We recently announced the formation of the Social Media Week Global Editorial Team and issued a call for contributors. Hundreds of you, from all over the globe, and from virtually every industry, responded with links and ideas, blog post submissions and insight into what you’d want to see covered. The response to our initial announcement makes us all incredibly optimistic and excited about the direction that we’re heading in. Over the next several weeks, we’ll be accepting new contributors on a rolling basis, and we’ll be announcing them at the beginning of each week. Join us in welcoming the first round of contributors to the Social Media Week Global Editorial Team and check back soon to hear directly from them!
Amanda Altschuler
Amanda Altschuler is the Associate Director of Digital Strategy at Abrams Research, a digital and social media agency located in Soho, NY. Launched in 2008, Abrams Research began as the interactive strategy arm of Abrams Media, a network of consumer news web sites published by Dan Abrams (ABC/GMA). As part of the Abrams Research team, Amanda manages or advises digital and social media programs for clients across a number of business segments, including Fortune 50 corporations like General Electric and Coca-Cola,major non-profits like the ASPCA, luxury brands like Slane and athletes like Blake Griffin of the LA Clippers and Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics. In February 2011, Amanda co-wrote and published a Social Media Guide for Luxury Brands that was featured in Women’s Wear Daily. Amanda graduated cum laude from the Miami University honors program with a degree in Mass Communication and minors in Marketing and Business Legal Studies.
Yianni Garcia
Yianni Garcia is the Social Media and Community Manager for The McGraw-Hill Companies, where he consults with their various brands such as McGraw-Hill Education, Standard & Poor’s, J.D. Power & Associates, McGraw-Hill Professional, Platts, Aviation Week and others. Prior to working at McGraw-Hill, he was a social media strategist with various agencies including Digital Influence Group and Undercurrent. He managed early efforts in social media by major brands such as BMW, Pepsi Co., CNN, One Laptop Per Child, Genzyme BioTech, Tennis Channel and various startups. Yianni is passionate about studying the effects of social media in how we build relationships and connect with each other, and exploring how these digital sociological nuances apply to how brands can connect with customers more closely. Through his work, Yianni helps organizations integrate social media and community-minded strategies into all business processes – from marketing and communications to enterprise collaboration (Jive, Yammer) and customer service. He remains keen on helping brands understand how their stakeholders behave in the social web and how they can make their services more discoverable and sharable. For more details on his work, visit his portfolio. Visit his blog socialmediaguy.com or find him @yianning or LinkedIn
Adrianna Giuliani
Adrianna serves as a SVP, Creative & Strategic Planner at DeVries collaborating with account teams to develop programs that challenge conventional thinking and connect to contemporary culture. She is fascinated by how social media has changed from a reflection of how we communicate to a catalyst that shapes how people and companies relate to the world around them. During her career Adrianna has worked on a range of lifestyle brands including ABSOLUT Vodka, Cadbury Adams, Weight Watchers, Home Depot, Clorox, Nokia, Best Buy, Ikea, Tide, Gain and Frito-Lay to drive strategy and programming. Adrianna is energized by creating integrated programs that connect consumers to brands through relevant pop culture moments. In addition to strategy, Adrianna specializes in 360 degree planning and trend spotting. Adrianna recently completed her Masters in Strategy & Communication at Columbia University concentrating on integrated marketing and digital word of mouth. Outside of her day job she writes a blog called Techromance that examines how dating today is increasingly defined by technology and contributes guest posts to partners like College Candy and Michelin restaurant guides. She lives in New York City. Visit her blog Techromance or find her on twitter @adriannagiuls
Tim Lloyd
Tim Lloyd works in the digital communications team at the UK Department of Health. While he blogs in a personal capacity, much of his work revolves around real life challenges and the occasional success with using social media in a professional environment. Tim cut his teeth as a journalist originally, working for newspapers and magazines and is fascinated by the fact that everyone is now a publisher and that the tools are so easy to access. What are the opportunities and pitfalls? How can you encourage best practice in social media? And what does social media mean for traditional communications methods? This topics are an example of what Tim hopes to explore more as part of the Social Media Week editorial team. You can find him @timolloyd or www.clearmessage.wordpress.com
Donna Murdoch
Donna Murdoch is a Doctoral student in Adult Education and a Masters in Communication, Computers, Technology and Education, both at Columbia University Teachers College. Her specialty is educating educators, and other adults about the best ways to integrate technology, virtualization, and social media into their day-to-day curriculum and to enhance their own professional learning networks. She was the founder of her own technology support and education firm, The TechKnows, and has consulted with a variety of companies and organizations to help with their unique social learning, collaboration, and educational needs.
Zohe Mustafa
Zohe Mustafa is based in the UK and has spent his career defining high-level enterprise digital architectures & developing large scale strategies for Global companies across bought, owned & earned media. Social Media will be a core component of these strategies. Zohe is in essence a Marketing Technologist with a hybrid background of web/software development & sales & marketing, having gained 13 years of experience working for the likes of Nokia, Virgin Media and himself. You can find him on twiter @zohe
Perri O. Blumberg
Perri O. Blumberg is a native New Yorker and (second semester, praise the heavens) senior at Columbia University. She’s majoring in psychology and has written a variety of in-depth research papers on romantic relationships and Facebook, self esteem and social networking and one very scientific paper on the ramifications of “sexting.” When she’s not interning at a best selling magazine or writing bar and restaurant reviews for Shecky’s Nightlife (www.sheckysnightlife.com), you can likely find her blogging about her dating adventures (largely misadventures) at 66perristreet.blogspot.com, tweeting about her never-ending quest to find Manhattan’s best cocktail, or roadtripping across America as she follows the every move (online and off) of Dave Matthews and his wondrous traveling band. Follow her on twitter @66perristreet to learn more (or if you just need a laugh to get over a long day at the office or those bothersome texts from your ex)
Jinal Shah
Jinal Shah is a Digital Strategist at JWT New York. Prior to JWT, Jinal was a Senior Strategist at a boutique digital agency where lead strategy engagements for American Express Open and GE in areas of social media, content, and eCommerce. Here current area of interest is exploring how digital platforms contribute towards building brand thought leadership. She blogs at http://www.contstantbeta.com and you can follow her here @jinal_shah
Jed Singer 
Jed Singer is a graduate of Drexel University, and is currently an Engagement Associate at Stuzo, a Dachis Group company and Preferred Facebook Developer headquartered in Philadelphia that specializes in social strategy, management, and application development. Jed works with top clients and global agencies to translate business objectives into social initiatives tied to specific social goals and KPIs. Another venture, Socialight Media, helps small- and medium- sized businesses connect to, communicate with, and convert their customers using social media channels. For more information, find him on Twitter @jedsinger.
Susannah Vila
Susannah Vila directs content and outreach at Movements.org, an organization dedicated to identifying, connecting and supporting activists using technology to organize for social change. Connect with her on Twitter @susannahvila or @aym
