You’ve seen those list posts.
The sort that runs with titles like this: “25 PR thought leaders that you must follow on Twitter.”
Typically, it’s been the same people on these lists for the last 10 years. Some of them don’t even do PR anymore.
Recently, there have been a few more of them, so I decided to make a different kind of list. With some classic searches, a couple of social media posts, and a HARO query, I reached out for smart PR professionals to follow on Twitter who are not widely known online.
While I was looking for nominations I received quite a few self-nominations. At first, this surprised me, but then, I got to thinking about it, and realized it’s a very human characteristic: people want to be acknowledged and feel a sense of belonging.
If you are a client or a leader in an agency, take that point to heart. The most underutilized tool in a manager’s toolkit is a compliment.
It’s worth pointing out – if you have a boss that’s doing a good job, they also tend to appreciate a compliment. If you look closely, you’ll see a bit of that sentiment in the nominations that follow.
To that end, and in no particular order, here are those PR pros you should follow on Twitter:
1) Carri Bugbee, digital marketing and PR consultant – nominated by 2) Lisa K. Hawes, who wrote:
“Carri shares helpful tips and articles and asks questions that make me think.”
3)Michelle McIntyre, Michelle McIntyre Communications LLC – she mostly does B2B tech PR.
4) Keith Pillow, CEO, Caddy Marketing and 5) Benjamin Daniel, creative director, Write Right Publications – nominated by 6) Julia Angelen Joy, who wrote:
“He [Keith] just knows his stuff and has totally mastered social content development and management. [Daniel is] very insightful and clear on the distinctions between traditional PR and social media strategies.”
7) Deanna Tomaselli, Account Supervisor, Havas PR – who wrote:
“My feed is a steady stream of tweets on women in business, career advice, and practical PR tips from sources I find.”
8) Heather Whaling, founder and president of Geben Communication – nominated by 9) Alexis Marina and the Geben team.
10) Paul Roetzer, CEO, PR 20/20 and 11) Lorraine Schuchart, CEO, Prosper for Purpose – nominated by 12) Christian Hunter, who wrote:
“He’s [Paul] created a niche using AI and an agency blueprint that is making strides in the community. She [Lorraine] is leading the way in social consciousness as a business leader and PR professional.”
[Note: he also nominated Deidre Breakenridge, who is already on every list, but she’s also quite possibly the nicest person in the world, so worth mentioning and Heather Whaling nominated above].
13) Diana Berryman, 14) Dot Lung, 15) Maya Middlemiss, 16) William Harris – this lovely international and eclectic group of nominees was submitted by 17) Jennifer Riggins – who offers “tech and culture” in her own stream.
18) Marie O’Riordan, senior marketing manager, PFS – hails from across the pond.
19)Karen Lee, 20) Jessica V. Piha, 21) Erika Brown Ekiel – nominated by 22) Krista Canfield, who wrote:
“Karen is the vice president of Marketing at Bessemer Ventures and before that, she was handling digital and social at Stanford University. Jessica is the director of Public Relations at Funko and prior to that she was at Porch and CNN. Erika owns her own consultancy and is a brand and story producer, but before that, she was at Greylock and Forbes.”
[Note, Krista also did a stint in corporate communications for LinkedIn, which I think sounds pretty cool].
23) Jered Martin, COO, OnePitch PR – nominated by 24) Cassie Gonzalez, who wrote:
“Jered is constantly hearing from and relaying feedback from journalists about how PR pros can better work with their media counterparts.”
25) David Erickson, VP, Karwoski & Courage PR – nominated by 26) B.L. Ochman, who wrote, “David is always ahead of the curve with new tools, strategies and tactics.”
27) Lisa Buyer, CEO, The Buyer Group – nominated by 28) Krista Neher, who wrote:
“She seems to often fly under the radar but is one of the smartest and most practical PR people I know. Her book, Social PR Secrets is jam-packed with actionable tips. Few people have the high-level strategy plus the chops and experience to implement – and she has both.”
29) Chi Zhao, CEO, Hokku PR; 30) Trevor Moore, media relations, EZPR; and 31) Dan Jensen, sr. PR Strategist, Tableau – nominated by Ed Zitron.
[Note: Dan also nominated Ed, but Ed is internet famous].
32) Barak Kassar, partner, BKW Partners – who wrote:
“Not internet famous.”
33) Alvin J. Woods, CEO, The Media Model PR – shout out for the ATL.
34) Morey Altman, account manager, Silicon Valley Communications, who wrote:
“Honestly, no one knows me – except tons of tech writers and CEOs. I engage, and I offer honest advice. I’ve been quoted in articles like in Buzzfeed and The Next Web.”
[Note: Many PR pros might remember reading that That Next Web article when it was published]
35) Kate Ryan, managing director, Diffusion – nominated by 36) Lauren Curlett who wrote:
“I’m nominating Kate as I find she tweets truly interesting articles and then shares the PR standpoint or takeaway rather than tweeting an article about PR and explaining further why it’s relevant to PR. I also find her mix of PR thought leadership and personal anecdotes refreshing – she is a person (and a mom) outside of a successful PR pro after all. No one expects people to be all business all the time.”
37) Brenda Christensen, CEO, Stellar PR – end of stealth indeed, Brenda.
38) Rafe Gomez, co-owner, VC, Inc. – who wrote:
“I have a background in sales, so I focus on gaining hits in the specific media outlets that are read and followed by my clients’ target customers.”
39) Juda Engelmayer, president, Herald PR – nominated by 40) Jillian Mushman, who wrote:
“Juda has worked on some of the largest and most impactful PR campaigns nationwide, and is often consulted on crisis matters from other experts.”
40) Rich Borden, president, Borden Communications Consulting – nominated by 41) Rhonda Rees, who wrote:
“[Richard is] a wonderful, creative, talented and overall outstanding PR person.”
8 More Stellar PR Pros to Follow
When you really get into networking, you can really discover there some fantastically smart PR people out there. What follows is an incomplete list of some of those PR pros that are on Twitter that I recommend you follow too:
41) Stacey Miller, director, communications, Auto Care Association – a genuine ace in the profession.
42) Michelle Garrett, freelance writer and PR consultant – she’s seemingly everywhere.
43) Tressa Robbins, vice president, Client Onboarding & Implementation, BurrellesLuce – she one of those that give back to the community, especially students.
44) John Barnett, independent consultant – he’s on his second communications career and in pursuit of a graduate degree in the field.
45) Lou Hoffman, CEO, The Hoffman Agency – a storyteller with the foresight and ability to carve out a niche bridging Silicon Valley and AsiaPac.
46) Dorothy Crenshaw, CEO, Crenshaw Communications – power to the independent PR agencies.
47) Scott Kaminski, marketing and PR manager, Hafele America – he’s one of the few standout conversationalists on Twitter.
48) Bob Geller, president of Fusion PR – he’s one of the original PR pros on Twitter and the flack is indeed still getting revenge.
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Do you have someone you want to nominate? Name them and give us a sentence or two as to why in the comments.