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Profile: Michael Calore, Wired

SWMS contributor Rhiannon Pacheco writes: We had the chance to sit down with Michael Calore, senior editor overseeing Wired’s consumer products coverage in print and on the web.

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Chris Preimesberger’s Next Act: ZDNet

Few B2B journalists are more respected than Chris Preimesberger. After more than 15 years at eWeek, Chris now contributes to ZDNet, writing for Larry Dignan, who hired Chris into eWeek all those years ago.

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Profile: Andy Patrizio, IT Freelancer

Andy Patrizio has been a tech freelancer for more than a decade. You may know Andy from Network World but he also writes for Business Insider and others. He’s technical, but strives to write simply because he knows his readers may not be. Andy depends on PR to contribute its share of story ideas. For you, Andy has this advice.

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Two Questions: Kia Kokalitcheva, Axios

SWMS contributor Rhiannon Pacheco writes: “Growing up in the heart of Silicon Valley, Kia Kokalitcheva grew up discussing tech over the dinner table with her engineer father — it was inevitable that she’d end up working in tech. As VC and tech reporter at Axios, and in her former work at Fortune and VentureBeat, she’s had access to the tech scene’s who’s who.”

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‘Genius Makers’ Reveals Priorities of Author Cade Metz

You may think of Cade Metz as a good writer, but he’s also a voracious reader — which in turn makes him a better writer. When Cade arrived at the idea of Genius Makers — about “the mavericks who brought AI to Google, Facebook and the world” — he set out to write “a nonfiction book about the AI arena, but to have it read like a novel.”

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Two Questions: Mark Gurman, Bloomberg

SWMS contributor Rhiannon Pacheco writes: We connected with Bloomberg consumer tech reporter Mark Gurman to explore what it would take for him to cover a less well-established company than Apple, and why he’s excited to explore (and cover) the technology that will follow the smartphone.

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Two Questions: Cade Metz, NYT

Cade Metz is consistent. We interviewed him in 2008, 2012 and 2015. Each time he has carried the same message: though he reports on tech, it’s always about the people. This week we checked in with Cade to discuss Genius Makers, his new book about “the mavericks who brought AI to Google, Facebook and the world.” Again with the people!

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FRIDGE NOTES

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

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.

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