Lynette Young is the CEO of Purple Stripe Productions, helps others put their dreams into action as a social media coach, social technology specialist, and a strategist for businesses regarding implementation services. Her love (besides her family) is Google+. Ms. Young believes that Google+ is the future for business and, as such, is the founder and curator of The Women of Google+. She is a 1st Generation Google+ User, one of the 50 Most Followed Women of Google+. She also hosts a weekly broadcast On-Air Hangout every Monday night on Google+ at 9:00 pm EST.
Ellen Gerstein is Director of Marketing in the Professional/Trade division at John Wiley & Sons (www.wiley.com), the global publisher based in Hoboken, NJ. Her responsibilities include developing and overseeing marketing strategies for key categories and working with industry-leading brands like For Dummies. A passionate advocate and evangelist for social media, Ellen has been a speaker at BlogWorld Expo, BlogHer, Mom 2.0 Summit and the NYU Stern School of Business. Ellen is a graduate of University at Albany (NY) and lives in the NYC area. Online, she can be found blogging at Confessionsofanitgirl.com and on Twitter at @elleinthecity.
Sally Dedecker Enterprises is the Director of BEA Education and is a print and digital consultant for members of the industry. Publishers and authors rely on her expertise in distribution, sales, marketing, product development, and other areas of the book and digital publishing process. Her expertise is offered to authors and publishers needing advice on developing new publishing opportunities and navigating the development and implementation of digital initiatives. During her tenure in the industry she held senior management positions at Simon & Schuster, Ingram Book Group, and other major publishing houses. She currently sits on the Board of Book Industry Study Group.
Mari Smith is passionate about people! She is a Relationship Marketing Specialist and one of the world's foremost experts on using Facebook as a marketing channel. She is author of The New Relationship Marketing and coauthor of Facebook Marketing: An Hour A Day, both published by Wiley.
Fast Company describes Mari as, "A veritable engine of personal branding, a relationship marketing whiz and the Pied Piper of the Online World." Dun & Bradstreet Credibility named Mari one of the top ten Most Influential Small Business People on Twitter.
Mari's background includes over ten years in the fields of relationships, marketing and Internet technology, making social media her ideal arena. She travels the United States and internationally to share her wisdom and provide social media keynotes and in-depth training. She has shared the stage with the likes of Sir Richard Branson, the Dalai Lama, President F.W. de Klerk, Tony Robbins, Dr. Stephen R. Covey, and Paula Abdul. Through her consulting and training business, Mari helps business owners to accelerate their business profits by integrating proven social media marketing strategies. After applying Mari's methods, her clients typically experience a significant increase in traffic, subscribers, clients, affiliates, lucrative strategic alliances and targeted media attention.
Mari also mentors up and coming social media professionals in a variety of specializations. Sixty-five graduates have gone through Mari's intense social media professionals training since 2009 and thirty-five students are currently under Mari's mentorship.
With her popular blog at MariSmith.com, and her large, loyal following on both Facebook and Twitter, Mari is considered one of the top resources and thought leaders in the world of marketing. She regularly appears in media locally and nationally in publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Inc., Forbes, and Success Magazine.
Cindy Ratzlaff was named by Forbes to the "20 Best Branded Women on Twitter," list and Forbes Woman called her one of the "Top 30 Women Entrepreneurs to Follow on Twitter." A frequent contributor to BusinessInsider.com on social media and marketing strategy, she is a 20-year veteran of the book publishing industry. She designed the campaigns behind more than 150 New York Times bestsellers. Cindy speaks regularly on brand strategies and consults with authors and publishers as President of Brand New Brand You Inc., where she focuses on cross platform integrated marketing strategies and key message communications. She is a Managing Partner of Red Carpet Strategies, a boutique digital agency using new social technologies for brand visibility. She speaks to more than 100,000 people daily via her various social media platforms.