Brian Solis

Template:Infobox Celebrity Brian Solis (born 1970) is a public relations executive, author and frequent speaker about the convergence between traditional media and social media. Solis coined the phrase "PR 2.0" in the late 1990s.

Career

Solis is the principal of FutureWorks, an online PR/communications firm he founded in 1999. The company combines traditional PR with social media techniques. In 2008 Solis was listed by the San Jose Business Journal as one of “Silicon Valley’s 40 Under 40.”

Solis entered the technology public relations field in 1991, working for the Dodge and Mansfield agency, an advertising/ PR firm in Ventura, California. Solis also held the position of Director at The Benjamin Group, a Silicon Valley PR agency which was later acquired by Weber Shandwick.

Social Media and PR 2.0

Solis is a co-founder of the Social Media Club, a national organization which convenes events for the purpose of sharing best practices, establishing standards and promoting social media literacy. He is an original member of the Media 2.0 Workgroup, and also contributes to the Social Media Collective.

Solis coined the phrase "PR 2.0", and is described in the 2008 book PR 2.0 as "a founding father of the PR 2.0 concept" who "realized early on how PR, multimedia and the Web would intersect and create a new breed of PR/Web marketers."

In his essays, e-books and speaking engagements, Solis has made a project of defining social media as a definitive media category In 2008 Solis spoke at the O'Reilly Media Web 2.0 Expo on the rise of micro-blogging services, such as Twitter.

Writing, collaborations and publications

Solis co-wrote "Putting the Public Back in Public Relations: How Social Media Is Reinventing the Aging Business of PR" with Deirdre Breakenridge. Together with primary author Geoff Livingston, Solis was also a co-writer on the book “Now is Gone”, which won an Axiom Business Book Award.

Solis blogs at PR 2.0 at a number of sites and has contributed to TechCrunch, WebProNews and Brandweek.

Solis is also an author, co-author and collaborator involved in several Twitter-related projects. With developer Christopher Peri he released the FriendFilter Twitter application in March 2009. Solis is also the co-founder of Web 2.0 firm BuzzGain.

Solis is known for photographing business events and parties, as well as many established figures in Silicon Valley, including Michael Arrington and Mark Zuckerberg. His photos have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times.

Bibliography

• Putting the Public Back in Public Relations: How Social Media Is Reinventing the Aging Business of PR, Breakenridge, Deirdre and Solis, Brian, 2009.
• Now Is Gone: A Primer on New Media for Executives and Entrepreneurs, Livingston, Geoff and Solis, Brian.
• The Essential Guide to Social Media, e-book, 2008.
• PR Tips for Startups, e-book, 2008.
• The Art and Science of Blogger Relations, e-book, 2008.
• The Art and Science of Social Media and Community Relations, e-book, 2007.
• "The Social Media Manifesto – Integrating Social Media into Marketing Communications”, essay, June 2007.

External links

• FutureWorks official bio
• PR 2.0 blog
• Bub.blicio.us blog
• Web 2.0 Expo speaker bio