Joanne Dant (top left)
Title: Senior Associate, October Strategies
Age: 41
Flacks We Like
Sena Fitzmaurice (right)
Title: Senior Director, corp communications/govt affairs,
Comcast
Age: 36
Years left in Industry: “Lots”
Stuart Zakim (bottom left, with Cindy Crawford)
Title: VP, corporate public relations, Showtime
Age: 50
Why Them? The PR person from Central Casting is an
aggressively loud salesman for his/her company’s point of
view. Dant, Fitzmaurice and Zakim defy that characterization.
This soft-spoken trio uses thoughtful persuasion to make its
point, making them among the most effective communicators on the circuit; they’re also a lot of fun. Dant has certainly
lived up to Lela Cocoros’ and Larae Marsik’s high standards,
with an attention to detail and diplomatic skills that have been
essential as Dant schedules interviews with Cable Hall of
Fame inductees and stewards the image of a resurgent Cable
Center. Fitzmaurice, meanwhile, is always accessible day
or night to walk us through Comcast’s position on complex
regulatory and legislative matters. And a pro’s pro, Boston-born Zakim crafts Showtime’s strategic message using his
30 years in entertainment… but he’s always available to track
minutiae for us and does so with grace. Give these folks a
raise! MG, SA
Joanne Dant I wish the cable industry would: “Not
be so insular.” Favorite city: “San Francisco”
Sena Fitzmaurice Person I most admire in the
cable industry and why: “Ralph Roberts. Professional
toughness and personal kindness… a classic.”
Stu Zakim Top personal achievement in 2006:
“Turning 50 and still enjoying myself as much as I did when
I was in my early 20s.” Favorite restaurant: “Michael’s
(NYC)” Favorite TV show: “Star Trek”
93
Great Hacks
Aaron Barnhart (pictured, right)
Title: Television Critic, Kansas City Star; also, TVBarn.com
Adam Buckman
Title: Reporter, New York Post
Ted Hearn (pictured, left)
Why Them? In addition to his day job at The Star,
Barnhart's on 3 radio shows weekly, oversees the massive TV Barn site, and blogs, vlogs and Web casts. His
hack cred? He was tight with John Higgins. The NY Post’s
Buckman is notable for his self-deprecating wit, trade
reporter roots and independence (he loved “John From
Cincinnati”). He’s also a big-media scribe who plugs cable
programming, recently touting AMC’s “Mad Men” and
HBO’s “Big Love” over fall network fare. Sweet swinging
on the links and cutting with his pen, Multi’s steady Teddy
“Ballgame” Hearn makes another 100 appearance due to his
D.C. scoops and provocative blog. SA
Aaron
Barnhart
Cable’s biggest challenge in 2008: “Convincing people
they should NOT dump their cable boxes for home networking streamed shows off the Internet.” Favorite piece of
tech: “Mobile TV from Verizon. Not that lame V CAST—
actual CNBC, ESPN and Colbert on my phone, in real time.”
The three most played songs on my iPod are: “You
Are My Sunshine” by Ray Charles; “Holiday/Boulevard of
Broken Dreams” by Green Day; “Donde Estabas Tu” by
Omara Portuondo (a song given to me, along with many others, by my dear friend John Higgins).”
Ted Hearn Favorite restaurant: “Silver Diner”
Favorite song: “God Bless America” Favorite movie:
“True Grit (1969)” Favorite piece of tech: “TV remote
sleep timer” Favorite TV show: “Columbo” The world
would be a better place if: “The World Series were
played in daylight.”
