Tod Sedgwick just cannot stay away from newsletter publishing, although he also likes ducks, sermons, lumber, libraries, and politics.

In early 2002, Tod Sedgwick, longtime publisher of Washington multititle firm Pasha Publications (yes, he's the one who named his company after his dog), launched IO Energy LLC.*

IO Energy published a series of regional titles, all available only online in PDF format, covering the wholesale energy industry.

Sedgwick was bullish about the future of the company (NL/NL 8/16/03), but last fall he sold it to SNL Financial LLC (NL/NL 10/18/04).

"To move to the next level, we needed to be able to combine the information we published with database services and frankly we didn't have the millions necessary to create the necessary databases," Tod said. "So, when SNL came along, they are in the database business in real estate and other areas, it was a good opportunity all around."

(He did also note that a number of the energy trading businesses he hoped would be strong customers have gone out of business.)

"All of the employees of the company remained after the deal and I do consulting for SNL as well."

(Editor's Note. After you've sold the newsletter company you built from scratch the first time, it's probably easier the next time around.)

Back to just three newsletters

So, in early 2005, Tod is again publishing just the three titles he retained after the sale of Pasha: the b-to-Business Mailers Review, Synthesis (aimed at ministers seeking better sermons) and The Bird Hunting Report consumer newsletter.

From the last two titles, the firm is known informally as Wing and a Prayer Publications.

"I also keep a hand in the newsletter business by serving on the boards of Washington Business Information Inc. with Cindy Carter, the Swit family, and Atlantic Information Services with Rick Biehl," Sedgwick said.

Diverse "extracurricular" activities

Beyond that, Sedgwick is involved in a variety of activities. Hartpine Flooring is a family business utilizing lumber from land they own in Georgia. He also travels there to do "research" for the bird hunting title.

He serves on the boards of three non-profit organizations. One is the Civil War Preservation Trust. "In truth I haven't been a civil war buff, although as a history major it was something I thought I should learn more about," Tod said.

One of Tod's ancestors, Union General John Sedgwick, is memorialized on the battlefield at Spotsylvania, Virginia where he was killed by a confederate sniper, according to legend just after saying, "Don't worry, they couldn't hit an elephant at this dist--."

Another ancestor, Theodore Sedgwick, was Speaker of the House during the extended Jefferson vs. Burr controversy that followed the election of 1800.

"What they were interested in was my 'expertise' in direct mail marketing, hoping I could help them build their membership base," Tod continued.

IO Energy LLC did most of its marketing via e-mail. "I used to tell friends I was junk-mailer," Tod said. "Now I tell them I'm a spammer."

He also serves on the board of the Wetlands America Trust, the non-profit arm of Ducks Unlimited, where he's now involved in a lobbying dispute with Congress over the deductibility of easements granted to the trust for wetlands. "If the deductibility is slashed, it will be difficult for the organization to get donated lands to preserve. Really not of general interest," he commented.

Sedgwick is also on board of directors of the Folger Shakespeare Library.

In addition, he is active in the New Democrat Network, an organization dedicated to identifying suburban swing districts where moderate democrats could be elected.

On the day we spoke, however, he acknowledged that the chair of the NDN, Simon Rosenberg, was not going to be selected as the next national chair of Democratic Party.

Industry leaderpar excellence

Reflecting again on his years in newsletter publishing, Sedgwick commented that he doesn't attend newsletter association meetings often any longer. "I think I went to enough over the years."

We should note that, in addition to his attending meetings, Pasha Publications was a major supporter of the newsletter association, and Tod served as a board member and the Washington, D.C. chapter president and the national president. He was also a frequent (and popular) conference speaker.

In 1992, Tod was named the association's Publisher of the Year. That honor followed only by weeks a precedent-setting court decision prohibiting a subscriber of his from making photocopies.

The affable Sedgwick facetiously remarked, in accepting his plaque, "If there's anything to be learned from this, it pays to sue your customers."

Sedgwick is also noted in the industry for amount of money the Financial Times paid for Pasha Publications in 1998--an impressive $17.8 million.

He concluded, "The newsletter business was a great business to be in when you and I were in it, Fred, and I don't regret a thing about it."

A nice sentiment.

Sedgwick Publishing Company, 1901 N. Ft. Myer Drive, #402, Arlington, VA 22209, 202-337-8066, fax [phone], www.ioenergy.com

* At the time I told Tod that he went from a dog to a cat in naming his companies, commenting that my wife's cat's name is Io.

"That's an interesting thought," he said, "but it's not the case." He pointed me to Io Energy's website, where it stated, "Io, Jupiter's innermost moon, is one of the largest power producers in the solor system, generating more than 100,000 MW as it orbits through the planet's magnetic field. With extremely active volcanoes and a surface that is prone to chaotic changes on a daily basis, the management and staff of Io Energy believe the name Io truly captures the spirit of today's wholesale energy environment."--Paul Swift