All hail King Uphoff, Kinda!

BY SDH Our main man (in our heads of course) Tony Uphoff may not have gotten the BIG CEO gig at CMP, because his rulers at United Business Media came up with the brilliant idea to break up the company into four separate businesses. But based on 2007 proforma revenues ($178 million) for TechWeb, formerly CMP’s Business Technology Group, Uphoff has been running the biggest group which now means he will run the biggest of the four. So at the end of the day Uphoff still carries more weight than his 3 counterparts which is not necessarily a good thing. Wonder how many employees each company has? And will each company have its own CFO? Damn it this is so confusing!

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

Is it true? Will CMP Technology honor our choice for CEO?

BY SDH When Steve Weitzner was strategically demoted at CMP, we got over the shock really quick and began our predictions as to who would be named CEO. For a while we've said we believed the person would be from within the company. Ok so we threw around the idea of an outsider as well but our hearts remained with an internal candidate. We put together a short list of who we thought would be possible candidates for the CEO gig and some were OK choices and some were just not right for the job. But one candidate stuck out based on what the suits at United Business Media, CMP's parent company said they were looking for. The individual we decided would be the perfect choice to lead CMP was Tony Upoff currently CMP’s Business Technology Group president. Now we get word via Foliomag.com that a new CEO could be named before the end of this week and guess whose name is being thrown around as the possible choice? Yup Mr. Uphoff. It's a no brainer. Uphoff brings exactly what United Business Media CEO David Levine says he wants in the next CEO. So did, United Business Media listen to us? Who knows but we know you're reading!! If this information from Foliomag.com is indeed true, then all Hail King Uphoff!!!

With no contract at CMP, Steve Weitzner just may raid his old house

-SDH A touch of mystery still surrounds the sudden demotion and now departure of former CMP Technology Media CEO Steve Weitzner. According to new reports Weitzner was doing a good job at CMP and was well liked by many inside the company. So what was really the reason behind his departure? Was it orchestrated by the man himself because he knew he was in serious talks with the new owners of Ziff Davis Enterprise? Or was he a threat to higher ups and was getting too much attention, so the powers that be, asked him to step aside? As it turns out, Weitzner taking the top spot at Ziff may end up being a huge blow to his former company CMP. Weitzner reportedly served as CEO with no official contract, which according to a FOLIO source could lead to a huge poaching of CMP talent. After two months, CMP has not indicated it has any candidates to fill the vacant CEO spot. The company may just end up choosing from within. "It's unbelievable that CMP let their former CEO walk directly to their major competition," one industry observer tells FOLIO:. "You never see this. The fact that they didn't protect their business implies that he didn't have a non-compete. If he didn't have a non-compete, he also didn't have a non-solicit. They often go hand-in-hand. Who's to say he's not prevented from soliciting the best talent from CMP? That's bad management." You know, if all this is true, United Business Media CEO David Levin could very well be diciplined for this! Here in America, his job would have probably been on the line at this point. The Unusual Story of How CMP’s Weitzner Ended Up at Rival Ziff [FOLIO]

United Business Media CEO David Levin's life is just like any other media big shot, just way more boring

David Levin is the CEO of United Business Media (UBM) and more recently he has also taken on the title of Chairman at CMP Technology Media a division of UBM while they hunt for a new CEO. Most of you probably never heard of United Business Media, but it's a big media company in London doing big things. We were under the impression that all media execs live a certain life, consisting of, sun drenched vacations, chauffer driven luxury SUVs/cars, Private Jets and dipping in and out of the office during the week. But not David Levin, he even checks his own email, Holy Shit!!! -YOSH DAVID LEVIN’S WORKING DAY THE UBM chief executive wakes at 6am at his house in Richmond, southwest London. “I spend half an hour clearing the e-mail traffic,” says David Levin, “then have breakfast with my boys.” He takes the Tube into UBM’s head office in Southwark, arriving at 8.30am. “My days are gloriously varied: product groups presenting, events, evaluations, meetings with potential acquisitions.” He takes contacts to lunch at the Laughing Gravy vegetarian restaurant nearby. He works until after 7pm, then often has a trade press function to attend. “I have a well-used tuxedo.” About two weeks a month he will be travelling around UBM’s subsidiaries abroad. DAVID LEVIN'S DOWNTIME DAVID LEVIN spends his weekends helping to coach a mini-rugby team for under11s. He also likes to ski. Much of his spare time is otherwise taken up with extracurricular work at nongovernmental organisations. “It’s usually to do with development economics and the Middle East,” he says. “It’s important as an act of responsibility that you give back.” When he can, he also goes to watch Tottenham Hotspur — he has been a fan since the age of 14. “I used to stand on the Shelf in the 1980s,” he says, referring to the lower East Stand, home of Tottenham’s hardcore followers. “I dream of the glory days.”

United Business Media wants some Latin love

-YOSH United Business Media parent company of the still CEO-Less CMP Media Technology is expanding it's PR Newswire business. The company has announced that it plans to purchase a slew of Latin PR businesses including Hispanic PR Wire, LatinClips and Hispanic Digital Network. Great! So all UBM needs to acquire now to round out their audience is a Black PR firm and an Asian PR firm. "The acquisition of Hispanic PR Wire, LatinClips and Hispanic Digital Network is in line with PR Newswire's mission to enhance our multicultural services in the U.S. and internationally through a combination of organic development and acquiring leading companies," commented Charles Gregson, chief executive officer, PR Newswire. "The services of these companies represent a full scale Hispanic communications platform that runs the gamut from Hispanic press release distribution to news monitoring and online marketing. Merging this platform with PR Newswire's services will allow us to offer marketers and communications professionals unprecedented ROI for all their U.S. Hispanic communications efforts. These businesses are leaders in their space, and we look forward to welcoming them into the PR Newswire family." PR Newswire to Acquire Leading Hispanic Press Release, Clipping and On-line Advertising Services [PR NEWSWIRE]