Laura Fitton, www.oneforty.com | @pistachio

Matt Galligan, 25, is the CEO and Co-Founder of SimpleGeo, based out of Boulder, CO, a company that provides comprehensive solutions to enable location-based services in mobile, web and desktop applications. He previously founded Socialthing, a company that was chosen to be part of the inaugural year of TechStars. Socialthing.com went into private beta in March, 2008 at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. The company was acquired five months later by AOL. As part of AOL, Matt acted as Product Manager for Socialthing for Websites (now known as AIM Connect), a web platform that brought social features to sites that otherwise didn’t have them. His background is in graphic design and user experience, working for MonsterCommerce (acquired by Network Solutions), based out of St. Louis, MO. He got his start in the internet and design while working for a disaster restoration company out of Illinois before he turned 16. Matt currently resides in Boulder, CO and is an active member of the startup community there.

Robert Jacobs, Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Public Affairs, NASA Headquarters | @bnjacobs | @nasa

Mr. Jacobs is an Emmy Award winning journalist and strategic communicator who is responsible for leading and executing many of the agency’s public communications activities. He has served as Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of Public Affairs since January 2007. Mr. Jacobs joined NASA in July 2000 as news chief was selected into the federal government’s Senior Executive Service in July 2002 as the agency’s news and multimedia director. Awarded NASA’s Outstanding Leadership and Exceptional Service medals, he has served as a communications advisor, strategist, writer, and emerging technology consultant for the agency’s top leadership. He directed the digital conversion of NASA’s multimedia assets, including the NASA Television and two major redesigns of www.nasa.gov, both of which have been honored with the industries’ highest honors.  He is a strong advocate for incorporating emerging communications technologies into the agency’s public outreach activities and has initiated and moderates many of NASA’s social Internet activities. Mr. Jacobs also developed and co-authored books commemorating NASA’s 50th anniversary, the Apollo lunar landings, and the Hubble Space Telescope. Before joining NASA, Mr. Jacobs was projects manager for the Broadcast Technology Division of The Associated Press in Washington where he was responsible for the development and implementation of news and information multimedia technology for major broadcast news organizations around the world, including the BBC, CBS, ESPN, and National Public Radio. Mr. Jacobs has worked as a reporter and held senior news leadership positions at television stations in Nashville, Memphis, Louisville, and Tampa.

Joshua Karpf, Manager, Digital Communications, PepsiCo | @jkarpf | @pepsico

Joshua Karpf is Manager, Digital Communications, at PepsiCo, a $40 billion global beverage and snacks company. In this role, he helps develops strategies using digital media that support company and brand goals. This includes PepsiCo’s digital activation at South by Southwest 2009, the overhaul of the company’s website and the launch of a social media effort using the emerging network FriendFeed. Josh also supports educational efforts around digital and social media inside the company. Prior to joining PepsiCo Josh spent six years at the General Electric Company. He received a B.S. in Communications from Boston University

Lauren McCullough, Social Networks and News Engagement Manager, The Associated Press | @lfmccullough | @ap

Lauren McCullough is an award-winning journalist and social media enthusiast. She has traveled the country to speak about multimedia journalism and lectures on the use and importance of social media in the newsroom. In her role as Social Networks and News Engagement Manager for The Associated Press, Lauren oversees the newsroom’s social media efforts, including the flagship accounts on Facebook (http://facebook.com/APNews) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/AP). She directs the work of AP’s journalists around the world in pursuing sources from social networks, as well as promoting AP and member content. Lauren was recognized by the Associated Press Managing Editors Association with the 2008 John L. Dougherty Award. She has also been awarded two AP Beat of the Week awards for her work with citizen journalists during the 2009 Hudson River plane splashdown and the 2007 Minnesota bridge collapse. Prior to joining the AP, Lauren worked for Newsday.com in Melville, N.Y., and The Post-Star in Glens Falls, N.Y.

Susan McPherson, Vice President, Business Development, PR Newswire | @susanmcp1

Susan is Vice President, Business Development at PR Newswire, the world’s leading provider of electronic news distribution, media targeting, and measurement and multimedia services.  She is responsible for developing and driving strategic partnerships with industry players in a variety of industries including Media, Finance, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Technology and is currently creating a series of product offerings for PR Newswire clients in the CSR-industry.  Her tenure at PR Newswire has included a variety of roles including playing a key part in the development of the firm’s first bureaus in China (Beijing and Shanghai) and the launch of MediaSense, a very successful media measurement tool. Prior to her career at PR Newswire, she worked in both the editorial and marketing departments of USA Today. Susan serves on the board of Bpeace, an organization dedicated to assisting women in regions of conflict and post-conflict start businesses. She also is a member of Echoing Green’s Social Investment Council, the Clinton Global Initiative and 85 Broads, serves on the board of the non-profit New Democratic Majority, volunteers for the New York City Harbor School and currently resides in New York City. Prior to moving to New York in 2003, she lived in Seattle, where she was actively involved in FareStart, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing job and life-skills training to the disadvantage.

Adam Ostorow, Editor-in-Chief, Mashable | @adamostorow

Adam Ostrow is a new media entrepreneur, consultant, and commentator. As Editor in Chief at Mashable, Adam is responsible for the editorial management and direction of one of the most widely read blogs in the world, covering the latest technologies, trends, and individuals that are driving the current evolution of the Web. Adam is a graduate of The University of Maryland, from which he holds a B.A. in Journalism and was awarded Most Outstanding Senior in the school’s prestigious Hinman CEOs program. Adam has been frequently quoted by mainstream media, including mentions in The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, The Times of London, The Globe and Mail, Forbes, BusinessWeek, Newsweek, AdAge, BBC, ABC News, CNN, and MSNBC.

Mark Palmer, CEO, StreamBase Systems, Inc. | @mrkwpalmer

StreamBase is a leader in high-performance Complex Event Processing (CEP) technology. The StreamBase Event Processing Platform provides business and organizations in the capital markets, federal government, e-commerce and all other industries with the capabilities of analyzing and acting on real-time streaming data in a timely fashion. Mr. Palmer is a long time advocate of the growing value of CEP and the application of CEP to real world problems. He has spoken at numerous industry events and is frequently quoted in leading publications, including CNBC, Time Magazine and the Financial Times. Under his leadership, StreamBase was awarded by the World Economic Forum as Technology Pioneer 2010. In 2005 he won an InfoWorld Innovator award and was named to the InfoWorld Media Group’s Innovators Hall of Fame for his work in event processing. As a thought leader in innovation, Mr. Palmer actively shares his experiences with the web community and inspires conversations through social media outlets such as the StreamBase Event Processing Blog and Twitter (@mrkwpalmer).

Steve Rubel, Senior Vice President, Director of Insights, Edelman Digital | @steverubel

Steve is responsible for keeping Edelman and its clients in the vanguard. He studies global technology, media and online trends and shapes them into actionable insights and marketing communications strategies. In his role, Rubel has served as senior strategic advisor to Edelman clients such as Dannon, HP, PepsiCo, Zagat, Unilever, Microsoft and many others. Rubel supports the account planning processes, intellectual property development and the firm’s innovation and business development efforts. He is a member of the Edelman Digital senior leadership committee. His writing on emerging technology has been called must-read by the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, CNET, PC Magazine and Forrester Research. In addition, he is actively followed by more than 28,000 on Twitter, writes a bi-weekly column for Advertising Age and is often sought by the press and as a keynote speaker. Rubel has been named to several prestigious lists, including: PR Week’s 40 Under 40, The Forbes.com Web Celeb 25, PC Magazine’s 100 Favorite Blogs, Media Magazine’s Media 100, the AlwaysOn/Technorati Open Media 100 and the CNET News.com Blog 100. Prior to joining Edelman in 2006, Rubel worked for 15 years in a variety of marketing communications positions in corporate, non-profit and small/mid-sized PR firms. Most recently, he spent five years at CooperKatz & Company where he pioneered the use of blogs as a marketing vehicle for clients such as the Association of National Advertisers, simplehuman, and Vespa.

Marty St. George, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Commercial Strategy, JetBlue Airways | @martysg

Marty joined JetBlue in 2006 after a long career at legacy airlines. He joined the company as leader of the network team, and today he is currently responsible for leading JetBlue’s marketing team, which includes (among other areas) its advertising, online, product development and loyalty strategies. Prior to joining JetBlue, Marty held various commercial positions at United Airlines and US Airways. He is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he received a degree in Engineering. He and his wife Teri have 3 children, and reside in Connecticut.

Doug Ulman, President and Chief Executive Officer, LIVESTRONG | @LIVESTRONGCEO

In his role as President and Chief Executive Officer Doug is ultimately responsible for the strategic vision and direction of LIVESTRONG. Doug Ulman is a three-time cancer survivor and nationally recognized cancer advocate. After overcoming chondrosarcoma and malignant melanoma twice during his sophomore year in college, Doug and his family founded the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults, a non-profit organization to provide support, education, and resources to young adults, their families and friends who are affected by cancer. He served as Executive Director of the Ulman Cancer Fund for four years before joining LIVESTRONG as director of survivorship in 2001. Doug has received numerous awards for his leadership and community service. In 2002, Doug was selected from more than 20,000 individuals to appear on more than 15 million boxes of Wheaties Energy Crunch as an American Everyday Hero. In 2003, Doug was selected as the Austin Under-40 award winner in the healthcare category. In 2005, Doug was honored by both the American Psychosocial Oncology Society and the Association of Oncology Social Workers. Most recently Doug was named to the Non-Profit Times Power and Influence Top 50 for 2009, an honor bestowed to the top 50 Non-profit executives. A frequent guest and contributor on national and local media programs, Doug has been featured on CNN, ABC News, NBC Nightly News, and in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post among many other outlets. Doug also speaks frequently to corporations, civic organizations, schools and Universities covering topics including cancer, philanthropy, grassroots movements, social change, and social media. Doug currently holds numerous civic and charitable board positions across the country and he just completed serving a four-year term as the Chairman of the National Cancer Institute Director’s Consumer Liaison Group. He also sits on the executive board of the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults, and is a founder of the LIVESTRONG Young Adult Alliance among many other board and advisory roles. Following his three cancer diagnoses, Doug returned to the soccer field and helped Brown University to three Ivy League Championships in four years. He has participated in many marathons, including a 100-mile marathon in the Himalayan Mountains, the New York City and Boston marathons.

Josh Williams, CEO, Gowalla | @jw

Josh Williams is  a Co-Founder and CEO of Gowalla, a location-based mobile social network that inspires and empowers people to share their favorite places with their friends. Gowalla is connecting people and places in over 150 countries around the world. Josh also led the team that created the cult-hit social game PackRat on Facebook.

His interests include design, architecture, snowboarding and longboarding. He lives in Austin with his wife Rachel and two effervescent daughters.