This week, we announced that long-time Petri contributor Russell Smith is joining BWW as our new Editorial Director. He is replacing Brad Sams in that capacity since Brad is off on a new adventure at Stardock.

I’m sad to see Brad leave, of course, though it helps that we’ll continue recording First Ring Daily each day. And Brad will continue supplying content to Thurrott.com in the form of The Sams Report and occasional posts. But I’m also excited to see Russell come onboard; though we’ve never actually met in person, we’ve been circling in the same orbits for years.

For those that don’t know him, Russell has been contributing content to Petri for over a decade, longer than anyone. He got his start in IT in the early 2000s, moving quickly from web development to Windows Server and system administration, and he has worked on projects for companies of all sizes, including large-scale Active Directory and Exchange projects.

We share a common history too. Like me, Russell got his professional writing start at Windows IT Pro Magazine, and he has spent much of the past 15 years creating articles, books, whitepapers, webinars, and other content for a wide range of clients. In fact, he was recruited to write for BWW by the same friend, Jeff James, who recruited me.

And like me, Russell is an avid traveler, though he’s already living my dream life overseas: Russell left the UK over 15 years ago to live in St. Petersburg, Russia. And after almost a decade there, he moved to Prague, in the Czech Republic. That these locations are both at the top of my personal to-do list is only mostly coincidental.

I’m very happy to welcome Russell to BWW Media Group. He’s a great addition to our team.

Thanks,

Paul