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Our #CrushIt contest with Gary Vaynerchuk has come to an end. Before we announce the winners, we want to thank everyone who participated and signed up for Lijit. We like working with friends of Lijit, our community and giving back so if you have any feedback or additional ideas, send them our way. We’re all ears.

Without further ado. Drumroll please…

The five winners, picked at random are:

1. Programming Language FAQ (http://programminglanguagefaqs.blogspot.com/)
2. Over U (http://overu.typepad.com/overu/)
3. I Heart PGH (http://iheartpgh.com/)
4. E Books For You (http://www.freeebooks4you.co.cc/)
5. John Allsopp (http://blog.tropicalismo360.com/)

Each of the five bloggers listed, will receive an autographed copy (by the man himself) of Gary Vaynerchuk’s, Crush It.

Note: We will personally e-mail each winner for addresses so we can send you your copy of the book.

Last night, our CEO, Todd Vernon, and COO, Walter Knapp, were interviewed by Bloggers School on Blog Talk Radio. They discussed the history of Lijit, the business model behind our company and how our search adds value to both the publisher and the blog reader. The majority of the interview centered around questions about Lijit’s premium Ad Network and how we’re making it even easier for bloggers to make money on their blogs. Give it a listen if you want to hear more from the top dogs themselves.

It’s been a while since we’ve profiled a Lijit employee. I’m blaming that on the fact that there only a precious few left that haven’t been interviewed yet AND it’s been a little crazy around these parts. But we’re back and very excited to introduce you to one of the feistiest** members of our Publisher Acquisition team…Erica Prather. Lijit is Erica’s first REAL job out of college (awwwww…how cute!) so she still has a lot of that school spirit that seems to wither the further from graduation you get. Here she is, showing off her Jayhawk pride…

Can you say Rock Chalk? She can…and loudly. But the thing about Erica is that she brings that same enthusiasm to everything else she does as well. See for yourself.

What is your Lijit contribution?

I work in business development, which means that I identify publishers that would benefit from the Lijit search. I maintain relationships with current publishers, help customize their widget and learn way too much about Heidi Montag Pratt while doing the aforementioned. I also act as Advertising Services Manager - meaning that I create ad tags, schedule ad campaigns and generally manage the affairs of our publishers when it comes to the ads served on their page.

What is your favorite word and why?

I appreciate the f*#% word for all of its versatile goodness - if you can name one emotion it doesn’t cover, let me know. But since my mom is reading this, I’ll have to say milquetoast, because it sounds like a cool Kellogg’s cereal, but it’s really describing a boring person.

What turns you off, emotionally, spiritually or creatively?

I’ll have to go with excessive materialism and a skewed perception of reality…I think that people tend to forget that they go to bed with a full belly and a roof over their heads every night. Even I struggle with it (don’t get me started on car troubles) - but realistically we deal with what I call ‘luxury’ problems on a daily basis. Losing your vacation home, your Porsche or your retirement because of a bad economy is really not a problem…I think we forget how truly blessed we are.

What profession, other than your own, would you like to attempt and why?

I just want to travel and get paid for it or just survive doing it. I don’t care if it’s cliche - I love everything about it: the accents, new smells, interesting foods, weird things people wear, funky music, other people’s traditions, it’s awesome. Should I start looking for a trust fund baby to marry?

Something you’re guilty of…

I think we all know that I hate sharing my food when ASKED to. You can borrow my clothes, shoes, earrings, even sleep in my bed, but touch my food and you are dead to me. Maybe it’s because as a kid, if you didn’t make it downstairs in time, you’d miss out on the muffins/cinnamon rolls/treats because I had two siblings (one being a garbage disposal brother). But excuses and psychological reasoning aside - I hate sharing my food unwillingly.

As you can tell from the above pictures and her profile answers, we can all safely say that Erica is far from being a milquetoast. She is spunky, a quick learner and always prepared with a punchline. In other words, she fits in around Lijit perfectly.

Especially with her love of the f*%# word. (Sorry Erica’s mom!)

**Yes, it really is a word.

This was our third year having a booth at Blog World and it just keeps getting better for us. Instead of going on and on about what a great conference it was and how many times our company got mentioned in sessions or during keynotes, we thought pictures might do a better job of telling our story…

Our booth, along with the swag we were handing out, attracted quite the crowd. The  Purell was a big hit…either due to the fact that folks were shaking a lot of hands or that they agreed that Las Vegas was a dirty city.

But, one of the main reasons we go to Blog World is to be immersed in a world we love…that of blog publishers. Seeing their eyes light up when we explain and demo what we do is something that just can’t be described.

Not to mention all the opportunities we have for spreading our message to a larger audience…

However, probably our most favorite thing to do while at a show like Blog World is to thank our current users. Folks like the masterminds behind I Can Has Cheezburger, Neatorama, and WebUrbanist. And slapping a few stickers on cute mommybloggers doesn’t hurt the cause either. (Hi Extraordinary Mommy!)

A conference like Blog World takes a lot of energy. Not only is it a big show, but the fact that it takes place in Vegas makes it all the more tiring. To make sure we were up to the task, we made sure we had all of the essentials covered…

Thanks to everyone we met and to all those who told us how much they loved what we’re doing. Wear your Lijit shirts with pride and we hope to see you next year at Blog World 2010!

[Photo credits: Perry, Grace, Greg and http2007]

In the middle of 2007 I began a blog.

And, like more than 11,000 other people, I installed Lijit on my blog.

And, like more than 11,000 other people, I got an email from a person named Tara Anderson welcoming me to the Lijit family.

“This must be automated,” I thought to myself. So I replied to the email. “Hey Tara, I think Lijit is awesome. In fact, I have a couple of clients that this would work well for.”

A couple of hours later, Tara responded.

“Thanks, Micah! We think our wijit is pretty cool too. I would like to introduce you to Todd Vernon, our CEO…”

And, a few days later, I headed up to Louisville to meet the Lijit team. While there, I ran into Seth Levine, who was an investor in ServiceMagic , the first company I worked at in Colorado. We talked for a bit, and made plans to connect later.

Over the next few weeks, Todd and I continued to talk. I introduced him to a few of the clients I had worked with at Current Wisdom, and then one day at lunch Todd asked if I would be interested in joining the Lijit team. Initially, I was unsure, until Seth gave me this advice:

“Micah, you are an idiot. Take the job.”

So I did.

Now, almost two years later the time has come for me to move on.

I was asked to help run a 2009 Techstars company as their CEO (not Techstars itself), and after talking it over with, well, a bunch of my mentors, and with Todd’s support, I decided it was the right thing to do.

My time at Lijit has been amazing. We have grown from 1,000 publishers to more than 11,000. From 11,000,000 monthly pageviews to more than 325,000,000. From 12 people to just over 30. Other than Google, we are the most used search widget on the web.

And, what amazes me most, is we still reach out to each new user and welcome them to our family.

I am not leaving Boulder, and as I told the team at Lijit, “I’ll just be up the street.” I say the same to all Lijit users (both current and future), I am always available.

And, while I might be leaving Lijit as an employee; I am still a member of our family.

Thanks Lijit for the last two years. I’m excited to see whats next.

Little Ben Matson has been with our company for long enough now that we can easily make jokes at his expense. That’s always the true test, isn’t it? And fortunately for us, he can laugh at himself AND he has a blog designed to document his D&D adventures. Really…what more could we want from a co-worker?

Let’s not forget that Ben is an extraordinary team player who is willing to help out anyone at any time. Since he’s been at Lijit, he’s been put in many situations of extreme pressure and has passed all the stress tests with flying colors. Of course, he has yet to experience the famed Lijit Holiday Party. We’ll see how he does with that one. In the meantime, enjoy getting to know Ben. I can honestly say that the picture he provided me of his summer internship has to be one of the best of all time.

What is your Lijit contribution?

I am one of two Publisher Support Engineers at Lijit, and we do a variety of things around here. Whenever a blogger has a technical question, or runs into a problem with something, we work to provide the answers and solutions they’re looking for. Whenever we can’t handle an issue ourselves, we track down the people that can and make sure things get resolved properly. But my job is not just troubleshooting, I also get to trick-out the special accounts we create with a bunch of custom features for the different business development deals that go on around here. One of the things I really enjoy about my particular role at Lijit is seeing all the different ways our products get used, and all the neat things our company can do.

What is your least favorite word and why?

If I could remove any subset of words from the human vocabulary, it would be racial slurs. They are a bane on our advancement as intelligent and benevolent creatures, and generally come from a place of ignorance and hatred.

What is your favorite sound and why?

The ambiance of the natural world. When you can get away from all of the cars, all the humming electrical boxes, and all of the noise that society makes, you can hear what the world sounded like before the modern age. Admittedly, it is mostly just wind, but it can really have a profound effect on you if you let it. I also really like the sound of eggs cracking open.

What profession, other than your own, would you like to attempt and why?

Before joining Lijit I spent some time as an intern in an intergalactic mercenary syndicate with a focus on mounted dinosaur assault squads. They had their hands in everything from galactic warfare to spice smuggling, plus they had amazing dental benefits. Ultimately though, Lijit just made me a better offer.

Something you’re guilty of…

Living a total bachelor lifestyle. I very rarely cook for myself, or even buy groceries. I’m pretty sure the only things in my fridge right now are some shredded Parmesan cheese, half a jar of raspberry jam, and a couple beers. A few of the girls in the office have tried teaching me the ways of healthy and responsible food purchasing habits, but I have thus far proved untrainable.

Actually, Ben, speaking for many of the girls in the office, we think you’re highly trainable. Thanks for all you do, even when we continually bug you for tech support help. If you’re interested in learning more about Ben, follow him on Twitter, take a look at the outtakes from our photo shoot, or ask him if you can join him on the next quest to raid the Green Dragon’s lair. I’m sure he’ll let you play. He’s nice like that.

When I first got to know Stan James (Lijit’s Founder), we had a great conversation about a conference called Gnomdex in Seattle. I thought I had heard of such a conference in my startup days out in San Francisco, and sure enough I had.

In the late 1990s, I worked at a startup in Emeryville, CA. While there, several of the developers received an email from a guy named Chris Pirillo, and wished they could attend a conference in the corn fields of Iowa. It was called Gnomedex.

Lijit was a sponsor of the conference in 2007, and last year I attended. It was an amazing conference. Probably one of my favorite of the year because of Chris’ curation of speakers (including the guy that drove the Mars Rover!) and the community interaction of the attendees.

As I laid out my wishlist for conferences to speak at in 2009, Gnomedex was high on the list. Over the course of the year, Chris and I became better friends, and I was honored to be asked to speak at Gnomedex 2009. Talking about the impact blogging and community have had on my life (The presentation was entitled “How to be Awesome…er”) I really enjoyed speaking in front of the Gnomedex attendees, both in there and virtually.

Here are my presentation slides:

As always, it was great to connect with current and future Lijit publishers. Gnomedex has been a great measure of Lijit’s growth. In 2007 and 2008, we were the new kids, and most of the conversations I had about Lijit were filled with explanations of what we do, and why its interesting. Now, with our strong feature set and new monetization options, the conversations are much more focused on how to work together.

If you have a short list of conferences, please put Gnomedex on the list. Its an amazing conference, on par with SXSW (except without the size and craziness), and is the only conference that I lament missing sessions.

Cant wait for Gnomedex 2010!

This past weekend, Lijit was proud to be one of the sponsors for the ongoing Chicks Who Click conference series. San Jose, or to be more specific-downtown Palo Alto, was the setting for this installment of the (mostly) female gathering of those involved in social media and working in the tech industry.

There was a panel featuring Aubrey Sabala of Digg, Margaret Stewart of YouTube and Meagan Marks from Facebook. These three incredibly smart women talked about how they’ve trailblazed their way to fantastic careers by carving out roles for themselves that cater to their strengths. One of the key take-aways from this panel was the notion of “intelligent risk-taking” and that if an opportunity scares you, then it’s probably exactly what you need to be doing.

I spoke on a panel about being a woman involved with a tech startup. (There I am, in the middle, talking with my hands yet again.) Emily Olson of the delicious Foodzie and Suzanne Xie of the stylish Weardrobe joined me as we discussed the different challenges we’ve faced as being part of early-stage tech companies. Suzanne brought up the point that her background is in finance and coming from that kind of workplace, tech seems very open to women. Both Emily and I agreed that being female has helped with marketing our companies in both online and offline communities. A point that resonated with the audience is that if you’re going to have women users, it can be beneficial to have a female voice or face to assist with tech support or new customer outreach.

In case you haven’t experienced it, there really is a kind of magic that happens when you get a roomful of women (and a few men) together, talking about collaboration, connection and how tech can play an important part in building a business. Women of all ages shared stories of how they found jobs on Twitter, used Facebook to get the word out about their startup or formed relationships with major brands all because of their blog. It was an inspiring day, full of shared knowledge and newly-formed friendships. I’m grateful that Lijit was able to help make it happen.

Perry came to us from a corporate setting but we don’t hold that against him. As soon as he wheeled his bike into the office, we knew it was a good fit. Of course the fact that he can keep up with most of the cyclists in the office also wins him points all around. From his casual demeanor (he loves wearing old-school Vans with no socks) to his good humor, Perry has been a most welcome addition around Lijit.

Perry’s official title is VP of Market Development, but since he seems to know everyone in Boulder, we also like to call him the Jaunty Man about Town. And don’t even get him started about his glory days in the 90’s when he rode mountain bikes with Dan Cortese or hung out backstage with Perry Farrell (who, believe it or not, shares the same first name. OMG.) Fortunately, Perry agreed to take some time out of his busy schedule to allow us a peek into his psyche.

What is your Lijit contribution?

A muddy bike in a no-bikes allowed building… I have worked for large and small companies - I like to believe that I bring the best perspective/practices from each (and left the shite at the door…well, mostly).

What is your least favorite sound and why?

The sound of a frisbee banging into a car. For any of you who have played the game, you will know EXACTLY what I am talking about. When I was a kid, we used to play frisbee in the cul-de-sac where I lived. Invariably, someone would either over-throw or miss and that unforgettable sound would echo through the neighborhood…thankfully is was (usually) less damaging than one would think.

What turns you on, creatively, emotionally or spiritually and why?

I am not sure if it is a paternal thing, but I get really fired up when my kids take an interest in a sport and get super excited about it. My girls both locked onto Lacrosse (I never played…and am horrible) and my son took to cycling right away. While they have miles to go to be “great” at their respective endeavors, it inspires me to learn or better myself so that I can enjoy their growth alongside them. Wish me luck.

What profession, other than your own, would you like to attempt and why?

As Boulder-stereotypical as it sounds, I would LOVE to own a bike shop. People need to remember that cyclists put the U.S. into flight first (Orville and Wilbur). A bike shop caters to every demographic and has substantial breadth when it comes to customer interests - everything from the recreational rider to the pro-level cyclist…and the revolutionary anti-gasoline commuter to the hardcore downhiller. Many different customers creates a hyper-diverse and interesting place to work.

Something you’re guilty of…

My body is really bad at processing sugar, which does not work well given my moderate addiction to dark chocolate. The pros tell you there are anti-oxidants in chocolate, but I still think that the sugar wrecks me…such is life.

But the greatest thing about Perry is that he is willing to represent Lijit in the manner to which we’ve become accustomed. On bikes.

I would normally wrap this up by encouraging interested parties to check out Perry’s blog and Twitter stream. However, in this case, all you’ll discover is that he is woefully negligent with both.

But then again, he does have a wonderful wife and three really cute kids…which speaks more about him than any social media platform ever could.

In case you were wondering where all the honey bees have gone…look no further.

According to eyewitness reports, the swarm “arrived in tight formation, surveyed the Rio Grande across the street, found it unsuitable and then proceeded to colonize our tree.”

The guy in the white shirt is Bill, a wonderful guy and Lijit employee who alerted us to the swarm’s presence yesterday. After others in the building caught wind of the news, a small crowd gathered to enjoy the spectacle of nature until some do-gooder beekeepers came by to collect the bees a little while later.

A final close-up shot of the swarm, so you can fully appreciate just how Lijit we can bee…

Many thanks to Zach Conger, our resident Systems Architect and honey of a guy for rushing out to document this extraordinary event.

And yes, this does constitute exciting around our workplace. No judging.