Top 20 Twin Cities social media innovators

117097746_853e5479b5_o If you’ve followed my blog for any length of time, you know by now I’m all about the community. And one community I think doesn’t get near the credit it deserves is our social/digital community right here in Minneapolis/St. Paul.

So often in the social world, you hear about Boston, Austin, Chicago, San Francisco. But you rarely hear about fly-over country.

Make no mistake about it: We’re hear. In fact, we’re here in droves. Nearly 300 people turned up for our last Social Media Breakfast. And, we have some of the top thought leaders in the industry right under our noses.

So, I wanted to start recognizing this talent by identifying the top 20 social innovators across Minnesota. And, as usual, I’m calling on you–my community–for help.

Here’s what I’m hoping you can do:

* Leave a comment–or DM me, if you’re more comfortable–with five (max) innovators you’d like to nominate. Bonus points: Provide the reasons behind why you think they are solid candidates.

* The innovators must live in Minnesota (I’m opening it up beyond the Twin Cities because there are at least a few key people who would be on my list who do not reside in the Twin Cities)

* After one week, I’ll tally the results and post the top 20 vote-getters (I’m going to try to work up badges, too).

OK, so, who would you nominate? Let’s have it!

Photo credit: Zinkwasi, FlickR Creative Commons

55 Responses to “Top 20 Twin Cities social media innovators”

arikhanson on July 25th, 2009

Clearly, some people did not read the rules in the post So, just to be clear, for those who nominated more than five (yeah, I’m looking at you Kelly Groehler I will be taking the first five you mention in your nomination post.

Only 2 more days to nominate your innovators!
thomasknoll on July 26th, 2009

I hope you will allow an expatriate add his two cents? Even if I am no longer based in the TwinCities, I am still very proud of all my friends who *have* put MN on the map.

As many have already mentioned, five is far too few. (Maybe I should make my own list of everyone-I-know-who-uses-twitter-in-minnesota-and-why they-are-awesome?)

For the sake of this exercise, however, I’ll stick to the innovation theme:

@jojeda – for bridging the gab between traditional and social media

@rickmahn – for making sure that these social media tools reflect true networks and stay social

@taulpaul – for ridiculously creative projects, and more importantly a sincerity that is unfortunately rare

@newcoventry – for exposing higher education to the benefits of engaging students and prospects on their own turf

@lindsi – for using these tools where they are perhaps most important: in the non-profit space

really? I have to stop now?
chris dykstra on July 27th, 2009

I humbly submit all of my co-founders and crew of @TheUpTake. From organizing volunteer Twitter teams, to webcasting every second of the Coleman/Franken trial, to on the fly channel changers and google masups, these folks live it:

Jason Bartnett @jbarnett
Mike McIntee @mmcintee
Chuck Olson @chuckumentary
Noah Kuhnin @noahkunin
Jennifer Whigham @zosiablue
Matt Johnson @MattJhsn
tpuyleart on July 27th, 2009

Here is my vote:

Robert Stanke – has been a gracious mentor answering my many stupid questions and teaching me a lot along the way.

Arik Hanson – Great insight and tips to help me navigate SM.

Scott Borsch – another great mentor with good insight. Learn something with every interaction.
Julian Reytel on August 4th, 2009

For Innovative, I nominate ourselves- SuddenDeals.com

We are a live entertainment/discount network in the Twin Cities. We connect merchants with shoppers in real-time through the use of SMS text messages on mobile cell phones. The innovative part is that with our network, merchants get to share each other’s customers and don’t need to build their SMS lists from scratch!

@suddendeals_com