Inside the Media Mind of Victoria Durgin: Channel Insider

Christine Blake: Welcome to Inside the Media Minds. We are your co-hosts Christine Blake

Madison Farabaugh: and Madison Farabaugh. 

Christine Blake: This show features in-depth interviews with tech reporters who share everything from their biggest pet peeves to their favorite stories. 

Madison Farabaugh: From our studio here at W2 Communications, let's go Inside the Media Minds. 

Christine Blake: Hello, everyone. Welcome to today's episode of Inside the Media Minds. Madison and I are thrilled to be speaking with Victoria Durgin. She is the managing editor of Channel Insider, where she oversees editorial strategy and content development, focused on helping technology vendors, solution providers and channel partners navigate an evolving IT landscape. 

Now, this was a fantastic conversation. We learned a lot from Victoria. One of my favorite parts was how she talked about how many companies put out announcements and launches on Tuesdays, and she puts out a request to change the day because they only have the capacity to to write about so many announcements on a Tuesday. So I thought that was some good advice from her. What about you, Madison?

Madison Farabaugh: Yes, I enjoyed hearing Victoria explain how Channel Insider differentiates itself from other channel publications, specifically when it comes to who they're choosing to interview. She mentioned how a lot of publications, whether channel or not, they tend to like to interview all of the big names. Usually, you'll see repeating names there, and so one of their priorities is to focus on unique voices, perhaps startups, companies that might not always get the spotlight, but definitely have a valuable perspective to share. So that was one. 

And then I also enjoyed her, her explanation of what her channel buzzword would be, so I'll leave that to the listeners to go and listen. But it was definitely a good one, and I think, I think it just speaks to, you know, you know the importance of defining the terms that we're using.

Christine Blake: Oh yes, tune in to hear which buzzword she wants to retire. We hope everyone enjoys the episode. 

Hello, Victoria. It's so great to have you on today's podcast episode. Thanks for joining us. 

Victoria Durgin: Yeah, great to be here. Thanks for having me.

Christine Blake: Definitely. So, Madison and I are thrilled to talk to you as the managing editor at Channel Insider. We'd love to hear about your career journey. How did you find yourself in journalism? How did you get started?

Victoria Durgin: Yeah, absolutely. So, bit of a winding road, nothing too crazy, I don't think. But I studied journalism in college, like many people probably say that they do. Ran the student newspaper, did the, you know the whole thing, and then I graduated in ‘22. So, right, kind of coming out of COVID, and frankly, not the easiest time to get a media job. Not that there ever is one. 

So, I actually started my professional career on the corporate communications side of the house at a tech company called Pax8. They offered an internship, said they would teach the tech if I came in with the communication skills, and then ended up kind of stumbling into this technology services IT channel world that I didn't know existed, and learned a lot in the three years I was there, but really, kind of still had the the media itch and the journalism itch. 

And so, when our parent company, Technology Advice, decided to, to really start building up Channel and Channel Insider as a brand, they had opened the role and through some mutual connections, got into the interviewing scheme, and then ended up here two years ago now. So that's kind of how I got here.

Christine Blake: Yeah, great. That makes sense. Good story.

Madison Farabaugh: Yeah and can you tell us a little bit about your, what your current role at Channel Insider entails?

Victoria Durgin: Absolutely. As the managing editor over Channel Insider, I lead editorial strategic efforts. So I have a team who reports in, to me, a fabulous writing and content creation team. I manage them on the people management side, but also on the runway setting and editing on a month-to-month basis. So it's a lot of understanding the trends, analyzing traffic data, things like that, to ensure that we're bringing the content ultimately that our audience wants and that our audience finds helpful. And then I also still do some reporting myself as well. So a lot of speaking to tech executives, service providers, vendors, everybody in between and making sure ultimately at the end of the day that we're a brand that people want to, to seek out and want to learn from.

Madison Farabaugh: Yep, that makes perfect sense. And our team has really enjoyed working with you over the past year. You're always a delight to work with. I think one question we had for you was, what do you wish you know, channel marketers or PR teams, PR professionals, what do you wish they understood more about your job that would help you do your job better or easier? Do you have any advice for those who are reaching out to you who want to work with Channel Insider?

Victoria Durgin: Yeah, I think I'm a little, empathetic maybe is the right word because I started my career on you know the PR end of, of the conversation. So I always say first of all, just ask me whatever the real question is. I think a lot of times I'll get an intro email or a pitch that's like, oh, you know, this is news. This is super important, and I'm like, is it though? You know, like, and so if you just pitch and say, "Hey, I'm working with this client. I think this is a great story. They would obviously like it done immediately. When do you have capacity realistically to learn some more?” I think I'd always just welcome an honest conversation above all else. 

And I think the other piece of advice I always try to give, again with empathy in mind, because I know everybody's busy, I know everybody's under pressure. If you think, oh, I've emailed her twice this week, there are like 100 of you in my inbox emailing me twice this week, and and obviously you shouldn't plan around you know other firms and competitors and things like that, but my my inbox is a scary place, and my reporter's inbox is a scary place, and we have a mutual news email inbox, and that's also a scary place. So there's just a lot coming in, and I do my best to triage and I do my best to answer, but we're only human, right? So when I get a follow up, like 12 hours after you send the initial email with a "Hey, have you seen it?" and I'm like, "No, honestly," and I'm sorry, and I'm trying. 

So that's, I think, the, the overriding message. And then, you know, not everything that's important to you as a company is a news item, right? And so sometimes it's great to have you know the press release. Hey, we released a couple new products. If you're doing a recap, maybe consider us. Great. I can't, dedicate, you know, 100 stories a week to every new agentic AI tool that you've put into your platform, and that is kind of what, what it feels like. So that's what I, what I always say: a little bit of grace, a little bit of patience, and a little bit of self awareness would be super helpful.

Christine Blake: Yeah, that must be overwhelming getting so many emails and trying to stay on top of it and figure out what is news versus what isn't. So I applaud you for having empathy through that.

Victoria Durgin: Yeah, and I mean, I know too. You know, I think it's easy for us on the reporting side to kind of go, "Don't they get it?" And it's like, well, you, you're also under pressure, right? Everybody's under some form of pressure. I think right now more than ever to get things out and to get things in people's inboxes. So I never, I try really hard, I should say, to not be like God, don't you get this? Isn't important because to you it is, right? To, to you and your company, it's the most important thing ever. And I, I understand the excitement, but there are many, many, many, many companies.

Christine Blake: Yep, very fair. Well put. I'd love to dig into how there's, there's a handful of channel publications out there, right? Focus on the channel. I'd love to hear more about what makes Channel Insider different and how you approach the news versus maybe some of the other channel publications out there.

Victoria Durgin: Yeah, absolutely. It's, I think, an evolving target, maybe is, is the best way to put it. There are some very large incumbents in the channel media space, and anybody who, who works in the channel, myself included. You know, when I started my career, I was trained to, to go look at the kind of few big ones every morning and, and digest the news the way you would get the Wall Street Journal or something delivered. I'm not trying to be that overnight, right? I think we're, we're relatively young but established brand, I like to say. 

Channel Insider was founded in the late '90s. Went through some acquisitions, as many publications do. Went dormant for a couple years. We've really started reinvesting in it over the past few years. Like I said, so we've got some ground to cover and we've got some, some room to, to expand. Clearly, I think for me, it's not can we go tell a different story, right? At the end of the day, this is a very niche industry. There are certain things that everyone's going to cover because that's what makes sense. Can we talk to different people about that topic, though? Right? Do we? I don't think every channel media pub needs to interview the same five or six MSP owners. There are many people working very hard in North America and globally because we do have a global footprint as well to bring technology to end businesses, which is ultimately what the channel does. And there are plenty of people who can share a really interesting story and a really interesting perspective. 

And so my goal has been to ensure that myself and my team are finding new people to talk to. And so on the tech vendor side, that's also the startup space, right? Hey, you're doing something cool. You're not the biggest player in the game, but at this point with AI the way it is, some of the, the small guys, quote, unquote, become large very quickly. So for me, it's all about, you know, where can we tell a slightly different angle? Where can we get some more voices involved? 

And ultimately, I think the channel's best strength, from what I've always encountered, is a sense of community and a sense of cooperation, even if you're competition. So I'll read, you know, all of the other pubs and say, oh, okay, we didn't cover this. Maybe we should, or, hey, I, I wasn't the first to get to the story. Let's cover it a couple days later, and let's build on what they originally reported. Because I think ultimately, you know, not to get soapboxy, the, the point of a publication, the point of a kind of media ecosystem, is just to get information to people who need it. And so, however we can do that, that's what I think we're here for.

Madison Farabaugh: I love that perspective on community. I feel like that's, that's a unique one that we haven't heard too much. Just in terms of, you know, everybody might be covering the same topics, but that, that is the purpose is to get the news out there. But I love how you kind of dug into the different perspectives that you try to prioritize because it is true. I feel like when major news breaks, you do tend to see the same big names kind of show up in, in many different articles on the topic. 

So I just, I love to hear that that's something that Channel Insider prioritizes is trying to get some new, different, unique names out there, unique companies out there. And thinking kind of in that vein, is there anything from Channel Insider's perspective that's top of mind right now, especially as we kind of head towards the end of the year, as we prep for 2027? Is there anything very top of mind for your team?

Victoria Durgin: Well, I'll completely shock you and blow your minds to say AI is always at the top of the list. Unfortunately, although I will say I sent out a request for, for comment and predictions, you know, for several recaps we're working on that, that did have a line item that said anything but AI. So I will say, I, we've spent a lot of time this year, like everybody has, really digging into AI technology, AI services, the economics of AI, and I think while doing that, we've lost a little bit of like the rest of it, so to speak. Right? here are still many technologies that businesses need to run, to operate, et cetera. 

There are many other things on the minds of MSPs. So I would like to make sure as we head into the end of the year, my goal as an editor and as a manager is, is to make sure that we're not getting so far down one rabbit hole that we're only telling one story, which I think goes back to my perspectives bit as well, which is just as much as possible. I'd like to look at the end of a week and go, okay, we covered more than just those two letters. So that's, that's a big focus for me. 

And then also, I think because of AI, this year has, has been really uncertain and has felt really uncertain for a lot of people, and I'd like to dig into what that uncertainty kind of allows people now to build for next year. Right? If we all spent this year going, okay, what's going on? This feels crazy. I don't really know up from down. How do we figure that out for next year? And how do you operationalize that? So those are our kind of big topic areas at this point,

Christine Blake: Yeah, now out, and outside of AI, I'm curious: have there been any notable trends that you've noticed in the channel and tech ecosystem in the past six months or so? Maybe some that took you by surprise.

Victoria Durgin: Yeah, that's a great question. I think I'm going to cheat a little bit on the timeline because it's not necessarily just the past six years, but we've also seen a lot of M&A consolidation activity in the channel, and I think the the economics of the business end of this are always very interesting to me because we get so focused on the tech, right? Whether that's AI or security or cloud, whatever the kind of wave is, it's all okay. What, who is building what? How do you sell who is building what?

But these are also all businesses, and, and owners are making decisions about whether they want to keep their businesses, stay in control, whether it's time to exit, and what an exit looks like. The entrance and continued entrance of private equity into the space, et cetera, have kind of created this sub story that I think almost lies behind or beneath a lot of things, which is what does profitability look like in a few years? And I think I'm starting to see that conversation bubble. Not that everybody's going to sell off, and you know, private equity is going to run the whole show, but I think it's much more of a conversation point in the past few months than it has been in years past.

Madison Farabaugh: Yeah, that's very interesting. You bring up the topic of profitability. Are there any areas that you've been observing where some, some companies maybe what they're focusing on technology wise or business operations wise? There any areas that you've noticed are really developing at a quick pace, or other, other areas where companies are saying, you know, this is the next thing. This is where we really need to focus. But then it almost seems like it's a bit hyped up.

Victoria Durgin: Yeah, that's a great question. I think I'm going to break my own rule and I'm going to talk about AI because I think this year has felt a lot like, okay, there's a new tool. Anthropic and OpenAI have, have formalized partner programs and have entered the channel in pretty substantial formal ways, and so there's been a lot of conversation on okay, pick your providers. Who are you working with? Who are you going deep on? How are you using AI internally as an MSP? And for some, that's going really well. And for others I talk to, the conversation is “Yeah, we're running Copilot”, and it writes my emails faster, right? 

And so I think there's still a, a gap in AI as a conversation and AI as like an operational tool that is actually making a difference in the business, and it sometimes feels much closer to the kind of still early days hype cycle of we're saying we're trying it because we feel like we should, as opposed to hey we've really rethought our business practices and we've built for the future with AI in mind. So I think that's probably the, the debate or conversation for next year, especially is okay, what does this actually mean now?

Christine Blake: Yeah, that actually goes into one of the questions we were going to ask you about how vendors are rebuilding partner programs around AI. It sounds like that's starting to happen more so. Like this year was trying to figure it out, maybe, and now they're moving towards building those focus programs.

Victoria Durgin: Yeah, I think so, and I think this ties into the profitability conversation too, because I think what we've seen this year is not just big names or smaller names saying, "Hey, we have an AI product and we want to sell it through the channel." I think it's much more, "Hey, we are an AI-first company. Here are the products we're selling, but our program is going to reflect training certifications we want you to have. Here's the incentive structure for how you'll make money off of it when you sell it to your customer.” 

Like I think the, the programs are getting much more specific now about why a partner would pick company A versus company B on like a, a profit and margin level, and not just a, we're a big name, so don't you want to work with us? Which I think is what many partners were starting to feel programs felt like a little bit.

Christine Blake: Yeah, I'm sure a lot of the predictions that you'll get in will be focused on that topic, right?

Victoria Durgin: Probably. I think we're you know I don't want to put words in people's mouths. I don't want to predict the future, but I'm, I'm expecting quite a bit of next year is the year this gets real, and which also is what I got last year. So I, I will be interested to see if, if that feels different than it did at the end of ‘25. Now that we're at the end of ‘26, but this does feel like a two year cycle now, in which I've been told that every six months things are now real.

Madison Farabaugh : Yeah, as we think about heading into next year, are there any topics we've talked about profitability? Are there any other areas that you yourself, in your reporting, really want to dig into more and kind of explore the trends around?

Victoria Durgin: Yeah, that's a great question. I think I'm always a bit more interested in the human aspect of a lot of this, and the relationship aspect of a lot of this, like I said, the tech is the tech, right? We have to kind of talk to people about what the actual products are and whether they're working, et cetera. But I think there's a, a much broader story around the general public's approach to technology, and that might be AI. That's certainly the data center infrastructure conversations and the ways that you know public perception of those is maybe going to impact build out strategies. 

But I also want to hear from more people about what their teams are feeling, right? If you're an MSP or a vendor and you've gone all in on the AI operations of it all, that's great. But are your techs any happier, right? Is this actually solving burnout, or are you feeling better as an owner? Can you take more time off now? Like, I think there's been a, a lot of promise around the potential, and I'm very interested heading into next year to get back to maybe basics a little around. Okay, but at the end of the day, these are people, right? And, and what are the people actually feeling about this?

Christine Blake: Yeah, that's a good point. I like the human perspective as well, and I think that's interesting to readers. Another question: You mentioned getting a lot of pitches and press releases and announcements from vendors. What, what makes you cover a vendor announcement, and what gets an instant pass?

Victoria Durgin: Oh, that's a great question that doesn't have an easy answer. I think so. Number one, and this is nobody's fault, right? So this is the unhelpful answer. It depends on capacity in a given week, ultimately, right? There are many pitches that I would like to spend more time with. I don't know why, but everyone has decided to do product releases on Tuesdays.

Christine Blake: Yes

Victoria Durgin: My plea to everyone: pick another day of the week, please. Like I have like 15 things that I'll get. Hey, we're going live with this on a Tuesday. Would really like you to cover. We'll set up time to interview, etc. They're great pitches. The pitch isn't the problem. There are 20 of you launching a platform on Tuesday. I have myself, and like maybe two writers.

Christine Blake: Yeah

Victoria Durgin: Right. And like you're you're just not all going to get covered. At least not on the day, right? I'll try to then build out the rest of the week, obviously, and, and we'll work things in, but. That's part of it. I think part of it also, though, on the specific pitch, if you're talking kind of practically, what makes something appealing to me is just a, we are a channel publication, so you need to be a company with a partner program that is actually selling to partners. Which sounds table stakes, but I just, I get a lot of pitches from companies that sound wonderful and have important products, but don't have a channel motion, and those are just not relevant to my audience. So that's an immediate no. 

And I would say too, I try to not immediately discount things, but if you have announced this month already, and you know you have a couple announcements coming out in the month because maybe you're staggering platform updates, maybe you're doing you know security on this side on this day, and then we're also doing a productivity launch. 

I'd much rather get one email that says, "Hey, we have a couple announcements coming out. Here's the timeline," and then maybe I will plan multiple stories because it warrants multiple stories. But then at least I know, right? I think it gets frustrating when, okay, we're going to put resources in, we're going to cover this company because they are releasing something or appointing a leader or you know whatever it may be, and then like five days later, hey, we have a thing coming next week, and it's like, okay, like it just would have been nice to know that, or at least to plan around that somewhat. 

So that's another sticking point that I sometimes feel, at least when it comes to, to capacity planning. But I will also say I'd much rather you send the pitch and me say, "Hey, sorry, we just can't cover it this week," than never get it, which I know probably sounds completely contradictory to my first point on “I have too many emails”, but ultimately, I never mind reading a pitch. And if I have to say no, then I'll say no.

Madison Farabaugh: That's very refreshing to hear. But also, it's, it's great advice too, just in terms of how to work better with you and your team about helping you guys tell that bigger story. So, like what you were saying about, if there's multiple announcements coming out, it would, it would truly help you all to know what's that big picture that the company is working towards, and not just the single moment in time. 

So, I think that's a really good takeaway, definitely for our listeners for sure. And then, actually, we have several listener questions for you, Victoria. So the first one is just noticing that Channel Insider has done some more video coverage, some event coverage. I know IT Nation is a conference coming up soon that the team might be writing about. So just curious how, you know, multimedia kind of publications, or how events, how that plays into the editorial calendar that you all work on.

Victoria Durgin: Yeah, it's, it's a loaded question. I will say I'll answer the events side first, and then we'll talk video. The, the channel space is very event forward. I would say it has always felt very event forward. I think whenever I can get myself or my team on the floor somewhere, looking people in the eyes, saying, "Hey, I'm Channel Insider," I think it humanizes us. And in a world where, frankly, a lot of content you can't tell what come, comes from a human, what is AI assisted? 

Right, like there's that whole kind of tension I think bubbling up. As much as we can show that we are people that we are capable of having conversations about your business. That's super helpful, and I think events also, especially in the last few years, it's felt like, are the primary driver of everybody launching. Whether that's a new product, whether that's you know kind of a new focus for a company, they've become quite news driving events, especially on the vendor side, so they almost feel kind of crazy to ignore to a degree, right? I think if we just never covered some of the big events, people would be like, okay, they clearly don't follow the space. If you're not tuned into what's happening at an IT nation, for example, so they have to be in the runway.

I try to spend the beginning of every year mapping out when all of the at least major events we know of are going to happen. They're in the editorial calendar. They're built into our runways. I can plan that capacity ahead of time. That's super helpful. So that's kind of how we think about events. 

On the multimedia side, I, I think preaching to the choir here it's it's not enough to just do written content anymore, both in terms of what consumers want to see in their media, and in terms of how we're cited and surfaced in Google reviews and LLM citations, right? Whatever it may be, we're not just pulling from writing an article on a site and calling it a day anymore. So we've invested, continued to invest in podcasts, in short form video.You know, if I can kind of just summarize a couple news stories that feel very similar straight to camera, we put it out. 

It's been a new muscle for me. I'll admit, I, I miss the days when we could all kind of not have to do our faces in the morning and just write and move on with it. It takes longer. It's a different skill. I, entirely, many people I think have gotten so used to seeing the kind of influencer content creator on their phones at the end of the day that they just assume video is this simple do it and move on thing, and it's not at least for me. But it is, I think, another avenue ultimately to reach people in a different way to think about the content you're producing. So it's a useful skill that we've really spent some time honing this year.

Christine Blake: Yeah, that's great. Here's a fun one. What is a channel buzzword that you would retire?

Victoria Durgin: Oh, okay. I say this as a self-aware person who knows that I've also used it a lot. There has been such a focus this year on business outcomes. I guess it's this whole we're moving past selling technology and now we're selling a business outcome to a customer. I don't think anybody's defined that yet. So I think that's why it's in the buzzword category right now, right? 

If we could get to a definition, on like, what does selling a business outcome mean to anybody? Why do you, as a vendor, think that you're helping your partner do that? What is a partner supposed to take away from that? Like, I just think we need to define it and then find a different way to say it because it, it's starting to just feel like a nothing statement.

Christine Blake: Yeah, that's a good one. Good point.

Madison Farabaugh: Yeah, and then final listener question: As we're you know heading into November, we'd love to hear what's your favorite fall activity.

Victoria Durgin: Probably the same thing that's my favorite winter, spring, and summer activity, which is curling up somewhere with a book.

Madison Farabaugh and Christine Blake: Love it. 

Victoria Durgin: But I think there's something about fall where like, it's starting to get cool enough. I live on the East Coast in Pennsylvania, so like, we have seasons. It looks very pretty outside my window right now. I can kind of start drinking the, the pumpkin teas and the peppermint teas and, and that kind of tis’ the season angle and, and just sit down with a book that's usually got nothing to do with technology. 

Madison Farabaugh: I was gonna say what what type of genre is your favorite?

Victoria Durgin: Oh, I love. I've always been a history nerd. I will say I was the, the kid with all of the mummy books who had an ancient Egypt fascination. So I do love when I can dig into a good, kind of, like ancient history, learn about a pharaoh or, or a thing of that nature. And I love a murder mystery. Like, give me a good thriller, let me think about somebody else's problems for a little bit, and then there's a resolution at the end, and I go to bed. Sounds great.

Christine Blake: Yeah, I hear you on the non-tech focus books and the more fiction type.

Victoria Durgin: I know, and then I'm,  I'm like looking in the bookstore. I'm like, I should probably read some of these, you know, the big name biographies, the, the memoirs. Like I just can't do it at the end of the day.

Christine Blake: Cozy, yeah, yeah. All right, Victoria. Well, it's been a pleasure talking to you and learning more about your role and Channel Insider. So thank you so much for coming on our podcast. We really appreciate it.

Victoria Durgin: Well, thank you both for having me. This has been great. I'm usually in your shoes, so it's, it's interesting to feel like I'm on the other side of it. Yep, that's the fun part of

Christine Blake: Yep, that's the fun part of it. Thank you for listening to today's episode of Inside the Media Minds. To learn more about our podcast and to hear from some of our past guests, please visit us at w2comm.com.

Madison Farabaugh: You can also subscribe anywhere podcasts are found.