Online Meet and Greet with Hugh Howey Marks Shindig's 200th Video Chat Book Event

Online, November 29, 2012 (Newswire.com) - Hugh Howey joined the likes of best-selling authors A.J. Jacobs, Joel Stein, Scott Sigler and Dan Ariely, along with stars Kevin Pollak and Andrew McCarthy by hosting a live interactive video chat event powered by Shindig.com. Howey's appearance on Shindig's large scale event platform marked the company's 200th video chat book event since the company first began its beta at the 2012 Book Expo (BEA). Over Fifteen Thousand people have participated in shindig events thus far.

Hugh Howey was a particularly fitting author for the milestone event. Howey's self published short story, Wool, became a series of five best selling novels (recently optioned by Ridley Scott) by riding on the wings of innovative word of mouth online marketing.

Howey added, "As an author who loves to connect with his readers across the globe, my one wish is that I could be everywhere at once. Shindig makes that happen."

"Shindig offers a highly innovative video chat experience," explains Gottlieb. "It allows event participants to see and be seen by the presenting authors while simultaneously allowing them to move freely through a virtual space, engaging in private video chats with each other. The authors can address all of the participants as a group from a virtual 'stage', as well as share the stage with participants who may have a question or comment about their book."

Gottlieb is no stranger to new media: he's been an angel investor and consultant to a number of tech start-ups and has served on the boards of Musicmatch, Napster, and Tune Up Media. He was also the owner of independent music label TVT Records, discoverer of artists Nine Inch Nails, Pitbull, and Lil Jon among others and the producer of the multi-million selling hit album series "Television's Greatest Hits."

"The reason why I came up with Shindig was because I thought that conventional online video chat was restrictive and uncomfortable," says Gottlieb, a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School. "People are used to shifting from conversation to conversation at will. They don't want to be locked in a single conversation being forced to wait through conversations that don't concern them in order to start ones that do. I wanted to create a new interaction architecture that offered the same easy transitioning of conversation to conversation as what people experience when they're in an actual physical space."

In addition to presenting book events, Gottlieb is also preparing to launch Shindig music events and listening parties for bands, Shindig online nightclub parties featuring top D.J.'s, and Shindig subscriber events for magazines. He's also developing Shindig interactive classroom applications.

"Shindig events deliver a big win for everyone involved," says Gottlieb. "Participants can meet, mingle, and communicate in a way that was never before possible in a video chat environment, and presenters can connect with their fans, customers, or audiences in an intimate and cost effective way. It's an exciting new medium for sharing, connecting, and interacting."

For more information or to arrange a shindig event of your own please visit: www.shindigevents.com. Video highlights of the AJ Jacobs event may be viewed here. A schedule of public events by authors and others is available 24/7 at Shindig.com

Contact:
Nick Carcaterra
Susan Blond, Inc.
212.333.7728 ext.126
nickc@susanblondinc.com