2/21 Tech Currents Event

Thursday Businesswire hosted an event at the Marriott Tysons Corner where local tech media talked about the kind of things they want to hear about, how to pitch them, etc. IMO the biggest benefit of these events is interacting with these folks face-to-face as opposed to the panel discussion. But each person shared interesting perspectives:

Melissa Frederick, Washington Examimer — Strategic got to know her when she was with Space News. Writing now for a general audience, she’s looking for stories with impact on everyday lives, “quirky” stuff, and if you can connect a trend to sister markets in Baltimore or San Francisco all the better. These are 350 word stories, so be clear and have your speakers available.

Roger Hughlett, Washington Business Journal — I got to know Roger when he was tech reporter for the Baltimore Business Journal, Roger wrote some great early stories about Advertising.com even before that was the company name. Now he’s assistant managing editor for Wash Journal, and encouraged us to make sure our trends are real,  never burn reporters, remember he wants to report on people inside companies, and don’t pitch him directly, pitch his new tech reporter Darlene Darcy. Roger easily won the “best analogy” contest of the discussion  – explaining how a series of business transactions can eventually become a feature story in the Journal, he compared it to individual strings eventually combining to form a rope of a story.

Paul Sherman, Potomac Tech Wire — reminded everyone PTW wants to report on the business of tech, not tech itself. Exec appointments are contracts with a $$ figure is what PTW wants. He reminded the audience to put contract size in context – a $2M deal that makes or breaks a startup is more newsworthy than a $20M deal from a systems integrator. Friday is the easiest day to get mentioned, they are often light on material and according to Paul many subscribers read the Friday email on Monday AM.

Rob Pegoraro, Washington Post — Rob is a consumer tech reporter, so don’t pitch him business or enterprise stories. But he does have a need for content, writing a weekly column, reviews and analysis, a Q&A on Sunday and a blog. So in our case, if we have a plausible b2b2c story, give it a try. Rob also gave some useful insight into beats shifting at the Post — Kim Hart is moving away from telecom, and Cecelia Kang is taking that beat.

Strategy and Cabernet at 2941

When I was on the corporate side doing more traveling and attending various tradeshows, it was easier to combine work and wine. There is less opportunity to do that on the agency side, but last night they came together. Marc Hausman (aka The Strategic Guy) and I met with our client Dev Ganesan, COO of Aptara. Aptara is a leading business process outsourcing (BPO) company focused on the publishing and eLearning industries. The company just recently opened a new office in Australia:

BPO momentum gaining pace in Australia

Dev has a long history of successfully managing technology companies, including Intelliworks, TRADOS and Advanced Communications Systems. He serves on the boards of several DC and Silicon Valley based firms.  Dev was recently returned from India, and we met at 2941 in Falls Church to talk PR strategy. Since I obviously can’t share details about that conversation, I’ll tell you about the excellent wine we enjoyed. 

Last time we had been there Dev picked out an excellent Pinot Noir, so this time we went Cabernet — maybe because it was so cold. The sommelier recommended something far off the beaten path – a cab from Sardinia. None of us had ever tried one. It was a:

Marchese di Villamarina, 2000, Estate bottled

It was excellent. As advertised, it was very Bordeaux-like in texture and taste, and like many Bordeaux relatively low in alcohol at 12%.  Tasty, dry, not heavy or overpowering like some California cabs. Probably retails around $40 based on the 2941 cost.

Many Sicilian wines have improved greatly in the past decade or so, and maybe this is an indication Sardinia is a good place to look now as well. I highly recommend next time you’re tired of the usual suspect cabs.