American Business Media downsizes again, cuts recruiter

Recruiting new B2B members has proved so difficult in the current economic climate that American Business Media (ABM), the U.S. equivalent of Canadian Business Press, has let go the guy whose job was to do the recruiting, along with several others. According to a story in Folio:, American Business Media has now reduced its workforce by 40%.

The most recent cuts include president and CEO Gordon Hughes’ assistant, video editor Mark Flythe and business development executive vice president Nick Ferrari.

“Nick was tasked with recruiting new members, which proved to be too costly,” Hughes told Folio:. Over the last six months, Hughes said five other ABM staffers left the group and their positions “have not been replaced.” ABM currently carries a staff of 12.

“We’re experiencing the same difficulties all of our members are facing right now,” said Hughes. “We’ve always been a small operation, so any downsizing is difficult and emotional.”

Hughes said ABM will outsource its webcasting operations, which themselves were to be a replacement for its annual Digital Velocity conference; what had been a two-day, e-media-focused event became a half-day series of live webinars, produced at the association's offices. Hughes said other ABM events—excluding the Neal Awards, Top Management and annual meeting—will be produced in on-demand video format.