It’s official. As we have been telling folks informally, and as reported last week in the Boston Globe, Xconomy chief correspondent Wade Roush is heading west to become editor of Xconomy San Francisco, which officially launched today. Wade, who has been working out of our Kendall Square offices since just after the launch of Xconomy Boston in June 2007, has become a legend in the New England innovation community for his great writing and reporting, and widespread knowledge of all things tech (and a lot more). He, of course, will be sorely missed. But we are extremely excited to have him open such an important new office in the world’s biggest hotbed of innovation.
But for those who fear Wade’s loss will leave a big hole in the coverage of New England’s innovation scene, take heart. For one thing, Wade will not stop writing about the region entirely. He will keep his finger on the pulse of things near and dear to him, such as Boston’s remarkable mobile technology scene. But, more importantly, moving here as Editor of Xconomy Boston is Greg Huang, our Seattle Editor since the inception of Xconomy Seattle in June 2008 (do you get the feeling that Junes are big for Xconomy?). As part of the move, Greg is also being promoted to National IT Editor. He is deeply knowledgeable in things tech himself (read on for his exemplary bio), and he has carved out a special expertise in venture capital, software startups, and big tech company strategy (think Microsoft and Amazon) as well. He has a different style from Wade of course—but I can’t think of anyone better on the planet to replace our intrepid chief correspondent. In fact, when he joined us in 2008, we were so worried that people might confuse him for Wade, we took the above picture: click on it for a larger version. New England is going to love him!
The moves really mark a return home for both Wade and Greg. As I mentioned in my post this morning about our San Francisco launch, Wade spent nearly a decade in the Bay Area before joining Xconomy here in Cambridge, MA. And Greg’s ties to Boston go way back. He has a Master’s and PhD in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT (Wade’s PhD is also from MIT, in the history and social study of science and technology—so we are trading one MIT doctor for another). Before seeing the light and becoming a journalist, Greg conducted research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab, and he has published 20 papers at conferences and in scientific journals. I helped him take the plunge into journalism in 2002. He joined Technology Review as an intern when I was editor in chief, and rose to senior writer. He later became a features editor at New Scientist magazine—also working out of Cambridge. Greg and I co-wrote Guanxi, our book about Microsoft in China, which was published in 2006. So we have worked together all over the world, in a sense. I am extremely excited to have him back in Boston. You can find more about him here.
One more thing: Greg also plays bass in an incredible band based out of Boston, Honest Bob and the Factory to Dealer Incentives—so he will be reunited after a long road tour! Honest Bob, by the way, was founded by a couple of guys who now work at Harmonix and Cognex, and has been identified as one of the original inspirations for our annual Battle of the Tech Bands. So Greg is, um, literally plugged into the Boston innovation scene.
Wade will still be around Boston for much of June, as he is an integral part of XSITE 2010 (the Xconomy Summit on Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship), our big conference this Thursday (get your tickets here!), and as he prepares for a cross country drive later this month. Greg will be in town tomorrow night through June 23, and will also be at XSITE. He will then return briefly to Seattle before moving to Boston permanently in July. We plan a party for Wade and Greg next Tuesday-so mark your calendars and stay tuned for details.
