Quote: (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.