A special edition of Great Blogs of Fire! Last month a post noted the five bloggers that were influencing me the most at that time. It seems like a good idea to recognize influencers, so this will be a continuing monthly feature to be hosted on the Now Is Gone blog.
Quick recap: Last month’s top five in order were Brian Oberkirch, Chris Heuer, Kevin Dugan, Jeremiah Owyang and Kami Huyse.
This Month’s Top Five Influential Bloggers
1) Valeria Maltoni: Great writing from a master. Valeria is witty, demonstrative and poignant. Her work causes breakthroughs for many, many bloggers, and her dialogue with me has been very enjoyable, helpful and intelligent. I was so impressed by Valeria, that I asked her to keynote a conference I’m chairing.
2) Rich “Gumballs” Becker: My counterpart in the BlogStraightTalk initiative, Rich is a very subtle and brilliant public communicator. Back channel conversation over the past month has really shown me how smart and deft Rich’s copy can be, and also how a delicate hand can be as effective, if not more so than my “gonzo-esque blogging” style. Hats off to you, Rich.
3) Shel Israel: On and offline I find Shel to be a very powerful influence right now. It will be great meeting Shel at BlogOrlando.
4) Toby Bloomberg: I call Toby my blue-chipper because she is always reliable and helpful. She and Rich are probably the most linked-to bloggers on my site the past month. Read the Diva and watch an experienced master at work.
5) Eric Eggertson has been on an absolute tear for the past week. Great posts include China’s spin war, the Bush administration’s PR failures, and “Apology Interruptus.” Eric’s thoughts have been provocative and brilliant. It’s great reading someone on a hot streak like this.
Honorable mentions: Ike Pigott, Jeremiah Owyang, Cam Beck
Thanks for the recognition, Jeff. It’s funny how much I like being called “influential” but wince at being called “powerful.” Blog Orlando looks like it’s really shaping up to be something special. I look forward to meeting you there.
I’m a big fan of Shel as he’s the one who really turned up the dial on conversation for me. His latest project is also high on my list of “the way I think as well”.
What do you say, Shel, want to do a conversation with me about Global Neighborhoods at Conversation Agent? Alas I won’t be able to meet you at blog Orlando. I’m sure that will be a great space with Josh Hallett and many others who have been spearheading the format.
Toby has long been a guide on social media and smart dialogues with people who are changing the way we work.
Thank you for the kind words and the links — now I must go check Eric Eggertson out, the only one I did not know among your recommendations.
Very kind of you Geoff. I must have overshot to be included in this company. I was only trying to keep it real.
All my best,
Rich
Geoff – Thanks for your kind words and inclusion with some of them most talented people who are pioneers in this space. More so it is great fun to be part of ‘Great Balls of Fire’ and to count you as a BBF – best blogger friend.