Profile: Ina Fried, Axios
July 20, 2020
5:06 pm
Axios newsletter author Ina Fried discusses her views of virtual events large and small, and the single most important thing PR pros should do when preparing to pitch.
>> Influencers & Profiles
Profile: Mike Vizard, IT Freelancer
July 17, 2020
6:30 pm
Veteran IT freelancer Mike Vizard discusses his views of virtual events, whether he covers enterprise startups, and shares how he thinks of “news” these days. Interview was conducted July 2020.
How to Pitch Contributions to Fast Company’s ‘Work Life’
June 1, 2020
8:21 pm
If it wasn’t before, Fast Company’s Work Life section became perfectly positioned when legions of readers began working where they lived and living where they worked. “I will say what our editor-in-chief, Stephanie Mehta, has said about Work Life, which is, it’s table stakes for us,” says deputy editor Kathleen (Kate) Davis.
Constellation Research’s Post-Pandemic Playbooks
April 9, 2020
5:39 pm
“Pitch the reporters but study the analysts” has been our mantra for a while now. In that spirit, we recently checked in with Constellation Research founder R “Ray” Wang, who has been busy presenting to clients — and listening to them, too.
Profile: Nicholas Carlson, Business Insider
March 29, 2020
3:09 pm
Imagine overseeing 350 reporters at a time like this. Business Insider global EIC Nicholas Carlson doesn’t have to imagine it because he does it every day. In a phone interview conducted Mar. 25, Nicholas (who goes by Nic) shared details galore on how BI is operating — and it’s pretty darn well given the circumstances.
Profile: Alex Wilhelm, TechCrunch
December 18, 2019
4:32 pm
Alex Wilhelm is back at TechCrunch. Four years away have changed him. “I’m in different physical shape these days,” he says from his WFH studio in Rhode Island. “I’m a lot thinner. I don’t drink anymore. I’m a less aggressive, kinder person than I was. And I know a lot more.”
Profile: Sean Michael Kerner, freelancer
July 15, 2019
10:52 pm
Sean Michael Kerner is a B2B tech reporter, and according to his LinkedIn profile, is an “Internet consultant, a strategy and developer/writer and sometimes entrepreneur.” While Sean no longer writes for eWeek, he recently picked up freelance work at Business Insider and still writes for Enterprise Networking Planet, eSecurity Planet, ServerWatch and ITPro Today.
Profile: David Pogue, NYT, CBS
March 23, 2019
3:43 pm
David Pogue is tech media’s Sgt. Pepper: the act we’ve known for all these years and guaranteed to raise a smile. After a bout of obscurity at Yahoo Tech, David is back with new columns at the New York Times and New York Magazine, increased presence on CBS Sunday Morning and a forthcoming page-turner of a book.
Profile: Brian Krebs
February 18, 2019
8:37 pm
Security researcher Brian Krebs this month published an analysis that only he could create. It’s an exhaustive explainer on recent DNS hijacking attacks, purportedly conducted by Iranian hackers. How does a tech PR pro get the attention of this man? We asked around. Below is a compendium of what we heard back, both on and off the record.
Profile: Jeremy Owens, Marketwatch
June 13, 2018
4:44 pm
Sometimes overlooked in the galaxy of Dow Jones edit properties is Marketwatch, and it shouldn’t be. The 21-year-old title employs roughly 50 journalists focused on markets and companies. The tech beat is covered by three reporters and a veteran columnist under the direction of technology editor Jeremy Owens.
YOUR ACCOUNT
FRIDGE NOTES
‘Bloomberg Tech’ Now Open for Registration
January 6, 2025
Registration is now open for the ‘Bloomberg Tech’ F2F event, being held Jun. 4-5 in San Francisco. With the current early-bird discount, a ticket runs $1,500. There is no better way to build relationships with Bloomberg’s notoriously elusive tech reporters.
Congress to Investigate the Omnicom-IPG Deal
December 20, 2024
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
December 10, 2024
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…
December 10, 2024
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’
November 22, 2024
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
November 19, 2024
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.