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http://vigilantcitizen.com/

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I doubt that there is going to be a credible site with a list of all the private groups a person is a member of, unless it says on their own personal website.

It'd kind of defeat the purpose of being an invite only group.

As for how they network: Probably the same as everyone else, except in different locations and with different people. If you want to network like Bill Clinton, you're probably going to have to engineer actions similar to his: What degrees did he get? What institutions? What clubs and societies was he in during high school? What did his Dad do? What families have historical connections to his family?

Ask those questions like an investigative journalist and then you'll be able to answer broader questions like, "Who took him under their wing?" Or, "How did those contacts turn into forward momentum."

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Read some biographies! As for secret societies, or societies with secrets, their influence is usually overstated by conspiracy nuts and understated by those who are in them.

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(07-04-2012 11:55 AM)hunter7 Wrote:  I came to that idea reading some biographies by the way. And yeah of course working on capitol hill as a college student and then being a rhodes scholar is a lot of pedigree for a young man and Clinton leveraged it well, he didn´t need any high school society after that point. I am thinking about what circles are relevant and then go and get into some of the good networks...

The CFR isn't really a secret society. However, to get in you need to a) be a US citizen - or be on the path to citizenship, and b) be proposed and seconded by two members. So you'd have to become friendly with at least a couple of members. Finally, you should be in an influential position in policy making or business.

It's the same thing for orgs like the World Economic Forum - you need to already have worked your way into a fairly influential position to be considered. So your first goal should be to become influential in some way and then work at meeting people who are already members. Membership is easy to find out for these so you won't have any trouble figuring out who to meet. It's not easy - but then nothing worthwhile is!

As for proper secret societies most of them are linked to universities. You have to be an undergraduate at a particular school to be considered. They mostly exist in the US though some of the older universities in Germany have them too. There are plenty of exclusive university clubs in every country but you'd have to be in the know to find out about them. The thing with those is that membership is often based largely on family background since most undergraduates won't have had much time to distinguish themselves independently. It's good networking, but you can get good networking in a lot of ways. It's not like they have access to awesome secrets that explain the meaning of life.

Less glamorous, but perhaps easier, is to look into becoming a member of a few social clubs. Eg. the clubs along Pall Mall in London and their ilk around the world. Once you're in one, getting in others becomes much easier. The bar isn't necessarily all that high for membership. The main thing is meeting one person who is a member - if they like you they'll introduce you to others and you can start down the path to membership. It may take couple of years and you'll have to pay annual dues, but often the dues are quite reasonable if you're under 30.

Finally, consider getting involved in charities. If you have a bit of spare cash look into which charities are fashionable in your area. If you're in New York you could read Vanity Fair or Guest of a Guest, but every city has its society pages. An annual donation of a few hundred dollars often gets you invited to annual parties. It's usually clear from the website what a donation gets you - looks like a lot of people don't like donating unless they know what they're getting!

The crowd at these affairs often overlaps with the people you want to meet. It's not a quick fix, you have to do this consistently over time to start getting familiar with people. Having a pretty girl with you helps a lot.

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Just made some edits to previous response.

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I know a lot of Masons. My dad and his buddies are, andI think they are all in the high levels of it. They travel to England or somewhere every few years for it.

If those guys are secretly running the world, we're screwed.

Aloha!

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(07-04-2012 11:33 AM)rakishness Wrote:  http://vigilantcitizen.com/

Thanks for sharing that.

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Masons seem pretty open to me for a "secret society".

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If you bark up that tree you're going to end up running into a lot of false positives.

Any "list" of people sharing some secret affiliation will inevitably be based on speculation.

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The only secret society you need be concerned with:

http://www.bristollair.com/2008/inner-ga...t-society/

So ancient that it should be fundamental knowledge for posters here.

But, if you seek some other power, say, for instance, to change the destiny of nations in an evening's conversation, seek membership in the Alibi Club, conveniently located at 1806 Eye Street NW, DC, with Metro and bus access across the street.

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I don't know why they are called "secret". Everyone knows about them. I just call them fraternities of powerful men. If I made a couple billion dollars they would probably let me in. Whats the big secret? Make alot of money, become very powerful, hang around these circles and make decisions that effect the world. Seems simple enough to me.

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(07-07-2012 12:42 PM)Giovonny Wrote:  If I made a couple billion dollars they would probably let me in.

As of March 2010 there were only 403 billionaires in the entire US, and Forbes only lists 1153 with one billion or more in the entire world.

There is no requirement to be a billionaire in these societies. The threshold is much lower than you guys think (ie, "We think he can pay the annual dues without needing three notices most years"), and most of you could probably become members if you actually tried.

The requirements are more "not being a dickhead" "not too much of a public embarrassment" "doesn't wear jeans and tennis shoes to events" and "can hold their liquor when drunk".

The most common reason why I see people apply for admission but not become members is not showing up. There's a few dinners. A couple drinking events. Some meetings. And a couple ceremonies. Stretched out over usually 3 months to make the circuit between application and becoming a member. A surprising number of applicants flake out during this and so never get to the point where they're even voted on.

The most common (almost the only one, actually) reason why I see people get blackballed (not a sexual term, but how you get voted down for admission by the membership --white balls are yes, black balls are no) in clubs is they're a nasty drunk.