Connection Pinball

Scanning my usual set of columns in Hootsuite this morning, I wondered, “Is there a blog post here – just looking  at these people?”

In my DM column I saw Liz Marshall and Terry Starbucker. Yep, there was a story.

You see, I met Terry in our early days of blogging – probably 2008, at the famous Blogger Social ’08. Our friendship had little to do with my business at the time (which was and still is focused on pharma), but we were both blogging on marketing and business topics, and we hit it off.

In 2009, I made my only appearance at SXSW, mainly to chaperone my oldest son, who was interested in film (and, hey, what’s not to like about a father-son adventure to Austin?). Being disillusioned with a lot of the panels, I spent a fair amount of time in the Blogger Lounge, where, serendipitously, I ended up at the same table with Liz Strauss. We hit it off, too.

Terry and Liz insisted that I come to this rather small conference in Chicago called SOBCon the next year. It wasn’t in my pharma sweet spot, but I was still trying to find my place in the marketing/social media/entrepreneur world as well, and I liked the idea of a more intimate gathering of status-quo-breakers. So I went.

There I met Lisa Petrilli, also visible in my HootSuite columns today. And, Anthony Iannarino, Danielle Smith, Sean McGinnis, Angela Maiers – all visible front-and-center this morning on Twtiter, all met for the first time at a SOBCon event (2010 or 2011). Because LeadershipChat was born out of a collaboration between Lisa Petrilli and me that started at SOBCon, a whole other fleet of close connections has also been developed. And as I expand out of pharma into a new endeavor, it’s people like Carol Roth and Greg Hartle and Lou Imbriano and Jeannie Waters and Liz Marshall and Sara Goodman and Jesse Petersen and Becky McCray and Alli Worthington and Fred McClimans and Brandie McCallum and Sam Fiorella and Meghan Biro and Patty Azarello and Jeff Shuey and Phil Gerbyshak and many others who are my supporters, and cheerleaders, and brain trust.

All of this grew out of LeadershipChat and SOBCon.

Which grew out of becoming friends with Liz and Terry.

Which leads to the moral of the story. Make great quality connections, cultivate those relationships, and be ready.

It may seem a bit like a pinball game at times, but you cannot and will not lose when you make friends with great people!

___________

Hire Steve Woodruff for Clarity Therapy

Recent posts on Connection Agent:

>> Be Narrow-Minded

>> Seeing 20/20 in 3-D

Five in the Morning 021909

Before we begin, may I just take a moment and say how much I enjoy interacting with you, my readers, in these early-morning excursions through the blogosphere? It’s fun to find a few goodies each day (so much to choose from!), but it’s even more fun to dialogue with you about stuff you found helpful or interesting.

OK, on with the show…

The Four Horsemen of the Startup. Brief and to the point. Four attitudes to avoid if you’re an entrepreneur starting a company. From the wise and friendly Doug Karr.

Animated advertising icons – the power of strong branding in advertising. Watch this quick clip. From BrandFreak blog.

In Business Week, a profile of social media pioneer Beth Kanter. Nice.

Which businesses are on Twitter? Check out this uber-list on Twibs. Wow. (hat tip: Brand Flakes for Breakfast).

From the Church of the Customer blog, 5 Questions with Emanuel Rosen (on buzz, word of mouth, and marketing). Good stuff.

PLUS – just for fun: 25 “Hidden” Things in Facebook’s Terms of Use (spoof).

Finally – are you going to Blogger Social ’09? Last year’s event was a slam dunk – 80 bloggers from around the world getting together in NYC to get social. This year, the upper limit is 100, and it’s in Boston. Details here – I’ll be there!

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(Image credit – created via Spell with Flickr)

Will you be a Mystic Blogger?

NOTE: This event is postponed. A more complete update will be posted shortly.

Save the Date: The Blogger “Mystic Meetup” Oct 17-18

NOTE: This event is postponed. A more complete update will be posted shortly.

Calling all Sociable Bloggers! The Blogger Mystic Meetup is ON!

All Northeast and New England bloggers (MA/CT/NY/NJ/Eastern PA) AND any others who want to join us for a wonderful fall foliage weekend in Mystic, CT should make plans now to get social in mid-October!

Bloggers love to “socialize” on-line. This is your chance to get to know a bunch of your fellow bloggers better (face-to-face), while enjoying one of New England’s finest settings. And, to enjoy a newly-refurbished hotel located steps away from some of Mystic’s prime attractions!

Location: Mystic Hilton, Mystic, CT (easy access by car from all points; Mystic is on the Amtrak train line also).

Dates: October 17, 18

Schedule:

– Friday night: informal hangout/socializing time together at hotel, with hors d’oeurves and a cash bar. 7:00 ’til whenever.
– Saturday morning: breakfast buffet, followed by morning brainstorming session, probably taking off from the theme of Breaking out of the Bubble (with due credit to our very own Alan “Tangerine Toad” Wolk). This will be an informal, high-energy facilitated discussion, undoubtedly live-Twittered like all such blogger events are nowadays!
– Saturday lunch
– Saturday afternoon – free time to explore the many attractions right at our doorstep: Mystic Seaport and Aquarium, Old Mystick Village, historic Stonington, area beaches – there are even a few wineries! Plus, New England fall foliage at its peak!

So, it’s a combo social meetup and creativity session. I’m thinking we’d want to keep the event limited to no more than 40-50 people (plus significant others if applicable). We’d also spend some of Saturday morning introducing ourselves and our work to each other in a fun and creative way.

Costs:

For those staying overnight at the Hilton, we’ve arranged a very nice group rate of $129/night (plus tax). That’s for single or double occupancy. But you need to reserve by Sept. 19th to lock in that rate.  Some of you locals may prefer to commute, and that’s fine. We still like you.

The cost of the total Fri-Sat event (meeting room, food, drink, etc.) is $115/person, which is a major-league bargain in my humble opinion. Those who can only attend on Saturday may do so at a rate of $65. The rate for those attending only for the Friday evening social (which might include a spouse or significant other) is $50. I should note that all registration fees go toward meeting expenses only. This is not a money-making event for anyone (actually it’s a bit of a financial risk for me).

Perhaps some non-Northeast bloggers would want to join in and combine it with a New England foliage tour…the regional bloggers of New England and NY/NJ/PA will extend red-carpet hospitality to any of our fellow social media friends who’d like to use this Meetup as an excuse to come explore the area!

We look forward to seeing you in picturesque Mystic! And please forward this to other bloggers you think might be interested so that they can be included…

Mystic Meetup?

NOTE: This event is postponed. A more complete update will be posted shortly.

Some of us bloggers have been talking about putting together a Mystic, CT meetup in October, mainly for Northeast and New England folks (MA/CT/NY/NJ/Eastern PA). I don’t know about you, but all this on-line interaction with folks who don’t live all that far away makes me really want to get together and socialize!

This would not be as elaborate an event as spring’s Blogger Social ’08 in NYC, but it would be somewhat more involved than a casual evening meeting, so that means some planning. Logistics. Arrangements. You know the drill. Here’s the outline of a plan for a Friday evening/Saturday “Mystic Meetup“:

Location: Mystic, CT (easy access by car from all points; on the Amtrak train line also.

Dates: October 17, 18

Schedule:

– Friday night: informal hangout time together at hotel, with hors d’oeurves and open bar. 7:30 ’til whenever.
– Saturday morning: breakfast buffet, followed by morning brainstorming session, probably taking off from the theme of Breaking out of the Bubble (with due credit to our very own Alan “Tangerine Toad” Wolk). This would be an informal, high-energy facilitated discussion, undoubtedly live-Twittered like all such blogger events are nowadays!
– Saturday lunch
– Saturday afternoon – either planned group activity or open small group/individual activities (or both!)

So, it’s a combo social meetup and creativity session. I’m thinking we’d want to keep the event limited to perhaps 40-50 people (plus significant others if applicable). We’d also spend some of Saturday morning introducing ourselves and our work to each other in a fun and creative way.

Costs:

This could be an issue for some folks. Some might wish to come, but not stay in a hotel. Others may only be able to come for Saturday. Here’s a tentative outline of costs:

Hotel room rates look like they’ll be between $150-200/night, including tax (single or double occupancy).

Based on preliminary numbers from the hotels I’ve approached, cost of the total Fri-Sat event (meeting room, food, drink, etc.) looks to be about $200-225/person, give or take. I’m seeking to nail down ALL the details over the next week or so, but that’s the ballpark. Significant others who joined us for the Fri evening reception could be added on at probably about $75-ish. If a socializing blogger were to attend only for Saturday, best guess would be about $50.

Of course, you may want to stay in Mystic longer (it will be fall foliage season), break into smaller groups for dinner Saturday evening, or whatever. There’s a lot to do in that area! Perhaps some non-Northeast bloggers would want to join in and combine it with a New England foliage tour…

** Here’s what I’m asking you to do:**

This kind of event requires some planning, including contracting with hotels, etc. – and a team of motivated bloggers will gladly work together on this to make it happen. However, we need a pretty firm idea right now of how many people would be up for this event before proceeding into serious event planning mode. So – if you think you’d like to be part of it, please add a Comment to this post in the following fashion:

Indicate your interest by a YES!,  Probably, or Maybe

Indicate your likely social caffeine package with a Venti (hotel and full Fri/Sat event), Grande (Fri/Sat but no hotel), or Tall (Sat only)

Just add your 2 words in a Comment and that will help us gauge next steps with hotels, etc. And please do so this week – we’d like to make a go/no-go decision ASAP, and that will be based on the level of interest we all have in getting together this fall. Thanks! (put any questions you may have in the comments also, and they’ll be answered promptly).

P.S. – please forward this to other bloggers you think might be interested so that they can be included…

Alone again. Notreally.

(with apologies to Gilbert O’Sullivan)

Being a solo entrepreneur/consultant can be – at times – a lonely venture. So can being out on the road working on client projects. But of late, I don’t feel quite so isolated.

Why? In a word – Twitter.

After all of the intense interactions of last weekend’s Blogger Social, bonds with my fellow bloggers are all the stronger. But now, as I’m away from home once again, I am keeping up with my many friends via Twitter. I may be flying solo, but I’m keeping up with what’s going on with Director Tom, telling CK how much I appreciate her efforts, ragging on Matt Dickman for his 2-fisted twittering, finding out who’s being Jaffed, and getting condiment updates from Catchup Lady.

When there are random moments of non-work, I can “tune in” for a quick update. On those rare occasions when a worthy-to-share thought flits through my brain, I can toss it out over the backyard fence. While watching SmashLab I can share a quick note with the Marketing Diva, and in between serious keyboard endeavors I can take a quick glance at the gossip, even if that means seeing Armano‘s hat again. Or, as just occurred not 6 seconds ago, I can hear from Nathan Snell.

Dang! Even when I’m alone again, I’m not. This is all right!

Some Blogger Social ’08 Fun Pix

I’ve uploaded a bunch of pix on Flickr here. (Here’s the huge and growing group BS08 Flickr photo pool)

This group below, however, is the “unpublished” set. Bootleg. Except it just got published. (Here’s the initial group of shots from Friday night).

.

I’ve Gone Social!

In NYC with blogging colleagues for the first annual Blogger Social preunion!!

Blogger Social has been Moved!

Breaking News! It’s late notice, and hopefully no-one will be inconvenienced, but…the upcoming Blogger Social this weekend has had to be moved, to Dumfries, Iowa.

Mayor Bloomberg of NYC has called an emergency meeting of the New York State Ethics committee to investigate the past lifestyle choices of every single legislator in the state and city, and all hotel rooms in the City had to be confiscated in order to accommodate a massive influx of private investigators, panicky public figures, and drooling lawyers.

The Iowa Blogger Cabal (IBC), led by Drew McMillan and Mike Sandstone, graciously suggested that Iowa would be a good central point for hosting the meeting, and on short notice, the Knights Inn of Dumfries had sufficient room for 80+ bloggers. There is a Cracker Barrel and White Castle right nearby on the town strip for dining choices, and just around the corner is a the PineBox derby championship track, for exciting touring possibilities. Chuck’s Rent-a-Wreck has special weekend discounts on compact cars as well.

Just change your flights to connect through Chicago, then on to Council Bluffs, Iowa, then hitchhike or jump a train to Dumfries (warning: trains don’t actually stop there, so you’ll have to jump at that grassy section right near the crossing next to the Sarah Potter elementary school). Dumfries is located in booming Pottawattamie County and is sure to provide a wealth of social and networking opportunities throughout the weekend.

Kristina Curley (KC), one of the Blogger Social organizers, was totally upbeat about the change of venue. “I kept boasting about NYC as the city of lights, the city that never sleeps, and all that jazz, but that was all an act to get people to come here so I wouldn’t have to travel,” KC gushed. “Really, it’s just a filthy, crowded, overpriced hunk of real estate that isn’t worth the few beads and trinkets it was bought with. I was rooting for an Iowa location the whole time, and I am absolutely energized about spending a dynamic weekend dancing the weekend away in Dumfries. Wooo-hooo!”

The Mayor of Dumfries, Rita Brisket, is very excited about hosting this event, and expressed particular excitement about meeting, live and in-person, Blogger Social’s top stud muffin, Greg Verdino. ->

For those still determined to do a Sunday afternoon barbecue, the legendary Steve “StickyFigure” Woodruff (picture here – and, hey, you can STILL sign up!) will be renting a BS ’08 LearJet for the quick hop from Dumfries to Northern NJ.

See you there soon…oh, and Happy April 1st!

(OK, really now – you do understand that this is April Fool’s Day, right? You’re really not going to call CK in a panic and change those plane reservations from Australia to the States..no, you’re not…OK, good.)

Here are all those NYC-bound Blogger Socialites:

Tara Anderson
Todd Andrlik
Mike Arauz
David Armano
Matthew Bailey
Ryan Barrett
Cam Beck
Jennifer Berk
Rohit Bhargava
Susan Bird
Toby Bloomberg
Tim Brunelle
Katie Chatfield
Thomas Clifford
Mack Collier
Saul Colt
Luc Debaisieux
Gene DeWitt
Matt Dickman
Paul Dunay
Gianandrea Facchini
Jason Falls
Anna Farmery
Mark Goren
Heather Gorringe
Kristin Gorski
Amanda Gravel
Lewis Green
Vahe Habeshian
Ann Handley
Gavin Heaton
Kris Hoet
Kevin Horne
Sean Howard
Joseph Jaffe
Ryan Karpeles
CK
Chris Kieff
Joe Kutchera
Jennifer Laycock
CeCe Lee
Geoff Livingston
Lori Magno
Valeria Maltoni
Caroline McCarthy
Matthew McDonald
Paul McEnany
Tim McHale
Drew McLellan
Doug Meacham
Virginia Miracle
Scott Monty
Darryl Ohrt
Rita Perea
David Polinchock
Marilyn Pratt
Jane Quigley
Arun Rajagopal
Connie Reece
David Reich
Susan Reynolds
Marianne Richmond
Cathleen Rittereiser
Steve Roesler
John Rosen
Roberta Rosenberg
Mike Sansone
Linda Sherman
Nathan Snell
Paul Soldera
Marshall Sponder
Terry Starbucker
Seni Thomas
Tangerine Toad
Mario Vellandi
Greg Verdino
Neil Vineberg
John Wall
Tamar Weinberg
CB Whittemore
Kaitlyn Wilkins
Steve Woodruff

Blogger Socialites – the Hand-held Version

Really, folks, how many events do you go to where you get, not one, not two…but THREE attendee guides?

You already know about the “official” bios put together by Arun and his team. But now, in quite an extensive labor of love, Jennifer Berk has assembled the entire Blogger Socialite series of profiles…and in 2 formats, including a handy-dandy booklet size. You can download these .pdf files right here. Below, one final publication of the attendee roster and the links to their profiles.

What a great job – thanks, Jennifer, for your generosity. And while we’re talking about generosity, some of you may have found out via Twitter that Todd Andrlik‘s sister was just diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer, and will have to undergo a bilateral mastectomy this weekend. The (social media-fueled) outpouring of support has already begun and let us continue it. Todd quickly set up a website for Tricia to keep everyone up to date here. He has also posted on his blog here.

So here are all those Blogger Socialites, with links to profiles for each of them:

Tara Anderson
Todd Andrlik
Mike Arauz
David Armano (these four are profiled here)

Matthew Bailey
Ryan Barrett
Cam Beck (these three are profiled here)

Jennifer Berk
Rohit Bhargava
Susan Bird (these three are profiled here)

Toby Bloomberg
Tim Brunelle
Katie Chatfield
Thomas Clifford (these four are profiled here)

Mack Collier
Saul Colt (these two are profiled here)

Terry Dagrosa
Luc Debaisieux
Gene DeWitt
Matt Dickman
Paul Dunay (these five are profiled here)

Gianandrea Facchini
Jason Falls
Anna Farmery (these three are profiled here)

Mark Goren
Heather Gorringe
Kristin Gorski
Amanda Gravel
Lewis Green (these five are profiled here)

Vahe Habeshian
Ann Handley
Gavin Heaton
Kris Hoet
Kevin Horne
Sean Howard (these six are profiled here)

Joseph Jaffe
Ryan Karpeles
CK
Chris Kieff
Joe Kutchera (these five are profiled here)

Jennifer Laycock
CeCe Lee
Geoff Livingston
Lori Magno
Valeria Maltoni (these five are profiled here)

Caroline McCarthy
Matthew McDonald
Paul McEnany
Tim McHale
Drew McLellan (these five are profiled here)

Doug Meacham
Virginia Miracle
Scott Monty
Darryl Ohrt (these four are profiled here)

Rita Perea
David Polinchock
Marilyn Pratt (these three are profiled here)

Jane Quigley
Arun Rajagopal
Connie Reece
David Reich (these four are profiled here)

Susan Reynolds
Marianne Richmond
Cathleen Rittereiser
Steve Roesler
John Rosen
Roberta Rosenberg (these six are profiled here)

Mike Sansone
Linda Sherman
Nathan Snell
Paul Soldera (these four are profiled here)

Marshall Sponder
Terry Starbucker
Seni Thomas
Tangerine Toad (these four are profiled here)

Mario Vellandi
Greg Verdino
Neil Vineberg
John Wall (these four are profiled here)

Tamar Weinberg
CB Whittemore
Kaitlyn Wilkins
Steve Woodruff (these four are profiled here)

Sociable Bloggers

When you hear the word “blogger,” what comes to mind? Some geeky, reserved person hunched over a computer, anonymously tossing out fatuous opinions for no-one to read?

Not! At least, not the marketing-type bloggers I virtually hang with.

In fact, 80+ of them are coming from around the world (literally) to socialize face-to-face at the upcoming Blogger Social in NYC (April 4-6).

If you’re one of the attendees, you know the knock-out events that are planned. But did you know that you have several options on Sunday if you’re a local type, or if you’re an import staying over the weekend? Here are the ones I know about:

– Brunch, being organized by Ryan Barrett

– Yankees game, bring organized by Mark Goren

– Backyard barbecue at my place, being organized by…well, me.

The best way to indicate your interest is to go to the BS’08 Meetup Board and sign up. I’m sure you can contact the organizers directly if that’s easier for you (please do so ASAP, so we can plan properly).

So here are all those Blogger Socialites, with links to profiles for each of them:

Tara Anderson
Todd Andrlik
Mike Arauz
David Armano (these four are profiled here)

Matthew Bailey
Ryan Barrett
Cam Beck (these three are profiled here)

Jennifer Berk
Rohit Bhargava
Susan Bird (these three are profiled here)

Toby Bloomberg
Tim Brunelle
Katie Chatfield
Thomas Clifford (these four are profiled here)

Mack Collier
Saul Colt (these two are profiled here)

Terry Dagrosa
Luc Debaisieux
Gene DeWitt
Matt Dickman
Paul Dunay (these five are profiled here)

Gianandrea Facchini
Jason Falls
Anna Farmery (these three are profiled here)

Mark Goren
Heather Gorringe
Kristin Gorski
Amanda Gravel
Lewis Green (these five are profiled here)

Vahe Habeshian
Ann Handley
Gavin Heaton
Kris Hoet
Kevin Horne
Sean Howard (these six are profiled here)

Joseph Jaffe
Ryan Karpeles
CK
Chris Kieff
Joe Kutchera (these five are profiled here)

Jennifer Laycock
CeCe Lee
Geoff Livingston
Lori Magno
Valeria Maltoni (these five are profiled here)

Caroline McCarthy
Matthew McDonald
Paul McEnany
Tim McHale
Drew McLellan (these five are profiled here)

Doug Meacham
Virginia Miracle
Scott Monty
Darryl Ohrt (these four are profiled here)

Rita Perea
David Polinchock
Marilyn Pratt (these three are profiled here)

Jane Quigley
Arun Rajagopal
Connie Reece
David Reich (these four are profiled here)

Susan Reynolds
Marianne Richmond
Cathleen Rittereiser
Steve Roesler
John Rosen
Roberta Rosenberg (these six are profiled here)

Mike Sansone
Linda Sherman
Nathan Snell
Paul Soldera (these four are profiled here)

Marshall Sponder
Terry Starbucker
Seni Thomas
Tangerine Toad (these four are profiled here)

Mario Vellandi
Greg Verdino
Neil Vineberg
John Wall (these four are profiled here)

Tamar Weinberg
CB Whittemore
Kaitlyn Wilkins
Steve Woodruff (these four are profiled here)

But that’s not all! Hot on the heels of last year’s amazing collaborative book-writing effort, the Age of Conversation, a “version 2” is in the works, with 275 authors warming up their pens (ummm…keyboards. Sorry…) and ready to get writing on the theme, “Why Don’t People Get It?”

Here is the list of those who have agreed to collaborate – again, from all over the world:

Adam Crowe, Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob Carlton, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Bradley Spitzer, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Clay Parker Jones, Chris Brown, Colin McKay, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Cord Silverstein, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Goldstein, Dan Schawbel, Dana VanDen Heuvel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Darryl Patterson, Dave Davison, Dave Origano, David Armano, David Bausola, David Berkowitz, David Brazeal, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Emily Reed, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, G. Kofi Annan, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Graham Hill, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, J.C. Hutchins, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeremy Middleton, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, Joe Talbott, John Herrington, John Jantsch, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Flowers, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kris Hoet, Krishna De, Kristin Gorski, Laura Fitton, Laurence Helene Borei, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Barnes-Johnston, Louise Mangan, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Marcus Brown, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Mark McSpadden, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Hawkins, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Monica Wright, Nathan Gilliatt, Nathan Snell, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul Marobella, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Beeker Northam, Rob Mortimer, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Cribbett, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tiffany Kenyon, Tim Brunelle, Tim Buesing, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Longhurst, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem

(and if you haven’t yet purchased version 1 of the Age of Conversation, now is the time to do it: the AOC “Bum Rush” kicks off this weekend! You can buy your copy at Amazon here.)

Collaboration. Creativity. Volunteerism. Socializing. Welcome to blogging the way it ought to be!

(Image credit – geek)

Blogger Socialites: Weinberg, Whittemore, Wilkins, Woodruff

I can’t believe it! We finally got through the whole list of attendees for the upcoming Blogger Social in NYC – this is the last batch of profiles!

The “master post” with the entire list of links for these profiles can be found here. Also, Arun Rajagopal (and supporting cast) has put together the “official” set of brief bios and pictures (yes, this set of Blogger Socialites profiles is actually a bootleg version!) here, which is fabulously done. However, since that document can’t possibly contain all the fascinating information for such a stunning-looking group, Jennifer Berk is putting together a print-able version of this bootleg set of profiles, and that will be available for download very shortly as well.

On that note, a big shout-out to Jennifer, CB Whittemore, Kristin Gorski, Mario Vellandi, and Ryan Karpeles for contributing to this series. Our final set is brought to us courtesy of Ryan:

Tamar Weinberg

Tamar is a wonderfully smart blogger who writes over at Techipedia. Her blog covers social media, internet marketing, and personal/biz development (all from a tech geek at heart!)

She recently returned from SXSW and plans on posting even more juicy follow-ups like this one. And speaking of juicy goodness – you should definitely check out her post asking, “Is social media the final frontier of marketing?” (The comments section on this one is also a must-see.)

In her own words, Tamar writes, “I love learning how websites work, the social communities that surround them, the news and hype surrounding websites (especially search engines!), and I especially love administering the servers upon which they reside.” You can learn lots more about her here. And of course, you can see what she’s up to at Twitter, Flickr, and LinkedIn. We look forward to meeting you Tamar!

C.B. Whittemore

CB is all about flooring the consumer. So much so, that her blog bears that very same name. If you’re not a regular reader, you should certainly stop by and have a look at her plethora of in-depth articles about marketing, retail, and of course – flooring!

Since she says it way better than I ever could, let’s let CB have the floor. Here’s how she describes herself:

As Director, In-Store Innovation for Solutia’s Wear-Dated carpet fiber, I track consumer trends and am fascinated with digital and brick/mortar retailers who are passionate about meeting the needs of their consumers. My educational background includes a BA in Art History from Smith College, an MBA in Marketing from Columbia Business School, and constantly studying the world around me!

Come next Friday at Social, I’m sure you’ll floor us all, CB! 😉

Kaitlyn Wilkins

Kaitlyn’s blog (Catch Up Lady) covers everything from social media to politics to comedy to music to…you guessed it – ketchup. Kaitlyn’s writing is alive, intriguing and fun. She interjects some sarcasm, humor, and a little satire into many of her posts, and it makes for quite a good read.

For a little more background, here’s a blurb from her profile page:

The Catch Up Lady is me, Kaitlyn Wilkins, a 27 year old ketchup aficionado. Raised in Ann Arbor, I have lived on the east coast for the last eight years – which means I both drink pop, and pop my collar.

I am currently a Digital Influence Strategist with Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide in Washington, DC. Prior to that, I was a Project Manager with New Media Strategies, an online brand management and word of mouth marketing firm. I am a graduate of Wellesley College.

By the time we hit Social, I’m sure we’ll all have plenty of catching up to do with Kaitlyn 😉 And hopefully we can reserve a few bottles at the restaurant… (Anybody know if Heinz wants to be a sponsor?)

Steve Woodruff

Last but not least, we’ve arrived at the man, the myth, the legend – Mr. Steve Woodruff. He is the inspiration, sweat, blood and tears behind this entire “Blogger Profiles” operation. And he also happens to blog right here at StickyFigure. His writing is practical, informative, strategic and engaging. And it can even be a little challenging at times (which is a good thing).

If you couldn’t gather from this massive labor of love, Steve is an incredibly generous guy with a passion for helping others. He’s a contributor at the Small Business Branding blog, the author of the Marketing Bloggers Portal (using the PageFlakes tool), a collaborator on The Branding Wire, and the founder and president of Impactivti, a firm that focuses on pharmaceutical sales training.

If you want more in-depth on this mythical figure, Steve has a historical ramble on his rarely-updated personal blog.  Steve Twitters (a recent convert), does LinkedIn, and occasionally drops in at Facebook.

It’s only fitting that Steve comes last on this list, as he is the anchor of it all, and he consistently displays a great deal of humility. Need proof? His About section is at the very bottom of the sidebar. Oh, and he also spearheaded this amazing act of kindness so that we could all learn more about one another. Honestly Steve, we can’t thank you enough for putting this together. And we can’t wait to do it in person on April 4th, 2008 🙂

Here’s the full list of Blogger Social registered attendees:

Tara Anderson
Todd Andrlik
Mike Arauz
David Armano (these four are profiled here)

Matthew Bailey
Ryan Barrett
Cam Beck
Shashi Bellamkonda (these four are profiled here)

Jennifer Berk
David Berkowitz
Rohit Bhargava
Susan Bird (these four are profiled here)

Toby Bloomberg
Tim Brunelle
Katie Chatfield
Thomas Clifford (these four are profiled here)

Mack Collier
Saul Colt (these two are profiled here)

Terry Dagrosa
Luc Debaisieux
Gene DeWitt
Matt Dickman
Paul Dunay (these five are profiled here)

Gianandrea Facchini
Jason Falls
Anna Farmery (these three are profiled here)

Mark Goren
Heather Gorringe
Kristin Gorski
Amanda Gravel
Lewis Green (these five are profiled here)

Vahe Habeshian
Ann Handley
Gavin Heaton
Kris Hoet
Kevin Horne
Sean Howard (these six are profiled here)

Joseph Jaffe
Ryan Karpeles
CK
Chris Kieff
Joe Kutchera (these five are profiled here)

Jennifer Laycock
CeCe Lee
Geoff Livingston
Lori Magno
Valeria Maltoni (these five are profiled here)

Caroline McCarthy
Matthew McDonald
Paul McEnany
Tim McHale
Drew McLellan (these five are profiled here)

Doug Meacham
Virginia Miracle
Scott Monty
Darryl Ohrt (these four are profiled here)

Rita Perea
David Polinchock
Marilyn Pratt (these three are profiled here)

Jane Quigley
Arun Rajagopal
Connie Reece
David Reich (these four are profiled here)

Susan Reynolds
Marianne Richmond
Cathleen Rittereiser
Steve Roesler
John Rosen
Roberta Rosenberg (these six are profiled here)

Mike Sansone
Linda Sherman
Nathan Snell
Paul Soldera (these four are profiled here)

Marshall Sponder
Terry Starbucker
Seni Thomas
Tangerine Toad (these four are profiled here)

Mario Vellandi
Greg Verdino
Neil Vineberg
John Wall (these four are profiled here)

Tamar Weinberg
CB Whittemore
Kaitlyn Wilkins
Steve Woodruff (these four are profiled above)

Blogger Socialites: Vellandi, Verdino, Vineberg, Wall

We’re down to our final couple of batches of Blogger Socialite profiles! Those of us cursed with “end-of-the-alphabet” names are used to being last, of course (hey – I’m totally last on this list!) but some would reassure us that we are therefore the best…

I dunno – I really would have preferred to be the front of the line in elementary school – but everyone of the people listed below is a top-of-the-line blogger and I know we can’t wait to get together at the upcoming Blogger Social in less than 2 weeks!

Mario Vellandi

This is a smart guy. Some marketing blogs seem to re-hash familiar themes, but Mario puts out some solid thought-provoking stuff, including this recent post On Design (from which I’ve extracted the Armano-like graphic below).

He is Principal at Vellandi & Associates where he helps design and manage marketing projects for clients in the consumer product goods industry. Mario has expertise in product development, channel strategy, collateral design, and logistics. He holds a BA in International Business, is a certified Global Logistics Specialist, has lived and worked in Germany, and would like to participate with the Peace Corps someday. Mario shares his latest thoughts on the world of business and design at his blog, “Melodies in Marketing.” He enjoys creative writing, riding his bike, and cooking (and is a big fan of Voltaire, Ben Franklin, and Warren Buffett).

Mario has a separate site, Vellandi.net, which can be found…well, at Vellandi.net! He opens the site with a great Drucker quote, and a very effective two-sentence summary of what he is all about as a marketing professional.

Here is a longer autobiographical background on Mario – who, by the way, is quite active on Twitter these days.

Greg Verdino

I first met Greg (face-to-face) at a blogger meetup last year in NYC. For a prolific blogger, he’s not necessarily a “look-at-me!” loud guy – I got the impression that he’d rather sit in a quiet corner and talk one-on-one (and, thus, a kindred spirit). Imagine my shock, then, when I saw this recent post about an orgy – fascinating information, Greg, but really…!

If you want to find out what’s going on in marketing and social media, then you simply have to subscribe to Greg’s blog. Case closed. Videos, links, commentary on ads…it’s all here in glorious variety, with an edge of fun.

His (very informative!) About page has a longer description of all things Verdino, including links to his multitude of social media destinations. An extract:

Equal parts marketer and futurist, Greg Verdino is a recognized expert on marketing innovation, emerging media and Web 2.0. He works as Chief Strategy Officer at crayon, a strategic advisory group that helps companies ‘join the conversation’ through the power of community, dialogue and partnership. His unique, sometimes controversial, perspectives on media and marketing are presented at , one of the web’s most influential marketing blogs.

Greg is easy to find in a crowd – he has an unadorned pate and a persistent 5-day goatee. And a brilliant mind.

Neil Vineberg

Neil’s blog opens with the title: Musings on Life, Spirit, and Technology. And here you’ll find interesting commentary on a wide variety of themes that are popping up in the news. And that’s part of the fun – Neil’s musings are all over the place, just as ours are each day as we motor through life.

Neil has been blogging for a few years, with an astounding 358 blog entries in 2007! He heads up Vineberg Communications, which has a great summary right here. Some background on Neil:

S. Neil Vineberg is a seasoned PR practitioner and strategist, having held management and partner positions with leading communication firms including Middleberg Euro and Golin/Harris. His successes, which span the technology, entertainment and consumer industries, include work for: Sprint, Texas Instruments, Procter & Gamble, Hershey Foods, CVS.com, CBS Marketwatch, Bausch and Lomb, United Airlines, IBM and Sony.

Like Greg Verdino (above), Neil is a NYC-area guy, so it won’t be too big a commute to the Social!

John Wall

John is the mind behind Ronin Marketeer, a name of uncertain provenance, but the subtitle is catchy: Front line Marketing with a Touch of Sarcasm.

John says this about himself: As a New England-based marketing professional for over 10 years, I have held positions specializing in CRM and sales support systems at both venture funded and privately held businesses (companies including MarketingSherpa and the Digital Consulting Institute). Currently I am the Marketing Manager at AccuRev. I produce The M Show, a weekly podcast on news, talk and entertainment. Since January of 2005, the show has a business and technology slant, and has been profiled by CBS Evening News, The Associated Press, NECN, The Boston Globe, Boston Herald, and the Yahoo! 2005 Year in Review.

John covers quite a gamut of marketing themes on the blog, including SEO, Podcasting, Geek Stuff, Productivity, and the ever-popular Uncategorized. Of course, he is on LinkedIn. And I look forward to meeting him soon in the Big Apple!

Here’s the full list of Blogger Social registered attendees:

Tara Anderson
Todd Andrlik
Mike Arauz
David Armano (these four are profiled here)

Matthew Bailey
Ryan Barrett
Cam Beck
Shashi Bellamkonda (these four are profiled here)

Jennifer Berk
David Berkowitz
Rohit Bhargava
Susan Bird (these four are profiled here)

Toby Bloomberg
Tim Brunelle
Katie Chatfield
Thomas Clifford (these four are profiled here)

Mack Collier
Saul Colt (these two are profiled here)

Terry Dagrosa
Luc Debaisieux
Gene DeWitt
Matt Dickman
Paul Dunay (these five are profiled here)

Gianandrea Facchini
Jason Falls
Anna Farmery (these three are profiled here)

Mark Goren
Heather Gorringe
Kristin Gorski
Amanda Gravel
Lewis Green (these five are profiled here)

Vahe Habeshian
Ann Handley
Gavin Heaton
Kris Hoet
Kevin Horne
Sean Howard (these six are profiled here)

Joseph Jaffe
Ryan Karpeles
CK
Chris Kieff
Joe Kutchera (these five are profiled here)

Jennifer Laycock
CeCe Lee
Geoff Livingston
Lori Magno
Valeria Maltoni (these five are profiled here)

Caroline McCarthy
Matthew McDonald
Paul McEnany
Tim McHale
Drew McLellan (these five are profiled here)

Doug Meacham
Virginia Miracle
Scott Monty
Darryl Ohrt (these four are profiled here)

Rita Perea
David Polinchock
Marilyn Pratt (these three are profiled here)

Jane Quigley
Arun Rajagopal
Connie Reece
David Reich (these four are profiled here)

Susan Reynolds
Marianne Richmond
Cathleen Rittereiser
Steve Roesler
John Rosen
Roberta Rosenberg (these six are profiled here)

Mike Sansone
Linda Sherman
Nathan Snell
Paul Soldera (these four are profiled here)

Marshall Sponder
Terry Starbucker
Seni Thomas
Tangerine Toad (these four are profiled here)

Mario Vellandi
Greg Verdino
Neil Vineberg
John Wall (these four are profiled above)

Tamar Weinberg
CB Whittemore
Kaitlyn Wilkins
Steve Woodruff

Blogger Socialites: Sponder, Starbucker, Thomas, Toad

Once again, blogging comrade-in-arms (and fellow North Jersey resident) CB Whittemore has come through with some introductory profiles for our fellow Blogger Social registrants (if you haven’t had the pleasure of meeting CB yet, be sure you find her at the Social – she’s an absolute delight!).

Everyone in this group hails from right outside of NYC.

Marshall Sponder

Marshall Sponder embodies a Renaissance man. Not only is he a Senior Web Analyst for Monster.com, author of two Web Analytics blogs – http://www.webmetricsguru.com/ and http://theanalyticsguru.com/ – and an art blog (http://www.artnewyorkcity.com covering the New York Art Scene), but he also paints (below is a small sample of one of his works!)

On top of that, Marshall is on the Board of Directors for social media at the Web Analytics Association and his committee is launching WAASOCIAL, a Social Network for the WAA and working on Social Media Standards with the IAB. Now, how can he have the time to attend Blogger Social? I don’t know, but I can’t wait to meet him.

Terry Starbucker

Terry Starbucker – a founder of SOBCon and service company executive – embodies the philosophy of “Half-Fullism” – aka realistic optimism. In fact, his blog goes by the name of Ramblings From A Glass Half Full. Don’t you dare be half empty around him! Terry now lives on the East Coast, but he is a native Midwesterner and frequent trips back to the Rockies and and wide-open National Park spaces make for inspired writings and pictures – and, he even writes and records music.

If you still don’t fully grasp Terry, then take a look at his “Crash Davis Belief Statement”: “I believe in the incredible potential of the human spirit, the vast underappreciated beauty of the earth, my wife’s smile and the love that radiates from it, long hugs and soft kisses, weddings and butterflies, honesty and courage, incurable optimism, the men and women in the arena, movies that make me laugh and cry at the human condition, the Green Bay Packers, downward dogs, a fine hot grande latte, the warmness of friendship, the spirit of SOBCon, vanilla ice cream, Elton & Bernie, the Grand Tetons, common courtesy, melodies I can’t get out of my head, amazing grace, Mom & Dad & my two sisters, servant leadership, government above hypocrisy, the daily grind, deep cleansing breaths, the power of dreams, the incredible wisdom of my grandmother, E=MC², and God and the Golden Rule.”

Seni Thomas

Seni Thomas is Founder at Ad-Vocate, a conversation platform for students and youth to initiate a dialogue with marketers – essentially a location where students and young professionals might be exposed to cutting edge advertising and marketing ideas that, in Seni’s opinion, schools just aren’t offering. Pretty impressive. Even more so when you realize how much Seni has done in an extremely short period of time. You don’t believe me? You had better sit down.

Imagine being born in Tokyo, Japan, and then living throughout Southeast Asia before settling down on the island of Maui… where he founded a web development and computer repair company when he was only 14. At age 15, he has a quarter-life crisis – after a summer working 40 hours a week at Boeing R&D on Maui. So, he decides to pursue another passion: marketing. That’s when he opts to go to NYU’s Stern School of Business in New York City. Mind you, not the normal destination if you’ve been hanging loose in the land of Aloha.

Seni has launched alternate reality games, marketed ethnic fashion, even assisted in the launch of Verizon’s FiOS television service. Imagine what the future holds!

Tangerine Toad

The delightfully anonymous, amphibian Tangerine Toad hangs out at The Toad Stool blog – his “frank-but-fair” view of advertising, marketing and Web 2.0. He describes it as “A place for advertising execs, marketers, PR professionals and interweb types to get together and learn from each other.” He definitely has opinions that make you reconsider… advertising, web 2.0, marketing. No wonder he has adopted a nom-de-blog!

In real life, he’s a New York based creative director who’s spent 20 years working at some of the best-known online and offline ad agencies. That means that he can legitimately speak both television and Web 2.0. Often in the same sentence. You will find the Toad in a multitude of virtual places… MarketingProfs, Twitter and now… at The Blogger Social!

Here’s the full list of Blogger Social registered attendees:

Tara Anderson
Todd Andrlik
Mike Arauz
David Armano (these four are profiled here)

Matthew Bailey
Ryan Barrett
Cam Beck
Shashi Bellamkonda (these four are profiled here)

Jennifer Berk
David Berkowitz
Rohit Bhargava
Susan Bird (these four are profiled here)

Toby Bloomberg
Tim Brunelle
Katie Chatfield
Thomas Clifford (these four are profiled here)

Mack Collier
Saul Colt (these two are profiled here)

Terry Dagrosa
Luc Debaisieux
Gene DeWitt
Matt Dickman
Paul Dunay (these five are profiled here)

Gianandrea Facchini
Jason Falls
Anna Farmery (these three are profiled here)

Mark Goren
Heather Gorringe
Kristin Gorski
Amanda Gravel
Lewis Green (these five are profiled here)

Vahe Habeshian
Ann Handley
Gavin Heaton
Kris Hoet
Kevin Horne
Sean Howard (these six are profiled here)

Joseph Jaffe
Ryan Karpeles
CK
Chris Kieff
Joe Kutchera (these five are profiled here)

Jennifer Laycock
CeCe Lee
Geoff Livingston
Lori Magno
Valeria Maltoni (these five are profiled here)

Caroline McCarthy
Matthew McDonald
Paul McEnany
Tim McHale
Drew McLellan (these five are profiled here)

Doug Meacham
Virginia Miracle
Scott Monty
Darryl Ohrt (these four are profiled here)

Rita Perea
David Polinchock
Marilyn Pratt (these three are profiled here)

Jane Quigley
Arun Rajagopal
Connie Reece
David Reich (these four are profiled here)

Susan Reynolds
Marianne Richmond
Cathleen Rittereiser
Steve Roesler
John Rosen
Roberta Rosenberg (these six are profiled here)

Mike Sansone
Linda Sherman
Nathan Snell
Paul Soldera (these four are profiled here)

Marshall Sponder
Terry Starbucker
Seni Thomas
Tangerine Toad (these four are profiled above)

Mario Vellandi
Greg Verdino
Neil Vineberg
John Wall
Tamar Weinberg
CB Whittemore
Kaitlyn Wilkins
Steve Woodruff

Blogger Socialites: Sansone, Sherman, Snell, Soldera

A shout-out of thanks to Kristin Gorski, who once again came through with a batch of profiles for our Blogger Social registrants. We’re closing in on the two-week countdown now!

Mike Sansone
Mike Sansone is a “Conversation Conductor” who specializes in helping businesses incorporate blogging into their marketing mix. He is also a community builder online and in the brick-and-mortar world. When Mike worked at America Online, HeyMax, Ignite Sports Media, and Real Fans Sports Network, he successfully grew their online communities. Mike also regularly volunteers in his local community and was even an assistant pastor at a church.

Now working as an independent business consultant, this Blog Coach has created a “blogger’s blog” out of ConverStations. Mike’s conversational, informative writing is a great resource. His detailed, useful posts on everything from social media mainstays like “blog literacy” and “blog strategy” to those about online business basics will enlighten.

By the way, does anyone want to register the domain http://www.supercalifragilisticexpealidocius.com for Mike? If so, it just might make his day. See why by clicking here.

Linda Sherman
After reading Linda Sherman’s “About” page, you’ll feel like you’ve been immersed in the culture of Japan’s business world. Linda is the former CEO of both Barilla Japan and ClubMed, and is past president of Sara Lee Japan. On her blog It’s Different For Girls, Linda writes that her “claim to fame in Japan” is her launch of Zima there through a viral campaign which had huge, unprecedented impact in the marketplace. Having lived and worked extensively in Japan, she speaks and reads Japanese and has also managed to take on the French, Italian and Spanish languages, as well.

Linda currently runs the Courage Group with her husband, award-winning graphic designer Ray Gordon, where they specialize in bringing cutting-edge design and innovative marketing to their clients. They are currently agents for Singelringen, an online community dedicated to living the single lifestyle with pride. Linda also heads up Marketing for the Commercial Marine Biology Institute and Abalone Farming International.

Nathan Snell
Who is Nathan Snell? For those of you attending Blogger Social ‘08 in New York City, you will find out first hand. In the meantime, I have gleaned a bit about him while reading his blog The Technopian: Your Guide for Cyberculture and Social Media:

° Nathan loves business, marketing, technology and creativity. In fact, he may be completely obsessed with them.
° He is an enterprising young fellow: “enterprising”, in that he is social networking site designer and developer AND a social media marketer; “young”, in that he is just in his senior year at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington; and “enterprising” again, in that he’s majoring in “business administration with a concentration in entrepreneurship and business development”.
° He is also nap-liking, self-proclaimed extrovert who thinks that “Outback’s Bloomin’ Onions are delicious.”

Nathan’s energy and interests are extensive. He is already making waves in social media development circles. To read more about “The Snell”, do visit his “About” page.

Paul Soldera
Paul Soldera’s blog Insight By Design covers everything he is currently passionate about in his work. He writes about data, information, measurement, design and “the occasional start-up”. Originally from New Zealand, Paul now resides in New York and has been in the U.S. for about five years.

Most recently, Soldera was an Account Director at Hall and Partners, a company which focuses on brand and communications research. For the last eight months, he has been working on getting a software company off the ground with a good friend. As this dynamic startup duo invests their time in their fledgling enterprise, Paul continues to freelance.

Thanks to an interesting note on his blog’s sidebar, I’ve now discovered the comedy show “Flight of the Conchords”. He is NOT in that band, by the way. At least, that’s what Paul claims. If he takes out a guitar and starts serenading us at Blogger Social, however, it might start a whole new conversation on what he’s really doing in New York. 😉

Here’s the full list of Blogger Social registered attendees:

Tara Anderson
Todd Andrlik
Mike Arauz
David Armano (these four are profiled here)

Matthew Bailey
Ryan Barrett
Cam Beck
Shashi Bellamkonda (these four are profiled here)

Jennifer Berk
David Berkowitz
Rohit Bhargava
Susan Bird (these four are profiled here)

Toby Bloomberg
Tim Brunelle
Katie Chatfield
Thomas Clifford (these four are profiled here)

Mack Collier
Saul Colt (these two are profiled here)

Terry Dagrosa
Luc Debaisieux
Gene DeWitt
Matt Dickman
Paul Dunay (these five are profiled here)

Gianandrea Facchini
Jason Falls
Anna Farmery (these three are profiled here)

Mark Goren
Heather Gorringe
Kristin Gorski
Amanda Gravel
Lewis Green (these five are profiled here)

Vahe Habeshian
Ann Handley
Gavin Heaton
Kris Hoet
Kevin Horne
Sean Howard (these six are profiled here)

Joseph Jaffe
Ryan Karpeles
CK
Chris Kieff
Joe Kutchera (these five are profiled here)

Jennifer Laycock
CeCe Lee
Geoff Livingston
Lori Magno
Valeria Maltoni (these five are profiled here)

Caroline McCarthy
Matthew McDonald
Paul McEnany
Tim McHale
Drew McLellan (these five are profiled here)

Doug Meacham
Virginia Miracle
Scott Monty
Darryl Ohrt (these four are profiled here)

Rita Perea
David Polinchock
Marilyn Pratt (these three are profiled here)

Jane Quigley
Arun Rajagopal
Connie Reece
David Reich (these four are profiled here)

Susan Reynolds
Marianne Richmond
Cathleen Rittereiser
Steve Roesler
John Rosen
Roberta Rosenberg (these six are profiled here)

Mike Sansone
Linda Sherman
Nathan Snell
Paul Soldera (these four are profiled above)

Marshall Sponder
Terry Starbucker
Seni Thomas
Tangerine Toad
Mario Vellandi
Greg Verdino
Neil Vineberg
John Wall
Tamar Weinberg
CB Whittemore
Kaitlyn Wilkins
Steve Woodruff

Blogger Socialites: Reynolds, Richmond, Rittereiser, Roesler, Rosen, Rosenberg

When 80 Marketing bloggers get together in NYC for the first Blogger Social , you know it’s going to be a lively time. Because the attendees are one lively bunch! This group of BS’08 profiles was prepared with the assistance of Mario Vellandi, his second batch- thanks, Mario!

Susan Reynolds
You know you’re in for a treat when you land at Susan’s blog, entitled Case-Notes from the Artsy Asylum (Dominant magpie gene driven consultant Susan Reynolds tackles Relationship Media).

And there is simply no better way to write her up than to drop in her self-desription:

A woman who is interested in everything, I grew up on the banks of the Niagara River less than a mile from Canada, then spent a decade in the Philadelphia PA area before coming to Washington DC.

My bio page says “After work with various media outlets and directing art for a manufacturer, Susan shifted her focus to painting and independent projects while raising a family.” What that really means is that I worked in public relations, design and marketing in the government and corporate world; and taught studio art while juggling children and corporate wifedom. It was a lot like tap dancing while twirling flaming batons.

The children can now cook, use power tools and use the right fork. Though somehow I remained out of psychiatric hospitals I do not claim to have managed this unmedicated.

Using the blogosphere, twitter and other social media I work with others to help them achieve the same sort of buzz about their projects and services that was generated for such things as my participation in an Traveling Flat Artists – a takeoff on the Flat Stanley books and artistamps from my imaginary Empire of Ephemeria. (from Susan’s About page, which includes the best lineup of Relationship Media links that you’ll ever see!)

Have you seen mysterious appearances of frozen peas all over the blogosphere? Yep – that’s in honor of Susan – the backstory is here. Can’t wait to meet this high-impact gal!

Marianne Richmond
Marianne is a branding strategist at Resonance Partnership, a consultancy she founded specializing in word of mouth marketing, and is based in St. Louis. They provide market analyses, concept development, program strategy, implementation, and measurement. Establishing and measuring metrics and ROI through quantitative/qualitative analysis is one of the greatest skills her clients value her for. Marianne has a BA in Psychology, MBA in Marketing, and a Masters in Clinical Social Work. Her professional history spans from consumer packaged goods marketing, to the exciting world of participatory media. A full profile of her background can be found at the about page on her blog.

She is passionate about green marketing, design, and sustainability, and writes about these subjects on her blog and as a co-author at Mary Hunt’s Smart Solutions for Sustainable Businesses. Marianne has two teenage sons, a sense of humor; enjoys reading, tennis, and listening to NPR; and lastly cherishes her mom as a hero in her life.

Cathleen Rittereiser
Cathleen is VP of Business Development at Alternative Asset Managers in NY, marketing alternative investments to institutional investors; these include start-up and emerging hedge funds, and the firm’s own private equity fund. She has an undergraduate degree in Business and English, and an MBA from NY University. Cathleen is a co-author of the book: “Foundation and Endowment Investing: Philosophies and Strategies of Top Investors and Institutions“. While her knowledge in finance is impressive, she’s also well versed in digital marketing and creating brand development strategies online.

Additionally, she enjoys performing stand-up comedy in the evenings and writing about humor and other topics on her blog, including productivity, popular culture, procrastination, food & cooking, and technology. Last, but definitely not least, Cathleen is a co-founder of the Frozen Pea Fund.

Steve Roesler
Steve is a communications specialist from greater Philadelphia, providing clients with training and development with an emphasis on improving systems, relationships, and large-scale change. At All Things Workplace, he passionately writes about how people can become extraordinary, among other topics in organizational behavior, communication, and leadership. Steve holds a Masters in Public Relations & Communications, and began his professional career with a 2-year assignment with Saudi Arabian Airlines. Here he developed and trained up-and-coming managers in Europe, Northern Africa, and the Middle East. Following his return to America, Steve established his own firm (The Roesler Group) in 1977, and has since worked with a variety of large clients in the United States and abroad.

He was once a drill instructor in the Army, is a musician and singer, and has been involved in broadcasting for over 30 years. While Steve has attended various institutes for the study of human behavior, he believes that none of them equals a single day’s education watching people at an airport check-in line.

John Rosen
John Rosen is an Executive Director of Marketing Consulting Associates, a strategic marketing consulting firm based in Westport, CT, that advises Fortune 500 companies on developing growth strategies. He is a co-author along with AnnaMaria Turano, of: StopWatch Marketing, Take Charge of the Time When Your Customer Decides to Buy. In the book and at their blog, they argue that consumers have a figurative ticking stopwatch with them when they shop. Consequently, the job of the marketer “is to understand that ticking and to either slow it down so that they can get their message across or stop the ticking and close the sale right then and there.” It is this line of thinking that John brings to clients, from mom-and-pop stores to consumer product giants, in helping them analyze, evaluate, and appropriately respond to the time sensitivity of their customers.

John has 25+ years of sales and marketing management experience, and has two teenage sons who are shocked that he really knows how to blog.

Roberta Rosenberg
Roberta is President and CEO at MGP Direct, Inc., where she provides clients with direct response marketing, search engine optimization, and copywriting services.  She has 20+ years experience primarily with print and web B2B customers.  She passionately writes about these subjects at The Copywriting Maven, where she indulges readers with tips, techniques, and resources (in addition to some ‘wry, cranky commentary’). Additional information about her professional background can be found on her About page.

Roberta also owns and operates an online gift shop, AdoptShoppe.com, which sells a variety of unique items. It started as a hobby while awaiting the adoption of her 2^nd child from Korea.  She even started a specialty site, devoted to helping parents understand the process of adopting Korean children.

Here’s the full list of Blogger Social registered attendees:

Tara Anderson
Todd Andrlik
Mike Arauz
David Armano (these four are profiled here)

Matthew Bailey
Ryan Barrett
Cam Beck
Shashi Bellamkonda (these four are profiled here)

Jennifer Berk
David Berkowitz
Rohit Bhargava
Susan Bird (these four are profiled here)

Toby Bloomberg
Tim Brunelle
Katie Chatfield
Thomas Clifford (these four are profiled here)

Mack Collier
Saul Colt (these two are profiled here)

Terry Dagrosa
Luc Debaisieux
Gene DeWitt
Matt Dickman
Paul Dunay (these five are profiled here)

Gianandrea Facchini
Jason Falls
Anna Farmery (these three are profiled here)

Mark Goren
Heather Gorringe
Kristin Gorski
Amanda Gravel
Lewis Green (these five are profiled here)

Vahe Habeshian
Ann Handley
Gavin Heaton
Kris Hoet
Kevin Horne
Sean Howard (these six are profiled here)

Joseph Jaffe
Ryan Karpeles
CK
Chris Kieff
Joe Kutchera (these five are profiled here)

Jennifer Laycock
CeCe Lee
Geoff Livingston
Lori Magno
Valeria Maltoni (these five are profiled here)

Caroline McCarthy
Matthew McDonald
Paul McEnany
Tim McHale
Drew McLellan (these five are profiled here)

Doug Meacham
Virginia Miracle
Scott Monty
Darryl Ohrt (these four are profiled here)

Rita Perea
David Polinchock
Marilyn Pratt (these three are profiled here)

Jane Quigley
Arun Rajagopal
Connie Reece
David Reich (these four are profiled here)

Susan Reynolds
Marianne Richmond
Cathleen Rittereiser
Steve Roesler
John Rosen
Roberta Rosenberg (these six are profiled above)

Mike Sansone
Linda Sherman
Nathan Snell
Paul Soldera
Marshall Sponder
Terry Starbucker
Seni Thomas
Tangerine Toad
Mario Vellandi
Greg Verdino
Neil Vineberg
John Wall
Tamar Weinberg
CB Whittemore
Kaitlyn Wilkins
Steve Woodruff

Blogger Socialites: Quigley, Rajagopal, Reece, Reich

The Blogger Social is less than three weeks away! This batch of BS’08 profiles comes courtesy of blogging comrade Mario Vellandi, whom I’m looking forward to finally meeting after so many e-mails and blog comment exchanges. Thanks, Mario!

Jane Quigley
Jane is a Senior Director at Zeta Interactive in New York, who’s been active in this trade for the past 12 years. Here is how she describes herself at her blog Virtually Social: I’ve worked in the Interactive space for 12 years, overseeing integrated campaigns leveraging web development, search, viral marketing and social media. I’m a member of most social networks, but really use Twitter, Seesmic, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Originally from New Jersey, as a child she played the guitar, flute, piccolo, piano, and cello. She’s also lived in London for 4 years in the late 80s/early 90s, and loves the city. Jane is active all over the social media scene with a few blogs, loves productivity topics, GTD (‘Getting Things Done’), 37Signals’ software and writes about these subjects among others at Settings Contexts and enjoys meeting and connecting with others.

Arun Rajagopal
Arun lives in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman where he is a Copywriter at Wunderman Oman. At his blog, one can learn about his love for travel (India and Southeast Asia), advertisements, digital marketing, and other subjects he’s excited about. He’s big into the styling and experience of riding Indian trains.

A fine accomplishment was getting some ink for The Age of Conversation in Oman and his contributions to part one of this book (series!). Arun likes photography, and considers himself an Amateur Lensman . He additionally likes films (he’s a buff), backpacking, blogging and being a part of this social marketing movement, and one more thing folks; Arun is an aspiring bus driver. Great to have him among us!

Connie Reece
Connie is a conversational marketing professional in Austin, Texas with a specialty in the research & implementation of emerging media. She blogs at Every Dot Connects, a consortium of social media practitioners, where they teach companies how to speak with authentic voices, and participate in a dialogue with customers and constituents. Additionally, she is a co-founder of the Social Media Club International and leads the Austin chapter.

In college, she played the piano part-time for a dinner theater. Connie has a BA in French and loves the language and wishes she had more opportunities to practice. She’s worked in publishing for 10 years as ghostwriter, co-author and editor with one of the top ten trade publishing houses.

One of her favorite projects of late has been the Frozen Pea Fund, a fundraising effort inspired by the story of Susan Reynolds, for breast cancer research and programs through the American Cancer Society. It had started its successful promotion campaign through Twitter, after which it gained greater response through articles around the web. They recently established the fund under a non-profit organization.

David Reich
David is a Public Relations expert who writes at My 2 Cents about his line of work, the publishing industry, media relations, musings and life. He loves Jazz, and had hosted a twice-weekly show in college showcasing various jazz musicians over the school’s FM station. David has a BS degree in Industrial Management, and an MBA in Public Relations. He lives outside New York with his wife and a black Labrador named Loki. They have two children: Michael, a filmmaker in Los Angeles; and Jennifer, a midwife in Maine and mother to David’s grandson Jack.

One of his passions is understanding the changing nature of media outlets and their role in the new millennium, while cheerleading for newspapers and the issues facing their industry including readership volume, licensing, strategic maneuvering, acquisitions, and divestitures. He says: “After 30 plus years in this business, I still look forward to going to work. Rarely are two days the same and the challenges are varied and stimulating.”

Before founding his own business, Reich Communications, Inc. in 1990, David worked in senior roles at Manning, Selvage & Lee and The Rowland Company and had the “who’s who of business” as clients. A full professional profile can be found at his about page on his blog. He now describes his work in handling a range of clients that take him from B2B to consumer publicity, from the high-priced art world to advocacy for issues like safety and securing health resources for survivors of mass violence globally.

Here’s the full list of Blogger Social registered attendees:

Tara Anderson
Todd Andrlik
Mike Arauz
David Armano (these four are profiled here)

Matthew Bailey
Ryan Barrett
Cam Beck
Shashi Bellamkonda (these four are profiled here)

Jennifer Berk
David Berkowitz
Rohit Bhargava
Susan Bird (these four are profiled here)

Toby Bloomberg
Tim Brunelle
Katie Chatfield
Thomas Clifford (these four are profiled here)

Mack Collier
Saul Colt (these two are profiled here)

Terry Dagrosa
Luc Debaisieux
Gene DeWitt
Matt Dickman
Paul Dunay (these five are profiled here)

Gianandrea Facchini
Jason Falls
Anna Farmery (these three are profiled here)

Mark Goren
Heather Gorringe
Kristin Gorski
Amanda Gravel
Lewis Green (these five are profiled here)

Vahe Habeshian
Ann Handley
Gavin Heaton
Kris Hoet
Kevin Horne
Sean Howard (these six are profiled here)

Joseph Jaffe
Ryan Karpeles
CK
Chris Kieff
Joe Kutchera (these five are profiled here)

Jennifer Laycock
CeCe Lee
Geoff Livingston
Lori Magno
Valeria Maltoni (these five are profiled here)

Caroline McCarthy
Matthew McDonald
Paul McEnany
Tim McHale
Drew McLellan (these five are profiled here)

Doug Meacham
Virginia Miracle
Scott Monty
Darryl Ohrt (these four are profiled here)

Rita Perea
David Polinchock
Marilyn Pratt (these three are profiled here)

Jane Quigley
Arun Rajagopal
Connie Reece
David Reich (these four are profiled above)

Susan Reynolds
Marianne Richmond
Cathleen Rittereiser
Steve Roesler
John Rosen
Roberta Rosenberg
Mike Sansone
Linda Sherman
Nathan Snell
Paul Soldera
Marshall Sponder
Terry Starbucker
Seni Thomas
Tangerine Toad
Mario Vellandi
Greg Verdino
Neil Vineberg
John Wall
Tamar Weinberg
CB Whittemore
Kaitlyn Wilkins
Steve Woodruff

Blogger Socialites: Perea, Polinchock, Pratt

This set of Blogger Social registrant profiles comes to us courtesy of Jennifer Berk, one of those who will be joining us in early April for a humdinger of a blogger get-together. Thanks, Jennifer!

Rita Perea

Rita recently described how she started blogging, a conversion since she originally “just could not ‘see’ the power of using social media to grow my speaking and coaching business.” Since her change of heart, bringing her career, leadership, and public speaking advice to the blog has become “the new and improved way that I do business.”

One particularly interesting category on the Rita Perea Consulting blog is Coachability – stories about how coaching works and how best to take advantage of advice. Rita has also started the P List – her award for “Business People Who Live Their Passion With Integrity.”

A lifelong learner, Rita is working toward a doctorate in organizational psychology, and her book will be released this fall. In an information-oversaturated world, couldn’t we all use advice on going “From Frantic to Fabulous in Forty Days”? Looking forward to hearing more about it in April!

David Polinchock

David has been working in new media for more than 15 years, and now focuses on making companies’ product experiences extraordinary as Founder and Chairman of Brand Experience Lab. BEL and David were profiled in Fast Company a couple of years ago, with mention of cool new technologies they were playing with then – who knows what they have now!

David is also an Adjunct Professor at CMU, and he’s taught classes on experiential branding at NYU. You can also find him microblogging on Twitter.

The Experience Economist blog will be almost four years old during Blogger Social. I love the tag cloud category listing, showing many posts on advertising news, emerging technologies, events, the future of advertising, and retail news. Posts often springboard from customer experiences to talk about how companies and ad agencies need to improve how they connect with people. For instance, a recent, provocative story is reprinted from BEL’s first newsletter in 2003, saying “The consumer has become the baby seal of the Twenty-first Century, and we are the mighty hunters.” Go read to find out how the baby seals are fighting back and how companies can learn to drop the club.

Marilyn Pratt

Marilyn’s job title is Community Evangelist at the SAP DeveloperNetwork’s Business Process Expert Community, and her work blog posts are an interesting mix of community events, introductions to features, and BPX-specific discussions.

On her own time, Marilyn’s “A time to mourn a time to rejoice….” is a thoughtful blog with longer posts, usually only a few a month but going back to 2005. (She Twitters far more frequently, but with similar care.) The blog was one of the ten
selected for Sam Lawrence’s text cloud redux (with women) post (scroll down to #7), and he rightly remarks on Marilyn’s international orientation.

One of her posts from last November beautifully combines her personal advocacy interests with her professional life, talking about applying business process expertise to corporate responsibility. Marilyn also has a background in theater directing, and I’m betting that translates into enormously useful experience for a community manager and advocate!

Here’s the full list of Blogger Social registered attendees:

Tara Anderson
Todd Andrlik
Mike Arauz
David Armano (these four are profiled here)

Matthew Bailey
Ryan Barrett
Cam Beck
Shashi Bellamkonda (these four are profiled here)

Jennifer Berk
David Berkowitz
Rohit Bhargava
Susan Bird (these four are profiled here)

Toby Bloomberg
Tim Brunelle
Katie Chatfield
Thomas Clifford (these four are profiled here)

Mack Collier
Saul Colt (these two are profiled here)

Terry Dagrosa
Luc Debaisieux
Gene DeWitt
Matt Dickman
Paul Dunay (these five are profiled here)

Gianandrea Facchini
Jason Falls
Anna Farmery (these three are profiled here)

Mark Goren
Heather Gorringe
Kristin Gorski
Amanda Gravel
Lewis Green (these five are profiled here)

Vahe Habeshian
Ann Handley
Gavin Heaton
Kris Hoet
Kevin Horne
Sean Howard (these six are profiled here)

Joseph Jaffe
Ryan Karpeles
CK
Chris Kieff
Joe Kutchera (these five are profiled here)

Jennifer Laycock
CeCe Lee
Geoff Livingston
Lori Magno
Valeria Maltoni (these five are profiled here)

Caroline McCarthy
Matthew McDonald
Paul McEnany
Tim McHale
Drew McLellan (these five are profiled here)

Doug Meacham
Virginia Miracle
Scott Monty
Darryl Ohrt (these four are profiled here)

Rita Perea
David Polinchock
Marilyn Pratt (these three are profiled above)

Jane Quigley
Arun Rajagopal
Connie Reece
David Reich
Susan Reynolds
Marianne Richmond
Cathleen Rittereiser
Steve Roesler
John Rosen
Roberta Rosenberg
Mike Sansone
Linda Sherman
Nathan Snell
Paul Soldera
Marshall Sponder
Terry Starbucker
Seni Thomas
Tangerine Toad
Mario Vellandi
Greg Verdino
Neil Vineberg
John Wall
Tamar Weinberg
CB Whittemore
Kaitlyn Wilkins
Steve Woodruff

Blogger Socialites: Laycock, Lee, Livingston, Magno, Maltoni

OK, so this group of Blogger Social registrants got done out of sequence. But it’s only because we were running short of superlatives, and had to search high and low for new and creative ways to brag about our blogging colleagues (does that sound good, Valeria??). Many thanks to Kristin Gorski for writing up this set!

Jennifer Laycock

As Editor of the Search Engine Guide blog, Jennifer Laycock loves to share her knowledge of search engine marketing, viral marketing and social media to help small business owners master their business domains. But did you know that she may also be the “Goddess of All Twitter Knowledge”? After reading her informative ongoing series “From Twits to Tweeple, Why I Embraced Twitter and You Should Too”, both experienced Twitter users and newbies will undoubtedly learn valuable tips.

Do you “retweet”? If you don’t, after reading Jennifer’s post, you will. Your viral marketing efforts will thank you for it.

When Jennifer isn’t clarifying some of the Interweb’s most challenging and vital fine points for the hungry online masses, she is happily explaining the world to her young son and daughter. From seeing how well she educates on Search Engine Guide, it is clear what a gifted teacher these young ones have in their mother!

CeCe Lee

A PR veteran of agencies like Ogilvy & Mather, Niehaus Ryan Group/Wong, and Blanc & Otus, Cece knows how to get the word out. She writes about blending public relations with marketing to make results for her clients at her personal blog PR Meets Marketing. Cece shares what she is learning along the way; check out her post “Pitching Bloggers”, a resource that all PR folks dealing with Blogville should read thoroughly and refer to regularly. With both feet planted firmly in the tech world, Cece is currently doing in-house PR at ON24, a company which specializes in making rich media applications (like webcasts and podcasts) easy to use and packed with value.

Looking at all her company’s services, I have many questions to ask her about web- and pod-casting. Bast on her extensive work experience, I’d like to get insights from her about blogging and PR, too. From looking in awe at her photo on her blog’s “About” page, I would also like to know this: how long did she stay on that mechanical bull?!?

Geoff Livingston

Geoff Livingston is co-author with Brian Solis of Now is Gone: A Primer on New Media for Executives and Entrepreneurs, which just recently won the Silver Medal in the Advertising/Marketing/PR/Event Planning category at the 2008 Axiom Business Book Awards.

As head of Livingston Communications and Editor of The Buzz Bin, this marketing strategist has developed a diverse clientele in the Washington, D.C.-metro area: the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival, the Washington Nationals, Verizon Wireless, and a host of others. Geoff is also a sought-after speaker on marketing, PR and new media. After having given keynote presentations to the Direct Marketing Association of Washington, The New, New Internet Web 2.0 Accelerator and Success in the City’s New Media Nouveaux conference, everyone knows that Livingston really talks his talk.

According to a mysterious item listed on his blog’s “About” page, Geoff also seems to have some space travel on his résumé. If you’d like to know what he forgot to pack on his trip to the moon, just click here!

Lori Magno

Lori Magno runs the Moda di Magno Blog for Stylish Living. As a Creative Liaison with Digitas Boston, she also posts at The Digital Hive, the Digitas account planning group’s blog.

This multi-faceted creative shares her rich artistic interests online. She recently embarked on an iPhone photo safari around Boston and posted the images to her blog; they are the latest in an ongoing series of “iPhone pix” and capture moments of interesting visual details, fun spontaneity, and how design communicates. Lori is also an accomplished jewelry designer. If you’d like to spend some time gazing at elegant, unique necklaces, earrings and bracelets online (like I did in researching this blurb), do check out her Accessories for Stylish Living webstore.

Lori pens in her Blogger Social bio that she is “an Audi-driving, Mac-using, doppio-drinking (mostly), Red Sox-loving liberal”. From seeing her work online, I suggest she add “Renaissance woman” to her list.

Valeria Maltoni

Valeria Maltoni is the Conversation Agent. Her client list reads like a “Who’s Who” of the most influential corporate and academic business minds in the world. She is a Fast Company Expert blogger and also posts at The Blog Herald and Marketing Profs Daily Fix.

Originally from Italy, she now resides in Philadelphia. Publishing her writing in both English and Italian, her marketing insights truly reach a global audience. Maltoni is a well-recognized speaker on topics like “Building a Successful Team”, “Building a Great Brand” and “Knowing vs. Doing”. Actively involved in professional organizations, she can be found in the membership of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), the American Marketing Association (AMA), the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia (WACA) and the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC).

Thought-leader Valeria lives and breathes inspiring marketing. Her post “Conversations on the Future of Advertising” is one current example of this hallmark trait of hers. Read any of her posts or her blog’s “About” page to experience how marketing, insight and generosity combine to advance the field of modern business.

Here’s the full list of Blogger Social registered attendees:

Tara Anderson
Todd Andrlik
Mike Arauz
David Armano (these four are profiled here)

Matthew Bailey
Ryan Barrett
Cam Beck
Shashi Bellamkonda (these four are profiled here)

Jennifer Berk
David Berkowitz
Rohit Bhargava
Susan Bird (these four are profiled here)

Toby Bloomberg
Tim Brunelle
Katie Chatfield
Thomas Clifford (these four are profiled here)

Mack Collier
Saul Colt (these two are profiled here)

Terry Dagrosa
Luc Debaisieux
Gene DeWitt
Matt Dickman
Paul Dunay (these five are profiled here)

Gianandrea Facchini
Jason Falls
Anna Farmery (these three are profiled here)

Mark Goren
Heather Gorringe
Kristin Gorski
Amanda Gravel
Lewis Green (these five are profiled here)

Vahe Habeshian
Ann Handley
Gavin Heaton
Kris Hoet
Kevin Horne
Sean Howard (these six are profiled here)

Joseph Jaffe
Ryan Karpeles
CK
Chris Kieff
Joe Kutchera (these five are profiled here)

Jennifer Laycock
CeCe Lee
Geoff Livingston
Lori Magno
Valeria Maltoni (these five are profiled above)

Caroline McCarthy
Matthew McDonald
Paul McEnany
Tim McHale
Drew McLellan (these five are profiled here)

Doug Meacham
Virginia Miracle
Scott Monty
Darryl Ohrt (these four are profiled here)

Rita Perea
David Polinchock
Marilyn Pratt
Jane Quigley
Arun Rajagopal
Connie Reece
David Reich
Susan Reynolds
Marianne Richmond
Cathleen Rittereiser
Steve Roesler
John Rosen
Roberta Rosenberg
Mike Sansone
Linda Sherman
Nathan Snell
Paul Soldera
Marshall Sponder
Terry Starbucker
Seni Thomas
Tangerine Toad
Mario Vellandi
Greg Verdino
Neil Vineberg
John Wall
Tamar Weinberg
CB Whittemore
Kaitlyn Wilkins
Steve Woodruff

Blogger Socialites: Meacham, Miracle, Monty, Ohrt

We’re past the 50-yard line now profiling the registrants for the upcoming Blogger Social (April 4-6, NYC), and one thing is clear – we’re going to have a smashingly interesting crew of folks to get to know at this great event! I envision a lot of temporarily “silent” blogs, replaced by some amazing sore mouth apparatus after a couple days of non-stop jawboning!

Today, 3 M’s and one O – we have an “N-less” group this year!

Doug Meacham

Doug’s NextUp blog (should we be surprised that marketers come up with such great blog names??) is subtitled Customer Experience, Marketing, Innovation, Conversations. And as soon as I landed there, I see this post pointing to a helpful Twitter intro video highlighted by fellow blogger Greg Verdino. Which, of course, I’m going to check out because I’ve maintained an arms-length mild curiosity about Twitter, but I’m not sure I get the fascination (yet?).

I also quickly saw that Doug did something else I recently did, now that travel is more frequent – sign up for Hertz #1 Club Gold. Here is Doug’s overview. My experience has been mostly positive – a couple minor glitches – I definitely like the concept of efficiency and streamlined process when doing the airport thing.

Doug’s About Me page gives this (rather impressive!) professional overview: Doug Meacham is a Multi-Channel Retail consultant with IBM and a veteran of the consumer electronics retail industry. He is passionate about Customer Experience, Innovation, Brand Engagement and Social Media.

Prior to joining IBM, Doug worked for Circuit City Stores in various technology, management and strategy leadership positions. Doug recently delivered a strategic framework and several high-profile innovation initiatives designed to help Circuit City create a differentiated customer and associate experience. As a social media evangelist, Doug created an internal blogging network for sharing insights across the organization and was responsible for Circuit City’s initiatives in the virtual world Second Life®.

Doug hails from Richmond, Virginia, and he has a goatee (I wonder what will be “significant facial hair” percentage at the Social this year?), so I expect we’ll get along famously. Here’s some LinkedIn Dougage, and his Twitter page.

Virginia Miracle

As of this writing, Virginia’s blog details a disappointing but interesting hiccup in her plans to get the SXSW conference in Austin, TX (Virginia is from the DC area). She and a few fellow bloggers got bumped from the flight, and in her case, not being able to get there on another flight in a timely manner meant missing the whole conference. Yet she and her no-longer-strangers fellow bloggers bonded right there in the airport. Interesting stuff.

Virginia has an interesting spin on brands that really grab your loyalty: “Brands Worthy of a Weekend.” Hadn’t thought about it that way – great piece.

It’s too much to cut-paste here, but I strongly recommend reading Virginia’s About page. She is deep into WOM marketing, is SVP of Digital Strategy at a well-known agency, a new Mom, and, apparently, a mean Scrabble player (note to VM: Have you ever played the variation called “take-one”? If not, let’s grab some tiles and the Social and I’ll challenge you to a round!) It’s no miracle that she is on LinkedIn and Facebook, though since she is a new Mom, it’ll probably feel like a miracle to get away for a couple days in April!

Scott Monty

Scott’s The Social Media Marketing Blog is all about – well, read the title! Scott works with Joseph Jaffe over at Crayon. Scott, this weekend, is over at SXSW, and here is an amusing post about a panel identifying and voting on the worst social media marketing campaigns of 2007. In fact, here is a fresh-from-the-tree pic of Scott in Austin, TX, with the “accordion guy.”

And are you curious about the Social Media Marketing job market? Scott’s post here indicates that it is both expanding and evolving. Scott even put together a job site for such positions, which you can see here. Like me, Scott works out of his home (he’s in Maynard, MA), and this interesting video clip shows us more.

Scott also seems to be a Sherlock Holmes fan, with a separate blog dedicated to the great detective.

Being on the cutting edge of social media technology, Scott can be found on all the usual suspects, including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Python, etc. etc. It’ll be fun to meet this social media marketing pioneer!

Darryl Ohrt

Brand Flakes for Breakfast – another great blog name, from a guy who works with another innovative one-word new marketing company (Plaid). Darryl and his colleagues keep up a very interesting, diverse, and easy-to-read blog that touches on a whole variety of topics, from advertising to packaging, to new media to…well, all things plaid. Even a few things LED.

Some of Plaidists are at SXSW, and they used ooVoo to communicate (well, sing Happy Birthday, actually) with a colleague while they were apart. Plaid is HQ’ed in Connecticut (my home state).
I cannot possibly do any better – in fact, I cannot even accurately reproduce – the intro to Darryl on the Plaid site. You simply have to go there! Todd And did a great interview last year with Darryl, from which I’ve extracted this funny Q&A bit:

What famous person do you most look like?
You can’t really look like me and be famous, so nobody. I would like to look like Johnny Rotten. But I don’t.

Here’s the full list of Blogger Social registered attendees:

Tara Anderson
Todd Andrlik
Mike Arauz
David Armano (these four are profiled here)

Matthew Bailey
Ryan Barrett
Cam Beck
Shashi Bellamkonda (these four are profiled here)

Jennifer Berk
David Berkowitz
Rohit Bhargava
Susan Bird (these four are profiled here)

Toby Bloomberg
Tim Brunelle
Katie Chatfield
Thomas Clifford (these four are profiled here)

Mack Collier
Saul Colt (these two are profiled here)

Terry Dagrosa
Luc Debaisieux
Gene DeWitt
Matt Dickman
Paul Dunay (these five are profiled here)

Gianandrea Facchini
Jason Falls
Anna Farmery (these three are profiled here)

Mark Goren
Heather Gorringe
Kristin Gorski
Amanda Gravel
Lewis Green (these five are profiled here)

Vahe Habeshian
Ann Handley
Gavin Heaton
Kris Hoet
Kevin Horne
Sean Howard (these six are profiled here)

Joseph Jaffe
Ryan Karpeles
CK
Chris Kieff
Joe Kutchera (these five are profiled here)

Jennifer Laycock
CeCe Lee
Geoff Livingston
Lori Magno
Valeria Maltoni (these five are “coming soon”!)

Caroline McCarthy
Matthew McDonald
Paul McEnany
Tim McHale
Drew McLellan (these five are profiled here)

Doug Meacham
Virginia Miracle
Scott Monty
Darryl Ohrt (these four are profiled above)

Rita Perea
David Polinchock
Marilyn Pratt
Jane Quigley
Arun Rajagopal
Connie Reece
David Reich
Susan Reynolds
Marianne Richmond
Cathleen Rittereiser
Steve Roesler
John Rosen
Roberta Rosenberg
Mike Sansone
Linda Sherman
Nathan Snell
Paul Soldera
Marshall Sponder
Terry Starbucker
Seni Thomas
Tangerine Toad
Mario Vellandi
Greg Verdino
Neil Vineberg
John Wall
Tamar Weinberg
CB Whittemore
Kaitlyn Wilkins
Steve Woodruff

Blogger McSocialites: McCarthy, McDonald, McEnany, McHale, McLellan

We’ve come a long way profiling the registrants for the upcoming Blogger Social (April 4-6, NYC). And sure, we know that this group is just slightly out of alphabetical order, but the L’s and early M’s are coming soon…promise. This series of profiles was contributed by wonderful blogging colleague C.B. Whittemore.

Caroline McCarthy

Caroline McCarthy [not to be confused with Congresswoman McCarthy http://carolynmccarthy.house.gov/%5D keeps her ear to the ground and her fingers on the pulse of the world of social media in CNET News.com‘s The Social. There, Caroline manages to keep everyone abreast of the latest and greatest in the Facebooks, MySpaces and Diggs of Web 2.0. Keeping it interesting, she is a downtown Manhattanite who believes that, despite popular opinion, the Web can actually help your social life. Through The Social, you can witness her happy addiction to fun social media tools from Twitter to Yelp to Facebook and text messages…. as she explores all facets of the Web’s gregarious side, as well as the unique tech culture – including its effects on politics – in her home city of New York.

Matthew McDonald

If you’re looking for simple ways to spark new marketing ideas, look no further than Matt J. McDonald’s “A New Marketing” Blog. And, if you’re not sure what to expect, then check out Matt’s “About Me” section… Imagine coming face-to-face – not only with a new marketer – but also a pirate scholar [ahoy, there, matey!], blazer aficionado, bonsai gardener, big picture thinker [yes, definitely goes hand-in-hand with bonsais], and client service ninja! His TED Tuesday series definitely inspires new marketing ideas.

How can you learn more? I’m glad you asked. Matt also has his own Squidoo Lens: http://www.squidoo.com/mattmcdonald.

Paul McEnany

Anyone who names his blog “Hee-Haw Marketing” – after the 70s television show about people wearing over-alls – has to have an irreverent sense of humor! Even more so when you realize that he was awarded the dubious “Greatest advertising human in the world” distinction in 1983 by Bullshit magazine… as a precocious three year-old. Nonetheless, Paul McEnany is a force to be reckoned with from Dallas – as a new media marketing strategist – to Madison Avenue [at The Madison Avenue Journal] and Beyond [at Beyond Madison Avenue].

Paul specializes in participatory media. He has a background in traditional marketing and account planning, and advocates responsible marketing [i.e., in such a way that your brand and company are relevant to your customers!] in his Top 25 marketing blog.

Tim McHale

Quick! What comes to mind when you see the online publication “The Madison Avenue Journal”? You’d think that person has to know Madison Avenue. Right? Tim McHale certainly does given his 19-year background in traditional marketing, seven years in interactive marketing and proactive leadership in integrated marketing! To be more specific, Tim was co-founder and Chief Media Officer of Tribal DDB Worldwide, a separate division of DDB Worldwide [Omnicom]. By the way, have you noticed the site’s descriptor? “The AMC-TV Network’s Favorite MAD MEN site in advertising!” No wonder Tim describes himself as a “Media Activist.”

Drew McLellan

Drew McLellan — co-Blogger Social-conspirator, Age of Conversation co-starter, Mickey Mouse aficionado, Top Dog, Dodgers fan and endlessly creative master marketer — embodies the collision of passion and strategy. From the midst of Iowa, he manages to touch the entire globe as he encourages anyone serious about branding and marketing to conduct authentic love affairs… with customers! He makes it easy, too, with the likes of his 99.3 Random Acts of Marketing book. No wonder that his blog, “Drew’s Marketing Minute”, features prominently on the Top 25!

But that’s not all! In fact, he’s indefatigable! He is already inspiring the blogosphere, with partner Gavin Heaton, to get ready for the 2008 version of The Age of Conversation. And, you can be absolutely sure that he will be fully engaged, along with CK, in making the 2008 Blogger Social a fantastic success! Thanks, Drew!!!

Here’s the full list of Blogger Social registered attendees:

Tara Anderson
Todd Andrlik
Mike Arauz
David Armano (these four are profiled here)

Matthew Bailey
Ryan Barrett
Cam Beck
Shashi Bellamkonda (these four are profiled here)

Jennifer Berk
David Berkowitz
Rohit Bhargava
Susan Bird (these four are profiled here)

Toby Bloomberg
Tim Brunelle
Katie Chatfield
Thomas Clifford (these four are profiled here)

Mack Collier
Saul Colt (these two are profiled here)

Terry Dagrosa
Luc Debaisieux
Gene DeWitt
Matt Dickman
Paul Dunay (these five are profiled here)

Gianandrea Facchini
Jason Falls
Anna Farmery (these three are profiled here)

Mark Goren
Heather Gorringe
Kristin Gorski
Amanda Gravel
Lewis Green (these five are profiled here)

Vahe Habeshian
Ann Handley
Gavin Heaton
Kris Hoet
Kevin Horne
Sean Howard (these six are profiled here)

Joseph Jaffe
Ryan Karpeles
CK
Chris Kieff
Joe Kutchera (these five are profiled here)

Jennifer Laycock
CeCe Lee
Geoff Livingston
Lori Magno
Valeria Maltoni

Caroline McCarthy
Matthew McDonald
Paul McEnany
Tim McHale
Drew McLellan (these five are profiled above)

Doug Meacham
Virginia Miracle
Scott Monty
Darryl Ohrt
Rita Perea
David Polinchock
Marilyn Pratt
Jane Quigley
Arun Rajagopal
Connie Reece
David Reich
Susan Reynolds
Marianne Richmond
Cathleen Rittereiser
Steve Roesler
John Rosen
Roberta Rosenberg
Mike Sansone
Linda Sherman
Nathan Snell
Paul Soldera
Marshall Sponder
Terry Starbucker
Seni Thomas
Tangerine Toad
Mario Vellandi
Greg Verdino
Neil Vineberg
John Wall
Tamar Weinberg
CB Whittemore
Kaitlyn Wilkins
Steve Woodruff

Blogger Socialites: Jaffe, Karpeles, Kerley, Kieff, Kutchera

Continuing on with our series of posts profiling the registrants for the upcoming Blogger Social (April 4-6, NYC), we now reach the J’s and K’s, including one of the illustrious bloggers (CK) helping mastermind this whole get-together.

Joseph Jaffe

Joseph heads up the blog Jaffe Juice, which he describes this way: Welcome to the reincarnated and reinvigorated Jaffe Juice. What was once a weekly op-ed column is now an unshackled, uncensored and uninhibited dialogue on the subjects sof new marketing, advertising and creativity.

Jaffe is very active in the new media world, and even in some “old media” endeavors, as this post explains. He just came out with a new book, Join the Conversation, which I am in the process of digesting.

Joseph’s writing tone is enjoyable – he is casual and approachable. The blog is loaded with a variety of new marketing ideas and is well worth scanning.

Joseph heads up Crayon, a “new marketing company”, which as far as I know is the first company to list a virtual geographical location in its list of offices (Boston, Westport, New York, Second Life). He clearly has major-league marketing street cred, given this background: Joseph Jaffe is one of the most sought-after consultants, speakers and thought leaders on new marketing. Prior to launching crayon, Joseph ran jaffe, LLC, where he worked with companies including P&G, The Coca-Cola Company, American Airlines, Dunkin’ Brands, TiVo, Motorola and Fox Interactive Media. Before that, Joseph was Director of Interactive Media at TBWA/Chiat/Day and OMD USA, where he worked on Kmart, ABSOLUT Vodka, Embassy Suites and Samsonite. It’ll be fun to meet this pioneer of social media at the Social!

Ryan Karpeles

Ryan is a young guy, just beginning his career in Marketing, and everyone likes him. Why? Because he has a great attitude, and doesn’t seem to be full of himself. I love this little statement on his blog, Living Light Bulbs: Ryan Karpeles has no special credentials whatsoever. He just happens to really like Marketing.

How can you not like a guy who writes a post like this? Or who freely volunteers to help out in group endeavors (even writing some of these Blogger Socialite profiles!)

Ryan is a Customer Experience Manager at Meeting Tomorrow (A/V equipment rental outfit). He graduated last year from the University of Iowa. Of course he’s on LinkedIn (see his description about his role at Deerfield Golf Club – classic). Ryan is an up-and-coming marketer, a solid blogger, and an all-around good guy who will, I’m sure, feel right at home with his Sociable colleagues!

CK

What can you say about Christina Kerley (CK)? She’s a whirlwind of collaboration, a maven of socializing, a prolific blogger and commenter, and a person who cares deeply about others. I am very sure that I am not the only one who can testify that, in the early days of trying out this blogging thing, CK’s encouragement was instrumental in my keeping at it. She even sent me chocolate chip cookies at one point!

CK heads up her own marketing company (ckEpiphany), and this “About” post gives a pretty good overview of all things CK. Along with Drew McLellan, CK dreamed up this Blogger Social event, because she just loves to be together with people face-to-face, not just virtually. I found that out last year at a NYC meetup for a large handful of us marketing bloggers, when I got to meet CK (and Toby, and David Reich, and David Berkowitz, and Tangerine Toad, and Ann Handley, and many others) for the first time. What a delight it was!

CK’s blog is one of the most fun around. Filled with marketing insights, debates, personal stuff, and the occasional spotlight on others, you simply can’t lose when you visit CK. We’re all grateful for her many contributions to the blogging community!

Chris Kieff

I knew nothing about Chris Kieff until I clicked on the link above, but I immediately liked the title (1 Good Reason) and the tagline (Things I find interesting about Internet Marketing and stuff like that).

Among other topics, Chris gives insightful and meaty commentary on social media, including his take on ooVoo, and his “thus far” review of some of the other networking tools.

Chris describes himself as an Internet Marketing expert with a focus on web site promotion, advertising, blogs, SEO, and social networking. This page gives the full Kieff overview. Chris is in the NYC area, so he won’t have to travel far to the Social – here is his LinkedIn profile also.

Joe Kutchera

The Daily Joe – how can you not like a blog title like that (esp. if you enjoy good coffee)? Joe’s blog is about publishing and marketing, with, of course, an emphasis on new media and user-generated content.

Joe will be joining us for the Social event from Mexico! Here is Joe on LinkedIn, Facebook, and another on-line profile.

Joe sums himself up best on his About page, so here is the overview:

Joe Kutchera is a eight-year sales and marketing veteran of Time Warner´s interactive properties including Warner Bros. Online, This Old House Online, Time Inc. Interactive, and CNNMoney.com. Currently, he leads the interactive sales team for Grupo Editorial Expansion in Mexico City (acquired by Time Warner in 2005) with sites including CNNExpansion.com, Chilango.com and Quien.com.

Joe is a board member of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) in Mexico and has also been an active member of the Interactive Advertising Bureau in the U.S. Joe has a BA from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota and an MBA from Fordham University in New York City. You can reach him at joe[at]kutchera.net.

The Daily Joe is my personal blog about interactive publishing, marketing, and the impact that user-generated content is having on the media business overall. Initially, I was drawn to blogging through my interest in digital photography which lead me to discover Flickr and all of the amazing photo blogs out there. Then I realized how my professional career in interactive publishing, media sales and marketing was merging with my interest in digital photography, or visual user-generated content. So, the purpose of this blog is to explore how the lines of content creation, marketing, and promotion are becoming blurred and what is coming out of it all. Consumers are becoming content creators and promoting themsleves as individuals (e.g. bloggers). Marketers are becoming publishers through the web and communicating through blogs and other two-way communication tools directly with consumers. Even with all of this going on, publishers are still more important than ever as they can lead the way with best practices for how new publishing tools and technology can be utilized.

Joe, we look forward to your contributions at the Social!

Here’s the full list of Blogger Social registered attendees:

Tara Anderson
Todd Andrlik
Mike Arauz
David Armano (these four are profiled here)

Matthew Bailey
Ryan Barrett
Cam Beck
Shashi Bellamkonda (these four are profiled here)

Jennifer Berk
David Berkowitz
Rohit Bhargava
Susan Bird (these four are profiled here)

Toby Bloomberg
Tim Brunelle
Katie Chatfield
Thomas Clifford (these four are profiled here)

Mack Collier
Saul Colt (these two are profiled here)

Terry Dagrosa
Luc Debaisieux
Gene DeWitt
Matt Dickman
Paul Dunay (these five are profiled here)

Gianandrea Facchini
Jason Falls
Anna Farmery (these three are profiled here)

Mark Goren
Heather Gorringe
Kristin Gorski
Amanda Gravel
Lewis Green (these five are profiled here)

Vahe Habeshian
Ann Handley
Gavin Heaton
Kris Hoet
Kevin Horne
Sean Howard (these six are profiled here)

Joseph Jaffe
Ryan Karpeles
CK
Chris Kieff
Joe Kutchera (these five are profiled above)

Jennifer Laycock
CeCe Lee
Geoff Livingston
Lori Magno
Valeria Maltoni
Caroline McCarthy
Matthew McDonald
Paul McEnany
Tim McHale
Drew McLellan
Doug Meacham
Virginia Miracle
Scott Monty
Darryl Ohrt
Rita Perea
David Polinchock
Marilyn Pratt
Jane Quigley
Arun Rajagopal
Connie Reece
David Reich
Susan Reynolds
Marianne Richmond
Cathleen Rittereiser
Steve Roesler
John Rosen
Roberta Rosenberg
Mike Sansone
Linda Sherman
Nathan Snell
Paul Soldera
Marshall Sponder
Terry Starbucker
Seni Thomas
Tangerine Toad
Mario Vellandi
Greg Verdino
Neil Vineberg
John Wall
Tamar Weinberg
CB Whittemore
Kaitlyn Wilkins
Steve Woodruff

Blogger Socialites: Habeshian, Handley, Heaton, Hoet, Horne, Howard

Today, we get to hear from a new contributor (Ryan Karpeles) to this series of posts on the Blogger Socialites. Ryan is one of several who have kindly consented to write up profiles with me. Today, the “H” group – I wrote the first one, Ryan wrote the other four. Thanks, Ryan!

Vahe Habeshian

Vahe Habeshian was formerly managing editor of ClickZ (and formerly editor of MarketingVOX), but now is editor of MarketingCharts.com. He has been an editor for more than 15 years (he “blames” Ms. Helen Kuenstler, his high school English teacher in Granite City, IL). Before joining the ClickZ team, he was a research analyst and research editor at IDC, an IT market research firm based in Framingham, MA. And what seems like ages ago and in another lifetime, he was the editor of The Armenian Weekly, based in Watertown, MA.

I haven’t been able to discover a whole lot more about Vahe, so he’ll have to fill us all in at the Social!

Ann Handley

If you don’t already know Ann, you’ve most likely been living in a Siberian bunker for the past 5 years, but no worries – we’ll be happy to bring you up to speed 😉 By day, Ann is the Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs — which means that she heads up All Things Content on the MarketingProfs Web site and is the Primary Caregiver of its blog, the MarketingProfs Daily Fix, as well as a contributor. She also writes for The Huffington Post.

Ann is an incredibly talented writer with an uncanny knack for discovering and promoting other great writers around her. She recently started her own blog (woohoo!) and has already amassed close to 200 comments in the span of only seven posts (which has to be some sort of record).

Her writing is fresh, intelligent, stimulating and playful – all while fitting a style that is distinctively Ann. If you haven’t had a chance to meet her, you’re in for quite a treat come April 4th in NYC.

Gavin Heaton

Gavin is a world-class marketer who hails from Sydney, Australia. He’s worked in a wide range of roles and professions from accounting and publishing to technology services, knowledge management and marketing. He’s also a co-originator of the Age of Conversation, as well as a contributor.

Gavin’s blog, Servant of Chaos, is an interactive diary capturing his thinking on branding, digital strategy and the art of storytelling. It’s jam-packed with brilliant writing, insightful strategies, captivating stories and a host of other marketing goodness.

Gavin currently works for SAP in Education Business Development. He’s a connector, a thinker, and is constantly producing challenging and thought-provoking content in this space (and he certainly knows how to sport the denim – see pic). He’s also traveling a long, long way to get to Social, but we’ll no doubt make it worth his while 😉

Kris Hoet

After 7 years working in cinema, Kris recently joined Microsoft MSN. He’s been the Consumer Marketing Manager for MSN/Windows Live in Belgium for 1 1/2 years and and is now working as Marketing Communications Manager on the European team. You can usually find him in the Microsoft offices in Belgium … that is, when he’s not traveling 😉

His blog, ‘Cross the Breeze, focuses mainly on digital marketing, advertising, technology, and customer experiences in this crazy space we call the Internet. You can also find him on Twitter, LinkedIn, Delicious and Facebook.

Kris contributes a ton all over the social media-sphere, and is continually providing insight and analysis on everything from digital applications to the value of online communities. If you haven’t already met him, head on over and say hello!

Kevin Horne

Kevin started his own blog in January of this year, and it’s already chock-full of practical ideas, stories and vital lessons about marketing and branding in today’s world.

According to his bio, Kevin is an independent marketing strategist and adjunct faculty member at Baruch’s Zicklin School of Business. He has establshed Lairig Marketing (his blog) as a service to help clients carve out their unique path forward.

I have yet to ‘officially’ meet Kevin, but after reading many of his posts (and contributions at MPDailyFix), it’s clear that he’s an excellent writer, with some serious credentials, who brings a lot to the social media table. You can learn even more by visiting him at any of these spots:

– LinkedIn
– MarketingProfs
– Lairig Marketing (Kevin’s blog)

Sean Howard

Sean is currently the Director of Strategy and Innovation at Lift Communications, a brand experience studio. But don’t let that fool you – he’s also a diehard (and audaciously nekkid) evangelist and author for the Age of Conversation.

In his free time, Sean enjoys ultimate frisbee, philosophy, gadgets, cats, and anything resembling ultimate frisbee. (So if you know any ultimate-frisbee playing cats who philosophize about gadgets, you may want to forward their resume his way.)

Sean also happens to be a prolific and engaging writer. His blog, CrapHammer, covers all sorts of juicy subjects including social media, viral marketing, communications, and of course – a little philosophy. He writes in a rich, descriptive style that’s easy to read yet incredibly profound. Come Social time, he’ll be trekking in from Toronto, Canada to meet up with the rest of you amazing bloggers!

Here’s the full list of Blogger Social registered attendees:

Tara Anderson
Todd Andrlik
Mike Arauz
David Armano (these four are profiled here)

Matthew Bailey
Ryan Barrett
Cam Beck (these three are profiled here)

Jennifer Berk
Rohit Bhargava
Susan Bird (these three are profiled here)

Toby Bloomberg
Tim Brunelle
Katie Chatfield
Thomas Clifford (these four are profiled here)

Mack Collier
Saul Colt (these two are profiled here)

Terry Dagrosa
Luc Debaisieux
Gene DeWitt
Matt Dickman
Paul Dunay (these five are profiled here)

Gianandrea Facchini
Jason Falls
Anna Farmery (these three are profiled here)

Mark Goren
Heather Gorringe
Kristin Gorski
Amanda Gravel
Lewis Green (these five are profiled here)

Ann Handley
Gavin Heaton
Kris Hoet
Kevin Horne
Sean Howard (these five are profiled above)

Joseph Jaffe
Ryan Karpeles
CK
Chris Kieff
Joe Kutchera
Jennifer Laycock
CeCe Lee
Geoff Livingston
Lori Magno
Sean Maher
Valeria Maltoni
Caroline McCarthy
Matthew McDonald
Paul McEnany
Tim McHale
Drew McLellan
Doug Meacham
Virginia Miracle
Scott Monty
Darryl Ohrt
Rita Perea
David Polinchock
Marilyn Pratt
Jane Quigley
Arun Rajagopal
Connie Reece
David Reich
Susan Reynolds
Marianne Richmond
Cathleen Rittereiser
Steve Roesler
John Rosen
Roberta Rosenberg
Mike Sansone
Linda Sherman
Nathan Snell
Paul Soldera
Marshall Sponder
Terry Starbucker
Seni Thomas
Tangerine Toad
Jonathan Trenn
Mario Vellandi
Greg Verdino
Neil Vineberg
John Wall
Debbie Weil
Tamar Weinberg
CB Whittemore
Kaitlyn Wilkins
Steve Woodruff

Plus, a couple of additions who are breaking the alphabetical flow:
Shashi Bellamkonda
David Berkowitz

Blogger Social 30-Day Countdown!

Why should you be looking forward, with great anticipation, to the upcoming Blogger Social in NYC (April 4-6)?

Where else can you get a hug from “blogging beauties” such as Ann Handley and Christina Kerley (CK)?

Where else will you see Toby Bloomberg thoroughly intimidate David Reich?

Where else will you get glorious views of the back of Greg Verdino‘s pate?

Where else will you discover the true human identity of the mysterious Tangerine Toad?

Where else will you see Curious George with a pink boa?

Where else will you find so many divas and divos of the blogging universe?

Yep – only at the one and only Blogger Social – here’s the updated list of registered attendees. Get ready – only one month to go!

Blogger Socialites: Goren, Gorringe, Gorski, Gravel, Green

Have you ever bit off more than you could chew? Of course you have…and so did I, with this series of profiles! However, not to fear – reaching out to a handful of these collaborative friends, I now have a small team who will be helping finish up ALL these profiles over the next few weeks! So you’ll see a few other by-lines in coming days.

Today, we come to the “G” list…

Mark Goren

Mark has been very active behind the scenes helping to organize the Blogger Social. His Blog: Transmission, Content and Creative is a gold mine of new (social media) marketing. He has broken away from the big agency model and now works as a consultant in the land of the Montreal Canadiens. He describes himself as a New Marketing Coach (LinkedIn profile here).

Mark describes his outlook this way –

After 10 years of working in marketing as a copywriter at several traditional advertising agencies, including Campbell Michener Lee in Toronto, Acme Advertising + Design in Ottawa, and BCP, FCB Direct and Armada (now Zoum Armada) in Montreal, I’ve learned one sure thing: the traditional advertising model is broken.

This may be a big revelation to some, not so big to others, but it had always been a suspicion of mine. Since the summer of 2005, when I became a student of social media, everything I believed has been confirmed. And now I’m finally doing something about it. (for more on Mark’s perspectives on this point, see this post).

So long agency life, hello world of new marketing consulting, freelance copywriting, social media advocacy, and anything else that’ll pay for a family of four to see the Habs in person.

How did he become Mark Goren the blogger? Here is the story. Mark and I have exchanged a number of e-mails over the months and I can’t wait to meet him!

Heather Gorringe

Heather is a relatively new blogger with a unique social media emphasis – farming! Yep, while most of us are obsessing about iPhones and Twitter and ooVoo, Heather is talking livestock. This is great – we need to see more about how social media spills out from the fast line of technology into everyday life.

Heather will be part of the U.K. contingent visiting at the Social. Here is how she summarizes herself in the blog bio:

I am a 43 year old farmer’s wife from rural Herefordshire, with one son, one mail order business called Wiggly Wigglers, 2 chickens (Lilian and Valerie), two pigs (unnamed as they will become pork) 2 chocolate labs – Toast and Jam, and one chocolate cat – Noah. I have a passion for rural communities, and in particular the community that I am part of in rural Herefordshire.

This year is my chance to explore the opportunities that Web 2.0 and Social Media can offer to folk who have as yet been pretty slow to take up email – let alone Social Media. Our farm is a commercial operation – my husband Farmer Phil farms around 1200 acres, arable and beef. Yet he and many of his fellow farmers have a real affinity for the wildlife they help support and the environment in which they live. My company – Wiggly Wigglers is all about connecting farming with gardening and using methods to encourage wildlife to thrive in and around our own homes.

It’s going to be a blast meeting this interesting lady from across the pond. Here’s Heather on LinkedIn, and here is a great post showing Heather dressed in something far different from typical farm clothes!

Kristin Gorski

Quick – who is Kristin Gorski? Give me the answer…write now!

Sorry – really bad pun. KG feeds the blog called Write Now is Good. Kristin, in her blog home page elevator speech, sums it up this way: I’m a freelance writer and editor. “Write now is good.” is my personal blog about writing, creativity and inspiration.

Continuing to demonstrate excellent writing skills, her About page gives you a choice of the 45-second mini-bio, or the 4-5 minute Q&A (btw, Kristin, I happen to be quite a fan of the three-fold presentation of one’s message: the sound bite, the 30-45 second version, and the extended version. My feeling is that if you don’t have all three nailed, it’s going to be difficult to market yourself or your offerings). It is in her extended bio that you learn how she began her writing career with The Daily Piggy, sponsored by Boop Drink – yup, you’ll have to go there and find out yourself!

If you’re a fan of books, writing, creativity, and all things wordsmithing – Kristin’s blog is your virtual hangout!

Amanda Gravel

Amanda’s well-named blog, Social Honeycomb, has the amusing sub-title, Between the sticky and the buzz. Amanda is a young Boston-area blogger, just out of college, and now working a career (PR) job at SHIFT Communications. Amanda is a future-thinker, as this post will most certainly attest!

Amanda’s blog is very refreshing – she’s a young, tech-savvy marketer just lettin’ it loose and having a good time blogging. But she is far from mere fluff, and the can-do spirit of helping others is what we need to see more of in this upcoming generation. Amanda, I hope you enjoy livening things up for some of us veterans – we are glad to see your initiative in joining us at the Social.

Lewis Green

Wikipedia removed it. But for a few glorious moments, the point was made – I deleted everything written about the word “prolific” and simply substituted Lewis’ picture.

That’s a make-believe tale. But, if you hang out around the marketing blogosphere in any way, shape or form, you’ve found Lewis Green. He writes with amazing regularity on his blog, Biz Solutions Plus. He contributes to other group blogs, such are Marketing Profs and BrandingWire. He comments on the blogs of others. He writes books also, including the recently released Lead with your Heart. Of course he’s in LinkedIn.

Lewis is on his own as a consultant now, but has quite a background in corporate marketing and PR. He is an extremely active networker and, beneath it all, has a real heart for people. His blog is an amazing collection of topics – branding, marketing, PR, personal stuff, you name it. How he keeps up the pace is beyond me…

Though Lewis and I have corresponded and collaborated extensively, we have not yet actually met face-to-face (even though he lives about 25 minutes from where I grew up in Connecticut!). He is one of the first people I plan to embrace at the Social in NYC.

Here’s the full list of Blogger Social registered attendees:

Tara Anderson
Todd Andrlik
Mike Arauz
David Armano (these four are profiled here)

Matthew Bailey
Ryan Barrett
Cam Beck (these three are profiled here)

Jennifer Berk
Rohit Bhargava
Susan Bird (these three are profiled here)

Toby Bloomberg
Tim Brunelle
Katie Chatfield
Thomas Clifford (these four are profiled here)

Mack Collier
Saul Colt (these two are profiled here)

Terry Dagrosa
Luc Debaisieux
Gene DeWitt
Matt Dickman
Paul Dunay (these five are profiled here)

Gianandrea Facchini
Jason Falls
Anna Farmery (these three are profiled here)

Mark Goren
Heather Gorringe
Kristin Gorski
Amanda Gravel
Lewis Green (these five are profiled above)

Ann Handley
Gavin Heaton
Kris Hoet
Kevin Horne
Sean Howard
Joseph Jaffe
Ryan Karpeles
CK
Chris Kieff
Joe Kutchera
Jennifer Laycock
CeCe Lee
Geoff Livingston
Lori Magno
Sean Maher
Valeria Maltoni
Caroline McCarthy
Matthew McDonald
Paul McEnany
Tim McHale
Drew McLellan
Doug Meacham
Virginia Miracle
Scott Monty
Darryl Ohrt
Rita Perea
David Polinchock
Marilyn Pratt
Jane Quigley
Arun Rajagopal
Connie Reece
David Reich
Susan Reynolds
Marianne Richmond
Cathleen Rittereiser
Steve Roesler
John Rosen
Roberta Rosenberg
Mike Sansone
Linda Sherman
Nathan Snell
Paul Soldera
Marshall Sponder
Terry Starbucker
Seni Thomas
Tangerine Toad
Jonathan Trenn
Mario Vellandi
Greg Verdino
Neil Vineberg
John Wall
Debbie Weil
Tamar Weinberg
CB Whittemore
Kaitlyn Wilkins
Steve Woodruff

Plus, a couple of additions who are breaking the alphabetical flow:
Shashi Bellamkonda
David Berkowitz