Pocket Outdoor Media Hires Two Leaders from Now-Defunct Powder Magazine
Powder magazine shut down operations and effectively folded this fall. Two former leaders from the snow sports title have now joined Pocket Outdoor Media.
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Colorado-based active lifestyle publisher Pocket Outdoor Media announced today that its rapidly growing team has gained two new members: Micah Abrams and Sierra Shafer, formerly of A360 Media.
Abrams—who joins Pocket to supervise editorial strategy for Warren Miller Entertainment and SKI magazine—oversaw content strategy for Adventure Sports Network, A360’s sports and fitness portfolio, for the last four years, a role that included management of Powder, Surfer, and Bike magazines, among others. Shafer, who will become the new editor-in-chief of SKI, served as Powder‘s editor-in-chief for the last two years.
The move comes as several prominent titles under A360 Media, including Powder, face an uncertain future. This fall, Powder, along with sister publications Snowboarder, Surfer, and Bike, paused production and furloughed all staff indefinitely without pay. Many have questioned whether the titles are gone for good.
“The playing field for enthusiast media is an entirely different game than it was even five years ago,” said Abrams in a release published today. “POM is moving in all the right directions by putting audiences at the center of both its growth and its revenue strategies, and I couldn’t be more excited to join their team. It’s an incredible privilege to come back to Warren Miller Entertainment and to help reimagine SKI, one of outdoor media’s most venerable titles.”
Pocket CEO Robin Thurston said that hiring Abrams and Shafer “furthers [the company’s] commitment to artful storytelling as our north star.”
Abrams and Shafer will be instrumental in growing membership for Active Pass, Pocket’s subscription membership program that includes benefits like event registrations, training plans, and premium content.
In January, the SKI magazine website will relaunch on a new platform and join the Active Pass program.