In Tesla’s premises at Norrmalm in Stockholm, IMG is celebrating its tenth anniversary.
The room is decorated in glittering silver and gold. The company’s managing director Annika Guldroth is dressed in silver for the day.
If it is to be celebrated, so be it. Bubbles and drinks – all non-alcoholic – are served together with various snacks and the event, or should we call it a party, breathes health and sustainability. Logical, since two of IMG’s publications are called IT health and IT sustainability.
From the small stage narrator Annika Guldroth in her welcome speech about the idea that led her to start IMG and the first IT channel site:
“I worked in a media house and felt that I had thoughts of moving more towards IT and digitalisation. Something I didn’t get much attention for, so I stopped, that’s who I am,” she says with a laugh and adds:
IT Media Group celebrates 10 years Annika Guldroth, CEO and founder of IT Media Group
“Then in 2014 I started IT Media Group – IMG. Since then, the focus has been on news, not a lot of gossip and other nonsense. The watchword is respect for everyone we interview and write about, we don’t chase clicks, what you read is completely targeted. Quick response and high availability are another matter. We also want to lift up the women, it is extremely male-dominated in the IT industry. All our employees possess curiosity, flexibility and courage”.
The idea of sustainability, which somehow seems to permeate the entire event, is reinforced by the fact that it has been chosen to place it in Tesla’s premises. As you know, Tesla is a pioneer in the production of fossil-free electric cars. Annika continues from the stage:
Annika Guldroth, CEO at IT Media Group
“The choice of location will not be directly worse because Tesla turns 10 years old in Sweden this year. So we have two birthday children of the same age in the room”. She then of course says an extra thank you to a number of business partners who have been with the journey more or less from day one and are still with us today.
After Annika has spoken, I have a one-on-one chat with her. She says that the media house IMG today operates eight news pages. They are the IT channel, IT finance, IT health, IT retail, the IT educator, IT sustainability, IT career and IT channel Denmark. The idea was to cover the entire Nordic region, but there are no such plans now, says Annika Guldroth. Sweden and Denmark must be enough.
The fact that you run so many news sites, all of which are niche, means that you can direct news to businesses as diverse as schools, healthcare and retail. It will be easy for readers to find the channel that appeals to them.
I ask Annika to bring up some good memories from the past ten years:
“It’s hard, so much has been so much fun, but I have to say all the times we’ve launched a new news site. It’s been fun every time. That the IT industry is changing is in itself fun and exciting. There’s a lot going on all the time. What we write about today, we did not write about ten years ago’.
It is equally difficult to answer the question of whether there is anything she regrets or would have liked to have done differently. After thinking for a moment, she says that she was often, not least at the beginning, very “herself”. That it would have been good to have a mentor or a sounding board. Starting a media house and running it is not exactly a small matter.
I will end by asking – because today is the tenth anniversary. What will happen in the future? What does the business look like today? Annika laughs when she answers:
“In ten years, I will probably have sold. If I get a good offer, I’m no stranger to selling. I am flexible and maybe then I would have started something else”.
As an employee – albeit on a freelance basis – at IMG, I would just like to say directly to Annika Guldroth: Don’t sell Annika. I find it extremely difficult to see anyone who would do what you do better than you. Thanks for the event and thanks for the chat.
By Matthias Malmqvist
Source: it-kanalen.dk
