MarloThomas.com Announces 'Mondays with Marlo' 2011 Series Kickoff Exclusive Live Chat With Top Experts in Health, Finance, Style, Food and More

NEW YORK, Jan. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Marlo Thomas announced today an exciting new lineup of expert guests to kick off 2011 on Mondays with Marlo.  The LIVE weekly event, which gives visitors the chance to ask their questions directly to experts via real-time streaming video, is webcast each Monday at 12:30 pm ET.  The LIVE chat features experts on a wide range of topics that matter to women.  Guests for January and February include Joy Bauer, Ina Garten, Martha Stewart, Diane von Furstenberg and Elizabeth Gilbert, with Katie Couric and family court Judge Judy to follow soon after.  

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110120/NY33234 )

"Marlo Thomas knows the kind of information women want and need to make smart choices in their lives.  We think Mondays with Marlo is an exciting format to let people get their questions answered directly from some of the best experts out there across a wide variety of topics," says Tim Armstrong, Chairman and CEO of AOL.

Viewers have the opportunity to submit questions in advance, which are incorporated into the interview, to ensure that Marlo delivers the information that women need to know.   As 2011 starts, MarloThomas.com will also be working with AOL and other partners like ThirdAge.com to provide additional content around the topics discussed on the show.

Participants in the LIVE event submit their questions and comments via a chat window, and Marlo and guest respond in real time, on live streaming video.  During the event the expert also addresses questions that were submitted in advance.  After the event, the entire video event is presented on MarloThomas.com and archived for viewing 24/7.

Mondays with Marlo was developed by AOL Engineering in Dulles and AOL Studios in New York.  The program combines live streaming video of Marlo and her expert guest with a live chat module for audience questions and comments (provided by CoverItLive).  That combination – real-time video and real-time chat – allows Marlo to bring her vision of online dialogue to life.  

"I launched Mondays with Marlo as a platform for a dialogue between me and the community I was building," says Marlo Thomas.   "I soon learned that many women, and men, attending these chats had real issues for which they wanted real answers.  And I felt the best way to get those answers was to bring some very special experts into our community to be in a conversation with us.  It's very exciting for me to continue providing my audience with these conversations, and I'm thrilled to kick off a great start to 2011," continues Thomas.

January / February Lineup:

January 24th:  Legendary Chef Ina Garten, creator of the wildly successful Barefoot Contessa Cookbooks, joins Marlo to talk about great tips for eating well. http://www.barefootcontessa.com/about.shtml

January 31st:  The incomparable Martha Stewart joins Marlo to take audience questions about entertaining and anything else on your mind.

February 7th:  Style icon Diane von Furstenberg kicks off Fashion Week by talking to Marlo and her online audience about personal style and high fashion.

February 14th:  Bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert, whose Eat, Pray, Love became a top movie in 2010, joins us on Valentine's Day to talk about relationships, which is the theme of her new book, Committed.

Prestigious guests who have already appeared on the show include Dr. Oz, Suze Orman, Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan, and Joy Bauer. They were dynamic conversations, with health expert Dr. Oz talking about everything from sex and sleep to energy and cholesterol;  finance expert Suze Orman answering questions about managing your money and smart financial planning;  Apartment Therapy founder Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan talking about smart organizing techniques:  Today Show Nutrition/Health Expert Joy Bauer about getting off to a healthy start in 2011 and staying healthy the right way.

SOURCE MarloThomas.com