If you'd like to be a BlogHer speaker for any of our upcoming events, please email Jes Ferris at BlogHer and let her know who you're nominating and why.

BlogHer Business '09

Angela Daniels was one of the first Fiskateers to join the program created by Fiskars, and in 2008 became a Leader in the 6,000+ community. The award-winning ambassador movement has been written about in 5 books, including Forrester’s Groundswell, and is a best-in-class case study in Word of Mouth Marketing circles.

Angela is an inspirational leader who has learned – first hand – the power of online social media and offline word of mouth. There are few community leaders out there that have her knowledge and savvy when it comes to navigating the waters of word of mouth movements. She is an avid crafter and sought-after blogger who “gets” what it means to lead a successful, mature community.

Carrie comes to Brains on Fire all the way from Waterbury, Connecticut, with a background as colorful as her personality. A Clemson University undergrad and receiver of a Masters of Education in Human Resources Development, she moved to Greenville, S.C. to work with BellSouth Mobility in Human Resources. But after five years of the HR gig, she got restless and traded in her desk job for something a little more exciting. There was this new company that sold liquid energy in a silver and blue can that sounded like it was going places. And Carrie decided she wanted to be a part of it.

Her tenure with Red Bull began by literally introducing the drink to parts of the Southeast, learning first-hand the basics of word of mouth tools and techniques and what it meant to spread the love of a brand. One thing led to another and she soon became the Team Manager in the marketing department. In this new role, Carrie handled the marketing and strategic promotions for multiple regions. As the TM, she managed Mobile Energy Team Members who educated consumers about the benefits of Red Bull in various situations. Her focus was on recruiting, brand building, training and planning for this grass roots marketing effort. This background in combining a strong identity and word of mouth tools makes her a perfect fit for our clients’ needs.

In her free time she enjoys cooking, hanging out with family and friends, and volunteering with several groups in Greenville, including The Junior League, Greenville Clemson Club Board of Directors, and the YWCA Empowerment Center.

A blogging pioneer and marketing executive with 19 years of experience in Silicon Valley, Elisa Camahort Page leads all events, marketing and public relations for BlogHer while working as COO to ensure that all company operations deliver on our vision. Elisa was at the vanguard of professional and business blogging. Among the seven blogs she writes are blogs with personal, professional and political focus areas. Prior to starting BlogHer, Elisa opened her own high-tech marketing consultancy, Worker Bees, after a successful career as a marketing executive in the cable broadband sector. Her most recent corporate position was Senior Director of Product Marketing at Terayon Communication Systems, where she managed multiple product lines, senior product management staff, and multi-million dollar budgets. In addition to her many personal blogs, Elisa is a frequent public speaker and is widely read as BlogHer's conference leader and reality television editor.
As Executive Vice President of Sales at Brickfish, Jamie works directly with major brands, corporations and their agencies helping them better communicate with their consumers by creating social media marketing campaigns that are effective and accountable. In addition, Jamie is responsible for worldwide revenue generation efforts and the day-to-day operations of the company's sales and marketing organizations.

Previously, Jamie was the Vice President of Sales for Mass 2 One Media a division of Triton Media. In this role, Jamie consulted hundreds of radio and television stations around the country teaching them how to increase audience engagement by creating integrated marketing programs utilizing database marketing, social networking, email, rewards, streaming, text, ecommerce and surveys. Jamie also worked directly with the station's advertisers and agencies to help them make their traditional media more efficient by utilizing Mass 2 One's loyalty marketing solutions.

Jamie's background includes 17 years of media experience. Prior to jumping into the digital world, Jamie was the National Sales Manager for KFMB AM & FM Radio in San Diego where she managed sales reps around the country and was consistently the top biller in the market ranking number one in Miller Kaplan year after year. Before entering management, Jamie was a Local Account Executive/Certified Radio Marketing Consultant for Clear Channel in San Diego and ABC in Los Angeles. Over the years she has sold almost every radio format as well as represented both the San Diego Padres and the San Diego Chargers.

Jamie has a degree in Journalism from Northwestern University and received the Illinois College Press Association Award for a magazine she helped create. She has been published in San Diego Magazine and local San Diego newspapers.
Author and media strategist Jory Des Jardins is president of strategic alliances for BlogHer, Inc. Since co-founding BlogHer in 2005, Jory has developed strategic relationships with Fortune 1000 brands and led innovative campaigns to integrate contextual marketing and advertising into communities of women interested in every topic, from food, health and family to business, finance and technology. As an author and media strategist, Jory regularly writes on women's business issues, blogging, relationships and pop culture for such publications as Fast Company, The San Francisco Chronicle Magazine, Inc. Magazine, and her blog, Pause. She's also written for Sports Illustrated for Women, Working Woman, USA Today Magazine, Good Housekeeping, The New York Times and edited for The New York Times Syndicate and Time Inc.'s Custom Publishing Division. Jory has helped high-technology start-ups Pluck and Rojo launch successful blog syndication initiatives and produced Third Age's successful network of bloggers. In addition to her personal blog, Jory blogs about personal career growth and entrepreneurship on BlogHer.

Kaitlyn Wilkins is a Vice President with the 360 Digital Influence Group at Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide. Kaitlyn’s day to day responsibilities include developing winning social media strategies and programs for major consumer marketing clients like Ford, Tropicana, Quaker, and Lenovo.

Social media is something Kaitlyn takes home with her at the end of the day (much to the annoyance of those closest to her!) Whether she is blogging, Twittering, playing with her iPhone, or doing all three at once, Kaitlyn practices what she preaches and uses social media to enhance her communications with the world.

Kaitlyn is the author of the popular social media blog, The Catch Up Lady, which focuses on the social media space, as well as other random topics of interest. Through insightful and sometimes hilarious posts on topics she is passionate about, Kaitlyn uses the Catch Up Lady to entertain and inform everyone from industry insiders to social media "noobs." The Catch Up Lady is an honorable mention on AdAge’s Power 150 Influential Marketing Blog list, and has been featured in hundreds of blogs and publications including AdRants, AdAge’s AdFreak, Wonkette, The WOMMA Word and The Washington Post’s Express. Her early coverage of viral promotions for Batman The Dark Knight was featured on Wired Magazine’s Underwire blog, and more recently in The Los Angeles Times.

Prior to Ogilvy, Kaitlyn was a Project Manager at New Media Strategies where she helped develop, manage and execute word of mouth marketing campaigns for several Fortune 500 companies. Before New Media Strategies, Kaitlyn spent two years at Tishman Speyer Properties in Boston.

Kaitlyn graduated Wellesley College with a B.A. in International Relations.

Lauren Zalaznick
Lauren Zalaznick, President of NBC Universal Women and Lifestyle Entertainment Networks, oversees Bravo Media, Oxygen Media, iVillage – the original online destination for women – and “Green is Universal,” NBC Universal’s ongoing environmental initiative. She was named President, NBC Universal Women and Lifestyle Entertainment Networks in May 2008, when she added iVillage to her portfolio and announced the launch of Women@NBCU, a sales and marketing initiative designed to create custom solutions for advertisers seeking to connect with a highly targeted female demographic.

Zalaznick Bravo’s president in May 2004 and expanded her oversight in May 2007 when the network announced the formation of Bravo Media, a multimedia global content company targeting every consumer touch point. Under her watch, Bravo has become the No.1 ranked entertainment cable network for upscale, educated and engaged television viewers. Bravo achieved numerous records and unprecedented “firsts,” including three consecutive best years ever in 2006, 2007 and 2008, the most Emmy-Award nominations ever in 2008, and received the prestigious Peabody Award. Since NBC Universal acquired Oxygen in 2007, under Zalaznick 's oversight the network has shattered every previous ratings record and recorded its best year ever in 2008 across all demographic, on-air, on-line, and financial metrics.

Zalaznick chairs the Women@NBCU advisory board, comprised of senior executive women across numerous industries, including the advertising, finance, fashion, digital, sports, media and entertainment businesses. Additionally, she sits on the Brown University Women's Leadership Council, as well as the Brown University Creative Arts Council.

Zalaznick received her B.A. degree from Brown University, and graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa.
Lisa Stone
Co-Founder

The originator of BlogHer, journalist and blogger Lisa Stone leads product development and works across the organization as CEO to advocate for bloggers and partners that fulfill our vision. Before BlogHer.com and BlogHerAds.com, Lisa helped launch three sponsored blogging networks: American Lawyer Media| Law.com's legal blog network (2004), Knight Ridder Digital's Thatsracin.com (2005), and Glam Media (2005). Previously, while executive producer and Editor in Chief/VP, Programming for Women.com (acquired by iVillage in 2001), Lisa launched an 18-channel network and helped grow it to a Top 30 site, overseeing all original content programming and newsletters, including a team of 25 and an annual budget of $3 MM. She launched successful online networks and interactive programming for many national brands, including Hearst and Rodale magazines, E! Television/Online, HBO's Sex and the City and Bloomberg. Her team's best-known work included Bachelors of Silicon Valley, The Women.com | Bloomberg Index, R U A 10? and Majority 2000, an election initiative with Good Housekeeping, Gallup and CBS Good Morning America. Lisa has written for The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, CNN, The Oakland Tribune, Publisher's Weekly and Frommer's, among other publications. She is the first internet journalist awarded a Nieman Fellowship by Harvard University. Lisa's personal blog, Surfette, began as an extension of her 2004 convention blog for the Los Angeles Times. Lisa also blogs on BlogHer, often on politics and media.
As the senior internet marketing manager in the Direct Marketing group at Allstate, Schreier is responsible for the strategic direction of the consumer facing web properties and online engagement including web content management, SEO, social media and Multi-Variate testing. A creative problem solver and passionate thinker, Lizzie has over 11 years experience in the digital space across various industries including: Insurance, Financial, Healthcare, Retail, Hospitality and Telecommunications.

Prior to joining Allstate, Lizzie managed the marketing communications and product development group at CareerBuilder.com. Lizzie’s first taste of the digital world came at her years at InterCall where she designed and implemented the company’s first web conferencing platform.

Schreier holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and an MBA from DePaul University.
Maureen Larsen
Maureen Larsen is an account director with M80 supervising and leading strategic social media development and campaign execution for a wide range of customers, from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. Since graduating from Villanova University with her MA in Peninsular & Latin American Literature she has been applying her ability for analysis and creative development to the social media field.
As an Assistant Marketing Manager at PepsiCo, Melissa Wagamon has spent the last year working on the Tropicana Trop50 brand team. She’s been with Trop50 from the beginning and has had the chance to work on everything from bringing the product to market to being part of the digital strategy team. She’s really enjoyed working with the Blogher and Ogilvy teams to create The Juice, and is looking forward to more online adventures next year.

Wagamon holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA from The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She recently retired from playing rugby and now uses her free time to read, ski, and relax with friends and family.
As the Interactive Marketing Manager at Campbell Soup Company, Patti McGreal has provided the overall strategic direction and management for the interactive marketing plans for the sauce, beverage, soup and foodservice categories. In her eight years at Campbell’s her responsibilities have included on-line media strategy and planning, SEM, social media management, email marketing and website analytics. Most recently, Patti has implemented a corporate social media monitoring program to increase visibility of on-line conversations relevant to the Campbell Soup brands.

In her free time, Patti participates in the Brain Tumor Society’s Race for Hope Philadelphia fundraising committee and enjoys traveling and spending time with family and friends.

Stephanie Rahlfs is the publisher and editor of Adventures in the Stiletto Jungle, a fashion and beauty shopping blog dedicated to serving recent college graduates and young professional women. Stiletto Jungle is written by a nine-woman team of working professionals from the fields of law, medicine, finance, marketing and talent management. Founded in 2006, Stiletto Jungle's unique "professional to professional" approach to fashion and beauty has attracted both a loyal readership and the attention of the business and technology press, including Forbes, San Diego Business Journal and San Francisco Chronicle.

Stephanie is an award-winning public policy advocate and political law attorney whose past work includes advising the mayor and city council of the City of San Diego. Stephanie is currently the Social Media Manager for the web's most popular legal information site.

A lifelong resident of California, Stephanie now lives, works and blogs in the San Francisco bay area.

As communications director for Fiskars Brands, Suzanne has spearheaded many changes for her global corporation since taking over public relations/communications four years ago.

Through developing relationships with editors and producers, she earned Fiskars craft products placement in excess of $30 million in free placement, including mentions on the Martha Stewart show, Ellen Degeneres and the Today Show. She herself has appeared on PBS and QVC, and she does a segment on the local CBS news and morning show. She has been a guest speaker for the Word of Mouth Marketing Association and was a panelist at the Forrester Convention on Social Technology.

With the goal of connecting with consumers on a more personal level, she and her team started a 24-hr web crafting show called FiskarsTV, and worked to make the website a place of inspiration and sharing. Returning visitors are currently up 105%. Her many successful efforts won her the CEO’s Excellence Award in 2005 and the President’s Award in 2006.

In 2006, she began working with Brains on Fire to develop a Word of Mouth Marketing campaign for the company. This award winning program with almost 6000 brand ambassadors was featured in the November 2008 issue of PR Week Magazine.  

Prior to joining the Fiskars team, Suzanne’s public relations assignments included work for the NC House Representative, a NY-based Fortune 500 company, and several businesses and non-profit organizations. Suzanne has a masters degree in Public Relations from Rowan University.  

Vanessa oversees all new media and celebrity relations at major American accessories designer Coach, Inc.  A native of San Francisco, she moved to New York over 4 years ago to pursue a career in public relations. She brings experience from various international fashion designers, non-profit event planning, and degrees from the University of California at Santa Barbara (BA) and New York University (MA) into her role at Coach. Vanessa currently resides in Brooklyn.

 
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