PR 50: The best public relations people in the tech industry in 2015

After doing PR for BarkBox for a few years, Chris O'Brien launched a new 15-person PR firm earlier this year, and caught the attention of some big names (one of his clients is the PGA Tour).

He's earned praised from people at Google and Salesforce, for instance, who said he has a "tireless work ethic," and said he has "an amazing network in the tech startup scene in NYC.

Amber Rowland is one of the hardest working PR people in the enterprise tech world.

She cut her teeth as one of VMware's early employees before going out on her own in 2009 and she's been going gangbusters ever since, currently representing companies like CloudPhysics and HashiCorp.

The marketing manager at VC General Catalyst calls her "knowledgeable, sophisticated" with a combination of a "great work ethic and knowledge of Silicon Valley and the enterprise industry nationwide."

Rosette Pambakian joined dating app company Tinder not quite two years ago, after learning her craft doing PR for the entertainment industry.

Tinder CEO Sean Rad couldn't be more pleased, telling us, "Tinder is a company that gets talked about in both trade and consumer press on a daily basis. Not only does Rosette manage the high velocity of conversations surrounding the brand, but she needs to manage a very complex set of conversation given the sometimes controversial nature of the product."

He adds, "She's even more impressive when you consider that she is doing this on a global scale."

Martha Shaughnessy opened the Silicon Valley office for Grayling in January 2014 and has since built the office to ten people.

Her clients include PayPal, Lending Club, Lowe's, Verizon Wireless, and Pure Storage.

She spent six years doing PR at Mint.com, and ounder Aaron Patzer (who is now working on a mobile startup called Fountain), still raves about Shaughnessy, telling us, "In two years, she landed me 550+ interviews, and helped design personal finance curriculum for Ohio middle school students as part of the Mint Education outreach she conceived."

Thomas Channick has been with advertising software company Sharethrough for just over three years. In that time, he's impressed the tech press.

One reporter told us that he "really understands the types of stories that fit" the publication.

The reporter added, "I also appreciate that when he reaches out with an exclusive story, it's not some bull*%#! thing the company's trying to place—it's actually well thought out and supported by facts and data."

When we asked folks to submit the names of the best PR people in tech, journalists at more than 10 tech publications stepped up to praise Stephanie Ng,

She's done good work for reporters at Mashable, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, MacWorld, PC World, ZDNet, and more.

Her clients include SoundCloud, Nextbit, and previously, Evernote.

What do they like about her? "She works with good clients/pitches relevant topics" and most importantly, "doesn't pester," one told us.

Eric Desatnik is another PR person who has earned praise from journalists at some of the biggest tech sites and financial newspapers around.

Prior for doing PR for the X Prize, an organization giving away large sums of money to engineers trying to solve some of the world's most difficult problems, Desatnik did PR for WildAid, working to end illegal wildlife trade.

One reporter said of him, "Eric knows how to anticipate the kind of angle that would be of interest to our audience, and is an amazing facilitator for making interviews and elements for a story come together. He is one of the nicest guys in the PR world I know."

Stephanie Heise earned big kudos from one tech reporter for her work with Kleiner Perkins.

That journalist described her as "not too aggressive with her pitches, knows how to deal with the press," and most importantly, she's "honest" when dealing with controversial subject matter.

She's had quite the year, too, working on everything from crises management to IPOs to shareholder activism. "Never a dull moment in tech-land," she tells us.

Nick Mehta isn't a professional PR person at all. He's the CEO of his own big data, analytics company, Gainsight, and he does his company's PR directly because he thinks it’s more effective than hiring a PR person, he once told us.

Reporters love working with him.

One told us, "He's quick to respond, knows the software-as-a-service industry well, and pitches good ideas/stories. He's great source for anything SaaS-related."

Colin Jordan is well-liked by the San Francisco tech community for pitching the right story to the right reporter at the right time.

He's also well-liked among his peers. It is for these reasons he has also been named to PR Newser's 30 Under 30 in PR.

ChannelAdvisor sells digital marketing software for retailers and is known for its market research reports, thanks to Jordan Smith.

Smith "has been a is a great resource for Business Insider," one reporter here told us, going above and beyond to help reporters find sources.

"He’s also just straight-up smart and friendly and a pleasure to work with. I was actually excited for this list to come out, because I felt so strongly about nominating him," one reporter said.

Alisa Richter joined Small Girls PR last year and immediately wowed the tech press, making sure that "everything she pitches" makes sense for the reporter's beat.

On other words, she sends really great story ideas as she represents companies like GE, Helix Sleep,Lulu, Panasonic and others. She was nominated by several reporters.

She came to PR for home decorating startup Homepolish and worked as a program manager at TechStars NYC before that.

"Luke Lappala is very helpful and quick to respond. His pitches are relevant to your beat and he gets how journalists work," one reporter said of him.

His bosses call him "A walking Rolodex."

His specialty is PR for consumer electronics, gadgets and wearables.

Matt Graves leads PR for Vessel, a video startup founded by Jason Kilar and Richard Tom, the former CEO and CTO of Hulu.

It's been a very busy year for the startup, launching its product, an Android app, bringing the service to Chromecast and raising $58 million less than a year after raising $77 million, with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as a backer.

Graves has been in tech PR a long time starting in online music (Rhapsody in the early 2000's) and then working at Twitter for a couple of years (the third person hired to Twitter's then-tiny PR team).

Natalie Kerris left left Apple this spring after 14 years doing PR for the company. She helped launch such products as the iPod, iPhone, iPad, MacBook Air, ApplePay and the Apple Watch.

She also worked for Apple's late CEO Steve Jobs.

She was rumored to be in the running to take over the top PR role after Katie Cotton retired, but Steve Dowling was promoted and Kerris decided to bow out.

During her time at Apple she earned the accolades from many journalists and we hear tales that she'll soon be announcing a new gig.

Jim Redner does PR for Facebook's virtual reality device, the Oculus Rift.

"He’s great at keeping me in the loop and being open and honest about things if there’s any conflict," one reporter told us.

Redner found himself at the center of a controversy back in 2011 when he went on a Twitter rant over a negative game review.

But he's learned a lot from that incident and has long since bounced back into favor with journalists who name him one of their favorites year after year.

Kenneth Baer works with hot Valley startup Zenefits, one of the fastest growing startups in the history of cloud computing.

Baer helped Zenefits steer through a heck of a news year: The company raised $500 million ($582 million total) on a $4.5 billion valuation, got into a vocal brawl and lawsuit with its former partner ADP, while generally upending the whole human resources/payroll software market.

"He makes sure reporters have access to the executives they need to talk to even at a moments notice," one reporter told us.

Elliot Tomaeno is known in New York for his work with startups. He does PR for companies like Squarespace, Trello, and Gin Lane, for example.

His clients like him because he marries the personal touch with data.

One told us,"Elliot was one of the first people to realize the power of data and analytics in the art of PR."

Reporters like him because he's "nice and normal in person, never fake and never wastes my time with stories that aren't on my beat," one told us.

Nicki Dugan Pogue has helped OutCast PR earn respect from journalists all over the country.

She's been there five years, after nearly a decade at Yahoo, and has worked with companies like Airbnb, Andreessen Horowitz, DARPA, Instagram, Khosla Ventures, Lytro, the Nike Foundation, Pinterest, Samsung, and Udacity.

Reporters know her as a reliable contact that knows how work fast and send on-target pitches.

Harry Porter leads PR for Uber's UK, Ireland and Nordics regions.

He impressed UK reporters by managing the extremely controversial launch of Uber in the UK, particularly in London.

"He oversaw the rollout here and is incredibly helpful even in the early hours of the morning," one reporter told us.

Nairi Hourdajian joined Uber in 2013 with a background in government relations and political affairs.

She has risen through the ranks to become the company's director of communications, managing the conversation around everything from oversees riots and class-action lawsuits to CEO Travis Kalanick himself.

Tech editors say working with her is "great."

Paige Thelen describes herself as "Part cynic, part old soul."

Tech reporters describe her as "solid." That's high praise given Lyf has shouldered its share of controversial press this year.

But Thelen has also negotiated the company though some big news like a massive $530 million venture investment, followed by another $150 million investment including $100 million from famous activist investor Carl Icahn.

Thelen also spearheaded news of the launch of a new carpooling service Lyft Line, and an investment/partnership with Uber's chief rival in China, with Didi Kuaidi.

Sarah Pompei's job of doing corporate PR for Hewlett Packard would be a big one any year, but 2015 has been filled with mega peaks and valleys as the company splits itself into two huge Fortune 50 companies.

"Sarah is quick to respond to emails and alerts reporters when big news is coming and that makes is so much easier to cover a company the size of HP," one reporter said.

Pompei cut her teeth in political PR, working on Meg Whitman's gubernatorial campaign. on Mitt Romney's presidential campaign and for the Republican Majority Whip.

"Ethan Chernofsky is one of the smartest, nicest PR people in the business," one journalist declared.

His company, Headline Media, does PR for some of Israel's most talked-about companies including PlayBuzz, IronSource, LightTricks and Wix.

He'll also cheerfully orchestrate an introduction between a journalist and a company he doesn't represent.

When not doing PR for Israel's burgeoning tech industry, Chernofsky and Headline Media do work for the Israeli government and for international non-profit organizations like Unicef.

Jenny Edelston is probably best known in the tech world for representing Infor, the software company run by former Oracle president Charles Phillips.

But her firm, Ruder Finn, actually has a long list of other big names like Cisco, Johnson & Johnson, McDonald's, and others.

Finn earns kudos by reporters for "thinking like a journalist" sending individual pitches that are "really, really good," according to one editor.

Michael Selvidge landed at Applovin in 2014 right about when the startup raised a $4 million seed.

The company is known in the Valley for its "We're hiring" billboards plastered all over the area.

The company is known to tech reporters because Selvidge is "very personable" and is a great source for all types of stories.

Mike Barash founded Knock Twice in 2010 after learning the ropes at a number of top tier PR firms (SutherlandGold Group, Atomic PR, Ketchum, Outcast).

His company has worked with clients like Big Switch, Imgur, Github, and Google.

"He understands the value of personal relationships and does not pitch inappropriate startups," one editor praised.

Eitan Bencuya is liked by tech journalists for being, "just an all-around nice guy," one told us.

He cut his teeth doing PR for Google for five years, then did a stint at Sierra Club.

He's back in the tech world with food delivery service DoorDash.

The marketing manager at one of the VCs that backed this startup told us, "Eitan is among the most thoughtful people I know. This translates into being able to develop creative strategies that are practical to execute and yield real results."

"Larry Yu is a class act," one reporter told us.

He learned his craft doing PR for some of the biggest names in the Valley, starting at Google before being poached by Facebook. He was one of the leaders that grew Facebook's communications team.

Today, working for VC firm Accel, he prides himself on helping young companies benefit from the lessons he learned at Google and Facebook.

Nigel Glennie handles a basket full of PR tasks for Cisco including M&A activity, legal crises, and emergency communications.

He was one of a handful of people that worked day and night for weeks to announce John Chamber's retirement and Chuck Robbins as the CEO-designate earlier this year.

He's also "a nice guy that really tries to help reporters get a fair and accurate story," one reporter says.

The Australian-born Glennie is also paying it forward as a member of the International Association of Business Communicators Global Ethics Committee, a topic he says "near and dear to my heart (and should be for professional communicators everywhere.)"

Reporters who work regularly with Chris Dale know him as a "a good guy" with "a distinct sartorial style." (He often wears a bowtie, although not in this picture!)

Dale has been with Google for 7 years. Growing up, he thought he was going to be a lot of professions (lawyer, artist, poet), the story goes. Instead, he studied English Lit and eventually landed in PR where he could marry his interests: writing and tech.

Google recruited him via LinkedIn in 2007 and he's been repeatedly praised for what's been called his "nerdy-chic" fashion sense.

Gina Scigliano has been with Google PR since 2007, working with Adwords, consumer products, Android, and Google Maps.

But earlier this year she but moved up to the corporate team, one of a handful of people that handle PR for executives and corporate news.

"She, in particular, is fast and responsive and friendly," one reporter told us.

Brooke Hammerling is a well respected PR person on both coasts, but is downright legendary to the tech community in New York.

One reporter put it mildly, "Brooke is helpful and very well-connected."

She and her team at Brew "know when to pitch you and what to pitch you." That's all any reporter could ask for from PR pro.

Matt McLernon has been with YouTube PR for nearly five years, and lately he's focused on YouTube's efforts around music, a major emphasis for Google's video-sharing site.

Reporters think of him as "helpful rather than obstructive," which is high praise, especially when a reporter is working on a controversial story.

The popular home-rental site Airbnb has had its share of battles with various authorities and incumbents frightened by its popularity.

Christopher Nulty has been spreading the word on how the company has been navigating the static. Nulty knows that as these stories break, speed is of the essence.

"I work with Nulty a lot and he’s always fast to respond and will pick up the phone," one reporter told us.

Brittany Stone is the kind of PR person that really gets journalists, and she was nominated by several reporters from different publications.

One of them raved, "You really should have a separate category here: run-of-the-mill PR folks, and Brittany. She doesn't spam 300 tech journalists with the same damned pitch, hoping to pick off a few lazy ones with a quota to fill."

This reporter added, "So instead of a dozen pitches from Brittany in a year, I'll get maybe 3 -- nearly all perfectly attuned to my audience. And if she misses the mark, I tell her, and she's back two days later with another pitch that's spot on. You know how often that happens [with other PR people]? NEVER," this reporter said.

Lindsey Green was nominated for this list by multiple reporters from major business magazines and a TV news program who couldn't say enough about her.

They told us that "she's smart" and "knows everyone" and "is also a writer so she knows what makes a good story."

Green is well known and well liked in the New York tech community when she worked at a variety of PR agencies (representing Medium, Of a Kind for instance).

She's also known for predicting what happened to "Mad Men's" Don Draper two years in advance.

Margit Wennmachers has been called the "Queen of Silicon Valley."

She co-founded the very successful Outcast PR agency before coming to one of the most powerful VCs in the tech industry, Andreessen Horowitz.

Wennmachers knows everyone who's anyone and then some.

Her role isn't classic PR these days but is more about finding tech companies to invest in and helping the company's portfolio companies figure out their marketing plans.

Pete Wootton is one of the spokespeople for Microsoft from its go-to PR company WE (formerly known as Waggener Edstrom), where he's been for nearly 17 years.

Years ago, Microsoft was slow and bureaucratic when dealing with the press but Wootton is not old-school like that.

He's quick to respond to email and phone calls and works hard to get a reporter fast answers to their questions. He was nominated by several tech reporters.

"A good one," one reporter told us. "Helpful, responsive."

Several journalists told us that Ed Zitron was one of their favorite PR people.

One explained, "He understands journalists and knows how to pitch without being overbearing or obnoxious."

Zitron is known for what he calls his "unconventional" approach to PR. ( Zitron wrote a book about it.)

One journalist loves it, telling us, "Ed is easily the most cynical PR person I've ever met. He hates his profession even more than journalists do. It's refreshing. I love the way he slaps his colleagues around in public. It's great sport. And he treats journos like human beings, which most of us are, most of the time."

Jessica Reeves leads PR for Google for Work.

She's been at Google a little more than five years, helping launch Chromebooks in 2010, a product that has since been really successful.

Once upon a time, Google struggled to make money at anything other than internet advertising.

Today Google for Work has a bunch of successful products for business users including Google Apps, Cloud Platform, Chrome & Android.

"Reeves is great to work with," one reporter said. "She's fast, helpful, friendly and a very nice person."

For years, Apple was so tight-lipped that its relationship with most of the tech press was non-existent at best.

Teresa Brewer, a leader in Apple's iPhone PR unit, is one of the people that helped change that.

One reporter called her "super helpful" and "a big advocate" for helping tech reporters work with Apple on their product reviews and other stories.

She's been at Apple since 2004 (and Sony before that), and previously did PR for the Mac.

Four-year-old Snapchat has taken the social media world by storm and with that comes a barrage of news attention, some good, some not so good.

About a year ago, the young company hired Jill Hazelbaker away from Google, where she was a top PR person, particularly around matters of crises and public policy.

She's doing the same for Snapchat and she's doing it well.

Reporters like working with her, with multiple reporters naming her calling her one of the best.

Ashley Zandy led Facebook's PR back in 2012, right before its infamous IPO, joining Facebook from top tier agency the Brunswick Group.

She was briefly poached away from Facebook by Alibaba, helping it ramp up for its enormous, record-breaking IPO.

Then Facebook stole her back to run its UK PR and today she's working in London handling PR for Facebook's EMEA region.

The whole time, she's had the respect of the tech press, one of whom tells us, that she's "very good at what she does."

Ashley Mayer was hired to be Box's one-woman PR team in 2009 at age 24, with only two years PR experience.

"I joined Box, and there were no corners. I had to do everything out in the open, with my successes and failures on full display because I was the only person doing my job. It was terrifying (and exciting)," she describes.

She definitely learned her craft because today she's uniformly regarded by journalists as one of the best PR folks in the Valley and always a "class act," one told us.

She's also pretty funny on Twitter.

One journalist calls Aaron Zamost the "Z man" and another called him "very honest and candid."

There are very, very few PR people that journalists think are "honest and candid."

He came to Square after several years of PR at Google and joined Google "despite zero experience in communications," as he describes it.

He also shared his methods for how to be a great tech journalist in a essay on Medium where he talked about his "clock theory."

Scott Dobroski came to PR after a few years as a TV news reporter, so he "really gets the job of being a journalist and how to find stories that people care about," according to one tech editor.

Dobroski is the guy behind Glassdoor's famous lists such as Best Places to Work and Highest Rated CEOs, which helped put Glassdoor on the map.

He's a go-to guy for all sorts of data and information about jobs in the tech industry and is known by reporters as a just a generally nice guy.

Frank Shaw is the go-to PR guy for the many, many reporters who cover Microsoft and he has been for a lot of years.

He's fast to respond and can quickly navigate Microsoft's labyrinth to find answers to any question, be it a product question or something to do with one of Microsoft's executives.

Shaw, a former Marine, joined Microsoft proper after years of doing Microsoft's PR from its primary agency Waggener Edstrom (which now calls itself WE).

If all that isn't enough, he's also "funny on Twitter and bakes incredible sourdough bread,"one tech editor raved.

A whole bunch of reporters told us Rob Shilkin is one of the best in the biz.

"He's always responsive, quietly works behind the scenes without grandstanding and is respectful in difficult situations," one told us.

Shilkin was an antitrust lawyer for 9 years, joining Google in 2007 to do PR for its Australia/New Zealand region. Today he leads Google's corporate communications team everything from crises, financial, privacy, legal, and M&A.

In the past year alone he's handled stories ranging from the right to be forgotten in Europe to new advertising offerings to grow the company's $60 billion advertising business.

It's been quite the year for Twitter what with the resignation of its CEO and the long-drawn our search for a new one that brought Jack Dorsey back.

Jim Prosser has been the man fielding endless queries from reporters about it all, and doing so with grace and fairness.

One editor told us, "Jim is good people. He's responsive and a straight-shooter, doesn't play games."

Another praised, "Jim always responds quickly, has exhibited grace under pressure, is fair with his pushback when he has it."

He joined Twitter in 2012 and helped with its blockbuster IPO the next year.

He came to Twitter from Google where he handled PR for such weighty matters as Android patent litigation including the $6 billion lawsuit with Oracle.