VIVA SARAH PRESS

Joe Smith in Kansas City is always my guy. He is my go-to audience whenever I’m writing about a new innovation or technology. He is always on my mind. Of course, Joe Smith isn’t one person. He is a readership of everyone I hope will learn something new about the topic I happen to be covering. And it was Joe Smith who I brought with me to a recent class on how to cover innovation news. I have been writing about Israeli innovation, specifically, for over a decade. I give talks

Taking credit, tooting my horn, call it whatever you want. I don’t love the spotlight. I have an ambiguous relationship with social media. But I know that taking credit for my work is critical. And I have learned that sharing my experiences with an online audience helps keep others from claiming credit for my work. It’s not foolproof -- there will always be those who claim credit even if it’s not theirs to claim. That’s not to say I only work solo. I love to partner on projec

Call me old school, but I always prefer face-to-face conversation. Having worked in the world of communications for over two decades, I adapt and use digital technologies as they come along – especially email, texting and social media. Yet, I’m still a bigger fan of face-to-face communication. I work from home as a freelancer and I rely heavily on digital tools. I spend hours online -- networking, conversing and reading. There are pros and cons for digital communication as we

I love random facts. Things that you'd think you don't need to know. Until you do. Like the fact that giant pandas weigh in at just 100-grams when born. Or, that Scotland's national animal is the unicorn. Obscure facts. Fun facts. Weird facts. For Israel's 71st Independence Day I wrote an article about 18 little-known facts about the country. It got over 2,000 shares so it seems other people share my love for random facts. And because of this article, Ariana Grande joined my

Mitsi is a cat. And that helped her become a viral internet and television star. It started with one video by an Israeli named Dan. On January 30, he posted a video to Facebook of Mitsi, the stray cat, who sits on the turnstiles and watches commuters come and go at the Petah Tikva train station. The equation of cats plus internet did its thing. The video of Mitsi, looking utterly relaxed among the hubbub of the train station, has scored over six million views and tens of thou

The differences between journalism and public relations have been written about ad nauseam. Yet, it seems the differences between these two fields may be in need of a refresh. I recently published an article on crowdfunding. The piece was an all-encompassing report, looking at venture capital, crowdfunding, bootstrapping and angel investments – and where each fits in the entrepreneurial landscape. I quoted eight people in the report. Seven thought the article did its job:

Very excited to be taking part in a panel titled "Interpreting Israel: Finding the stories that matter and retelling them for a wider audience.” The panel is part of a Gettysburg College year-long academic course known as Inside the Middle East. The Gettysburg students are in town on a 10-day tour to understand the contemporary Middle East. Read more about their program, here. As I wrote in my last post, it is one thing for people to read an article or hear a report on the ra

Meeting deadlines and being punctual are essential characteristics for freelancers. So, the worst time to be a freelancer is when you can’t do either. Of course, I relaunched my freelance career just as my mother was diagnosed with an incurable and devastating disease. The fact that I live a 12-hour flight from my parents confounds matters. I have flown six times in seven months for different lengths of time. I don’t always know when I’m going to fly until a few hours before.