commbasics

Ann Mutschler is one of the most pleasant journalists you might ever meet. She has a sunny disposition, makes you feel like every word you're saying is the most fascinating thing you've ever heard and laughs at most of your jokes (as long as they're not dirty, because she is a lady, after all). In short, she's one of the most dangerous journalists you will ever meet. She can get information out of you that you would never give to a more aggressive reporter. She's been doing this for more than 15 years in the B2B tech magazine world and she knows her stuff. But the changes in the the world of journalism have affected her, as well. She was originally hired to back up some editors in Electronic Business and Electronic News on a part time basis. Now she's been handed the jobs of three or four editors that have moved on. Her work load increased exponentially when the EDN Network editors were given the mandate to start blogging regularly. What's more, she r...

In looking at the Advantage Business Media site, it give the impression that it is still a part of the Reed organization. which is probably an unintentional oversight. Advantage is actually a separate publishing house and not a part of Reed at all. Doing a Google search I found the announcement where Reed sold several assets to the new Advantage Media, last year: "New York, New York, July 5, 2006 – Reed Business Information, a member of the Reed Elsevier Group plc (NYSE: RUK and ENL), today announced that it has closed on the sale of its Reed New Product Division (RNP) to Advantage Business Media... "In all, Reed Business Information has divested 21 properties, which include Bioscience Technology, CED, Chem.info, Drug Discovery & Development, ECN, EITD (Electronic Industry Telephone Directory), Food Manufacturing, Genomics & Proteomics, Industrial Maintenance & Plant Operation, Laboratory Equipment, Manufacturing.net, Medical Design Technology, Pharmaceutical Pro...

This is getting weird. Interview with me and get a career change. Alix Paultre, has accepted a position at Advantage Business Media as Director of Business Development. This is a significant change in the editorial landscape. Alix has been instrumental in turning around Electronic Products and making it more than just a parts catalog. In this new role, Alix is in a management position in one of the newest publication houses in the business, formed from acquisitions of about a dozen Reed publications last year. You heard it here first.

This post includes and audio interview ( link ) with Alix Paultre, executive editor of Electronic Products of Hearst Media. Alix is tall, well spoken, always optimistic, a snappy dresser and a successful science fiction novelist. All of which covers the fact that he is a total tech geek. In another universe he'd wear horn-rimmed glasses, flooded slacks and white socks with dress shoes. He's also a very savvy journalist and he kicks off this interview with a well-aimed rebuke at corporate arrogance. Right now, Electronic Products is one of the few B2B publications that can be magnanimous with coverage of industries that don't support the free press. But if all you're trying to do is hawk your wares in his magazine, learn to live with disappointment. It's the big picture they are looking at. And getting covered in Electronic Products may be one of the next best things to having an Asian PR agency. Their partnerships with Asian publications is impressive. Check...

This week we will have another great interview, this time Alix Paultre of Electronic Products. but while I put the finishing touches on the editing I thought I'd make a small comment on the nature of media. I was in a meeting with a potential client today discussing the state of the media (what else) and the question that came up was, is the print media worthless now? And the answer is, no. What a lot of people don't realize is that the new media is essentially run by the old media. Hearst, CMP, Reed, Penton, BZ Media are all still publishing print publications and their circulations are generally holding steady, if not climbing. So let's be clear, media is still media, and to be successful, you need to spend time developing relationships with them and supporting them if you want to get covered. Remember, the market is a conversation. Ignore it at your peril.

I did the linked interview several weeks ago and it was actually supposed to be the first of the series. Then, CMP decided to do what it did. Marty was my first choice because he is the scion of an old newspaper family and has a vision for the future of journalism. He's an optimist in a sea of pessimists. And I think we can use that right now. Here's the link: link

I've been waiting for this one. Earlier this year, it was announced that Penton Media had been acquired by Prism Media.  Then a private equity investment fund sponsored by Wasserstein & Co., LP, and co-investors bought both and merged them into the largest b2b media company in the US.  Since then, the staff at all Penton pubs has been waiting for what was going to happen.  Yesterday, Penton announced that EEPN magazine will shut down after the July issue and its staff will combine with the Electronic Design editorial team. Mark David, most recently the editor in chief of Electronic Design, has been named the group editorial director. Joe Desposito will take over David's role at the helm of Electronic Design after serving as the editor in chief of EEPN.  That's good news on the component side of the tech biz.  Joe is one of the best. The bad news is that that's one less magazine to work with.  What do we have left for components?  ECN, Electronic Pr...

Here are the links to the last two sections of the interview with Brian Fuller, the recently resigned editor in chief of Electronic Engineering Times. Part One link Part Two link The quality of part two is less than the first. It was so large I had to do it in Quicktime. As mentioned, the interviews occurred at the Design Automation Conference in June 2007 in San Diego on the yacht Antigua. A week after the interview, CMP Media, parent company of EE Times, laid off 200 people, mostly editorial, with a significant portion coming from EE Times itself. One week after the layoff, Brian resigned. There has been a lot of discussion around the net and the water coolers in the Silicon Valley about a perceived conspiracy in all of this, especially against Brian. So I met with Brian, as well as laid-off editor Richard Goering and assistant publisher David Blaza in the weeks following the downsizing. I've also talked with several other EE Times editors and CMP corporate executives and ha...