After working more than 30 years for others, I’m venturing out on my own with a new media and consulting business—Kevin Jost Media & Consulting, LLC—focusing primarily as an incubator for new, digital media, the primary goal of which is sustainability. Valuable and free content for the industry and consumer paid for by low-cost sponsoring, advertising, and partnering—all beautifully designed.
My startup’s first product, Futurride.com, launched in September. It focuses on new technologies and concepts aimed at making mobility more sustainable. The goal is to combine coverage of vehicle autonomy, connectivity, electrification, and mobility service technology with supporting infrastructure concepts that make transportation ecosystems safer, cleaner, and more socially equitable.
The primary initial audience will be the business-to-business community, but the goal is to bring the industry and consumers together, connecting subject-matter experts with consumers who need and crave more information on future mobility technology—providing a better dialogue between the two constituents than currently available. We want to educate the industry at a high level but also make technical concepts understandable and relatable to the general public.
As the Editorial Director and Founder/CEO of Futurride, I’m responsible for all aspects of the startup, including website design, development, and sourcing backend systems for content management, search-engine optimization, outbound and inbound marketing, audience development, and e-newsletters.
What types of stories, trends, or issues are on your radar now?
I’m looking for good leads and stories on technologies for all forms of mobility—in air, sea, land, and space—that move the ball forward on sustainability, whether that be making transportation safer, cleaner, or smarter, with an eye on improving mobility equity and reducing its negative social impacts.
What story or stories are you most proud of?
I like the tech stories that appeal to the broadest possible audience and that help highlight and recognize the top innovators in the industry. So I’d say I’m most proud of the big roundup pieces like the annual end-of-year blockbuster articles for what we called the “ACES Awards” we put together at Autonomous Vehicle Technology. That very large section each year recognized the most innovative technologies, products, and services of the year from companies in the areas of vehicle autonomy, connectivity, electrification, and mobility services.
It awarded production and prototype innovations and the work or results of top partnerships, collaborations, and consortia. It showcased the importance of partnering among incumbent original equipment makers and suppliers as well as tech companies and startups because not even the largest and most capable of companies can address all of the challenges of future mobility.
What elements or characteristics do you look for in a story?
- Why the story matters to the company and should matter to the customer or consumer.
- Access to high-level execs who have an understanding of the big picture but also a good working knowledge of technology.
- High-quality and compelling visuals.
How long have you been in journalism and how did you get started?
I’ve been in the media business for almost 30 years, starting at SAE International (previously known as the Society of Automotive Engineers) as an entry-level editor after about two and a half years as a project and product engineer at Lear Siegler Seating Inc. (now Lear Corp.) in the seat-development lab in the then-new tech center in Southfield, MI.
In my 26 years at SAE, I eventually became Editor of SAE Off-Highway Engineering, then Editor of SAE’s flagship magazine Automotive Engineering International, and then Editorial Director for SAE’s entire magazine portfolio. I led the first-to-web magazine publishing philosophy in the early 2000s that some B-to-B media businesses are now finally beginning to embrace. While at SAE, I also led the books publishing program, started the e-books initiative, and then took on leadership of content partnerships, video, and the publishing of SAE technical papers and standards.
I left SAE in 2017 to create BNP Media’s startup media brand Autonomous Vehicle Technology.
Finish this sentence: If I am not reporting, I am …
…searching for, buying (and rarely selling), looking for parts, and trying to maintain my classic car collection…a hobby my best friend affectionately calls “Chasing Classic Clunkers,” a play on the much higher-level TV story of Wayne Carini on Chasing Classic Cars. I love saving well-preserved, rusty, and/or beat-up design classics of any kind, whether that be cars, buildings, or other objects.
What advice do you have for PR people that want to pitch you?
Be clear up front on the value of the news, why it matters, and how it fits into the big picture.
Any pet peeves with PR people?
Sending a press release and immediately following up (mostly by phone) to ask if I received it. Can you imagine if everyone did that? I’d never be able to get off the phone and do my main tasks of running a new business and creating content.
You can follow or connect with Kevin Jost (pronounced JOE-st, rhymes with post) at LinkedIn or via email at [email protected].
To read the latest on sustainable mobility technology, visit Futurride and connect with the brand through:
And you can subscribe to Futurride at https://bit.ly/2FtvyNL.
