(empo-muvei) My Federal Trade Commission disclosures regarding Mooove Ahead! Of the Corporate Herd

OK, so I mixed up the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission. It's the LATTER organization (not the former) that published some new guidelines in October 2009 that included the following:

The revised Guides also add new examples to illustrate the long standing principle that “material connections” (sometimes payments or free products) between advertisers and endorsers – connections that consumers would not expect – must be disclosed. These examples address what constitutes an endorsement when the message is conveyed by bloggers or other “word-of-mouth” marketers. The revised Guides specify that while decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service.

Well, I plan to devote a few posts to some topics raised in an ebook entitled Moove Ahead! Of the Corporate Herd. But before I do, I need to make THREE FTC-related disclosures regarding this topic.

First, I received a free copy of this ebook. The ebook has a list price of up to $9.99 depending upon the vendor.

Second, the author of the book, Tony Wong, is a former co-worker of mine. Wong notes that he has worked at several companies, including Motorola/Printrak; I have also worked at Motorola/Printrak.

Third, one of the people associated with the book is currently my boss. So readers should take account of the possibility that if I said something bad about the ebook, I might be out of a job. (Just kidding. I think.)

In the Prologue, Wong describes why he was moooved to write the book:

I began recalling a number of things about working and succeeding in a corporate environment that I wish I had known when I was that age.

Written for both younger readers (in college or just out of college) as well as more mature readers who are interesting in getting ahead, Wong progresses through the process of getting a job, starting a new job, and moving ahead in the job. Wong concentrates on giving practical advice gained from his years at various companies - and as anyone who has worked for any period of time knows, your college professors and textbooks don't prepare you for the reality that you will encounter when you permanently join the working world.

The ebook is available from several sources.

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Mooove-Ahead-corporate-herd-soooner-ebook/dp/B009CGEL0I/

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mooove-ahead-of-the-corporate-herdsoooner-tony-wong/1113017895?ean=9781937572785

iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/mooove-ahead-corporate-herd...soooner/id563298698

There is also a Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Mooove-ahead/452834224747150?fref=ts.

I'll have more to say about this in the coming days, both on the Empoprise-BI business blog and on tymshft.

P.S. Yes, I should have used Gray and Schafer's FTC disclosure graphics, but I didn't.