Announcing Friday’s Keynote Panel: Blogging From Hobby to Career?

Moderator: Carla Birnberg- @MizFitOnline

Carla Birnberg is an award winning writer, community builder, personal trainer, and bodybuilding competitor. A blogger since 2001, she launched MizFitOnline in 2007 to share her health & fitness knowledge with those who might not have access to one-on-one training. As a result of her online personality and background in counseling, Carla has gained attention of publications like Women’s Day, Experience Life, ivillage.com, Glamour, Women’s Health, Fitness, Yahoo!, Yahoo!Shine, and Runners World magazine. Carla was also identified by Entrepreneur.com as one of ten individuals who exemplify the ability to create a strong personal brand and, most recently, selected by Austin Fit magazine as one of Austin’s 5 Fittest Moms. Carla also serves as fitness expert and regular guest on Mom Talk Radio and Dr.Fitness & the Fat Guy. In her spare time, she juggles motherhood, filming motivational/exercise videos, crafting irreverent tweets, recording a biweekly podcast all without breaking a sweat….and, when she does, she simply calls it cardio.

Panelist: Andrea Metcalf – @Andreametcalf

Andrea Metcalf has been teaching fitness, training clients, and coaching on the subjects of nutrition and health since 1983. She is a published journalist, broadcast celebrity, and nationally known fitness, education, and motivational speaker. Her work has been featured on the Today Show, Oprah.com, and many other publications and media outlets. Her book Naked Fitness, published in 2011, presents a new way to align yourself, walk, and eat your way to feeling great in your own skin. Her DVDs – including PainFree, Pt-2-Go, Keeping Fit Cardio, Pilates, and Strength – are available nationwide.

Karla Walsh – @karla522

Karla began blogging at Healthful Bites in September 2009 to build on her health journalism skills. During that time, she was finishing up her college coursework toward a degree in magazine journalism and community and public health. After graduating and earning her community health education specialist credential, Karla was lucky enough to turn her internship experiences and blogging history into an editorial assistant position at Fitness Magazine, where she has been working since June 2010.

When she’s not (attempting to) balance work and blogging, Karla enjoys sweating along with workout DVDs, discovering healthy restaurants in her new hometown of New York City and tweeting with pals, especially during The Biggest Loser.* You can also catch Karla as a regular guest on the Dr. Fitness and the Fat Guy podcast.

*Not-so-little-known fact: Karla is a bit of a fan of the show, and
Bob Harper in particular.

Kelly A. Olexa – @KellyOlexa

Kelly’s extensive professional experience is a mixed blend of Sales, Marketing, and Business Development. She has worked for tech startups, several small to medium-sized businesses, as well as Fortune 500 organizations.

Kelly holds two Bachelor of Arts degrees from The Ohio State University. Kelly has enhanced her sales and marketing experience by immersing herself in all things Social Media. Her personal blog, www.KellyOlexa.com, is focused on her passion for fitness and health, and has garnered a captive audience. This exposure produced myriad opportunities for Kelly to develop social media strategy for Fitness Celebrities, Supplement companies and numerous health/wellness brands. Kelly’s natural on-camera presence and charisma landed her a spot as one of 100 Ford Fiesta Agents for the “Ford Fiesta Movement”. In addition, Kelly’s engagement on Twitter has resulted in over 29,000 followers, regular placement among the “Twitter Elite” Top 100 (via Hubspot, TwitterGrader) nationally and in the Top 25 for Chicago. In August of 2010, Kelly became a member of the Sears® Fit Club Team, contributing regular content on the Sears® Fit Club Facebook page. Every day, over 100,000 subscribers are paying attention to what Kelly Olexa has to say.

In her “spare time”, Kelly completed her first book, on social media for business professionals. This book, due out in 2011, addresses how big brands and individuals can effectively utilize social media to generate buzz and build sustainable relationships.

Liz Neporent – @lizzyfit

Liz Neporent is a columnist and blogger for AOL’s That’s Fit and a contributor to ABC News online including her influential Reporter’s Notebook series which covers diverse subjects as Children and Energy Drinks and Obesity in Fruit Flies. She is also a regular contributor to dozens of other websites, publications and national media outlets. As a writing and health expert consultant to Harvard Health Publications she has written and managed the writing of several books including The Winner’s Brain with authors Jeff Brown and Mark Fenske and the upcoming Harvard Medical School’s Guide to Managing Migraines. In fact, Liz is author or co-author of more than 15 books including Fitness For Dummies, now in its 4th edition and Weight Training for Dummies, currently in its 3rd edition. Neporent brings a strong science background, fitness authority and a sense of fun to all of her work as noted with her wildly popular AOL posts about topics such as Naked Yoga, Barefoot Running and Weight Loss Ice Pants. She holds a masters degree in exercise physiology from New York University and is certified by the American Council on Exercise, where she served on the board of directors for six years and now serves on the emeritus board and as a national spokesperson. She is the fitness and media advisor for The Hudson Valley Women’s Health Initiative, a charitable organization dedicated to educating people about medical, health and fitness issues. She lives in New York City with her husband Jay and super cute daughter Skylar. Follow her on twitter @lizzyfit or check out her website www.w360.com.