a stay-at-home New York soccer dad illegally made millions off the world’s most powerful and corrupt sports organization and became an unlikely FBI whistleblower.

He was the middle-class Jewish kid from Queens who rose from local youth soccer leagues to the heights of FIFA, becoming a larger-than-life, jet-setting buccaneer—and the most notorious FBI informant in sports history. For years, Chuck Blazer skimmed over $20 million from FIFA, stashing his money in offshore accounts and real estate holdings that included a luxury apartment in Trump Tower, a South Beach condo, and a hideaway in the Bahamas. Instantly recognizable with his unruly mass of salt-and-pepper hair and matching beard—and a rotating crop of arm candy—Blazer was one of the most flamboyant figures in the glitzy social and political circles of international soccer. Over the course of thirty years, Blazer leveraged his friendships with the likes of Vladimir Putin, Hillary Clinton and Nelson Mandela, to increase his influence with the mandarins of global soccer—most notably Sepp Blatter, FIFA’s long-time godfather.

Once Blatter tapped Blazer to be the first American in almost fifty years to sit on FIFA’s executive committee, the erstwhile accountant steadily accumulated money and power—until 2013 when the FBI and IRS nabbed Blazer and charged him with fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion. In exchange for immunity, Blazer agreed to let the Feds install a microphone in his keychain to entrap his larcenous band of brothers—leading to the shocking arrest and indictment of eighteen FIFA officials for racketeering and bribery.

In this taut and suspenseful tale of white-collar crime and betrayal at the highest levels of international business, investigative reporters Mary Papenfuss and Teri Thompson draw on sources in U.S. law enforcement as well as in Blazer’s inner circle to tell the surreal tale of this astonishing character and the scandal that rocked the world.

Today''s Hottest Trends for On-the-Spot Marketing!

"A must read for media and marketers.”—Alan Cohen, CEO, OMD USA

"What do fish tacos, data storage, and disaster relief all have in common? Each has harnessed the power of marketing that amplifies via the real-time social web. These and many other case studies are part of this engaging new book that details strategies for marketers to understand, evolve, and profit in the social age."—John Gerzema, Chief Insights Officer, Young & Rubicam, and coauthor of Spend Shift

"Understanding what''s possible and how to use social media will be essential for every marketer; this book will hold your hand in this brave new world."—John Miller, CMO, NBC Universal TV Group

"Like it or not, social media is here to stay. It needs to be understood, managed, and harnessed. This book tells you how. Read it!"—Zhihang Chi, Ph.D., Vice President and General Manager, North America, Air China Limited

"Beverly Macy is a true innovator and thought leader in the field of social media marketing."—Cathy Sandeen, Ph.D., MBA, Dean, UCLA Extension, University of California Los Angeles

About the Book

In an era when information travels at phenomenal speed along the “real-time Web,” a brand can explode into popular culture overnight--and die just as quickly. As a marketer, how can you stay ahead of the curve? How do you control the chaos? Two words: Social Media.

With The Power of Real-Time Social Media Marketing, you''ll learn how to take advantage of today''s "fluid" business environment and develop innovative ways to meet market demands. And here''s the best part: all your tools--Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other sites--are free!

Leading figures in the exciting new world of sophisticated social media marketing, Beverly Macy and Teri Thompson explain how you can use this global, real-time platform to change how consumers interact with your brand. They then present detailed case studies illustrating how top organizations and emerging brand giants have proven the remarkable effectiveness of social media marketing. Find out how:

Marketers no longer have the luxury of time to develop, test, and measure a brand. Use the lessons in The Power of Real-Time Social Media Marketing to launch your brand in a fixed amount of time, accurately measure the impact of your activities, and instantly adjust to any unforeseen events.