Looking for the fast track into the pages of Fast Company? Heath Row, the magazine's self-proclaimed "social capitalist," offers these tips:
Pitch humans. The editors don't care nearly as much about company news as they do about the people and processes driving the news. "We don't look at companies as companies,
but rather as collections of people," says Row. "Our first concern is the people behind the ideas, the interesting characters, the progressive leaders and creative types."
Offer up peers, not paragons. "A lot of magazines only tell stories from on high, as in 'this is what you need to know.' We're interested in starting a conversation, talking
with companies as they are uncovering new leadership, creativity and innovation principles," he adds.
Share processes. At FC, how a company arrives at a decision is more interesting than the outcome. "The question is, what is the motivation behind their work? What are they
learning as they do it? What kind of advice can they offer to other people? Every story needs to be a learning tool," he says. "End results in and of themselves are not
necessarily instructive."
Hitch your wagon to a theme. Note that FC tends to orbit around a collection of recurring themes. Among them: teamwork, customer service, learning, leadership,
philanthropy/public service and work-life balance.
Parlez-vous FC? The magazine and its readers share a distinct language - a vocabulary borne of the new economy. Read it, know it, speak it, love it.
Bookmark this. For an exhaustive run-down of FC staff, their contact preferences, passions, pet peeves and unadulterated opinions about face-to-face meetings, visit http://www.fastcompany.com/team/hrowpr.html.
To keep pace with readers' interests and concerns, Row embarks annually on a "Company of Friends Roadshow," in search of best practices and common crises. Check http://www.fastcompany.com/roadshow for his daily roadshow diaries, filed during an eight-week jaunt through British Columbia and
down the U.S. West Coast into Mexico.