Today, Tom Pick (@TomPick), Online Marketing Executive at KC Associates, who blogs at his award winning B2B Webbiquity, and I (@ckburgess – Blue Focus Marketing @BlueFocus360) present 50 remarkable men on our 2011 #Nifty50 Top Twitter Men list. These men are indeed using Twitter to rewire and reorient the Web. But, by no means, is this list complete.Tom contacted me a few weeks ago with this idea and we’ve been working collaboratively on this project ever since. So, as promised in Tom Pick’s blog, “2011 #Nifty50 Top Twitter Women”, in honor of mothers, our 2011 #Nifty50 Top Twitter Men now honors fathers. Just in time for Father’s Day, as we’re pretty certain that every man on this list is a dad, has a dad, knows someone who’s a dad, or some combination thereof.
It takes a community to build a community
So much of building a community requires understanding people and engaging with them. Experts tell us the number one networking tip is to help others and they’ll return the favor — large or small. Adding explicit or implicit promises to a relationship up front can kill it before it starts. Perhaps our focus should be to gain credibility and trust — then work to build an enduring, meaningful relationship.
Now you may wonder, “How do we build a community?” According to Tom Grant, Ph.D, Senior Analyst at Forrester (@TomGrantForr) “You don’t build a community. You expand it.” He said, “Few communities appear ex nihilo at the behest of a technology vendor.”
Should there be an ROI on relationships?
Mother Teresa, a great innovator on relationships said, “Love does not measure; it just gives”. Twitter, not unlike Mother Teresa’s virtues of love, is a delicate ecosystem of real people. Some experts may want to rethink their advice and look deeper into the real meaning of relationships.
Social Networking: Like Falling In Love
Adam L. Penenberg’s (@Penenberg) Fast Company article: “Social Networking Affects Brains Like Falling in Love” examines research by neuroeconomist Paul Zak that suggests social networking triggers the release of the generosity-trust chemical in our brains: Oxytocin (known as the cuddle chemical). This should be a wake-up call for companies’ content on pursuing outbound marketing initiatives.
Revolutionizing Communication
“Twitter isn’t just changing how we communicate — it is changing how we innovate…It’s revolutionary because it brings 21st Century DNA roaring raucously to life”, stated Umair Haque (@umairh) Director of the Havas Media Lab and author of The New Capitalist Manifesto: Building a Disruptively Better Business. What’s most interesting is that Umair made this statement in June, 2009 when Twitter had recorded approximately 2.5 million tweets per day. Today, Twitter posts 50 million tweets per day.
Umair went on to say in his post “The business of business is to create value — and that’s why Twitter’s not playing the tired, old game of value extraction. It is trying, instead, to create a more authentic kind of value — and to do that, you need ideals. Twitter pursues its ideals — democracy, peace, equity — with the quiet intensity of a true revolutionary.” Since 2009, we have seen revolutionary wars and unspeakable natural disasters. Umair is not only an innovative thinker but a man with astounding vision.
Ecosystems Rewiring: Real Relationships and Feelings
Twitter has become one of the most participatory public mediums in history and continues to grow exponentially as ecosystems of real people rewire with real relationships and feelings.
Now, along with Tom Pick (@TomPick) and myself, we would like to introduce the recipients of the 2011 #Nifty50 Top Twitter Men Award.
Sean Gardner – @2morrowknight
Humanitarian and co-creator of the #TwitterPowerhouses Series, and #TwitterCharityFacts. Blogger for Huffington Post and @op_editorial, Marketer, Do-Gooder, Master Surfer! Sean was also a #MMChat guest, sponsored by @TheSocialCMO
Adam Vincenzini – @adamvincenzini
Senior consultant at London-based agency, @ParatusComms. Blogging at COMMScorner.com, TheNextWeb.com and PRDaily.biz. Originally from Oz.
Dan Higgins – @AdScientist
A digital and advertising strategist, Dan is passionate about new technologies and creativity. Currently, he is a Medical Officer in the @USArmy in Kandadar. His “first love” is advertising and when he returns home, he will be looking for a job on Madison Ave. Couldn’t name all of our favorite #Nifty50 creative guys, but we think Dan represents all of them for us. Dan had sent me a long list of his recommendations for #Nifty50. He thinks we’ve picked one name from his list, but what he doesn’t realize is that we’ve picked Dan to represent all the Mad Men. Dan, Madison Ave is waiting for you when you get home! |Dan’s LinkedIn Profile | Dan’s Tweets – On May 12, 2011 Dan tweeted this: @CarlRWarner @ckburgess I am officially an Army Medical Captain! |Dan is not always able to tweet b/c of responsibilities or out on missions…but here are a couple more of my favorite tweets from Dan sent on 5/21@AdScientist: ‘What is beautiful about social media are the relationships that can be built/started, conversations shared.’|Another special tweet he sent 5/21 @ckburgess I can’t wait to get home from Afghanistan to buy his book, #WeFirst, and not just follow his twitter and blog. @SimonMainwaring NEW POST by Cathy Waters @cathywaters May 19th Blog – Dan is the Man: Advice on Finding Marketing Jobs in the Digital Age
Marty Weintraub – @aimclear
Marty Weintraub is president of aimClear, an Internet-focused Advertising Agency. His company provides traditional & social pay-per-click (PPC) management, natural search optimization (SEO), social media/feed marketing (SMO) and online reputation management (ORM) services to national clients. An avid search marketing blogger, he’s written extensively for SearchEngineWatch, SearchEngineLand, SEORoundTable and others. His popular “home” publication is aimClear Blog. Marty’s an international speaker at Search Engine Strategies (SES), Search Marketing Expo, SEMpdx and PubCon conferences. A musician by trade, Marty is well known for recording dolphins, wolves, loons, water environments and setting them to global acoustic music.
Alex Romanovich – @alexromanovich
Founder of Social2B, social media marketing integrators and consultancies, with emphasis on Enterprise and B2B Social Media, SEO and SMM, and defining metrics and measurement systems, aligning traditional metrics with social media metrics. CMO at EuroSpaClub International. Advisory Board Member at The CMO Club. Contributor to the Social Media Marketing Magazine – B2B Column. Consults major corporations on social media strategies, reputation management strategies, risk management strategies, and social media growth and scalability in manufacturing, healthcare, IT service, technology, publishing, and CPG industry segments. Consulted on social media and reputation management strategy with Dow, Hearst, IBM, Time/Life, & Barnes&Noble. Founder of Social2B Labs – a new and emerging social media accelerator for companies and innovators targeting Enterprise and B2B solutions.
Andreas Ramos – @Andreas_Ramos
Andreas Ramos is the Director of Strategy for Acxiom Corporation and lives in Palo Alto, CA. He is an industry expert in the areas of SEO, interactive and digital technologies and author of Search Engine Marketing and several more books. He co-founded two Silicon Valley search engine marketing agencies and is a frequent speaker at search marketing conferences. Andreas’ blog includes a great list of favorite words and meanings from multiple languages. One example, the word: Aware. This is a Japanese noun, pronounced ah-WAH-reh, which means a sudden, brief awareness of the brevity and fragility of existence, such as a glimpse of a herd of deer running softly through a forest or noticing the sheen of moisture in a woman’s eyes. His blog also includes a beautifully written personal account of the night the Berlin Wall fell.
Andres Silva A. – @andressilvaa
Marketing Professor at Universidad Andrés Bello and DuocUc. SMM, Consultant and Speaker. CEO at SMMChile and CM at Ingelab ltda. Andres is a social media expert. Ranked No. 1 Marketing Professors in the world by @SMMmagazine. Andres is always recommending his favorite tweeps and blogs, but now we’re recommending that you read Andres’s blogs at marketinghighcompetition.blogspot.com and blogmarketingchile.com and follow him. Andres’ insights and knowledge inspires not only his students, but everyone that follows him.
Arik Hanson – @arikhanson
Arik is the principal at PR firm ACH Communications, a digital PR consultant, blogger, co-founder of HAPPO, and (along with #Nifty50 award recipient Missy Berggren) co-founder of the Minnesota Blogger Conference – #mnblogconf
Aaron Lee – @AskAaronLee
Aaron Lee or more known as Ask Aaron Lee (@askaaronlee) on twitter is your average Joe but with an extra-large social media addiction. Competitive by Nature, Positive Minded, Marketing Student & part time social media manager.
Billy Mitchell – @Billymitchell1
Billy Mitchell is a partner and senior creative director at MLT Creative, an Atlanta-based B2B marketing agency. As a B2B marketing specialist, Billy is a recognized expert in B2B inbound marketing, and is very active on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. He is also the curator of the top two B2B marketing lists on Twitter, and his lists are number one on both Listorious and Mashable. He contributes regularly to the B2B Ideas@Work blog for MLT Creative.
Michael Brenner – @BrennerMichael
Michael Brenner is a Sr. Director of Global Marketing for SAP. He is the author of B2B Marketing Insider, a contributor for the SAP OnDemand blog and also a co-founder of social news site Business2Community.com. Michael has been working in marketing and sales for over 17 years in various roles where he uses customer insights to drive sales, ROI and customer loyalty through effective sales and marketing strategies. Michael believes that companies need to become more social, and that marketers need to stop focusing on just their activities and put the customer first. Follow Michael on Twitter @BrennerMichael and Facebook.
Christopher Burgess – @burgessct
Christopher Burgess – Senior Security Advisor at Cisco; co-author of Secrets Stolen, Fortunes Lost; writes on Online Safety, Hunger and Human Trafficking on his personal blog, Burgessct.com, while also professionally blogging in both Huffington Post and Cisco Security Blog addressing social network/media security & privacy issues touching our personal and professional lives. Christopher is an often sought speaker, who addresses the unsavory side of social media not touched by many.
Chuck Martin – @chuckmartin1
Chuck is Director of the Center for Media Research, MediaPost Communications, a NY Times Business best-selling author, CEO of Mobile Future Institute and mobile advocate. He’s brand manager of the Mobile Insider Summit and a frequent speaker nationally on mobile and mobile marketing. His newest book is The Third Screen (Marketing to Your Customers in a World Gone Mobile).
Danny Brown – @DannyBrown
Co-founder and partner at Bonsai Interactive Marketing. Speaker at TEDx and is regularly quoted in publications and news media, including Marketing Magazine, Canadian Marketing Association, Philadelphia Inquirer, Fast Company and City News Toronto. Award-winning marketing and social media blogger. Founder of 12for12k.org.
David Aaker – @DavidAaker
David Aaker is Vice-Chairman of Prophet, Professor Emeritus, UC Berkeley, the creator of the Aaker Model™ and a recognized authority on brands. David has published 15 books and his latest is Brand Relevance. On David’s blog you will find more information on Brand Relevance as well as all his other books he has published. In addition, David’s blog provides the reader with a steady-stream of thought-provoking marketing content.
Jason DeRusha – @DeRushaJ
A reporter and anchor for CBS affiliate WCCO TV in Minneapolis (the top-rated newscast in the Twin Cities); Jason hosts the station’s popular “Good Question” segment. He’s also active in social media and was named as one of the Twin Cities Top Titans in Social Media in 2009.
Eric Fletcher – @ericfletcher
Eric is the CMO at McGlinchey Stafford, a business law firm with nine offices in the U.S. He is a Communication and Marketing veteran, with a career that spans radio and television broadcasting, agency partnership, film & video production, and professional services consulting. His personal blog focuses on strategic marketing, communication and values in today’s market. In addition, Eric writes a column for SMM Magazine, and contributes as part of the “Crew” at The Social CMO Blog.
Blair Semenoff – @Flipbooks
If you ‘ask’ @AskAaronLee about Blair he would probably say that Blair is one of the 50 Most ReTweeted Twitter Users of All Time. But Blair isn’t just a cool guy that everyone loves to RT, he’s a “Twitter Psychologist” & “Viral Marketing Scientist”. He is currently creating a global social media agency & is searching for funding.
Frank Strong – @Frank_Strong
Frank is a PR & marketing guy full-time, infantry officer part-time, Pats fan all the time, political news junkie anytime. Visit Frank’s blog, The Sword and the Script, a blog that studies the application of marketing, PR and social media.
Glen Gilmore, Esq. – @GlenGilmore
Glen is a power user on Twitter with over 100,000 followers. He is an attorney, social media best practices strategist and adjunct professor at Rutgers University. Principal of Gilmore Business Network, a NJ-based social media consulting firm, and also a practicing attorney. He is the senior social media marketing advisor to Memphis-based Howell Marketing (@HowellMarketing) and to Harrisburg-based Deeter Gallaher Group (@AnneDGallaher) public relations and marketing firms with clients ranging from Fortune 500 to small businesses and non-profits. Glen served as mayor in Hamilton, NJ, during the 2001 anthrax attacks when the regional postal facility located in the community received and distributed anthrax-tainted letters. Gilmore was featured in TIME magazine for having established an emergency treatment clinic to care for more than 1,000 postal workers who had been exposed to the potentially-deadly anthrax substance.
Holger Schulze – @HolgerSchulze
Based in Washington, DC, Holger is director of marketing for information security vendor SafeNet. He is the founder and manager of two highly successful and active groups on LinkedIn, the 20,000-member B2B Technology Marketing Community and the 78,000-member Information Security Community.
Jeff Ashcroft – @JeffAshcroft
Supply chain expert and social networking pro Jeff Ashcroft is a key thought leader in many fields including retail, supply chain & disruptive technologies. Jeff is the true social media visionary who created The Social CMO, a blog that brings 35 senior marketing minds together and is now one of the Ad Age Power 150 Marketing sites. Jeff also founded & hosts #MMchat one of the most popular tweetchats every Monday at 8 pm EST. That is why @theSocialCMO is aka @JeffAshcroft.
Jeff Bullas – @jeffbullas
Jeff Bullas is a Chief Digital Evangelist with a passion to make a dent in the digital universe. Jeff makes social media and digital marketing simple without the gobbledygook. Visit Jeff’s blog, www.jeffbullas.com for fresh social media insights.
Joseph Zuccaro – @joezuc
Joe is a B2B Marketing consigliore and president of marketing automation services provider Allinio. Joe is the brainchild of B2B Twitterer of the Year Awards, @b2btoty debuted over two years ago. In keeping with Twitter’s crowd-sourcing spirit, the @B2BTOTY awards are based on votes from thousands of Twitter users and on each B2B creator’s Twitter strategy. Enjoy reading Joe’s blog.
Ken Banks – @KenBanks
Publisher, Ken Banks, is a seasoned online and offline publisher and is the Twitter power source for his blog @SocialNetDaily. Ken’s blog and tweets are social media news you can use. Ken understands the growing intersection of social media and business. He is listed as the 16 Brilliant Business Minds on Twitter in the Huffington Post. He is an inspiration to his followers.
Kent Huffman – @KentHuffman
Kent is the CMO at BearCom Wireless as well as the Founder and Co-Publisher of Social Media Marketing Magazine (@SMMmagazine) and a published author. He serves in advisory roles for the CMO Council and @TheSocialCMO. He is the publisher of The Top Professors on Twitter, The Top Authors on Twitter and The Top CMO’s on Twitter. Kent spearheaded the creation of BearCom’s company blog, BearCom Bulletin at Blog.BearCom.com. The blog will be formally hosted by BearCom’s virtual Chief Technology Officer, Meg A. Hertz, the mild-mannered tech geek who, when needed, morphs into superhero Wireless Woman. Kent is releasing the fifth issue of @SMMmagazine, and recently talked to SplashCast host Renay San Miguel about the magazine.
Kevin Randall – @KevinBrandall
On Twitter, Kevin (@KevinBrandall) brands himself simply: “All-Brand guy at Fast Company.” That’s an understatement. When Kevin broke news on politicians using neuromarketing, The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Huffington Postand GOOD Magazine followed. When not writing for Fast Company, Kevin develops strategies at Moveo to turn client businesses into fast brands. Google invited Kevin to lecture their marketing executives—after they ‘Googled’ the term “B2B Branding“. Check out Kevin’s recent Fast Company project, Face the Nation: How Sensory Logic Sees Secrets In Candidates’ Mugs. And speaking of presidential faces, Kevin is quoted in a Forbes story on Trump’s brand value. Having worked previously at Interbrand to build brand value for name-brand companies, Kevin is also an accomplished ‘Naming guy’. So picking Kevin here was just good, nifty branding. BTW: Kevin is a fellow member of the #LeBronians team “drafted” by Robert Rose (@Robert_Rose) in FollowFriday & Who’s The Lebron In Your Strategy –Maybe It’s You.
Lee Odden – @leeodden
Lee is the CEO of TopRank Online Marketing. He is one of 25 online marketing experts featured in “Online Marketing Heroes” published by Wiley and has been frequently cited for his search & social media marketing expertise by The Economist and Fortune Magazine. He’s an active thought leader in the search marketing industry. Lee has contributed to top industry publications such as Mashable, iMedia Connection and Yahoo Search Marketing Blog. A sought after search marketing, social media & PR industry speaker, Lee has keynoted Online Marketing Summit, Social Media Junction and Search Exchange on the intersection of Search, Social Media and Content Marketing.
Epirot Ludvik Nekaj – @LPlus
Epi is a pioneer in the crowdsourcing ad model, and Founder & CEO of Ludvik + Partners @LAdvertising in NYC. Under Epi’s leadership, his agency has landed several clients in B2B and B2C to personal branding services for high caliber CEO’s like John Basil Georges and QR Code ad campaigns like Tissot Watches. Today, Ludvik + Partners is one of New York’s hottest boutique ad agencies built 100% on the crowdsourcing model. FYI: Never forget the first time I met Epi. It was at the Twitter Shorty Awards (NYC) in 2010. In the midst of a maddening crowd, Epi appeared with his quick smile and offered me my first Twittertini to congratulate me, it was a moment I’ll never forget. Prior to that night we were Twitter pals, but since then we’ve become good friends. In case you would like to attend a couple cool events on June 7th, during Internet Week NYC (June 6th – 13th, 2011), here are two discount codes for you: “Using LBS to Boost Your Biz + WE FIRST Book by Simon Mainwaring” 15% Discount Code: #LBSBoost and Crowdsourcing AD Biz + WE FIRST Book by Simon Mainwaring 15% Discount Code: #CrowdAdBiz .
Mack Collier – @MackCollier
Mack Collier is a strategist, trainer and speaker who specializes in helping companies better connect with its customers via social media. His motto: “Don’t focus on the tools, focus on the connections that the tools help facilitate.” Mack founded and moderates #Blogchat, the largest Twitter Chat on the Internet. His goal is to help clients create those connections with their customers, and nurture them into relationships that help grow their bottom line. Mack is a frequent contributor to the website Marketing Profs and his writings have been referenced in several mainstream publications and websites, including MSNBC.com, Ad Age, CNET, and The Boston Globe. Mack has presented at some of the top social media conferences including SXSW and Marketing Profs Digital Marketing Mixer.
Mark Ragan – @MarkRaganCEO
Publisher of PR Daily and PR Daily Europe, the only daily news portals designed specifically for corporate communicators. Mark’s domain, Ragan.com also addresses Healthcare Marketing and Communications News and conducts a distinguished series of conferences to the communication and social media world. Mark personally drives his many conferences on communications and social media.
Mark Schaefer – @markwschaefer
Mark is a talented marketing consultant and adjunct professor for Rutgers University in New Jersey and has seven patents. Mark blogs at businessesgrow.com and is the author of The Tao of Twitter. He is also a recognized Twitter Top 10 Marketing Professor.
Mark Burgess – @mnburgess
Mark is an experienced digital marketer, social brand strategist, speaker, blogger and educator. He is co-founder of Blue Focus Marketing, a social branding consultancy that helps brands realize the benefits of social media marketing. Utilizing an innovative model, delivers customized on-site social media workshops. He is also the co-author of Ad Agencies Winning New Business 360, which has sold in 25 + countries worldwide; based on a proprietary strategic blueprint with emphasis on social media. Mark has been quoted in the WSJ and The New York Times. Mark’s career spans marketing, advertising, and professional services consulting. Mark led the PwC Global Web team. At McCann, headed the flagship L’Oreal and Sears accounts. Mark is a Twitter Top 40 Marketing Professor. Mark teaches Executive MBA and MBA marketing and advertising courses. He has won two EFFIEs for marketing excellence and DMA ECHO Awards.
Mike Volpe – @mvolpe
Mike is the CMO at HubSpot in Boston, a marketing software company. According to Brian Halligan (@bhalligan), “Mike has built a scalable, inbound lead generation machine for HubSpot,” Brian stated that Mike, “played a critical role in growing our customer base from a dozen beta customers to over 4,500 in four years. Last month alone we got 38,000 new, inbound leads to feed to our sales team. That’s inbound marketing in action.” Volpe is also credited with using inbound marketing to create a top marketing software industry brand that has won more than 30 industry awards, been featured in over 20 business and marketing books, and boasts one of the largest online communities of any SaaS company. Mike hosts an award winning weekly live marketing video podcast HubSpot TV. He was featured in a Harvard Business School case study “HubSpot: Marketing and Web 2.0“. He enjoys talking about marketing, appears frequently as a marketing speaker and blogs at blog.hubspot.com. Mike enjoys golf and playing recreational ice hockey and is a fan of the Patriots and Red Sox. Check out @TomPick’s blog at Webbiquity on what he learned from Mike’s HubSpot Webinar.
Patrick Strother – @PatrickStrother
Strother Communications Group since 1992. Teaches PR at the University of Minnesota. Digital Marketing, Higher Ed, Sports, Art, Public Affairs and loves playing the Guitar. He’s a Twitter Top Marketing Professor.
Philip Hotchkiss – @PhilipHotchkiss
Philip is a very passionate writer. 3x startup guy, advisor, board member. Past adventures CPO @Klout, CEO at Talkingpoint, president @MarketWatch, founder/chairman/CEO at BigCharts Philip’s. Not sure how many children Philip has nor all of their accomplishments, but I do know he’s very proud of his 8 year old son playing classical piano. On May 22nd, Philip tweeted his talented, classical pianist son’s YouTube debut on his GatorKeys channel playing Kabalevsky Etude in A minor No. 27 Op. 3. It’s moments like these that makes communities feel like family.
Philip Letts – @philipletts
Philip’s passion in life is crowdsourcing. He is an entrepreneur and head of blur Group, a creative services exchange where businesses and brands source marketing and creative campaigns from a crowd of experienced professionals. Although his Twitter profile proclaims he is “crap at surfing” that may because a) there’s no surf in the UK or b) he is too busy making waves in an industry vying for dominance over Madison Avenue.
Gary Schirr – @ProfessorGary
Gary Schirr is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Radford University in Virginia. His research passions are innovation and co-creation. Prior to joining academia, Gary worked for a Wall Street firm in Chicago and Singapore and as CMO for a succession of online startup firms. Now a third-career marketing professor, his interests also include service innovation, social media marketing, cross-cultural marketing and, entrepreneurship. Gary has the distinction of being ranked #3 in the world among Twitter Top Marketing Professors. Gary blogs at Service Co-Creation. He recently received a grant to develop a hybrid SMM course for RU, crediting his twitter and blog community which cooperated to crowdsource his grant application.
Scott Galloway – @profgalloway
Scott Galloway is Professor of Brand Strategy @ NYU, Founder of L2 Think Tank, Red Envelope, Prophet Brand Strategy and Firebrand Partners. Scott’s L2 think tank helps brands navigate the changing marketing landscape through events, research and advisory services.
Robert Rose – @Robert_Rose
Rob is the Founder and Chief Troublemaker at Big Blue Moose. Rob excels at innovating creative and technical content marketing strategies for his clients. He’s the Strategist in Residence and brand advisor for the Content Marketing Institute, a featured writer and guest blogger for the online magazine iMedia Connection. He is a frequent keynote speaker, guest blogger and brand advisor, and co-author of the book “Enterprise 2.0: How Technology, E-Commerce and Web 2.0 Are Transforming Business Virtually”. Rob is a research fellow with Coburn Ventures, a community of experts discussing and innovating current trends in Technology and investing. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) Software Division, and was a founding member of the Executive Council on Software-as-a-Service. In our opinion, Rob’s most “notable” achievement and in keeping with Rob’s title, “Chief Troublemaker”, was his creation of #LeBronians team FollowFriday & Who’s The Lebron In Your Strategy? — Maybe It’s You.
Simon Mainwaring – @simonmainwaring
Simon Mainwaring is founder of We First, a social branding consulting firm that helps companies use social media to build communities, profits and positive impact. His new book We First comes out in June explaining how brands and consumers use social media to build a better world. He is an ex-Nike/Wieden creative, Worldwide Creative Director on Motorola for Ogilvy, Fast Company blogger, international speaker, AdAge Power 150 member, contributes to Huffington Post, GOOD Magazine and Mashable and is a self-proclaimed “idea geek”. He blogs at http://simonmainwaring.com/and is committed to supporting a We First community of brands, non-profits and consumers using social technology to scale positive social change.
Steve Akins – @SteveAkinsSEO
On Twitter , Steve is known as a guy who is super friendly. He’s always quick to engage with you when you show up in Twitter chat. In real life, he is a SEO, developer, entrepreneur, struggling poet, gastronome, explorer from Chicago. Steve will be launching a new website soon. Can’t wait Steve!
Steve McKee – @SteveMcKee
Steve McKee is the president and co-founder of McKee Wallwork Cleveland; a full service integrated marketing firm that Advertising Age recently recognized as one of ten top small agencies in America and that has twice been awarded the American Marketing Association’s EFFIE Award for marketing effectiveness. He’s the author of When Growth Stalls: How it Happens, Why You’re Stuck and What to Do About It; writes a monthly advertising advice column for BusinessWeek.com, and has been published or quoted in the New York Times, USA Today, Advertising Age, Adweek, Investor’s Business Daily and the Los Angeles Times, as well as in dozens of newspapers and magazines throughout the U.S.. Steve has appeared on CNBC, ESPNII, CNNfn, Bloomberg TV and network television affiliates in more than two dozen cities across America and is a popular corporate speaker. Steve also blogs at Stalled, Stuck or Stale: The Blog for Brands That Don’t Have It All Together.
Steve Farnsworth – @Steveology
Steve is a senior corp comm practitioner and has worked with Apple, Mitsubishi, Philips, and THX. He consults with TV producers, documentary film makers, and authors on building audiences for their projects by using social media. Steve is currently the Chief Digital Strategist at Jolt Social Media. Steve also delivers on-site training and workshops designed to help his clients and their employees effectively integrate new school marketing with their traditional mix to increase brand loyalty and shorten the sale’s cycles. He is a director with the Silicon Valley Brand Forum, and regularly blogs and speaks on organizational adopting of social communications. As @Steveology on Twitter, he is nationally ranked in the top 5 for public relations, inbound marketing, and branding.
Steve Woodruff – @swoodruff
Steve refers to himself as the Connection Agent. He creates Opportunity Networks – communities of people committed to supporting one another, learning from one another, and opening up doors of opportunity for personal and professional advancement through trusted referrals. Two business networks — Impactiviti and the Connection Agency — have been launched. Steve is also the co-founder (with #Nifty50 Woman @LisaPetrilli) of #LeadershipChat, a growing community on Twitter born out of #SOBConf.
Ted Rubin – @TedRubin
Many people in the social media world know Ted Rubin for his enthusiastic, energetic and undeniably personal connection to people. On May 1st Ted announced leaving OpenSky and accepting the position of Chief Social Marketing Officer at Collective Bias, a company he has worked closely with for two years since meeting the Founder, John Andrews, through the blogging community and whose Advisory Board he joined a few months ago. Ted is on the Advisory Board of CollectiveBias, OpenSky, and SheSpeaks, is a Social Marketing and Engagement Advisor to Big Fuel Communications, and a Social Marketing Strategist and Brand Evangelist for Zuberance, a company that identifies, mobilizes, and tracks Brand Advocates. Ted is the most followed CMO on Twitter and has one of the deepest networks of any marketer in the social arena. ROR is the basis of his philosophy…It’s All About Relationships!
Olivier Blanchard – @thebrandbuilder
Olivier helps companies develop, build, integrate, manage and measure Social Media Programs. He also helps companies manage their reputations online and offline, and establish leadership in their markets. His Twitter profile tells us: “Pray that I never become your competitor’s secret weapon.” Check out his blog. Also, highly recommend his book, The Social Media ROI.
Tony Karrer – @tonykarrer
Tony Karrer is considered one of the top technologists in the e-Learning space. He is an experienced CTO and his work in social media, e-Learning and Performance Support has won awards and has led him into engagements at many Fortune 500 firms. Tony is a frequent speaker at industry and academic events. Tony blogs at Social CTO.
Trey Pennington – @treypennington
Trey Pennington, age 45, died unexpectedly on Sunday, September 4, 2011 in his hometown of Greenville, S.C.
Trey is all about delivering your brand story. Trey’s motto: “DON’T just tweet! Transform your marketing with STORIES. Story gets attention. Story gets SHARED”. Trey is a marketing pro, speaker, author, and dreamer. If you’re not connected to Trey either on Facebook, Twitter or haven’t met Trey IRL, then you’re missing a lot. Check out his blog to learn more about this amazing guy. You won’t be disappointed.
Umair Haque – @umairh
Umair is Director of the Havas Media Lab and author of The New Capitalist Manifesto: Building a Disruptively Better Business. He also founded Bubblegeneration, an agenda-setting advisory boutique that shaped strategies across media and consumer industries. Umar is not only an innovative thinker but a man with astounding vision.
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Thanks very much for including me on this interesting list. Twitter has become an interesting part of my life and I’m glad I can give a little back too : )
Hi Mark,
Your inclusion on the 2011 #Nifty50 Top Twitter Men list is well deserved. You’re certainly a leading proponent of the business networking advantages of Twitter.
Cheryl
A pleasure to have discovered this fascinating list and to be a part of it. I look forward to meeting and mixing with the other 49 at least on Twitter. They are impressive. Well done Cheryl and Tom!
Hi Philip!
Thanks for your comments. Based on some of the ground-breaking work you are doing with your Creative Exchange, you have a lot to share with others on the list.
Also, really appreciate quoting me, today, in blur Group’s blog It was an important point I wanted to convey about Twitter. That it continues to grow as “ecosystems of real people rewire with real relationships and feelings”.
Cheryl
what can I say? Being among these men is really a Gift. Congrats to you all and hope to see you at our sessions during Internet Week on June 7th: http://bit.ly/fBX0lu & http://bit.ly/ic7TKT (please make sure to use the discount codes)
much love to Cheryl & Mark.
cheers – epi
Epi
As one of the true pioneers of the new crowdsourcing model, you are leading the way for marketers and ad agencies alike. BTW, Mark and I are looking forward to seeing you in NYC during Internet Week next month.
Cheryl
Honored to be included with this august group of gentleman, all of whom are utilizing the Twitter medium to make a difference. In each instance, it isn’t about what they have, its about how they can help you and they all do it with aplomb.
Thank you,
Christopher
@burgessct
Hi Chris,
Thanks for your comments! Your place on the #Nifty50 Top Twitter Men list is well deserved for so many great things you do. I highly recommend people read your blog to learn more about you, Chris.
We hope this list will indeed create additional sharing and community among all award recipients.
Cheryl
Cheryl and Tom,
It is such an honor to be included on this list of social media and twitter power houses. Thanks to both of you and congrats to all my #nifty50 colleagues!
Best, Michael
@brennermichael
Michael,
Really appreciate your comments. Indeed, having you on the #Nifty50 list enhances its collective value among the community.
I’m also proud that my #Nifty50 blog will be syndicated on Business2Community.com, which was co-founded by you. Just want to pass on some information to our #Nifty50 community: Business2Community.com is syndicated to Google News, and listed on AdAge’s Power150 blogs and Technorati’s Top 100 Business Blogs. The site receives more than 150,000 people a month (and growing fast). Michael has a number of #Nifty50 Women on board and has a personal invite to all #Nifty50 Men and Women to join his community of bloggers.
So many business people ask the question, “How do you build a community?” The answer is a “Community Builds a Community“. What we’re accomplishing now, Michael, is building our community.
Cheryl
YAY! I have so many friends listed here. It’s almost as if I wrote the list myself. Congrats to all the guys!!
Gini,
Aww thank you, Gini! Knew when Tom and I were putting this list together our community would be happy!
Thanks!
Cheryl
Cheryl and Tom: Thanks so much for adding me as #Nifty50 I’m always grateful for continued support. I appreciate your work on Twitter and other Social Networks. I was pleasantly surprised this important mention. Congratulations to my friends!!
Hi Andres,
Thanks for your comments! Your use of Twitter has been amazing and is an example for all. And, so is your rank on SMM Magazine’s Top Marketing Professors on Twitter. Tom and I enjoy your tweets and how you create communities around the world.
Cheryl
Thank you so much for the honor. Lots of great men I respect are on this list, and it is indeed an honor to be named in the same space. Thanks again to Cheryl and Tom for all of the work you put into this post.
Sean,
Thanks for your kind comments!
Tom and I really feel it is an honor to have you on our 2011 #Nifty50 Top Twitter Men. You truly deserve this recognition!
Cheryl
Hi Cheryl,
I am sure that you had a difficult time keeping your list to just 50.
Many of the guys on this list are friends and speaking from personal experience those that I know Sean, Aaron, Steve, Blair, Glen are all at the top of their game. They are generous to a fault sharing their time and expertise.
Great job my friend..and congratulations to all the men on this list. I know from personal experience the thrill of being named by one’s peers…I love being apart of Twitter’s Top 75 BadAss Women #B75..an honour I share with Cheryl.
Jackie
@JackiesBuzz
Jackie,
You have that right! It was a very difficult task keeping our list to just 50 great men. As our communities continue to grow, this will only become more difficult.
Tom and I really appreciate your kind comments and the support of the #BA75 sisters. Just in case anyone wonders what our sisterhood is, I’m including a link to the community that I’m proud to be a part of:
Twitter’s Top 75 Bad**s. List was created by Diana Adams @adamsconsulting and Amy Howell @Howellmarketing.
Thanks again to you and all my #BA75 sisters that helped promote our #Nifty50 list. Our communities just got a lot bigger!
Cheryl
Honored to be listed in this constellation of talented fellows – thanks Cheryl and Tom for putting the two Nifty50 lists together!
Hi Steve,
You certainly deserve your place on the #Nifty50 list! I always look forward to your tweets which present new opportunities to increase my learning. When I think about people who are innovating in new areas, the name Steve Woodruff rises to the surface.
Cheryl
Shokran, Tom and Cheryl, Ahsen Nas for including me among a very talented group. Humbling! Been on a bit of a hiatus from social media while deployed overseas, but I’ve got a ton of ideas from the local culture and hope to put those to words soon! Mas Salamma, Frank (thanks, good people, goodbye).
Frank,
I wish so much that I could have written more about you in your bio. I know that you’re deployed in the service and not sure how much I could reveal. What I do know is that Tom speaks so highly of you and your service to our country is truly appreciated. Please don’t be humbled by our honoring you. It is Tom and I that are humbled to have you as a 2011 #Nifty50 Men recipient.
Thanks!
Cheryl
Thanks for including me in the list. This was a great way to find some interesting folks to follow.
Seems like you should be part of http://www.SocialMediaInformer.com. Email me if you are interested.
Tony,
I’m emailing you the moment I reply to your comment. Sounds really exciting and I’m honored to be considered! Again, this points to what I was saying in my blog’s intro that communities build communities.
Tom and I feel confident that we have expanded our communities by creating our lists.
Thanks!
Cheryl
To be included among this list of marketers, innovators and leaders is, indeed, a distinct honor. Cheryl and Tom — you clearly understand the importance of relationships, and the value each of us derives from the communities in which we participate. I know I can speak for the entire group of Gents when I say thanks to you both.
Eric
Hi Eric,
Thanks for your comments.
You fit so well among the list of “marketers, innovators and leaders” included in the #Nifty50. Tom and I think the entire group can learn a great deal by following your tweets and wisdom.
Cheryl
Cheryl & Tom –
Thanks so much for adding me to the #Nifty50 list!
And congratulations to all my friends on the list – great company!
@HolgerSchulze
Holger,
Tom and I really appreciate your kind comments!
Thank You,
Cheryl
Thanks Cheryl and Tom, It’s an honor to be listed among such a great group of guys. I have followed many on the list for most of the time I’ve been active on Twitter. Although I’ve been a marketing professional for decades, I’ve learned more in the past two years thanks to Twitter, and helpful experts on this list, than in the previous twenty.
The list includes a few folks I wasn’t following and an endorsement from you two is good enough to convince me I should. So now I’m not only on this list, I follow everyone on it too. I also found some new ladies to learn from on your recent #Nifty50 Ladies on Twitter list. Hopefully we’ll all get smarter as a result! Thanks again.
Hi Billy,
You are very deserving of the #Nifty50 award. Your comments about the power Twitter are so true.
Our knowledge is accelerated by this amazing tool, the communities we build and at the same time, I think we all become a little smarter by following you!
Cheryl
Cheryl and Tom, thanks very much for including me in the Nifty 50 and for your effort in putting this interesting list together. I know many of the folks on the list and know I am in very good company. Almost everything I know about social media I have learned as a result of my three years on Twitter, thanks to the generous sharing of so many knowledgeable people including many on this list.
Patrick,
It’s an honor to have you part of our #Nifty50 community. Tom and I appreciate the thought leadership you provide on a daily basis.
Thanks,
Cheryl
Cheryl:
Thanks for including me. Despite that one questionable call, a great list!!
My only concern is that people skip over your introduction to view the list: what a shame that would be. The introduction is a fine article about the nature of tweeting in its own right!
I cannot imagine how much work went into this. You and Tom should be proud of your product!!!!
Great job! Thanks for showing this “broadcaster” that twitter is a social medium.
– ProfessorGary
Gary,
Tom and I both agree that your contributions to our community warrants you being on our 2011 #Nifty50 Top Twitter Men list. You’re truly the social media enthusiast with intense passion and vision! You’re either in a classroom teaching, speaking at conferences, Facebook sharing, writing great blogs, or Tweeting.
Hope you continue to inspire your students as you inspire your community of followers.
Thank you!
Cheryl
Cheryl and Tom!
Thanks for including me on The Nifty Fifty Men list for Twitter!
It is indeed an honor and a privilege to be named among these other leading men and am also very pleased that you have included 10 of The Social CMO Crew on the list!
Cheryl, you were one of the first people I interacted with on Twitter and it’s certainly been a fun and interesting ride!
Most appreciative of your ongoing support and activity! And still hoping that one day we will also meet IRL!
Thanks again!
Cheers
Jeff
@TheSocialCMO
Jeff
Thanks for your comments. Twitter has been an amazing tool for both of us and catalyst for creating many new relationships (online and IRL). We recognize The Social CMO as an innovator in the growth of social media.
Hopefully, meeting IRL isn’t too far away!
Cheryl
When I started Twittering (Tweeting?) I had only one goal: share, discuss, and learn with other marketing pros about the changing landscape of how we communicate with customers, develop more business, work a little smarter, and do some good along the way. I have always had the desire to collaborate in a community of ideas with others who have chosen the same odd line of “work” that I have. So far I’ve had the distinct privilege of finding and connecting with many brothers on this list, and sisters on the previous list. They’ve provided incredible insight, reality checks, healthy controversy, and genuine thought leadership in a time when that word is sadly misused on a daily basis. They are truly valued fellow travelers. Being included on this list with so many folks I personally admire is an honor. Thank you!
Steve,
Tom and I really appreciate your kind comments. Twitter has truly rewired and reoriented the Web. Businesses need to realize the power of communities and wealth of information that can be garnished by real-time communication.
This should be a wake-up call for companies’ content on pursuing outbound marketing initiatives.
Thanks!
Cheryl
Another great list, Cheryl and Tom. Kudos to all the great men listed here. I’m not familiar with some of them and look forward to following them and getting to know them. Thanks so much for compiling this. Also, loved your insightful thoughts about Twitter in the post and your reference to Mother Theresa was truly inspired.
Wendy,
Tom and I really appreciate your kind comments.
So much about communities is about giving. Thank you for mentioning Mother Teresa’s quote in my blog. She was a great innovator on relationships and her words are truly inspiring as it relates to Twitter, “Love does not measure; it just gives”. As I said, Twitter, not unlike Mother Teresa’s virtues of love, is a delicate ecosystem of real people.
Thanks,
Cheryl
Cheryl – Awesome job with the layout, this came out beautifully. Luckily one of us has design talent. 🙂
To all – It was a heckuva challenge creating this list and I think the final result was pretty good based on the feedback we’ve received, but it was inevitable, just as with the #Nifty50 women, that some highly deserving souls didn’t quite make this (2011 at least) list.
Reviewing the names of all the guys we considered but would be another (long) blog post in itself, but Cheryl and I both want to give an “honorable mention” shoutout to one individual – Jeff Ogden, aka @fearlesscomp. Jeff has been an inspiration, a strong supporter/promoter of the #Nifty50, and I’m pleased to have had the honor to contribute with him to @AliciaSanera’s March Marketing Madness series of posts (http://www.sanerapdc.com/2011/03/march-marketing-madness-2011-the-recap/).
Thanks to everyone for your support. The #Nifty50 is just getting started. Stay tuned!
Thanks Tom and Cheryl. While it was disappointing to not be included in this awesome list of nice gentleman, I’m honored to have been given an “honorable mention.” Thank you very much.
Jeff Ogden
@fearlesscomp
Jeff,
Tom and I truly recognize your great accomplishments and want to give you “honorable mention” for the #Nifty50 Top Twitter Men. Your contribution not only in your Twitter stream and numerous Twitter Chats, but also building business communities.
I highly recommend everyone to visit your blog, Find New Customer, and learn more about your you, Jeff.
Thanks for all your support! Our community depends on your insights and knowledge.
Cheryl
Cheryl and Tom,
Thank you two so much for including me. I’m truly honored and am in great company. 🙂
Kent
Kent,
You’re so welcome. But I’m the one that should be thanking you for mentioning me twice Friday during BlogTalkRadio show (Time location: 43:15 and 45:49) with Eve Mayer Orsburn @LinkedInQueen. That was really a heart-warming surprise from both you and Eve. It was also good to be mentioned along with our friends Eric Fletcher and Andres Silva.
pssst Kent….I love being in the “family”.
Thank You,
Cheryl
Wow- it is a tremendous honor to be included in this list, among this community! Led by that incomparable branding guru duo, the #Nifty50 Aakers of course! Cheryl, your blogs get better and better (no pressure, repeat Twitter Shorty Award in Marketing winner). But an even greater accomplishment is your sparking, empowering community building and growth. Keep electrifying and rewiring! Sincerely, Kevin
Kevin,
Tom and I appreciate your kind words.
You were “picked” not only because you’re a fellow #LeBronians team member with both Tom and me, but because of your great content on Twitter as well as in Fast Company. Plus, anyone that gets RTs from Twitter superstars Umair Haque and Alyssa Milano as you do, Kevin, deserves to be on this list. Though, certainly the men on this list would applaud you more for Alyssa’s attention.
Cheers,
Cheryl
Thank you for this great list! I look forward to following them and getting to know them.
Thank you again for the great work of compilation !
You’re most welcome!
Cheryl