Nothing compares to good old fashioned face-to-face networking, but the days and weeks leading up to, and even after, a recent trip to Memphis, Tenn., reminded me that social media marketing, regardless of whether it’s B-to-B or B-to-C, is all about relationships.

Billy Mitchell and I traveled to Memphis a few weeks ago to join fellow marketers at a social media seminar led by best-selling author, blogger, and marketer, Chris Brogan. Chris is president of New Marketing Labs and a leading authority on all things social media – particularly how to make social media work for large and mid-sized companies.

The opportunity to meet and listen to a bona fide expert was great and worth the trip, but it wasn’t the best part. The best part was meeting other marketing professionals from the US and Canada IRL (in real life), more than a few of whom I’ve followed on Twitter for quite some time. The chance to make new connections and solidify existing ones was what the trip was really all about. The seminar was really just an excuse for all of us to come together (no offense, Chris), and we all have Amy Howell to thank for it.

Taking a cue from one of Chris Brogan’s recent blog articles, I wanted to follow his lead and turn my #MarketerMonday recommendations from the #BroganMemphis event into a blog post. This is a diverse group of incredibly sharp minds, and whether youre a B2B or B2C marketer, a PR practitioner, social media beginner or expert, you’ll want to follow them, too.

Cick here to follow this list.

@HowellMarketing – The hostess with the most, Amy is the principal of a Memphis based marketing, PR and social media agency. Amy and her team planned, promoted, and did an outstanding job pulling off this event.

@alysdrake – Ask anyone who attended, and they’ll all agree. Alys is awesome! If Amy was powering the #broganmemphis train, then Alys – a PR pro from Howell Marketing – kept it on the tracks.

@AnneDGallaher – Principal of a leading PR and marketing firm in Pennsylvania.

@marisacorser – Marketing strategist and Anne’s right hand.

@jeremyvictor – Jeremy is a leading B2B social media and content marketing strategist, and is the editor of B2Bbloggers.com.

@DebWeinstein – Principal of B2C advertising and marketing firm in Canada.

@ProfS – Kathy Snavely is a college professor from Pennsylvania and expert on marketing, social media, and entrepreneurship.

@treypennington – Trey is an integrated marketing consultant and author of the upcoming book, Spitball Marketing.

@ericfletcher – Eric is a marketer, blogger, law firm CMO and all-around great guy.

@ryansauers – Ryan is one of the principals of large printing business near our Georgia office. He has an advanced degree in Sales, and is an active blogger and speaker.

@JeffAshcroft – Jeff is a leading authority on logistics and supply-chain management. He can also be found @TheSocialCMO

@KentHuffman – Kent is CMO of a Texas-based business and one of the most helpful marketing professionals on Twitter. Kent also started #MarketerMonday.

@alexromanovich – Alex is the CMO of EuroSpaClub International, and leads the charge at @Social2B.

@markwschaefer – Mark is a college educator and consultant in business strategy, social media, and economic development. Check out his blog, {grow}.

@TrendTracker – Glen Gilmore is an attorney and business consultant specializing in integrating traditional marketing with social media.

@ChrisBrogan – A bona fide social media rock star. Follow and learn.

Cick here to follow this list.

Special thanks to @SheaBlackwell at Shea Blackwell Photography for use of TheSocialCMO Crew group shot with Chris Brogan.