Is David Levin the cancer that may be slowly killing CMP?

BY SDH Could CMP's problem be United Business Media CEO David Levin? Ever since he took over at UBM, CMP has been shaken up more times than one. When Levin took over UBM, soon after he made a visit to the CMP offices during one of the company's summer BBQs where he spent the whole time speaking with then CEO Gary Marshall and then COO Steve Weitzner. He didn't even walk around talking with middle managers or the rest of the work force. Soon after his visit, word came down that Gary Marshall left the company and Steve Weitzner would take over as CEO. Gary Marshall has since evaporated into thin air or something. Fast forward to almost two months ago, Steve Weitzner was also abruptly let go and has since landed at CMP rival Ziff Davis Enterprise. So what’s really the deal here? Is David Levin bored with his job that he has to go and stir things up at UBM divisions? How has CMP improved other than spending cash to buy into areas it wants to do business in? There is something about Levin that rubs us the wrong way. He is a spin artist. Saying that the restructuring shouldn't be taken as a sign that UBM plans to divest one or more of the separate businesses only makes you think that’s exactly what the goal is. Why is the former chief executive of a mobile phone software licensing company trying to fix something he knows nothing about, that wasn't broken to begin with? If something isn't broken, don't fix it, improve it. Some commenters on Foliomag.com, probably current and former CMP execs sum it all up lovely saying: How much will it cost to rub the CMP name off everything and get new signs, pads, business cards, etc etc. Months of analysis. For this. The rebranding costs will be significant. Does each "company" now start building its own HR department....it's own sudience development specialist...then another and another..... does the joeblow@cmp.com e-mail address go away?? This should keep "The Company-Formerly-Known-As-CMP" nice and busy while their competitors focus on their customers and businesses. How is this non-change going to increase their business? Basically, what this is all about is David Levin taking over as the real CEO with Scott Mozarsky as his on-site COO to keep an eye on the new "CEO's", operations and finances. The idea that these are really four independent businesses is pure spin. These are four operating divisions of a single organization with four divisional heads with the title of CEO. I presume that the great CMP brand will descend into the UBM corporate netherworld along with that other great corporate brand: Miller Freeman. There is also the small matter of CMP Asia and CMPi in Europe We think we're going to launch a "Fire David Levin" or a "David Levin is bad for B2B" campaign