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
Mitch Albom is an author, playwright and screenwriter, who has written nine books, including the international bestseller, "Tuesdays with Morrie," the bestselling memoir of all time. His first novel, "The Five People You Meet in Heaven," was an instant no.1 New York Times bestseller that has already sold over eight million copies worldwide. Both books were made into acclaimed TV films. Mitch also works as a columnist and a broadcaster, and serves on numerous charitable boards. He lives with his wife, Janine, in Michigan. For more information please visit www.mitchalbom.com.
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.
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