Min's B to B articles from August 2003

Min's B to B archives from August 2003

101 CEO Klein Says 'Sell'; Deals U.K. Properties to Infoconomy.(101communications, Jeffery S. Klein)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... Faced with softer IT spending abroad, government tech publisher 101communications sold United Kingdom-based list rental business TargetFile and tech trade show XML/Web Services One to Infoconomy for an undisclosed sum. The privately brokered...

BIN Suggests Second-Half B2B Ad Recovery...(Business Information Network)(Brief Article)
August 4, 2003... Business Information Network (BIN) results--released last week by American Business Media and media measurement firm CMR--showed B2B media may be on the mend. (See chart below.) Ad pages were still in the doldrums through May (-4.36% YTD) with...

... As Publishers Weigh in on 'Correctness' of Category Results.(ad pages, spending data)(Illustration)
August 4, 2003... Sherb Brown, VP/group publisher at auto media firm Bobit Publishing, doesn't see a silver lining yet, as he takes issue with the BIN results. "I don't see a 20% increase," he said. While Brown admits that the vast auto industry may skew...

Leading Second-Generation Publisher, Charles "Chuck" Cleworth Passes.(Obituary)
August 4, 2003... B2B media mourned the loss last week of publishing pioneer and entrepreneur Charles "Chuck" Cleworth. He was 69. Cleworth, who died Sunday in Denver of causes unknown as of press time, started in publishing with his father at Cleworth...

Box Scores: Banking Books Pinch Pennies (-10% Ad $$$) in Miserly May.(ad pages and revenues)(Illustration)
August 4, 2003... Despite a recent bull run on Wall Street, banking and finance titles tracked by CMR were bearish in May as ad pages (-9.71%) and ad spending (-7.86%) ran deficits. Thanks to ballooning pension payments, Institutional Investor...

Electronic Books Fizzle in Miserable May (-11% $$$).(ad pages and revenues)(Illustration)
August 4, 2003... Stalled IT spending and a soft manufacturing sector dimmed electronic title ad pages (-15.68%) and ad revenues (-10.74%) in May, per CMR. Leading losers for the month were PennWell's Lightwave (-81.37%/-77.31%) and troubled Reed Business...

Editor's Note: Saying 'Goodbye' is Never Easy.
August 4, 2003... Socrates put it best when he said: "The unexamined life is not worth living." Following that nugget of wisdom is how I found my way to min. Conversely, it's what prompted me to pursue a legal career, and enroll this fall at Syracuse University...

min's "Most Intriguing Magazine Person" CALL FOR NOMINATIONS.
August 4, 2003... Deadline for Nominations: August 18, 2003. Know someone "Intriguing"? This October, min magazine will salute "The 21 Most Intriguing People" in consumer and b2b magazines. We'll showcase publishing executives with an uncanny sense of...

Stock Watch: Wall Street Bulls Leave B2B Behind.(Illustration)
August 4, 2003... While investors cheered last week's better-than-expected GDP growth in Q2 (+2.4%), they sneered B2B media stocks--as four finished up and six down with a near push from Dow Jones (+0.70% FTW, $42.33/-0.90% YTD). Topping the ticker were United...

Box Score: min's b2b Exclusive Review of B2B Group Publishers' 2003 versus 2002 Ad Pages/$$$: Run Rates Tracking Slightly Ahead of Last Year's Performance.(Industry Overview)
August 11, 2003... min's b2b's exclusive review of B2B group publishers returns with Part One of our ad page/revenue report for 2003 versus 2002 (see chart below), analyzing results from 101communications, Advanstar, CMP Media and Crain Communications, Inc. ...

Developer Publications: Winners and Losers YTD 2003.(Illustration)
August 11, 2003... Mirroring the depressed hiring environment in Information Technology, and cautious technology spending by businesses to artificially buoy their near-term margins, developer publications have not set the world on fire so far this year. June...

M2M Talks to Humans Online in September.(Brief Article)
August 11, 2003... The recently announced M2M Magazine from Specialty Publishing is not shying away from using that Internet machine to talk to its subscribers. According to spokesperson Peggy Smedley, the site will launch in mid-September along with the first...

Primedia Lowers Sales Target on Weak B2B Activity.(Brief Article)
August 11, 2003... Despite reporting an overall second quarter profit, Primedia (NYSE: PRM) lowered its full year consolidated sales target for 2003 amid continued weakness in its B2B segment. Company executives attributed the lower than expected revenues in the...

New Media Box Scores.(Illustration)
August 11, 2003... Entrepreneur.com showed the rest of the business press how it's done in June by registering nearly a 30% jump in page views when many b2b sites were hoping to keep their losses below 10%. Summer vacations and seasonal dips in trade traffic make...

KeepMedia.com a Boon to B2B.
August 11, 2003... Recently launched KeepMedia.com has gotten its share of general media coverage lately as the new pet project from Border Books founder Louis Borders that aggregates recent and archived content from 140 major print media brands. And they have...

Information Services Sees Movement Internationally.
August 11, 2003... At least two providers of information services have recently announced moves in either technology or holdings. The LexisNexis Group (LNG), a member of the Reed Elsevier Group plc , is planning to adopt a single technology platform to support...

Time to Start Preparing for an Uptick in International Publishing?(Brief Article)
August 11, 2003... Is news like that reported above a shrewd positioning move to prepare for the time when the international economy finally rebounds? Some observers suggest it might not be too soon to start planning for growth. Activity is already hot in China,...

Stock Watch: Solid August Trading Reflects Well on B2B Stocks.(Illustration)
August 11, 2003... Strong reporting in stock markets this week throughout Asia as well as Australia and New Zealand transferred well to Wall Street. Among B2B media, six companies were up and five down. Top performances included high-flying numbers from Reuters...

Min Magazine Seeks Info on Anniversaries, Redesigns.(Brief Article)
August 11, 2003... If your magazine is celebrating a milestone anniversary - or if you've reached a career milestone yourself then min magazine wants to know. We're compiling a list of celebrations in the annual issue of the magazine, coming this October. Please...

Box Scores: min's b2b Exclusive Review of B2B Group Publishers' 2003 versus 2002 Ad Pages/$$$ (Part 2): Run Rates Doing Better than Par for Last Year's Course.
August 18, 2003... The second installment in min's b2b exclusive review of B2B group publishers analyzes ad page/revenue performance for 2003 versus 2002 (see chart below), focusing on results from International Data Group, Pennwell Publishing, Penton Media and...

Food Service Publications: Success on a Silver Platter YTD 2003.(Illustration)
August 18, 2003... Performance among food service publications is echoing the nation's interest with dining out in this depressed economy. Stock prices for casual restaurant establishments are on shaky ground, and the trend is toward finer dining. Similarly,...

Ziff Davis Q2 Numbers Set Stage for `Meaningful Growth'.(Brief Article)
August 18, 2003... The Q2 earnings report for Ziff Davis paints a picture of a company back on track. Performance in its business-to-business holdings is, at this writing, working its way to the proper side of the balance sheet. Ziff Davis COO and CFO Bart...

Veronis Suhler Stevenson Holds Out Hope for 2004 Spending.
August 18, 2003... Anticipated ad spending for 2003 in the business-to-business marketplace may actually be comparable to projections for growth in all media, judging by reports from a range of tracking sources. Most recent of these indicators comes from the...

B2B E-Mail May Be Spam-Proof.
August 18, 2003... Don't let the negative hype about email fatigue undermine your own email and newsletter ad programs. While the rest of the dotcom world wrings its hands over spam poisoning the email marketing industry, B2B continues to weather the storm much...

Cygnus to Evolve iSource Business into Supply & Demand Chain Executive.(Brief Article)
August 18, 2003... Starting with its October/November issue, the Cygnus Publishing title iSource Business will begin publishing under the name Supply & Demand Chain Executive. Katie Brennan, Group VP for Cygnus Business Media, said the change ultimately was...

Movers and Shakers.(publishing industry appointments and promotions)(Brief Article)
August 18, 2003... Reed Business Information (RBI) has named William (Bill) McGorry Executive Vice President of its Licensing and Electronic Development Group. He will report to Tad Smith, president of the Media Division. Because of McGorry's promotion, McGorry's...

Min Magazine Seeks Info on Anniversaries, Redesigns (Deadline Aug. 29).
August 18, 2003... If your magazine is celebrating a milestone anniversary - or if you've reached a career milestone yourself then min magazine wants to know. We're compiling a list of celebrations in the annual issue of the magazine, coming this October. Please...

min's b2b's Exclusive Review of B2B Group Publishers' 2003 versus 2002 Ad Pages/$$$ (Part 3): Light at the end of the tunnel?(a list of the ad pages for several publications)(Illustration)(Industry Overview)
August 25, 2003... The final chapter in min's b2b exclusive review of B2B group publishers analyzes ad page/revenue performance for 2003 versus 2002 (see chart below), and focuses on results from Fairchild, Reed Business Information, Stagnito Communications,...

Banking Publications: Investor Confidence Still an Issue.(a list of the ad pages for several banking and finance magazines)(Illustration)
August 25, 2003... The nation's disillusionment about investments and stock performance over the past year seemed to take its toll on publications in the banking segment. The same goes for publications dealing with the bankrolling of smaller businesses by larger...

Primedia Appoints Martin E. Maleska CEO of B2B Group: Focus on Revenue Generation.
August 25, 2003... The new CEO for the Primedia B2B Group, Martin E. Maleska, will have his hands full when he takes over officially on Sept. 2. Maleska, 59, will have responsibility for Primedia Business Magazines & Media, Primedia Workplace Learning and Federal...

Congress to Meet on Postal Reform; ABM Encouraged by Findings.(the magazine industry is pleased with findings from the President's Commission on the Postal Service)
August 25, 2003... The magazine industry is pleased overall with findings from the President's Commission on the Postal Service, which issued its final report on July 31. But discussions on postal reform - including maintaining preferences for magazines in the...

CMP Launches InformationWeek Vertical Industry Network.(CMP Media)(Brief Article)
August 25, 2003... Looking to maximize the reach of its technology titles for both professional development of its readers and to support cross-title advertising efforts, CMP Media has launched the InformationWeek Media Network. The network brings together the IT...

Cygnus Business Media Continues Acquisition Strategy.
August 25, 2003... Cygnus Business Media's recently announced acquisition of the niche construction publication Asphalt Contractor magazine (circulation 10K) from Illinois-based Mercor Media is a further example of Cygnus' growth-by-acquisition strategy. The new...

Forbes.com's Jim Spanfeller Makes The Web Lab Pay Off.(a discussion of Forbes.com)
August 25, 2003... One of the things we've always liked about Forbes.com is its spirit of brash experimentation. Among the first to embrace novel ad formats like oversized rich media and half-page ads, the business information site also offered ad clients a...

Stock Watch: Blackout Doesn't Affect Good Publishing Numbers.(stock prices for several publishers)(Illustration)
August 25, 2003... Last week's blackout caused min's b2b to miss Stock Watch last week, but that did not stop some publishers from posting solid numbers. Three companies dropped while six were up (changes for the week for Jupiter and Scripps were not available at...

The next min's b2b: September 8.
August 25, 2003... In observance of Labor Day, min's b2b will not publish next week. We'll return on September 8, when John Masterton takes the reigns as the editor of min's b2b. [Copyright 2003 PBI Media, LLC. All rights reserved.]