Switchyard Media

Gary A. Seidman

SwitchYard was begun in 2007 by Gary after a 20-year career as a writer, producer, on-air correspondent and media executive.

Gary was a founding editor of MSNBC.com in 1996. He served as the Website's deputy editor overseeing all original journalism, and as its political director, coordinating online and television coverage with NBC News. Prior to joining MSNBC, Gary was a reporter, producer and news manager for CNN; an on-air correspondent and bureau chief for Reuters Television; and a correspondent covering Latin American and developing world politics and economics for Reuters.

One bit of employment trivia: In the mid-80s, Gary worked with Barack Obama in New York at Business International. The future president taught Gary how to use a Telex machine!

A recipient of numerous awards, Gary has reported from around the globe. His stories have appeared in The New York Times, The Economist and The Washington Post, among others, and he has written, reported and produced for CBS, CNN, CBC and NBC.

Angela Clark Hurlock

Angela Hurlock is a veteran of online journalism, with more than 20 years' experience. She is responsible for managing projects, production and client services at SwitchYard Media.

Prior to joining SwitchYard, Angie led the interactive and multimedia storytelling team at MSNBC.com. Earlier in her career, she was part of the team that started the washingtonpost.com and newsweek.com. Angie graduated from the University of Kansas, with degrees in English literature and journalism.

Scot Meyer

Scot Meyer writes about the convergence of culture, commerce and geography.

An intrepid traveler -- frequently biking and hiking his way around -- Scot has a keen eye for detail. His stories are laced with historical tidbits, musical references and the offbeat.

Scot frequently writes for The New York Times and Time Out New York, among others.

John Roach

From climate change and mass extinctions to human evolution and deep space, John’s writing explores life on earth and its place in the universe.

John contributes to National Geographic News, MSNBC.com and MSN. His words occasionally appear elsewhere on the Web and in a handful of outdoor and conservation minded magazines.

Gordon Janow

Gordon Janow is a founder of Alpine Ascents, an avid traveler and an experienced guide.

With an in-depth knowledge of the history and culture of the Indian subcontinent, Gordon has served as an expert consultant for The New York Times and Outside Magazine and has appeared on CNN, MSNBC and NBC Nightly News.

His articles, essays and fiction have been published in Outpost Magazine, MSNBC.com, The Times of India, The Himalayan Explorers Journal and the Raven Chronicles, among others.

Gordon has scouted locations and custom-designed itineraries for Alpine Ascents, including trips to Iran, Yemen, Mongolia and elsewhere.

Bill Briggs

Bill Briggs is a nonfiction author ("The Third Miracle," Random House, 2011) and a journalist for MSNBC.com, covering business, health and travel.

He earned seven national journalism awards for the Denver Post - and was part of the Post's reporting team that earned the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the Columbine High School massacre.

Bill also has written for CBS News, the Miami Herald, the Financial Times, and the Nashville Banner. He lives in Denver with his wife, Nancy.

Kristina Shevory

Kristina Shevory is a longtime freelance reporter who writes regularly for the New York Times. Her articles have also appeared in Wired, BusinessWeek, San Francisco Chronicle, Wine & Spirits, Investor's Business Daily and the New York Post. 

As a staff reporter, Kristina tracked Texas state politics at the Associated Press, covered business at the Seattle Times and followed the ups and downs of the oil and gas markets for investment guru Jim's Cramer's site, TheStreet.com.

Lauren Price

Lauren Price writes New York Magazine's weekly Real Estate Showcase and the Wall Street Journal's monthly real estate magazine, OWN.

She has written about real estate for the New York Times, The New York Observer, the New York Sun, the New York Post, Avenue, Haute Living, Orient-Express Magazine and New York Living. She has also writes extensively on travel.

Dan Armstrong

Dan Armstrong is a New York-based writer, researcher and data professional specializing in thought leadership for corporations, financial institutions and consulting firms. 

Dan has developed research – typically incorporating surveys, visualizations, interviews and stories – for organizations ranging from SAP and Oracle to the Big Four, Citicorp, Royal Bank of Canada and the World Bank. He enjoys scraping data from the web and presenting it via interactive charts, infographics and websites.Dan is the editor and co-author of several books, including The Derivatives Engineering Workbook, Tools of Risk Analysis and How to Free Blocked Funds.  Dan previously worked for The Economist, Ernst & Young, the Mainichi Newspapers and Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

He has an undergraduate degree in anthropology, an MBA from Columbia in finance and research methods, an MS in geography from City University of New York and additional graduate-level work in statistics and data mining. Dan blogs at analyzethis.net.

Ben Garrison

Ben Garrison is a design and graphics professional with more than 30 years of experience. 

Ben specializes in information graphics and has won numerous awards while working at major newspapers. He has produced learning visuals for companies all over the world and currently specializes in the concept and production of learning mats, which help companies align to solutions aided by visual metaphors.

He specializes in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop and also uses InDesign, Flash, Keynote, Power Point, Dreamweaver and more.

Ben holds a BA degree from Angelo State University. A long-time resident in the Seattle area, he now lives in Montana with is wife Tina, who is an animator. Ben is also an award-winning fine artist.

Daniel Lamont

After two decades shooting major assignments for Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, Der Spiegel and many other international publications, photojournalist Dan Lamont jumped full-force onto the digital band wagon, earning a Master of Communication in Digital Media at the University of Washington.

Now the President of Tatoosh Media, Dan produces multimedia communications for editorial, corporate and not-for-profit clients.

A frequent lecturer for universities and seminars, Dan sits on the boards or several educational and non-profit organizations. In 2010 he was a recipient of a Seattle University Journalism Fellowship on Family Homelessness funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He lives in Seattle with his three children.

Duane Hoffmann

Duane Hoffmann is a designer and graphic journalist with more than 20 years experience.  He has worked in print for the Seattle Times and Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and online for MSNBC.com. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Oregonian and The Economist.com.

Duane has earned numerous national and international awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Society for News Design and others for his information graphics, design and illustrations.

Besides his editorial work, Duane has produced information graphics used in trials for 15 years. His trial graphics have been used in high profile cases such as those involving Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dog.