How Industry Dive’s Savenije fell in love with B2B journalism

Davide Savenije, the editor in chief at Industry Dive, spoke with ASBPE vice president Brooke Bilyj about his career and plans as president of the American Society of Business Publication Editors.

Here is an excerpt:

How did you end up in B2B publishing?

By accident. A big part of it was getting rejected by every job I applied for right out of college. I had to get my foot in the door somewhere, so I just started applying to internships, and I joined Industry Dive as an editorial intern in 2012. It was just six or seven people in a small room with barely-functioning air conditioning, but the vibe was right for me. It wasn’t fancy; it was just about the work.

I was always passionate about writing and storytelling, and I was also passionate about collaborating with others to produce bigger projects. Like many people, I never really thought about B2B journalism until I stumbled into a job in this profession — but immediately it fascinated me what was going on in the markets I covered. As I started to scratch the surface, I realized there were compelling stories to be told.

Once I learned a little bit about what Industry Dive wanted to be, I said, well, if you want to create value for your audience, you can’t just skim the surface. You have to offer them something meaningful and in-depth that helps them understand their industries better than they already do. I didn’t know nearly as much as the people I’m writing for, but I knew I was a good storyteller, and I could gain access to experts and executives. I didn’t have to be the smartest person in the industry, but I had to talk to the smartest people, ask them the right questions and then present the information in a way that only journalists and storytellers can. To me, that was the job of a B2B journalist.

Read more here.