Bloody great, best-in-breed, article about online PR and marketing ethics by my buddy David Gelles of the Financial Times — he is surely a golden child and new media journalist rock star… be sure to put this article in front of your boss, whether you are a PR flack or are a corporate stooge — I think this article is actually going to be printed into the pink pages of the FT on Thursday, February 12 — go pick it up and hand it to the members of the C-suite, Blogs that spin a web of deception:

A web of deception By David Gelles

An overenthusiastic em­ployee from the computer supplies maker Belkin posted an offer online last month – $0.65 for anyone willing to write a positive review of Belkin products on Amazon.com. Several people took up the offer, producing gushing appraisals of Belkin products they had never used.

After a blogger exposed the scam, news organisations jumped on the story. The offer was removed and Belkin’s president weighed in with an apology.

The incident was a public relations disaster for Belkin. It was also a prime example of “Astroturfing”, the unsavoury marketing practice of generating fake grassroots enthusiasm for a product.

Given the anonymity afforded by the internet, it is hardly surprising that deceptive marketing is on the rise. Consumers are spending more time online and companies are seeking new ways to reach them.

But now, in an effort to regulate how employees behave on the web, companies and industry groups are developing their own online codes of ethics. They want to ensure that when staff do engage with social media, they act ethically.

Last year, Coca-Cola established its own set of social media guidelines and distributed them in a memo to all employees. The policy emphasises the need for transparency and encourages employees to use common sense when discussing the brand online. “We’ve always had very diverse channels to reach consumers,” says Adam Brown (pictured), digital communications director. “Wherever they are, that’s where we go. That’s now evolved into the need for a social media policy.”

So when Mr Brown went online to promote Coca-Cola’s Super Bowl advertisements, he followed the guidelines. On Facebook, Mr Brown announced that he was a Coke employee and pointed other users to the Coke ads on YouTube. On Pittsburgh Steelers fan forums, Mr Brown, who is from Pittsburgh, named his employer and then directed fans to the Coke blog, which had an interview with Steelers’ defensive star Troy Polamalu.

Mr Brown said more deliberate engagement with online conversations was a necessity for a global company such as Coca-Cola. “We’re mentioned several thousand times a day on blogs, and there are several hundred tweets about us on Twitter,” he says. “There is a lot of conversation taking place about our brand without us. Where appropriate, we wanted to start getting involved.”

Companies began interacting with social media years ago. But only recently have those involved with the industry perceived a need to develop ethical standards. Among the first to do so was The Word of Mouth Marketing Association, an organisation for the viral and buzz marketing industry. Womma published an ethics code in 2005, emphasising honesty of relationship, opinion and identity.

Since then, many companies have used the Womma code as a blueprint for their own guidelines. “Companies are learning every day that there is a right way and a wrong way to engage with social media,” says Paul Rand, vice-president of Womma’s board and head of its ethics project. “Some companies are learning by touching the burning pot; some companies are learning from the mistakes of ­others.”

One company that “touched the burning pot” is Shelfari, a social networking site for book lovers, owned by Amazon. As it battled for market share in late 2007, it came under fire for its poor design and clunky user interface. Soon, comments appeared on more than 50 blogs attesting to Shelfari’s greatness. “I have been on Shelfari for a couple of months now and absolutely love it,” read one. “Shelfari is such a great site. I joined a couple of months ago and I have been hooked on it ever since,” read another.

But all the comments were posted by the same user, “schaufferwaffer”, who was soon exposed as a Shelfari employee. Shelfari’s chief executive admitted to the Astroturfing (he blamed it on an intern who knew no better), and promised it would never happen again.

Such behaviour is declared out of line in the “disclosure best practices toolkit”, an ethics code drawn up by the Blog Council, an organisation for heads of social media at big companies. The document advises employees and agencies to announce whom they work for when communicating with blogs or bloggers. It also encourages employees to provide a means for contacting them directly, if someone they interact with via social media wants to follow up with a two-way conversation. The toolkit also warns against using pseudonyms.

IBM was one of the first companies to develop its own social media policy. In 2005, it published its “social computing guidelines”, which insist that employees write under their own names, using the first person, and make it clear they are speaking for themselves and not on behalf of IBM. It also prohibits employees from referencing clients, partners or suppliers without their approval.

UPS is developing its own online ethics policy after recognising how damaging Astro­turfing and other online misbehaviour can be for a company’s reputation. “If one of our airplanes goes down, we have a very clear plan for getting information to the media,” says Norman Black, director of global media services. “We realised we did not have a good plan for responding to a crisis on the ­internet.”

In some countries, deceptive marketing practices are not only frowned upon but also illegal. In the UK, the law identifies “falsely representing oneself as a consumer” as a punishable offence. And in 2006, the US Federal Trade Commission issued regulations stating that word-of-mouth marketers must disclose their relationships. But in spite of these new rules there has been little enforcement of the measures.

Even without prosecution, Belkin seems to have learnt its lesson. Melody Chalaban, speaking for the company, says Belkin will soon be holding seminars to teach employees how to interact ethically with social media, and is also considering joining Womma. “We want to stress that this is an isolated incident,” says Ms Chalaban. “We don’t endorse or condone unethical practices like this.”

Side Bar: The last post: underhand tactics can end in a PR disaster

* Flogging. Fake blogs can help companies get a personal voice behind a marketing campaign – but they risk a PR disaster if they are uncovered. When Sony tried to boost sales of its PSP portable gaming unit, it started a blog supposedly by two boys who wanted PSPs for Christmas. When it was revealed as a fake, Sony apologised and took it down.

* Astroturfing. A technique that gets its name from the practice of generating fake grassroots enthusiasm. One Florida company, PayPerPost, serves as a matchmaker between companies willing to pay for good press and bloggers willing to plug products that they have never used. After receiving criticism, PayPerPost now requires bloggers to disclose that their posts are sponsored.

* Comment spamming. Flooding the comment fields of blogs with enthusiastic notes about a company, even with full disclosure, is not welcomed by web users. When a Motorola employee commented on dozens of posts on a technology blog – each comment a plug for the new Motorola Krave – bloggers responded with snide criticisms of his spamming, which duly ceased.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009

Here’s actual evidence that I do have a life and that I don’t work all the time and that I do have friends and a life in Real Life and that I do go out and don’t work all the time and that I do have a face and a smile.  It also reveals that I am stiff and awkward before the camera and am not used to being the subject of the camera at all. Elisabeth seems to me a little more comfortable with herself — and much more rock star!

Elisabeth, John and Chris at The Bird in Berlin

After a nice dinner of * Paneer at a local Prinzlauer Berg Indian joint, Elisabeth, John, and I took it to The Bird in Berlin where we proceeded to do Many Silly Things and Generally Have Fun. Notice, I am not very animated in person.

Bill Balderaz, President of Webbed Marketing, is a Social Media rock star! I sat in on his session at PodCampOhio, Strategies for blogging, podcasting and social network marketing — and even tried to stream it via Qik but only got seconds of it!  You should check out his session if at all possible — I don’t know who else recorded it — I only got one minute :(:

Wait a minute.

There is a form marketing that involves consumers creating videos, podcasts and blog posts about your brand and distributing that content freely? And they don’t have to go through rounds of lawyers, executives and brand police when they are creating this content? And they do it without getting paid, on their own time and show genuine passion and interest in doing so?

And these programs enhance my search engine optimization, pay-per-click, online public relations and traditional marketing campaigns?

To top it all off, this form marketing is viewed as credible by consumers and has a measurable impact on my business?

Sign me up.

Social Media Marketing…working with consumers to create and distribute content about your brand is a powerful tool that smart marketers can’t ignore. In this session attendees will learn:

How to build and execute a great social media campaign

How blogging, and working with bloggers, can help a marketing program “go viral”

The role podcasts and video play in online marketing campaigns

The Atlantic article, Marry Him: The case for settling for Mr. Good Enough, was cross-referenced with my article, Chris Abraham As Quoted in The Atlantic, and then synthesized into the article, I’m Sufficiently Into You, which is especially cool because there are over 300 comments that dress my down like a rock star:

See, Chris has it right. If there’s only one person you’d want to be married to, then don’t marry anyone else.

If he’s telling the truth, that is. *ahem*probablynot*ahem*

Posted by: Cryptic Ned | Link to this comment | 02-11-08 12:24 AM

“By the time she turns 37,” Chris said confidently, “she’ll come back. And I’ll bet she’ll marry me then. I know she wants to have kids.”

Is there anyone who doubts that the surgeon did exactly the right thing in not marrying him?

Posted by: bitchphd | Link to this comment | 02-11-08 12:38 AM

This guy Chris must be a real whiz in his marketing job, what with all his keen insights into people. “I’ll just wait this one out, because doubtless this smart, ambitious, good looking woman will have to come crawling back for my baby making sperm.”

Posted by: gswift | Link to this comment | 02-11-08 1:19 AM

Well that’s marketing for you — he probably saw a study about high percentages of late-thirties childless women desperate to get married and start a family.

Posted by: soup biscuit | Link to this comment | 02-11-08 1:23 AM

Chris sounds like a couple of guys I know, to the extent that many of them went through a must-find-a-wife stage and were far more desperate not to be “that guy” at the bar in his mid-thirties.

31 is just genius. “Never trust anyone over thirty” has turned into “Never trust anyone black/educated/white/rural/female/under 50 who voted for Obama.”

Chris’s story fills me with sadness more than anything else.

Posted by: strasmangelo jones | Link to this comment | 02-11-08 6:36 AM

35: Yes, but they were worried about it. They were worried that women would wonder why they were 32 and not married. What was wrong with them? (Usually, nothing.) It’s just that we almost never hear about it from guys, but for guys that want to get married, in my experience, there’s just as much panicking.

Posted by: Cala | Link to this comment | 02-11-08 6:40 AM

It’s funny how all this ridiculous advice ignores the fact that there are also men who really, really, desperately want to get married and have children.

apart from the “Chris” bits, yes it does.

Posted by: dsquared | Link to this comment | 02-11-08 6:45 AM

I thought men’s greater reproductive flexibility would blunt that a bit.

Men still get old and ugly, even when their gonads keep working.

Posted by: strasmangelo jones | Link to this comment | 02-11-08 6:48 AM

Sadly, some of my ideas about marriage and child rearing have gotten more traditional as I’ve gotten a bit older. My criteria have narrowed instead of expanding. In my case I think that’s just being realistic.

The kind of person I’d be willing to marry if we don’t plan on having kids is different from the standards I’d have if we do. I’d really need a lot of help to manage a household adequately. That means that I’d probably need a full-time nanny and someone to clean the house a couple of times a week. Given my temperament, I’m unlikely to be able to earn that kind of money myself, so I’d have to marry somebody pretty damn financially secure. Probably the ideal mate would be somebody working a 50 hour week with some independent source of income too.

Those are pretty narrow criteria, and it’s really quite likely that I’ll never find someone like that to have kids with, but that would be okay. Part of me would probably like to have kids, but I know that I shouldn’t absent a ton of help. If we aren’t going to have children, then I can be a lot more flexible.

Posted by: Bostoniangirl | Link to this comment | 02-11-08 8:20 AM

So some of you want a guy with a trust fund, who will help with the kids, but is not a douchebag. Have you tried the park? He probably goes there in his spare time to ride unicorns.

Posted by: gswift | Link to this comment | 02-11-08 9:30 AM

If I wanted to desperately enough, I could start hanging around provate clubs and the like. I was somewhere recently where I was asked whether I needed to work or if I had an independent income.

Posted by: Bostoniangirl | Link to this comment | 02-11-08 9:39 AM

So some of you want a guy with a trust fund

A bit of advice.

A high earner is better than a trust fundie.

Earnings get divided in divorce. In Virginia, a trust fund would not.

Posted by: will | Link to this comment | 02-11-08 9:40 AM

Have you tried the park? He probably goes there in his spare time to ride unicorns.

Chris Abraham “was found in the company of a brood of Unicorns and is believed to have been bred for his skills in magic.”

Posted by: Populuxe | Link to this comment | 02-11-08 10:02 AM

I couldn’t read the whole Gottlieb piece—my eyes started rolling uncontrollably when she dragged in Friends—but she seems awfully glib about the prospect of post-settling divorce. I know several people with little kids who are getting divorced or have recently done so, and Christ almighty what a nightmare. You think your life sucks because you yearn for spouse and family? Just you wait.

Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 02-11-08 10:16 AM

I just received the below email in my Facebook Inbox because I am a member of the ooVoo Facebook Group. Well, I have been sitting on some cool news that I assume I can share now since it has been released into the wilderness. Lots of cool stuff: My ooVoo Day, a version of ooVoo for the Mac, and the ability to chat up some of the coolest new media, social media, new PR, new marketing, and rock star bloggers anywhere! (Via Marketing Conversation)

If you haven’t had a chance to try out ooVoo yet, there’s a great opportunity coming up in the week or so: My ooVoo Day With…You can download the software – including the MAC VERSION!!! – and sign up for a slot where you can talk to some other ooVooers in the blogosphere about a variety of topics at: http://www.myoovooday.com

If you don’t have a webcam yet, don’t worry – you can still participate on calls as an audio-only caller. You’ll still be able to see and hear the others and add your own voice to the mix. Just pick a good looking avatar to display. ;-)

That’s it. Get over to www.myoovooday.com to check out the details and do your thing.

Now back to your regularly scheduled email…

• ooVoo, a video communication company, is sponsoring a first-of-its-kind web event called “My ooVoo Day With…” in which 23 bloggers and podcasters from a variety of different industries and interest groups will host their communities in multi-user online video chats.
• All sessions will take place between February 10th and February 21st.
• Hosts have set aside a number of time slots when they are available to meet and chat face-to-face with their readers via ooVoo; they’ll be able to host up to 5 guests via video conferencing per session.
• The confirmed hosts include iJustine, AdAge’s Bob Garfield, media pundit Jack Myers, business author Allan Cox, GeekEntertainment.tv’s Irina Slutsky, sci-fi/horror author Scott Sigler, BlogHer’s Queen of Spain, Eric Kotecki Vest and the voices behind AdRants, JaffeJuice, ReadWriteWeb, Six Pixels of Separation, Two Boobs and A Baby + and more.
• A complete host list is included below.
• Topics range from new media marketing, to building relationships, to book discussions, political issues and more.
• Participants can learn about My ooVoo Day With… and register for video chat sessions at www.myoovooday.com.
• To thank these busy individuals for hosting the chats, ooVoo is primarily supporting the Frozen Pea Fund, a fund established to support the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer campaign, in honor of blogger and cancer patient Susan Reynolds.

Screenshot of video chat

Screenshot of My ooVoo Day With site

Embeddable code for MoDW badge:

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Links

• My ooVoo Day With… site
• Download & install ooVoo (PC and Mac) on www.myoovooday.com
• ooVoo Group on Facebook

Hosts of My ooVoo Day:
Mitch Joel/Six Pixels of Separation
Steve Hall/AdRants
Bob Garfield/AdAge
Joseph Jaffe/JaffeJuice
John Wall & Christopher Penn/Marketing Over Coffee
Justine Ezarik/iJustine.tv and Tasty Blog Snack
Marshall Kirkpatrick/ReadWriteWeb
Irina Slutsky/GeekEntertainment.tv
Chris Thilk/Movie Marketing Madness
Karen Putz/A Deaf Mom Shares Her World
Erin Kotecki Vest/Queen of Spain
Dave Delaney/Two Boobs and a Baby +
Jack Myers & Friends/Media Village
David Meerman Scott/The New Rules of Marketing & PR
Geoff Livingston/Now Is Gone
Allan Cox/Your Inner CEO
George Parker/AdScam
Scott Sigler
Chris Brogan
C.C. Chapman
Susan Reynolds/Boobs on Ice
Laura “Pistachio” Fitton

About ooVoo

• ooVoo provides free real-time video communication technology that allows up to six people to connect simultaneously for video conversations online.
• ooVoo’s high-quality video and audio enables people to experience a face-to-face connection and share emotions over the Internet in a way that no other communication medium permits.
• All you need is a computer, broadband connection and a Web cam.
• ooVoo video conversations and video messages can be recorded for sharing and posting to social media sites.
• ooVoo’s newest version includes free VoIP to any mobile or landline in the US or Canada through March 1, 2008.

If you want to become a better bloggers, monetize your blog, and create and build your personal brand then I recommend attending the PostieCon ’07 in Orlando, Florida, on June 1 & 2, 2007. Register now because PostieCon ’07 is cheap at $199.95, but only until May 18th. Even without PostieCon ’07, Orlando is cool, inexpensive, warm, sunny, and seriously entertaining. There is no way this Con is going to be either lame or geeky. It’ll be rock star.

PostieCon ’07 promises to be a fun, informative, educational, and important event, and if you register early, you can save money. So, what are you waiting for? A pop-up window?

PostieCon ’07 is a two-day event that will be held from June 1-2, 2007 in Orlando, Florida. By registering, not only will you be getting to take a mini-vacation to one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations, you will receive:

* VIP access to all conference sessions, workshops, and extra-curricular events
* Breakfast (with eggs) Lunch, Drinks and Snacks on Friday and Saturday
* Saturday early evening open bar with hot and cold appetizers
* Sit down dinner with open bar at the award banquet on Saturday evening
* Cool swag to take home

Registration Special: If you register today, you will receive your “backstage pass” for the low, low cost of $199.95. Act soon, because after May 18, 2007, registration costs go up to $249.95.

PostieCon ’07 attendees will get something that no one can put a price on, namely the networking opportunities, blogging tips, business tips, and time spent with some of the best and brightest in the business to bounce ideas around.

I have been blogging since 1999 over at “Because the Medium is the Message“, http://www.chrisabraham.com. Part of what has always been tough for me is figuring out how to take something I am passionate about, blogging and social media, and actually make a bit of a living from it. I have done an appalling job of it and have made all the mistakes. Only now am I finally at the point where my blogging basically pays my car payments. My goal is to help the new kids get their voices out there with fewer and fewer boundaries. I want to make sure my mistakes benefit them.

The second event is called PostieCon ’07 http://www.postiecon.com. It’s a blogger convention down in Orlando, Florida, on June 1 & 2. I want to draw your attention to it in the hopes that maybe you’ll consider speaking at it, or spread just spread the word with your readers

I think PostieCon ’07 is cool because it is for the rest of us bloggers who have yet to ascend to top-200. While TED and SXSW and VON are super-cool, they’re also super PhD-level. PostieCon ’07 is all about the training up the bush league.

As I see it there are three reasons (probably many more) why your readers should know about this Con, and perhaps attend:

a) Let super-serious B-, C-, D-List bloggers meet each other, put a name to a face, conspire on ways to get better, and trade war stories and

b) Let some serious experts and A-Listers, like us, share their experience, hope, and joy as well as leading them by the hand to monetization strategies, how to build brand, how to attract readership and traffic, and all the stuff you need to do (and seems obvious to use) in order to go from D- to C- to B- to A-List!

c) To quote the site: “Why should you attend PostieCon ’07 ’07? Two words: Rock Star.”

That said, I hope you consider speaking at PostieCon. Your voice would be very welcome. If you can’t make it, I was hoping that you might share the love with your readers (as attendees) or other folks who might be really into speaking at PostieCon. And, as you know, I am not asking for any particular coverage. You are free to say or do anything you like with this email and the content herein. That’s the way things work. So, just consider this an official love note.

Why Should I Attend PostieCon ’07?

Why should you attend PostieCon ’07 ? Two words: Rock Star. Bloggers and Internet personalities are the Rock Stars of the information age. Bloggers reach millions of dedicated fans on a day to day basis, it’s easy to see why today’s humble blogger could potentially be tomorrow’s Rock Star. That’s why PostieCon ’07 ‘s theme is “You’re A Rock Star”. We are here to educate bloggers on how to build traffic and readership, and use your notoriety and unique brand to create value and monetize your voice. It’s not all about money and fame, our conference is designed to help you become a better blogger. We have invited some of the world’s biggest bloggers to share their knowledge, perspective and experience with PostieCon ’07 Attendees. We provide the peeps and the knowledge, you use it to better yourself and build your blog.

Want to be a Speaker?

PostieCon ’07 will, have numerous opportunities for speakers. From individual presentations to group discussions, the event is open to speakers who represent the diversity of our bloggers. PostieCon ’07 ‘s theme is You’re A Rock Star, and its goal is to introduce bloggers to methods of making their blogs better, more known, and more profitable. This event is open to all bloggers from anywhere and everywhere, from the most seasoned to the greenest of the greenhorns. (For rookie bloggers, we have a special featured event: Blogger Boot Camp.)

Currently, PostieCon ’07 is searching for the best speakers to share their knowledge with the attendees of this exciting, one-of-a-kind event. So, who are we looking for?

- Does your blog or new media site lead the industry?

- Does your traffic make your friends and competitors frothing-at-the-mouth jealous?

- Does your expertise in this competitive industry earn you a good income?

- Is your format the envy of your friends, peers, and competitors?

- Have you come to the realization that in the new media universe, your content is king?

- Are you the owner of a unique, compelling success story?

- Are you at the forefront of the blogging/new media industry?

- Are you an advertiser looking to reach out to bloggers?

If your answer to any or all of these questions is “yes,” then you’re exactly the kind of person we’re looking for. Our attendees deserve to hear from the best, and sometimes the best person for the job isn’t the most famous or well-known. We need to hear from you, so don’t be shy — we don’t byte.

If you’re an advertiser with a product you feel would be useful to our target audience, and wish to get your product in the hands of tomorrow’s notables of the blogging scene, this is an excellent opportunity for you as well. Please contact us and explain to us what makes your product or service essential for our industry’s niche needs.

For more information or to become a speaker contact our Event Coordinator Britt Gustafson

Robert Scoble

Robert Scoble is an American blogger, technical evangelist, and author. He is number 9 on Forbes Top 25 Web Celebrities. Scoble is best known for his popular blog, Scobleizer, which came to prominence during his tenure as a technical evangelist at Microsoft. He is married to Maryam Ghaemmaghami Scoble, and has a son, Patrick, from a previous marriage. He and his wife currently work at PodTech.net, a video-podcast startup. He is also the co-author of Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers with Shel Israel.

* Session: Living in a Google World

David Ponce

David Ponce is a 26 year old web entrepreneur who took up blogging as a hobby over three years ago. Quickly realizing the potential of the niche-marketed micro publishing business, he quit his full time job as a computer salesman to devote to full time blogging. His articles, written on OhGizmo.com, have been linked to from a plethora of sites, including Gizmodo, Engadget, Yahoo’s The 9, Slashdot, Digg and BoingBoing. David himself has been interviewed by several mainstream publications, such as PC World Magazine and SmartMoney Magazine. He currently serves as Executive Editor of the site, managing a small team of 5 rotating writers, and has plans for launching several other sites to form a network.

* Session: Turning Visits into Cash

Michelle Madhok

Michelle Madhok is Founder of SheFinds.com and SheFindsMom.com, online publications distributed via e-mail and blogs that help busy women everywhere shop the web for the latest beauty and style finds.

A widely regarded expert in online shopping, Michelle is also the style columnist for and a contributing editor for MSN Shopping, Cotton Incorporated and the American Heart Association. Her style and shopping tips have been featured in numerous newspapers and magazines, radio and television interviews, including Metro newspapers in New York and Boston,Women’s Wear Daily, The Tyra Banks show, NBC, Investor’s Business Daily, The Chicago Tribune, The New York Post, and the Washington Post.

Prior to launching SheFinds, Michelle enjoyed a career in new media. First, she was the Director of Entertainment Marketing for CBS Broadcasting New Media and then she was the Group Director of Editorial Products for women and oversaw all content for women at AOL. Michelle has a BS in Communications from UC Berkeley and a MS in Marketing from Northwestern University. She currently resides in New York City with her husband, Michael Palka.

* Session: Turning Your Passion Into Dollars

Nancy Shenker

Marketing Guru, Blogger, and Former Hippy Girl Nancy A. Shenker is Founder & Principal of theONswitch, a firm specializing in start-ups, business transformations, and non-traditional growth solutions. She frequently consults on “smart” marketing spending, PR, and branding and has written several “how to” guides for business owners. Her “business blog” is “The ONblog” (http://theonswitch.typepad.com/theonblog/) and her newest blog, about the ways in which communication and life have changed (and yet stayed the same) is “Hippy to Wiki” (http://theonswitch.typepad.com/hippytowiki/). “I encourage all PostieCon ’07 attendees to get in touch with me before June and tell me what they want to hear about when I speak!”

* Session: Hippy to Wiki: How Blogs and “Traditional” Communication Can Live in Peace (and make $$)

Sherry Heyl

Recently nominated for Women in Technology “Woman of the Year” Sherry Heyl is the CEO and Idealist for What a Concept! Her responsibilities include business development and inspiring ideas and communication strategies. Sherry has been involved in the technology industry since 1998 when she developed her own curriculum at FSU to study ecommerce. Currently she creates strategic plans for integrating streaming video, blogs, podcasts, RSS, and virtual worlds into communication plans for B2B, B2C, Non-profit and Higher Education organizations. Sherry has been a guest speaker and keynote speaker for the Project Management Institute (PMI), a panelist for the 400 Technology Connector, TechLINKS, and Customer Relationship Management Association (CRMA), and is on the board of directors for the Atlanta Electronic Commerce Forum (AECF) as the programs director and has participated in putting programs together for the Atlanta Media Bloggers Group and AeA and is a member of the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) and the Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association. Sherry is a graduate of Florida State University with undergraduate degrees in Marketing and Creative Writing.

* Session: Why Live Life Online?

Jim Kukral

Jim is a veteran online marketing expert and award-winning blogger who focuses on helping businesses, or bloggers, make money or find publicity online through creative marketing ideas and strategies. Jim has been blogging since 2001 and has participated and worked on over 30 blogs since that time and has written thousands of blog entries. He is the publisher of ReveNews.com, the leading online revenue group blog that focuses on the billion dollar industry of Internet revenue. Jim is also the founder of BlogKits, a blog advertising network that focuses on helping bloggers find creative ways to generate revenue.

* Session: The Secrets To Long-Term Blog Success & Profitability

Lena West

Lena L. West is the CEO & Chief Strategist at xynoMedia Technology. Affectionately known as the “geek with speak”, Lena understands complex technology concepts and distills them into easy-to- understand strategies. xynoMedia helps mid-market companies make sense of their place in the online world by developing customized, progressive Internet strategies that consistently increase thought leadership, online revenues and visibility. West communicates her expertise about social media, web 2.0 and online technologies through regular writing for Jupitermedia, her InfoWorld.com blog and her Entrepreneur.com column and blog. She is also on the BlogHer Business Advisory Board and a member of the Women’s Presidents’ Organization, TENG-NY and the Downtown Women’s Club. Currently, West is conducting research for a book she’s authoring about the role of women in technology. xynoMedia’s mission is to help 10,000 mid-sized businesses grow 25-50% by 2010.

* Session: Building Blog Value

Shirley Frazier

Shirley George Frazier is an excavator who digs up smart marketing solutions for individuals and business owners looking to increase their revenue through effective promotions and collaborations on and off the Web. She’s president of Sweet Survival®, owner of three popular blogs, and author of two best-selling niche industry books. Shirley has more than 16 years of experience conducting seminars on business topics and consulting with a range of clients from home-based professionals to Macy’s. She has appeared on CNBC, The Food Network, and The Discovery Channel, and her expert opinion and articles have been featured in Entrepreneur, Business Start-Ups, Black Enterprise, and Opportunity Magazine.

* Session: Building Your Niche Blog

Kristie Tamsevicius

Kristie Tamsevicius turns authors and speakers into the lavishly paid in-demand experts in their field. She is the host of Speaker Success Talk Radio, the founder of Webmomz.com, a community for work at home moms, president of Branding on the Net and author of several books including, I Love My Life: A Mom’s Guide to Working from Home. A sought-after branding expert, Kristie creates branded websites that position you as a mini celebrity so you increase sales, book more presentations and become headline news.

* Session: Building Your Niche Blog

Dan Rua

Dan is an experienced early-stage venture capital investor with a technology foundation and product design, development and management experience. Inflexion Fund is his third early-stage venture capital fund. Prior to Inflexion, Dan was a Partner with Draper Atlantic, the east coast fund of Silicon Valley’s highly successful early-stage venture firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson. Dan has participated in funding and building thirty-two companies and managed funds totaling over $140 million.

* Session: Blogging for Business

The Blog Squad

Known as The Blog Squad, Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff, Psy.D., are authorities in helping independent professionals and small businesses to grow and prosper through optimizing their blogs. Between them, they have 10 blogs they post to on a regular basis covering topics like Internet marketing, business blogging, ezine marketing, writing and marketing books with a blog, plus several private blogs for clients and programs they teach. The Blog Squad are co-authors of “Build a Better Blog: The Ultimate Guide to Boosting Your Business with a Professional Blog” and “Confessions of a Reluctant Blogger: From Boring to Brilliant in 30 Days”, and keepers of the blog site “Build a Better Blog.” They also host a weekly Internet radio show, “Blogging and Beyond.”

* Session: Blogging for Business

Jim Turner

Jim Turner began blogging in early 2004, and began posting about life as a father and husband. He became one of the top Daddy bloggers, and used his expertise to found One By One Media, LLC, a social media consulting firm. While consulting companies on using the new social media for their marketing and advertising needs, Jim then founded Bloggers For Hire, a company that provides professional bloggers to companies. Jim continues to be a well respected professional blogger and has mentored many bloggers to become professionals, and has lead companies to be successful in their online campaigns. Jim is a contributor to Business Blog Consulting, and also writes his personal blog at Genuineblog.com, and is the founder of the The Best of Blog Awards. When he is not blogging, Jim is busy being a husband and father of 4 kids 7 years old and younger.

* Session: Blogging for Business

Paul Lewis

With more than 20 years experience in marketing and information technology, Paul Lewis has gained recognition as a leading visionary and author in the field of modern marketing strategy. Through his expertise, Paul has served on the Advisory Board for the Direct Marketing Association and spoken at numerous marketing conferences worldwide such as DM Days, the Power of eMarketing and UFI Open Summer Seminar in Finland, presenting on topics including Generation Y and the digital generation, cross-media campaigning and relationship marketing. He is currently the co-author of the upcoming publication Y: Outside the Polls and Inside the Minds of the Millennials and is the President/CEO of Interactive Agency MindComet.

* Session: Connecting with Advertisers