Live Broadcasting by Ustream

Participating in the panel will be:

• David Canepa – City Councilman in Daly City
• Hillary Hartley – Consultant
• Veronica McGregor – Manages the Mars Phoenix Twitter account (which won a Shorty Award last night)
• Evan Ratliff – Journalist and author of a recent Wired magazine piece – “The Wired Presidency”
• Ariel Waldman – Formerly a social media consultant at NASA Ames Research Center

Information about this event can be found on Facebook and Upcoming, but if you get your tickets in advance at Eventbrite, you’ll save $5.

Have a question you think I should ask the panel or a topic they might be able to shed some light on?  Feel free to let me know.

I’m proud to be able to call the the two Social Media Club founders, Kristie Wells and Chris Heuer, my friends.  In the social media world (and in life), they are a dynamic duo.  For that matter, in any world they make a killer pair…like Sonny & Cher, Riggs & Murtaugh, or Bert & Ernie.  Even like mac & cheese. Over the past few years, Kristie and Chris poured their hearts and minds into Social Media Club.  Attending SMC events in the bay area has provided me a wealth of knowledge and a countless number of positive relationships with industry leaders and peers.  So when I received an email from Chris asking me to participate an interim board of directors to help guide the club’s strategic direction and goals, I was incredibly humbled and honored to be included in a group of 42 industry leaders asked to step forward and lend a helping hand. After all, it’s fits with my 2008 mantra of Giving Back.

And today, Social Media Club formally announced that the 42 people listed below will make up an interim Board of Directors to guide SMC into the future.

• Lee Aase – Social Media University, Global
• Rohit Bhargava – Influential Marketing Blog and Personality Not Included
• Richard Binhammer – RichardatDell
• Michael Brito – Britopian and Conversations Matter
• Chris Brogan – ChrisBrogan.com
• Mike Chapman – Austin Social Media Club and Every Dot Connects
• Megan Cole – MeganCole.org
• Alex de Carvalho – alexdc.org and Social Object
• Todd Defren – SHIFT Communications and www.pr-squared.com
• Serena Ehrlich – Business Wire
• Jason Falls – Social Media Explorer
• Maggie Fox – Social Media Group
• Jon Gatrell – spatiallyrelevant.org
• Howard Greenstein – HowardGreenstein.com
• Francine Hardaway – Stealthmode
• Josh Hallett – Hyku
• Annie Heckenberger – pikpr.blogspot.com and redspurs.com
• Chuck Hester – Intellicontact
• Chris Heuer – ChrisHeuer.com
• Sherry Heyl – Mind Blogging
• Tara Hunt – HorsePigCow
• Bill Johnston – Forum One
• Jennifer McClure – Society for New Communications Research
• Mike McGrath – Dogpatch Dispatch
• Jake McKee – CommunityGuy.com and Ant’s Eye View
• Gregory Narain – SocialTwister
• Lee Odden – Online Marketing Blog and TopRank
• Erica OGrady – ReinventingErica.com and Peanut Butter Media
• Jeremiah Owyang – Web Strategist
• David Parmet – Marketing Begins At Home, LLC and PerkettPR
• Jackie Peters – heavyBlog
• Doug Pollei – pollei.com
• Pierre-Yves Platini – Yoono
• Douglas Pollei – Pollei.com
• Connie Reece – Every Dot Connects and Austin Social Media Club
• Chris Saad – ChrisSaad.com
• Andy Sernovitz – Word of Mouth Marketing and GasPedal
• Brian Solis – PR2.0
• J.J. Toothman – jjtoothman.net and Red Pill
• Todd Van Hoosear – Tech PR Gems
• Des Walsh – Des Walsh dot Com
• Kristie Wells – KristieWells.com

It’s an impressive list.  I’m not the only who has said, "It’s an honor simply to be included in that group." I’m eager to work side-by-side with these colleagues.  I’m excited to learn from them.  And I can’t wait to see what these unique and brilliant minds come up with collectively.

Holly and I are also taking a more active role in leading the local San Francisco/Silicon Valley Chapter of the Social Media Club.  We’ll share more about that in coming weeks.  To our friends around the Bay Area, join us on Monday, July 28 for a SMC meetup in Menlo Park.  And to our friends around the world, find a Social Media Club chapter near you or even start one.

In fact, plenty (if not all) of our success can be traced back to the knowledge we have gained from the communities we inhabit online and offline.  The blogs we read, the software we use, and the though leaders we have come to know in recent years have all played a critical part in shaping how Shiny New Toy plays with others.

However, you can only be a good citizen and be part of community if you are contributing to it.  At the beginning of 2008, I personally felt like I was doing too much sponging without giving back.  Thus, I made a conscious decision to do what I could to do more.  My mantra for 2008, one that I have on instilled upon Shiny New Toy, is to give back. 

Return the favors.  Share the knowledge.  Contribute.  Give back to gain more. 

So how exactly is Shiny New Toy giving back?  Our recent Solstice Unplugged party at Gray Whale Cove was one example.  We’re also working with the Society of New Communications Research and Social Media Club – two wonderful non-profit organizations full of incredible thought leaders.  Though leaders that have provided us so much.  And we’re actively working on a project for the WordPress community.  More on all of this in due time.

It’s always exciting to be part of something.  But it becomes even more rewarding when you try to put as much into it as you are getting out of it.