I have been online friends with BL Ochman since late 2004 and 2005 and she is a leader in the world of social media.  Best of all she loves my dog and that can’t be a bad thing!

Voted one of 25 most influential women in social media, B.L. Ochman has been helping
companies integrate emerging media into their communications since 1996, in order to
engage their audience and increase their sales. Adweek said about B.L. “A consultant
and social-media savant who actually knows what she’s talking about.”

She has created dynamic Internet and emerging media marketing and brand strategy for companies including Meijer, Transitions Lenses, IBM, Ford, McGraw-Hill, Cendant, Simon & Schuster, stacksandstacks.com, and American Greetings.

“Sightings,” a Facebook game she created for Transitions, will launch in May, as will a comprehensive social media monitoring platform she originated.

She is the publisher of the popular What’s Next Blog www.whatsnextblog.com, which tracks news and trends in online marketing. She’s also, a frequent conference speaker and a contributor to AdAge Digital Next, Business Week Online, Social Media Today, Mashable and others.

Ochman is co-founder of the pet lover’s site, Pawfun.com www.pawfun.com, and publisher of Ethics Crisis Blog www.ethicscrisis.com where readers rate anonymously submitted ethics transgressions confessions. Follow B.L. on Twitter @whatsnext www.twitter.com/whatsnext and find her online at http://about.me/BL_Ochman

Until 1995, she owned an award-winning New York PR firm that she grew to one of the 100 largest independent PR firms in the US.

B.L.’s industry citations also include: Conversation Agent: Top 20 PR Power Women, The W List, Top 25 Marketing Blogs and Top 50 Social Media Blogs of 2010.

Gentile’s career began in 1991 with The Rendon Group, an international strategic communications firm based in Washington D.C. As an account executive, he developed and executed strategic communication plans to meet key objectives of both public and private clients including: African National Congress, Bell Atlantic, IBM (Saudi Arabia), Iraqi National Congress, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. He has also worked on domestic political campaigns.

Prior to his current post, Gentile served as a senior manager in the technology marketing divisions of Arthur Andersen and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Specifically, he was responsible for developing and managing programs to enhance the user experience of proprietary software products and to increase the utilization of personal productivity tools.

He earned his (BS) in Communication from Clarion University of Pennsylvania in 1991 and his (MA) Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix (Tampa) in 2000. He served as Co-Chair of the Coldwell Banker CARES Foundation, where he led an effort to sponsor and build 14 Habitat for Humanity homes throughout the state of Florida from 2005-2007. Currently, he is actively involved with an effort to raise funds for Easter Seals. He currently resides in Long Valley, NJ with his wife, Shirley, and two sons.

Carol Roth is a business strategist, deal maker and author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Entrepreneur Equation. She has helped her clients, ranging from solopreneurs to multinational corporations, raise more than $1 billion in capital, complete hundreds of millions of dollars in M&A transactions, secure high-profile licensing and partnership deals, create brand loyalty programs and more.

Carol is a frequent radio, television and print media contributor on the topics of business and entrepreneurship, having appeared on Fox News, MSNBC, Fox Business, WGN TV Chicago and more.  Additionally, Carol’s Unsolicited Business Advice blog at CarolRoth.com was recently named as one of the Top 10 small business blogs online.

Twitter: @CarolJSRoth

Web: www.CarolRoth.com

We often talk about cool tools or ways to make social media more fun.  Postling does just that.  Today we get to speak to the Dave Lifson and he gets to tell us about how his company is making social media better!

Dave Lifson is the CEO and co-founder of Postling, a web dashboard that helps small business owners tackle the often daunting task of social media marketing. Previously, he worked at Amazon.com as a Software Engineer in the Community Group and Technical Production Manager in the Personalization group. In April 2008, he left Amazon to head up Product Management at Etsy.com, where he met Postling co-founders Chris Maguire and Haim Shoppik. The three left Etsy in November 2008. Dave graduated from Cornell University in 2005 with a B.A. and M.Eng in Computer Science.

I have been a huge fan of BlogHer and have been an evangelist of BlogHer since they began their organization.  The leaders of that company have been mentors of many in the blogging business and have led the way as the industry was formed.  I have the pleasure today to talk with and interview Elisa Camahort.

As BlogHer’s COO, Elisa Camahort Page leads events, marketing, public relations and research for BlogHer, while working to ensure that all company operations deliver to plan.

Prior to co-founding BlogHer, Elisa ran a marketing consultancy, Worker Bees, that was among the first to integrate corporate marketing strategies into the social media environment. Worker Bees followed a successful career as in the cable broadband sector. Her most recent corporate position was Senior Director of Product Marketing at Terayon Communication Systems.

Elisa is a frequent public speaker, bringing research data about women and online communities to life in recent keynote sessions at MediaBistro Circus, Fem 2.0, New Comm Forum and WOMMA Marketing Summit.

Elisa is a founding Fellow of the Society for New Communications Research and serves on the Board of Directors of the 42nd Street Moon Theatre in San Francisco, the programming advisory committee for SXSW Interactive and the Board of Advisors of the Anita Borg Institute.

Beth Harte  is a marketing & communications professional with over 16 years of experience that includes a passion for excellence and a pragmatic mind for business and results-oriented outcomes. Beth is also a nationally recognized thought leader and speaker that has led successful integrated traditional and digital marketing efforts for companies of all sizes (start-up to Fortune 500) and global reach including their integrated marketing communications and strategic planning efforts, including product development, marketing campaigns, branding, public relations, digital marketing and social media efforts. Beth’s blog is www.theharteofmarketing.com. Beth is also looking for her next career opportunity! Learn more: http://bit.ly/HireBethHarte.

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Raised along with his brother and sister in Mississippi by Roger and Sheila Morrison, young Anthony grew up in a family that encouraged intellectual curiosity, empathy for others and healthy self-esteem. Always independent and assertive, Anthony gave his parents a glimpse of his potential when, at the age of seven, he decided he wanted a Jacuzzi. Told by his mother that he would have to work to earn it, Anthony sold candy bars door-to-door until he had earned the money for the Jacuzzi. One year later, at age eight, he set his sights on buying his father a motorcycle and did just that, enlisting his siblings in the effort.

Other successful part-time ventures followed, setting a pattern for his later life: find something you enjoy, learn as much about that subject as possible, and pursue your goals with single-minded enthusiasm.  Whether it was selling baseball cards or customizing his prize Mustang, Anthony showed a predilection for achieving his goals and creating avenues to achieve them more efficiently and profitably. Without realizing it, he was creating the blueprint for his later success.

When financial ruin threatened his family, Anthony expanded upon a business he’d had as a teen and established his first company, Cool Blue Performance. Within one year he was working with every parts supplier in the industry; the following year he began manufacturing his own parts and dominating the industry.

Since then Anthony Morrison has started eleven additional companies, created a charity, Christmas For Kids, and now operates one of the most successful seminar tours in the United States. Anthony not only teaches aspiring entrepreneurs how to succeed in business, he helps them start their first business and provides one-on-one instruction.

The year 2008 saw Anthony expanding into the world of publishing with his first book, The Hidden Millionaire: Twelve Principles to Uncovering the Entrepreneur in You. Part memoir, part inspirational tale and part instructional tome, The Hidden Millionaire brings Anthony Morrison’s template for success to an entire new audience. With his book in the hands of thousands of people around the country Anthony hopes to share his story and inspire, motivate, and empower everyone who reads it to create their own success story.

In 2009 Anthony wrote his second book, Advertising Profits From Home, in an effort to teach people around the country how to use his techniques and strategies to create a successful online marketing campaign. Anthony has created a blueprint for a successful marketing campaign and platform for affiliate marketers around the world, and he shares these secrets in his new book. Anthony filmed a TV show with Mark Victor Hansen, C0-Author of The Chicken Soup Series, to promote his new book on a national level. The show is currently airing nationwide.

Today, Anthony Morrison travels the country sharing his story and teaching his skills to budding entrepreneurs. He is at home in Mississippi, where he was born and raised, and he remains close to the loving family and friends who supported him in his ascent to entrepreneurial greatness.

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Chris Brogan consults and speaks professionally with Fortune 100 and 500 companies like PepsiCo, General Motors, Microsoft, and more, on the future of business communications, and social software technologies. He is a New York Times bestselling co-author of Trust Agents, and a featured monthly columnist at Entrepreneur Magazine. Chris’s blog, [chrisbrogan.com], is in the Top 5 of the Advertising Age Power150. He has over 11 years experience in online community, social media, and related technologies.

Chris Brogan is president of Human Business Works, an online education and community company for small businesses and solo entrepreneurs. His first project there, 501 Mission Place, helps nonprofits and charities learn how to grow their capabilities. Chris is also Entrepreneur in Residence at CrossTech Ventures, where he’s working to develop New Marketing Labs and The Pulse Network, among other projects.

Chris is also the cofounder of the PodCamp new media conference series, exploring the use of new media community tools to extend and build value.

He has 16 years of enterprise telecommunications and wireless experience prior to all this.

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Currently on the staff of corporate communications in Ford, Scott heads up the social media function and holds the title Global Digital Multimedia Communications Manager. He is a strategic advisor on all social media activities across the company, from blogger relations to marketing support, customer service to internal communications and more, as social media is being integrated into many facets of Ford business. Prior to joining Ford, Scott served as Consigliere for crayon, a strategic marketing firm, and with PJA Advertising + Marketing, a boutique B to B agency specializing in health sciences and high tech.

In addition to his consulting and agency background, Scott is an active blogger and podcaster. He writes about the intersection of advertising, marketing and PR at The Social Media Marketing Blog (www.scottmonty.com) and also writes The Baker Street Blog, a literary undertaking. Scott has been featured in numerous news and business publications, in over a dozen books, and on a variety of broadcast media from podcasts to NPR to national television.

Scott is a recognized thought leader in the social media industry and frequently speaks at industry events. Scott received his Master’s in Medical Science from Boston University’s School of Medicine concurrently with his MBA from BU’s Graduate School of Management. He lives in the greater Detroit area with his wife and two young sons, golfs all too infrequently, and has a hidden talent for voice over work.

Oh, and one last little-known fact: Scott coined the Oxford Dictionary of English-accepted term “tweetup.”

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Aaron Strout is a friend that I have been following since his days back in Boston.  I don;t hold it against him that he is a huge Red Sox fan, but I do look to him when I need advice on social media and now especially in the area of location based marketing.  I am really looking forward to this interview, and you should be equally excited.

Aaron is the head of location based marketing at WCG, a global agency offering integrated creative, interactive and marketing communications services to clients in healthcare, consumer products and technology. At WCG, Aaron not only focuses on helping customers with mobile marketing and location based marketing but also helps provide social voice for the company. In this role, Aaron continues with his speaking, blogging (syndicated on socialmediainformer.com), podcasting and social networking activities with an eye toward creating awareness and lead generation for WCG. Prior to joining WCG, Aaron spent time as the CMO of social media agency, Powered Inc., VP of social media at Mzinga and director of interactive at Fidelity Investments.

In addition to his knowledge of the interactive and social media landscape, Aaron has more than 17 years of online marketing and advertising experience, with a strong background in integrated and online marketing. Aaron is a founding member and former president of (BIMA) and a member and former board member of the Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange (MITX). Aaron is also on the advisory board of the prestigious Social Media Club.

In addition, Aaron is in the process of co-authoring the book, Location Based Marketing for Dummies (Wiley). The book is due out in July but is available for pre-order on Amazon.

You can reach Aaron at stroutmeister AT gmail DOT com or on Twitter.

UPDATED:  A missed flight makes it necessary for Aaron Strout to have a second on this day and we have Mike Schneider filling in for him.  We get to talk location based marketing with Mike and he may have some further drill down knowledge of the technology!

Mike Schneider, Senior Vice President, Director Digital Incubator for Allen & Gerritsen, ranked by Advertising Age as one of the Top 50 Independent advertising agencies in the US. The DInc is an emerging technology lab responsible for building products and engaging digital experiences rooted in ROI while helping define “what’s next” for the agency and the industry.

Mike has spent his career solving problems using technology with a focus on marketing and analytics. He began his career building enterprise class database driven applications and data warehouses. Opportunities to get his hands on world-class technology projects & management consulting opportunities brought him to organizations like Ernst & Young & Oracle. In 2004, he took his CRM and analytics expertise to Hill, Holliday where he built the database marketing practice and also ran the digital technology practice. His client roster includes: Cognos, CVS, Dunkin Donuts, Fidelity Investments, Dell, Gillette, Georgia Pacific, Hannaford, Liberty Mutual, LPL, MFS, Pfizer and Sears. Mike has crafted paid, owned and earned media strategies, built award-winning communities, designed and implemented B2B and consumer segmentation, content management and customer relationship management solutions. He also writes for several blogs including a technology and social media blog called Digital Before Digital. He was recognized in 2010 as a Boston Business Journal 40 Under 40. He is currently writing Location Based Marketing for Dummies with Aaron Strout, CMO of Powered Inc. He is the host of a new web show called Tech Interruption.

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