I’ve compiled a list of the people or firms that have inspired me both directly and indirectly. In addition, these people and/ or companies were influential in ChatterBox Publicity’s new business direction. Note: the following appear in alphabetical order.

1. Angela Benton and Markus Robinson / Black Web 2.0

2. Ava DuVernay / The DuVernay Agency/ The Urban Collective

3. Baratunde Thurston / Jack and Jill Politics Blog

4. Brian Solis / PR 2.0

5. CBP’s Social Media & PR Circle: Robin Caldwell / The J Standard, Christal Jordan-Mims/ Enchanted PR, Nicole Garner/ The Garner Circle, Dee Dee Cocheta-Williams/ ABC Publicity, Danielle Armstrong/ Organic PR, Keisha McCotry/ Prominence PR, Candice Reese/ Envision Global

6. Cedric “Big Ced” Thornton / Freelance Writer with Social Media Swagger

7. Dove Clark / AllHipHop.com & Tyger Eye Entertainment

8. Gina McCauley / Blogging While Brown Founder

9. HBCU Roundup Creators / Rustin & Bryndan Moore

10. Hill Harper / ForRealSolutions.com

11. James Andrews / Key Influencer

12. Jason Kintzler / Pitch Engine

13. Kevin Ross / 3 Baas Media

14. L. N. Rock / African American Political Pundit Blog

15. Marco Hansell / Fan Force, LLC

16. Maurice Cherry / The Black Weblog Awards

17. Necole Bitchie / The Urban Blogger

18. Pam Spaulding / Pam’s House Blend Blog

19. President- Elect Barack Obama, The Country’s First Social Media President and his Social Media Strategy Team: Blue State Digital, Rahaf Harfoush, Chris Hughes, and those we missed.

20. Shawn P Williams / The Dallas South Blog

21. Tamera Reynolds / Glam Media / Black Life

22. Todd DeFren / PR Squared

23. Twitter Founders: Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams

24. Wayne Hicks / BDPA Education Technology Foundation

25. Wayne Sutton / Social Media Evangelist, Guru

If you are unfamiliar with any of the above, this list is also a good guide to creating your own black book of social media contacts.

Happy New Year!