Tell me a little bit about yourself.
Since joining LaunchSquad as the firm's fourth partner in 2001, the agency has evolved into one of the leading boutique PR agencies in the U.S. I manage LaunchSquad's HR and employee issues and play an integral role in new business activities. Before joining the Squad, I served as a vice president at Schwartz Communications. I have taken multiple clients through successful IPOs and acquisitions, delivered dozens of high-profile media placements and have received several prominent awards for client work.

Why do you like social media?
I've been working in technology PR since the mid-90s, and when I first started out I spent much of my time working close to the fax machine - sending press releases and pitches to journalists. While the communication methods have changed, what gets me excited about PR hasn't - and that's telling great stories for some of the most innovative companies in the world. I've also had an amazing opportunity to build a great company and agency myself (alongside my great business partners), and that experience has given me a lot of insight into the challenges that our startup, entrepreneurial clients face every day. If I've learned anything, it's that you can't sit still and even great ideas can get stale fast. What fires me up to come to work every day is having the ability and the forum to try and do new things, take chances and work with a great team of people who challenge my thinking (and likely have never even used a fax machine).

If you could make one change to improve education, what would it be?
I think that all children have the right to at least a modest education. I'm no expert on global education issues, but I know that many children never get much of a chance and any improvements to education need to start there. Closer to home, I think that we need to refocus our efforts on teaching math and science and make this a fundamental goal of the U.S. educational system: to create the next generation of scientists. From a more radical line of thought, I think there's a strong argument to be made for providing public schooling beyond the age of 18. As life expectancy increases, it seems worthwhile to invest more in the next generation and to expect that they will enter the workforce later in life - after having spent a lot more time doing hands-on research in school versus just classroom learning. Our schools need to become more research-driven and help introduce new advances into society.

Tell me a little bit about yourself.
I lead the financial communications practice at Manning Selvage & Lee in Atlanta, Georgia. The practice team of four works with clients in the financial services, B2B technology and biotechnology industries. I counsel clients on protecting their companies' reputations, the tough issues they face and news media strategy. My background includes many years with public relations agencies and corporations as well as daily newspapers.

Why do you like social media?
Social media has opened up new universes for people, both in their personal and professional lives. In public relations, the use of social media removes the boundaries of access to wide audiences, as well as enables a more personal focus on distinct influencer groups and individuals. We can now bridge a conversation, or many conversations, between business and customers, between organization and constituents, and from one person to another or one person to thousands of people.

If you could make one change to improve education, what would it be?
Assuring an educational track from birth throughout life seems an impossible goal. However, with all the money in the world, solutions would be possible by funding institutions and programs for formal education and lifelong learning. I would work to establish channels for this to happen. First, we should assure preparation in all levels of education in places where opportunities are limited or where learning tracks are too often interrupted. I would fund programs that advance early childhood and elementary education and college preparation. Second, making certain that resources are available for higher education is essential to "completing the beginning" of one's life learning and the resulting positive contributions to society. Finally, I also would prioritize grants for cross-cultural education through long-term international exchange programs and the study of languages for people of all ages.

Tell me a little bit about yourself.
I'm a consultant, author and public speaker on marketing, PR and corporate leadership. I'm a partner and co-founder of The Conversation Group, a new communications consultancy devoted to the art, science and practical application of social engagement. When I can find time to write, I also maintain my blog, Hubbub, which is focused on the integration of PR and participatory media into the traditional marketing mix. Today, I live and work in the rough-and-tumble of Silicon Valley, but I am the survivor of four environments that are somewhat tougher: the South Bronx (where I was born), Princeton University (where I went to school), the corporate law world (where I worked as a ghost writer) and the even more irrational world of professional theater (where I got to do some really cool stuff with monstrously creative and difficult people).

Why do you like social media?
I wouldn't say that I "like" PR or social media - I see them as tools that people in leadership positions must learn to use. They can be used for good or evil, but I'd argue that the new openness in media today tends to favor the light, if only in the long term. A frequent speaker on the social-media circuit, I've help to instigate an ongoing debate about the future of PR. My prognosis: PR pros will continue to do well in the "post social-media world," because among their peers in marketing they are the only ones who actually "relate" to people for a living. (They will need to unlearn a lot of bad habits, but they'll do OK.)

If you could make one change to improve education, what would it be?
If I had all the money in the world, I'd retire, for sure. But then I would probably get bored after a few months and try to do something meaningful in the area of civic education. In all seriousness, we're living in an increasingly unsafe world, and we need to do everything we can to support cultural, legal, political bonds across borders. A more educated global public, in my opinion, is the only answer.

Tell me a little bit about yourself.
As the director of corporate marketing for BlueArc, a high performance unified storage company in San Jose, California, I am responsible for the company's public relations, analyst relations and investor relations efforts. I also play a leading role in the company's demand generation, content creation and brand awareness strategy. Prior to BlueArc, I was the web marketing manager at 3Cube, Inc., an online communication application service provider, acquired by Oracle in 2001. I am also the author and publisher of www.louisgray.com, a blog focused on social media and next generation online communication tools and strategies.

Why do you like social media?
Social media enables peers to speak to peers, without requiring approval from a gatekeeper, which can both be promising and challenging for traditional public relations efforts. The growth of social media tools enables end users to become advocates and critics on par with media and analysts, and is changing the way we share ideas and communicate both online and offline. The art of public relations enables companies to help translate product and services features into real user benefits.

If you could make one change to improve education, what would it be?
While it's tempting to drive money toward technology, the number one issue we have in education today is the scarcity of both classrooms and teachers. As classrooms become overcrowded, even the greatest teachers in the world cannot deliver the type of dedicated attention desired and needed by our youth. We need to invest in the infrastructure of our school system by building more, increasing resources and making teaching pay and prestige on par with that of lawyers, doctors and business leaders. Only then would intelligent people who flock to the commercial world today consider leaving their cubicles for the classroom.

Tell me a little bit about yourself.
As one of SAP's leading social-media practitioners and evangelists, I have developed and sponsored some of the more innovative SAP social-media projects. Those projects include a formal Blogger Relations effort, the SAP bloggers corner at key events such as SAPPHIRE and SAP TechEd, the SAP Global Survey on how social media impacts business and culture and, more recently, the development of a comprehensive social media curriculum for all communicators at SAP. I bring 20 years of communications experience from across the IT, manufacturing and financial-services industries, and also represent SAP as one of the 12 founding members of the Blog Council.

Why do you like social media?
What do I like about social media? The best PR pros have always understood the value of close relationships with their "customers." In the old days, those customers were reporters, analysts and the myriad of internal stakeholders that make up the leadership of an organization. Today, many new people can be added to that mix and they include bloggers, who are neither analysts nor reporters, but a discrete audience type all to their own. It's a fun and exciting time for the PR profession. Truth be told, it's not so much that I adapted myself to the social media environment as much as the environment changed and moved closer to me. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

If you could make one change to improve education, what would it be?
If I had all the money in the world and was asked to fix one problem to help educational causes, I'd be at a loss as to what to do as I don't think money can fix the problem. The problems with education today are, from my perspective, social problems that money itself can't fix. But, if I had to spend the money, I'd hire Stewart Mader to figure it out for us. Why? Because the social value of social media is truly immense, and I believe Stewart has his eye on the prize.

Tell me a little bit about yourself.
I oversee the global intersection of marketing, services and technology for BearingPoint. I have spent more than 20 years in marketing, creating buzz for leading technology companies such as Google, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, Avaya and Cisco. I have also delivered work for American Express, Motorola, Genzyme, Novartis, Citigroup, Cendant and Ernst & Young. My unique approach to integrated marketing has been recognized as a 2007 & 2006 finalist and 2005 winner of the Driving New Demand award of the Information Technology Services Marketing Association (ITSMA), as well as a winner of BearingPoint's Best Overall Marketing Campaign award in 2004. Visit my blog on Buzz Marketing.

Why do you like social media?
Social media is the great equalizer: it gives everyone an equal voice on any and every topic. And, you can deliver your message in whatever medium you find the most creatively liberating. This is especially exciting when it comes to the world of PR (some might also say frightening), since it fundamentally changes the ability to deliver a command and control message. Social media opens up your message to hundreds if not thousands of people who - if your orchestrate it right - are more than willing to identify and amplify your message.

If you could make one change to improve education, what would it be?
If I had all the money in the world and was given the authority to solve one educational problem, it would be to put a computer connected to the internet into the hands of every child. As more and more people come online, coupled with the way in which the internet is delivering services to us now and in the future, we cannot begin to understand the magnitude of the shift happening around us. The more we add people - specifically children - to the network, the more opportunities will present themselves to them.

Tell me a little bit about yourself.
I am the founder and principal of Flatiron Communications LLC, a consulting firm in New York. I most recently served as chief media officer for Edelman Worldwide, which I joined after 11 years with WPP's Burson-Marsteller as head of the agency's U.S. corporate and strategic media team and its worldwide spokesperson. Prior to B-M, I was media director for six years at WPP sister agency Cohn & Wolfe, followed by five years at Hill and Knowlton where I led H&K's broadcast and consumer media relations group. I began my career with three years at the NYC entertainment PR firm of Robert Zarem Inc.

Why do you like social media?
From the earliest days of my career, I have focused on how PR techniques can help news stories evolve or devolve, as the case may be. The advent of social media, and especially citizen journalism where anyone can be a content producer, throws a monkey wrench into the equation. It requires new skill sets to achieve the goals we once so easily accomplished with an exclusive in an A-list mainstream news organization. Some say that the days of command and control have ended. I don't believe that. I think there are ways to engage and play in the social media space that allow the PR professional to still enhance client reputations, stock price, products sales, etc., let alone extinguish a crisis.

If you could make one change to improve education, what would it be?
I am very concerned about the misinformation, or dare I say propaganda, that continues to be found in the textbooks of many educational systems around the world. Much of the purported histories of certain countries leave little room for religious, ethnic or gender tolerance. I would use whatever money I had to try to draw attention to the institutional brainwashing of the next generations so global peace eventually stands a chance. Admittedly, in some regions of the world, the prospect for change has sadly passed us by.

Ross Mayfield is the Chairman, President and co-founder of Socialtext, the first wiki company and leading provider of Enterprise 2.0 solutions. A noted blogger and industry expert, he is a serial and social entrepreneur. Mayfield has grown Socialtext to over 4,000 customers and served as CEO from 2002-2007. Socialtext is backed by Draper Fisher Jurvetson, SAP Ventures, Intel Capital and Omidyar Network and prominent Silicon Valley angels.

Previously, Mayfield served as VP of Marketing for a Fujitsu spinout and CEO of an enterprise risk management software company. Mayfield co-founded and served as president of RateXchange (AMEX:RTX), the leading B2B commodity exchange for telecom. Mayfield served as the marketing director of the largest privately held telecommunications group in Eastern Europe and was the internal lead manager of their Initial Public Offering. He also founded an ISP, a web-design company, and has served on a number of Advisory Boards of high tech startups.

Mayfield is a former advisor to the Office of the President of Estonia and began his career in the non-profit sector. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California at Los Angeles and completed the Management Development for Entrepreneurs (MDE) program of the Anderson School of Business. He resides in his hometown of Palo Alto with his wife and two children.