We've been quiet, yet working in the shadows

I know this post comes in almost 6 months since our last episode (well, we just posted our newest one). I started grad school after one year of being funemployed or in milder terms 'a career break'. Khan and I were planning to start our new season, as I was figuring out a suitable division of time even across multiple timezones. We had our new season planned out as we kept abreast of latest tech developments in the region.

What happened?

All that went awry as you've seen the news since February 28 in the Middle East region. Given that Khan has been busy during that time and I managed to strike a balance in time management, we decided to keep it low and continue our work behind the curtains.

Outreach via LinkedIn and PR emails

I was approaching brands via LinkedIn to invite as guests to talk about their work/involvement in the Middle East region, specially when it intersects with digital and tech topics. Besides LinkedIn, the constant flow of press releases flooding our inbox has been a source for us to contact brands.

Some I reply back and they don't even respond (this is even after 4+ follow up emails on the same chain). So their role is just pushing out releases? I guess they still think along the lines of the established traditional media. As their view of creators is not at the same level as how it has grown in the US, they still view them as 'influencers' especially when they focus on the vanity metric of large followers.

So I have a message to the PR/communications people on the brand side and the agencies representing the brands. I"m not looking for privilege nor sounding entitled with this.

• Those who don't even respond to our emails: I'd understand if your email systems would likely flag our address in your Spam folder. Also, I shouldn't have to constantly follow-up to get a response, unless you only look out for specific major names.

• Those who respond to my outreach via LinkedIn: THANK. YOU. It's the first step that gives me the chance to make our proposition for why we contacted you and how we see it fit into our editorial plan.

• Those who really listened and gave us the opportunity (*ahem* one brand for our episode recording in June): thank you for entrusting us, especially as we made the case for why we wanted to have you.

• Those who have declined: thank you for hearing us out, especially when you gave us reasons or suggested deferring it to suitable time. I know you may have a remit on going after major publications with bigger reach and distribution, but trends have shifted that creators like us especially podcasters are now a new outlet. While our focus is on the Middle East and we don't have the large audience (except for our individual profiles), we do ask that you at least reconsider and keep us in mind if and when we reach out after some time.

We might not be big like other 'influencers'/creators where most PR people just look at the vanity metrics to asses viability of coming on as a guest. Atleast we're being honest in what we do since many have been chasing the vanity/click-bait/engagement farmed concepts.

Coming up

So a few updates for what's coming up, even as the FIFA World Cup 2026 will occupy your brains for at least a month

• Our initial job hunting episode has taken a different turn (let's just say that my initial guest wasn't working out) but the one I've found has made to worthwhile to revamp our plan for it. Khan and I agree that the focus on tech-related recruitment makes it worthwhile, especially given the AI-related investments and the home-grown initiatives.

• Beyond just the chipset providing the brains for the AI workloads, we realized that storage is overlooked as a critical part of the flow. So we'll be looking to talk with a brand that lays out how their pivot in branding keeps them AI-focused and maybe even get ot learn about some interesting storage habits and trends in the region.

Don't forget to follow our official accounts and subscribe to our podcast when the episode drops.