Liz Strauss and Terry Starbucker are co-founders of the highly successful business bloggers conference SOBCon — which has gained the partnership of companies such as Intuit, IZEA, ReveNews, Walmart, Colgate, Allstate, and Klondike Frozen Treats, as well as the attention of BusinessWeek, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Chicago Tribune, and the Innovation Initiative of the Kellogg School of Business.
Below is a list of the 2010 presenters:
Terry is a native Midwesterner now living on the East Coast, spreading “realistic optimism” through a philosophy he calls “Half-Fullism“. He’s been in the business world for over 25 years in various leadership positions, most recently as a senior operations executive for a service business based in the Rocky Mountain west. Terry is a constantly learning student of leadership and personal development, and shares his ideas, experiences and knowledge through his blog, Ramblings from A Glass Half Full and through his contributions to joyfuljubilantlearning.com.
Liz Strauss is a brand strategist and social web community builder and is perhaps the most influential “real-ebrity” on the Internet. Liz has over 20 years in print, software, and online publishing, and has strategized with publishers in Europe, Australia, the UK, and Ireland. She was recently a featured speaker at the Cass Business School of City University in London and teaches a Master’s Level class at the CityU School of Publishing. She has been named to the Top 100 Social Media & Internet Marketing Bloggers, The Invesp Top 100 Most Influential Marketers of 2008 and again in 2009, the 50 of the Most Powerful and Influential Women of Social Media, and NxE’s Fifty Most Influential ‘Female’ Bloggers. The WordPress Plugin Liz Comment Counter by Ozh was named in her honor to celebrate her dedication to responding to the readers of her blog.
Julien Smith is an author, consultant, and speaker who has been involved in online communities for over 15 years– from early BBSes and flashmobs to the social web as we know it today. He was one of the first people on the web to use podcasting in 2004, as well as being one of the first web personalities to get broadcast by traditional radio. He has since worked with and been interviewed by numerous media organizations such as CNN, CBC, CTV– and a bunch of others that don’t start with the letter C.
Wendy Piersall is a 14 year marketing veteran and passionate entrepreneur. She has spent the last three years developing a deep understanding of how women interact online via social media. Today, she works with brands such as Epson & Kmart to develop and implement strategic web 2.0 marketing campaigns that respect the cultures of online communities.
Lewis Howes, a previous two sport collegiate All-American, is also the NCAA All-Division Record Holder for the most receiving yards in a single football game (418 yards, the current unofficial World Record). As an athlete, Lewis was featured on ESPN and in Sports Illustrated. He graduated from Principia College with his degree in Sports Management and has been involved with the sports industry since his retirement from professional football. He founded the Sports Executives Association and SportsNetworker.com which helps him connect sports executives around the world both online and through events. In addition to Sports Networker, Lewis is the co-author of the LinkedIn success book, LinkedWorking: Generating Success on the World’s Largest Professional Networking Website and creates opportunities for online connections to gather face-to-face through his live “LinkedWorking” and “Sports Networker” events around the country.
Marcia Hansen is a Marketing Manager in the e-Business group at Allstate that is responsible for social networking and consumer engagement. In addition to managing the Allstate automotive blog VehicleVibes.com, she is one of the voices behind the Allstate Twitter account @AllState and regularly reaches out to customers to solve issues and thank them for their business. Marcia also manages FrienderBenders.com, a user-generated content site about bad driving habits that consumers can now play and share with their friends on Facebook. Users can also join GoodHandsCommunity.org and learn more about All Things Wheels, Daily Spending, Personal Finance, and Making a Difference. Or, for more fun and auto-themed games, users can play Car-Jongg, Road-Trip Sudoku, TollBooth Tournament, and Spider Solitaire on Allstate’s Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/allstate). Marcia received her M.A. from the University of Missouri where she wrote a thesis on digital literacies. At Mizzou, her research interests spanned networked rhetorics, new media/digital composition, professional writing and how teachers and students can use social technologies for learning. Prior to Allstate, Marcia managed e-mail marketing and web development for Southern Methodist University, was a project manager at Verizon.com, and even before that was one of five interns to design and develop GTE’s first integrated HR Intranet. In her spare time, Marcia is an avid motorcyclist who aspires to see and experience as much of the world as possible.
Wasiak is a communications industry leader with an impressive resume of experience working with the corporate elite of global business. He is the co-founder of The Concept Farm, one of today’s hottest creative companies, best selling author, key note speaker, teacher, 14 time Emmy nominated Executive TV Producer, and three time Emmy award winning television host. Born in Brooklyn New York, he was the youngest Vice President of Doyle Dane Bernbach at age 26, President of Ketchum Communications at 32, Division President at Brown Forman at 36, and has risen to the top of every organization he was with.
Sheila Scarborough is a freelance writer specializing in travel (for the BootsnAll Family Travel Guide and the Perceptive Travel blog,) and NHRA drag racing for Fast Machines. She also co-founded Tourism Currents, an online learning community that features tourism-specific training materials, a moderated forum, exclusive interviews with social media and tourism experts and round table Q&A sessions.
Becky McCray is a small town entrepreneur, with a retail store and a cattle ranch in Oklahoma. She works with small town governments and promote tourism and entrepreneurship. Becky authors her personal blog, Out Standing in My Field, is of the Small Business Outside Voice contributors at US News, and writes an occasional Small Business Letter from America for the Small Biz Pod UK. She also co-founded Tourism Currents which teaches social media skills to tourism professionals.
Chris Garrett is a professional blogger, Internet Marketing Consultant, new media industry commentator, writer, coach, speaker, trainer and web geek. He was also a founding member of Performancing. You might know him from his past writing for such sites as ASPToday, ASPAlliance, Threadwatch, or more recently, ProBlogger, The Blog Herald, FreelanceSwitch, Cogniview, and CopyBlogger. Chris consults, trains and speaks about internet marketing, blogging and new media at events such as the Successful Outstanding Bloggers conference in Chicago, Affiliate Expo, WordCamp, the Netherlands Social Media Congress and the Institute of Fundraising.
Erno Hannink is a Social Media for Independent Professionals Specialist and Social Media Business Coach. Through the use of social media and a focus on online publishing of valuable information, Erno helps independent professionals attrack and retain more clients. He also blogs on enthousiasmeren.nl (Dutch), and is the initiator of the Dutch translation of Happy Hour is 9 to 5 by Alexander Kjerulf. Erno also organizes multiple social media events including WordCamp in the Netherlands and the Social Media Event (Dutch) in Utrecht, Netherlands #SME10; an event to help Small Biz owners utilize the full potential of social media.
Lisa Haneberg’s professional career has been devoted to enabling development and success through leadership and internal consulting roles, an individual consulting business and her current position as the Vice President and OD Consulting Practice Lead for Management Performance International (MPI), where she manages the planning and growth of MPI’s organizational development business unit. Lisa is an expert (and lifelong student) in the areas of organization development, management, leadership, and personal and organizational success. She has over 25 years experience providing consulting, training and coaching solutions for businesses and nonprofit organizations. Lisa has also written ten business books and speaks on a broad range of topics of interest to leaders and managers.
Sharna Brockett is corporate communications manager for Intuit’s Small Business Division. In her nearly five years at Intuit, she has helped the company elevate its brand from one known primarily for its products such as QuickBooks and Quicken to one that is also known for helping small businesses and consumers be successful by saving and making money. This evolution in branding is reflected across all of Intuit from an updated logo and product packaging to the increased involvement of Intuit employees in offering help and advice via social media channels. Sharna has led campaigns that have won industry accolades including the Warrillow Small Business Marketing and PRSA Silver Anvil awards. She has an MBA from the Monterey Institute of International Studies and extensive overseas experience having lived for seven years in both France and Hungary. Sharna currently resides in San Francisco’s lively North Beach neighborhood and is a yoga enthusiast.
Amber Naslund is a social media and marketing practitioner, and the Director of Community for Radian6 social media monitoring. There, she’s responsible for client engagement, community building, and helping companies build sound strategies for social media listening, measurement, and engagement. She’s spent the last 15 years or so working with businesses of all sizes, from the Fortune 50 to startups and local nonprofits, and has enjoyed a diverse career as a fundraiser, client services professional, corporate marketing director, and an entrepreneur. Amber is also a frequent speaker at conferences and private events, talking about the practical applications and business strategies for the social web. An avid writer and passionate content creator, Amber blogs at AltitudeBranding.com, focusing on community, communication, and the rising tide of social business. She’s been recognized among Forbes’ 20 Best Social Media and Marketing Blogs By Women, as PostRank’s top community management blog of 2009, as one of the Top 10 Social Media Blogs of 2010, and among the AdAge Power 150.
Dave Taylor has been an inveterate programmer and designer since the earliest days of the Internet era. He enjoys creating innovative and elegant solutions for complex technical problems. Recent technical projects include Web site development, back-end database programming for existing sites, custom tools and solutions for Internet and Unix systems, but that’s just his technical side. Talk to Dave and you’ll find he believes success is in the thinking, planning, anticipating, and deploying. He’s an invaluable asset at strategic planning. Beyond that he’s written twenty business and technical books, launched four startups, presents business blogging workshops regularly, and is widely considered a leader in the social marketing and blogging universe. Dave has a Masters in Education and an MBA and current acts as a strategic marketing consultant to companies large and small.
Shannon Paul works as the community manager for PEAK6 Online, parent company of OptionsHouse, OptionsNewsNetwork (ONN.tv), and WeSeed. Here she oversees the integration of social media communication into PR and marketing strategies for the company’s three brands, including an online retail stock and options broker, a web-based options news and education site, and a virtual stock market game that allows people to learn about the stock market in a fun way through investing in virtual stock portfolios. Shannon is so consumed by communications issues, information in general, social media and current events that she hardly ever remembers to pick up the dry cleaning or renew insurance contracts.
Barbara Rozgonyi owns CoryWest Media, LLC, a Midwest-based strategic leads CoryWest Media, LLC, a strategic marketing consultancy founded in 1990. Clients include Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, nonprofits, global PR firms and small businesses. CoryWest’s plans grow business, build brands, and connect communities with marketing, social media and public relations. Barbara publishes http://wiredprworks.com contributes to http://chicagomomsblog.com. A co-author of “Success Secrets of the Social Media Superstars” [Entrepreneur Press summer 2010], Barbara wrote the LinkedIn chapter. Founder of Social Media Club Chicago, Barbara/@wiredprworks was named a top 30 PR expert to follow on twitter by ereleases.com. A keynote speaker and an educator on the topics of leadership, social communication, PR, personal branding, creativity and change, Barbara speaks to corporations, entrepreneurs, job seekers and parents. A graduate of the University of Illinois and the mother of three, Barbara and her family live in Chicago’s western suburbs. Follow Barbara @wiredprworks or check out what’s new right now with the Wired PR Works iPhone app.
Jonathan Fields, after establishing the popular New York City studio Sonic Yoga, launched his career as an author with his first book, Career Renegade. He also created an extensive report, The Truth About Book Marketing, that exploded across social media and inspired him to launch TribalAuthor.com in an effort to add a bit of hardcore entrepreneurship and sanity to the process of book marketing.
Scott Porad is the CTO of the Cheezburger Network, the company behind the hugely popular I Can Has Cheezburger? and Failblog.org. The Cheezburger Network is a collection of web sites where every day millions of people share moments of joy through the humor and wonder of LOL. Since 1995, Scott has been building industry leading web sites in online media, user-generated content, online communities and e-commerce. His previous experience includes launching drugstore.com, working on ESPN.com at Paul Allen’s Starwave Corporation and for Seth Godin at Yoyodyne Entertainment.
Lorelle VanFossen is a public speaker, trainer, writer, and consultant on web writing, web design, and blogging, especially working with WordPress. She also travels the world as part of the duo team of VanFossen Productions, professional nature photographers and writers presenting workshops and programs on travel, writing, and nature photography. Lorelle is also the author of the popular Blogging Tips: What Bloggers Won’t Tell You About Blogging, a book covering the basic to intermediate tips you need to know before and during your blogging experience, the first book of its kind. She shares her many years of online journaling, web writing and publishing, and blogging experiences as one of the first website owners and publishers on the web.
Steve Woodruff creates, along with a talented group of people, Opportunity Networks, a community committed to supporting one another, learning from one another, and opening up doors of opportunity for personal and professional advancement. Steve is an unusual hybrid of conceptualizer, strategist, branding guru, analyst, wordsmith, semi-techie, and all-around nice guy. Aside from his company Impactiviti LLC, Steve also writes as a contributor at the MarketingProfs Daily Fix blog, and has been interviewed as an industry expert by TheStreet.com. Steve created and launched the Marketing Bloggers Portal (a portal with feeds from over 100 marketing blogs) and headed up the collaborative BrandingWire blog with 11 co-conspirators. He also contributed chapters to two collaborative book-writing ventures (Age of Conversation 1 & 2; Not Quite What I Was Planning).
An ex-programmer and CIS professor, Lucretia M. Pruitt left the glamorous world of academia for the fast-paced world of being a stay-at-home-Mom. But once a geek, always a geek. Her blogging habit started back in 1998 and she’s had one or more ongoing blogs since. After years wading about in Social Media she discovered Twitter and the unique environment enticed her to jump into Social Media both feet first. Around the same time, she started this blog to try express the whole “21st Century Mom” experience. Currently, she can be found here at GeekMommy.net, as well as being a contributing blogger at Blissfully Domestic, and living on Twitter, FriendFeed, Pownce, Ustream, Stickam… and just about any Social Media site she can find.
A serial entrepreneur, Edward “Ted” Murphy has founded six companies since 1994. Murphy’s latest venture, IZEA operates a variety of social media properties including SocialSpark and PayPerPost, the world’s largest Consumer Generated Advertising Network. Founded in June of 2006, IZEA has raised over $10 million in venture funding from leading venture capitalists including Draper Fischer Jurvetson, Village Ventures and Inflexion. Murphy’s creative prowess and passion for the unconventional has earned him the ear of some of the world’s largest marketing organizations including FOX, Bombardier, General Motors and Disney. His efforts have received national recognition, including A/V Multimedia Producer Magazine’s “Top 100 Multimedia Producers” for two consecutive years. In 2006 Murphy’s viral campaign created for the launch of PayPerPost was inducted into Marketing Sherpa’s Viral Marketing Hall of Fame. Murphy is a prominent visionary, speaking and presenting to marketing and Internet professionals around the world.
As Global Chair of the digital practice for Edelman Public Relations, Rick Murray drives the agenda for intellectual property development, product and service innovation, and acquisitions and strategic partnerships across the firm’s network of 54 offices in 32 countries worldwide. As President of Edelman Digital U.S., he leads a team of 150 professionals who develop and execute digital initiatives for Edelman’s domestic clients. His principal areas of expertise include digital strategy, social media, integrated corporate and brand marketing communications, and experiential communications in both traditional and emerging channels. Today, he provides strategic and creative counsel to many of Edelman’s top global accounts including Microsoft, eBay, RIM, HP, Pepsico, Unilever and Abbott Labs.
Jeremy Wright is a longtime serial entrepreneur who has been involved with the business, programming, and IT aspects of the technology industry for nearly a decade. He was the CEO, President and Co-Founder of b5media, Inc, a prominent blog network. He is currently a Digital Hitman (aka CEO) at netmobs, a digital strategy and execution agency based in Toronto. Jeremy is the author of Blog Marketing, a business book on blogging as well as a father to his two wonderful boys.
Erica O’Grady is the #1 Erica on Google (on most days) as well as a Social Media Consultant based in Houston, Texas. Wearing many hats – including Social Media Consultant, Award Winning Web Designer/Developer, Creativity Coach, Writer, Part-Time Tutor, Aspiring Film-Maker, BarCamp Enthusiast, World Traveler, and Grown-up Girl Scout, Erica Specializes in Community Marketing and is considered to be one of the foremost experts on Social Media and Technology. She is currently the CXO of Peanut Butter Media, co-founder of SheConnects.Me, and sits on the Advisory board for Knowbility.org, CreativeSpace, & Westwood College. She blogs at: ReinventingErica.com and is the On The Road Correspondent for The Business Maker’s Radio Show heard on Talk Radio 950 KPRC.
Drew McLellan has not only survived 20 years in the advertising and marketing arena, he’s thrived in it. After working for several other agencies, including Young and Rubicam’s CMF&Z, Drew created McLellan Marketing Group in 1995. At MMG, strategy and passion collide as they bring their unique style and practical smarts to life for their clients small and large. Drew and his talented band of co-workers have developed a proprietary branding process that has helped propel their clients to the top of their game. Over the years, Drew has lent his expertise to clients like Nabisco, IAMS pet foods, Kraft Foods, Meredith Publishing, John Deere, Iowa Health System, Make-A-Wish, University of Central Florida, SkiDoo and a wide array of others. When he’s not out preaching the good word of branding, Drew spends time with his family and pondering why the Dodgers can’t seem to get back to the World Series.
Steve Farber is the president of Extreme Leadership, Incorporated, an organization devoted to the cultivation and development of Extreme Leaders in the business community. His latest book, Greater Than Yourself: The Ultimate Lesson In Leadership, was a Wall Street Journal® and USA Today® bestseller. His second book, The Radical Edge: Stoke Your Business, Amp Your Life, and Change the World, was hailed as “a playbook for harnessing the power of the human spirit.” And his first book, The Radical Leap: A Personal Lesson in Extreme Leadership, is already considered a classic in the leadership field. It received Fast Company magazine’s Readers’ Choice Award and was recently named one of the 100 Best Business Books of All Time.
Chris is President of New Marketing Labs, a new media marketing agency, as well as the home of the New Marketing Summit conferences and New Marketing Bootcamp educational events. He works with large and mid-sized companies to improve online business communications like marketing and PR through the use of social software, community platforms, and other emerging web and mobile technologies. Chris is a ten year veteran of using social media and both web and mobile technologies to build digital relationships for businesses, organizations, and individuals. Chris speaks, blogs, writes articles, and makes media of all kinds at chrisbrogan.com, a blog in the top 10 of the Advertising Age Power150, and in the top 100 on Technorati.
Loren is the CEO and Creative Director of 1938 Media, a video production agency devoted to helping companies develop sound internet strategies with emphasis on creativity and results. Handling all day to day operations, Loren is best known through his videos at 1938 Media. Pundit and entertainer Loren has been featured in almost every leading tech and web publication and is also a member of the Screen Actors Guild and the Friars Club.
Shashi Bellamkonda works at the heart of Web hosting company, Network Solutions, as their first-ever ‘Social Media Swami’. In this leadership role he has helped Network Solutions aggressively move into the online space to actively listen to and interact with its customers. This push paid off when Network Solutions won the 2008 SNCR Excellence in New Communications Award for Online Reputation Management and the 2009 a Gold Quill Award of Excellence in Social Media from the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC).
John French Segall, better known by his stage name Jay Jay French, is a founding member and one of the two guitarists of the American heavy metal band, Twisted Sister. In 2006 he also added lead guitar to the hit Finnish band Lordi’s "The Chainsaw Buffét." French also once managed and produced albums for the American hard rock/heavy metal band Sevendust.
Geoff has worked as a public relations strategist in the Washington, D.C. region for 15 years. Dubbed a “local blogging guru” by the Washington Post, Geoff’s award-winning book on new media “Now is Gone” was released in 2007. The book has been cited by the Wall Street Journal as a valuable resource for social media. Some of his experiences include Bartleby Books, United Way, Save Darfur, the Consumer Electronics Association, Ford Motor Company, the Washington Nationals, Network Solutions, Sully Erna (Godsmack lead singer), Verizon Wireless and many others.
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