SOMETIMES A PERSON can have a profound impact on the nightlife scene without quite reaching Player status. Here is a list of up-and-comers that you’ll be hearing from in the coming years.

Andrea Jean, Vidal Sassoon manager

It’s difficult to decide which is more impressive; her perfectly arrayed, vintage-inspired innate sense of style, or the fact that she manages the top Vidal Sassoon, and now Studio salon in the country. You decide . . .

Camilo Alvarez and Alexandra Cherubini, Samson Projects

The past year has been jam-packed with art-world action for the curators and founders of Samson Projects. As part of the new gallery spaces at 450 Harrison Avenue, in the South End, they have found a niche as the bridge between up-and-coming Boston and New York artists. And they throw a mean party (always a plus in our book).

Alvan Long, New Alliance Studios

At the frontline of Boston’s battle for underground-art-and-music recognition stands this bespectacled artist and founder of New Alliance Studios.

Honah Lee Milne

Milne has taken Boston’s rock scene by storm in the past two years. When this self-promoting promoter isn’t featured in the pages of the Calendar, she’s making her nightly rounds at the rock clubs. And to think that, once upon a time she was all ours as this magazine’s house stylist. This year, she styled Piebald’s "I Haven’t Tried It" video. She’s also the bouncing ball of energy behind Boston’s Ladies’ Night, that biannual packed house of female artists, designers, and entrepreneurs.

Louie DiBicarri, a/k/a Iron Chef Louie

Okay, so maybe he didn’t invent the "Iron Chef" name, but DiBicarri has invented a new dynamic in dining events. His Iron Chef Louie happenings are some of the hottest, biggest-drawing parties in all of Boston.

Aliza Shapiro, Truth Serum Productions

Our list doesn’t have a section for drag king/queer advocate/humanitarian/fashion designer/promoter/cabaret hosts. Shapiro (and her alter ego, Heywood Wakefield) has been laying the ground- work for LGBT open-mindedness and entertainment in Boston. Her booming line of Faggie Ties (vintage ties bearing crass and humorous labels) has been seen hanging from some of the most influential necks in town.

Shaun O’Connor, Giuliano and G20

O’Connor, long one of the most creative stylists in the city, is one of the driving forces behind Giuliano Day Spa’s transformation into the chic G2O. He is also a man about town who has been known to step behind DJ decks and take over a room.

Carl Lavin, Music promoter

He’s most commonly known as the nicest, most honest guy on your side in Boston, but more professionally as one of our favorite indie-rock bookers/promoters. Remember when Great Scott was a BU sports bar? Lavin made quick work of that sorry scene, helping to draw the crowd that turned the bar into the city’s newest haven for up-and-coming local music.

Ian Just, Sorriso and Les Zygomates

Whether you’re craving French or Italian, this king of the Leather District (whose father is novelist Ward Just) can scratch that itch.

Marc Orfaly, Pigalle

Orfaly is a chef’s chef, and the reason why Pigalle is one of the best restaurants in the entire Northeast. We are torn between wanting him to open another restaurant, and wanting him always behind the stove when we visit Pigalle.

Betty Ruiz, Stil

We can count on one hand the number of local stylists who have an innate vision that transcends trend into the fluidity of the modern fashion world. Ruiz, the owner of Newbury Street’s only Scandinavian fashion house, Stil, is one.

Pino Maffeo, Restaurant L

After serving as right-hand man to star New York chef Patricia Yeo, Maffeo has finally returned home to Boston, where he uses an alchemist’s flair to create true culinary magic in the restaurant at Louis Boston.

Tony Susi, Sage

Susi (who happens to be Maffeo’s cousin) has created national buzz with his intimate North End gem, Sage. Rumor has it that we’ll be hearing more from this talented chef in the coming months.

Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione, Dresden Dolls

These impossibly dramatic — and impossibly photogenic — performance musicians could be the next big thing from Boston. They aren’t fresh news in these parts, but they are breaking nationally.

Tony Maws, Craigie Street Bistrot

While his restaurant may be hidden away in a residential neighborhood outside Harvard Square, Maws’s recent selection as one of Food & Wine’s "10 Best New Chefs of 2005" ensures that foodies will continue to find their way to his door.

Mary Noble King, Marc Jacobs manager

King is as hip and connected as you’d expect a Marc Jacobs duchess to be, and as ethereal and sweet as you’d hope she’d be.

Doug Palardy, Motley

For those of us who refuse to face adulthood, insisting instead on chic rebellion, Motley is our dream shop. The merchandise reflects Palardy’s personality: travel monkey, style vixen, Champagne junkie, circus freak, teddy bear.

Joanne Chang, Flour Bakery & Café

Chang is a pastry wizard, but her popular South End spot now offers full meals. This photogenic, sweet-as-marzipan chef has a very bright future.

Shendi Sage and Elizabeth Miranda, ‘Hot and Heavy Thursdays’ promoters

Having one regular night as club promoters might not sound like a big deal. But when you consider that "Hot and Heavy Thursdays" at Avalon is one of the club’s biggest draws (and has been since its inception almost a year ago), and that it brings diverse communities together in ways that Boston rarely sees, you know that Shendi Sage and Elizabeth Miranda (the women behind Shen and Liz Present) are doing something huge in Boston nightlife.

Mark Kates, Fenway Recordings

Fenway is a young label, but it is a hot one. With bands like Read Yellow, Mission of Burma, Consonant, and the Love Scene (as well as the annual Hot Stove, Cool Music project), Kates has been building a buzz countrywide. Look for great things from this label.