40 PR-Related People To Follow On Twitter

Thumbs up! 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@unmarketingOttawaMelanie 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?

Dave Fleet
Managing Director and Head of Global Digital Crisis at Edelman. Husband and dad of two. Cycling nut; bookworm; videogamer; Britnadian. Opinions are mine, not my employer's.