12 July 2006

Like an IT journo dream team...

We've managed to secure a bit of a scoop on VNU’s podcasts, webinars and Bryan Glick. Here's everything you need to know:

More changes at Computing, where managing editor Bryan Glick has been promoted to editor. In his new role, Glick will take overall responsibility for running Computing's online operations. According to VNU, he will continue to "work closely with" editor-in-chief Toby Wolpe, who will carry on editing the print edition.

In addition to running Computing's web presence, Glick will also become the editorial point man for VNU's B2B webcasting efforts at the company's new studio complex in Broadwick Street. In this new role, Glick will presumably find himself working with the editors of IT Week and CRN.

Robin Booth, publisher of Computing, suggests that Glick's promotion signals that "activity on the Internet has [now] been given the same status as [the] successful print publication".

One additional interpretation is that Computing -- and VNU's B2B Portfolio -- needed a senior editorial staffer to replace the title's now-departed technical editor Chris Green, who played a significant role in developing the company's approach to podcasting and web seminars. Green resigned from Computing in April before defecting to Dennis in order to launch IT Pro.

Curiously enough, VNU's press release doesn’t mention Computing Business -- the 35,000 circulation A4 monthly magazine launched under Glick's editorship last November.

In an email, Glick told us: "We drop an issue in August anyway, so there's no hurry. But I will gradually hand it over to someone else, as yet undecided, as work picks up in the new role."

Glick's redeployment looks similar to VNU's earlier rearrangement of editorial responsibilities in its consumer tech portfolio in December of last year. Those moves involved putting Rob Jones, formerly editor of Personal Computer World, in charge of online output across all of VNU's consumer-oriented web sites.

Simultaneously, Dylan Armbrust, editor of Computeractive, was promoted to editor-in-chief of VNU's consumer portfolio, taking on ultimate responsibility for both print and online platforms.




Now that’s plagiarism….full respect to Fullrunner….great service, nice people….

;-)

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sheesh. . . [Exhales]. . . Laughs. . .

Boys -- and girls? -- you're incorrigible.

Don't go changin', tryin' to please me...

Il Cavalier

Anonymous said...

How amusing.

I like your definition of a 'scoop' - an announcement that was press released a week ago, rewritten with press release quotes, and called a scoop. I can think of a few magazines you could earn a living for ;-)

Thanks for publicising the changes here at Computing - but there's a couple of things I'd like to clarify, if I may.

My new role is editor of Computing.co.uk, not editor of Computing - that job is still fulfilled extremely capably by Toby Wolpe. The two of us will continue, as you say, to 'work closely' on developing the brand as a whole, with Toby focusing on print, and me on the web, although I'll still be writing for the paper as well. The new job is designed to give the same editorial focus to the web as we already have for the paper. Watch this space...(or rather, watch Computing.co.uk).

We were all particularly amused by your 'additional interpretation' with regards to Chris Green. Much as I like Chris, you rather overplay his former role at VNU, I'm afraid.

I'm sure even Chris would admit that to say he played a 'significant role in developing the company's approach to podcasting and web seminars' would be rather stretching a point.

Chris hosted several web seminars and podcasts, as have other journalists at VNU, but it would not be fair on the many people more heavily involved in the success of these programmes to give the credit to Chris. VNU publications have so far run about 30 web seminars and more than 200 podcasts - that's a big team effort, which continues very happily since Chris left.

To suggest that VNU needed someone to replace Chris at Computing or across the B2B portfolio does again, I'm afraid, somewhat overstate the position that Chris had at VNU. Now that Chris has left, we have no plans to recruit a new technical editor for Computing. His former responsibilities, such as the monthly Data Business section, have been taken over by our features editor, Mark Samuels.

Beware over-interpretation. The new role I've taken up has nothing to do with Chris's departure. No conspiracy theories there - sorry!

Oh, and if you want to know which mags you should apply to, let me know, and I'll point you in the right direction...

....the world's leading.... said...

Jesus, Il Cavalier. Last time we cut and paste from you.....

Anonymous said...

What has it come to when a 'technology' publication does not deem it necessary to replace its 'technical editor'..??

Actually, I already know the answer - its all about 'solutions' these days, innit.....

Anonymous said...

Dear World's Leading. . .

Fullrun clarified the relationship between Bryan and Toby in our online copy after I got a call from Bryan on Thursday.

From memory, our chat seemed amiable enough. . . ;) IMHO, what Bryan was suggesting seemed like a small shift in emphasis -- but I could see why it was important for VNU, so we were happy to do it, no problems at all.

As for the rest of Bryan's post, well, you know, I'm tempted to say that context is nine-tenths of the law.

Last time I looked, the world was still on its axis...

Il Cavalier

Anonymous said...

Methinks the gentleman doth protest too much. I’ve listened to a lot of VNU podcasts since they started and as a recipient of the paper version of Computing its podcasts regularly make it onto my iPod. Now I didn’t listen to them all but every single one I have heard has had Mr Green on it somewhere, usually hosting the entire thing.

Leaving aside some kind of Clintonesque discussion of the meaning of ‘significant’ this smacks of sour grapes.

Anonymous said...

Dear David R,

No protests, no sour grapes, just the facts:

VNU has run more than 200 podcasts.

Chris completed seven podcasts at VNU, all of which can be found here:

http://www.computing.co.uk/podcasts/archive

And as you'll see, the last of these was in March 2006.

Regards,
Bryan