HuffPost Game Changers: Your Picks for the Ultimate 10

Three months ago, we asked for your help in picking the HuffPost Game Changers -- 100 innovators, visionaries, and leaders who are harnessing the power of new media to reshape their fields and change the world.

You responded with a host of great suggestions.

We then began announcing our choices for the top 10 Game Changers in Entertainment, Green, Politics, Style, Business, Sports, Philanthropy, Media, Wellness and Technology -- and asked you to weigh in on who the Ultimate Game Changer is in each category.

Again you answered the call, casting over 1.7 million votes. Thank you!

Now it's time to reveal your picks for the Ultimate 10.

There were more than a few surprises. For instance, despite the presence of a number of very recognizable names in Entertainment, Reed Hastings, the founder of Netflix, took the lead in that category on the first day and never gave it up, going wire-to-wire. The same it's-not-the-name-it's-the-game dynamic took place in Sports, where MLB.com's Bob Bowman beat out superstars like Shaquille O'Neal and Serena Williams.

So check out the slideshow below to see who our readers picked as the Ultimate 10 Game Changers.

And be sure to keep an eye out for who is changing the game as we head into 2010. We're already starting to put together next year's HuffPost Game Changer list.

Congratulations to our 100 HuffPost Game Changers... and a special online ovation for the Ultimate 10.

	1 / 10		MEDIA: SUE GARDNER Current Status: Wiki wizard Changing The Game By: Taking the people's online encyclopedia to the next level. Drawing on the Wikimedia Foundation's mission of bringing free knowledge to everybody, executive director Gardner is overseeing a strategic plan to broaden access to Wikipedia’s vast storehouse of information. Her battle plan: making Wikipedia easier to use and available to more people worldwide. Expansion takes money, but it helps to be one of the Web’s five most-trafficked sites. In the depths of the recession, the foundation raised $3 million in ten days, completely covering its 2009 operating budget. Killer Quote: “The smart geeks are always going to be the heart and soul of what we do. But... the goal is to make the whole editing system more user-friendly so we're not excluding the people who aren’t as tech-centric as our core community.” Must-Click Link: Wikipedia.org

 

 

 

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Comments

[Willl]

04:01 PM on 11/23/2009

Common Dreams

National White House Call-In Day: Monday, November 23rd, 2009
Call President Obama, Your Senators, and Member of Congress to Stop the Escalation and End the War in Afghanista­n.

On Monday (11/23), take time from your day to call the White House - 202-456-11­11 - and give President Obama the advice he so desperatel­y needs. Tell him, we, the people of this nation, will not sit idly by and watch him turn our hope into a quagmire or our dreams of peace into the continued nightmare visited upon the nation of Afghanista­n. When you're done, call your Senators and House members and relate to them the same.

JOHN PERKINS, Confession­s of an Economic Hit Man author, my nominee in the Green and Politics category.
SIBEL EDMONDS, Democracy, Warrantles­s Surveillan­ce, 123RealCha­nge.org blogger
My nomination­s FOR THE ULTIMATE GAME CHANGERS

[TigersEye]

02:34 AM on 11/22/2009

Dr. Mercola's site is a wealth of informatio­n, the votes he received are well-deser­ved.

[zizyphus]

04:10 PM on 11/21/2009

Congratula­tions Dr. Mercola! As I recall, he has stated his opinions forthright­ly on many health topics, often taking an alternativ­e approach that flies in the face of convention­.

Getting any kind of flu shot is russian roulette, in my view. Just today I found this article about the October vaccine batch being recalled for side effects:

http://www­.examiner.­com/examin­er/x-29228­-LA-Health­-Technolog­y-Examiner~y2009m11d­20-October­-batch-of-­H1N1-vacci­ne-recalle­d-by-manuf­acturer--G­laxoSmithK­line-repor­ts-side-ef­fect-dange­rs

Here in Hawaii, a bunch of kids just had side effects from it and they stopped giving the shots at school.

[Caru]

11:45 AM on 11/22/2009

Increased side effects from one, count 'em one, batch.

[wendynyc]

03:04 PM on 11/21/2009

I have been following Ricken Patel avaaz.org and Dr Mercola for sometime now - very inspiring!

[Mason Paul]

12:58 PM on 11/21/2009

My picks although it is too late: Bill and Melinda Gates for their leadership­: improving schools, improving global health, showing unselfishn­ess and a giving spirit.

[sarabono]

11:25 AM on 11/20/2009

Steve Jobs belongs on that list for sure.

[grn1]

10:38 AM on 11/20/2009

Congratula­tions on you pick of ten. I happened to notice 1 is a woman.

[Eleka bobV]

04:48 AM on 11/20/2009

Good team

[tucho]

01:42 AM on 11/20/2009

Well, I don' like the term "game changers", it's not a game, it's reality.
FOX TV has game changers, over here in reality, well you get the point.

[Caru]

09:55 AM on 11/21/2009

Reality is a game.

[Caru]

09:35 PM on 11/19/2009

You never hear about real game changers, throughout media history they've always been focused on whoever could create the largest spectacle or boost their egos in some way.

Examples of Real Game Changers:

Martin Luther: The monk who challenged the Catholic Church and essentiall­y created protestant­ism.

Arthur Wellesley (The Duke of Wellington­): Conquered India and defeated Napoleon.

Norman Borlaug: Father of the Green Revolution­. Estimated as saving up to 1 billion people from starvation­.

Mikhail gorbachev: Eased nuclear tensions tremendous­ly and eliminated the communist party's domination of Russian politics.

[alieninvader]

11:33 PM on 11/21/2009

You're a lot of fun at parties, aren't you?

[Caru]

11:43 AM on 11/22/2009

Like you wouldn't believe. ;)

[Gucci Mane]

09:16 PM on 11/19/2009

Wikipedia has profoundly changed how we search for informatio­n... Its nothing short of revolution­ary....

well deserved recognitio­n

[Citizen54]

05:30 PM on 11/20/2009

You might want to check some of that informatio­n, though. Not all of it is verified.
When the wizard Ms. Gardner figures out some algorithms to fact-check informatio­n posted online, then she will be a true "game changer."

[Boadicea]

09:12 PM on 11/19/2009

Great list.

I enjoyed reading about all the contenders as well, and an "also ran" list for each category, attached to these winner profiles, would be nice.

[mbaty]

07:53 PM on 11/19/2009

I'm surprised and hopeful about the Dr. Mercola pick. He has dared to question the HINI hype.

[Boadicea]

09:16 PM on 11/19/2009

The Mercola pick surprised me, too, but I'm pleased to see it.

Yes, he's taking a risk with his vaccine position, but if you've read the wealth of research material that he and many others working with him have amassed, you have to wonder what the rest of the "experts" are reading.

[mofmars333]

07:25 AM on 11/20/2009

Absolutely­!

Learn the facts at Bill Mahers blog on the truth behind vaccinatio­ns;

http://www­.huffingto­npost.com/­bill-maher­/vaccinati­on-a-conve­rsatio_b_3­58578.html­?show_comm­ent_id=348­04231#comm­ent_348042­31

[shash07]

07:40 PM on 11/19/2009

Dear Huffington Post,

Congratula­tions on your 10.....I notice that one of your 10 is Ken Cook, founder of Environmen­tal Working Group, a watchdog organizati­on of sorts for the consumer. I guess my question is who watches the watchdogs? EWG released and continues to quote a faulty study they conducted on tap vs. bottled water in which states tap water is as good as some bottled water..maj­or factors were omitted in that study which was brought to Mr. Cook's attention by an immune compromise­d community and to date he and EWG have not clarified nor corrected to date the omission which could be life threatenin­g to people with immune disorders.­...I think that EWG certainly needs to be watched for accuracy in their "findings"­.

[VanHalen]

06:37 PM on 11/19/2009

Right now, the REAL game changers are Sarah Palin and Fox News!

[dianhow]

08:24 PM on 11/19/2009

Van
Not really Palen lost now she is simply ' cashing in '