Get To Know This Season’s Smart, Sassy & Stylish IFBcon Speakers

As we mentioned briefly in one of yesterday's posts, celebrity clout is not the most important quality in selecting our speakers each year for IFBcon. We work very hard to put together panels and select keynotes that will motivate our attendees and then absolutely dazzle them with smart commentary, inspiring stories and of course – a sassy one-liner or two.

To be sure, some of this season's speakeres definitely have that celebrity cache that can come with excellence in our industry, and some you may not be familiar with yet. Famous, unknown, up-and-coming, community veterans – let's get to know the fabulous speakers, panelists and moderators of IFBcon 2013.

Panel 1: Business in the First Year of Blogging brought to you by BESO

Moderator: Hilary Rushford, Dean Street Society @HilaryRushford

• As the founder of her own blog and styling services, as well as a weekly contributor to IFB, Hilary runs her own businesses with style and smarts, both on and offline.

Elise Loehnen, [Beso @Beso]

• After about a decade working as an editor at Conde Nast publications, Elise has translated her love for writing and shopping into her digitally-savvy position as the Editor-in-Chief at Beso.

Tina Craig, [Bag Snob @BagSnob]

• From one blog to an entire fleet of ‘snob' sites, Tina Craig has created an online empire of stylish resource for everything from shoes to beauty to couture. She's mastered the mix of a selective editorial voice and successful monetization structure.

Pippa Lord, [Sous Style @SousStyle]

• Relatively new to the blogging scene but already making a splash and setting a standard for sleek content and eye-catching visuals, Pippa's Sous Style is poised to make it's mark in the industry.

Amy Levin, [College Fashionista @CFashionista]

• Not necessarily known as bastions of high style, Amy and her army of photographers across the country are capturing and sharing real style on college campuses – and making a living while they're at it.

Zanita Morgan, [Zanita @ZanitaZanita]

• As a photographer, model and blogger, Zanita is in the midst of multi-faceted self-made career that was a long time in the making and constantly evolving with new creative projects and collaborations. 

Panel 2: Elevating Influence: Content, Tools and Techniques that Drive Social Media Success brought to you by Glossi

Moderator: [Grace Atwood, Stripes & Sequins]

• As the founder of her own successful style and DIY blog as well as the Director of Social Media for jewelry brand Bauble Bar, Grace has an expertise in social media born from both personal and professional experience.

Dina Fierro, [HL Group @eye4style]

• Vice President of Social Media at HL Group, Dina leads influencer engagement and social media strategy for a suite of world class brands in fashion and lifestyle.

Felicia Walker Benson, [ThisThatBeauty @ThisThatBeauty]

• Felicia successfully turned her passion and lifelong enthusiasm for beauty into her profession as the Editor in Chief of This That Beauty, and has grown her brand with a Twitter following of more than 15,000 people.

Christine Olsen, [CFDA @CFDA]

• Christine is the Public Relations & Social Media Manager at Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), whose membership consists of more than 370 of America’s foremost designers.

Matt Edelman, [The Glossi, @Glossi]

•  An accomplished operating executive and entrepreneur, Matt has run companies and held leadership roles in a variety of markets. He is now CEO of Glossi, a publishing platform for creating and sharing digital magazines across devices.

Brian Difeo, [Mobile Media Lab, @bridif]

• Brian is Co-Founder of The Mobile Media Lab, a creative agency that works with brands and their audiences on Instagram, including @newyorkcity, which has nearly 600,000 followers.

Panel 3: Catching Their Eye: What Do Brands Want from Bloggers brought to you by Bollare

Moderator: Meg Biram [Meg Biram, @megbiram]

• Currently in the midst of a many-armed entrepreneurial career as a lifestyle blogger, digital media marketing consultant and more, Meg has multi-faceted experience in working professionally with brands on many levels.

Alle Fister, Principal at [Bollare @allefister]

• Alle is the Principal of Bollare Communications, and over the past six years, Bollare has grown to a bi-coastal presence and worked with some of the best names in the fashion, beauty and lifestyle.

Laura Ellner, [On the Racks @OntheRacks]

• Laura has taken her blog from San Fransisco to New York, all the while maintaining her original sense of style – one that appeals to readers and brand partners alike.

Julia Engel, [Gal Meets Glam, @GalMeetsGlam]

• Julia has set herself apart from the pack with addictively sweet content geared towards the style-inclined girl next door, from beauty to fashion and lifestyle. 

Panel 4: Affiliate Marketing: The Essential Revenue Stream for Bloggers brought to you by Rakuten Linkshare

Moderator: Justin Livingston, [Scout Sixteen @JustinLiv]

• In the world of personal style blogging, the guys are far outnumbered by the ladies, but Justin has gained a following of both with his high-quality content – that's allowed him to monetize his stylish influence.

Scott Allan, [Rakuten Linkshare @LinkshareBlog]

• For no-nonsense insights about how bloggers can make affiliate marketing work for them, and actually earn them money, who better to ask than one of the biggest affiiliate networks in the world.

Aimee Song, [Song of Style @AimeeSong]

• Aimee Song's global following has elevated her as one of the most popular style bloggers in the world, and she's been able to channel her influence into on-site monetization as well as modeling and brand ambassadorship positions. 

Claire Sulmers, [Fashion Bomb Daily @TheFashionBomb]

• Founded in 2006, Claire has cultivated a dedicated following for The Fashion Bomb; a multicultural community that counts on her and her contributors to bring the best of urban fashion to their desktops.

Kristin Ess, [The Beauty Department @Kristin_Ess/ @TBDOfficial]

• As the hair and nails expert that makes up one third of The Beauty Department's editorial team, Kristin has turned her lifelong love of styling hair and experimenting with beauty into a flourishing online business.

Joe Adolph, [Nordstrom @Nordstrom]

• Joe Adolph is the Affiliate Marketing Manager for Nordstrom, a a leading fashion specialty retailer with locations across The United States.

Panel 5: Keeping it Fresh: The Secrets to Blogging Longevity brought to you by Stylehaul

Moderator: Karen Blanchard, [Where Did You Get That, @KarenBritChic]

• Karen is a British transplant living in New York City, and has grown her blog since she started in 2009 into an influential and inspiring site that's continually growing – most notably into two additional blogs TwoKools and WDUGT Street.

Stephanie Horbaczewski, [StyleHaul, @StyleHaulYT]

• As one of the founders of StyleHaul, Stephanie brings fashion and beauty expertise honed from a marketing and branding career working with companies like Saks Fifth Avenue.

Susie Lau, [Style Bubble, @StyleBubble]

• Susie has been penning her fashion and personal style blog since 2006, and has been quoted, interviewed featured and photographed by countless publications because of her critical eye and influentential voice.

Jeannine Morris, [Beauty Sweet Spot @BeautySweetSpot]

• Jeannine is a multimedia journalist and the Founder of BeautySweetSpot – an entrepreneur who’s journalistic ethics and branding skills helped her build an empire.

Leandra Medine, [The Man Repeller @ManRepeller]

• She has been named one of the most powerful voices in fashion by Ad Week, was ranked one of TIME's top 25 blogs of 2012 and most recently, as one of the Forbes 30 under 30 in the field of Style and Design.

Andrea Lavinthal, [People Style Watch @stylewatchmag]

• Currently the Style Director for PEOPLE.com, Andrea oversees all fashion and beauty content on the site as well as all People StyleWatch social media platforms – all of which demands a long and short-term vision of our industry.

Panel 6: The Evolution of Our Industry: What Does the Future Hold? Brought to you by PadSquad

Moderator: Rachel Seville, [Pizza Rulez @rsevillet]

• As a weekly contributor to menswear blog Four-Pins and a style blogger as well, Rachel has a critical, self-aware and insightful perspective on the industry from multiple angles.

Andrea Derricks, [L2 Think Tank, @L2_ThinkTank]

• At L2 ThinkTank, Andrea has led  research studies that benchmark the digital performance of prestige brands across more than 625 data points, and has helped L2 members develop digital strategies by leveraging best practices.

Dan Meehan, [PadSquad @PadSquadMedia]

• A business builder, change agent and entrepreneur, Dan’s media industry experience spans from old school business and consumer publishing all the way through today’s digital media ecosystem.

Jake Gallagher, [Writer for GQ.com & Esquire online, @Wax_Wane]

• As a weekly online contributor to GQ and Esquire as well as a menswear blogger, Jake's take on the future of the industry will come from a professional and personal standpoint.

Liz Cherkasova, [Late Afternoon @LateAfternoon]

• Liz has been putting her own unique So-Cal spin on personal style with her blog Late Afternoon for quite some time  – her continually growing following and popularity shows she's keeping her eye on the future.

Mattias Swenson, [BlogLovin, @BlogLovin]

• • Mattias is the co-founder and CEO of BlogLovin, a blog content reader that helps publishers big and small gain followers and exposure.

Who are you most excited to see at IFBcon?