Over the course of today I saw (and partook in) several conversations on Twitter around people giving up on Twitter itself because they couldn’t find interesting people to follow.
In some cases, people complained that they could only find ’social media’ and ‘PR’ people on Twitter. Unfortunately (perhaps), I’m one of them so while I can advise on some good people to follow, my Twitter ecosystem is to a large extent populated by other PR and social media folks.
So, for a little Friday fun, here are my suggestions for 40 PR-related people I recommend you engage with on Twitter. Interesting discussions guaranteed…
Social Media Folks
1. Shannon Paul – @shannonpaul – New media creative content consultant at the Detroit Red Wings
2. Chris Brogan – @chrisbrogan – President, New Marketing Labs, co-founder of PodCamp and all-round nice guy
3. Jeremiah Owyang – @jowyang – Senior Analyst, Social Computing at Forrester Research
4. Laura Fitton – @pistachio – Principal and Founder, Pistachio Consulting
5. Jennifer Leggio – @mediaphyter – ZDNet social business blogger. Writes smart posts that make me think
6. Julien Smith – @julien – Uber-smart, uber-friendly new media consultant from Montreal. Great guy all-round
7. David Alston – @davidalston – Vice President of Marketing at Radian6
8. Aaron Newman – @aaronnewman – Founder of Techrigy
9. Scott Stratten – @unmarketing – Ottawa
10. Melanie Baker – @melle – Community Manager at AideRSS
Communicators
11. Joseph Thornley – @thornley – CEO of Thornley Fallis Communications, Canada’s leading PR blogger and my boss
12. Todd Defren – @tdefren – Principal at SHIFT Communications
13. Brian Solis – @briansolis – Principal at Futureworks
14. Dave Jones – @doctorjones – VP of Digital Communications at Hill & Knowlton Canada
15. KD Paine – @kdpaine – Measurement guru and ultra-friendly runner.
16. Danny Brown – @dannybrown – Owner of boutique agency Press Release PR
17. Doug Haslam – @dough – PR pro with SHIFT Communications
18. Michael O’Connor Clarke – @michaelocc – VP at Thornley Fallis Communications, blogger since 2001 and general wise guy
19. Mike Kujawski – @mikekujawski – Ottawa-based marketing and social media consultant focused on the government sector
20. Shel Holtz – @shel – Co-host of For Immediate Release, communicator and co-author of Tactical Transparency
21. Colin McKay – @canuckflack – Director of Research, Education and Outreach at Canada’s Office of the Privacy Commissioner. One of several people on this list who constantly question and make me think
22. Neville Hobson – @jangles – UK-based PR pro and co-host of the FIR podcast with Shel Holtz
Educators
23. Beth Harte – @BethHarte – Adjunct professor at Immaculata University
24. Karen Russell – @KarenRussell – PR professor at the University of Georgia
25. Christine Smith – @ProfChristineS – PR Educator at Centennial College, Toronto
26. Robert French – @rdfrench – PR teacher at Auburn University. Founder of PROpenMic and founding fellow of SNCR
Entrepreneurs
27. Chip Griffin – @chipgriffin – CEO of, among other things, CustomScoop and Media Bullseye. Questions everything and keeps me on my toes
28. Guy Kawasaki – @guykawasaki – Managing Director of Garage Technology Ventures and founder of Alltop
29. Gary Vaynerchuk – @garyvee – Host of winelibrarytv.com
30. Peter Shankman – @skydiver – Founder of Help A Reporter Out
31. Marcel Lebrun – @lebrun – CEO of Radian6
Corporate Twitterers
32. Richard Binhammer – @richardatdell – Face of Dell’s digital media team
33. Keith Burtis – @KeithBurtis – Keith is one of the nicest guys I’ve met. He works as Community Manager for @bestbuyremix
34. Ferg Devins – @molsonferg – VP of Public Affairs at Molson
Miscellaneous Professions
35. Ike Pigott – @ikepigott – Like Chip, Ike questions everything I say. He makes me smarter
36. Shannon Whitley – @swhitley – Ridiculously smart, friendly, helpful developer. Developed the Chat Catcher plugin I’m using on this site.
37. Mathew Ingram – @mathewi – Journalist at the Globe and Mail; blogger and co-founder of Canada’s Mesh Conference
38. Christopher Penn – @cspenn – Chief Technology Officer of the Student Loan Network, co-founder of PodCamp and social media ninja
39. Eden Spodek – @edenspodek – The Bargainista – pension fund communicator, shopping blogger, passionate about communities
40. Connie Crosby – @conniecrosby – Law librarian, social networking “diva” and co-host of the Community Divas podcast with Eden Spodek
I could keep going on and on – I follow over 700 people, all of whom I find valuable. Check out the Twitterpacks wiki for other recommendations, too.
Who would you add to this list?
) RT @tanize_f [link to post] pros colegas RP’s
Hey thanks for including me on the list Dave. I agree with all the folks you’ve mentioned. Follow them all as well. Of course you also belong on that list (so let’s make it 41
If you did expand it to 50 someday I would suggest @comcastcares (Frank E.) for the corporate as well as @ambercadabra and @warrenss (but I’m bias here
Also, @mackcollier and @conniereece and I’m realizing I could go on and on because they keep on popping up in my head.
Dave,
Thanks for including me on the list- flattered! (and thanks for listing Todd above me– helps around the office, you know…)
I’ll second the Twitter packs recommendation– though I will admit I haven’t been there in a while, and not sure if it’s kept up to date. I bet it is though.
Thanks Dave! Making a list always makes me feel validated!
Dave, thanks for including me on this list. But the description is a little over the top.
Another twittering journalist I’d suggest is @kirklapointe, the Managing Editor of the Vancouver Sun. Kirk tweets and blogs with intelligence and insight about journalism and the impact of new technologies on the economy of the news media.
Hi Dave, I definitely think that @kaye (Dr. Kaye Sweetser) and @kmatthews (Kelli Matthews) should be included in the Educators list. Dr. Sweetser is an assistant professor at the University of Georgia teaching PR research and communication, and Ms. Matthews is a PR instructor at the University of Oregon.
Keith and I will have to work hard to represent the community managers among all these fancy folks.
Thank you for the inclusion, and for a delightful resource of new folks to check out!
Thanks for posting this list. I’m pretty new to Twitter myself but I’m also trying to get my classmates interested too. Many of them say that they don’t know who to follow and so I’m sure this list will help
Thanks for this list – it’s great! Also, the staff at PRWeek is on Twitter: @prweekstaff. We’re always following PR pros and often ask for sources, comments, etc. Check us out!
Hi Dave
Thanks for the call out. I think I am a corporate face because you tweeted one of my first presentations in Toronto. Thats the only reason why
hey there are are lots of faces for Dell, not just me, including the folks here
http://blog.fluentsimplicity.com/twitter-brand-index/dell/
We all work hard to listen learn engage and help put a face to Dell
Thanks for the mention Dave! I’m curious as to how you personally group your Twitter contacts on whatever Twitter app you use. For example, I’ve recently created multiple groups using TweetDeck such as Ottawa-folk, social media folk, A-listers, non-marketing folk, etc…
Dave, thanks for adding me to your list, it’s much appreciated! There are so many great folks to follow on Twitter and I’ve enjoyed lots of conversations with them (not all marketing/PR/etc). Having hated Twitter too back in the day, I hope you don’t mind me sharing some more folks with readers. These folks really make Twitter a pleasure!
@YatPundit (technology)
@pprlisa (PR)
@jamimiami (Gov’t comm/relations)
@KellyeCrane (PR)
@SonnyGill (SM)
@philbaumann (healthcare)
@debramastaler (SEO)
@storyspinner (SEO)
@yellowstoneshel (National Parks)
@techburgh (technology)
@jeremymeyers (music industry)
@KimWood (real estate)
Too many to name!!
But I’ve found that Twitter has many amazing and wonderful folks on it. It does take time though…
Dave, like the others I am flattered. First for inclusion, second because of the outrageous claim that I make you “think.”
I agree with all of the Educators you included, but list of PR educators on Twitter needs to start with @barbaranixon from Georgia Southern. She gets it, and from my perspective she has become one of the top “connectors” on Twitter. I’m more inclined to be introduced to cool people through her, and more prone to find out about emerging trends afoot.
Well thank you very much, good sir (although I SOOOO wanted to be “miscellaneous” – adds an air of mystique, no?)
I learn so much from so many people that it’s be almost impossible to sort from each other. I will try though and return in due course.
Hey Mike – I use Twitter for both work and play, so my groups are generally search windows for client names and spokespeople; I also have one set up for my colleagues at Thornley Fallis and one for my ‘a-listers.’ Those groups alone are enough to take up about two screen widths, so I don’t really have room for more!
You missed the Edelman folks!
As a PR professional just starting to use Twitter, finding a list such as this is a big help in getting started developing a list of people in my industry to follow. Thanks for posting it, Dave!
At least one person on this list instructs their people to block follows from their competitors. Does anyone else think this is not in the spirit of social media?
Martin – quite frankly I think it’s just a dumb move – if someone’s using Twitter for competitive intelligence they can just subscribe to the RSS feed or run a search for the username. Blocking competitors is… well… pointless.
What a great list! Thank you for including me, Dave.
I follow a lot of amazing people. A few others I would include:
- @wmacphail – Wayne MacPhail, consultant with a journalism background, teaching social media to journalism students and works with charitable and non-profit organizations
- @cbensen – Connie Bensen, community strategist for social media monitoring application company Techrigy
- @charleneli – Charlene Li is a social media consultant and one of my favourite thinkers in this area, co-author of the book Groundswell and formerly from Forrester Research
- @ryandeschamps – Ryan Deschamps is one of the leading thinkers in libraries, community service and public relations (and related technologies). He is e-services manager for Halifax Public Library and one of the driving forces behind the first Podcamp Halifax that took place this past weekend.
Cheers,
Connie
Thanks for the mention — and everything you do for us, especially at Media Bullseye!
Thanks Dave, but…er… did you mean “wise guy” in the sense of one who has wisdom, or were you perhaps channelling Tony Soprano again?
Michael – how about “mouthpiece at large?”
Thanks for list. I just introduced my PR students to twitter and sent them your list so they can learn from the best.
Thanks Dave, great list I am humbled and honored to have made it
I am also happy to see that i currently follow about 90% of the great folks on here. I will be sure to add the other 10%!
@KeithBurtis
Great list, Dave. I’d toss these folks into the ring, as well:
@scottmeis
@arikhanson
@arbetts
@jaywalk1
I’m a PR guy myself, so folks can feel free to check me out, too – @dmullen.
OMG, tweets appear in your trackbacks?!
Dave, I’m flattered to be included in such esteemed company. Now I know why the number of people following me on Twitter has gone through the roof today. I’ve also never been described as miscellaneous before – as a woman of diverse interests, I’ll take it.
I follow most of the people on your list and I’ll have to check out the few I’m missing.
@BarbaraNixon is a great person to follow for those of you interested in PR educators. (I see Connie Crosby has already added @wmacphail.)
Dave: I’d humbly add me @steveleon, partner, ShowStoppers press events, becoming a twit. Do I qualify?
Sweet, outside of the fact I live in the same freaking city as you!! I lived in Ottawa in Grade 3 though, so it’s not totally off
Thanks man, we still need to hook up with beverage!
Dave…humbled to be included on your list…agree with others that you must be included and I’d add some colleagues at Molson as well @toniahammer, @molsonmoffat @molsonbryan @molsonross …that’s quite a list of really generous people…look forward to continued listening, learning, sharing and conversations…cheers all @MolsonFerg
Hey, Dave. Thanks for the mention. I’ll second Ike’s salute to @barbaranixon at Georgia Southern. Barbara’s not only very interesting to follow, but she shares terrific information and examples for educators in her blog … which she then tweets. A sure ‘must follow’ there. Lots of others, too. But, I’ll stop. Thanks!
Now you have me wondering how can I get me one of those “Miscellaneous Professions”!
Great List!
Thank you for this list! I follow many on here, but I appreciate your recommendations ! I dare not start to think of a comment to recommend people – or it will overtake your post
I have so many awesome tweeps 
Thanks for such a helpful list!
I think @scottmonty for Ford Motor and @juliarosien for Natura Mattresses might be good adds for the corporate twitterer list!
If I may, also, add my name as I am tweeting on behalf of my client BiOH Polyols-a division of Cargill as @tkpleslie, but within the week we will both be on an as yet to be created account at both @BiOH4alltkp and @BiOH4alljk. The latter account will be for @JessicaKoster. She is the marketing manager for Cargill at BiOH Polyols.
Thanks again for the great list!
Excellent list. Rebecca Lieb, now with Econsultancy and still writing for ClickZ, would be my addition.
Dave – like the way you categorized and personalized your recommendations. Thanks for putting this list together.
@wiredprworks
Thank you for your post! I am a Comm major at Clemson University and just recently joined Twitter. My stakeholder comm class is taught by @prprof_mv. She posts very helpful tweets for college students. As a class, we recently started following @heatherhuhman because she posts PR internships for students. I’m going to make it a goal of mine to start following the people on your list.
Thanks,
@madisonfisher
Hey Dave, I was pinged with this post again and revisited. It made me think of two more people that I’d add to any must read list. Madison’s comment reminded me that my memory is horrible and I feel awful for not also mentioning Dr. Mihaela Vorneveau – @prprof_mv – at Clemson. She’s great, Madison’s right.
Also, any list of great PR voices to follow on Twitter and read online is Jeremy Pepper – @jspepper. His insights repeatedly cut through the noise and strike resonant cords. He’s also willing to critique popular memes while so easily, it seems, getting right to the point. Further, whenever a PR faculty member or student reaches out to Jeremy, he responds with kindness. That’s nothing to sneeze at, to be sure. He just spent about 2 hours with my classes, for instance.
Now, of course, I feel bad because I’m thinking of dozens of others to list … but I’ll stop. I appreciate the list and the mention, Dave. Not usually a fan of lists, I do appreciate your sentiment and purpose in providing it. Thanks!
What would it take for me to get listed on one of these follow lists?
@twps
Thomas
My 2 favorites are @Saurik and @MindSmack
Thanks Dave,
I’m surely gonna find it useful..
Dave,
Thank you so much for this wonderful post. I am a PR student at the University of South Florida, graduating in May. I recently created a twitter to connect with peers and professionals in the industry. This list is great for finding established professionals to learn from. Thanks again!
Alli
Me! @Worob
PR at Sunrise blog – worob.com
Listorious should help with this now. Plus you can build your own lists.
Twitter is morphing each week.