Time for the Next Adventure

Time goes by so quickly. It doesn’t seem as if so much time could have passed since 1995 when I first took a job with a small IT publisher in Loveland, Colorado called Duke Communications. I was interviewing for a newly created position to start the internet efforts for a new publication, Windows NT Magazine.

Little did I know that interview would turn into a 12-year career in emedia with the same company where I would experience a media revolution, two acquisitions (Penton acquired Duke in 2000 and the recent Prism/Penton merger), a new position and set of challenges every couple years, and a host of simply amazing people with whom I have had the honor of working side-by-side.

But now it’s time for a change … time for the next adventure. I will be leaving Penton as of March 30 to pursue my own initiatives (more on that in a later post). I want to be very clear that Penton did not ask me to leave and that this decision had nothing to do with anything negative about Penton at all. Quite the contrary, everyone at Penton has been supportive and professional and I have nothing but the utmost respect for the entire team there. I just felt it was the right time for a new set of challenges and to pursue some of my own personal aspirations.

I have been friends with John French, Penton’s new CEO, for well over eight years, and with Prescott Shibles, Penton’s new VP of New Media, for the last two years. Both remain good friends and I wish them and all my colleagues at Penton all the best in the future. The combined company has some of the brightest and most innovative emedia minds in publishing and I’m looking forward to seeing their continued success and rapid growth on this front.

Obviously this is a time of mixed emotions. On the one hand I’m sad not to be working every day with people whom I truly care about, but on the other hand I am very excited to begin a brand new chapter of my life and launch two businesses that I have been thinking about for several years now. I will not be leaving media and will definitely continue this blog and expanding the resoures available to publishers via this site. Much more about this in later posts, but for now I should stop rambling.

BTW, I’ll be speaking at the Folio Summit next week. Hope to see you there! In the meantime you can contact me here at eMedia Strategist.