Computer paper desk

Portfolio

I’ve worked on a lot of interesting content projects over the years and I’ve played many different roles. This portfolio is broken down into the five broad categories that best represent the work I’ve done.

Please contact me at mac@macslocum.com or visit my LinkedIn profile if you’d like to discuss a project.

Jump to:

Content management, web production, and strategy

I love a good spreadsheet and I’ve got a knack for organizing and running websites. I’ve also been part of more website redesigns and reboots than I can count. This section outlines the content management, web production, and strategy projects that left a big impression on me.

Citizens – HSBC Resource Center (Citizens)
This resource center was an essential source of information during Citizens’ acquisition and integration of select HSBC branches. I consulted on best practices during the development phase and managed the content production schedule and pipeline through the final integration.

O’Reilly Learning: On Our Radar (O’Reilly Media)
When O’Reilly wanted to add a curated block to its learning platform homepage, I was tasked with developing the block’s workflow. I collaborated with product, marketing, and editorial groups to launch it on an expedited timeline. Once live, I managed the content selection, writing, and scheduling of this block. It became a valuable promotional tool for the organization.

O’Reilly Radar (O’Reilly Media)
In 2019 O’Reilly decided to bring back its Radar thought leadership brand. I helped align the project with O’Reilly’s organizational goals and I also acted as the project manager and lead editor. I worked with a small team to develop the site, transfer archival material into a new content management system, and come out of the gate with a collection of launch content. My team was also responsible for the day-to-day running of this site.

O’Reilly Ideas (O’Reilly Media)
O’Reilly underwent a massive website redesign in 2015. I handled the online content strategy and content implementation for this project. After launch, my team ran the Ideas site. While on my watch, year-over-year traffic to O’Reilly’s online content increased 35% and we hit a 5% annual click-through rate from articles to the O’Reilly online learning platform. The Ideas site was replaced by O’Reilly Radar in 2019. An archived screenshot from Ideas is available here.

O’Reilly podcasts (O’Reilly Media)
I worked with my colleague Jenn Webb to develop a series of podcasts targeting specific technical communities. We built the podcast strategy and workflow from the ground up.

O’Reilly conference keynote highlights (O’Reilly Media)
In an effort to promote O’Reilly’s conferences, I developed a workflow that allowed us to publish curated keynote excerpts while events were in progress. This provided important marketing collateral, promoted the event series, and created entry points to the O’Reilly online learning platform. The workflow required significant collaboration with the organization’s video and technology teams. I also managed all of the curation and publishing of these keynotes. Examples:

O’Reilly livestream interviews from events (O’Reilly Media)
From 2012-2013 I produced and hosted livestream interviews from many of O’Reilly’s conferences. I worked with a small and exceptional team to pull off livestreaming during a time when the necessary bandwidth and technology were still being developed. (Note: These were live broadcasts so there is no archive.)

O’Reilly Tools of Change for Publishing (O’Reilly Media)
I managed O’Reilly’s Tools of Change for Publishing blog. This included writing, editing, recruiting contributors, and managing technical needs. The O’Reilly TOC blog is no longer active. An archived screenshot of the TOC blog is available here.

“The O’Reilly Radar Show” (O’Reilly Media)
In 2011-2012, I worked with a small team on a skunkworks project to create an O’Reilly Radar video show. I developed the content strategy for this project and I was the writer and host.

WGBH “Greater Boston” livestream (WGBH)
WGBH rolled out a nightly livestream of its “Greater Boston” news program in 2013. I was the link between the newsroom and the technology teams.

The Fodder Network
From 2000-2010 I built and ran a network of blogs called The Fodder Network. I ran every aspect of this small business. The Fodder Network is no longer active, but you can see select archives from the network’s flagship site.

“CEDIA Daily” (EH Publishing)
I developed and managed a workflow for “CEDIA Daily,” a print publication distributed during CEDIA’s annual conference.

Editing

I’m an editor at heart. I care about serving the audience and I have a deep appreciation for the craft of writing. I bring a combination of empathy, structure, and collaboration to every edit project. This section points to some of the major pieces I’ve edited.

“Get started using osquery for container security” (Uptycs)
I edited and produced this piece, which is adapted from a talk Ryan Mack delivered at the osquery@scale 2021 conference. Reworking existing material into new content is often a heavy lift. The effort was worth it in this case because of the quality of the source material and the topic’s importance to the organization.

“5 key areas for tech leaders to watch in 2020” (O’Reilly Media)
I was the lead editor and project manager for this extensive annual analysis of key data points from O’Reilly’s learning platform. This piece generated strong press coverage.

“AI adoption in the enterprise 2020” (O’Reilly Media)
I was the lead editor and project manager for O’Reilly’s 2020 AI adoption survey.

“6 trends framing the state of AI and ML” (O’Reilly Media)
I served as lead editor for this 2020 analysis of AI/ML usage on the O’Reilly online learning platform.

“What is Next Architecture?” (O’Reilly Media)
Roger Magoulas, the writer of this piece, identified a handful of seemingly divergent trends that hinted at a major shift in technical infrastructure. Acting as lead editor, I worked with Roger and our ghostwriter, Steve Swoyer, to develop this important analysis.

“How companies adopt and apply cloud native infrastructure” (O’Reilly Media)
I was involved in the survey development and editorial execution of this cloud native survey from 2019.

“Future of the firm” (O’Reilly Media)
This extensive piece came together incredibly fast. I was the lead editor on this project, which went from idea to published report in just a few weeks.

“Big Data Now 2011” (O’Reilly Media)
In 2010 and 2011, O’Reilly was all-in on big data. I collected the company’s best insights into this collection, which we distributed at the company’s data conferences.

“Best of TOC” (O’Reilly Media)
We knew we were going to have a print-on-demand machine at the 2009 Tools of Change for Publishing Conference, so I worked with a number of external thought leaders to curate this collection of publishing insights. We printed copies in the expo hall at the event.

“Impact of P2P and Free Distribution on Book Sales” (O’Reilly Media)
In 2009, book publishers were afraid digital piracy would undermine their revenue streams. I was the lead editor on this report, written by Brian O’Leary, that sought to examine those concerns with data and clear-eyed analysis.

Content marketing

My approach to content marketing is built on two things: providing value to the target persona and ensuring every piece of content is constructed with great intention. I’m fascinated by the challenge of blending editorial sensibilities with conversion events. Below you’ll find a selection of content marketing projects I’ve worked on.

Pillar page / 10x content (Uptycs)
I developed and produced “Osquery: What it is, how it works, and how to use it” as part of an SEO campaign. This project required keyword research, editorial direction, freelancer recruitment and management, and online/ebook production.

External bylines (Various)
I’ve collaborated with PR colleagues to develop material that runs on third-party sites. These pieces boost brand awareness and generate inbound links. I was an editor, producer, or manager on the following third-party projects:

Keyword articles (O’Reilly Media)
Using SEO tools and research, I developed a series of articles constructed to rank organically for certain search terms. The goal of this series was to create a reliable flow of inbound search traffic and an inventory of content that could promote O’Reilly’s products and services. I wrote some of these pieces and edited the others. Examples:

Sales enablement and nurture campaign articles (O’Reilly Media)
My team and I applied internal data to create a collection of “top resources” that were used for sales enablement and nurture campaigns. These pieces highlighted the most popular content on the O’Reilly online learning platform. Examples:

Interviews

I’ve interviewed hundreds of thought leaders, tech luminaries, and in-the-trenches practitioners. I believe research and pre-production are the keys to a good interview. The following are some of my favorite discussions.

“Kevin Systrom on why Instagram caught on” (O’Reilly Media)
I interviewed Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom in 2011, shortly before Instagram became a cultural phenomenon.

“WOOL’s Hugh Howey: His writing process and why he’s optimistic about technology” (O’Reilly Media)
I was thrilled to interview WOOL author Hugh Howey at O’Reilly’s’s Foo Camp. We discussed his book series (one of my favorites) and explored the future of publishing.

“Susan Fowler on why you should standardize your microservices” (O’Reilly Media)
I interviewed Susan Fowler about her microservices work at the O’Reilly Software Architecture Conference.

“Fernando Pérez on surprises from IPython’s evolution” (O’Reilly Media)
IPython creator Fernando Pérez discussed IPython’s evolution in this 2014 interview.

“Scout Brody on why security starts and ends with humans” (O’Reilly Media)
Scout Brody, Executive Director at Simply Secure, discussed the importance of the human perspective in security work.

“Ramez Naam on incrementalism in AI” (O’Reilly Media)
In this interview from 2014, author Ramez Naam explained why incrementalism, rather than a dramatic moment of sentience, will likely define our move into artificial intelligence (AI). Naam also weighed in on the Internet of Things (IoT) and he looked at the near-term prospects for batteries and solar power.

“Kevin Kelly on free vs freemium” (O’Reilly Media)
When you get a chance to interview Kevin Kelly, you interview Kevin Kelly.

“Julia Grace on the quid pro quo (or lack thereof) of location data” (O’Reilly Media)
In 2011, as we were just starting to understand how companies were tracking us through our phones, I interviewed Julia Grace about the issues and possibilities of location data.

“Tim O’Reilly on how spotting early technologies is like watching your kids grow up” (O’Reilly Media)
I interviewed Tim O’Reilly a number of times over the years. This discussion about the evolution of JavaScript, and the broader trends in technology, is one of my favorites.

“Tony Haile on why we need better online metrics” (O’Reilly Media)
Former Chartbeat CEO Tony Haile was way ahead of the curve on online engagement and analytics. He shared his perspective in this interview from O’Reilly’s Foo Camp.

“Nancy Duarte on ‘broken’ business presentations” (O’Reilly Media)
In her book Slide:ology, author Nancy Duarte showed that presentations can transcend their bad reputations. She shared some of her wisdom in this interview from Web 2.0 Expo.

“Tim Carmody on what publishers can learn from Netflix” (O’Reilly Media)
This discussion with Tim Carmody from 2011 made me look at the relationship between publishing and technology in new ways.

“Susan Sons on saving a key piece of the Internet” (O’Reilly Media)
Susan Sons, Senior Systems Analyst at the Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research at Indiana University, talked about her work to fix the Network Time Protocol (NTP), an essential part of the Internet’s infrastructure.

“Jeff Weiner on LinkedIn’s killer application” (O’Reilly Media)
LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner discussed the social network’s differentiators and its application of data in this 2010 interview.

“DJ Patil on what ‘data driven’ actually means” (O’Reilly Media)
In 2011 I spoke with DJ Patil about the skills and applications of the then-nascent data science field.

“Jonah Peretti on the science of viral media” (O’Reilly Media)
In this 2010 interview with BuzzFeed founder Jonah Peretti you can see how BuzzFeed was able to shape, and capitalize on, shifts in online engagement.

“Dennis Crowley on augmented reality” (O’Reilly Media)
In this 2011 interview with Foursquare founder Dennis Crowley he offered a vision for how augmented reality could catch on.

“Nadav Aharony on the social MRI” (O’Reilly Media)
An MIT study that aggregated and examined a continuous stream of smartphone data evolved into an open source toolkit. Dr. Nadav Aharony discusses his “social MRI” project and its potential applications in this 2012 interview.

“John Resig on why he developed jQuery” (O’Reilly Media)
jQuery creator John Resig discussed his motivation for creating the popular JavaScript library and why documentation was the key to it catching on.

Writing

I’ve written for websites, magazines, and newspapers. I’ve worked with many styles and forms: reporting, commentary, analysis, ghostwriting, Q&As, blog posts, ebooks, and newsletters. The following pieces reflect the different types of writing I’ve done over the last 10 years.

“SIEM optimization: How to cut costs without sacrificing endpoint security observability” (Uptycs)
I wrote and produced this security ebook. It focuses on the costs of security information and event management (SIEM) systems and how Uptycs, a security analytics platform, can help manage those expenses.

“10 Ways to Make Your Peer Code Reviews More Effective” and “Common Code Review Pitfalls for Managers and How to Deal with Them” (Revelry Labs)
I worked with the folks at Revelry Labs to develop two content marketing pieces that supported the release of a new software product. I interviewed their internal expert and was the ghostwriter for this series.

“5 reasons why ‘The Rewatchables’ podcast works” (Personal)
I’m fascinated by the mechanics of content development and I enjoy deconstructing content projects to better understand how they work and why they work. I find that this process is engaging for me personally and quite useful in my content strategy life.

“Open-ended publishing” (O’Reilly Media)
This thought piece, written in 2010 while I was immersed in the digital disruption of publishing, explores these questions: What if all content was on a continuum? What if there’s no end? What if there’s no finality anymore?

“Stories over spreadsheets” (O’Reilly Media)
After conducting a fascinating interview with Kris Hammond about narrative-driven data analysis, I was inspired to explore the possibilities further in this piece.

“Trapping content on the iPad won’t work, even if it’s pretty” (O’Reilly Media)
Developers and organizations eventually figured out the best approaches to mobile and tablet applications, but this piece, written in the early days of the iPad, was a critical analysis of Wired’s first iPad app.

“Data science democratized” (O’Reilly Media)
O’Reilly published its seminal piece “What is data science” in June 2010. A month later, after thinking a lot about the applications of data science, I wrote this piece exploring the possibilities of data science in the hands of non-programmers.

“Why HTML5 is worth your time” (O’Reilly Media)
This was a fun interview from 2010 with Eric Meyer where we discussed the potential applications of the then-nascent HTML5.

“Anil Dash on why blogging still matters” (O’Reilly Media)
Anil Dash is a well known and well regarded technologist. He’s also an exceptional blogger. After interviewing him at Web 2.0 Expo I was inspired to write this piece about the inherent value of the blog.

“Curiosity turned loose on GitHub data” (O’Reilly Media)
I wrote up this piece following an interview with Ilya Grigorik at Strata Conference + Hadoop World 2012. He had built a fascinating open-source tracking project in his spare time. I’m fascinated by stories like this, where a person pursues something just because they want it to exist.

“When was the last time you mined your site’s search data?” (O’Reilly Media)
Most people think site search is that little box on every website that tends to spit out lackluster results. Lou Rosenfeld realized site search was a goldmine for understanding audience intentions.

“What lit mag McSweeney’s could teach news orgs about the iPhone” (Nieman Lab)
Publishers were slow to warm up to in-app subscriptions when Apple first released this functionality in 2009. I looked at how McSweeney’s was experimenting with the subscription model and what it might mean for other publishers.

“How a shift in perspective salvaged Boston.com’s local search project” (Nieman Lab)
This piece looked at how Boston.com took a local search engine that underperformed and recast it as a search platform.

“Philadelphia tech site tries to put its news startup theories into practice” (Nieman Lab)
In 2009, media was not a hot destination for recent grads. Yet, the young journalists behind Technically Philly took their shot. Their enthusiasm was a welcome alternative during a tough time for media folks.

“Hope you’re “intrigued” by this post: Moods in the spotlight on NBC Local” (Nieman Lab)
This piece looked at an odd bit of engagement functionality that was released on a number NBC’s local sites. It’s a snapshot from an awkward time in media’s digital maturation.

“Sometimes there’s a gap between the keyword you think you’re ranking for and the keyword you’re actually ranking for. And that’s okay.” (Personal)
As I was moving deeper into search engine optimization I thought it would be helpful to share an important lesson I learned about keyword flexibility.