Brandon Szuminsky, an instructor of communications at Waynesburg University, drove almost an hour to Point Park, Kindle in hand, to discuss a book at the first meeting of the Center for Media Innovation (CMI) book club last Wednesday.

Although he was the only one to attend, aside from graduate assistant and founder/host of the club Ashley Murray, Szuminsky said he enjoyed the experience, in part, because of this.

“I think it was incredibly intimate, and it was a great chance to talk about the book,” Szuminsky said after the meeting.

Even with the turnout of the meeting, which was scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m., the two discussed this month’s book “The Attention Merchants” and its themes as well as their own personal book recommendations until almost 9:30 p.m.

Murray said she considered the meeting a good test run and also agreed the discussion throughout the meeting was fulfilling.

“I had other people signed up, but some said they had class or different work to do, which is fine,” Murray said after the meeting. “But some people did ask me about the book, and I loaned mine to a student.”

Murray said she decided to start a book club to help students learn about the professional world beyond Point Park, and “The Attention Merchants” is a book that explored the history of communications.

“I heard about it on ‘Fresh Air’ in October with Tim Wu,” Murray said. “I thought it was great and really current, and the research was recent about communications’ history.”

Although the book is mainly about the communications field, the club meeting was open to anyone willing to come and was shared through email, Twitter, Eventbrite and flyers placed around campus.

“I saw the meeting on the CMI’s Twitter feed and was interested in [the book’s] content,” Szuminsky said. “You’re very welcoming to people from outside Point Park.”

“I’m not an advertising major, but I found it pretty unique and pretty cool to read about,” said Josh McCann, a junior creative writing major, who was unable to attend. “I ended up having so much to do for my other classes, but I’d definitely try and go next time.”

The book, described by Szuminsky as “a common concept with a novel frame,” is written by author and professor of law at Columbia Law School Tim Wu as a history of the communication industry starting in the 1800s, focusing on the ways companies and businesses have constantly vied for attention.

“The point of the book is where the mind is going, what is getting your attention and how companies and advertisers are harvesting attention,” Szuminsky said.

The meeting had the attendees answering prompts written by Murray from a box, then discussing their thoughts on the subject matter suggested by the prompts, such as the amount of time spent on social media, how much advertising you notice and how habits have changed throughout the years.

“The book had some personal and professional benefits, it added nuance to some interesting content,” Szuminsky said.

As the meeting came to a close, the two wrote down book suggestions for the next meeting, which has not yet been scheduled but will take place early next month. Murray also said that any other book suggestions can be emailed to her at [email protected].

“If you don’t have time to read every part of the book, this format accommodates you, so please try and make it,” Murray said.

Szuminsky shared one of his favorite quotes from the book, spoken by Jeff Hammerbacher, an assistant professor at the Medical University of South Carolina.

The quote reads, “The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads; that sucks.”