>> THE LATEST
On ‘SWMS 2025’… and Thank You
Marker Collective Bets on Software
Cheat Sheet: Leadership Podcasts
Cheat Sheet: ‘Predictions 2025’ From Substack Newsletters and Podcasts
Cheat Sheet: Predictions 2025
Cheat Sheet: Creator Targets
Cheat Sheet: Luxury Gift Guides
Cheat Sheet: Design Targets
Cheat Sheet: Design Podcasts
SWMS Q&A: John Kell, Freelance Writer for Fortune, Fast Company, Business Insider
SWMS Q&A: Brendan Vaughan, Editor-in-Chief, Fast Company
SWMS Q&A: Jon Fortt, CNBC
Q&A: Jim Aley, Deputy Editor, Bloomberg Businessweek
>> STRATEGIES
Bloomberg Is Missing An Ingredient. Fortune Has It. Tech PR Needs It, Too.
On ‘SWMS 2025’… and Thank You
Ron Miller’s Next Act: Boldstart Ventures
Cheat Sheet: Targets Who Cover AI-Powered Search
Cheat Sheet: NYC-based Telecom Targets
Updated Cheat Sheet: Quantum Computing Targets
YOUR ACCOUNT
FRIDGE NOTES
Congress to Investigate the Omnicom-IPG Deal
Well, for now it’s Jim Jordan… but such news illustrates the kind of world we seem to be headed for. Adweek has the details, subscription required.
SWMS Predictions for 2025
No “predictions” post will appear on this site. That said, quite a number of subscribers have asked for a Zoom/MS Teams presentation on what 2025 will bring. A conversation is precisely the right tool for the job. After the election — and with AI transforming publishing and life — “2025” is best discussed among peers, not predicted. So if you’d like to have a confidential group exchange on what stands to unfold, and why, and how comms pros can come out on top in spite of it all, drop a line and we shall schedule something.
Talk About Confidentiality…
According to Adweek, Omnicom CEO John Wren and IPG CEO Philippe Krakowsky were in merger talks for eleven and a half months before the transaction was announced this week. Amazing that it didn’t leak.
Introducing ‘SWMS Sound Thinking’
Should PR pros stop visiting X, with all its lies and hate? It’s only going to get worse. Or are tidbits from targets too important to walk away from? Click here to watch tech edit vet David Strom and I disagree (at high speed) about this, as one compelling visual after another pops up on your screen. In 2025, SWMS will officially launch “SWMS Sound Thinking,” designed to be “argumentative insight in six minutes or less.” Each segment will explore a timely and controversial topic of interest to tech comms pros. This prototype runs 5:25. Hope you enjoy it — feedback vital and welcome! –Sam
Business Insider Reporters Starting to Go on Camera
New EIC Jamie Heller has asked her reporters to start going on camera — for the BI TikTok channel — to explain the big, deep-divey story they just published. Other publications do this — especially archival Fortune. BI is now on that too. Game on.
The ‘AI Fantasy Draft’ From Eric Newcomer
At this time last year, Eric Newcomer and his two podcast co-hosts — Max Child and James Wilsterman — each formed an “AI startup fantasy team” and picked five AI startups to seed their rosters. We’re now in year 2 and it’s time to draft again. The podcasters wonder… which startups do they dump? Which do they add? The player whose startups accumulate the most total value by Nov. 1, 2028 is the winner, so there’s plenty of time to make adjustments. Here’s a link to the AI fantasy team podcast — you may need a password. Not sure.