Throughout these many years, with Bob Sann and at the Phoenix and on my
own, I continued to be an industry gadfly and policy wonk. I chaired the Voice
Division of the Information Industry Association and was a director for years.
I led the US Delegation to the Global Congress of Information Industries in
1993. I chaired the Interactive Services Association and was a director for
many years. I co-chaired the White House Roundtable for Telephone
Information Services.
My professional life and activism
© 2011-17 Peter J. Brennan, All Rights Reserved
In my current "corner office" I continue to seek
business opportunities, build alliances and
expand the interactive marketplace.
This is a good time to tip my hat to the
companies who I worked for and with that
supported me in much of that activism,
particularly the Phoenix and its owner, Stephen
Mindich. Much of it was self-serving of course
but when given the option of letting other
companies and individuals carry the load they
chose to do their share and that is commendable.
In the course of all that activism
I represented the industry's
perspective before various
congressional committees and
gave testimony at the Federal
Trade Commission and Federal
Communications Commission
and at dozens of state utility
commissions. I chaired
conferences and panels and I
spoke for audiences ranging
from the National Association of
Broadcasters to the National
Press Club to the Direct
Marketing Association.
Most of my time at the Phoenix was
spent working at Tele-Publishing, which
became the world's largest provider of
print and online personal ads. Thought
not a lawyer, I reviewed and managed
hundreds of contracts, successfully
processed several patent applications,
managed various litigation activities,
developed and launched new services
for radio, cable television and mobile
phones. In 2005 I left the Phoenix and
started my own business dedicated to
developing mobile services and payment
mechanisms. Though successful for a
while, the recession of 2009 has taken a
toll on those ventures.
Receiving a product award with Andy
Sutcliffe, one of the internet's true visionaries
With Reed Hundt, the first Federal Communications
Commission Chair to have a computer on his desk
Opening the Interactive Services Association
Annual Conference
What started as interactive audio
content on the phone morphed into what
we now know as the internet. It was
known variously as audiotext, telephone
information services, videotext, online
services, and eventually of course, the
internet. I started a couple businesses
on my own but eventually landed at the
Phoenix Media Group in Boston, where
I developed new voice, internet and
eventually mobile services over a
fifteen year period of time.
Since striking out on my own as a young man I have had many different kinds
of jobs. I put myself through college mostly working as a printer. In 1983 I
graduated with honors from SUNY Purchase, with a degree in American
Studies. I got a job in New York working for a man who would become a
lifelong friend, Bob Sann. Bob was a political media consultant with an
unerring eye for creating impactful television and an unerring nose for
bullshit. He taught me how to be a better writer, how to work on a deadline,
juggle competing priorities, how to buy time and negotiate rates.
The old Bell Telephone Company had just been broken up by the courts and Bob and his brother Burt recognized an opportunity to present commercial recorded content via the phone using local "976" and national "900" numbers. Part of my role in that business for them was to create programming and to develop relationships with industry colleagues, regulators and the media to foster a positive environment for the nascent industry.
The old Bell Telephone Company had just been broken up by the courts and Bob and his brother Burt recognized an opportunity to present commercial recorded content via the phone using local "976" and national "900" numbers. Part of my role in that business for them was to create programming and to develop relationships with industry colleagues, regulators and the media to foster a positive environment for the nascent industry.
welcome to PeterBrennan.com
We let off a little steam after a board meeting
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