Nominated for Who’s Who
I feel like I’m back in high school. I received an e-mail today telling me I’ve been nominated for the international edition of Who’s Who. I can’t imagine who would have nominated me or why. Guess they’ve never read my blogs … ha ha ha.
I told a friend about that and he used big words, like precocious, refering to things I’ve done. I told him maybe I’ve done a few things during my career, but it’s not like I’m writing my own blog software, a world famous news librarian, creating a new search engine, curing cancer, or trying to give everyone free access to the sum of human knowledge. My accomplishments are small and piddling in comparison. Maybe it really is all in who you know …
Seriously, though, I have no idea if this is a genuine e-mail. It looks legit enough.
So now, every time I see someone’s name, I’m thinking, “Did that person nominate me? Is that person in the book?” It’s awful. I looked up a few people in the American edition, but didn’t find any of them. Puzzling.
Addendum: This is definitely not Marquis’ Who’s Who. I’m not of that caliber. It’s some publication called the International Who’s Who of Professionals published by the International Who’s Who Historical Society. It’s not the kind of scam where nominees have to pay or purchase a copy to be included in the book. According to their frequently asked questions, society members nominate people.
September 22nd, 2004 at 2:18 am
Not a world famous news librarian? I beg to differ.
September 22nd, 2004 at 12:17 pm
There are thousands of publications with “Who’s Who” in the title. Many of them are excuses to sell books to honorees. Some of them are legitimate.
In this case, there are at least two legitimate possibilities:
There’s “Who’s Who in the World” from Marquis, which is most decidely legitimate; Marquis also publishes “Who’s Who in America” and some regional and specialized editions, and is probably the Big Brand for Who’s Who. They’ll offer all kinds of goodies for a price, and certainly offer a discounted edition, but they will never make any link between buying anything and being included.
There’s also “International Who’s Who” from Europa Publications. As far as I know, there’s no connection to Marquis, so inclusion in “Who’s Who in America” would have no relation to inclusion in “International Who’s Who.” While I know nothing about Europa, the extent of library holdings of the “International Who’s Who” suggests that it’s also legitimate, but different.
I’ve always wondered how people get chosen; for Marquis, at least, I think it’s not so much “nomination” as observation of various awards and other evidence of prominence, or maybe both. (Yes, I speak from experience.)
I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if you have enough international reputation to receive an application. Congratulations.
September 22nd, 2004 at 1:47 pm
Good clarification. Professional society who’s who’s certainly count as legitimate, and legitimate honors. (There are probably hundreds of such specialized, legitimate publications–as well as a number of semi-scams.)
Congratulations still!
September 22nd, 2004 at 8:47 pm
Congratulations-that’s great! I’ll have to remember to get your autograph next time I see you…
May 24th, 2005 at 1:08 pm
Are you people kidding? None of these “Who’s Who” listings — not even the prententiously titled “Marquis” listing — are worth the paper they’re printed on. These are vanity publications catering to narcissists. No one with a half a brain takes them seriously at all. Don’t believe me? Read this article: http://pm.typepad.com/professional_marketing_bl/2005/05/whos_who_who_ca.html. What a joke!
June 15th, 2006 at 1:28 am
They are fraud see http://www.internationalwhoswho.de/ for detail and also they charge US$ 2500 and US$ 1700 for membership fee thay have this telemarketing executive trying all the tricks in the book to sale you the membership. BE AWARE!
June 15th, 2006 at 8:30 am
Hhhmmm … your comment here appears like it might be legit. All the other comments I’m getting from your IP address this morning aren’t.
July 25th, 2006 at 10:33 am
Thanks for the comment, Hugh. I was part of this morning’s e-mail solicitation, too.