There’s nothing like meeting in the first person for building relationships and sharing ideas. So I’m kicking off my Blog World coverage first things first – with the people who truly made my first trip to this conference truly meaningful. From pulling up a corner of carpet together in some packed out panels, to big and small moments of meaningful conversation, to spontaneous evenings of great company, these people represent moments of meaning in a fun yet busy few days. They’re people I genuinely connected with.

Some you’ve heard of. Others you haven’t. But all of them are truly genuine, thoughtful, great people I’d recommend getting to know online and tracking down at an industry event. So, here they are: My top 33 39 people to follow from Blog World 2009.

  1. Irene Kehlor (@IreneKoehler) – AlmostSavvy.com, super sweet lady
  2. Jennifer Kushnell (@ysnjen) – President of ysn.com, sweet social butterfly
  3. Bryan Person (@bryanperson) – Live World social media evangelist, awesome pal
  4. Jodi Gersh (@jodiontheweb) – Social media and content management
  5. Chris Hall (@hallicious) – Consumer innovation, blogger at hallicious.com
  6. Katja Presnal (@katjapresnal) – Consultant, skimbaco lifestyle, nice, savvy woman
  7. Sonia Simone (@soniasimone) – Remarkable communication, copyblogger
  8. David Spinks (@davidspinks) – Community manager at Scribnia & blogger
  9. Grace Boyle (@graceboyle) – Business development at Lijit, Small Hands, Big Ideas
  10. Davina Anthony (@dmacreative) – Designer, developer DMA Creative
  11. Mitch Canter (@studionashvegas)wordpress designer, social media dude
  12. Doug Haslam (@dougH) – SHIFT communications, doughaslam.com, overall nice guy
  13. Amanda (@highimpactmom) – highimpactmom.com
  14. Maggie Fox (@maggiefox) – social media group, smart panelist
  15. Justin Levy (@justinlevy) – steak. and also social media
  16. JD Lasica (@jdlasica) – socialmedia.biz
  17. Natalie Wardel (@mrsnatalie) – social media, PR and overall sweet gal
  18. Robin Maiden (@robinmaiden) new media & podcast consultant
  19. Bill Rice (@billrice) – marketing, kaleidico.com
  20. Darren Rowse (@Problogger) – problogger.com, digital-photography-school.com
  21. Shannon Yelland (@shannonyelland) – job seeker
  22. Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan) – newmarketinglabs.com & author, Trust Agents
  23. Stephanie Schwab (@stephanies) – Digital Services, Kaplow
  24. Connie Bensen (@cbensen) – Community strategist, social media, thoughtful panelist
  25. Ellen Rowan (@zaellen) – blogger and awesome mom
  26. Joseph Morin (@josephmorin) – social media guy and tweetup extraordinaire
  27. Jyl Johnson Pattee (@jylmomIF) – community builder, mom it forward, uber-friendly lady
  28. Jennifer L. Iannolo (@foodphilosophy) & Mark Tafoya (@chefmark), culinary media network
  29. Saad Mukhtar (@saadmukhtar) – business development, Scribnia, Navator.com
  30. Rohit Bhargava (@rohitbhargava) Ogilvy, influential marketing
  31. Zane Aveton (@zaneology) – blogger and uber bringer-together
  32. Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) – NYU journalism professor and big idea instigator
  33. Daniel B. Honigman (@dan360man) – media thinker and Weber Shandwick guy
  34. Becky McCrayhttp://twitter.com/BeckyMcCray
  35. Beth Rosenhttp://twitter.com/bethrosen
  36. Melissahttp://twitter.com/ConsumerQueen
  37. Howard Greensteinhttp://twitter.com/Howardgr
  38. David Armanohttp://twitter.com/armano
  39. Jason Fallshttp://twitter.com/Jasonfalls

Who do you want to see at Blog World next year or at the next conference and meet IRL yourself? Who would you add to this year’s list? If you were at blog world or on this list, you can follow me on Twitter so we can continue the conversation.

Update: You can follow this whole list now using TweepML: Top Blog World Pros