Hi Walter,
Thanks for your contribution. Much appreciated. I'm glad you enjoyed this story. Knowing editors personally may guarantee your piece will be looked at in some cases, but I'm not sure it would help if the piece itself wasn't excellent and on target.
I don't know any editors who'd risk publishing something that wasn't right for their magazine or blog just because it had been written by an acquaintance.
This might interest you: https://medium.com/@austin.hackney/you-dont-need-a-name-or-influence-to-get-published-285335d9b1e9
Thanks again for taking the time to read and leave a comment.