By Tonie Auer
DFW Chapter President

By now, we’ve all heard the news about Reed Elsevier shuttering 23 B2B pubs. I don’t think anyone is all that shocked any more. But, what does this mean for B2B publishing? Folio has its take and former ASBPE president, current TABPI president and editorial director of Hotel & Motel Management magazine Paul Heney has his:

“I think that this is one more indication that the b2b publishing world is moving away from being dominated by a few enormous entities. Our future lies more with smaller companies that truly love and believe in the niche(s) that they serve. Many of the Reeds of the world became little more than faceless earning machines for venture capitalists. Now the pendulum is swinging back toward favoring individuals who are passionate about mining or pharmaceuticals or engineering. This also serves to remind each one of us that a brand may be 40 or 50 or 60 years old, but nothing is too big to fail if editors, publishers and salespeople ignore the shifts in media habits — both on the reader and the advertiser — that we’re seeing today.”

Fortunately a few titles have been saved and maybe some others will be resurrected as well. Time will tell.