John Reinan

Senior Director, Media Relations

Joined Fast Horse: 2007

Professional Skills:
A great writer and expert schmoozer. Knows how to work the phones and make a story pitch sing.

Path to Fast Horse:
Spent 20 years as an award-winning reporter and editor at seven newspapers from Alaska to Florida. Before that, was an investigator for the felony trial unit in the Anchorage district attorney’s office. But perhaps my most challenging job was selling vacuum cleaners door to door in North Minneapolis.

Community Involvement:
Board member of Franconia Sculpture Park. Former board member of the PUSH Institute and Linden Hills Neighborhood Council.

Key Insight:

When the material is good, a story sells itself.

The List: The 5 Most Recent Concerts I’ve Attended
2006: Steely Dan at Xcel Center
1993: Dwight Yoakam in Buffalo, N.Y.
1989: Jack Knife and the Sharps at the 400 Bar on the West Bank
1980: Grateful Dead at Metropolitan Stadium
1973: Rush and Blue Oyster Cult at North Dakota State University

My Hometown (And Best Thing About It):
Fergus Falls, Minn. Best thing: Home of the world’s largest otter.

I’m Famous For:
Knowing someone at every newspaper in America.

Very Few People Know That I:
Regularly bought donuts from a serial killer.

John's Professional Details

Reinan reported on marketing for one of the nation’s largest newspapers. Now he’s bringing his insights to Fast Horse, where he works with clients on media relations, web strategies and consumer-marketing campaigns.

As a reporter at the Minneapolis Star Tribune and six other newspapers from Alaska to New York, Reinan scooped up a closetful of awards for business reporting, news coverage and investigative reporting. He was nominated three times for the Pulitzer Prize, the news industry’s highest honor. As the “Digital Drifter,” Reinan was among the first newspaper bloggers nationally.

His front-row seat for the overnight demolition of the 200-year-old newspaper business model left him with a keen sense of the need for fresh thinking across the entire communications business.

Reinan brings a consumer focus and a bold approach to marketing, seeking to engage consumers deeply and convert them into brand enthusiasts. Lots of agencies promise out-of-the-box thinking; Reinan prefers to say that the box he thinks inside is really big. He still wonders why there aren’t video screens delivering marketing messages in every elevator.

In his down time, he reads everything he can lay his hands on, from business theory to crime thrillers, and plays standup bass in the bluegrass band, Eleven Teeth.