TWTRCON NY 2010 Speakers

TWTRCON NY 2010 agenda | TWTRCON NY 2010 speakers | TWTRCON NY 2010 sponsors

Keynote Speakers

Martha Stewart, Founder, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia | @MarthaStewart

From the award-winning magazine, Martha Stewart Living, to the bestselling product lines that bear her name, Martha Stewart shares the creative principles and practical ideas that have made her America’s most trusted guide to stylish living. Millions of consumers rely on Martha Stewart as their guide to all aspects of everyday living – from cooking and entertaining to decorating and home renovating, and much more. Martha has always drawn inspiration from her surroundings.

Marty St. George, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Commercial Strategy, JetBlue Airways | @martysg

Marty joined JetBlue in 2006 after a long career at legacy airlines. He joined the company as leader of the network team, and today he is currently responsible for leading JetBlue’s marketing team, which includes (among other areas) its advertising, online, product development and loyalty strategies. Prior to joining JetBlue, Marty held various commercial positions at United Airlines and US Airways. He is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he received a degree in Engineering. He and his wife Teri have 3 children, and reside in Connecticut.

Terry | @BPGlobalPR

Terry satirizes from the BPGlobalPR Twitter account. He works 4-5 hours a day trying to control the message about the supposed oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico until BP can figure out how to make money again. He enjoys boat rides, pretty girls and Criss Angel: Mindfreak.

Featured Participants

Rafat Ali, Publisher and Editor, paidContent.org | @rafatali

Since founding paidContent.org in 2002, Ali has overseen the rollout to three new verticals and the expansion into revenue generating events for the parent company ContentNext Media. Before ContentNext, Rafat was managing editor of the Silicon Alley Reporter. Editor & Publisher has called Rafat “journalism’s poster boy for career independence from news companies,” and CBS MarketWatch has called him “a pioneer in using the Web for an almost real-time business news feed.” In July 2008, Rafat sold ContentNext Media to UK-based Guardian News & Media. Rafat and his executive team continue to run the company as a stand-alone business. Rafat was the Knight Foundation Fellow at Indiana University, his alma mater, where he completed his Masters in Journalism, 1999-2000.

Joshua D. Auerbach, Senior Vice President, betaworks | @auerbach | @betaworks

Joshua focuses on strategy, corporate development, and other business issues at betaworks. He joined betaworks full time in May, 2009, but had previous advised several betaworks companies, notably, Summize, which he advised on its sale to Twitter in 2008. Before joining betaworks, Josh was most recently Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Development at Quantcast, where he led partnership and data-licensing negotiations, developed the company’s pricing model, and led privacy and data-use initiatives. Before Quantcast, Josh was Vice President and Group Head for Strategic Planning at Time Warner. In that role, he and his team supported senior management in developing Time Warner’s corporate strategy, including identifying and acting on domestic and international growth opportunities for the company. Earlier, he was the Vice President of Alliances and Technology Strategy at Time Warner. He worked with technology executives from across Time Warner to help the company anticipate and profit from changes in the digital media landscape. Before moving to Time Warner, Josh was Vice President, Advanced Services at America Online, where he managed a range of new product- and business-development activities, including helping formulate AOL’s strategy for developing compelling services in a broadband era. Josh received a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Harvard College.

David Berkowitz, Senior Director of Emerging Media & Innovation, 360i | @dberkowitz

David Berkowitz is Senior Director of Emerging Media & Innovation at 360i, the digital marketing agency, where he develops social media and mobile programs for marketers spanning the media & entertainment, retail, travel, and CPG industries. He writes the weekly Social Media Insider for MediageorPost, with over 250 published to date, and contributes to 360i’s Digital Connections, along with his own MarketersStudio.com. He has spoken at more than 100 events including Web 2.0 Expo, Blog World Expo, ThinkMobille, and iMedia. You can also find him mentioned regularly in the press, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, and NY1.

Paul Berry, Chief Technology Officer, The Huffington Post | @teamreboot

Prior to joining The Huffington Post, Berry was the CTO for Avaaz.org,a sister company to MoveOn.org, which developed a huge international membership in a short time. Berry was CTO of CharterMac, a public real estate finance company that was at its peak market cap of 4 billion. Berry is a graduate of NYU’s ITP program and originally built Bplans.com and the Palo Alto Software e-commerce platform. Probably most importantly, Berry was a co-founder of TheDogIsland.com.

Eric Carvin, Social Networks and News Environment Editor, The Associated Press | @ap

Eric Carvin is a social networks and news environment editor for The Associated Press, where he’s spent the past 10 years focused on strengthening the AP’s news report and pursuing journalistic innovation. He’s part of a team of editors who use social networks to engage members of the public, pursue news developments and produce innovative content that encourages interaction. He also runs Ask AP, a weekly Q&A column in which AP journalists answer questions about the news that are e-mailed and tweeted by readers. Eric was the founding news editor of asap, an experimental multimedia news service within the AP, as well as the planning and innovation editor at the AP Top Stories Desk. He also managed and edited Meltdown 101, an award-winning series of Q&As that explained various aspects of the economic and financial crisis to the general reader.

Dylan Casey, Search Product Manager, Google | @dylancasey

Dylan works at Google as a product manager for search. He recently launched real-time search and is focused on how speed and relevance continue to play an important role in helping people find the information they need. Prior to joining Google in 2003, Dylan had a successful career as a professional cyclist for the U.S. Postal Service team and as a member of the U.S. Olympic team at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000.

Cynthia Collins Director of Marketing, NYTimes.com | @NYCcyn

Cynthia Collins is the Director of Marketing for NYTimes.com. She brings 12 years of digital marketing and online media expertise to her current role overseeing social media marketing and brand partnerships for NYTimes.com. Working with her colleagues across the newsroom and business side of The Times, Cynthia successfully led the marketing launch of The Times on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Foursquare. In 1998, Cynthia joined The Times Company as a marketer for Boston.com. Cynthia received a B.A. in English Literature from Hamilton College.

Geoff Cook, CEO, myYearbook | @geoffcook

Geoff is now the CEO of his third multi-million dollar Internet enterprise, all grown from zero traffic and zero revenue to significant market-leading properties. In 1997, at age 19, Geoff founded EssayEdge.com and ResumeEdge.com from a Harvard dorm room. Each property dominated their respective niches: admissions essay and resume writing help. He then sold his companies to The Thomson Corporation where he led the Consumer Market Group for a Thomson Learning division, departing Thomson in 2005. Geoff has been featured in Wired, Rolling Stone, ABC News, CNBC, and USA Today. In 2005, Geoff became the CEO of myYearbook, joining forces with his siblings. Geoff was instrumental in raising $20+ million in angel financing, venture capital, and venture debt to build the young company into the largest US social media site. Geoff has an A.B. in Economics from Harvard University and lives in New Jersey with his wife Kerri and daughter Madeline.

Dennis Crowley, Co-Founder, Foursquare | @dens

Dennis Crowley is the co-founder of foursquare, a service that mixes social, locative and gaming elements to encourage people explore the cities in which they live. Previously, Dennis founded dodgeball.com, one of the first mobile social services in the US, which was acquired by Google in 2005. He has been named one of the “Top 35 Innovators Under 35″ by MIT’s Technology Review magazine (2005) and has won the “Fast Money” bonus round on the TV game show Family Feud (2009). His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Wired, Time Magazine, Newsweek, MTV, Slashdot and NBC. He is currently an Adjunct Professor at NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program. Dennis holds a Master’s degree from New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Program and a Bachelor’s degree from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University.

Ramon De Leon, Operating Partner, Domino’s Pizza | @Ramon_DeLeon

In 1986, Ramon De Leon started with Dominos Pizza in Chicago as a pizza delivery driver. Twenty-three years later Ramon is the operating partner of a six store Domino’s Pizza Franchise in Chicago. His career has also given him the opportunity to work in Mexico as a Business Development Consultant for Domino’s Pizza ’93-‘97. Extreme passion and high energy are words that best describe his love for the pizza business. Ramon has been using Social Media for his business since before the word existed. AOL Instant messenger was his micro-blog long before Twitter was invented. When Facebook was closed to the general public, Ramon connected with customers in photos and groups. His Social Media strategies were recently highlighted at Gravity Summit Harvard and streamed Live on CNN.com. Domino’s Pizza Franchisees around the world seek his Social Media advice. Ramon’s creative uses of Social Media and enthusiasm have made him a sought after speaker.

Michele Doyle, Senior Director, Emerging Media, StrongMail Systems | @micheledoyle | @StrongMail

Michele Doyle works with StrongMail’s clients to develop effective marketing strategies that enable them to drive measureable results from social media and other emerging channels. With more than 15 years of online marketing experience, Michele Doyle has been helping major brands effectively leverage email from its inception as a viable direct marketing channel. Most recently, Michele served as senior director of channel sales at Goodmail Systems, where she brokered partnerships with top ESPs to expand the value of Goodmail’s solutions to their Fortune 1000 customers. Prior to Goodmail Systems, Michele helped Boomerang extend its client base to some of the biggest names in media, entertainment, technology and financial services. Previously, Michele served as national director of campaign management at Premiere Global Services, a global outsource provider of email and business process solutions. During her 10-year tenure, she developed effective sales and marketing programs that helped fuel the company’s rapid growth. Michele graduated cum laude from Eastern Illinois University with a BS in health and business administration.

Bert DuMars, Vice President E-Business and Interactive Marketing, Newell Rubbermaid

Bert DuMars is Vice President E-Business and Interactive Marketing for Newell Rubbermaid (NYSE: NWL) a global marketer of consumer and commercial products that touch the lives of people where they work, live and play. Mr. DuMars joined Newell Rubbermaid in 2007 and is responsible for directing and coordinating E-Marketing, Ecommerce and Social Media Marketing initiatives for Newell Rubbermaid’s externally-facing online efforts, and overseeing the E-Business shared services that include a global, enterprise web platform, and standard processes, technologies and metrics across the company’s brand sites. He also coordinates and integrates E-Business and E-Marketing efforts between business units, Corporate IT and strategic outsource partners. Prior to joining Newell Rubbermaid, Mr. DuMars was the Director, Electronic Tax Administration (ETA), for the Internal Revenue Service (2004 to 2007), where he grew the eFile program by 30% from 61.5 to 80 million returns and led the redesign of www.irs.gov, expanding visits by 28% to 197 million. Prior to the IRS he was the Global Director, E-Business Group at Trend Micro, Inc. a content security and anti-virus company. Mr. DuMars also has experience in Services and Product Marketing at Intel Corporation, Strategic Marketing at Dell Corporation, network technologies Instructor for Learning Tree International, startup experience as founder and CEO of an ecommerce business, and Network Engineering and Data Center Management at Southern California Edison, San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. Mr. DuMars earned a Bachelor of Arts in History from Pomona College in 1984 where he played 4 years of NCAA Division III varsity basketball, and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Michigan, Ross School of Business in 1996.

Frank Eliason, Director of Digital Care, Comcast | @comcastcares

Frank Eliason is the Director of Digital Care for Comcast. In the past year Frank has become well known in social media for the Customer Service outreach function that his team has been involved with. This work has been recognized by many news organizations such as ABC News, New York Times, Business Week, among many others. Taking the simple approach of simply asking “Can we help” has created new communication channels for Customers and an improved Customer experience. Prior to joining Comcast in 2007 Frank has worked in Customer Service management for Advanta Bank and Vanguard Investments. Frank is married to Carolyn and his children are Lily, Robyn and Gianna. His first experience in social media was not listening to customers, but rather communicating about the health of his daughter Gianna, who was born premature. Years later, when she was diagnosed with cancer, he again turned to communicate through his family website. She passed away in 2004, shortly before her 4th birthday. Her website connected his family to so many great people from around the world. In Gianna’s memory, when possible, Frank continues to work to support many of the charitable organizations that were there for his family.

Jesse Engle, CEO, CoTweet | @engle | @cotweet

A 15-year industry veteran, Jesse’s expertise in web-based business and product development, branding and user experience has been instrumental in helping CoTweet become the go-to Twitter platform for the world’s most admired brands – including Coca-Cola, Dell, Ford, Intuit, McDonald’s, Microsoft, Pepsi, Salesforce.com, Sprint, Target, and Whole Foods among others. Most recently, Jesse was vice president of business and product development at Swatchbox Technologies, where he led product design, development and marketing for the company’s award-winning interior design website. Prior to Swatchbox, Jesse was general manager of e-marketing at Armstrong World Industries (NYSE: AWI), where he led the company’s global web portfolio and e-marketing efforts serving 9 million design and manufacturing customers in more than 100 countries and 10 languages. He has also held various senior leadership positions at Breakaway Solutions (Nasdaq: BWAY), Conducent and CKS Interactive. An expert in corporate microblogging, Jesse has been widely quoted in leading national/social media outlets, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNET, TechCrunch, GigaOm, Mashable and InformationWeek, among others. Jesse completed his undergraduate degree at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania where he concentrated in marketing and entrepreneurial management. When he’s not tweeting, Jesse enjoys spending time with his wife and three growing boys.

Craig E. Engler, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Syfy Digital | @syfy

Craig E. Engler was promoted to Senior Vice President, and General Manager, Syfy Digital, in March 2009, reporting to Dave Howe, President, Syfy. Craig previously served as Senior Vice President, SYFY.COM and SCI FI Magazine. Engler oversees the business and content development of Syfy’s digital portfolio, which currently includes SYFY.COM, DVICE.COM, SCIFIWIRE.COM, FIDGIT.COM and CHILLERTV.COM, as well as Syfy’s mobile and broadband offerings. These affinity sites, which leverage the key categories of technology, gaming and entertainment respectively, consistently deliver high impact content and record traffic. Under Mr. Engler’s leadership, Syfy has been on the forefront of digital technology with innovations like the critically acclaimed Battlestar Galactica webisodes. He also spearheads Syfy’s aggressive stance when it comes to extending shows online, as well as continuing to work on digital business development opportunities and liaising with the other NBCU digital entertainment properties. Prior to joining SYFY.COM full-time in 1999, Engler founded Science Fiction Weekly, the first Internet magazine devoted to science fiction. While serving as its publisher and editor, the weekly was named best sci-fi ‘zine on the Internet by Yahoo! Internet Life. It was sold to Syfy in 1999. As a freelance writer, Engler’s credits range from The New York Times to Wired. In addition, for four years he served as an “expert editor” for Amazon.com, and he also consulted for Yahoo! Internet Life. He is a regular speaker at events like Digital Hollywood, Blog-On and the Digital Media Summit, and has participated in the AFI’s Enhanced Television program.

Marla Erwin, Interactive Art Director, Whole Foods Market | @marlaerwin | @WholeFoods

Marla Erwin is Interactive Art Director for Whole Foods Market, the most popular retailer on Twitter and a leading example of Twitter’s power to build millions of relationships one customer at a time. In addition to her responsibilities managing www.wholefoodsmarket.com, Marla helped to create Whole Foods Market’s acclaimed social media program, which includes the “Whole Story” blog as well as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and more. Prior to joining Whole Foods Market, Marla worked at Vignette, Pluck (now Demand Media), and as an independent user experience & accessibility consultant for companies such as Westinghouse, Charles Schwab, The University of Texas at Austin, and the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office. She currently lives in Austin TX.

Laura Fitton, www.oneforty.com | @pistachio

Laura Fitton Called by some Twitter’s original Cinderella story and the Queen of Twitter, Laura “@Pistachio” Fitton is credited with explaining Twitter’s value to Guy Kawasaki and dozens of other tech leaders. She has been speaking professionally about the business use of Twitter since October 2007, and by popular demand launched Pistachio Consulting, the first Twitter for Business consultancy, in September 2008. She’s lectured on the topic at Harvard Business School, for Cornell’s Entrepreneurs’ Network (she is an alum) and at numerous conferences and other universities. Consulting clients include Ford and Johnson & Johnson and she’s been quoted in more than 50 national publications including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune, Newsweek, and BusinessWeek. She is also the founder of Twitter app store startup www.oneforty.com. Even closer to her heart, Laura believes that everyone can benefit – dramatically – from what Twitter has to offer, and shares her own ‘isolated mom to sought-after author’ story as an example of its power to overcome isolation. The people you meet on Twitter can remove obstacles that hold us back in our everyday lives. In December 2008 she showed how Twitter can bring thousands together to achieve big change with very small donations, building five wells in the developing world with her @WellWishes holiday wish campaign for Charity:Water. She wrote Twitter for Dummies and founded oneforty in hopes of bringing this kind of opportunity to mass audiences. On the personal side, Laura stays busy raising her daughters and stealing bits of time here and there for ice hockey, ashtanga yoga, surfing, snowboarding and rockclimbing. She’s also a stroke survivor dedicated to raising awareness. Laura makes her home near Boston, MA with her two daughters and a giant Leonberger dog named Hope. You can follow her adventures and mishaps on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/pistachio or learn more about how to be a part of the next @WellWishes at http://twitter.com/wellwishes.

Matt Galligan, CEO, SimpleGeo | @mg

Matt Galligan, 25, is the CEO and Co-Founder of SimpleGeo, based out of Boulder, CO, a company that provides comprehensive solutions to enable location-based services in mobile, web and desktop applications. He previously founded Socialthing, a company that was chosen to be part of the inaugural year of TechStars. Socialthing.com went into private beta in March, 2008 at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. The company was acquired five months later by AOL. As part of AOL, Matt acted as Product Manager for Socialthing for Websites (now known as AIM Connect), a web platform that brought social features to sites that otherwise didn’t have them. His background is in graphic design and user experience, working for MonsterCommerce (acquired by Network Solutions), based out of St. Louis, MO. He got his start in the internet and design while working for a disaster restoration company out of Illinois before he turned 16. Matt currently resides in Boulder, CO and is an active member of the startup community there.

Vicky Harres, Director of Audience Development, PR Newswire | @prnewswire

Vicky Harres Akers, the voice behind the PR Newswire brand on Twitter, is the author of, “Straight Tweet: Giving Voice to a Brand,” a new white paper from PR Newswire available for download. Vicky leads PR Newswire’s Audience Development team on initiatives to promote its industry-leading distribution networks and platforms such as PR Newswire for Journalists and ProfNet, along with initiatives to increase the use of its customers’ content among all audiences that report on news, from traditional media to bloggers. Vicky and her team are also responsible for growing PR Newswire’s influence and following online, working collaboratively with other departments to find new ways to help customers use emerging media more effectively in their communications programs. On Twitter, Vicky chats with followers about the who, what, where and how of what is happening in the world of media and social media, as well as promoting the PR Newswire brand.

Dave Hendricks, Chief Operating Officer, LiveIntent | @davidhhendricks

@davidhhendricks is Chief Operating Officer, blogger and main twitterer for LiveIntent (@liveintent), a new service for publishers and advertisers that connects consumers to personas, feeds and brands across social services such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn. Dave has been actively involved in the Twitter community since early 2008 and has been helping brands build Facebook presence since the creation of the fan page. A regular writer and speaker on topics related to publishing, media and marketing, Dave has appeared in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, MINS, Folio Magazine, Target Market Magazine, and blogs wherever they won’t block his posts.

Joshua Karpf, Manager, Digital Communications, PepsiCo | @jkarpf | @pepsicoJoshua Karpf is Manager, Digital Communications, at PepsiCo, a $40 billion global beverage and snacks company. In this role, he helps develops strategies using digital media that support company and brand goals. This includes PepsiCo’s digital activation at South by Southwest 2009, the overhaul of the company’s website and the launch of a social media effort using the emerging network FriendFeed. Josh also supports educational efforts around digital and social media inside the company. Prior to joining PepsiCo Josh spent six years at the General Electric Company. He received a B.S. in Communications from Boston University

Lauren McCullough, Social Networks and News Engagement Manager, The Associated Press | @lfmccullough | @ap Lauren McCullough is an award-winning journalist and social media enthusiast. She has traveled the country to speak about multimedia journalism and lectures on the use and importance of social media in the newsroom. In her role as Social Networks and News Engagement Manager for The Associated Press, Lauren oversees the newsroom’s social media efforts, including the flagship accounts on Facebook (http://facebook.com/APNews) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/AP). She directs the work of AP’s journalists around the world in pursuing sources from social networks, as well as promoting AP and member content. Lauren was recognized by the Associated Press Managing Editors Association with the 2008 John L. Dougherty Award. She has also been awarded two AP Beat of the Week awards for her work with citizen journalists during the 2009 Hudson River plane splashdown and the 2007 Minnesota bridge collapse. Prior to joining the AP, Lauren worked for Newsday.com in Melville, N.Y., and The Post-Star in Glens Falls, N.Y.

Chris McGill, Founder and CEO, Mixx | @TweetMixxChris McGill is the founder and CEO of Mixx. Chris was formerly the General Manager of Yahoo News, which, under his direction, became the most visited news site on the planet. More recently, McGill was the VP of Strategy at USA TODAY. Prior to USA TODAY, McGill was a Brand Manager for The Clorox Company and Media Banker for Bank of Boston. Chris holds an MBA from Duke University.

Michele Dundas Macpherson | Executive Business Advisor, MediaFunnel | @SocialMediaWest | @mediafunnel
Industry veteran Michele Dundas Macpherson, managing partner of Macpherson & Associates, is executive business advisor for MediaFunnel, which serves organizations with a coordinated, measurable and easy to use social media workflow. Michele’s longtime expertise within corporate marketing and customer service environments drives MediaFunnel’s strategy from a business-focused perspective, creating MediaFunnel’s clear objective for developing the social media capabilities organizations require to be competitive. Formerly vice president and general manager entertainment for NCR Corporation, Michele managed the retail consumer business operating more than 2,000 DVD/media rental kiosks across North America. Before NCR, Macpherson was senior vice president for DVDPlay Inc. and, earlier advised Fortune 100 clients on strategic opportunities for over 15 years with the Boston Consulting Group and Macpherson & Associates. “MediaFunnel’s flexible architecture allows the opportunity to connect with any social media platform while MediaFunnel users concentrate on creating and preserving shareholder value” she said. “MediaFunnel’s innovative ROI and measurement capabilities serve businesses with the data they need inform business decisions. And, its unique editorial review process allows businesses to protect their hard-won Corporate Brand Integrity while at the same time facilitating genuine engagement.”

Shawn McPike, Manager, Social Media Strategy, AT&T | @shawnmcpike | @ATTCustomerCare

Shawn is the Manager of Social Media Strategy for AT&T and is involved in overall social media strategy in addition to his focus on Customer Care and their Community Forums. He joined AT&T in late 2003 to assist in building out the AT&T online repair application. From there he became Senior Technical Director over AT&T’s online knowledge base, search, contact us/inbound email management and chat customer service solutions. Shawn moved over in mid-2009 to lead social media and community strategy for AT&T, where he leads a team dedicated to defining an overall social media strategy of engaging customers no matter where they exist. In late August, he oversaw the launch of a singular customer service presence on Twitter for all products and services – @ATTCustomerCare. This team of fully dedicated customer service managers is led by Director of Social Media Molly DeMaagd. Building upon their strategy, he led the planning and implementation of @ATTCustomerCare’s presence on YouTube and Facebook as well. Their online presence started on Twitter but also extends to YouTube and Facebook. Shawn holds a Bachelors degree in Accounting from Hannibal La-Grange College in Missouri. He and his wife Heather participate in the wonderful world of social media together and reside with their three dogs and 4 cats in Saint Louis.

Susan McPherson, Vice President, Business Development, PR Newswire | @susanmcp1

Susan is Vice President, Business Development at PR Newswire, the world’s leading provider of electronic news distribution, media targeting, and measurement and multimedia services. She is responsible for developing and driving strategic partnerships with industry players in a variety of industries including Media, Finance, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Technology and is currently creating a series of product offerings for PR Newswire clients in the CSR-industry. Her tenure at PR Newswire has included a variety of roles including playing a key part in the development of the firm’s first bureaus in China (Beijing and Shanghai) and the launch of MediaSense, a very successful media measurement tool. Prior to her career at PR Newswire, she worked in both the editorial and marketing departments of USA Today. Susan serves on the board of Bpeace, an organization dedicated to assisting women in regions of conflict and post-conflict start businesses. She also is a member of Echoing Green’s Social Investment Council, the Clinton Global Initiative and 85 Broads, serves on the board of the non-profit New Democratic Majority, volunteers for the New York City Harbor School and currently resides in New York City. Prior to moving to New York in 2003, she lived in Seattle, where she was actively involved in FareStart, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing job and life-skills training to the disadvantage.

Chelsea Marti, PR and Social Media Manager, TurboTax | @TTaxChels

With a passion for the cross-section between digital strategy and communication, Chelsea Marti is currently PR & Social Media Manager for TurboTax — part of Intuit Inc.’s consumer products division, which includes TurboTax, Quicken, and Mint.com.

As a member of Intuit Inc.’s consumer products division since 2008, Marti has worked on PR and social media strategy for both the Quicken line of products and TurboTax. As PR & Social Media Manager, she is focused on building engaging and informative product blogs by executing social content strategies that drive SEO and PR results, and continually leverages social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to help acquire and engage customers. In addition to managing TurboTax’s building social mediapresence, Marti also conducts media relations for the line.

Before joining Intuit, Marti consulted tech companies from start-up to Fortune 500 on social media and public relations. Marti began her career doing marketing and communications for a national trade association and digital strategy consulting for the Dept. of Energy. Marti received her Masters in Communication from the Johns Hopkins University in December 2007 and her BA in Communications from University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

Brad Nelson, Product Manager, Online Strategy, Starbucks | @bradnelson

Brad is a Product Manager on the Starbucks Social Media team. He has been a part of the Starbucks explosive growth in Social Media the past two years. A key member that has been a part of strategy and day to day updates on the Starbucks Facebook (7 million fans) and Twitter (850,000 followers) accounts. Recently, is working on finding new places for Starbucks to extend digitally. As a former barista, he uses the accounts to converse with coffee drinkers, much in the same way he used to in a store, but on a global scale. Previously, he worked in the team that developed in store media systems for Starbucks in the Entertainment group. In his spare time, he plays trumpet and keyboard in his band, The Preons, and enjoys spending time with his wife and two cats. His favorite coffee currently is Guatemala Antigua. You can follow him on his personal twitter account, @bradnelson.

Stefanie Nelson, Marketing, Dell Outlet | @StefanieAtDell | @DellOutlet

Stefanie Nelson (@StefanieAtDell) is the woman behind one of the most successful business initiatives on Twitter, @DellOutlet.In addition to tweeting updates, special offers and new arrivals to over one million followers from @DellOutlet, and turning unhappy customers into Dell advocates as @StefanieAtDell, she oversees all marketing communication initiatives for the U.S. Dell Outlet. Bringing the innovation of new media to all aspects of Marketing is part of Stefanie’s DNA.She has been entrenched in the interactive realm since the mid-90’s, when she pioneered Intel’s first online media program for the global launch of the Pentium processor.Since then, she’s shaped digital programs for global brands like Nortel, Toshiba, HP, National Instruments, and many others.

Maria Ogneva, Director of Social Media, Attensity | @themaria | @Attensity360

Maria Ogneva loves social media and its power to connect people and build communities, as well as “geeky stuff” like measurement and statistics. It just so happens that in her job as Director of Social Media for Attensity, she gets to pursue both of those passions daily. Her mandate is to bring understanding and attention to the issues of social media monitoring, measurement and engagement, helping businesses develop mutually beneficial relationships with the social customer. Before Attensity, Maria amassed a unique blend of “new” and traditional marketing experience. With an MBA focused on marketing and statistics, she always brings a quantitative edge to everything she does; having worked for large enterprises (Macy’s, Pepsi and Catalina Marketing) as well as smaller and entrepreneurial copmanies, she knows firsthand how functional teams work in a variety of environments. She also consulted with fashion clients wishing to make their approach more “social”. Maria pens the Attensity blog, her personal blog SocialSilk, speaks at conferences and contributes content to other social media publications, such as Mashable.

Adam Ostrow, Editor-in-Chief, Mashable | @adamostrow

Adam Ostrow is a new media entrepreneur, consultant, and commentator. As Editor in Chief at Mashable, Adam is responsible for the editorial management and direction of one of the most widely read blogs in the world, covering the latest technologies, trends, and individuals that are driving the current evolution of the Web. Adam is a graduate of The University of Maryland, from which he holds a B.A. in Journalism and was awarded Most Outstanding Senior in the school’s prestigious Hinman CEOs program. Adam has been frequently quoted by mainstream media, including mentions in The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, The Times of London, The Globe and Mail, Forbes, BusinessWeek, Newsweek, AdAge, BBC, ABC News, CNN, and MSNBC.

Mark Palmer, CEO, StreamBase Systems, Inc. | @mrkwpalmer

StreamBase is a leader in high-performance Complex Event Processing (CEP) technology. The StreamBase Event Processing Platform provides business and organizations in the capital markets, federal government, e-commerce and all other industries with the capabilities of analyzing and acting on real-time streaming data in a timely fashion. Mr. Palmer is a long time advocate of the growing value of CEP and the application of CEP to real world problems. He has spoken at numerous industry events and is frequently quoted in leading publications, including CNBC, Time Magazine and the Financial Times. Under his leadership, StreamBase was awarded by the World Economic Forum as Technology Pioneer 2010. In 2005 he won an InfoWorld Innovator award and was named to the InfoWorld Media Group’s Innovators Hall of Fame for his work in event processing. As a thought leader in innovation, Mr. Palmer actively shares his experiences with the web community and inspires conversations through social media outlets such as the StreamBase Event Processing Blog and Twitter (@mrkwpalmer).

Melyssa Plunkett-Gomez, Vice President of Sales and Business Development, Crimson Hexagon | @melyssa1968

Melyssa has broad experience in the enterprise, marketing, and CRM software and services sectors, and a demonstrated ability to drive revenue and successfully scale an organization’s sales practice.

At Crimson Hexagon, Melyssa is responsible for the overall sales and go-to-market strategies, as well as defining the sales channels. Working with her team of inside sales and field representatives, Melyssa develops and manages strategic relationships with clients, driving revenue through both direct and partner channels.

Melyssa has led global strategic alliances for companies including newScale, Unica, and KANA. At KPMG, she contributed to the design and implementation of eBusiness strategies at leading high tech companies. Her leadership in each of these roles has resulted in significant growth in sales revenues.

Melyssa holds a B.S. in industrial engineering and operations research from Cornell University and an M.S. from Georgia Tech in industrial systems.

David Pogue, Columnist, New York Times | @pogue

David Pogue is the personal-technology columnist for the New York Times. Each week, he contributes a print column, an online column, an online video and a popular daily blog, “Pogue’s Posts.” David is also an Emmy award-winning tech correspondent for CBS News, and he appears each week on CNBC with his trademark comic tech videos. With over 3 million books in print, David is one of the world’s bestselling how-to authors. He wrote or co-wrote seven books in the “for Dummies” series (including Macs, Magic, Opera, and Classical Music); in 1999, he launched his own series of complete, funny computer books called the Missing Manual series, which now includes over 100 titles. David graduated summa cum laude from Yale in 1985, with distinction in Music, and he spent ten years conducting and arranging Broadway musicals in New York. In 2007, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in music from Shenandoah Conservatory. He’s been profiled on both “48 Hours” and “60 Minutes.” He lives with his wife and three young children in Connecticut. His web site is www.davidpogue.com.

Steve Rubel, Senior Vice President, Director of Insights, Edelman Digital | @steverubel

Steve is responsible for keeping Edelman and its clients in the vanguard. He studies global technology, media and online trends and shapes them into actionable insights and marketing communications strategies. In his role, Rubel has served as senior strategic advisor to Edelman clients such as Dannon, HP, PepsiCo, Zagat, Unilever, Microsoft and many others. Rubel supports the account planning processes, intellectual property development and the firm’s innovation and business development efforts. He is a member of the Edelman Digital senior leadership committee. His writing on emerging technology has been called must-read by the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, CNET, PC Magazine and Forrester Research. In addition, he is actively followed by more than 28,000 on Twitter, writes a bi-weekly column for Advertising Age and is often sought by the press and as a keynote speaker. Rubel has been named to several prestigious lists, including: PR Week’s 40 Under 40, The Forbes.com Web Celeb 25, PC Magazine’s 100 Favorite Blogs, Media Magazine’s Media 100, the AlwaysOn/Technorati Open Media 100 and the CNET News.com Blog 100. Prior to joining Edelman in 2006, Rubel worked for 15 years in a variety of marketing communications positions in corporate, non-profit and small/mid-sized PR firms. Most recently, he spent five years at CooperKatz & Company where he pioneered the use of blogs as a marketing vehicle for clients such as the Association of National Advertisers, simplehuman, and Vespa.

Stephanie Schierholz, Social Media Manager, Agency Spokesperson, NASA | @NASA | @NASATweetup

Stephanie Schierholz is NASA’s social media manager and an agency spokesperson. She has 10 years’ experience leading strategic communications, media relations, and public outreach efforts. She provides strategic communications guidance to NASA’s senior management and is an advocate for incorporating emerging communications technologies into the agency’s public outreach activities. Ms. Schierholz also is a public affairs specialist and spokesperson for the agency’s Space Operations Mission Directorate that leads and executes NASA’s human spaceflight missions on the space shuttle and International Space Station. She plans, conducts and executes agency news conferences, television events and webcasts announcing billion-dollar contracts, significant scientific discoveries, and the development, testing and launch of spacecraft. In her role as social media manager, she leads NASA’s social media activities, including the primary NASA Twitter account, @NASA, and NASA Tweetups in Washington and at shuttle launches. She initiated and led the development of a NASA Stylebook and was a contributing editor to “NASA: 50 Years of Exploration and Discovery.” Before coming to NASA, Ms. Schierholz was the director of communications for the Space Foundation. When not dreaming of spaceflight, she is the secretary for Women in Aerospace and an inaugural member of the British Council’s Transatlantic Network 2020.

Marty St. George, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Commercial Strategy, JetBlue Airways | @martysg

Phil Terry, CEO, Creative Good | @PhilTerry

Phil is the CEO of Creative Good, the pioneering customer experience consultancy and the founder of The Councils, a private network for Internet executives where top leaders ask for and give help to each other. Phil’s consulting division has worked with most of the top players in the Internet helping them focus more on their customers and less on technology while the leadership network hosts private conversations with Internet and social media executives from every industry. Phil also started and runs The Reading Odyssey, a nonprofit dedicated to reigniting curiosity and making great culture accessible. Through the Reading Odyssey, Phil runs web/phone-based reading groups on the great books of the western tradition, virtual lecture series with top scholars, and social media campaigns like the Darwin Facebook group. Phil also recently started Slow Art Day, a new global arts project of the Reading Odyssey, held in most of the major cities around the world and organized via Facebook and Twitter. Articles by or about Phil have been published in the Harvard Business Review, Science magazine, Fast Company and many other publications. Phil graduated with honors from the Harvard Business School and received the Dean’s award for community organizing. Phil’s full profile and links to his projects can be found here on Google or on the Creative Good website.

Doug Ulman, President and Chief Executive Officer, LIVESTRONG | @LIVESTRONGCEO

In his role as President and Chief Executive Officer Doug is ultimately responsible for the strategic vision and direction of LIVESTRONG. Doug Ulman is a three-time cancer survivor and nationally recognized cancer advocate. After overcoming chondrosarcoma and malignant melanoma twice during his sophomore year in college, Doug and his family founded the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults, a non-profit organization to provide support, education, and resources to young adults, their families and friends who are affected by cancer. He served as Executive Director of the Ulman Cancer Fund for four years before joining LIVESTRONG as director of survivorship in 2001. Doug has received numerous awards for his leadership and community service. In 2002, Doug was selected from more than 20,000 individuals to appear on more than 15 million boxes of Wheaties Energy Crunch as an American Everyday Hero. In 2003, Doug was selected as the Austin Under-40 award winner in the healthcare category. In 2005, Doug was honored by both the American Psychosocial Oncology Society and the Association of Oncology Social Workers. Most recently Doug was named to the Non-Profit Times Power and Influence Top 50 for 2009, an honor bestowed to the top 50 Non-profit executives. A frequent guest and contributor on national and local media programs, Doug has been featured on CNN, ABC News, NBC Nightly News, and in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post among many other outlets. Doug also speaks frequently to corporations, civic organizations, schools and Universities covering topics including cancer, philanthropy, grassroots movements, social change, and social media. Doug currently holds numerous civic and charitable board positions across the country and he just completed serving a four-year term as the Chairman of the National Cancer Institute Director’s Consumer Liaison Group. He also sits on the executive board of the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults, and is a founder of the LIVESTRONG Young Adult Alliance among many other board and advisory roles. Following his three cancer diagnoses, Doug returned to the soccer field and helped Brown University to three Ivy League Championships in four years. He has participated in many marathons, including a 100-mile marathon in the Himalayan Mountains, the New York City and Boston marathons.

Josh Williams, CEO, Gowalla | @jw

Josh Williams is a Co-Founder and CEO of Gowalla, a location-based mobile social network that inspires and empowers people to share their favorite places with their friends. Gowalla is connecting people and places in over 150 countries around the world. Josh also led the team that created the cult-hit social game PackRat on Facebook. His interests include design, architecture, snowboarding and longboarding. He lives in Austin with his wife Rachel and two effervescent daughters.

Adam Zbar, CEO, Tap11 | @zman47 | @tap11

Adam Zbar is CEO of Tap11, the Twitter business intelligence service, which is launching this month with over 300 major brands and marketing firms. Twitter recently selected Tap11 as a top six app at their Chirp conference, where the judges viewed Tap11 as the “Omniture of the real-time web.” Zbar has over 20 years of experience as a digital and mobile media executive developing Webby-winning, enterprise-class products and services for major brands, media companies, carriers, and Internet companies. Zbar started his career at McKinsey & Company.