Today the Austin American-Statesman announced the 25 winners of the first Texas Social Media Awards.  It’s great to see so many of our friends and colleagues recognized for their hard work and effort in the social media space.  The winners will get a lovely ceremony and cocktail reception along with a trophy and a badge that they can place on their website.  All of the winners had to be submitted by readers of the Statesman.com, there were 125 nominees.

Here are this years 25 winners:

• Henry “Rizoh” Adaso, Houston. Music journalist specializing in rap and hip-hop.

• Joshua Baer, Austin. Developed OtherInBox.com, software to streamline e-mail use.

• Perry Belcher, Austin. Marketing strategist who blogs on topics from startups to real estate.

• Michael Chapman, Austin. Former lobbyist who co-founded both Social Media Club Austin and the International Social Media Club.

• J.R. Cohen, Houston. Café manager who uses Yelp, Flickr, Facebook and Twitter to keep in touch with customers.

• Michael Coté, Austin. Software industry blogger.

• Sam Decker, Austin. Marketing guru and author of two books.

• Jenn Deering Davis, Austin. Co-founder of Appozite, a company connecting e-commerce buyers and sellers.

• Lori Falcon, Abilene. Blogger who reviews food, critiques products and services and shares blogging tips.

• Kyle Flaherty, Austin. Marketing and public relations specialist.

• Matt Glazer, Austin. Political and new media consultant who is editor of BurntOrangeReport.com.

• Lisa Goddard, Austin. Marketing director at Capital Area Food Bank of Texas who uses the social web to mobilize nonprofit action in Texas.

• Michelle Greer, Austin. Web marketing strategist.

• David Guenthner, Austin. Social media steward for the Texas Public Policy Foundation and host of Texas PolicyCast, a weekly audio magazine.

• Kami Huyse, Houston. Public relations specialist.

• Cali Lewis, Dallas. Social media butterfly known for her podcasts of “shiny, happy tech news” at GeekBrief.TV.

• David J. Neff, Austin. American Cancer Society communications specialist who developed SharingHope.TV, a Web site for visitors to share their experiences fighting cancer using multimedia.

• Erica O’Grady, Houston. Social media consultant and award-winning Web designer.

• Bryan Person, Austin. Founder of Social Media Breakfast, a multicity networking event.

• Connie Reece, Austin. Social media consultant and co-founder of Every Dot Connects, an online social media consortium.

• Benn and Lani Rosales, Pflugerville. Creators of AgentGenius.com, an online magazine for real-estate agents.

• Dwight Silverman, Houston. His blog at the Houston Chronicle is a favorite stop for tech junkies around the state.

• Aaron Strout, Austin. Vice president of marketing at Powered Inc. and former strategist at Mzinga, a social media consulting firm.

• Paul Terry Walhus, Austin. Blogger, video blogger, videographer, Web developer and Web host with more than 8,000 followers on Twitter.

• Michael Williams, Austin. The chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission is using social media in his run for the U.S. Senate.

I definitely see a lot of familiar names on this list such as Aaron Strout, Connie Reece, and Kami Huyse, but it’s also great to see a lot of folks on the list that I have previously not been familiar with.  You might want to google these fine people and connect with them online!

A big congratulations from everyone at bubblicious!