Meet Carri Bugbee, aka @PeggyOlson.

One of the many serendipities of social media is meeting up with like-minded tweeps you may never have encountered otherwise. This is the case of Carri Bugbee and me. Somehow, while tweeting, we discovered we were both journalism majors at the University of Oregon and that we’d been mentored by the same uber-motivating professor, Dr. Winter. (Funny. We’re both blonde, both wear trippy glasses. Hmm.) We’ve also had similar experiences in traditional ad agencies.

What I didn’t know until the night of the Twitter Shorty Awards was that @CarriBugbee is also@peggy olson. I’d been tweeting up a storm, voting in a frenzy, and even connecting with @peggyolson on Linkedin (we both went to Miss Deaver’s School), all without guessing that savvy Carri was masquerading as the Mad Men copywriter. Since then Carri has gone on to even more fame-and-fortune via this week’s Ad Age and BusinessWeek.com covers.

So Social Media Slowbees, if you’re looking for a compelling reason to jump on board, re-read the above. Meeting someone who knew Dr. Winter when has been a joy. Even better, my Tweeting buddy has turned out to be a true social media innovator and all-around kick-ass ad-babe.

Read Carri Bugbee’s bio here:

“I am the proprietor of Big Deal PR (www.bigdealpr.com), a virtual agency that provides marketing and PR on demand for innovative businesses and organizations. I have 20 years experience in traditional advertising and PR, but I’ve embraced online marketing with a vengeance, including social networking, social media, search marketing, and all things Web 2.0. I am marketing agnostic and only recommend what is right for my clients. I don’t use new whiz-bang technologies just because they are available, nor do I espouse the tried and true if that’s not the right approach. Regardless of the tools available, I believe that astute strategies and compelling messages are still the foundation for helping clients get noticed and for propelling their businesses forward. I’ve always worked with entrepreneurs and businesses in creative services and technology, but have experience in many other categories as well. ”

Follow this Portland luminary on Twitter: @carribugbee.

Guru’s Note: I just learned via her Ad Age video that I may also be inadvertently following Carri on her jazz ID as well. As many of you know, we’re a longtime Monterey Jazz Festival family and my daughter is part of the Vocal Jazz Collective at Berkeley — (next gig is at Anna’s Jazz Island on April 23rd.)  Definitely a smaller world these days!