MARK TRAVIS
When did you work at the Insider? What was your title? I co-founded the Insider with Danielle Kronk Barrick back in ought-six. It was a simpler time, before she had three names, before “Facebook” and other “social media.” My title was “the guy who works with Danielle,” but only because she ordered the business cards.
What are your fondest memories as part of the Insider? We finished producing the Insider every Monday evening, and every Tuesday morning the team would meet for breakfast to ponder the question, “What just happened?” When we left the Insider, this dealt a blow to the North Main Street Friendly’s from which it is only now recovering.
What is your claim to fame with the Insider? I helped hire Sherri Cote as the Insider’s ad rep. Sherri is only quite possibly the best advertising sales agent ever. Of course she nearly killed me when driving to one sales call and swerving wildly to avoid a squirrel, but that’s another story. Plus I’m totally over it.
Do you have a favorite story you wrote or event you covered? Roaming Concord with camera in hand tracking reports of a Bigfoot sighting (youtu.be/p9lFQw2gIC8). Turned out that it was Concord Monitor controller Dave Sponenberg wearing a gorilla costume. Dave’s performance secured his reputation as “the poor man’s Brad Pitt.”
What word do you feel best describes the Insider? In-conceivable.
Are you at all surprised it lasted 10 years?I’m surprised it lasted two weeks.
What, if anything, do you wish you had done while at the Insider? Stayed.
Now be honest, how much do you read the Insider these days? Alas, only rarely, because I work in White River Junction now. (Come visit! Great restaurants!) I have gone from Insider to outsider.
What are you up to now? I work at a tech startup called Subtext Media, where my colleagues say things like “Kanban,” “Scrum” and “rake tasks.” It’s very confusing.
DANIELLE KRONK BARRICK
When did you work at the Insider? What was your title? In the dark void that was the pre-Insider world, Cruel Oppressor Mark Travis and I conceived of and birthed a publication that would celebrate Concord and essentially change the course of human history. My title? “Insider God” is probably most fitting, but if you wanted to get technical, you could say I was the Insider’s first reporter, then its second editor, then its second publisher (after Travis).
What are your fondest memories as part of the Insider? Roaming the streets of Concord (and the State House) with Travis, friending everyone we met and making our wildest, most ridiculous dreams come true on a weekly basis. Going to war on Concord, Mass., with Katie Henry, just because we could. Everything about ad sales queen Sherri Cote. Oh, and hanging out with the folks at the Concord Police Department.
What is your claim to fame with the Insider? Besides creating the damn thing?
Do you have a favorite story you wrote or event you covered? I don’t know if you could say “favorite,” but one story I won’t forget involved me getting into a small airplane with a local airplane enthusiast dubbed “The Red Baron” in order to experience stunt flying firsthand and then learning, moments before the plane took off, that he had only just recently taught himself stunt flying out of a book. I took my first-ever selfie that day, and it is titled “Fear.”
What word do you feel best describes the Insider? Sassy.
Are you at all surprised it lasted 10 years? Kind of. You mean it wasn’t all just a dream? Or like Lost?
What, if anything, do you wish you had done while at the Insider? Probably my biggest regret from my Insider days is (and I am serious about this) forgetting to bring a camera with me the time I went ice skating with then-Gov. John Lynch. He was a delightful companion and an excellent skater, and my hand-drawn illustration did not in any way do him justice. Governor Lynch, if you’re reading this, forgive me – come over for dinner!
Now be honest, how much do you read the Insider these days? So, uh, my excuses can be found in the response immediately following.
What are you up to now? After I left the Insider, I got married, got an MBA and turned into a bureaucrat. Oh God, it all sounds so awful! But despite all this, Travis and I still meet up to reminisce about Insider days of old – and to plot our next big adventure.
BEN CONANT
When did you work at the Insider? What was your title? 2010 to 2013. I started as a freelancer, got hired as a reporter and then seized the job of editor in a bloodless coup.
What are your fondest memories as part of the Insider? It is great to work for a publication that people love and soak in the recognition and appreciation when you are out in the community. I’m happy to continue that at my current job at the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript.
What is your claim to fame with the Insider? With the statewide controversy over whether municipal police departments should be using armored vehicles, we promoted our special Bearcat issue for weeks on end. When the big publication day finally came, readers were (pleasantly, hopefully) surprised to find a center spread featuring a cute lil cat in a fuzzy bear costume. I believe that is still hanging in the Monitor newsroom to this day.
Do you have a favorite story you wrote or event you covered? Keith and I had a pretty good thing going when we decided to judge every pizza place in town via a taste test. I’m still working off the calories.
What word do you feel best describes the Insider? Free.
Are you at all surprised it lasted 10 years?I’ll be surprised if it doesn’t last 100!
What, if anything, do you wish you had done while at the Insider? Looking back, I wish I had continued up the chain to publisher, jacked up my own salary to an astronomical rate, and retired after a year or two of raking it in.
Now be honest, how much do you read the Insider these days? Every time I visit Concord, I go to Dos Amigos, add another stamp to my burrito card and read the Insider cover to cover.
What are you up to these days? I am the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript‘s beloved sports editor (as well as an ever-growing list of other titles and responsibilities that aren’t as fun). In recent years, I’ve been the subject of a local high school basketball star’s Celebrity Day costume, been acknowledged by our football team’s cheerleaders who held up a sign with my name on it, and nearly had to change my last name to “Mascenic” after a preseason bet with Conant High School’s rival school, Mascenic.
KEITH TESTA
When did you work at the Insider? What was your title? I worked at the Insider from Sept. 2011 to Aug, 2015. I was the Reporter from Sept 2011-Oct. 2013, and the Editor from Oct. 2013-Aug. 2015
What are your fondest memories as part of the Insider? Wearing red high heels at the office, getting my face painted like a zombie and having a police officer think I was driving myself to the hospital with a bloody head, blowing up a gingerbread house with a tiny cannon, getting mauled by a police dog at Bark in the Park … I guess just your typical ho-hum office stuff.
What is your claim to fame with the Insider? Helping to produce the first and only Insider story ever picked up by Deadspin – after we got to hang out with Matt and Luke Bonner when Matt brought the NBA Championship trophy to Concord. Red Mamba!
Do you have a favorite story you wrote or event you covered? It’s pretty impossible to pick just one. One of the most memorable – and perfectly Insidery – stories for me was an article I wrote about a man who held a wedding ceremony to marry himself after beating cancer – at the romantic Pit Road Lounge. I was also always a big fan of covering events that featured tasty snacks.
What word do you feel best describes the Insider? Cantamfluous. That’s not a real word, though. If I had to pick a real one, I’d say: “newspaper.”
Are you at all surprised it lasted 10 years? Of course not! The Insider is made of tremendously strong material built to outlast Twinkies and cockroaches in the event of a nuclear holocaust.
What, if anything, do you wish you had done while at the Insider? Spray paint “The Insider was here” on top of the State House dome. I climbed up there and gave it a shot one night, but it turns out gold spray paint wasn’t necessarily the smartest choice.
Now be honest, how much do you read the Insider these days? Every week – I usually grab my copy while waiting for tacos at Dos Amigos.
What are you up to these days? I’m the Communications Manager at the University of New Hampshire School of Law in Concord.
SHERRI COTE
What was it like selling ads for the Insider in the very beginning? Fun and stressful! It was a brand new publication and was not quite sure what the response would be from the retailers. Thankfully, they loved the Insider as much as me.
How did you get people to buy into the idea of the Insider? It was a popular publication right off the bat. It was fun . . . talked all about Concord and the information was useful.
Nowadays, the Insider must pretty much sell itself right? Of course!!!
What is your favorite part of the Insider? Seriously? I can’t pick just one! I do like the missed connections – hysterical!
What do you think makes the Insider so special (or sellable)? The fun stories you write about and the way it is delivered. Love the sassiness and truthfulness. You write about fun real things going on and dare to try the adventures you write about.
What one word do you feel best describes the Insider? Brilliant.
If you could pick an issue idea, what would it be? Any story ideas? You know what my story is, yet will not write about it. What do I have to do??
Who is you favorite Insider reporter/editor of all time? Hands down, Mark and Danielle. (Sorry Tim & John, I still have love for you.)
Do you secretly wish you got to be an Insider and do all the cool things we get to each week? Duh! Yes! You have all the fun!
AMY AUGUSTINE GRAPPONE
When did you work at the Insider? What was your title? I was the Insider’s editor from spring 2010 to fall 2011.
What are your fondest memories as part of the Insider? Smoking cigars, drinking whiskey and schmoozing with Concord’s political elite . . . And the fact that almost every issue made me see my hometown in new ways.
What is your claim to fame with the Insider? Concord went wild for my Hunks and Hunkettes issues. Justin Bieber has nothing on Jay Surdukowski.
Do you have a favorite story you wrote or event you covered? I liked our “Inside the Insider” issue, which explained the production process of the paper. I got to spend time learning how the plates were made and presses worked. It made me appreciate what happens on the other end of a deadline and how hard everyone works in the press room. I also liked our issue devoted to the invasive species of Concord.
What word do you feel best describes the Insider? Sass-factory. And community.
Are you at all surprised it lasted 10 years? Not that all – the Insider at its core is a community paper. Everyone loves it, and I always appreciated that it appealed equally to school children and old ladies.
What, if anything, do you wish you had done while at the Insider? I wish we’d expanded to other communities! It’s feels like such a scalable model.
Now be honest, how much do you read the Insider these days? From time to time but not as much as I should!
What are you up to now? I live in Seattle with my 4-year-old daughter, Briar, and work for a wild food company. I’m in the woods as much as possible gathering mushrooms, greens and berries to sell at farmers’ markets and restaurants.
