So yeah. It’s real. Todd Sanders, aka @tsand, and I are official contestants in “The World’s First Ever Twitter Fueled Race” thanks to Mercedes-Benz. No mom, I’m not kidding.

The Challenge

We will hop in a Mercedes-Benz S400 HYBRID Sedan on February 2, 2011. Our task is a good old-fashioned road trip through California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas to the Super Bowl in Dallas. We will be completing a number of challenges along the path to earn “fuel” in order to get to the Super Bowl in Dallas, TX.

We will also rely on our “online pit crew” of Twitter followers. This is where you come in. Tweets, retweets, mentions, and hashtags on Twitter are our “fuel” as we make our way. There are additional opportunities for our “online pit crew” to participate in online contests on our behalf to help us earn more fuel. This “fuel” is necessary for us to get down the road. Literally.

Basically, @tsand are doomed to be stranded in the Arizona desert.

We have a celebrity coach helping out. Pete Wentz, best known for being the bassist and primary lyricist for the band Fall Out Boy, will be helping drum up support for our team. We are going to need him, his wife, her sister, and a few others if we are to ever make it back to Wisconsin. Pete. Ashlee. Jessica. We are looking to you.

Seriously. Two ugly guys from Wisconsin are going to need your help. We’ll get to that issue soon.

What’s In It for @ijohnpederson?

The road trip is definitely the highlight. Seeing the Super Bowl in Dallas, TX will be amazing. Mercedes-Benz is donating $20,000 to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital on behalf of our team, kicking in an additional $20,000 if we win. Finally, if we “win” the race, Mercedes-Benz is giving both Todd and I a new car.

None of that, except for the thing about the kids, is important right now.

Yes, there’s the potential of a big shiny object at the end of this. For that, I know going to take a beating. I’m very aware of the #edutwittersphere and our impatience towards contests, corporate shills, popularity memes, etc. Actually, I’m pretty sure I invented that. If it’s offensive or uncomfortable, unfollow. Honestly. The next 26 days are going to be a bit messy. The idea of “pissing on the commons” (the #edutwittersphere) weighs heavily on my mind here at the beginning. Some would argue that I’ve been doing it all along. I get that. But those that have followed the @ijohnpederson Home Game™ better understand my motives.

I’m doing this to experience “online community” through a totally new perspective. Among the questions at the absolute core of what I do is “What makes successful online communities?” I struggle daily with, “Can successful online communities be built or do they develop organically?” This experience is scheduled for exactly 26 days. I’ll be challenged to build it, encouraging it to pay attention, and leave it in a very short amount of time. Imagine being a prolific blogger for years and then, all of the sudden, everybody is writing in 140 character snippets. It like that.  I have a bunch of other questions as well.  ”What’s successful?”  Is it the car?  Is it the followers?  Is it the fun?

What’s In It for You?

I’ll make you a blog badge. Achievements? Or award @ijohnpederson Home Game Points™. Perhaps setup a poll. Maybe I’ll resume issuing penalties all hockey-style like the old days. I’ll definitely be adding it to my scrapbook. The R&D arm of Spangle™ should watch closely.

Seriously though. First and foremost, I hope to share this fun experience with anybody interested in playing. My “driver” in this adventure, Todd Sanders, aka @tsand, is among the funniest and most creative people I know. Most importantly, both Todd and I are focused on documenting and sharing what we will learn about building an online community, holding its attention, and leaving it behind. Should be interesting.

Additional details on how to participate and/or unparticipate will follow.  For now, visit the Facebook page, click on Todd’s hockey hair (we are “Team S”) and join our team.  http://on.fb.me/MBteamS

* Note about that picture.  It could double as my “before” picture for The Biggest Loser when we get around to that.  Todd’s hockey hair is a superstitious thing about the Packers current winning streak in the playoffs.  Both will featured memes over the next few weeks.