Secured story placements with:
A CAREER IN COMMUNICATIONS - A PUBLIC RELATIONS PROFESSIONAL
i'm the senior Vice President at vrge strategies, a washington, d.c.-based strategic communications firm
The Vrge Cybersecurity Team collaborates with cybersecurity organizations of all sizes to elevate their earned, social, and owned media strategies. Over the last decade, we've helped clients amplify funding news from Seed to Series E rounds exceeding $650 million.
Furthermore, insights from our cybersecurity clients have been featured:
- on every nightly network newscast
- on every major cable news network
- on every major cable business news network
- on local newscasts or in local newspapers from 9 of the 10 largest markets in the U.S.
- in the largest national, legacy newspapers and their websites.
To see examples of these placements, please go to the clients on TV and clients in the news pages.
Learn more about our work at vrge.us/cybersecurity or call me at 202.999.9104.
GETting WINS after being engaged in many of washington d.c.'s toughest fights
I back the aforementioned metrics with twenty-plus years of high-stakes Washington battle experience, driving strategic public relations for organizations facing steep climbs.
In my current role, the mission is getting critical work hidden in the shadows noticed. I am the strategist you hire when you want to scream from the rooftops about what you have done - whether it is pushing an emerging tech product, crusading for a massive policy cause, or completely redirecting the national media dialogue.
My skills and experience comes from years in hyper-competitive environments - on Capitol Hill (including work on the historic Affordable Care Act) and while directing comms for highly competitive congressional campaigns (read more on that below).
Bottom line: you will see I'm not afraid of a good, tough fight.
getting cybersecurity into the discussion
I partner with enterprise companies, startups, and nonprofits to build market-defining brands, position executives as trusted thought leaders, and launch cybersecurity research that establishes industry-recognized benchmarks. My mission is bringing critical, under-the-radar work out of the shadows: helping emerging tech secure top-tier coverage and turning vital causes buoyed by unknown nonprofits into major headlines. Some of the most notable campaigns I've worked on include:
- building awareness of dangerous activity on social media
- award-winning election security awareness efforts
- championing cyber workforce diversity.
I've authored, co-authored, and/or edited more than a dozen high-profile cybersecurity research reports, including the award-nominated Selling "Slaving". I have both pitched and developed content at 11 BlackHats, 10 RSACs, five DEFCONs, three Billingtons, two ShmooCons, two Gartners, and a DerbyCon.
Content creation and distribution matters now more than ever. An AI engine can only synthesize a narrative it can find. Earned media is the fuel that powers those systems, driving the answers they produce and multiplying a company's visibility
Tested in the Trenches: JOURNALISM, POLITICS & CAPITOL HILL
In total, I've been a communicator / storyteller for more than 30 years. Working for Congressman John D. Dingell provided an elite masterclass in high-stakes messaging. During the brutal, historic battle for the Affordable Care Act, I worked to ensure his defining legacy as the long-time champion of national healthcare reform was universally seen and recognized by the public. My Hill responsibilities also included managing national news coverage for his 50th anniversary in Congress, as the information architect of his award-winning website, and booking his appearances on platforms like The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
My Hill experience was paired with intense stretches on the campaign trail. As a Campaign Press Secretary, I managed the narrative for two highly watched, national-tier U.S. House races that were fiercely tracked and decided by razor-thin margins.
Before stepping into political messaging, my storytelling instincts were forged over a decade producing newscasts in major markets, including leading a top-revenue news program and spending a year at CNN's Washington, D.C. bureau. Managing a live control room is where I learned to command chaos, meet unforgiving deadlines, and master the art of narrative control under pressure. To see my newscasts, segments, and even a couple newspaper stories from a lifetime ago, go to my earlier careers page.
That background provides a distinct advantage at Vrge today: an innate, first-hand understanding of exactly what the media demands before the cameras even start rolling.