Peter Shankman
Peter Shankman (born August 6, 1972) is an American entrepreneur and author. He is best known for founding HARO; an online service for journalists to gather feedback from the public. Early life Peter Shankman was born in New York City. He attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts, and then Boston University. He was an only child and both his parents were music professors at New York University. Career Peter Shankman started his career at America Online as a Senior News Editor. He helped to found the AOL Newsroom and spearheaded coverage of the Democratic and Republican 1996 conventions. He then started a PR firm called The Geek Factory. He was the creator of Help a Reporter Out ("HARO"), a service for journalists which was acquired by Vocus, Inc. in 2010. He remained at Vocus until 2012. He has been a guest speaker at TedX, South by Southwest, Affiliate Summit, BlogWorld Los Angeles and New York, the Direct Marketing Association. Shankman is also an angel investor. His investments include Daily Worth, Namely, Pixability, Right Next Door, and Simplist. He has written four books on marketing and customer service. Advisory roles He sits on the advisory boards of several