I came across this post on the Immediate Influence blog called “50 OF THE MOST POWERFUL AND INFLUENTIAL WOMEN IN SOCIAL MEDIA” and it make me wonder who Canada’s more influential women in social media are? First let me say congratulations to Leesa Barnes, the “Queen of Podcasting” as she’s made the list at #35. I’m sure some of the women behind and who attend the Toronto Geek Girl Dinners should make the list.
So what are your thoughts, leave a comment with any names by Friday and then I’ll put up a poll early next week (don’t be shy to nominate yourself, take pride in leading the way, or if you are shy drop me a note.
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Hi Dave.
Could I nominate Rae Hoffman?
http://twitter.com/sugarrae
Names that immediately come to mind:
Maggie Fox / SMG
Connie Crosby / The Crosby Group & Community Divas
Eden Spodek / Bargainista & Community Divas
MC Turgeon / podcaster, blogger, pioneer (@emcee)
Michelle Blanc / Blogger & consultant, radically transparent
Kate Trgovac / One Degree (@mynameiskate)
Michelle Sullivan / SM consultant & PodCamp Montreal organizer (@msullivan)
@Jeff Bentley –
Jeff – absolutely!
Ali de Bold Chick Advisor
Shannae Ingleton What Women Want
I agree with Adele’s list, with the exception that I would add Adele’s name to it.
I’d also add Tamera Kramer and Jen Evans to the list.
Define influential.
What I mean is, influential where? To whom? For what purpose? Within the community, or reaching out from the community to new/non-users? Within the country, or internationally? Influential for their attitude, or influential for their achievement? Did they create something, or do they promote something? If I asked others in the space, would everyone recognize the name? If I asked people outside of the space, do they have reach?
The problem with lists is that they usually contain the same group of people who — while they may be “influencing”, too — are attending lots of conferences, and making a lot of lists because they have visibility within a tight sphere.
I think the space will improve — and our ability to get the tools to new users — if we make the social media world less list- and ranking-driven, and more: “Hey! Everyone matters here. You can all have a voice.”
Leona Hobbs and Jenny Bullough, who both founded Toronto Girl Geek Dinners.
Amber Mac.
Me. (jk
)
Here in Vancouver, Miss604 is very influential. http://miss604.com
I see Maggie’s already on the list, but I would also add SMG’s Blogger Relations Ninja, Zoe Siskos
Meg – great question! You are right, everyone does matter and that is why I left it open to interpretation, however as you and a few others have asked “define influence?” I think now a ranking system needs to be added to this question which we’re working on
This post has been great to get some names flowing of those who are deemed to be influential.
Bottom line, I think that we can all agree the needle needs to be moved, more education, more experimenting, more trying of new technologies, so those who help create and do those very things just might be the influential women….
How yummy! I know most of the women suggested by everyone up above and I’m so glad to see that these are smart, savvy and sophisticated Canadian women to boot!
Can we add Kate Trgovac to the list? Oh wait, someone did mention here. Jen Evans and Amber Mac for sure!
While I was the only Canadian woman to make that list and I’m proud of that achievement, I find that lists often exclude. They’re based on who’s running in that person’s circle at that moment. Lists help to shake out who’s the best, but it doesn’t necessarily highlight ALL the best that’s out there.
But hey, if someone wants to laud my accomplishments by putting me on a list (as long as it’s not worst dressed), I’ll wear the label with pride. I’m happy when someone recognizes me
Good nominations to be sure, but if you’re looking at creating a “up and comer” category you’d really have to put April Dunford at the top of that list (http://www.rocketwatcher.com)!
Influential? Social Media? Gotta be April Dunford – http://www.rocketwatcher.com – She introduced me business use of SecondLife, facebook, twitter, and more of the subtle business models that are evolving around social media. Her piece on the Social Media Pres-Release, should be required reading for marketing and PR pros. The critical difference between April and other new media influencers, in not only the fact she is a buyer, user and creator of social media, she has the technical and marketing chops to cut through the noise from neophytes. Nuff said.
Hi,
I agree with the nominations above.
How about Jacqui Murphy from Tech Capital Partners in Waterloo? A VC that blogs, twitters AND controls some cash is influential in my book.
April
For high tech product marketing: April Dunford, Rocket Watcher, http://www.rocketwatcher.com/blog/
Amber Mac
Tamera Kramer
Maggie Fox
Kate Trgovac
Thanks so much for the nomination and support – I'm flattered. You may also want to check out the Women Who Rock section of my blog for a list of Canadian women active in social media. Others in the regular blogroll not already mentioned who should be included are: Kim Vallee, Danielle Meder and Anita Clarke.
Wow! Eden told me about the conversation here. First off, Dave great idea! Great way to get the discussion going. And thank you so much Robin B for mentioning me! I am honoured you thought of me.
I totally agree with Meg's points. Who would people outside the community recognize? In addition to who has already been mentioned, I would also suggest Yvonne Kai and Anita Clarke.
Thanks for the love Robyn!!
Dave, I’d like to throw Adele McAlear’s name in here. Her blog rocks, she has a wide ranging following on Twitter, has done Twitter workshops and presentations and has an excellent understanding and handle on what social media is all about.
I think there’s a great start with names there and I’d like to add another one as well.
Kelly Rusk (@krusk)
I also think we need to try and broaden that list a little – *many* of these names are Toronto women – not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I do like the idea of also have influential women in the space by some sort of geographic region as well. I’d have at least another one or two nominations if that were the case I think.
Thanks for the nominations, but since I’m just “tamera” on so many networks my last name ‘brand’ has obviously suffered… it’s Kremer
I’d also add in Melanie Baker from AideRSS – @melle
I nominate Carolyn Beatty — Senior Vice President, Online http://www.chapters.indigo.ca
Carolyn joined Indigo in August of 2003 and is now responsible for overseeing the online business. Most recently she led the strategy and design of a truly innovative online Community for booklovers http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/community that’s fully integrated in to the e-commerce experience but that delivers the best in social networking with a robust customer generated content tool. Community has grown rapidly and is now a destination where up to 200,000 customers, employees, authors and enthusiasts connect and share their passion for books, authors and reading. In her first four years at Indigo, she lead the redesign and enhancement of the online customer experience and the launch of a variety of new categories and functionality for the website and kiosk channels. Prior to joining Indigo, Carolyn spent five years as the VP of e-Marketing at one of the largest direct and interactive agencies in Canada – Wunderman, a division of WPP. There she built an award-winning interactive practice which serviced a roster of blue chip North American accounts including Kraft, IBM, Ford, and Citibank.
Thanks for the nomination – I'm very flattered. I agree with everyone else mentioned above.
Last spring I added a Women Who Rock blogroll on Bargainista.ca. Other women who haven't been mentioned already and are on my other regular blogroll who deserve to be included are: Kim Vallée, Anita Clarke and Danielle Meder.
I have to concur with Rob Tyrie's comments about April Dunford (http://www.rocketwatcher.com), she's one of those individuals with infectious enthusiasm, unbridled curiosity, and enlightening opinions. To top that off, she can write about in a readily accessible manner (check out the blog). Anybody who has > 600 follows on Twitter has to be doing something right!
How about Janice Diner, Ripple Social Media http://www.ripplesmi.com. She was one of the first marketers on Facebook and was responsible for the infamous TD Canada Trust Money Lounge and the PlayStation Facebook program. To her credit she launched the Intel B-to-B community http://www.smallbizintelligence.ca and the Oh Henry/Virgin Festival http://www.whatfeedsyourhunger.com community.
The founders of Media Kitty http://www.mediakitty.com – Heather Kirk and Laura Serena from Vancouver — started an online community for journalists and PR people in tourism years ago. They also just launched Newsbureau.ca for Canada at http://www.newsbureau.ca.
Here in Vancouver there was also a 'top tech women to watch in 2008' list put out last year by Raincity Studios. I'd also have to add Amber Mac (although not in Vancouver and probably already mentioned on this list
Nice to see a list like this in Canada! I'm thrilled to say that I've met lots of the ladies mentioned in the comments, and you are all amazing!
Dave, you totally worked it at the Steve Rubel thing tonight!
I'm going to nominate Alexa Clark and Eden Spodek to this list. They are both the bee's knees, imho.
Thanks for the nomination Melissa. For the record, Maggie Fox and Jenny Bullough founded Toronto Girl Geek Dinners. I volunteered to help out earlier this year.