That means if you can’t make it to Chicago (or you’re just too hungover from celebrating Game 4 of the Stanley Cup), you can still follow along on Saturday at justin.tv/blogswithballs and participate in the conversation by hashtagging your tweets with #BWB3.

(Check back soon for the official Blogs with Balls 3 drinking game.)

Many of those brands have a long history of being advertising pioneers through partnering with major sports, teams, athletes and events. Most recently, P&G has teamed up with high-profile partners such as the NFL and the US Olympic Committee.

Now, their involvement with this conference is evidence of not only their recognition of the importance of new and social sports media, but is also a recognition of and testament to the quality of work exhibited by those involved.

Lunch will be hosted by long-time BwB partner SB Nation and will feature complimentary Jeremiah Weed Sweet Tea & Lemonade 1/2 & 1/2s. We are equally proud of the fact that SBN and Jeremiah Weed – two partners that we have worked with in the past – continue to see the value of these events enough to lend their name and support to.

P&G, SB Nation and Weed join our pre and post party sponsors Bleacher Report, Guinness, Yardbarker, Fox Sports and Cuervo, as well as media partners ChicagoNow.com, Notice Software, Justin.tv and Gowalla.

Bleacher Report is proud to present Blogs with Balls 3: The Kickoff Party — the official BwB welcome party — on June 4, 2010 at the Fifty/50 Club in Chicago, featuring complimentary beverages graciously furnished by GUINNESS from 6:00pm to 8:00pm.

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About The Fifty/50

Dining scene vets Greg Mohr and Scott Weiner co-own this Wicker Park tri-level restaurant and 16-flatscreened upscale sports bar replete with a revamped 65-seat outdoor patio with two additional flatscreens. Many of The Fifty/50’s investors are professional athletes, and it’s frequented by professional atheltes and celebrities. Open for dinner/lunch/weekend brunch, The Fifty/50 specializes in fresh, scratch-made elevated comfort fare ranging from the tri-meat blended “The Triple Secret Burger”, to in-house smoked pulled pork with housemade BBQ sauce, to its massive chicken wings recently voted “Best Wings In Chicago” by RedEye and Metromix. The Fifty/50 is also known for its innovative cocktails, irresponsibly low-priced bottle service, and rotating “40oz Of The Week” housed in a brown paper bag. Located at 2047 W Division St (773.489.5050), The Fifty/50 is open 11am-2am Monday thru Thursday, 10am-2am Friday, 10am-3am Saturday, and 10am-2am Sunday. Additional info, full menus, and complete booze lists available at thefifty50.com. Become a fan of The Fifty/50 on Facebook, follow The Fifty/50 on Twitter and check out The Fifty/50 on YouTube.

Chicago, IL – HHR Media Group and Modern Hombre are proud to announce the current lineup of sports bloggers, journalists, media industry leaders and technology innovators who will be speaking on a wide spectrum of topics at Blogs with Balls 3, held the June 5 at the Captain Morgan Club in Chicago’s Wrigley Field.

“We are proud that over the course of the year, BwB has evolved into an industry leader in bringing together all facets of the online sports media community,” said event co-founder Don Povia.

“The continued involvement of not only independent bloggers, but also representatives from companies like ESPN, Bleacher Report, SB Nation, Yahoo! Sports and Yardbarker, shows that collectively online sports media is working and growing together,” Povia added.  “But it’s the fact that more and more members of the newspaper, academic and marketing fields; and tech leaders like Gowalla are participating, that evidences BwB’s growth in size, scope and voice.”

Co-founder Kyle Bunch points out, “We received over a hundred speaker applications for roughly 30 spots, so this process hasn’t been easy, but it reflects the enthusiasm and importance that this event brings to our community. Being recognized as a “blogger” is becoming less and less a stigma and more of an asset.”

Tickets are available at a discounted rate through May 15 here:  http://blogswithballs3.eventbrite.com

Additional speakers and sponsors are to be announced shortly.

Going Local: Evolution of the Local Sports Media Market in the Digital Age

• Jim Bankoff (SBN)
• Enrico Campitelli (The 700 Level)
• TK Gore (Comcast SportsNet Chicago)
• Jon Greenberg (ESPN Chicago)
• Dave Nemetz (Bleacher Report)
• Moderator: Amy K. Nelson (ESPN)

Today’s Sports Media Landscape: Blogs and Beyond, Where Are Ad Dollars Going?

• Rich Gallagher (Taylor)
• Ian Sohn (Ogilvy)
• Michele Steele (Bloomberg)
• Pete Vlastelica (Yardbarker)
• Mod: Amanda Rykoff (ocdchick.com)

You’ve Gotta Fight For Your Right…to Blog?: A Legal and Ethical Primer to Sports Media in 2010

• Jonah Keri (Bloomberg Sports)
• Dr. Nicole M. LaVoi (U. of Minnesota)
• Alana Nguyen (Yardbarker)
• Josh Zerkle (With Leather, KSK)
• Mod: Jason McIntyre (The Big Lead)

Democratizing Sports Media: How Blogging Players, Fans & Leagues Are Changing the Game

• Brian Cook (mgoblog)
• Valli Hilaire (Fast & Fabulous)
• Kevin Kaduk (Big League Stew)
• Robert Littal (Black Sports Online)
• Scott Reifert (Chicago White Sox)
• MOD: Henry Abbott (TrueHoop)

The Kings of All Media: Leveraging Podcasting and Video to Build a Media Megabrand

• The Basketball Jones (The Score)
• Jay Busbee (Yahoo! Sports)
• David Jacoby (ESPN, Sports Guy Podcast)
• Ian Orefice (SI.com)
• Michael Rand (Star Tribune)
• Mod: Matt Sebek (Joe Sports Fan)

The Future of Sports Media (Circa 2010): What Today’s Technology & Innovations Mean for Tomorrow’s Fan

• Ty Ahmad-Taylor (FanFeedr)
• Michael Calderon (Big Ten Network)
• Andy Ellwood (Gowalla)
• Mike Germano (Carrot Creative)
• Mod: Kyle Bunch (The Daily Bunch)

About HHR Media Group

HHR Media Group cultivates a favorable online and offline presence for blogs, athletes, and consumer brands. Utilizing creative and relevant content to forge a relationship with both online sports opinion makers and sports media consumers, HHRMG is on the forefront of social media, helping clients bridge the gap between traditional media and emerging internet and technological trends. For more information, visit:  http://hhrmediagroup.com.

About Modern Hombre

Modern Hombre is the world’s first truly post-digital marketing and creative agency. Modern Hombre works directly with companies and communities — physical and virtual — to forge more meaningful and lasting connections between brand and consumer. Modern Hombre’s world headquarters are located in Austin, Texas.  For more information, visit http://modernhombre.com

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Here’s an updated list of panelists; still more panelist confirmations to come — but we were too excited about the latest round of additions to wait any longer before sharing:

• Henry Abbott  (TrueHoop)
• Jim Bankoff (SBN)
• The Basketball Jones  (The Score)
• Jay Busbee (Yahoo! Sports)
• Enrico Campitelli (The 700 Level)
• Rich Gallagher (Taylor)
• Mike Germano (Carrot Creative)
• Jon Greenberg (ESPN Chicago)
• Valli Hilaire  (Fast & Fabulous)
• David Jacoby (ESPN, Sports Guy Podcast)
• Kevin Kaduk  (Big League Stew)
• Dr. Nicole M. LaVoi  (U of Minn)
• Amy K. Nelson (ESPN)
• Alana Nguyen (Yardbarker)
• Michael Rand  (Star Tribune)
• Amanda Rykoff (ocdchick.com)
• Ian Sohn (Ogilvy)
• Pete Vlastelica (Yardbarker)
• Josh Zerkle (With Leather)

As we said, more announcements to come — so if there’s somebody who should be there who isn’t, reach out and let us know, via Twitter, Facebook, or in the comments below.

• Going Local: Evolution of the Local Sports Media Market in the Digital Age
• The Future of Sports Media (Circa 2010): What Today’s Technology & Innovations Mean for Tomorrow’s Fan
• Today’s Sports Media Landscape: Blogs and Beyond, Where Are Ad Dollars Going?
• You’ve Gotta Fight For Your Right…to Blog?: A Legal and Ethical Primer to Sports Media in 2010
• Democratizing Sports Media: How Blogging Players, Fans & Leagues Are Changing the Game
• The Kings of All Media: Leveraging Podcasting and Video to Build a Media Megabrand

This agenda is subject to change, though, there are unlikely to be many significant alterations.  An official list will be available before the event.

Blogs with Balls 3 will be held:

SATURDAY, JUNE 5, 2010

At the Captain Morgan Club at Wrigley Field

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Capacity at Blogs with Balls 3 is extremely limited. Please don’t wait, because once they’re gone, they’re gone. Get your ticket to Blogs with Balls 3 today!

If not, you better hurry up — the cut-off for ticket sales is tomorrow (Thursday) at 7:00pm et. Don’t miss out on the sports media event of the year. Get your ticket today!

Gary has captured attention with his pioneering, multi-faceted approach to personal branding and business. After primarily utilizing traditional advertising techniques to build his family’s local retail wine business into a national industry leader, Gary rapidly leveraged social media tools such as Twitter and Facebook to promote Wine Library TV, his video blog about wine. Gary has always had an early to market approach launching Wine Library’s retail website in 1997 and Wine Library TV in February of 2006. Gary’s success has led to a 7-figure book deal, several national TV appearances, and a flurry of speaking engagements around the world, including notable tech and business summits such as South By Southwest, Big Omaha, Web 2.0 Expo, FOWA, Strategic Profits and BlogWorld Expo.

Along with his brother AJ, Gary recently launched VaynerMedia, with a client portfolio that includes Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurs, celebrities and athletes.

Here’s a taste of what you can expect from Gary regarding personal branding, business development and leveraging social media:

For more information on Gary Vaynerchuk, please visit:
garyvaynerchuk.com
tv.winelibrary.com
vaynermedia.com
twitter.com/garyvee

To get your hands on a Blogs with Balls gold pass for the discounted rate of $49 (plus a very small — under $2 — service fee), simply head over to blogswithballs.eventbrite.com.

There are a limited number of discounted pre-sale tickets, so act fast!

To that end, we’ve set-up a collaborative space — wiki.blogswithballs.com — to let you help shape the event.  The goal for the wiki is to provide an area where we can share ideas, keep track of relevant ideas and themes, and to house all sorts of activity that you will help us to dream up.

The first areas of the wiki — a panel suggestion tool and a speaker suggestion tool — are live now.

And stay tuned — there’s more soon to follow later today.