Erik Qualman is an American author of ''Socialnomics'', ''Digital Leader'', ''What Happens in Vegas Stays on YouTube,'' and ''The Focus Project''. ''Socialnomics'' is held in over 1,500 libraries, and it was the

American Marketing Association The American Marketing Association (AMA) is a professional association for marketing professionals with 30,000 members as of 2012. It has 76 professional chapters and 250 collegiate chapters across the United States. The AMA was formed in from t ...

's 2010 Book of the Year finalist. In 2012, he was a finalist for the "Most Likeable Author Award" alongside

Seth Godin Seth W. Godin, also known under his pen name as "F. X. Nine" (born 1960), is an American author, marketing expert, entrepreneur, and a former dot-com business executive. Early life and education Seth W. Godin graduated from Williamsville East H ...

and

JK Rowling Joanne Rowling ( ; born 31 July 1965), known by her pen name , is a British author and philanthropist. She is the author of ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume fantasy novel series published from 1997 to 2007. The series has List of best-sell ...

. In addition to authoring multiple books, Qualman is also a professional keynote speaker and currently teaches a Masters-level Digital Leadership course at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, Media & Integrated Marketing Communications in Chicago, IL. Motivational-Commencement-Speaker-Erik-Qualman-MSU

Motivational-Commencement-Speaker-Erik-Qualman-MSU

Biography

Qualman is from Rochester Hills, Michigan, and received a BA in marketing from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

. Qualman gave the commencement address at

on May 6, 2023. He also holds an MBA from the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

McCombs School of Business McCombs is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Cal McCombs (b. 1945), American football player and coach * Cass McCombs (b. 1977), American musician * Davis McCombs (b. 1969), American poet * Doug McCombs (b. 1962), America ...

. Qualman delivered the commencement address to the McCombs graduating class of 2011. Lake Superior State University awarded Qualman an honorary doctorate for his work and accomplishments in the field of digital leadership.

Career

Prior to his writing and speaking career, Qualman worked in online marketing and eBusiness functions at Cadillac & Pontiac (1994 to 1997), AT&T (1998 to 2000), Yahoo (2000 to 2003), EarthLink (2003 to 2005), and Travelzoo (2005 to 2008). Qualman has also taught courses at the

Hult International Business School Hult International Business School (also known as Hult Business School or Hult) is a private business school with campuses in London, San Francisco, Dubai, New York City, and Cambridge, Massachusetts. Hult is named for the school's benefactor B ...

in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Qualman was a featured speaker at

BookExpo America BookExpo America (commonly referred to within the book publishing industry as BEA) was an annual book trade fair in the United States. BEA was almost always held in a major city over four days in late May and/or early June. Nearly all significa ...

2009, presenting to those in attendance on how social media is transforming the way people live and do business. Qualman delivered the keynote address at IBM's 2013 Business Connect in Milan, Italy. Qualman also was the keynote speaker at Europe's Fiber To The Home (FTTH) Council Meeting in Lisbon. In 2021, Qualman became the first male speaker to address the audience at the Indy Women in Tech Summit. Qualman has been written about in

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, and The Huffington Post. He has also been interviewed on radio and television, where he discussed his view on digital trends.

Awards and recognition

*Top 20 Business Keynote Speaker (AAE) *Top 25 Communications Professors on Twitter (Stukent) *Top 50 Social Media Influencer (Forbes)

Books

*''Socialnomics'' *''Digital Leader'' *''What Happens in Vegas Stays on YouTube'' *''What Happens on Campus Stays on YouTube'' *''The Focus Project''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Qualman, Erik Living people 1972 births Michigan State University alumni McCombs School of Business alumni American male writers American social media influencers