My Next…
The rumors Are True
Medium posts about switching jobs have apparently become the media industry thing-de-jour, so here goes: After four amazing years, today is to be my last day at Ad Age.
[This is probably the most self-indulgent thing I’ve ever written (a noteworthy feat, considering my knack for self-indulgence), so I thank you for giving enough shits to click on this and maybe even read a little bit but I forgive you if you stop reading here. I probably would.]
I joined Ad Age thinking I knew a lot more than I really did. Thankfully, I’ve learned a good deal since then, and almost everything I have come to understand about how this nebulous and constantly evolving business works, I owe to the absolutely amazing crew at Ad Age, specifically, the tutelage and mentorship of the editors here. I am grateful beyond words.
I can’t speak highly enough of the people I’ve had the pleasure of working with and learning from on both the editorial and business side, and my biggest regret in leaving is that it means severing the mentorship and unending education I’ve enjoyed.
Making all this quite the bittersweet moment.
So, why am I leaving?
In a word? Audience.
In another word? Opportunity.
A few months back, these two guys, let’s call them Marc and Brandon, approached me to tell me about this business they’ve built, wherein they’ve put together a series of events for which they bring together some brilliant marketers to share insight into how they are pushing their respective companies forward, exploring and experimenting with emerging media and new technologies.
Over the course of three years, these events — Brand Innovators Summits — brought together the execs at major brands running Digital, Social, Mobile, Media, Integrated Marketing, Innovation, Startup Collaborations, etc. A very focused group of individuals overseeing the evolution of their organizations — and how those orgs market themselves — who have over the last three years, not only grown in size, but grown into a community.
So Marc and Brandon came to me with a simple proposition. “We have an audience, a community. They already come to our events to learn from and see each other, exchange stories, good and bad. We want to give them more, and we want you to do it.”
They were ready to make the leap from conference business to media company, a news outlet, and asked me to lead that charge. How could I turn that down?
I’ve spent the last four years as the editor of live (read: conferences) content for Ad Age, and in my spare time, covering startups, running Brand H@cks, and opining on various goings on in tech sector.
But I never went to “J-School,” and I’m not an expert in the AP Style Guide, nor do I sleep with a worn copy of Strunk and White under my pillow. I’m not even entirely sure what constitutes “journalism” these days.
But I do know what makes for valuable insight and intelligence and I am confident in my ability to convey said information. And that’s really at the heart of what I aim to do and build out.
So as of June 9th, I’ll be taking on the role of editor and chief content officer at Brand Innovators, where I’ll be building out a newsroom focused on bringing this value to this same community, with two major objectives:
- Highlight the best, most innovative, creative, and otherwise notable things these brands are doing, and (arguably, more importantly), the people behind them.
- Provide the intelligence that these marketers need and that will inform #1, i.e. innovation and cutting edge work, by exploring the forefront of emerging media and technologies, startups, and behaviors, through the lens of what’s relevant to — and what it it means for — brands and the smart, senior, marketers in the trenches, making shit happen.
I am a news utilitarian. To broad consumer facing news outlets & publishers, distraction and entertainment certainly qualify as legitimate extension of ‘utility.’
But within the realm of business news and insight, the value of content is judged not by its ability to entertain, but it’s ability to inform future action and decision making. And with a focused, high level audience — the kind that Brand Innovators has accrued — that opportunity is ripe.
I have lots of plans and it will take some time to bring them to life. But you can expect the traditional slate of original reporting, a big focus on data driven-editorial partnership, research and trends, and analysis of industry happenings that tap into the Brand Innovators network and really blur the lines between audience and creator (a Peer-to-Peer, or P2P media product if you will).
So,
if you can haz good writings skillz and a decent grasp on the current state of marketing and technology, want to get in front of some of the smartest people in the ad biz, and are so inclined to put that to use in our newsroom (virtual-going-on-physical), tweet me, email me, snap me, find me on the street — but definitely don’t ping me, or worse yet, call me.
David.Teicher@outlook.com (Yes, outlook dot com) and Twitter are undoubtedly the best way to reach me.
In any case, I am THRILLED and EXCITED for what is sure to be an industry-disrupting endeavor.
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<) )╯THRILLED / \
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<) )> DISRUPTION / \
