Penton Media Announces Internet World Layoffs

Posted on August 31, 2001

Penton Media announced strategic initiatives for its Internet World Group. Internet World magazine will reduce its annual frequency from 22 issues to 12 beginning with its October issue which coincides with the Internet World Fall 2001 Event. Penton also announced that the reorganization of Internet World resulted in staff reduction, affecting seven employees. The magazine will continue to operate out of Penton's New York City office.

Penton Media also announced the appointment of Tom Halligan to the position of Editorial Director and Conference Chairman. In the newly created position Halligan will be responsible for guiding the direction of content throughout the three platforms of the domestic Internet World brand -- its events, magazine and online editorial.

Prior to Internet World, Halligan was Group Web Director of PlanetEE, the website for Penton's Electronics Group of magazines and trade shows covering the electronics industry. Prior to that, Halligan was Editor-In-Chief of Electronic Design Magazine and also served as the Group's Editorial Director.

``The decision was driven by two factors; to better serve the needs of our readers and to shape our business for the future given the current economic conditions,'' says Phil Ripperger, Internet World's publisher. ``As we demonstrated by our circulation increase to 225,000 earlier this year, we are committed to investing in the future of the publication and the brand, but we need to focus our investments on the areas where they will matter most to our customers; both readers and advertisers.''

``The fact is we are not about industry news -- that was already done by others and was proven unsuccessful. Internet World delivers in-depth insights to help its readers make better decisions, more quickly, and with greater assurance about their business technology initiatives. Publishing monthly actually affords us the opportunity to provide an even greater depth of insight to our customers,'' added Ripperger.