Event & Media Partners
If you'd like to be a BlogHer speaker for any of our upcoming events, please email Elisa at BlogHer and let her know who you're nominating and why.
BlogHer Business ’08
Amy Cotteleer is the President of A Squared Group (A2G), an award-winning experiential marketing company based in Los Angeles, California. A2G’s work includes the development and execution of prestigious marketing campaigns for clients such as Gap, Motorola, Nintendo, method and The ONE Campaign. In addition to receiving numerous industry accolades, A2G was awarded Best Promotion of 2007 for the Gap (Product) RED launch.
Recognizing the power of social media networking and the need for brands to establish direct and dynamic relationships with customers, A2G launched Brand About Town in January 2008. This new division is dedicated to matching passionate, influential and viral consumers with leading brands in A2G’s word-of-mouth, advocacy programs.
Amy’s work has been recognized in the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe and The Washington Post. She is a member of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA), the Marketing Agencies Association (MAA) and the Promotion Marketing Association (PMA). Prior to founding A2G, Amy worked in the Los Angeles office of the PR firm Harrison & Shriftman. She is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Southern California with a degree in business.
Recognizing the power of social media networking and the need for brands to establish direct and dynamic relationships with customers, A2G launched Brand About Town in January 2008. This new division is dedicated to matching passionate, influential and viral consumers with leading brands in A2G’s word-of-mouth, advocacy programs.
Amy’s work has been recognized in the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe and The Washington Post. She is a member of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA), the Marketing Agencies Association (MAA) and the Promotion Marketing Association (PMA). Prior to founding A2G, Amy worked in the Los Angeles office of the PR firm Harrison & Shriftman. She is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Southern California with a degree in business.
As the Senior Product Manager for Webmaster & SEO tools with the Live Search team at Microsoft, Ani Babaian is responsible for communicating the ongoing development and enhancements of Microsoft’s Webmaster and SEO platform. Specifically Ani Work’s on a team responsible for the Organic side of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Previously she worked as a web developer and systems engineer, specializing in .NET development, SQL Server and other Microsoft technologies.
Ani’s first book is one of several in a series focused to encourage more women to learn about technology titled: “IT Girl’s Guide to becoming an Excel Diva.” It is due Aug. 11th 2008 and can be pre-ordered on Amazon.com. She is also an avid blogger at: http://blogs.msdn.com/ani (aka XAMLChick) and soon coming (www.LiveWithAni.com &www.AniBabaian.com ).
Anna Boyarsky
Grass Roots Guru
Method Products Inc.,
Anna Boyarsky is a senior associate of influencer marketing at Method products in San Francisco.
Method is a home care consumer products company that uses design to create relevance in the mass market for environmentally and socially minded products. Method was the 7th fastest growing privately held company in America in 2006 according to Inc. magazine, and has grown to become the nation’s leading green home care company.
Anna comes from a background of non-profit case management and teaching. At method, Anna manages the grass roots marketing program which included events, promotions and strategic partnerships. She also participates on a task force focused on communicating method's health and sustainability benefits across the product portfolio and marketing communications. Anna is a graduate of California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo with a degree in Speech Communications.
Anna qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG. She then moved into industry as a Financial Controller before being made Managing Director at the ripe old age of 25. She continued in industry with a growing reputation for motivating people, and her development of internal branding for FMCG companies.
After 20 years of being a Group HR/Finance Director for major worldwide brands she decided to establish her own company - The Engaging Brand.
The Engaging Brand specialises in creating engagement strategies for consumers and employees. She spends her time supporting businesses who want to know:
Anna lives and breathes Web 2.0. Her blog is ranked in the Top 100 at AdAge and has been recognised as a "must read "leadership blog. The Engaging Brand podcast goes from strength to strength recently being nominated for the Best Business Podcast at the Podcast Awards 2007. She is also part of The Podcast Sisters show that describes itself as "Web 2.0 for the Non Geek!"
After 20 years of being a Group HR/Finance Director for major worldwide brands she decided to establish her own company - The Engaging Brand.
The Engaging Brand specialises in creating engagement strategies for consumers and employees. She spends her time supporting businesses who want to know:
- How social media can help their approach to engaging consumers and employees
- How social media can be used to attract and retain talent
- How to develop the leadership skills within your company
Anna lives and breathes Web 2.0. Her blog is ranked in the Top 100 at AdAge and has been recognised as a "must read "leadership blog. The Engaging Brand podcast goes from strength to strength recently being nominated for the Best Business Podcast at the Podcast Awards 2007. She is also part of The Podcast Sisters show that describes itself as "Web 2.0 for the Non Geek!"
Ariel Meadow Stallings has spent 10 years working in the tech and web world, starting with a contract for Microsoft in 1998. In the decade since then she’s written for companies like Amazon.com, Seattle Times, and the Walt Disney Internet Group. She’s also done a ton of work with Web 2.0 startups. Besides joining Microsoft as a “Blue badge” in February 2007, Ariel is also a freelance writer on the side, contributing to publications like the Seattle Weekly and ReadyMade Magazine, and wrote a book about nontraditional weddings.
Beth Blecherman is currently one of the Partners of the SVMoms Group (Silicon Valley Moms Blog, Chicago Moms Blog, DC Metro Moms Blog, New York City Moms Blog ). She is part of the team that reviews and implements programs from companies that are doing social outreach to bloggers in the group. Beth is also the Chief Technology Mom (CTM), she implements/manages the blogging technology for all the sites.
Corporations and organizations have asked her to speak on topics ranging from how to start blogging, online social networking and how to choose the right technology for families. She also assists Corporate clients on the technical side of using social media to reach their target market.
Before blogging, Beth worked at Deloitte as a Senior Manager in their Computer Process Integrity division and had previous positions in the IT area ranging from systems project manager, systems auditor, application developer and programmer. She jumped off Partner track at Deloitte to jump onto the parenting track - utilizing blogging and online social networking as a way to stay involved with technology. Beth's alter ego is "Tech Mama", she founded a personal blog, Techmamas, to discuss parenting and technology. She has been interviewed by publications from the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, San Jose Mecury to CNET on her perspective about parenting and technology issues.
Corporations and organizations have asked her to speak on topics ranging from how to start blogging, online social networking and how to choose the right technology for families. She also assists Corporate clients on the technical side of using social media to reach their target market.
Before blogging, Beth worked at Deloitte as a Senior Manager in their Computer Process Integrity division and had previous positions in the IT area ranging from systems project manager, systems auditor, application developer and programmer. She jumped off Partner track at Deloitte to jump onto the parenting track - utilizing blogging and online social networking as a way to stay involved with technology. Beth's alter ego is "Tech Mama", she founded a personal blog, Techmamas, to discuss parenting and technology. She has been interviewed by publications from the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, San Jose Mecury to CNET on her perspective about parenting and technology issues.
Christin Eubanks
Christin is a social media strategist at Converseon, a leading social media communication agency. She specializes in monitoring/reporting online conversation, developing social media strategy, community building and outreach, and executing various tactics including podcasts, blogs and other viral concepts.
Founded in 2001, Converseon is a social media agency that helps clients meet business goals by "joining the Conversation." The agency utilizes a range of proprietary technologies, tools and services including social media strategy, word of mouth marketing, Conversation Miner™, eResponder™, online reputation management and search engine optimization, affiliate marketing, and more. Clients include some of the world's most respected brands including Dow Chemical, Hilton Hotels, Palm, Siemens, Graco Baby, among others. In 2007 Converseon was recognized for its excellence in innovation, winning industry awards in four disciplines: WOMMIE Award for Best Word of Mouth Marketing Campaign, OMMA Award for "Best Use of Virtual Worlds," PR News Non Profit Award for best use of "Interactive PR and Marketing" and Society for New Communications Research Award for Excellence in the virtual worlds category.
Christin was a top graduate from Auburn University's renowned PR/social media program. She blogs (personally) about PR, marketing and social media at myPRception.
Converseon Links:
http://www.converseon.com
http://blog.converseon.com
Dawn M. Foster is currently the Director of Developer Relations at Jive Software, a collaboration software company in Portland, OR. She has more than 12 years of experience in technology and software with expertise in open source software, web 2.0, social media, blogging, and community building.
Dawn is the author of the Fast Wonder Blog and is currently working on a book for O’Reilly Media about the Art of Community. She organizes a monthly Portland BarCamp Meetup event for local technology employees, is an organizer for the Portland BarCamp event, and helps organize Ignite Portland. She is a co-founder and Chair of Legion of Tech.
Previously, Dawn worked at Compiere, Intel, and a Midwestern manufacturing company in positions ranging from Unix system administrator to market researcher to open source strategist. She holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Kent State University and a master’s degree in business administration from Ashland University.
These days Elana wears three professional hats: marketing communication consultant, facilitator, and blogger. Social Media is a big part of her practice these days. Elana has been an independent marketing communication consultant since 1997 working with major Fortune 100’s as well as small non-profits. Elana has extensive experience in financial services and health care marketing.
Prior to that she was co-owner of Centor Freed, a marketing communication agency she operated for 20 years. She started her career as a TV reporter in Richmond, Virginia. Since 2004, Elana has been a passionate blogger. Her subject matter is business culture. She has served as a contributing editor on Business for BlogHer since it's launch in 2006.She is the recipient of numerous writing awards.
When she is not working, Elana enjoys working out, reading, knitting, needlepoint and on occasion creating a gourmet meal. Elana has two children she adores. Noah, 24 who is currently working on the political campaign for U.S. Democratic Congressional hopeful Terri Bonoff ;and Berit, 19, a first year student at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, B.C.
A resident of Minneapolis since 1978, Elana grew up in a small town in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia.
Elisa Camahort is a co-founder and COO of BlogHer, managing its events, marketing and corporate operations. A marketing executive with 18 years of experience in Silicon Valley, Elisa left her life in high tech product management to go online and join the social media world, and to help companies go there too.
She co-founded BlogHer as a labor of love in 2005 with Jory Des Jardins and Lisa Stone, and in two short years BlogHer has grown to be the number-one guide to and source for blogs by women. BlogHer serves its mission of creating opportunities for education, exposure, community and economic empowerment with its web community, sold-out conferences and advertising network that now features over 1,200 network members.
Elisa Camahort was at the vanguard of professional and business blogging and currently writes nine blogs. She blogs at various times about marketing, health issues, green and eco-conscious living, being a vegan, and reality TV talent shows like American Idol and Project Runway! She’s a frequent public speaker in the areas of business blogging and online community, and has been published frequently, including her monthly column for the Silicon Valley Metro, Silicon Veggie.
Elise Bauer publishes Simply Recipes, the most highly trafficked food blog in the world. After a twenty year career in technology marketing consulting, Elise started Simply Recipes 5 years ago as a hobby, to keep a record of what she was learning from cooking with her parents. Over the last few years, Elise has carefully grown and nurtured Simply Recipes so that it now reaches over 70,000 visitors a day viewing more than 4 million page views per month, and now provides a full time income. Elise attributes much of the success of Simply Recipes to her commitment to her blog's reader experience and her steadfast promotion of the food blog community on her site. Elise recently launched Food Blog Search, a custom search engine that searches thousands of food blogs to help food bloggers find each other and to help readers of food blogs find even more fabulous blogs to enjoy.
Ellen Siminoff is Chairman of Efficient Frontier, a pioneer of dynamic search engine marketing management services. She worked with the founders to evolve Efficient Frontier from a groundbreaking idea into the leading Search Engine Marketing agency in the world with business in the U.S., Asia, Europe, and Latin America.
Prior to Efficient Frontier, Mrs. Siminoff had six adventurous years s a founding executive at Yahoo!. During her tenure, she led business development (VP, Business Development and Planning), corporate development (SVP, Corporate Development) and eventually ran the small business and entertainment business units, representing approximately 25% of Yahoo’s revenue (SVP, Entertainment and Small Business).
Before Yahoo!, Mrs. Siminoff worked for the Los Angeles Times as electronic classifieds manager, where she developed strategy and implemented the newspaper’s own on-line businesses as well as a joint venture of Career Path with 5 newspaper companies.
With her husband, David, Mrs. Siminoff founded EastNet, a global syndicate barter company distributing television programming to 14 emerging market countries in exchange for advertising time.
She graduated Stanford's Graduate School of Business with an MBA in 1993 after having completed a summer in corporate finance at Salomon Brothers.
Mrs. Siminoff worked as a human resources management consultant in New York after graduating from Princeton University with a bachelor's degree in Economics.
Currently, she serves on the board of directors for US Auto Parts, an Internet retailer with more than 550,000 top-rated discount car parts, and Journal Communications, a diversified media and communications company operating businesses in newspaper publishing, radio and television broadcasting, telecommunications, and printing services. In 2005 she was one of eight industry professionals named "Masters of Information" by Forbes magazine.
Prior to Efficient Frontier, Mrs. Siminoff had six adventurous years s a founding executive at Yahoo!. During her tenure, she led business development (VP, Business Development and Planning), corporate development (SVP, Corporate Development) and eventually ran the small business and entertainment business units, representing approximately 25% of Yahoo’s revenue (SVP, Entertainment and Small Business).
Before Yahoo!, Mrs. Siminoff worked for the Los Angeles Times as electronic classifieds manager, where she developed strategy and implemented the newspaper’s own on-line businesses as well as a joint venture of Career Path with 5 newspaper companies.
With her husband, David, Mrs. Siminoff founded EastNet, a global syndicate barter company distributing television programming to 14 emerging market countries in exchange for advertising time.
She graduated Stanford's Graduate School of Business with an MBA in 1993 after having completed a summer in corporate finance at Salomon Brothers.
Mrs. Siminoff worked as a human resources management consultant in New York after graduating from Princeton University with a bachelor's degree in Economics.
Currently, she serves on the board of directors for US Auto Parts, an Internet retailer with more than 550,000 top-rated discount car parts, and Journal Communications, a diversified media and communications company operating businesses in newspaper publishing, radio and television broadcasting, telecommunications, and printing services. In 2005 she was one of eight industry professionals named "Masters of Information" by Forbes magazine.
Em Hall is the Retail Marketing Manager for Goodwill of Greater Washington, but is better known in blogging circles as the DC Goodwill Fashionista (DCGF) and author of the DC Goodwill Fashion Blog.
Em has been blogging as the DCGF since July of 2007, but has been authoring a personal blog on MySpace for several years, even before coming to GGW in May of 2006.
As the DCGF, Em provides detailed knowledge and insight on vintage and contemporary clothing and accessories that are valuable to fashionable and cost-conscious shoppers.
Since the blog launched less than a year ago, the site already averages almost 1500 readers a week from more than 100 countries and all 50 US states. Em was invited by Fashion Indie Magazine to be their guest in New York City at 2007 Fall Fashion Week, where she provided outstanding appraisals of the 2008 spring fashion lines and recommendations on how to find similar looks at discount retailers such as Goodwill. The DC Goodwill Fashion Blog was also ranked the 2nd Best Fashion Blog in America in 2007 by customizedgirl.com!
In addition to her role as a blogger and Goodwill's Retail Marketing Manager, Em has been an active member of various improvisational comedy troupes and is a professional musician.
She received an AB with honors in political science from the University of Chicago and is working on her master’s thesis in Philanthropic Studies & History at Indiana University which she expects to complete by the end of this year.
Erin Kane is the principal of emk | public relations, a boutique Boston area agency specializing in media projects. Prior to starting her agency, Erin was the national promotion manager for the PBS series “Frontline,” where she publicized more than 100 documentary films through traditional and online media. Her recent clients include WGBH Boston; WXXI Public Broadcasting in Rochester, NY; Twin Cities Public Television in Minneapolis-St. Paul; WNED Buffalo; the Fetzer Institute's Campaign for Love & Forgiveness; and several independent filmmakers. In 2005, following the birth of her second child, Erin turned her passion for new media into a successful weekly podcast called “Manic Mommies.” Co-founded with her friend and neighbor Kristin Brandt, “Manic Mommies” is a light-hearted program for moms trying to manage the chaotic combination of work and family. The show features guest interviews, tips and tricks, and support for busy moms, and is regularly featured in the top parenting podcasts in Apple’s iTunes Store. In addition to running her own businesses—and her household—Erin writes about technology for Real Simple Magazine's Simply Stated blog.
Heather set up UK based company Wiggly Wigglers in 1990. Wiggly Wigglers first product was a worm composter and the company has since developed over 1000 products which deliver “A Forkful of Country” to consumers interested in sustainable living.
Living on a farm she is passionate about inspiring others to share a little bit of country life. Whatever size the space Wiggly Wigglers aims to turn homes and gardens from being a chore into a resource, - growing food, encouraging wildlife, and providing an educational and fun experience for all age groups.
Heather is an enthusiastic early adopter of Social Media, despite having no geek tendencies whatsoever. She has taken Wiggly Wigglers marketing strategy forward by gradually decreasing paid advertising and replacing that with a very popular podcast, blog and facebook page whilst continuing to grow the company year on year.
Wiggly Wigglers has been used in many Social Media Case Studies including Fortune magazine and Heather is popular speaker with a very down to earth style who enjoys sharing her own experience of using these new tools in a variety of simple but effective ways.
Wiggly Wigglers was UK Small Business Champion in 2005 and is the current holder of Mouse and Trowel award for best Gardening Podcast. Heather is a member of the Institute for Agricultural Management and a 2007 Nuffield Farming Scholar studying Web 2.0 and social media and the opportunities they bring to farming and rural communities. She is also part of The Podcast Sisters show that describes itself as "Web 2.0 for the Non Geek!"
Living on a farm she is passionate about inspiring others to share a little bit of country life. Whatever size the space Wiggly Wigglers aims to turn homes and gardens from being a chore into a resource, - growing food, encouraging wildlife, and providing an educational and fun experience for all age groups.
Heather is an enthusiastic early adopter of Social Media, despite having no geek tendencies whatsoever. She has taken Wiggly Wigglers marketing strategy forward by gradually decreasing paid advertising and replacing that with a very popular podcast, blog and facebook page whilst continuing to grow the company year on year.
Wiggly Wigglers has been used in many Social Media Case Studies including Fortune magazine and Heather is popular speaker with a very down to earth style who enjoys sharing her own experience of using these new tools in a variety of simple but effective ways.
Wiggly Wigglers was UK Small Business Champion in 2005 and is the current holder of Mouse and Trowel award for best Gardening Podcast. Heather is a member of the Institute for Agricultural Management and a 2007 Nuffield Farming Scholar studying Web 2.0 and social media and the opportunities they bring to farming and rural communities. She is also part of The Podcast Sisters show that describes itself as "Web 2.0 for the Non Geek!"
As the CEO of Umbria, Janet Eden-Harris oversees the company’s strategic direction and operations. Janet joined Umbria in May 2006 from leading multinational information services company, Information Resources Inc. (IRI). As Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at IRI, she was responsible for global marketing operations, product management and strategy. Before joining IRI, Janet spent more than a decade directing marketing initiatives at i2 Technologies. Prior to i2, she was Chief Marketing Officer for Aspect Development, which was acquired by i2 to become one of the largest mergers in software history. Janet is considered an authority on blog analysis and is frequently tapped to speak at industry events and to provide her perspective to national business publications.
Jean Crawford is the director of PBS Parents (pbsparents.org), PBS’s website for parents and caregivers, and helps direct all other parenting-related projects at PBS. Before joining PBS in October 2003, she was with America Online for three years, guiding the development of AOL’s online resources and services for parents. Jean came to the digital world after a long career in book publishing at Time Life Books. There she worked as a researcher, writer and picture editor on multiple book series, including a series on Parenting. When the publisher decided to venture into the world of children’s books, Jean jumped at the opportunity. During her time with Time Life for Children, she conceptualized and managed the editorial production of numerous books for children, including an illustrated children’s encyclopedia, a math series for kids ages 6-9, and a series of rhyming read-aloud books for babies and toddlers.
Jen Lemen is a writer, artist and social media evangelist living in Silver Spring, Maryland. A devoted blogger since 2002, Jen believes in the power of the web to make the world a better place. Jen has written for The Huffington Post, Good Housekeeping and Minti and is a contributing editor in the area of art and design for Blogher.com. When she's not crafting viral marketing strategies for the brave new world of social media, you can find Jen telling stories of inspiration and hope at jenlemen.com and the collaborative photo blog ShutterSisters.
Jennifer Cisney has been with Eastman Kodak for ten years, working on the website, kodak.com. Her contributions to Kodak's online experience have been inspirational photography, design expertise and creative content. She has also been featured in Dave Graveline's Into Tomorrow photography related radio segments and kodak.com's podcasts. She helped create, launch and now maintain and contribute to the corporate blog. Jennifer is a published crafter who has chronicled her projects and life at ljcfyi.com for eight years.
Jill Whalen is a pioneer in search engine optimization, beginning in the field in the early 1990s and founding High Rankings in 1995. Since that time, High Rankings has grown to be one of the pre-eminent SEO companies in the United States, working with hundreds of clients in more than 40 industries to enhance their presence through proven and dynamic search engine strategies that lead to increased traffic, more conversions and enhanced sales. The company is committed to helping small to mid-sized businesses understand and implement techniques that maximize the potential of their websites, so that these organizations can fulfill their mission, meet the needs of their stakeholders and contribute as worthwhile members of the Internet community. Expert SEO consulting, website audit reports, SEO campaigns and in-house SEO training classes are just a sampling of the services offered through High Rankings.
Jill is the founder of the popular High Rankings Search Engine Optimization Forum, now celebrating its fourth year. She is also is the host of the High Rankings Advisor, a free search engine marketing email newsletter, and the author of The Nitty-gritty of Writing for the Search Engines. Regularly quoted in national and industry publications, Jill is frequently called upon to speak at conferences worldwide. She also leads the High Rankings SEO Training Classes in which attendees gain a soup-to-nuts perspective of how to maximize SEO for their organizations.
In 2006, Jill co-founded Search Engine Marketing Network for New England (SEMNE), a regional organization that enables companies and individuals interested in search marketing to meet every other month to exchange ideas, learn new tactics and network.
Author and media strategist Jory Des Jardins is president of global sales and business development 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.
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.
Karen has been a writer, editor, publisher and site producer for 20 years. Her content "platforms" span magazines, books, newsletters, websites, and blogs; she is also passionate about information design and content strategy. She also has worked in PR and marketing, and today is Senior Editor on Google's Corporate Communications team. She oversees the over-100 Google corporate blogs and is managing editor of the Official Google Blog, which attracted 8 million unique visitors last year.
Kathryn Finney, founder and CEO of Simply Good Media an information network dedicated to teaching the world how to be fabulous on a budget. She is best known as the beloved internet celebrity behind the top fashion blog, The Budget Fashionista. The popularity of the blog led to her best-selling first book (How to Be a Budget Fashionista: The Ultimate Guide to Looking Fabulous for Less- Ballantine Books), which led to lots of television (NBC's Today Show, Fox, CNN), which led to lots of readers (1 million and counting), which has led to a fashionable, debt free life.
Kathryn currently lives in the New York Metropolitan area with her husband Tobias, a drawer full of Spanx, and 36 pairs of shoes.
Kathryn currently lives in the New York Metropolitan area with her husband Tobias, a drawer full of Spanx, and 36 pairs of shoes.
Kathryn Thompson currently blogs for the award-winning Parenting Post at Parenting.com and her personal blog at DaringYoungMom.com, where she periodically receives awards from people like her mom. She has blogged for the Seattle PI, has been chosen as a Babytalk Magazine favorite and was featured on The Today Show, talking about how techie geek moms are people too. In 2007 she co-founded SeattleMomBlogs.com, an online community for the blogging mothers of the Puget Sound area. She has a degree in English and Media Arts from Brigham Young University.
By day, Kerry Miller covers startups, small business and the web for BusinessWeek in New York City. Off the clock, she conducts her own experiment in online community with her humor site Passiveaggressivenotes.com, winner of "Blog of the Year" at this year's South by Southwest Web Awards. A companion book, Passive-Aggressive Notes, will be published by HarperCollins in October 2008, which may or may not be the final nail in the coffin of print media.
Kimberly Coleman, a Harlem wife and mom of two sons, writes and speaks about parenting in the NYC Metro area. She received a BA in History-Sociology from Columbia College in New York. After college, she worked in research for eight years. She conducted financial and biographical research in the development office of Columbia University. Later, she conducted financial and market research in Smith Barney’s Consumer Products investment banking division. Then she conducted market research at Targeted Media, a division of Time Inc. Kimberly left corporate America in March of 2004 after giving birth to her first son. Since then, she has become the New York City & Long Island Major Metro Local Guide for BabyZone.com / ParentZone.com, the #2 baby site on the Internet. She is also the founder and primary blogger at Mom in the City, a site geared towards NYC moms of preschoolers. Kimberly also has a weekly column in Harlem News, Queens News, Brooklyn News, and Bronx News community newspapers.
Kira Wampler is Marketing & Community Leader at JumpUp.com, Intuit.
From the beginning of her career, Kira Wampler has been passionately dedicated to customers. She had to given that her first job out of college was co-founder and president of her own company. She learned quickly that if you don’t serve your customers, you don’t eat! Eleven years later, Kira continues to bring her passion for customers to life at Intuit as the Marketing & Community Leader of JumpUp, a free website developed by Intuit to help new businesses get up and running and succeed. Prior to her role on JumpUp, Kira developed Intuit’s Small Business Division’s mindset, strategy and testing efforts around Word of Mouth Marketing. Kira received her MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and is an avid hiker, kayaker and mom to new arrival Sophie!
From the beginning of her career, Kira Wampler has been passionately dedicated to customers. She had to given that her first job out of college was co-founder and president of her own company. She learned quickly that if you don’t serve your customers, you don’t eat! Eleven years later, Kira continues to bring her passion for customers to life at Intuit as the Marketing & Community Leader of JumpUp, a free website developed by Intuit to help new businesses get up and running and succeed. Prior to her role on JumpUp, Kira developed Intuit’s Small Business Division’s mindset, strategy and testing efforts around Word of Mouth Marketing. Kira received her MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and is an avid hiker, kayaker and mom to new arrival Sophie!
Laura Martínez is a trilingual journalist and editor specialized in marketing and advertising. She is the writer in charge of Multichannel News' Hispanic Television Update and founder of MiBlogestuBlog.com, a daily commentary on Hispanic-targeted marketing and media. She also blogs for Advertising Age's Big Tent, a space for opinions and voices on multiculturalism.
Born in Mexico City, Ms. Martínez completed her high-school education in Singapore, and has lived and worked as a journalist in Mexico City, Santiago de Chile and Buenos Aires. She was responsible for the creation and launch of Nielsen's Marketing y Medios magazine, an English-language trade publication devoted to explaining the Hispanic market to a non-Spanish speaking audience of executives and marketers. She also was behind the creation and launch of the Spanish-language weekly edition of The Wall Street Journal, as well as coordinating and editing their Spanish language Web. She lives in Manhattan and is fluent in English, Spanish and French.
Born in Mexico City, Ms. Martínez completed her high-school education in Singapore, and has lived and worked as a journalist in Mexico City, Santiago de Chile and Buenos Aires. She was responsible for the creation and launch of Nielsen's Marketing y Medios magazine, an English-language trade publication devoted to explaining the Hispanic market to a non-Spanish speaking audience of executives and marketers. She also was behind the creation and launch of the Spanish-language weekly edition of The Wall Street Journal, as well as coordinating and editing their Spanish language Web. She lives in Manhattan and is fluent in English, Spanish and French.
Lena L. West is an award-winning social media consultant, blogger, speaker, journalist and technologist. Affectionately known as the “geek with speak”, Lena understands complex technology concepts and distills them into easy-to-understand strategies.
She is also the CEO & Chief Strategist at xynoMedia Technology, a consulting firm that helps business-to-business companies harness the power of social media to consistently increase thought leadership, online revenues and visibility. West says, “Our mission is simple: make social media easy to use, manageable and worthwhile.”
West’s expertise has been widely acknowledged. She is the winner of several business awards, among them: The Network Journal’s “40 Under Forty”, AlleyCat News’ “25 Women of Silicon Alley” and The Women’s Congress’ Entrepreneurial Champion for Women in Business. West has also been featured as the cover story for publications such as The Westchester County Business Journal and Black Enterprise.
A sought-after writer and speaker, West writes and speaks regularly about the merits and potential pitfalls of technology. She communicates her expertise about social media, web 2.0 and online technologies through Social Media 360, her blog on InfoWorld.com; her TechForward column and blog for Entrepreneur Magazine; as well as feature articles for both InfoWorld and Jupitermedia. She has spoken for the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) and Syracuse University.
She is a member of the Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO), Technology Executives Networking Group (TENG) and the Downtown Women’s Club (DWC).
West strongly believes that social media is a catalyst to uniting the world’s people.
She is also the CEO & Chief Strategist at xynoMedia Technology, a consulting firm that helps business-to-business companies harness the power of social media to consistently increase thought leadership, online revenues and visibility. West says, “Our mission is simple: make social media easy to use, manageable and worthwhile.”
West’s expertise has been widely acknowledged. She is the winner of several business awards, among them: The Network Journal’s “40 Under Forty”, AlleyCat News’ “25 Women of Silicon Alley” and The Women’s Congress’ Entrepreneurial Champion for Women in Business. West has also been featured as the cover story for publications such as The Westchester County Business Journal and Black Enterprise.
A sought-after writer and speaker, West writes and speaks regularly about the merits and potential pitfalls of technology. She communicates her expertise about social media, web 2.0 and online technologies through Social Media 360, her blog on InfoWorld.com; her TechForward column and blog for Entrepreneur Magazine; as well as feature articles for both InfoWorld and Jupitermedia. She has spoken for the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) and Syracuse University.
She is a member of the Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO), Technology Executives Networking Group (TENG) and the Downtown Women’s Club (DWC).
West strongly believes that social media is a catalyst to uniting the world’s people.
In her role as Chief Reputation Strategist, Dr. Leslie Gaines-Ross leads Weber Shandwick’s global reputation consulting services and proprietary thought leadership development. She is the architect of groundbreaking, award-winning research into CEO and corporate reputation, executive team reputation, leadership transitions, and reputation sustainability and recovery. Dr. Gaines-Ross is a member of Weber Shandwick’s global senior management team and is based in the firm’s corporate headquarters in New York.
Dr. Gaines-Ross is one of the world’s most widely recognized experts on CEO reputation -- how CEO reputations are built, enhanced and protected. She spearheaded the first comprehensive research on CEO reputation and its impact on corporate reputation and performance. She developed Weber Shandwick’s first global corporate reputation study – “Safeguarding Reputation,” which identifies strategies for sustaining and recovering corporate reputation. Dr. Gaines-Ross also created Fortune’s “On the Minds of CEOs” research. Her book, CEO Capital: A Guide to Building CEO Reputation and Company Success, was published in 2003 by John Wiley & Sons and her book on reputation recovery is scheduled to be published in 2008, also by John Wiley & Sons.
Before joining Weber Shandwick, Dr. Gaines-Ross was Chief Knowledge & Research Officer Worldwide at Burson-Marsteller and Marketing & Communications Director at Fortune.
Dr. Gaines-Ross’s work has been featured in many publications around the world and she has also appeared on CNN and CNBC. She is a frequent public speaker on CEO and corporate reputation management. Leslie has been named one of the “100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics for 2007” by Ethisphere Magazine.
Dr. Gaines-Ross created www.reputationRx.com, the Web site devoted exclusively to reputation news and information.
Dr. Gaines-Ross is one of the world’s most widely recognized experts on CEO reputation -- how CEO reputations are built, enhanced and protected. She spearheaded the first comprehensive research on CEO reputation and its impact on corporate reputation and performance. She developed Weber Shandwick’s first global corporate reputation study – “Safeguarding Reputation,” which identifies strategies for sustaining and recovering corporate reputation. Dr. Gaines-Ross also created Fortune’s “On the Minds of CEOs” research. Her book, CEO Capital: A Guide to Building CEO Reputation and Company Success, was published in 2003 by John Wiley & Sons and her book on reputation recovery is scheduled to be published in 2008, also by John Wiley & Sons.
Before joining Weber Shandwick, Dr. Gaines-Ross was Chief Knowledge & Research Officer Worldwide at Burson-Marsteller and Marketing & Communications Director at Fortune.
Dr. Gaines-Ross’s work has been featured in many publications around the world and she has also appeared on CNN and CNBC. She is a frequent public speaker on CEO and corporate reputation management. Leslie has been named one of the “100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics for 2007” by Ethisphere Magazine.
Dr. Gaines-Ross created www.reputationRx.com, the Web site devoted exclusively to reputation news and information.
Lindsay Lebresco is the Public Relations Manager at Graco Children's Products, a leader in the juvenile products category. She is the lead blogger for the new Graco corporate blog which is one of the only major corporate blogs in the vibrant online parenting market, while also being the most recent blogging initiative from the 10% of Fortune 500 companies actively blogging (under the banner of parent company Newell Rubbermaid).
Lindsay has been working on communication strategies for Graco for over 5 years after working in Communications and product marketing background at a division of Sara Lee where she honed her skills in crafting parenting communication strategy. Lindsay has been at the forefront of Graco’s social media engagement strategy encompassing the Graco blog, Graco Get-Together outreach campaign and other initiatives. Most importantly, she strives to add value to the online parenting community drawing from her personal experience as a mother of two as much as her deep professional experience in the parenting space.
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.
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.
When people ask Liz "What do you do?" she never knows quite where to start.
Liz is the co-founder and editor of CoolMomPicks.com along with partner Kristen Chase. In just 18 short months, the cheeky site has become one of the hottest shopping blogs on the web, keeping tens of thousands of parents a week apprised on what's cool in the world of baby gifts and gear. Cool Mom Picks has gained praise from Time, Advertising Age, and was most recently lauded in Real Simple's Best Blogs feature.
Some better know Liz as the voice behind parenting blog Mom-101 where she occasionally rants about lame blogger outreach efforts. She's also a published author and columnist, and is a contributor to the upcoming mommyblogger anthology, "Sleep is for the Weak" - although she is still a little squidgy about the term "mommyblogger." .
In her myriad free time, Liz is an ad agency creative director with award winning work under her belt for clients like Mitsubishi Motors, Universal Studios, Old Navy and Footlocker. And she's got a coupla kids. They're cute.
Liz is the co-founder and editor of CoolMomPicks.com along with partner Kristen Chase. In just 18 short months, the cheeky site has become one of the hottest shopping blogs on the web, keeping tens of thousands of parents a week apprised on what's cool in the world of baby gifts and gear. Cool Mom Picks has gained praise from Time, Advertising Age, and was most recently lauded in Real Simple's Best Blogs feature.
Some better know Liz as the voice behind parenting blog Mom-101 where she occasionally rants about lame blogger outreach efforts. She's also a published author and columnist, and is a contributor to the upcoming mommyblogger anthology, "Sleep is for the Weak" - although she is still a little squidgy about the term "mommyblogger." .
In her myriad free time, Liz is an ad agency creative director with award winning work under her belt for clients like Mitsubishi Motors, Universal Studios, Old Navy and Footlocker. And she's got a coupla kids. They're cute.
Lynne d Johnson is the Senior Editor/Community Director for FastCompany.com, a leading website and community for people passionate about business ideas that also offers the complete content of Fast Company magazine. She also writes a technology blog following web, media, and consumer trends for FastCompany.com, and guest blogs for techPresident and Black Web 2.0. Lynne also serves on the Board of Directors of the Literary Freedom Project, a nonprofit arts organization, which seeks to empower communities of color through literature, creative thinking, and new media. Prior to joining Fast Company, she was the General Manager, New Media for VIBE, SPIN, and VIBE Vixen where she she managed marketing, editorial, production, business development, and sales operations for the magazines' websites and mobile properties. Her personal blog, Lynne d Johnson || music, media, my life, which launched in July 2001, is the recipient of the 2006 Black Weblog Awards Black Blogger Achievement Award. Lynne holds an MBA in Media Management, a BA in Journalism, and an advanced certificate in multicultural studies.
Margaret Gurowitz is senior specialist, organizational communications, and has been a member of the Corporate Communications department at Johnson & Johnson since 1988.
Margaret writes the Kilmer House blog www.kilmerhouse.com about Johnson & Johnson history. Kilmer House, launched in 2006, was the first-ever blog for the corporation, and is one of only three external blogs for the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies. In addition to blogging, Margaret develops and implements internal corporate communications strategies and programs, and provides writing and editorial services. She is also the unofficial Company historian, having worked extensively with the Company’s archives as a researcher on the books A Company That Cares, the 100 Year Illustrated History of Johnson & Johnson and Robert Wood Johnson: The Gentleman Rebel.
An active participant in social media in her personal life as well as her business life, Margaret is fascinated by the ways in which blogs and other new communication tools are empowering people and companies to go back to the kinds of personal conversations that they participated in 100 years ago.
Margaret Gurowitz has a B.A. in History from Douglass College, a certificate in interdisciplinary medieval studies, and an M.A. in Medieval History from Rutgers University.
Margaret writes the Kilmer House blog www.kilmerhouse.com about Johnson & Johnson history. Kilmer House, launched in 2006, was the first-ever blog for the corporation, and is one of only three external blogs for the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies. In addition to blogging, Margaret develops and implements internal corporate communications strategies and programs, and provides writing and editorial services. She is also the unofficial Company historian, having worked extensively with the Company’s archives as a researcher on the books A Company That Cares, the 100 Year Illustrated History of Johnson & Johnson and Robert Wood Johnson: The Gentleman Rebel.
An active participant in social media in her personal life as well as her business life, Margaret is fascinated by the ways in which blogs and other new communication tools are empowering people and companies to go back to the kinds of personal conversations that they participated in 100 years ago.
Margaret Gurowitz has a B.A. in History from Douglass College, a certificate in interdisciplinary medieval studies, and an M.A. in Medieval History from Rutgers University.
Maria T. Bailey is an award-winning author, radio talk show host, internationally known speaker and the foremost marketing authority on marketing to moms. Her company, BSM Media is a full service marketing and media firm that specializes in marketing to mothers.
Clients include Disney, DaimlerChrysler, Cartoon Network, Nestle, AOL, The Discovery Channel, Chuck E. Cheese, Disney Publishing, Hewlett-Packard, Office Depot. She has been an invited presenter to Burger King, Coca Cola, Best Buy, General Mills, Buena Vista Entertainment, and many other major corporations.
Her book, “Marketing to Moms: Getting Your Share of the Trillion Dollar Market” (2002, Prima) is the first to examine the buying power of mothers and the most effective marketing initiatives to tap the $1.7 trillion market and is published in several languages.
Maria’s newest book, “Trillion Dollar Moms: Marketing to a New Generation of Mothers” (Dearborn, 2005) focuses on the emergence of Gen X and Gen Y moms and how they compare to Boomer Moms.
Maria has an audience of over 11 million moms a month. She is the host of Mom Talk Radio, a nationally syndicated radio show for moms, co-host of Doug Stephan’s “Good Day”, Founder/CEO of BlueSuitMom.com, the award winning Website for executive working mothers and host of The Balancing Act on Lifetime TV. She is also the creator of Smart Mom Solutions, a product line that offers solutions to everyday challenges for busy moms.
American Baby & Parenting named Maria’s radio show Mom Talk Radio one of the best shows for mom today.
She is host of NewBabyTV and co-founder of Newbaby.com, the first online video resource for expectant and new moms.
Clients include Disney, DaimlerChrysler, Cartoon Network, Nestle, AOL, The Discovery Channel, Chuck E. Cheese, Disney Publishing, Hewlett-Packard, Office Depot. She has been an invited presenter to Burger King, Coca Cola, Best Buy, General Mills, Buena Vista Entertainment, and many other major corporations.
Her book, “Marketing to Moms: Getting Your Share of the Trillion Dollar Market” (2002, Prima) is the first to examine the buying power of mothers and the most effective marketing initiatives to tap the $1.7 trillion market and is published in several languages.
Maria’s newest book, “Trillion Dollar Moms: Marketing to a New Generation of Mothers” (Dearborn, 2005) focuses on the emergence of Gen X and Gen Y moms and how they compare to Boomer Moms.
Maria has an audience of over 11 million moms a month. She is the host of Mom Talk Radio, a nationally syndicated radio show for moms, co-host of Doug Stephan’s “Good Day”, Founder/CEO of BlueSuitMom.com, the award winning Website for executive working mothers and host of The Balancing Act on Lifetime TV. She is also the creator of Smart Mom Solutions, a product line that offers solutions to everyday challenges for busy moms.
American Baby & Parenting named Maria’s radio show Mom Talk Radio one of the best shows for mom today.
She is host of NewBabyTV and co-founder of Newbaby.com, the first online video resource for expectant and new moms.
Maria Niles is CEO of ConsumerPop Marketing which helps companies with branding, brand management, market research and social media creation and use. Prior to founding ConsumerPop in 2005, Maria led successful marketing efforts at companies such as Kraft Foods and Campbell's Soup. Recently Maria has helped a range of organizations and companies better understand their customers and clients through custom research. Also, Maria has helped companies to create and implement social media efforts including the Let It Out Blog™ for Kleenex® brand tissues.
Maria earned a BA in Political Science from UCLA, an MA from the University of Chicago and an MBA from the University of Michigan. In addition to writing about consumer marketing, music, television, pop culture, politics and dogs, among other topics, on her personal blogs, Maria is a Contributing Editor for BlogHer where she has written about Business, Career & Personal Finance, Real Estate, Entertainment & Books and currently writes about Life and Politics. Additionally, Maria frequently speaks at conferences about social media and marketing, and most recently spoke at the MIT Media Lab Digital Life and Consumer Electronics Lab Fall 2007 Meeting. Maria is happy to speak to you about any of these topics or anything else of interest to you, anytime at twitter.
Mary founded EcolutionarySelling.com as a platform to address Sustainable buyer/seller engagement. To that end, she also is the editor for www.sustainableproductsblog.com - Smart Solutions for Sustainable Business and authors www.InWomenWeTrust.com. All address beyond “green” thinking and speak to the emerging documentation that is required and how marketers can transfer the authentic attributes of a product in a greenwash-free way. Consumers we want truth, investors need proof and bloggers know the difference. Knowing how a Sustainable Standard operates is critical in this emerging market.
Her background includes a rare blend of consumer goods and intangible services anchored with manufacturing processes. She’s created ad campaigns for the largest retail mall in SW Michigan as well as managed over 200 industrial accounts while with (now) ThomasNet. Today she’s acting as the Social Media Director for MTS (Market Transformation to Sustainability) a non-profit based in Washington. She, Toby Bloomberg and Marianne Richmond, recently launched Smart Solutions for Sustainable Business, a group business blog.
Melissa Anelli is a freelance writer living in New York City who is smitten by all things Harry Potter. A Georgetown University grad, her work has also appeared on the cable channel NY1 and in the newsmagazine U.S. News & World Report. She joined TLC in October 2001 and has enjoyed the many early mornings and late nights she’s spent keeping it up to date. In Melissa’s free (ha!) time she works on more projects than she can handle, sees more theater than she can afford and consumes more coffee than is healthy for anyone.
These days Melissa spends even more of her free time writing a book chronicling the Harry Potter fan phenomeon. Tenatively titled Harry, a History: The ficiton, fans and phenomenon of Harry Potter, it is currently slated for publication in North America by Simon & Schuster Pocket Books in Nov. 2008.
These days Melissa spends even more of her free time writing a book chronicling the Harry Potter fan phenomeon. Tenatively titled Harry, a History: The ficiton, fans and phenomenon of Harry Potter, it is currently slated for publication in North America by Simon & Schuster Pocket Books in Nov. 2008.
Mir has been blogging since 2003, first building a following as a personal blogger at wouldashoulda.com, then branching out into writing a shopping/finance blog (wantnot.net) and hiring out her services to various corporate clients. She is now a professional blogger, writing for seven different sites on a regular basis. Mir receives upwards of a dozen pitches a week from various marketing and PR folks -- most of whom have no clue about how to effectively interest bloggers in writing about their products. Now that she is moving into blog outreach, herself, on behalf of her clients, she is particularly interested in both educating marketers from the blogger's point of view, and comparing best practices with those who are already achieving success in blogging outreach.
Natalie A. Johnson was named manager of Social Media of General Motors Global Technology Group in February 2007. Prior to her current position, she was the Internal Communications manager of GM’s Latin America, Africa and Middle East (LAAM) region, a role she assumed after working as the associate manager for e-business in LAAM.
A native of South Florida, Johnson holds a bachelor’s degree in Business and a MS in Communications with emphasis in Interactive New Communication Technologies from The Florida State University. She joined GM in April of 2002 with the Vehicle Sales Service and Marketing group in LAAM.
A native of South Florida, Johnson holds a bachelor’s degree in Business and a MS in Communications with emphasis in Interactive New Communication Technologies from The Florida State University. She joined GM in April of 2002 with the Vehicle Sales Service and Marketing group in LAAM.
Nelly Yusupova is the CTO at Webgrrls International,
the founder of DigitalWoman.com, and the Chapter Leader of New York City Webgrrls.
She is an Internet expert and strategist and is a Wall Street Journal "Woman on the IT fast track". She has been featured as a tech expert on NBC's Today Show, in INC Magazine, in Newsday and is an Industry speaker about careers in technology, building community and the power of networking.
She earned a BS in Computer Science and is fluent in PHP, MySQL, Java, ASP, JSP, Oracle, Perl/CGI, HTML, JavaScript, Unix scripting, Telnet, FTP, UNIX.
Ms. Lian is a former senior finance administrator who now brings the keys of corporate success to growing small businesses. She offers twenty-five years of finance and management expertise gained with corporate giants including Fox Video, Starbucks Coffee and Avon Products. She has consulted for CNN News, New Line Cinema, and Republic National Bank.
In 1997, Ms. Lian founded Financial Comfort® Inc. The firm provides business services including outsourced bookkeeping, cash management and financial management. In its efforts to promote financial literacy through learning programs, Financial Comfort expanded by creating a state-of-the-art finance and technology learning center in New York City.
Ms. Lian received her M.B.A. in finance from Fordham University and her B.B.A. in accounting from Pace University. She has been active as a member of the Financial Women’s Association (FWA) of New York. Ms. Lian is a faculty member with New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies Management Institute and has also taught at Baruch College (CUNY), Fashion Institute of Technology (SUNY) and American Women’s Economic Development Corp. (AWED).
Professional Memberships
Ms. Lian has been a featured speaker / panelist for many organizations, including:
In 1997, Ms. Lian founded Financial Comfort® Inc. The firm provides business services including outsourced bookkeeping, cash management and financial management. In its efforts to promote financial literacy through learning programs, Financial Comfort expanded by creating a state-of-the-art finance and technology learning center in New York City.
Ms. Lian received her M.B.A. in finance from Fordham University and her B.B.A. in accounting from Pace University. She has been active as a member of the Financial Women’s Association (FWA) of New York. Ms. Lian is a faculty member with New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies Management Institute and has also taught at Baruch College (CUNY), Fashion Institute of Technology (SUNY) and American Women’s Economic Development Corp. (AWED).
Professional Memberships
- Financial Women's Association of New York
- Certified QuickBooks® Professional Advisor
- Manhattan Chamber of Commerce
Ms. Lian has been a featured speaker / panelist for many organizations, including:
- New York University Women in Business
- Columbia University Center for Career Education
- Financial Women’s Association
- Fordham University Women in Business
- National Association of Women Business Owners
- American Express and Verizon co-sponsored programs with AWED
Robin Wolaner is the Founder and CEO of TeeBeeDee Inc. She is a noted entrepreneur and author.
Robin started at Penthouse magazine as a copywriter (she penned the magazine’s one-liner, “More than just a pretty face”), before moving to Runner’s World for its national launch, and then leading Mother Jones.
Robin made publishing history when she founded Parenting magazine in 1985. This accomplishment is documented in one of the most popular Harvard Business School case studies for first year MBA students.
After Time Inc. purchased Parenting, Robin joined Time Publishing Ventures as vice president for development. In that capacity, she helped launch Vibe and test the concept for Martha Stewart Living.
Robin became president and CEO of Sunset Publishing Corporation, a Time Inc. property, in 1992. She dramatically improved Sunset’s profitability and introduced its first electronic products. In 1997, Robin was the founding non-executive chairman of the company now known as PlanetOut Inc., one of the early online communities. She then joined CNET Networks where she oversaw the launch of CNET’s groundbreaking user reviews of consumer electronics and served on the integration team for the acquisition of CNET’s largest rival, ZDNet.
Robin left CNET in 2003 to write Naked in the Boardroom: A CEO Bares Her Secrets So You Can Transform Your Career (Simon & Schuster, 2005). She founded TeeBeeDee, an online experience network, in 2007.
A New York native, Robin graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations. She is based in San Francisco.
Robin started at Penthouse magazine as a copywriter (she penned the magazine’s one-liner, “More than just a pretty face”), before moving to Runner’s World for its national launch, and then leading Mother Jones.
Robin made publishing history when she founded Parenting magazine in 1985. This accomplishment is documented in one of the most popular Harvard Business School case studies for first year MBA students.
After Time Inc. purchased Parenting, Robin joined Time Publishing Ventures as vice president for development. In that capacity, she helped launch Vibe and test the concept for Martha Stewart Living.
Robin became president and CEO of Sunset Publishing Corporation, a Time Inc. property, in 1992. She dramatically improved Sunset’s profitability and introduced its first electronic products. In 1997, Robin was the founding non-executive chairman of the company now known as PlanetOut Inc., one of the early online communities. She then joined CNET Networks where she oversaw the launch of CNET’s groundbreaking user reviews of consumer electronics and served on the integration team for the acquisition of CNET’s largest rival, ZDNet.
Robin left CNET in 2003 to write Naked in the Boardroom: A CEO Bares Her Secrets So You Can Transform Your Career (Simon & Schuster, 2005). She founded TeeBeeDee, an online experience network, in 2007.
A New York native, Robin graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations. She is based in San Francisco.
Sara Ford is the Program Manager for CodePlex.com, Microsoft’s open source project hosting site. Prior to CodePlex, she worked as a Software Developer in Test on the Visual Studio team for 6 years, where she blogged extensively on Visual Studio, Accessibility, Software Testing, and her personal life, including Hurricane Katrina. Her life-long goal is to become a 97 year old weightlifter, so she can be featured on the local news.
Shay Pausa is Executive Producer of SheKnowsTV, one of the most popular features of SheKnows.com (www.sheknows.com).
SheKnows.com is one of the fastest growing online destinations for women, now reaching nearly 6 million women every month.
The site channels include: health & wellness, beauty & style, diet & fitness, food & cooking, love, sex & marriage, pregnancy & baby, parenting, work & money, singles & dating, and entertainment.
Blogs are one of the most popular features of the site, where an active community of participates on sharing life experiences on a daily basis.
Pausa has more than seventeen years of senior executive level marketing, P&L management and strategic business experience with focus on market acceleration, capital acquisition, and exit strategies.
Ms. Pausa serves on the boards of MediNotes Corporation, the Junior League of Phoenix, the Self Employment Loan Fund (SELF), the Rio Salado Rowing Club and Pathways.
SheKnows.com is one of the fastest growing online destinations for women, now reaching nearly 6 million women every month.
The site channels include: health & wellness, beauty & style, diet & fitness, food & cooking, love, sex & marriage, pregnancy & baby, parenting, work & money, singles & dating, and entertainment.
Blogs are one of the most popular features of the site, where an active community of participates on sharing life experiences on a daily basis.
Pausa has more than seventeen years of senior executive level marketing, P&L management and strategic business experience with focus on market acceleration, capital acquisition, and exit strategies.
Ms. Pausa serves on the boards of MediNotes Corporation, the Junior League of Phoenix, the Self Employment Loan Fund (SELF), the Rio Salado Rowing Club and Pathways.
Sophia Stuart
Sophia Stuart joined Hearst Magazines Digital Media group as Mobile Director in June 2006. She is responsible for building mobile content and services across Hearst Magazines’ brands in the USA and rejoins Hearst after leading digital media ventures for the company’s UK operations (National Magazine Company) from 1999 to 2001.
Starting initially as a journalist in the UK, Ms. Stuart wrote about art, fashion, media and technology for The Independent newspaper (UK), The Guardian (UK), Time Out (London), Black + White (Studio Magazines in Australia), Out (NYC), International Broadcast and Screen International.
She created the first digital media team at Common Purpose, the international leadership organization that aims to improve the way towns and cities are run. After a brief consulting job at Condé Nast UK for the original British Vogue and GQ web sites, Ms. Stuart joined The National Magazine Company to launch more than 21 corporate and consumer-facing online ventures.
From 2001 to 2006, Ms. Stuart spent five years in California, directing a range of digital projects including online, 3D animation, motion capture and mobile applications for clients including New Line Cinema, 20th Century Fox and Neven Vision (now part of Google's mobile operations).
Starting initially as a journalist in the UK, Ms. Stuart wrote about art, fashion, media and technology for The Independent newspaper (UK), The Guardian (UK), Time Out (London), Black + White (Studio Magazines in Australia), Out (NYC), International Broadcast and Screen International.
She created the first digital media team at Common Purpose, the international leadership organization that aims to improve the way towns and cities are run. After a brief consulting job at Condé Nast UK for the original British Vogue and GQ web sites, Ms. Stuart joined The National Magazine Company to launch more than 21 corporate and consumer-facing online ventures.
From 2001 to 2006, Ms. Stuart spent five years in California, directing a range of digital projects including online, 3D animation, motion capture and mobile applications for clients including New Line Cinema, 20th Century Fox and Neven Vision (now part of Google's mobile operations).
Stefania Pomponi Butler aka CityMama is proud mother to "Bunny" and "Wallie" and wife to "J."
She is a professional blogger/writer/editor/producer who covers style, food, pop culture, and (of course) parenting with a cheeky twist.
In addition to writing her irreverant and delicious personal blog CityMama, Stefania is one of the Founding Editors of Kimchi Mamas (her culture and identity site) and MOMocrats.com (her political blog). She is also a Contributing Editor for BlogHer and pens their weekly newsletter focusing on shopping deals. She spoke at BlogHer07 on the subject of professional blogging. She passionate about helping bloggers navigate the world of bad PR pitches, and since BlogHer '07 has been putting PR people on notice that bloggers are professionals and should be treated accordingly. Her mantra: We are not here to do your marketing writing and promotional work for free!
As a freelancer she contributes to various blogs and recently published an article in the November 2007 issue of Good Housekeeping. Until September 2007, Stefania was Blog Editor for Babble.com overseeing the parenting news and info blog Strollerderby as well as Droolicious (the baby product blog) and FameCrawler (the celebrity baby blog).
Stefania is on the "Blogebrity B-list" and CityMama, with almost 3,000 RSS subscribers, is a Bloglines Parenting "QuickPick."
Her work has appeared in various parenting magazines, in the New York Times, KoreAm Journal, Good Housekeeping, and on Pacific Time on NPR.
Stefania was born in Honolulu, HI and has lived in Rome, Italy; San Francisco, CA; and Portland, OR. She currently resides in the Silicon Valley, CA where she blogs from the comfort of her bedroom/office.
Susan Getgood was among the pioneers in introducing children and parents to the Internet as an expert in online safety and General Manager of Cyber Patrol, one of the world’s first Internet filters. Her 20+ years in the computer software industry included leading a global marketing team as Senior Vice President of Marketing for SurfControl. A results-oriented strategic marketer, Susan knows how to build brands using technology, policy and good old fashioned high-quality products. In 2004, she founded GetGood Strategic Marketing Inc. to help bring blogs into the mix as an indispensable marketing tool. Today, her firm helps public and private companies and organizations build brands and drive revenue with integrated marketing and social media strategies. Past and present clients include Hewlett Packard, Maxwell Street Documentary, GuideMark, Caras Training, Software Secure and CamelBak. Her professional blog is Marketing Roadmaps (getgood.typepad.com). She also writes a personal photo blog, Snapshot Chronicles (snapshotchronicles.com), is the co-host of small business podcast Business Forward (businessfwd.com) and contributes to a number of group blogs. Susan was named a Fellow of the Society for New Communications Research in 2008.
As Managing Director of the strategic marketing firm Compass Partners Inc., Susan Wright’s experience includes more than 15 years providing strategic counsel to the world’s leading consumer packaged goods and technology companies. After 12 years on the client side, Susan founded Compass Partners in 2003. Drawing on her marketing experience, Susan knows what questions to ask, as well as how to design studies and map questions back to business objectives in order to provide direction on strategy. Her clients include: Microsoft, Cranium and BlogHer as well as emerging consumer technology companies such as Big Fish Games, All Star Directories and PiCorp. Additionally, in 2006 she was part founding team that launched the popular social expressions service Smilebox.
Susannah Gardner is the co-founder and creative director of Hop Studios Internet Consultants, a Web design company specializing in custom Web solutions for content publishers.
Susannah is also a freelance writer and author. She just finished writing ”Blogging for Dummies, 2nd Edition,” now available in major book stores. She has also written:
• BitTorrent for Dummies, with co-author Kris Krug
• Buzz Marketing With Blogs for Dummies
• Dreamweaver MX 2004 for Dummies, with Janine Warner
• Teach Yourself Visually: Dreamweaver MX 2004, also with Janine Warner
From 1997 to 2003, Susannah was an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California School for Communication, where she taught in the School of Journalism. Her classes in online publishing took students from zero to Web site in one semester.
Prior to running Hop Studios, Susannah worked in the Online Journalism and Communication Program at the University of Southern California, writing curriculum, teaching, and conducting research at the intersection of technology and journalism. She was a senior editor of the Online Journalism Review, the media industry’s first Internet-focused journalism publication. Susannah also spent four years at The Los Angeles Times, one of six editors responsible for launching that newspaper’s Web site. During her time at LATimes.com, she established the site’s multimedia lab, which produced ground-breaking Web audio, video and animation. She also launched and edited MetaHollywood, an online-only publication that covered new Hollywood technology and was LATimes.com’s single largest revenue source in 1998.
Susannah earned bachelor’s degrees in Print Journalism and American literature at USC.
The blog for "Blogging for Dummies, 2nd Edition" is available at http://www.bloggingfordummiesbook.com/.
Susannah is also a freelance writer and author. She just finished writing ”Blogging for Dummies, 2nd Edition,” now available in major book stores. She has also written:
• BitTorrent for Dummies, with co-author Kris Krug
• Buzz Marketing With Blogs for Dummies
• Dreamweaver MX 2004 for Dummies, with Janine Warner
• Teach Yourself Visually: Dreamweaver MX 2004, also with Janine Warner
From 1997 to 2003, Susannah was an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California School for Communication, where she taught in the School of Journalism. Her classes in online publishing took students from zero to Web site in one semester.
Prior to running Hop Studios, Susannah worked in the Online Journalism and Communication Program at the University of Southern California, writing curriculum, teaching, and conducting research at the intersection of technology and journalism. She was a senior editor of the Online Journalism Review, the media industry’s first Internet-focused journalism publication. Susannah also spent four years at The Los Angeles Times, one of six editors responsible for launching that newspaper’s Web site. During her time at LATimes.com, she established the site’s multimedia lab, which produced ground-breaking Web audio, video and animation. She also launched and edited MetaHollywood, an online-only publication that covered new Hollywood technology and was LATimes.com’s single largest revenue source in 1998.
Susannah earned bachelor’s degrees in Print Journalism and American literature at USC.
The blog for "Blogging for Dummies, 2nd Edition" is available at http://www.bloggingfordummiesbook.com/.
Tara Anderson is the community catalyst for Lijit Networks, located in beautiful Boulder, Colorado and the author of I Quit for Lijit, a light-hearted look at life in a startup. As the original Lijit evangelist, she is critical to the success of Lijit thus far and is also responsible for building the reputation of the company as one that cares about blog publishers.
Tara is passionate about building community and is a co-organizer of the local PR/marketing/evangelistic/new media meetup affectionately called Evangicamp. She is also an active member of the Front Range Bloggers and Boulder Women Engaging Technology (BWET).
She holds a bachelor’s degree in Communications from the University of Houston, where she graduated with cum laude honors. In addition, she is also a certified massage therapist with past work experiences including teaching seventh graders how to write, managing a brewpub and suffering as tech support in a corporate call center.
When she’s not in the Lijit World HQ, she enjoys running, skiing, biking, baking, blogging and making people laugh.
With a toss of a pink boa to “divas and divos” Toby’s blog Diva Marketing www.divamarketingblog.com is (usually) the second highest ranked solo written female blog on the Ad Age Power 150. Combining over 15-years of traditional marketing with the lessons learned from her adventures in social media over the past 4 years, her company, Bloomberg Marketing, is helping marketers join the new conversation, from blogs, to social networking and blogger relations, .. without getting blown-up. She promises not to take the training wheels off until you can ride without wobbling!
Toby is also an adjunct professor at Goizueta School of Business at Emory University where she teaches an innovative course on management consulting.
One of her passions is helping marketers “get” the benefits of social media so it’s not a surprise that you can find Toby speaking on the topic at conferences and for organizations such as 3M, American Marketing Association, PRSA, New Communications Forum, BlogWorld, Cox Communications, 3M, Purina and of course BlogHer.
Her media credits include articles about marketing and social media published in Marketing News, Portland Business Journal, Impact (India publication), L’actualite Alimentaire (Canada publication), WEMagazine, RevenueToday and Atlanta Business-to-Business. She has been quoted about blogs in various publications including INC magazine, BusinessWeek, Wall Street Journal and Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Atlanta Business Chronicle. She is profiled in the best selling book about how blogs are changing business communications, Naked Conversations and in the book Now Is Gone and her Blogger Stories blog (www.bloggerstories.com ) is included in the book Clear Blogging.
She serves on the boards of the Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association, DivneCaroline and is a teaching artist for the Alliance Theatre. Toby holds a degree from Emerson College and has performed post-bac
Toby is also an adjunct professor at Goizueta School of Business at Emory University where she teaches an innovative course on management consulting.
One of her passions is helping marketers “get” the benefits of social media so it’s not a surprise that you can find Toby speaking on the topic at conferences and for organizations such as 3M, American Marketing Association, PRSA, New Communications Forum, BlogWorld, Cox Communications, 3M, Purina and of course BlogHer.
Her media credits include articles about marketing and social media published in Marketing News, Portland Business Journal, Impact (India publication), L’actualite Alimentaire (Canada publication), WEMagazine, RevenueToday and Atlanta Business-to-Business. She has been quoted about blogs in various publications including INC magazine, BusinessWeek, Wall Street Journal and Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Atlanta Business Chronicle. She is profiled in the best selling book about how blogs are changing business communications, Naked Conversations and in the book Now Is Gone and her Blogger Stories blog (www.bloggerstories.com ) is included in the book Clear Blogging.
She serves on the boards of the Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association, DivneCaroline and is a teaching artist for the Alliance Theatre. Toby holds a degree from Emerson College and has performed post-bac
Trisha Okubo is a Disruptive Innovator at eBay, where she works at the intersection of eCommerce and social networking. At eBay, Trisha is focused on social shopping, creating Facebook applications that blend social and commerce functionality.
She also founded a nationally recognized fashion blog, Omiru: Style for All, dedicated to real style for real people. Omiru has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Lucky Magazine, and Real Simple.
Trisha has a BS and MS in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University, with additional studies in Fashion Design.
She also founded a nationally recognized fashion blog, Omiru: Style for All, dedicated to real style for real people. Omiru has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Lucky Magazine, and Real Simple.
Trisha has a BS and MS in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University, with additional studies in Fashion Design.
Victoria Naffier
Victoria has worked at the Hewlett Packard Company (HP) for 20 years, and has been in the marketing group for 15 years. She has held many positions in marketing such as product management, technical support, market research, demand generation and retail account management. Her most current position is in the Retail Photofinishing group working as an account marketing manager. For many years she focused on helping to set strategy and direction for the digital photography group. She is well versed in understanding and designing marketing programs to the "mom" target, who is the primary focus for HP's digital photography products. The product portfolio she has worked on includes digital scanners, digital cameras, photo printing and consumer supplies. She has also held positions in IT and Personnel at HP.
For the Holiday 07 selling season she led a team to launch HP's home Photo Books. The team used innovative techniques around social networking and word-of-mouth marketing to accelerate and communicate the features and benefits of the product to the mom target.
She has an Undergraduate BA degree in Organizational Behavior from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from the University of Iowa with an emphasis on computer information systems. She is a very busy single mom with 2 boys ages 7 & 8 who love trains, Pokemon, drawing and reading. She has lived in Colorado for 18 years, but still calls Iowa City, Iowa her hometown!
For the Holiday 07 selling season she led a team to launch HP's home Photo Books. The team used innovative techniques around social networking and word-of-mouth marketing to accelerate and communicate the features and benefits of the product to the mom target.
She has an Undergraduate BA degree in Organizational Behavior from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from the University of Iowa with an emphasis on computer information systems. She is a very busy single mom with 2 boys ages 7 & 8 who love trains, Pokemon, drawing and reading. She has lived in Colorado for 18 years, but still calls Iowa City, Iowa her hometown!
Yvonne DiVita is the author of Dick*less Marketing: Smart Marketing to Women Online, a book about getting those baby boomer icons Dick and Jane to buy at your website.
She is also the president and founder of WME Books.com, a division of Windsor Media Enterprises, LLC. WME is an Author Services Company specializing in Print-on-Demand technology, blogs, and community building events. Yvonne’s background stretches to those bygone days of the early Internet, where she was a web content writer and worked in several technology start-ups. After publishing her book, she decided to become a publisher. Today her focus is on helping aspiring authors, especially those writing business books, make wise publishing choices, and works to help her authors market their books once they are released.
Yvonne maintains a blog at www.lipsticking.com with a focus on the women’s market. Her other blogs include the publishing blog: http://www.ahablog.com, a blog about blogging, http://www.wmeblogs.com, a blog about her author’s book, http://windsormedia.blogs.com/books and http://www.beneaththecover.com/author/btcyvonne, about the POD process. She also writes and manages a petblog for Purina: http://www.scratchingsandsniffings.com.
Yvonne is the President of the Rochester Chapter of Women in Communications; she is a past-president of the Rochester Professional Consultants Network, and is the VP of Web Communications at the Rochester Chapter of the American Marketing Association.
She is also the president and founder of WME Books.com, a division of Windsor Media Enterprises, LLC. WME is an Author Services Company specializing in Print-on-Demand technology, blogs, and community building events. Yvonne’s background stretches to those bygone days of the early Internet, where she was a web content writer and worked in several technology start-ups. After publishing her book, she decided to become a publisher. Today her focus is on helping aspiring authors, especially those writing business books, make wise publishing choices, and works to help her authors market their books once they are released.
Yvonne maintains a blog at www.lipsticking.com with a focus on the women’s market. Her other blogs include the publishing blog: http://www.ahablog.com, a blog about blogging, http://www.wmeblogs.com, a blog about her author’s book, http://windsormedia.blogs.com/books and http://www.beneaththecover.com/author/btcyvonne, about the POD process. She also writes and manages a petblog for Purina: http://www.scratchingsandsniffings.com.
Yvonne is the President of the Rochester Chapter of Women in Communications; she is a past-president of the Rochester Professional Consultants Network, and is the VP of Web Communications at the Rochester Chapter of the American Marketing Association.
ADVERTISING