Name That Company: Ten Names Insight Partners could have gone with for Ziff Davis Enterprise but failed to

By SDH It’s really unfortunate that, when Insight Venture Partners dropped $150 million to buy Ziff Davis Enterprise (ZDE) from Ziff Davis Media that they didn't think to change the name of the company to completely disconnect itself from the Ziffisms. You know it's ridiculous when new ZDE CEO Steve Weitzner has to go out of his way to post a letter to employees reminding them that Ziff Davis Enterprise and Ziff Davis Media are two different companies right after Ziff Davis Media filed for bankruptcy. Did we lose you yet? Stay with us now, we know it's confusing. We have no idea if the decision to keep the name was to not throw off advertisers or what but any smart ass knows, unless you purchased the whole company, it’s probably wise that you re-brand the piece you bought to not cause the current confusion that’s out there now with these two companies. Like we said before, Steve Weitzner and his underlings will always find themselves explaining to people that that ZDE and Ziff Davis Media are two different companies. With all that said, we came up with some names that we think would have rolled well for the new company. We guarantee at some point, their will be some kind of announcement regarding a new name, not because of this post but because it’s simply something that should have been done right after the deal closed but was overlooked. Here are some names (in no particular order) we think would be a good fit for the company if they are available for the taking: 1-ZDE Enterprise 2-IVP Technology Group 3-Insight Media 4-Insight Enterprise 5-eWeek Enterprise 6-IVP Media 7-IVP Enterprise 8-ZDit Media 9-ZDit Networks 10- Insight Networks

Mo Money, Mo Money! for Ziff Davis Enterprise, not Media

By SDH Ziff Davis Enterprise ruled by former CMP Media CEO Steve Weitzner said it got a cash injection from global investment group Bessemer Venture Partners. Weitzner says that the $20 million will go to work right away to grow ZDE via acquisitions, audience development initiatives and social media. We so wish he would use some of this money and re-brand the company. Why try to grow a business that shares the same name as the company it was purchased from which has since filed for bankruptcy protection. There will always be confusion between Ziff Davis Media and Enterprise and it will also hamper Weitzner's effort in trying to establish an identity for his company. Weitzner and his lieutenants will spend a lot of time explaining the difference between the two companies.

Ziff Davis Enterprise CEO Steve Weitzner to install some familiar faces around him?

-SDH According to a source, newly installed Ziff Davis Enterprise CEO Steve Weitzner who was pushed down and out at CMP Media, may be planning on bringing in some old faces from his old kingdom. This is a no brainer, CMP's Audience Development department was ran by former Ziff Davis employees who worked on the publications Weitzner now oversees. On another note CMP Media is still CEO-Less. However it was said that a new CEO could be announced this month. Will the new topper come from within, or outside? Another candidate just popped into our heads. CMP could very well do a deal to take over smaller competitor BZ Media and install BZ CEO Ted Bahr as its new leader. Bahr is associated with CMP by way of Miller Freeman Inc where he served as group president and member of the board of directors before that company was folded into CMP. Far fetched? Not really. This has to be the most secretive CEO search ever, if one is even in motion.

New Ziff Davis Enterprise boss Steve Weitzner announces new administration, gets creative with new titles

-BY SDH Just a week after being named CEO of Ziff Davis Enterprise, Steve Weitzner basically keeps things in tact and promotes within. In announcing his new management team Weitzner created a whole new title which is sure to roll across the B2B industry. He named an in house consultant at ZDE, Chief Audience Officer. Weitzner should get this one trademarked so anyone who wants to use it has to pay him. Anyway here is the run down on the new get down at Ziff Davis Enterprise. The restructuring will organize the company around brand awareness, demand generation and deep customer engagement-including white papers, e-seminars and virtual trade shows, live events, roundtables and summits. According to Weitzner, ZDE's "advantage in this fragmented market is that our customers are looking for partners who can help them with the bigger picture and with achieving their global objectives, rather than just another single source of leads, or banners or ad pages. To succeed in satisfying our customers and our audience, we need a new kind of management structure." So other than implying that ZDE's customers and audience weren't satisfied before he came on board, what other titles will pop into Weitzner's head. Where was he when he came up with the Chief Audience Officer title? Anyway we're still waiting for CMP's new CEO to be revealed. Weitzner Announces Major Management Restructuring [Folio]

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]

UPDATE: Former CMP Media CEO Steve Weitzner named Chairman/CEO, Ziff Davis Enterprise

So after being ousted from B2B media company CMP 2 months ago, Steve Weitzner lands at another B2B, Ziff Davis Enterprise (ZDE), a one time business group of Ziff Davis Media. For Weitzner he is back in familiar waters. However He should avoid bringing CMP to Ziff and try new and innovative approaches to grow the business. During his tenure at CMP, the company went through what seemed like an identity crisis. One of the first things Weitzner needs to focus on is establishing a whole new identity for Ziff Davis Enterprise. Perhaps a company name change and re-branding is in order to totally break away from Ziff Davis Media. So will Weitzner's appointment at Ziff result in a mass exodus at CMP Media? Who at CMP would head on over to ZDE to join the old boss? Adam Marder who was hand picked by Weitzner may end up joining his old boss. One thing’s for sure, Weitzner won't have the cash behind him to go on the shopping sprees he went on at CMP, so maybe he will have to look into growing ZDE via the organic route. -SDH Weitzner said, "The Ziff Davis brand has long been associated with continuous innovation on behalf of the technology audience and the marketers who want to reach and do business with them. Now, by melding the well-known strengths of the Enterprise portfolio with the lead generation machine built by Web Buyers Guide and the web development assets at DevShed, we have an unprecedented opportunity to serve technology buyers and sellers in this market. Insight has incredible resources both to assist with our internal development and further our robust acquisition program. I look forward to engaging and collaborating with our customers to exploit all of these capabilities." Steve Weitzner Named Chairman/CEO of Ziff Davis Enterprise, Inc. [Centraldaily.com]

Pushed out, CMP Media's former CEO Steve Weitzner lands at Rival Ziff Davis

We called bullshit when it was announced that then CEO Steve Weitzner was stepping down to focus on international business for CMP Media. This to us is just further proof that Weitzner was ask by his rulers at United Business Media to stand down with the option of staying on in created roll to save face. Since the announcement about two months ago, Weitzner seemed to have fell of the face of b2b earth never to be heard from or about until now. The man who once ran CMP Media to keep it ahead of rivals like Ziff Davis, has now popped up in the CEO spot at Ziff Davis Enterprise, the group sold off to private investors Insight Venture Partners for $150 million back in June. Weitzner replaces Sloan Seymour and will now rule over the brands he once competed against while at CMP. CMP will surely follow this announcement with an announcement of their own, hopefully naming a new CEO to run the show. Weitzner will have to work extra hard now, to try to compete with the market leading status at CMP, which he helped to build. Now who will follow Weitzner from his old house? -YOSH CMP’s Weitzner Named CEO of Ziff Davis Enterprise [Folio]

Are these the guys who will end up buying Ziff Davis?

-Shomari Hines There is a new media investing group up and running and they are looking for their first target? Could Ziff Davis which has been on the block for god knows how long, end up in their scopes? Or perhaps they are not ready to swallow something so big so soon? Well then maybe Mediabistro, another company rumored to be on the block is more on their side of the menu? Private equity firm ABRY Partners and Sundance Business Enterprises, a wholly owned subsidiary formed by David Nussbaum, former CEO of Penton Media, announced on Monday that they plan to identify and invest in b-to-b media companies and vertically focused online companies.ABRY has committed $100 million of equity capital to the venture, which it said should drive at least a half-billion dollars in transactional value. ABRY Partners, Sundance form company to invest in b-to-b media properties [BtoB]

Ziff Davis serious about internet ad sales, but are they as serious about selling themselves?

Shomari Hines Ziff Davis, the media company that has been on the block for years is showing the industry that it is big on Internet ad sales by appointing some guy named Phil Kramer to the over titled post of Sr. Vice President of Internet Sales and Marketing. Apparently though he is good at what he does and has the track record to back it up too. Nice and all but whats the deal with a Ziff sale? The company has been on and off the block for too long and and we're starting to wonder if the rumored auction recently was just that, a rumor? OK now back to this Kramer guy. "Over the past year, Phil has built a tremendous online sales, marketing and audience development team," said Sloan Seymour. "His leadership skills and technology media industry knowledge have increased our online business by 45%. Phil is a valuable member of our management team, and I look forward to continued growth in 2007 for the Enterprise Online Network." Ziff Davis Promotes Phil Kramer to Senior Vice President [PRNW]

Today is Ziff Davis day...hopefully!

Based on earlier reports, today is the day that the owners of Ziff Davis are expected to decide who they will sell parts of the company to. Of course they won't make that decision based on who will take care of their company, but who made the sweetest bid. The owners are selling off the company garage sale style in an effort maximize their take. Bidders still looking at parts of the company include Apprise Media and Viacom's MTV publishing unit. We are still puzzled however as to why Ziff Davis competitor CMP Technology isn't kicking the tires on Ziff. Lets see if the company will finally get sold. EARLIER: Will someone buy Ziff Davis already!

Will someone buy Ziff Davis already!

Ziff Davis has been on the block for as long as we knew who they were and they have yet to be even groped, kicked, sniffed you name it. Last year we mentioned that all or some assets of Ziff would fit great with bigger rival CMP Technology and we still stand by that. A CMP Ziff merger would solidify CMP's domination in the events, technology media sector. It would be a smooth task as many of CMP's current directors and executives did time at Ziff and are familiar with the products. But again such a deal takes money and we're not sure if CMP's parent company United Business Media would float CMP the cash to do a deal. The company has been on a shopping spree since CEO Steve Weitzner took over. Most of the acquisitions have been to fluff up the company's event offerings. For the current bust-up, the company is being split into the gaming group, which includes video gaming magazines and Web sites, and the enterprise division, which includes PC Magazine - once the biggest magazine tracked by the Publishers Information Bureau in terms of ad pages.Bidders still looking at parts of the company include Apprise Media and Viacom's MTV publishing unit. Quadrangle is said to have dropped out. Steve Weitzner why aren't you kicking the tires on this? [NYP]

Ziff still on the block, may sell this time around

Being on the block is nothing new at Ziff Davis. The media company has been on sale longer than we have been around to report on it. However it looks like talks are heating up again at the company and the search for possible interested parties looking to get their hands on some Ziff properties. Ziff is so serious, they hired Evercore Partners and Lehman Bros. to look at alternatives. The company has been slowly trimming itself into an online and events media business which is where the bulk of its revenue comes from. Earlier we laid out a scenario where rival CMP Technology, formerly CMP Media would go after some Ziff properties or all of Ziff, but this doesn't look likely as CMP recently spent millions buying another firm. read...

Could media rivals Ziff Davis and CMP Technology be on a marriage course?

Rumors have been running wild in the technology media circle about Technology publishing giant Ziff Davis Media being on the block. Reps for the company responded to the rumors by enforcing the policy many companies seem to have these days by not commenting on rumors. But what if the rumor were true, what would it mean to the technology media business, who would step up and bid for Ziff? One sweet scenario would be a merger which would keep current Ziff owners in play but on the back end. But which company would be a perfect fit for Ziff? We came up with what we think is the only good fit, CMP Technology formerly CMP Media. CMP is one of Ziff's biggest competitors and would fit Ziff like the king of pop's gloves fit his right hand. But how would CMP go about a merger with Ziff even if CMP CEO Steve Weitzner wants a shot at it? Would CMP parent United Business Media green light such a deal? Does CMP have the money to do such a deal? Well one thing's for sure. If a CMP Ziff merger were to take place, it would create the biggest technology publishing company on the planet further dwarfing smaller rivals like IDG and Cnet. A CMP Ziff deal can play out many ways. Ziff's owners may decide to sell the company off in pieces in an effort to cash in more. A very attractive piece of Ziff for CMP would be its events business which CMP has been expanding over the years. CMP already has the biggest events business in the tech publishing sector and taking over Ziff's events business would certify a monopoly.