Layoffs at Variety

A source tells me that Variety has laid off about a half-dozen employees who worked on video and sound production for the B2B magazine's website.
Regular readers of this blog know that Variety is my least favorite B2B site because of its cluttered design, strange taxonomy, etc. And the video section, called Variety Vision, tends to crash my browser as often as it actually plays video.
I'm always sad to see someone lose their job, and I hope that Reed Business has been as kind as is possible during this process. But I'll admit to finding some pleasure in this news. Maybe now someone will do some serious thinking about that site.

Podcasts for B2B

I'm not convinced that podcasting has much of a business future. I certainly don't see it as a major threat to radio (satellite radio, however, may someday deliver the death blow.) I tend to think podcasting's future is more likely to be as a form of personal communication, which puts me in about the same camp as Rex of Rexblog. At the same time, I've been adamant when speaking with journalism students, insisting that they master this new medium as soon as possible. (Students -- especially broadcast communications students -- who can't do podcasts are one of my new pet peeves. I have the same blood-boiling reaction to people who don't write but say they have "always wanted to be a writer." Or to students who say they want to be journalists, but don't blog, work for ohmynews or participate in other citizen journalism ventures.)
I'm a little less adamant about podcasting when speaking with B2B publishers...but perhaps restraint is not appropriate.
I've noted an ever-growing number of business-related podcasts. Someone seems to think there is a market here. And even if podcasts cannot be a revenue driver for a B2B publication, podcasts may be another way to expand the brand, serve customers and add to news-gathering capabilities.

More on custom publishing

I posted some of my concerns about custom publishing a little more than a week ago. And so far I haven't received any complaints from journalists who say they are pressured to write for such products.
I'm relieved.
Given that there may, in fact, be little for me to worry about, I read this piece about B2B custom pubs with little hand-wringing, hair-pulling or other forms of fretful behavior.

VNU discrimination lawsuit

Can this really be true? Can management at VNU's Billboard magazine be this paranoid? this silly? this out-of-touch? this racist?
Take a look at the story in today's New York Daily News that alleges Billboard executives were so worried about lawsuits that they got nervous when employees who were members of minority groups formed friendships.
There are more details here, courtesy of CourtTV.

Another reorganization for Primedia Business

Things are changing once again at one of my former employers, Primedia Business.
The B2B publisher will fold two existing magazines into one in a move that "Folio"magazine warns "runs the risk of opening up opportunities for niche competitors."
Primedia plans to combine "Catalog Age" and "Operations and Fulfillment" into something called "Multichannel Merchant."
Off the top of my head, this doesn't seem like the best idea.
First, I just hate the new name. It's too similar to Reed Business' Multichannel News. More importantly, the name is supposed to evoke the broad business of online and print catalogs, direct mail and telemarketing. But to me it seems sort of bland and unfocused.
Second, I'm always a little wary when a niche publication -- where success comes from having expertise in a small area -- decides to go broader.
I assume the rebranding is part of Primedia Business' larger effort to refocus its marketing publications as part of the Chief Marketer initiative. And I'm generally supportive of that move.
But I have to say I agree with "Folio" on this one. There's considerable risk here.

New boss at Vance Publishing

Vance Publishing -- home of such B2B publications as the Packer newspaper (where I was once senior writer) -- has named Peggy Walker president and chief operating officer.
The move may mark a turning point for Vance.
The family-run company has a tradition of home-growing its top executives. But Walker is an outsider. Most recently she was president and group publisher of the National Underwriter Co. Before that, she was an executive at Putnam Media.
Walker replaces Mike Ross -- a longtime Vance man who moved up through the magazine ranks. Ross replaced Jim Staudt, who started in the circulation department of the Packer. Most interestingly, Walker assumes the title that most insiders assumed would go to Bill O'Neil, who had been with the company since 1976. But O'Neil stepped down a few weeks ago. And people inside Vance tell me he left because he'd been taken out of the running for Ross' job.
As a general rule, one of my favorite things about small B2B publishers is the collegial, supportive environment in which workers can learn and grow. But there's a downside to any closed system: no new blood often means no new ideas.
Given the increasingly competitive nature of publishing in the Internet era, Vance's decision to look outside for inspiration may prove to be an inspired idea.