About the Welcome to Social Media eBook Authors

Heidi Adams Cool

Heidi Cool is a freelance Web designer and consultant with more than 15 years experience in Web development and a background in marketing. Heidi has worked in the fields of publishing and higher education, most recently as Webmaster of Case Western Reserve University. You can read more of Heidi's musings on social media, marketing, and Web development on her Web Development Blog.

Author of Setting Goals to Plan Your Social Media Strategy

Diane DiPiero

Diane DiPiero is a writer, editor and proofreader who divides her time between writing articles for print and online publications and helping companies strengthen their brand through strong written communications. Diane began her career in New York City, moving to Cleveland in 1995 to become a freelance writer. Although still a social media novice, Diane currently has three blogs: http://www.dianedipiero.com/blog, http://www.asiwaswriting.blogspot.com and http://www.calledtobeasaint.blogspot.com.

Author of Social Media for the Working Mom or Dad

JD Drake

JD Drake is a marketing communications professional currently seeking employment in the Northeast Ohio area. In 2008, following the publishing of his thesis “Uses & Gratifications: How marketers can utilize emerging media to better meet the needs of their audience,” JD received a MA in communications management – public relations through John Carroll University. Prior to that JD earned a BS in television/radio production - scriptwriting from Ithaca College. He then spent two years in Los Angeles working on various television shows including Malcolm in the Middle, Boston Public, and the Jim Henson Company. In his spare time he wrote and produced short films, television shows, and a full-length musical. JD currently lives in Cleveland Heights with his wife. He enjoys film, cooking, music, a good joke, and Cleveland sports teams. You can find him at johndaviddrake@gmail.com, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter (@JDDrake), Ning, FriendFeed, Del.icio.us, or his blog potkettleblue.blogspot.com.

Author of Using Social Media to Better Meet Your Needs

Jim England

Jim England is a senior at Case Western Reserve University where he is studying management with a focus on technology. focus. He is also CMO and cofounder of CorkShare, a social media application to visually share Web content including photos, videos, links and widgets with close friends and colleagues using an easy and intuitive interface. Jim can be found on Twitter at @JimEngland.

Author of Things to Consider When Building a Social Media Web Application

Tom Eston

Tom Eston is an information security professional from Cleveland, Ohio. Tom currently works for a Fortune 500 financial institution as the security assessment team lead. In his spare time he researches social media security, blogs about security and is one of the co-hosts of the Security Justice podcast. Tom is also a frequent speaker on social media security and other security related topics. He is also the author of the Facebook Privacy & Security Guide.

Author of Privacy and Security in Social Media

Kathryn E. Eyring

Kathryn Eyring, owner of Knockout Marketing, provides on site assessments and training to businesses to help improve their initial presentation or first point of contact to the public. Provides training for a wide variety of topics to improve employee presentation to customers. Topics include projection of confidence, posture, body language, conversation skills, and more that all lead to better customer relations.

Author of What Does Your Profile Photo Say About You?

Tim Gasper

Tim Gasper is a senior at Case Western Reserve University majoring in Economics and Marketing with a web/tech focus. He is also CMO and cofounder of CorkShare, a social media application to visually share Web content including photos, videos, links and widgets with close friends and colleagues using an easy and intuitive interface. His interests include social media, blogging, music writing, and running. Tim can be found on Twitter at @TimGasper.

Author of What is Social Media? and Things to Consider When Building a Social Media Web Application

Lila Hanft

Lila Hanft has a Ph.D. in English and three masters degrees in the humanities, fine arts and social sciences. She has worked as a journalist, a psychotherapist, and an English professor. She taught writing, literature, film and women's studies classes at the college level for 14 years, until the early 1990s when she fell in love with the internet and never wanted to work anywhere else. She has been a content producer for MomsOnline on Oxygen.com; the senior writer at AGInteractive for the AmericanGreetings.com, eGreetings.com and BlueMountain.com websites; and a freelance consultant in email marketing, SEO, and content strategy. Recently laid off from the Cleveland Jewish News,she currently freelances as a writer and web consultant. She works from her ramshackle home on East Blvd. in the Cultural Gardens neighborhood of Cleveland, where she lives more or less harmoniously with her husband and two young sons.

Author of Writing Well for Social Media

Dr. Jeff Hershberger

Jeff has his Ph.D. in Materials Science, which means he gets to melt metal for a living. He spent seven years as a staff scientist for the Department of Energy, working on efforts to improve the efficiency of the nation's trucking fleet, and is now in the semiconductor industry. His involvement with social media began with many years in the geographically far-flung "gated communities" of tabletalk.salon.com and www.well.com, where he still posts. He is a cook and wine lover whose burning desire is always to understand a little more about the world. He can be reached at hershberger.jeff@gmail.com.

Author of Using Social Media to Make Face-to-Face Connections

Stephanie Jansky

Stephanie A. Jansky is the Development Manager at MedWish International and the Social Media Strategist for the Donate Life Rose Parade float. Having worked in the nonprofit sector her entire career, Stephanie is keenly aware of the communications challenges facing nonprofits and believes passionately in the effectiveness of social media marketing strategies. She is a member of the Steering Committee for the Cleveland Social Media Club, the Cleveland MOTTEP Board of Directors and the Cleveland Plus Marketing Alliance Young Professionals Council. She also authors the blog The Lake Effect.

Author of Social Media and Social Change: A Guide for Nonprofit Organizations

Christina Klenotic

Christina Klenotic is a senior account executive at Dix & Eaton with a specialty in media relations, guerrilla/viral marketing and marketing communications. She is available on Twitter both personally (@cklenotic) and professionally (@d_and_e).

Author of Promoting Events Via Social Media

Melissa Koski

Melissa Koski is a graduate of Boston College (B.A., Communications) and currently works at Edward Howard, a public relations firm based in Cleveland, Ohio. As an account executive, Melissa has worked for clients such as Synapse Biomedical, BioEnterprise, Windstream, Wal-Mart, CFFA, DASMA and BP. A self-proclaimed “social media junkie,” Melissa takes an active role in Edward Howard’s social media initiatives. As one of the founding members of the Cleveland Social Media Club, Melissa is in charge of the Events Committee.

Author of Introduction to Measuring Social Media for PR/Marketing

Kevin Lockett

Kevin Lockett is a social media consultant in Akron, Ohio. In late 2008 he successfully used Facebook in a social media awareness campaign to help bring back canceled stations on Sirius XM radio. Recently, Mr. Lockett launched Hirejam.com, a Web site dedicated to green jobs in the State of Ohio. Kevin can be found on a variety of services including LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and email.

Author of How Social Media Changed My Life

Bob McDonald

Bob McDonald is a career consultant that specializes in resume writing, as well as helping people create an online presence that will help job seekers increase their visibility with prospective employers. His venture, TOG Solutions, also provides creative and virtual assistant services to organizations of all sizes. The TOG Blog on the site post regular articles about job searching, software and training.

When not working on his business or his own job-search prospects, Bob is also a writer who is currently working on his Stories from the Forester series. One of the books, Flagrant Foul, was completed in 2006, and he is working on finishing Volume I, which will include the stories Dilemma (completed in 2008) and Unwritten (currently living up to its name). He blogs about his many writing misadvantures on the Quest for an ISBN blog, located on the Stories from the Forester Web site, www.flagrantfoul.com.

Author of Using Social Media to Help Your Job Search

Genna Petrolla

Genna is one of the four individuals that produces messy magazine from Cleveland, Ohio. The rest of the team includes Vanessa Aron, Lauren Kirk and Michael Stidham. During the day, she works for University Circle, Inc. promoting the Greater Circle Living Program to eligible employees in and around the Circle. Genna also serves on the Marketing and Development committee at SPACES gallery and is involved with the Great Lakes Urban Exchange. Her interests lie in true grassroots marketing and in promoting Cleveland as a great place to live, work and create. messy magazine was created specifically to encourage creativity, both artistically and in formulating ideas to move Cleveland forward.

Author of Social Media Case Study: messy magazine

Tony Ramos

Tony Ramos is a designer and consultant specializing in presentations and proposal graphics. For three consecutive years, he has been designated a Microsoft MVP for PowerPoint for his voluntary contributions to the PPT user community. In 2003, he was the first person to write a weblog about PowerPoint. His blog's most recent incarnation is titled "The Presentationist." His projects range from pro bono presentations to government contract proposals worth $100B. A big fan of Twitter, Facebook, and other social sites, Tony has been involved in computing since punch cards and Fortran. Tony is a decent cyclist, a slow runner and a bad swimmer. He and his wife and dogs live on Cleveland's west side.

Author of Social Media and Presentation Technology

Bob Rhubart

A writer, editor, and social media practitioner/evangelist, Bob Rhubart manages the Software Architect Community on the Oracle Technology Network, the online community for Oracle Corporation. In that role Bob uses a wide array of social media tools, including a blog, Twitter, Facebook, Friendfeed, del.ici.ous, and others. Before joining Oracle in June 2008, Bob was a senior product marketing specialist for BEA Systems, where he was instrumental in driving the use of blogs as part of the BEA AquaLogic marketing strategy. Before that he was director of content and community for Flashline, Inc., a Cleveland-based enterprise software start-up, where he spearheaded the launch of the Flashline blog in 1993, made extensive use of RSS as part of a homegrown automated content management strategy, and also developed a collaborative, wiki-based product documentation process. Prior to joining Flashline in 1999 Bob was a staff editor at Books.com, the very first online bookstore, founded in Cleveland in 1992. He blogs on social media and Web 2.0 at Smallification.com.

Author of Conversation: The Catalyst for Connection

Jack Ricchiuto

Jack Ricchiuto is a writer and mentor engaging people in the kinds of conversations that have the power to create change. His clients are leaders, organizations, and communities seeking new approaches to leadership, strategic planning, project management, and engaging people in collaborations based on their strengths and passions. For 30 years, Jack's work with groups spans 24 industries and as many urban, rural, and virtual communities. Jack continues teaching and curriculum design with undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctorate programs in colleges and universities including Kent State and Vanderbilt Universities. He has been a leadership mentor to post-doc scientists at UC Berkeley, MIT, Harvard, and Tufts Universities. Jack's books include Collaborative Creativity (1997), Accidental Conversations (2002), Project Zen (2003), Appreciative Leadership (2005), Mountain Paths (2006), Conscious Becoming (2007), and Instructions from the Cook / Recipes for New Conversations (2008). In 2009 he will release "The Stories that Connect Us." Jack’s undergraduate degree is from John Carroll University (1974) and graduate degree from Goddard College, Vermont (1980). He continues teaching and curriculum design with undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctorate programs in colleges and universities including Kent State and Vanderbilt Universities.

Author of Micro-Media & The Future of Narrative

Jill Miller Zimon

Jill Miller Zimon blogs at Writes Like She Talks and co-blogs at The Moderate Voice. She provided 2008 election coverage for Newseek’s The Ruckus, BlogHer.com and from NPR’s election night blogger war room. WE Magazine named Zimon one of 101 Women Bloggers to Watch (Fall ‘08). She is the first blogger to be named Women’s eNews Journalist of the Month (3/09). Zimon has provided commentary for CNN, C-SPAN, BBC, Cleveland public radio and television and other outlets. Her writing has appeared in and she has been quoted by The Washington Post, The Plain Dealer, Campaigns & Elections, Quill, The Writer and The Jewish Weekly among other online and print publications. Zimon has a dual degree in government and sociology from Georgetown University and a joint degree in law and social work from Case Western Reserve University.

Author of Social Media Makes Pepper Pike a Hub of Activism