The Future Buzz

image credit:  dbarefoot

Continuing my series on documenting social media power users and influencers, this week I’ve got five more wonderful people to share with you.

Again, these are in no particular order and I am taking the time to write on not only the big-name players, but perhaps even more interesting I will tell the stories of power users in the long tail also.

If you missed last week’s entry, start by checking out:

Social Media Power Users And Influencers:  Part 1

Now that you’re caught up, let’s get into part 2:

Peter Kim

Blog:  BeingPeterKim.com

Twitter:  Twitter.com/peterkim

Peter in brief:  Peter Kim is currently building an enterprise social computing startup. It’s operating in stealth mode and funded by Austin Ventures.

Peter was previously an analyst at renowned Forrester Research, focusing on the intersection of social tech and marketing strategy.  His work frequently has been quoted by CBS, CNBC, CNN, NPR, New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal.  Prior to Forrester, Peter was head of global digital marketing at PUMA and a strategist at Razorfish.

What makes Peter an Influencer:   Talking with Peter, he expressed that he doesn’t relish a role as “influencer,” just someone who likes to see patterns in things and talk about them.  For example, he puts together extremely useful information, such as a list of social media marketing examples that thousands of people have found helpful. 

Peter believes influence comes from being smart, not just saying that you are. 

Best way to connect with Peter:  subscribe to his blog.

Connie Bensen

Blog: ConnieBensen.com

Twitter:  Twitter.com/cbensen

Connie in Brief:  Community building is Connie’s passion. After 9 yrs of building community in public libraries she decided she wanted to be an online community manager and use technology to scale her abilities. Connie’s blog provides a source of information for community managers & organizations interested in having community managers. She also frequently writes about social networking & branding and is a contributor at Marketing 2.0.

What makes Connie an influencer:  Aside from consistently strong Technorati rankings, Connie provides leadership and direction to many who seek her advice, and has become a go-to person for community building services. Her writing on the community manager role is frequently referenced worldwide.  Jeremiah Owyang Senior Analyst of Social Computing at Forrester Research has even referred her as a key leader in the community management space.

Connie will be speaking at 2 upcoming conferences - Social Media Strategies and at Defrag on a panel on Making the “Social” Web with Kevin Marks from Google and others.

Best way to connect with Connie:  subscribe to her blog.

Noah Brier

Blog:  NoahBrier.com

Twitter:  Twitter.com/heyitsnoah

Noah in brief:  Noah loves the internet.  Go ahead and ask Noah: is the internet awesome?  He uses the web to understand the world. In Noah’s eyes, everything is linked, and he treats each encounter with information as a potential web that begs to be untangled.

What makes Noah an influencer:  Noah and his ideas have been mentioned in AdWeek, PR Week, by Seth Godin, by thousands of bloggers and made page 1 of Digg.  He has a clear understanding of how to manipulate the network in interesting and useful ways, and was recognized (and hired) by the Barbarian Group for his incredible skills.  I’ve blogged about him before, too for his brilliant BrandTags site.

Best way to connect with Noah:  subscribe to his blog.

Tim Jahn

Blog:  TimJahn.com/blog

Twitter:  Twitter.com/timjahn

Tim in brief:  A freelance media professional with experience in interactive/web
development and video, Tim specializes in integrating ideas and technologies into effective solutions. He also mixes social media elements into his solutions to assist organizations in conversing with their customers.

What makes Tim and influencer:  Aside from his great blog, which is very much in the style of Seth Godin — short, punchy and impactful, Tim uses his creativity to to spread his ideas and visions.  A neat example of this is for the past three years, Tim has created synchronized dancing light shows in suburban Chicago.  Through word of mouth (and a little help from traditional media the first year in the form of the evening news and a newspaper article), the display has steadily grown more popular. Visitors have come from as far as 50 miles away to share in the joy of lights and music.  Tim hopes to inspire young people to use technology in creative ways.

Best way to connect with Tim:  subscribe to his blog

Chris Brogan

Blog:  ChrisBrogan.com

Twitter:  Twitter.com/chrisbrogan

Chris in  brief:   Chris Brogan is a 10 year veteran of using social media and tech to build digital relationships for businesses, individuals and organizations. Chris speaks, blogs, writes articles/features, and makes media of all kinds.  His blog is in the top 20 of the Advertising Age Power150, and in the top 100 on Technorati.

What makes Chris an influencer:  Chris speaks with raw passion about social media and is a true leader and innovator in the space.  His blog posts and articles are infamous for generating great discussions and Chris is well respected by bloggers, marketers and PR people in all niches.  I could say so many more great things about Chris, but the absolute best way to see why he’s so respected would be to connect with him yourself.

Best way to connect with Chris:  subscribe to his blog

Next in this series:  Social Media Power Users And Influencers:  Part 3

Know someone I should feature here?  Want to get featured here?  Great.  Just submit the following to me and I will consider for this recurring post:

• Name, your picture and your blog’s logo (links are fine)
• Blog URL (include stats/numbers if you’d like)
• Twitter feed (I will substitute FriendFeed here if you’d prefer)
• Brief description of yourself
• At least one tangible example of what makes you an influencer

(Disclaimer:  If chosen, I will edit what you submit, if only to fit the tone of this blog.  I may also go through your blog and  pull out certain content that helps tell your story.)

Appreciate all the suggestions from last week, I plan to reach out to some of them soon.

Related posts from The Future Buzz:

The Social Web:  The Ultimate Scratchpad For Passionate Communications Professionals

Influencing Social Media:  What Drives Digg And Reddit Users

10 Reasons Why Organizations (And Individuals) With Audiences Win

Related posts from around the web:

Where Attention Flows, Money Follows (Kevin Kelly)

Notable Agency Bloggers (Conversation Agent)

Blogger Face-Offs  (Daily Blog Tips)