ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Everyone who has ever written a book owes a debt of gratitude to people who helped him or her move beyond a great idea to actually getting it on paper and then getting a publisher to agree to put it out. These lists are always longer than the author can realistically include in the acknowledgments at the front of the book. I am no exception to this rule, and I am sure I have not included everyone who has helped or impacted my career. I apologize in advance to those I’ve missed.

That said, there are a number of people who’ve made incredible contributions to my professional and personal success, and I’d be derelict if I didn’t thank them in writing. First and foremost, my parents, Murray and Helen Barger, whose contributions to my life would fill at least another book and who taught me that I can do anything. My wife, Holly, and my stepson, Anthony, who is my son in every aspect but DNA: if my parents taught me how to be a man, Holly and Anthony have taught me why to be one and the joy of being a family.

My editors, Niki Papadopoulos and Donya Dickerson, who shepherded me through the process from the vague idea that someone ought to write a book like this to the point of your having this book in your hands, and Julia Baxter and her team at McGraw-Hill’s publicity department. Andy Sernovitz of GasPedal, who listened to my rant one night on a drive from the Salt Lick Bar-B-Que back to Austin and told me I needed to write a book. Kim Moldofsky of the blog Hormone-Colored Days, who did a blog post at about the same time saying that I should write a book. Thank you for inspiring me, guys.

My close friend Mike Maney of Alcatel-Lucent was also once my boss at IBM, and in the spring of 2003, he suggested so often that I would be really good at blogging that I finally started one just to shut him up. Not only did I enjoy it, but that blog opened the door to everything that has happened or that I’ve done since.

Mike and his wife, Jenn, were part of my inner circle of friends in New York. To them and the others in this circle—Tim and Donna Blair, Clint and Janet Roswell, Ed and Jane Barbini—thank you for making my New York years happier and for your continued friendship. Ed Barbini of IBM gets a double thank-you as my professional mentor; I’ve learned more from him about being a pro than anyone else—and I still hope that someday I’m half the leader Ed is.

Within the social media world, Aaron Strout, Allen Mire-les, Amber Naslund, Audrey Walker, Brandon Chesnutt, Brian Carter, Brian Simpson, C. C. Chapman, Casey Mullins, Chris Brogan, Chris Moody, Chris Theisen, Danielle Brigida, Danny Brown, Dave Murray, David Armano, David Meerman Scott, Doug Haslam, Ekaterina Walter, Emily Thompson, Erin Kane, Geoff Livingston, Gini Dietrich, Henry Balanon, Jason Falls, Jason Keath, Jessica Randazza, Joseph Jaffe, Josh Hallett, Justin Levy, Kami Watson Huyse, Kristin Brandt, Kristin Hammond, Lucretia Pruitt, Matt Dickman, Mike Manuel, Mitch Joel, Nicole D’Alonzo, Olivier Blanchard, Ramon DeLeon, Richard Brewer-Hay, Ryan Boyles, Shauna Causey, Shel Holtz, Shelly Kramer, Summer Boone, Wayne Sutton, and the Punks (who know who they are) have inspired me in their own ways, driving me to push envelopes and break some eggs, and they deserve thanks for teaching me that not even the sky should ever be a limit.

Lindsay Lebresco of Lilly Pulitzer (formerly of Graco), David Puner of Havas Digital (formerly of Dunkin’ Donuts), Zena Weist of H&R Block, Mike Wing at IBM, and Richard Binhammer at Dell were incredibly giving of their time and were willing to sit for either e-mail or phone interviews for this book. Thank you for your perspective and for helping me get this closer to right.

No one achieves success single-handedly; never has that been truer than with me. Everyone who has ever worked with me at General Motors has been partly responsible for what we’ve achieved together. Len Marsico (who recruited me to Detroit and wouldn’t take no for an answer), Steve Harris, Chris Preuss, Edd Snyder, Mary Henige, Lori Arpin, Natalie Johnson, Rick Crooks, Adam Denison, Lesley Hettinger, Robyn Henderson, Wendy Clark, Connie Burke, Annalisa Bluhm, Nuria Baldello-Sole, Mike Morrissey, Phil Colley, Chris Vary, Chris Perry, Laurie Mayers, Jud Branam, Chris Poterala, Gayle Weiswasser, Lisa Bader, Andy Schueneman, Lish Dorset, John Cortez, Bobby Hoppey, Patrick Hernandez, Kameya Shows, Nicole Carriere, Rob Peterson, Jason Laird, Joe LaMuraglia, Lisa Gilpin, Deb Ochs, Jennie Ecclestone, Donna McLallen, Dave Barthmuss, Otie McKinley, Jordana Strosberg, Lauren Indiveri, Ryan Zemmin, Danielle Ciotti, Whitney Drake, Nick Twork, George Jones, Patrick Reyes, Janet Keller, Suzanne Johnson, and Ari-anna Kughn: thank you for making me look good.

Finally: special appreciation, thanks, and love to the crew who sat in the war room with me on June 1, 2009, and the week that fell in its aftermath. Unless you were there, putting in the 21-hour days, bearing the intense stress of being the social network faces of General Motors during the week of the Chapter 11 filing, you can’t know what that group of people dealt with, more admirably than anyone could have expected. In some ways, that week was the proudest week of my career, and the people who went through it with me will always have a place in my heart for being in the foxhole with me. Wendy, Connie, Annalisa, Nuria, Mike, Robyn, Adam, Otie, Mary, Andy, Potsie, Lish: you will always be my Dirty Dozen, and I’ll always be grateful for what we did together that week.