Social Media Speakers To See In 2012

As a social media speaker, I had an awesome opportunity this past year to travel the country speaking at conferences and sharing stages with some of the best social media speakers in the business.

The past few days I have been working on my speaking schedule for 2012 I thought why not put together a list of people I’d like to see in 2012.  This list of speakers is comprised of some I’ve heard before and those I’ve only met online but would love to meet in person and see their presentations.

These are in no particular order:

Chris Brogan– I was fortunate enough to hear Chris speak in 2011 and also spend some time talking one on one.  He is full of great knowledge and very willing to share that openly with you.  If you see him at a conference, don’t be afraid to talk to him, he doesn’t bite, I promise.

Liz Strauss– As I affectionately call her “The Liz,” is a really smart lady.  We had her on the radio show a few times this past year and she really knows her stuff.  I’ve never met her in person, but through our online conversations, I know that whenever I do see her speaking at a conference, it will be awesome.

Jeff Turner–  Jeff simply challenges me every time I hear him speak.  He has this Steve Jobs-esque way of presenting that not only challenges you, but inspires you to try harder and do more.

Travis Robertson–  I had not known Travis before meeting him this past year while at a conference in Atlanta.  There are few people that I’ve met with as much passion as Travis while speaking.  He is also the only person I saw this past year that was able to captivate an audience for 45 minutes of speaking with one simple slide in his presentation.

C.C. Chapman–  Known to many as “The Dad Blogger,” C.C. is definitely more than that.  I’ve seen a few of his presentations online this past year and he has great information to share with people.  His new TV project looks awesome.

Chris Smith–  Chris is one of the geekiest social media speakers in the real estate industry.  He is constantly trying new things to help push the real estate industry to greater success.

Scott Stratten–  I’ve heard several of Scott’s presentations this past year via live streams/recorded videos.  He does a great job as a social media speaker of incorporating humor & knowledge together in his presentations.

Amber Naslund–  I’ve never heard Amber speak either live or from a recording online.  But, what I can tell is that she is a pretty powerful social media speaker.  The buzz alone from her keynote at Blogworld combined with my interactions on Twitter with her put her on this list for want to see social media speakers in 2012.

Gary Vaynerchuk–  I’ve watched probably two dozen of Gary’s presentations online this past year.  I love how he incorporates traditional marketing concepts with social media and then covers it with hard work to make your business successful.  He promises to one day own the Jets & I definitely believe him.

Laura Fitton AKA Pistachio–  This is one wickedly smart lady.  She founded oneforty.com which was recently purchased by HubSpot.  She shares tons of knowledge and I can imagine would deliver an amazing presentation.

Carrie Wilkerson–  She’s the Barefoot executive and does an awesome job at encouraging you to succeed.  I’ve never seen her live, but her videos definitely inpsire me and make me want to meet her face to face.

Brian Carter–  Brian is a fellow social media speaker who lives less than 20 minutes from my home and I have yet to meet face to face.  Hopefully in 2012 we will fix that.

Steve Garfield–  Video is becoming more and more important to my online business.  Steve is someone who is super knowledgeable on video and is a social media speaker who I’d love to have an hour with to just discuss video.

So, this is my list of social media speakers to see in 2012.  Did I miss someone you want to see speak in 2012?  Leave me a comment telling me who!