After seeing Chiqui Esteban's list of infographic artists to follow on Google+, I was inspired to create my own list of some of the multimedia contacts and influential thought leaders that I follow. Here are 30 people who I follow, selected at random. All I ask in return is that you list your profile if you're on Google+ along with one person you follow. Thanks in advance and I look forward to connecting with you on there!

Last night I had the opportunity to hear firsthand how product development occurs at Facebook from mobile product manager Neel (aka Bubba) Murarka. After today's announcement today regarding Facebook's partnership with Skype to bring video conferencing within the site, I am even more excited to share some of the behind-the-scenes insights he gave on product design and usability priorities at the social networking giant.

You may be wondering how I am selecting companies to feature for our new series "Company Spotlight." Well, I'll let you in on a little secret: For the last six months I have been keeping track of every multimedia company I have come across on a massive Google Doc. While I will try to feature as many companies as possible, there is no way to conduct Q&A's with all of them. Thus, I decided to publish a portion of my list for you to peruse on your own in case you are looking for an internship, a job, or sheer inspiration. Before you get discouraged by the lack of multimedia jobs in the online journalism sector, check out these companies to see if they are hiring.

Ok. Gear. I know this can be a controversial subject. I know there are passionate beliefs built up over years of personal experience. This list, like any list of its kind is bound to have some short comings. In the spirit of that acknowledgment, please feel free to leave additions or suggestions in the comment section. This list will inevitably be outdated within a year, so an updated comment section would be of real value to everyone. For this post, I’ve created three separate gear lists (budget, moderate and high-end) with three budgets in mind. I’ve done so because I think most of us have to be considerate of cost for various reasons. When perusing the gear, please keep in mind the following...