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B.J. Mendelson
Speaker on the Myth of Social Media
BIO
B.J. Mendelson is a former marketer turned journalist, speaker, and entrepreneur. He opened his first business, Earth’s Temporary Solution, in his dorm room at Alfred State College shortly after the events of September 11th to encourage volunteerism and social service. Today B.J. tours college campuses across America and visits small businesses as a speaker to warn them about the myth of social media. Drawing on years of experience trying to use every new platform that emerged on the Internet since the ’90s to make enough money to retire, and failing horribly—B.J. educates and entertains audiences online and around the world. He previously toured college campuses across America as a speaker on college survival issues and a promoter of the early detection and prevention of breast cancer among college students.B.J. has been a syndicated college survival columnist with CBS College Sports’s former U-Wire division, and has been quoted and featured in Newsweek, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Psychology Today, SmartMoneymagazine, and other national outlets. He has also contributed pieces for CNN, MTV, The Huffington Post, Mashable, Forbes, and the Eisner-nominated ComicsAlliance.
He formerly served as a new media director for a television show that aired in forty million homes through ABC affiliates across America, where he was often charged with coming up with online endeavors on the fly, to help grow the show’s audience. B.J. also built and operated the first Wounded Warriors Family Support High Five Tour, which features Colonel John Folsom traveling America in a custom Shelby Mustang to thank America for its support of our servicemen and women. The mustang was custom wrapped, creating an opportunity for people across America to sign the car during each of the Colonel’s tour stops. The High Five Tour recently entered its third year of successful operation and continues to emerge bigger and better each year.
Visit B.J. Mendelson’s website to learn more Watch B.J. Mendelson's appearance on CNN's Starting Point with Soledad O'Brien Watch B.J. Mendelson's appearance on Yahoo! Finance's The Daily Ticker Watch an interview with B.J. Mendelson www.macmillan.com More Speaker Info 
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BOOKS
 Hardcover
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St. Martin's Press
A provocative look at social media that dispels the hype and tells you all you need to know about using the Web to expand your business
If you listen... |
SPEECHES
Social Media Is Bullshit: B.J. discusses why money spent on "social media" is money wasted, and describes the world we live in today as a place where it’s far easier to make money telling people how to get rich using the Internet than it is to actually get rich using it. A brief reading from select parts of the book of the same name followed by some talking and then a lengthy Q & A session with the audienceA National Story of Minor Significance: B.J. describes his transition from being a believer in the myth of social media to a critic and (hopeful) executioner of it—retelling the breast cancer tour which serves as the basis of Social Media Is Bullshit.
Astonishing Tales of Mediocrity: Since age 16, B.J. has used every platform that’s come out on the Internet in an attempt to make himself rich. His goal was to always retire at 30, and this goal drove him to dive headfirst into the different platforms and marketing books, which lead him to discover that they were all recycling How To Win Friends And Influence People and the core lessons of that book, which are discussed and weaved throughout the presentation
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RECENT VIDEOS
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B.J. Mendelson – The Facebook and Twitter Con
REVIEWS
PRAISE FOR B.J. MENDELSON:
“We were very excited to have Brandon as our guest speaker. His event was very insightful into one of the most popular “buzz words” in modern marketing. Brandon offered a different perspective on the advantages and disadvantages of social media and the impact it has on our lives and on business. Our members were able to learn something new about something we all use every day! Brandon did a fantastic job by engage the students and providing very thoughtful answers.”
—Boryana Yordanova, President, St. John’s University Marketing Club
“As an expert on viral marketing, B.J. Mendelson knows how social media works and for whom it works. But more importantly, he knows why it won’t work for you. B.J.’s candid delivery cut through the bullshit to provide us with the truth about where we should really be putting our marketing dollars. It just adds to his credibility that B.J. wasn’t trying to sell us anything – his discussion was refreshingly void of a sales pitch for his book. This guy’s the real deal!”
—Joseph Avellino, Student, St. John’s University
“While attending the Associated Collegiate Press Convention in San Francisco, I had the opportunity to hear Brandon Mendelson’s “People are Idiots” speech. His speech focused less on being a speech and more on being an interactive learning experience. It was really more of a seminar where audience members shared personal student newsroom struggles and then received advice and instruction from Mendelson. I not only enjoyed his speech, but I gained a lot of helpful advice from his answers to audience member questions. Mendelson made clear that learning how to work with the idiots in life is a necessity. He gave clear points for how to properly address issues brought on by the idiots of the work room, how to keep your cool, and how to handle the wide range of idiots. Whether dealing with disrespectful think-they-know-it-alls or lazy co-editors, Mendelson’s “People are Idiots” speech provides laughs and more importantly direction for handling the “you know who” of your work environment.”
—Mackenzie Foster, Student, Vanguard University of Southern California
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