With the NFL season upon us and most Fantasy Football Drafts now completed, it got me thinking about who would be on my Fantasy Social Media Team? In order to create this team, I replaced the Fantasy Football format of QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, Flex, K, and DEF with a unique mix of marketing and social media experts that I learn from on a consistent basis.
To make the list interesting, I used the following rules when selecting my Fantasy Social Media Team:
- All members of the team must be active users on Twitter and blog regularly.
- The team must be made up of eight (8) individuals plus one (1) celebrity.
- "Balanced Team Rule": The team can not include all of the individuals with the highest followings on Twitter.
- "Hidden Talent Sleeper Pick Rule": The team must include at least two (2) individuals with less than 5,000 followers with the goal of exposing fascinating experts that others may not know about.
- "Homer Pick Rule": The team must include at least one (1) individual from your home town.
- "Teammate Pick Rule": The team must include at least one (1) individual who is a co-worker. If you work alone, are unemployed or a student, you can select a peer that you personally know.
Now that the rules of been laid out, below is my Fantasy Social Media Team:
Jeremiah Owyang - @owyang: Jeremiah is an Industry Analyst at Altimeter Group and is a sought after speaker. His 8 Stages of Listening is still one of my favorite webcasts. You can read more from Jeremiah here.
Mark Schaefer - @markwschaefer: Mark is the Executive Director of Schaefer Marketing Solutions and is a seasoned global sales and marketing professional. In addition, be sure to check out his blog.
Scott Stratten - @unmarketing: Scott is the President of Un-Marketing.com and an expert in Viral, Social, and Authentic Marketing. He also has a new book out in stores titled "UNMARKETING: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging".
Mack Collier - @mackcollier: Mack is a social media consultant, trainer and speaker. He maintains a fabulous blog and is also the founder of #blogchat (a must attend Tweet Chat every Sunday night at 9pm EST).
Lisa Petrilli - @LisaPetrilli: Lisa is a senior level marketing executive and the creator and Executive Editor of the MENG Blend Blog. She is very engaging and that carries over into her writing, which can be found here.
Marjorie Clayman - @rlmadman: Marjorie is Director of Client Development at Clayman Advertising. I first "met" her during #IMCChat (founded by Beth Harte - more on her below) and was impressed by her insights. She has a wonderful writing style, which is on display here.
Beth Harte - @bethharte: Beth is the Client Services Director at Serengeti Communications. In addition she was a crowd favorite at the Social Media Plus Summit in Philadelphia and blogs here. My 1B selection is Valeria Maltoni who is a branding genius. Beth gets the slight edge because she is also an adjunct professor at Immaculata University (I have fond memories of playing summer basketball on campus and still live around the corner). Plus, Valeria is a Villanova Alum and I received my MBA from Saint Joseph's University (The Mainline Rivalry continues -The Hawk Will Never Die!)
Michael Brenner - @brennermichael: Michael is an experienced results-driven marketer and a great leader and mentor. He shares his thoughts about B2B Marketing here. It also helps that he is a fellow SJU Alum.
John Mayer - @johncmayer: My celebrity pick was tough because I genuinely find that Conan O'Brien still manages to be funny and clever despite Twitter's character limit. John Mayer wins out because overall I think his social media presence is more defined across all channels and he does a better job connecting with fans.
Feel free to comment on my selections but more importantly share your Fantasy Social Media Team below.