Reflections from LEAP 2026: The First Big Signal of the Year It started before we'd even landed. Somewhere over the Gulf, I glanced around the cabin and clocked a couple of familiar journalist faces settling in for the flight, laptops already open, clearly prepping notes for the days ahead. There is something quite fun about realising your entire plane is basically one big pre-LEAP green room. By the time we touched down in Riyadh, it already felt like the event had started.

This week I sat down with two of the region's tech magazines, and it reminded me why I love this industry. Running a magazine today is a business first. There's real pressure to land the ad revenue, keep brand partners happy, and build out a packed events calendar. Teams are stretched thin trying to do all of it well. But underneath that pressure, the curiosity is very much there. The instinct for a good story, the interest in what's actually happening, hasn't gone anywhere.

A bit of pub trivia first. "Podcast" is a mashup of iPod and broadcast, a term coined by journalist Ben Hammersley back in 2004. It stayed a niche corner of the internet for a decade, until Serial exploded onto the scene in 2014 and suddenly everyone realised audio storytelling could hold an audience the way TV or film could. Then came Covid. Suddenly, everyone had a podcast, myself included. Mine was called Sandpit Diaries. At a time when we were all disconnected from one an

Every company is publishing content. Every executive has an opinion. Every consultancy has a report. Decision-makers across the UAE and KSA are scrolling past thousands of articles, posts, and newsletters a month, and most of it barely registers. Here's the good news: the brands and leaders who are actually cutting through aren't doing anything complicated. They're just doing a handful of things consistently, while everyone else does them once and disappears. The opportunity

There are events you attend, and then there are events that genuinely leave you energised. This month's Here to Stay: MEA Business and MEA Finance Resilience and Leadership Forum 2026 was firmly the latter, and I left feeling genuinely inspired by the quality of conversation in the room. I had the privilege of moderating not one but two panel sessions in the afternoon, which was a brilliant experience. Sitting in that chair, guiding the discussion rather than simply participa

I went to see Toy Story 5 recently, and if you know the franchise, you'll know exactly what to expect: warmth, heart, and that wonderful fuzzy feeling that stays with you long after the credits roll. This one delivered all of that, but it also hit a little differently. The story centres on a character called Lily Pad, an iPad, who is gradually pulling a little girl away from her toys. What struck me wasn't the message itself (we've all heard it), it was how they told it. Pixa

The Power of Reacting Quickly At King & Co PR, this week was another reminder that some of the best PR opportunities come from reacting quickly to the stories everyone is already talking about. The UAE’s new salary payment regulations created strong opportunities for one of our fintech clients to comment on SME readiness, financial operations and digital tools. At the same time, the GCC-UK trade deal opened the door for multiple clients to weigh in on regional growth, investm

Hotdesk is an on-demandco-working app, that is taking the region by storm, following securing Series funding. Jennifer Love PR...