About Barbara Maldonado

Barbara Maldonado is the Social Media Strategist at Legacy Marketing Partners, one of the top Experiential Marketing agencies in the country. With more than twelve years work experience in digital, experiential, mobile and social media marketing for Fortune 500 brands, Barbara is focusing on social media and digital engagement extensions of Legacy’s agency projects. Given her passion with mobile, social and interactive marketing, Barbara has held several Chair positions within professional organizations in Chicago and currently serves as the Chair for the 2011 Heartland Mobile Council Mobile University to be held at the Spertus Institute on May 24-25, 2011.

A graduate from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, Barbara spends her free time mentoring college students and professionals in social emerging technology, following foodie pursuits and spending time with her family. Barbara can be reached for questions at bmaldonado@legacymp.com.

Recent Post by this Author

StylSavvy: The Buying Experience Comes First

The spark that often ignites a startup can be powerfully driven by an individual’s experience and the marketplace opportunity that unfolds before them. For Rebecca O’Dell, founder and CEO of San Francisco-based startup StylSavvy, her online shopping experiences felt disconnected from what she was looking for as a shopper. Items were organized by category, making…

SideTour: Experiential Currency in your Hometown

In today’s digital age, we often speak of social currency and the impact it has on our personal networks, but what about experiential currency? Those priceless moments, once in a lifetime opportunities, a feeling, not an intangible object. New York City startup SideTour creates memorable moments and events curated and developed by remarkable people who…

A Book in 5 Minutes: Think Like Zuck by Ekaterina Walter

Going from launching Facebook in a Harvard dorm room in 2004 to an initial public offering for $104 billion eight years later is an astounding feat for any entrepreneur. Now add to the mix that this was orchestrated by a young leader who has yet to turn 29, and it is unbelievable, fascinating, and raises…

Curated Second-Hand Furniture Gives Shabby Chic a New Spin at Furnishly

Maybe it is your budget that drives you to the classifieds or the thrill of finding a unique piece that will stand out in your home – either way, finding second-hand furniture is an arduous task, from poor-quality photos to scrolling through photos of furniture with holes, tears and other dubious damage. Furnishly aims to…

Grubwithus: Creating Community Over Meals at Top Restaurants

An amazing thing happens when you are socially connected. When your Facebook friends expand from the cities you have lived in to your past jobs, or you find yourself in a complete life change that pushes you to meet new people, you want to get past the online to meet people in person…a novel concept…

5 Tax Tips for Brand New Startups

Did the allure of launching a startup make its way to your 2012 “this year I am going to finally do it” plan? Have you been putting together your business plan and feel the pulse of your entrepreneurial spirit quicken as you get closer to Day One of launching? Unfortunately along with the excitement of…

Power2Switch Connects Buyers with Electricity Options

Here is a little known fact about electricity in the United States: In 15 states, you have a choice in your power provider. It’s not necessarily the large power company that sends postcards when you move or the name provided on the list of services your condo association gave you. Power2Switch is challenging the belief…

Locai: Creating Communities Built Around Brands

When Locai launched at the 2011 SXSW Conference, they were quite taken aback by the competition and the noise surrounding location-based services and apps. They quickly decided to make adjustments to differentiate themselves, so they shifted focus from consumers to businesses and launched a platform that lets you create a community around a brand, retail…

BlendAbout: Friend Matching Over Group Meals

As we grow older, we lose touch with friends, move to new cities, and start new jobs. No matter how socially savvy we are – how many Twitter followers, Facebook friends, or Circles we have - sometimes it is tough to make new friends. San Francisco-based BlendAbout wants to match you with new friends using…

Timeboxing QR Codes Deliver on Black Friday

There are few places in the U.S. that speak to our love for shopping like the Mall of America in Minneapolis, so it is fitting that QR Codes met their match there on Black Friday. Mall of America worked with Minneapolis-based mobile agency MixMobi to deliver time changing offers within each of the QR Codes…

Wedding Guests Capture Your Moments via iPhone App from Storymix Media

As I meet startups from around the country, it continues to surprise me how they evolve to introduce products and services that are so intuitive, you are left asking, “Why didn’t I think of that?” Such is the case for Storymix Media, an automated video creation platform that allows wedding guests to capture a wedding…

Tasty Startup CookItFor.Us Connects Cravers with Makers

Catching on to the explosive growth of foodie culture and the pursuit of all things food, Chicago-based startup CookItFor.Us has positioned itself as a different kind of food website – one of action, purchase and discovery. Their online platform links “Cravers,” those who would like a recipe made for them, and “Makers,” the licensed chefs,…

Failing Uphill: Lessons from Joshua Karp at SocialDevCamp Chicago

Chicago’s tech conference landscape continues to grow, and SocialDevCamp Chicago continues to deliver year after year. Despite presentations from well-known sponsors and keynotes from best-selling authors and technology visionaries, the session that delivered the biggest punch at this year’s conference was the one on failure. The “lessons learned” and the stories of mistakes made by…

Alexis Ohanian on Community at SocialDevCamp Chicago

As a preview to this weekend’s SocialDevCamp Chicago keynote address, Tech Cocktail connected with Alexis Ohanian, whose accomplishments include co-founding reddit, launching Hipmunk and serving as their head of marketing, YCombinator ambassador and an active angel investor with Das Kapital Capital. A very busy entrepreneur, Alexis also recently launched Breadpig, a company that creates geeky…

Julien Smith on the Power of Visibility at SocialDevCamp Chicago

Julien Smith, co-author of the best-selling book Trust Agents, closes out the first day of SocialDevCamp Chicago on Saturday, August 27th with a keynote that addresses the power of visibility. Julien will discuss the need for start-ups, companies and entrepreneurs alike to gain and sustain attention to convert prospects into sales and build brand ambassadors….

Send 30 Second Messages to Fans, Friends, and Customers with ShoutOmatic

When many of us think about IVR (interactive voice response), we often think of the “robo calls” we receive during election time, or even the clever celebrity wake-up messages that consumers could sign up for a few years ago (courtesy of a fast food chain). Where we don’t always make an immediate connection is with…