Good morning. Italian sauce company Prego just launched the Connection Keeper, a recording device that listens to your dinner conversations and uploads them to a portal.

It all goes back to an old Italian tradition called “stato di sorveglianza,” or as we say in English…“surveillance state.”

— Hannah Doyle & Syd Cohen

Today’s lineup:

Engineering and music creator Preston Summerow, aka PrestonGoes, exported his latest YouTube video at 4:30pm on a Friday. By sunset, he was watching it on an LA beach with 250 subscribers.

Catch up quick →

The goal: "I wanted it to feel like a bunch of friends hanging out watching a fun YouTube video," Summerow told us. 

That's exactly what it felt like, attendees told us. Apart from troubleshooting some technical difficulties with the inflatable screen—which fans said felt like “living inside a PrestonGoes video”—hundreds came with camp chairs and beach blankets.

What Summerow didn't expect: How wide his audience actually is. YouTube analytics told him one story—mostly young men watching his videos. The crowd told another—families with kids, 20-somethings, an older demographic all laughing at the same moments. A 55-year-old drove in from Washington state and two viewers flew in from Colorado. 

The takeaway? Live audience reactions can teach you something the analytics dashboard can’t.

His announcement video pulled 110K views before he deleted it post-premiere. A comment asking how the screening went collected 900 likes.

“It gave me confidence to mobilize the subscribers. Asking for help has always been a hard thing for me in general, and since the premiere I’ve felt a new wave of ‘people are down to show up,’” Summerow said.

Career education creator Hanna “hannagetshired” Goefft has built a following of over 500K in just over three years giving early career advice. Her boldest career jump yet: doubling her salary year-over-year by adding deeper perspective and a stronger POV to her videos…even as AI infiltrates her niche.

We talked to Goefft about how she did it →

“I don't think it makes much sense for me anymore to give you five interview tips, because you can go to Claude and get tips that are better suited for your situation,” Goefft told us. “But I can look across trends that are happening in the world of work and translate them into my perspective about how you can apply that to your career strategy.”

So far, it’s working. Here’s a quick snapshot of her business by the numbers: 

“Previously, my partnerships were just more focused on promoting a product,” Goefft told us. “Now, it's more focused on delivering a specific message related to the world of work.”

Bottom line? Adding perspective to her brand deals changed the quality and price of Goefft’s partnerships. Brands (like Adobe or LinkedIn) want to be packaged alongside tangible advice, not just one-note product promotion.

If you want more insight into creator salaries, sign up to receive our creator income report—releasing soon.

A note from the Press Publish LA team

These days, when we’re not painstakingly crafting the best Webby-nominated newsletter on the internet, we’re deep in the planning process for Press Publish LA: The Hollywood Creator Summit.

What goes into that planning? 

First, there’s the venue. Fox Studio Lot is home to The Sound of Music, Alien, and now…our summit. We know firsthand how a venue can make or break a live event, and we’re happy to report that our space will be as awesome as the programming (stay tuned for our first speaker announcement dropping soon 👀).

Then, there’s making space for the in-between. We know the most meaningful moments won’t just happen on stage. They’ll happen as all of you share ideas, connections, and creativity in the little moments.

Take ​​creator and documentary host Sam Eckholm, who attended Press Publish NYC. He spent the last five years trying to connect with a YouTube partner. It was at Press Publish NYC in September when that connection finally happened. 

If this sounds like the kind of room you want to be in, apply today. We have fewer than 100 creator tickets left. 

—Press Publish LA team (Syd, Hannah, Loz, Josh, Colin, and Samir)

Today, tech journalist Joanna Stern launched New Things, an independent news YouTube channel and Substack, after 12 years at the Wall Street Journal. Stern’s first video? A breakdown of her decision to leave the WSJ ft. a special guest: her mentor, Casey Neistat.

Why she left WSJ: “I realized I was really focused on these other platforms and not as much on the Wall Street Journal’s main digital and print site,” Stern told us.

Of note: Stern isn’t quite done with legacy media. In addition to New Things, she’s becoming NBC’s new chief technology analyst. 

“People underestimate that sometimes journalism can be a lonely job,” Stern said.

Stern wanted both a collaborative work environment with other producers and journalists and access to an older audience that isn’t as tapped into the tech niche on social media.