For our next profile in the “Talking With…” series, we’re picking the brain of Shop.org’s fearless leader Scott Silverman. Hear from Scott on his biggest takeaway from the State of Retailing Online, how Shop.org is compensating for a cut in retailers’ travel budgets, and the five people in the world he’d take to dinner:

Shop.org’s State of Retailing Online was released this week. Were you drawn to any a-ha findings from the research?

One in four retailers is increasing their investment in online. I admire those companies that made this decision; I know that it’s not easy or without risk. It also is reassuring to see that, despite all the headwinds retailers are facing, online sales are still expected to grow 11% this year.

While I’m talking about SORO, I’d like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Fiona Swerdlow and the Forrester Research team for putting together another great report. If there ever was a time when our industry could use benchmarking, it’s now when we are all navigating through unchartered waters.

One of SORO’s main findings reinforced research conducted last September, which found that retailers think the web is more resilient to a recession than other channels. In your opinion, why is this?

When you think about the different aspects of Internet shopping – how easy it is to search for the best deal, being able to shop without driving your car and using gas, the constant improvements and innovations retailers have made to the online shopping experience – it just makes sense that the web is more resilient to a recession.

You have been Shop.org’s executive director since 2001. In that time, what do you think has been the most exciting change in online retail?

It was certainly exciting in the few years after the dot-com bubble burst and online retail rose from the ashes, proving that it was real. However, I think we’re now in an even more exciting time. We’re seeing online retail at the epicenter of major transformations in retail and business overall. Online retail is behind the fundamental empowerment of consumers (what’s more empowering than publishing your own ratings and reviews of products?).

Another exciting change is that most retailers have begun to recognize that the Internet can contribute much more to their business than e-commerce sales, though they aren’t yet organized properly to take full advantage of these opportunities. For example, the deepest understanding of online advertising currently resides in the e-commerce department, but the biggest impact will be for corporate marketing, which is typically run out of a different department. I’ll be very interested to see how all of this plays out over the next decade.

About two years ago, Shop.org decided to get involved in public policy and lobbying. What should online retailers be monitoring carefully on Capitol Hill and government?

There are two issues that retailers should watch closely – online privacy and ICANN’s generic Top Level Domain proposal. In its recent guidelines for behavioral advertising, the FTC made an important exclusion for first-party marketers. However, it’s important to keep in mind that we have a new administration, a new FTC chairman and, now, single-party control of both houses of Congress. This is a recipe for change. ICANN’s plan to begin accepting applications for new generic top-level domains (e.g. .retail, .shopping, .retailbrandx, etc.) is being closely watched by anyone who wants to protect their brand. A few sentences on these issues don’t do them justice. The public policy area of the Shop.org blog is a great place to keep up with these issues.

As you know from previous posts, I must ask about the economy. Has the recession impacted Shop.org and how is the association compensating for it?

In-person networking and information-sharing is a staple of Shop.org. Many of our members’ travel budgets have been cut or frozen, which definitely causes some challenges in this area. In response, we’ve expanded our regional dinners and recently added three more to the calendar. We also have expanded our webinars and plan to hold at least 10 webinars this year. Members can listen to them live or check out past webinars. We crossed the 1,000 webinar listener mark last month, which was exciting.

And, we have cranked up the research. Members really need to check out the Research and Resources section of the website for the latest and greatest. You can get a copy of SORO, of course. But, there is also the Q1 flash survey, new consumer data on the impact of “green” in online retail and what consumers value in online retailers. If you’re looking for ways to get involved in Shop.org and take advantage of all the membership benefits, check out the “involved” section of the website.

Do you think it’s possible for retailers to make money on Facebook?

Facebook and other social networking sites can be a great place to deepen relationships with customers and give them opportunities to engage with your brand. For now, this seems like the biggest opportunity. Retailers would love to see social networking be as effective at driving online sales as something like search marketing. We’re not there yet, but online retailers are an innovative bunch—I wouldn’t be surprised to see this happen eventually.

You’re a runner. What songs on your iPod motivate you to run faster or get through a grueling work-out?

First of all, I’m a guy who runs (trudges is actually a better description), which is much different than a runner. As for my iPod, I always have it on shuffle—I listen to whatever comes on. I’ve posted a partial list of my trudging playlist and have added another hundred or so “cool” songs that Shop.org member So Young Park gave to me.

If you could take five people in the world to dinner, who would you invite?

• Dr. Martin Luther King –a visionary and inspiring leader.
• Dan Rooney, President of the Pittsburgh Steelers – an amazing leader who has brought so much joy to my life as a die-hard Steelers fan. He runs the team with integrity and a humility that is rarely seen in professional sports these days (I realize that I probably sound like an old geezer when I say that).
• William Shakespeare – to see if he agrees with the scholarly interpretations of his writing. Wouldn’t it be interesting if he said MacBeth having an Oedipus complex is complete hogwash?
• Laird Hamilton – this guy has surfed 60-foot waves. I would like to know what that is like. (If he brings his wife, Gabrielle Reece, does that count as one of the five?)
• My wife, Maxine. She’s more social than I am and would get the conversation going. Plus, I’d want to have someone to talk about the dinner with after it was over.

A random list. Follow up: where would you take them?

Ben’s Chili Bowl. Why? If you read the history on their website, you’ll see the important role Ben’s played in the 1968 riots that followed Dr. King’s assassination. Plus, it would pretty amusing to see Shakespeare eating one of their awesome chili dogs wearing Elizabethan-era clothing.

Most people would be surprised to know that…

I was a member of the Churchill High School rifle team. We actually had a rifle range in the basement of the school and we shot .22 rifles. Yes, I grew up in Western Pennsylvania.

Tell me about three things of which you’re most proud.

1. My wife and children
2. Being part of Shop.org’s growth over the past 10 years
3. The Ray M. Greenly Scholarship fund, which has raised nearly $1 million in memory of a great guy who passed away too young and is dearly missed.

Finish this sentence, “At the end of a crazy day, I…”
Check the surf reports at http://surfreport.corollasurfshop.com/ and http://www.surfshot.com/ and fantasize about planning a surfing vacation.

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