Sometimes it seems that the entire magazine-publishing industry is being bought up by the former executives of my former employer. Now Apprise Media, run by ex-president of Primedia Charles McCurdy, has agreed to purchase Canon Communications. The acquisition of the publisher of such medical-manufacturing titles as "Plastics Machinery and Auxiliaries" is Apprise's first move into B2B.
I send my "good luck" wishes to McCurdy, the guys at Red 7 Media, the team at Ascend Communications and all the rest of the Primedia exiles.
Primedia, on the other hand, is undergoing a "major philosophical shift" and turning its back on acquisitions.
Mr. Conley,
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of person is Mr. McCurdy. He was named, today, as CEO of Canon Communications succeeding Bill Colbert.
What can Canon employees expect?
Up until now Mr. McCurdy has been invisible to Canon's employees. especially remote ones like me.
Hi Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteI would guess that very little will change in your life. McCurdy's company actually agreed to buy Canon back in April of last year. So I would guess that he's been the man in charge, albeit behind the scenes, for a very long time.
I don't know McCurdy personally. But I will tell you this -- when Primedia was under the control of Tom Rogers and Tim Andrews, it was McCurdy that many folks turned to for leadership. Eventually Primedia dumped both Rogers and Andrews and put McCurdy in charge.
But once he took the helm back around April of 2003, McCurdy was unable to do anything to halt the decline of Primedia.
So what does that mean for you?
It means that you're getting a boss with some skills. But it also means you're getting a boss who isn't perfect.
And all things considered, that's a pretty good deal for the folks at Canon.
Good luck. Please keep me posted on what happens at Canon.