For Immediate Release
Contact CBS News’ Early
Show: Contact Borders: Contact
Gather.com Kelli Edwards Ann
Binkley Liz
Bradley CBS News Early Show Borders Kel
& Partners KEE@cbsnews.com abinkley@bordersgroupinc.com liz@kelandpartners.com (212) 975-6795
(734) 477-1739
(857)
891-5531 CBS NEWS’ “THE
EARLY SHOW,” BORDERS®, ROYAL CARIBBEAN INTERNATIONAL, AND
MITCH ALBOM PRESENT “TIMES MOM STOOD UP FOR ME” WRITING COMPEITION ON
GATHER.COM Winner to
Receive Seven-Night Cruise for Two and “Early Show” Guest Spot with
Mitch Albom NEW YORK, New York/ ANN ARBOR, Mich./
BOSTON, Mass., April 11, 2007 — Borders, CBS News’ “The Early Show,” Royal Caribbean
International, and Mitch Albom present the “Times Mom Stood Up For Me” writing
competition on Gather.com, the leading social media site for adults. Designed
to celebrate moms for Mother’s Day, Mitch Albom, the acclaimed author of “For
One More Day,” published by Hyperion in fall 2006, announced the contest on “The
Early Show” this morning. To participate in the competition, entrants are
encouraged to submit an original story that relays a childhood memory of a particular
moment in which their mother stood up for them. Entries are submitted on Gather.com at http://mom.gather.com,
and the Gather.com community will read and rate the entries and select the ten
highest ranked finalists. Albom will choose the grand prize winner from the
list of finalists, and the winner will be announced on “The Early Show” on
Thursday, May 10th. In addition to appearing with Albom on the show,
the winner will receive a seven-night cruise vacation for two from Royal
Caribbean International. “The way my own mother stood up for me was a driving force behind
the writing of ‘For One More Day’,” Mitch Albom said. “In my book, the son
never gets to express his gratitude. My hope is that this competition will
encourage the entrants to express those feelings, and to honor all the mothers
who have so lovingly devoted themselves to their children.” As an example, Albom has posted a draft of a sample
submission at http://mom.gather.com,
which describes a personal memory of a time when his own mother stood up for
him. “Mitch Albom’s writing has touched the hearts
of so many people around the world,” said Borders Group Chief Marketing Officer
Michael Tam, “and there may be no better book to celebrate Mother’s Day than ‘For
One More Day’. We are confident
that our customers will be deeply interested in this competition and we are
honored to have this distinguished author as the host.” As the retail sponsor of the competition,
Borders, Inc., a leading retailer of books, music, movies and stationery items,
will also promote the competition to its millions of customers who receive the
retailer’s “Shortlist” emails, which provide insight into what’s new and
interesting in books, music and movies. “If there is one thing Gather.com members have in common, it’s
writing,” said Gather.com Founder and CEO Tom Gerace. “We are thrilled to be
able to offer our community the opportunity to actively engage with such a
talented author.” “This competition allows us to use the power
of social media to give our viewers, many of whom are huge Mitch Albom fans,
the opportunity to connect with one another in a creative environment,” said Steve
Friedman, Vice President, CBS News’ Morning Broadcasts. For more information on the rules and
regulations of the “Times Mom Stood Up For Me” writing competition please visit
mom.gather.com or CBSNews.com. “TIMES MOM STOOD UP FOR ME”WRITING
COMPETITION TIMELINE Submission Period: Thursday, April 12 – Wednesday, April 25th
11:59PM Final Voting Ends: Sunday night, April 29th at 11:59PM Winner announced: Thursday, May 10th About CBS News The CBS
News Division operates a worldwide news organization serving the CBS Television
and Radio Networks and CBSNews.com with regularly scheduled news and public
affairs programming – including, among others, the CBS EVENING NEWS, THE
EARLY SHOW, 60 MINUTES, 48 HOURS MYSTERY, FACE THE NATION and SUNDAY MORNING
– and special reports on breaking news. The division maintains 19
news bureaus and offices in the United States and abroad in addition to its
world headquarters in New York. About Mitch Albom About Borders, Inc. Borders is a subsidiary of Borders Group, Inc.
(NYSE: BGP) a $4 billion retailer of books, music, movies and stationery items
that trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BGP. Headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan,
Borders Group, through its subsidiaries, operates more than 1,200 Borders and
Waldenbooks stores and employs more than 34,000 people worldwide who serve more
than 30 million customers each year.
More information on the company is available at www.bordersgroupinc.com. About Gather.com Gather.com (www.gather.com) is the leader in social media
for adults. Gather.com members connect around shared interests ranging from
politics to books and from cooking to travel, and they’re compensated for their
activity on the site. Members can engage in conversation with state and local
politicians, health and financial experts, personal coaches, bestselling
authors, and more. Over one million people visit Gather.com each month to read
content created by Gather.com members. Gather.com has a highly educated, highly
informed adult audience membership -- a demographic elusive to most social
networking sites. This demographic has made Gather.com an exceptional partner
to media companies, advertising agencies, leading consumer brands, book
publishers, and movie studios. Gather.com is a privately held, privately funded
company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Investors include Allen &
Company, The American Public Media Group, Hearst, The McGraw-Hill Companies,
and Southern California Public Radio. For more information, visit www.gather.com or call (617) 720-4000, x1032. ### |
