Lynne d Johnson

Lynne d Johnson is SVP, Social Media for the Advertising Research Foundation, where she is responsible for content, brand and social media development and strategy, and managing the ARF Social Media Council. In her role, she guides members on how they can best utilize social media to gain insights and achieve their business objectives, and she'll expand the ARF’s social media presence.

Formerly, she was Senior Editor & Community Director for Fastcompany.com where she oversaw both content and community functionality, and wrote the Digital Media Diva blog. Also a consultant, Lynne works with Web and media properties on content, brand, and social media development and strategy. She's also a sought after speaker, and has presented keynotes and moderated panels around the world about the future of media, web 2.0, women in tech, African-Americans in tech, hip-hop, and the intersection of music and technology.

Prior to Fast Company, Lynne served as the General Manager, New Media for VIBE, SPIN, and VIBE Vixen where she managed marketing, editorial, production, business development, and sales operations for the magazine's Web sites and mobile properties.

As both a professional journalist and blogger, Lynne has written for various online and offline properties. She has written for Cool Hunting, techPresident, Black Web 2.0, The Daily Voice, RushmoreDrive, Popgadget, VIBE, VIBE Vixen, PAPER, SPIN, Popmatters, The Source, New York Press, URB, XLR8R, and many other print and online publcations, including the now defunct Silicon Alley Daily, Digital Music Weekly, Artbyte, One World, and (ai) magazine.

Also a published poet and essayist, Lynne has been published in Bum Rush The Page: A Def Poetry Jam, edited by Tony Medina and Louis Reyes Rivera (Three Rivers Press: 2001), Da Capo Best Music Writing 2004: The Year's Finest Writing On Rock, Hip-Hop, Jazz, Pop, Country, & More (Da Capo Press: 2004), and Etiquette: Reflections on Contemporary Comportment, edited by Ron Scapp and Brian Seitz (SUNY Press: 2006). A new essay entitled, "My'Pod Peeps: Why The iPod And Other Gadgets Are Fashion Staples In The 'Hood," will be published in Fashion Statements, also edited by Seitz and Scapp.

She also recently wrote the foreward for Tactical Transparency: How Leaders Can Leverage Social Media to Maximize Value and Build their Brand, by Shel Holtz and John C. Havens (Wiley, 2008) and was the technical editor for Google Voice For Dummies, by Bud E. Smith and Chris Dannen.

Since 2001 Lynne has published Lynne d Johnson || Diary, the winner of the 2006 Black Weblog Awards Black Blogger Achievement Award, and maintains a style blog -- Change Clothes -- as well as another website, BlackThoughtware.org, that was inspired by a column she once wrote for Popmatters.

When not working on Web and writing projects, Lynne is an adjunct professor in the Audrey Cohen School for Human Services at the Metropolitan College of New York, where she most recently taught Self-Assessment Through Writing and Technology in the Bachelor of Arts in American Urban Studies program. Previous courses taught included, The Sociology of Group Behavior, Systems for Learning and Communication, and Promoting Empowerment Through Teaching and Communication in the Bachelor of Professional Studies program.

She formerly taught at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, in the instructional technology tract of its MS program in Urban and Multicultural Education, where she also developed the curriculum for a special projects course called "Technology, Culture and Communication." She also taught basic media production in the school's BA program in Communication. In addition, Lynne taught computer skills in community-based organizations and assisted in the creation and publishing of web-based literacy education projects for both students and teachers on the Web.

Some of her past gigs include, technology reporter and editor at BlackPlanet.com, the leading African-American community-based Web site; associate editor of Digital New York, an online and offline publication for creatives working in print and Web design, digital photography and digital video; and managing editor of Beat Down, a hip-hop publication. Lynne was also the Editor-At-Large for Mosaic Literary Magazine for many years.

Lynne earned a BA in Journalism from SUNY New Paltz, with two-and-a-half years of her coursework concentrated in information systems. She also holds an advanced certificate in Multicultural Studies from the College of Mount Saint Vincent, and an MBA in Media Management from the Metropolitan College of New York.

She currently serves on the advisory boards of BlackWeb20.com and Girls In Tech New York, and is a Key Influencer for Interactive One and on the standards board of the Social Media Advertising Consortium. She's also a co-founder of the The New York Android Software Developers Meetup. In the past, she was on the Board of Directors of the Literary Freedom Project, and the advisory boards for Ypulse Urban/Multicultural Mashup '09 and BlogHer Business '08.