Neal Schaffer is a recognized innovative leader in the world of business social media. In addition to being named one of marketing’s ten biggest thought leaders by CMO.com, Neal has also been recognized as a Forbes Top 50 Social Media Power Influencer two years in a row as well as a Forbes Top 5 Social Sales Influencer.

Neal is co-founder of the social media industry’s definitive social media conference, the Social Tools Summit. He will also soon launch his newest venture, the Social Media Center of Excellence, to build and educate a community surrounding best practices in using social media for business.

In addition to the above, Neal is creator of the leading social media for business blog Maximize Social Business, a global social media speaker who has spoken on three continents, and faculty member of the Rutgers University Business School Mini Social Media MBA Program.

As an author, Neal is best known for his definitive book on social media strategy creation, implementation, and optimization “Maximize Your Social: A One-Stop Guide to Building a Social Media Strategy for Marketing and Business Success” (Wiley) but has also published two other award-winning and critically acclaimed social media books: ”Maximizing LinkedIn for Sales and Social Media Marketing” and “Windmill Networking: Maximizing LinkedIn.”

As a leading social media speaker, Neal currently speaks on social media at dozens of corporate, professional association, and online events each year. Since his first speaking event in July of 2009, Neal has now spoken at more than 200 events across 10 countries including the United States, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Finland, and Romania.

In parallel, Neal continues to consult with, coach, and train clients on strategically leveraging social media for their business. Since launching his social media strategy consulting business in January, 2010, Neal has worked with dozens of companies, from small startups and solopreneurs to Fortune 500 enterprises and a Grammy Award-winning celebrity.