I know a great idea when I see or hear one, and The B2B Twitterer of the Year Awards is a wonderful example.

Odds are you came across this article by way of a link through Twitter, LinkedIn or some other social medium (SM). If so, you are probably very aware of the ever-growing role that SM in general, and specifically Twitter, is now playing in many B2B marketing plans.

If you’re not big on Twitter (yet), and are reading this because you happened to be visiting the MLT Creative website, I encourage you to bear with me as I explain why I think the B2BTOTY Awards are brilliant, and why the winner will be someone I’ll gladly follow.

First of all, the award is not about Twitter; it’s about how Twitter is being utilized by a B2B professional as a two-way channel for sharing B-to-B Marketing and Communications ideas, research, case studies, forecasts, product and service insights, strategies, questions and answers, invitations, reminders, referrals and more. And all in messages that are145 characters or less in length.

The B2BTOTY Awards Program is the brainchild of Joe Zuccaro, who says, “It’s not just about how many followers someone has, or how many times a person tweets in a given time. It’s about creating a community and the value a B2B entity brings to it.”

The marketing professionals who will be judging these awards have a big challenge ahead of them. I’m nominating several candidates I follow for different reasons, and just choosing one favorite would be tough enough. And choosing from the hundreds of other B2B marketing “braniacs & maniacs” I follow wasn’t easy, either.

Yes, I follow lots of different leaders, but I’m not sheepish about it. The great thing about Twitter is that most of them follow back, and everyone gets smarter as a result.

Twitter is an open exchange of information that flows non-stop with, or without, you and me. So I dive in several times a day just as I used to leaf through trade journals (and still do).

So what makes one B2B Twitterer best? Great question. Just to give you an idea, here are some of the B2B Twitterers I follow (there are many more).

@jeremyvictor
Jeremy is a B2B Marketing genius and creator of www.B2Bbloggers.com @Michelelinn
Michele is one of the SavvyB2Bmarketing.com sisterhood and a Freelance Writer

@rebelbrown
A rebel. Oh, and a damn-good B2B strategist, spin-doctor and rainmaker, that’s Rebel Brown.

@B2B_MarketingPR
Kim Cornwall Malseed is a good seed. And a great B2B Tech Marketing expert

@ckburgess
Cheryl is a an Advertising & Marketing Braniac, Maniac and Strategist

@diannahuff
If you haven’t been asleep for the past year and you’re in B2B Marketing, you probably already know of Diana Huff

@basebot
John Bottom is tops as a B2B marketing and social media specialist (15,717 followers)

@ardath421
Don’t know Diana, surely you know Ardath Albee? If not, here’s your chance.

@MaryFlaherty
Massachusetts-based, Mary Flaherty provides a creative perspective on B2B Marketing

@dgtlpapercuts
Jeffrey Cohen bleeds B2B and I learn a lot from his tweets and his blog.

@MichaelGass
Michael Gass is a gas and his tweets and blog provide new-business fuel for agencies

@Dougkessler
London-based Doug Kessler is part of Velocity Partners and off-the-chart-smart@elizabethsosnow
I really like Elizabeth’s last name. Sosnow. And I really like her B2B Marketing ideas. Always has great things to contribute.

@b2bspecialist
His name says it all. Great Tweeter and all-around B2B Braniac

@B2B_Sales_Leads
“Hello, I’m a Mac”. Mr. Mcintosh is from Rhode Island a B2B Sales & Leads leader

@GalenDY
I met Galen in person at B2B MarketingProfs conference in Boston. I follow his lead.

@markwschaefer
MarkW. Schaefer is truly a marketing braniac, maniac, humorist, futuristand friend. His tweets are often links to lively debates, discussionsand amusement.

@StephanieTilton
Oneof the first B2B Braniacs & Maniacs I ever followed and I stillcan’t keep up. Also another member of the @Savvy_B2B sisterhood

@CopywriterTO
Rachel Foster, from Toronto, is great B2B writer and thinker and her tweets help prove it.

@copywriter4u
Joan Damico is further proof that twitter is a great place for great B2B writers to express themselves.

@JasonFalls
Isaw Jason Falls present at the Inbound Marketing Summit in SanFrancisco. He didn’t fall at all and there are good reasons he has19,140 followers

The nomination form for the actual award is very extensive, so I won’t be nominating all of these. But I do suggest you take time to follow them if you are interested in learning all you can and sharing your knowledge about B2B marketing. And if all the other nominees are as deserving as mine, you can bet the winner B2BTOTY Award will surely be worth following. If you have someone you’d like to nominate, don’t wait too late, the deadline is December 18th, 2009.

I’d like to hear your thoughts about this award idea and if you also follow any of the same thought leaders I do, share your ideas on them as well. And to all of the other 1,000 plus B2B braniacs & maniacs I follow that I didn’t mention this time, I apologize. Thanks!

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