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Shel is on the left. Brewster is the guy with the bone. Photo by Brian Solis

Shel is on the left. Brewster is the guy with the bone. Photo by Brian Solis

We’re lucky to have a number of esteemed guests join me on The A-List, but tomorrow, I’ve got a biggie…

Shel Israel.

For the better part of 25 years, Shel has served as a social media expert to companies and individuals through his best-selling books. His latest, Twitterville: How Businesses Can Thrive in the New Global Neighborhoods, takes on the subject of the social network that’s changed the way so many of us communicate.

We’ll talk about the inspiration for the book, his career and much, much more. Listen to the archive here:

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[Click here to listen if player above does not appear]

Read more about Shel through his bio:

Since 2005, my overwhelming focus has been on how businesses use social media. To earn a living, I write books and articles; speak at conferences and to companies and advise businesses of all sizes on social media strategy.

Among the companies I’ve worked with or addressed are Wells Fargo Bank, Sun Microsystems, Dell Computer, CNET, Hewlett Packard, Intel and scores of startups.

I’m author of Twitterville, How Businesses can Thrive in the  New Global Neighborhoods [Portfolio, Sept. 2009]; co-author, of Naked Conversations–how blogs are changing the way businesses talk with  customers [Wiley, 2006], and The Conversational Corporation, a Dow Jones eBook [May 2009]. I’ve contributed editorially to BusinessWeek and FastCompanyTV.

This blog, serves as my sandbox. I have interviewed and reported on more than 400 people in 40 countries about them and how social media impacts their work and lives. Some of that material is later used in my books, articles and talks.

For 25 years prior my social media involvement, I advised technology startups on communications and public relations. Much of that time was at the helm of SIPR, a consulting firm I started and ran. I worked with a great number of startups usually on launch strategy. I contributed to the successful introductions of Sun Microsystems, PowerPoint,and Filemaker and new tech categories that included PC sound and desktop mapping among others.

When the Worldwide Web emerged, my agency was the first to focus on internet startups. I worked with several memorable pioneers of that era including Virtual Vineyards, a wine merchant that posted a daily column and customer comments on its HTML static website. We did not know it at the time but this column was a prototype to the blog.

Now, I am interested in just about every aspect of social media including business, education, journalism, nonprofit organizations and in global personal communications. Israel has been covered by Forbes magazine, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, the Los Angeles Times and many respected online and traditional publications.

I am a senior fellow to the Society for New Media Research (SNCR) and serve on the advisory boards to the Social Media Club and SmartBrief on Social Media.

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