Kevin Maney

Acclaimed Author and Award-Winning Technology Journalist

BIG IDEAS

• Technology Trends and Developments: What to Watch
  Kevin masterfully lays out a landscape of emerging technology trends in a way that is smart, sophisticated, funny, and understandable, without getting into techno-language. He discusses a range of products and services, with a particular focus on those that impact consumers (such as computing, electronics, and communications devices). Kevin carefully considers each audience’s specific interests to provide both a historical perspective and a big-picture context for the issues they face.
• The Fidelity Swap: What it Means for Business and Society
  Kevin’s most recent research revolves around a concept called the Fidelity Swap. At its most basic level, the concept describes the way consumers of technology and media constantly make trade-offs between "fidelity" and "convenience." It helps explain a range of business trends, including why Barbra Streisand can sell out a London theater at $500 a ticket but can't sell many $13 CDs, why video isn't taking off on iPods, and why IBM finds that long-distance meetings are more effective when they take place in Second Life vs. a conference call. Through rich examples, Kevin describes the Fidelity Swap and its affect on business and society.

SNAPSHOT BIO

Kevin Maney is a contributing editor at Condé Nast’s newest publication, Portfolio and Portfolio.com. His primary work focuses on technology, and he is responsible for covering the industry's leading characters, its game-changing emerging technology, and its big ideas. He has an award-winning reputation as an industry insider; he has been scanning the technology scene as it happens—every day—for more than 20 years, in a relentless pursuit to identify and follow the trends that matter.

Before joining Condé Nast Portfolio, Kevin was a senior technology writer and columnist for USA Today, but his expertise is not limited to the technology sector. He is well-versed on management and leadership issues and how great companies get built. He wrote The Maverick and His Machine: Thomas Watson Sr. and the Creation of IBM. Named one of BusinessWeek’s 10 best books in 2003, the chronicle follows and analyzes how Watson built IBM from its inception in 1914 to 1956. Kevin also wrote the bestselling Megamedia Shakehout: The Inside Story of the Leaders and the Losers In the Exploding Communications Industry, which tracks the revolution in communications and its technologies.

A Closer Look at Kevin

FOCUS AREAS
What's on Kevin's current research agenda?

Kevin’s primary work revolves around writing about technology for Conde Nast’s newest publication, Portfolio and Portfolio.com. His mission is to understand and write about the industry's leading characters, its game-changing emerging technology, and its big ideas. Kevin finds watching technology this way gives him a broad, realistic view of what's coming and what it will mean.

His most recent research focus area revolves around a concept called the Fidelity Swap. At its most basic level, the concept is about the way consumers of technology and media constantly make trade-offs between "fidelity" and "convenience." It helps explain a range of business trends, including why Barbra Streisand can sell out a London theater at $500 a ticket but can't sell many $13 CDs, why video isn't taking off on iPods, and why IBM finds that long-distance meetings are more effective when they take place in Second Life vs. a conference call.

ENGAGEMENTS
How have other organizations utilized Kevin's expertise, and what's ahead on his schedule?

A witty presenter with a full storehouse of knowledge, stories and insights, Kevin thrives in roles that require him to engage with C-level executives, synthesize key learnings, or infuse flair and energy to the sometimes-too-predictable conference arena. Kevin stands out as a presenter who is able to lay out a landscape of emerging technology trends in a way that is smart, sophisticated, funny and understandable, without getting into techno-language. In recent months, three very different groups found that kind of presentation to be valuable. One audience was 300 administrators and teachers from the Fairfax County, Va., school district. Another was the sales and marketing arm of software company TeamQuest. Yet a different type of audience was made up of about 50 investment bankers at a conference put on by Headwaters Merchant Bank.

In addition to being a synthesizer of technology’s potential impact, Kevin’s is a seasoned on-stage interviewer. Over the past 18 months, he has interviewed a number of high-profile leaders in front of audiences at business schools. The leaders include Xerox CEO Anne Mulcahy, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and actor and entrepreneur Morgan Freeman.

SPHERE OF INFLUENCE
Who shapes Kevin's thinking and inspires his work?

• In high school, Kevin discovered Russell Baker, then The New York Times' humor columnist. He was inspired by his likeable, understated style, and has been trying to write that way ever since.
• Kevin greatly respects Jim Collins for his ability to take a mountain of data and find a simple human truth.
• He aspires to be Dick Cavett when doing live interviews.
• Kevin considers one of the great things about what he do is the fact that he so often gets to speak with some of the smartest, most insightful people in the business world, including Jim Collins, Don Tapscott, Marc Andreessen, Scott Mcnealy, Andy Grove and many others of that caliber. Any time he talks to these folks, they influence his thinking.

RECOMMENDED READING
What's on Kevin's must-read list?

Kevin is drawn to books about history, particularly narrative history, and find it helps with insights about today's events.

Currently on his bedside table:

Currently, Kevin is reading Tom Standage's The Turk.

MIND FUEL
Which blogs, web sites, and industry events does Kevin tap into to feed his mind and fuel his creativity?

Kevin checks out the following tech industry blogs daily:

• TechCrunch ( http://www.techcrunch.com/)
• GigaOm (http://gigaom.com/)
• Engadget (http://www.engadget.com/) and so on.

Kevin was an annual participant at PC Forum until it ended. Now he tries to go to a handful of industry gatherings each year, plus Web 2.0 and CES.