American Business Media merges with Software and Information Industry Association

American Business Media (ABM) is merging with the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA). According to a story in Folio:, the merger was initiated by the SIIA but approved by the ABM board. ABM CEO Clark Pettit said that, over the long term, ABM would not have been financially sustainable.

“This was driven by our own strategic view of where the industry is going. Associations have to bring together the pieces of an industry needed to develop the business models of the future, and allow members to align with where their customers are going, not align the communities of the past.”

It means that business media members will now be mixed into a 1,000-member association that includes companies far removed from publishing, including the Stock Exchange of Thailand, TD Ameritrade, Kaplan Test Prep, Dell Software, Red Hat, the National Association of Electrical Distributors and Manufacturers Life Insurance.

ABM will remain as a unit within SIIA and for now the name is to be retained and the New York office kept open.

There is an interesting contrast between the way things turned out in Canada and the way they have turned out in the U.S.  Magazines Canada took a "big tent" approach,  opening up to  represent both consumer and business media. As a result much of the membership of the Canadian Business Press (CBP) decamped to join Magazines Canada.  As a result, CBP decided to relinquish its role as a member organization and restrict itself to running the annual Kenneth R. Wilson b2b magazine awards program. 

(The equivalent  to the Canadian solution in the U.S. would have been for ABM to form an alliance with the Association of Magazine Media (MPA). )

B2B association American Business Media reinvents itself

Networking and education are top priorities for a new strategic plan unveiled by American Business Media (ABM), the business-to-business magazine trade association. It is pursuing that, plus government policy and industry standards, research for member publishers and research to provide data for advertisers, according to a report in MediaDailyNews. It will also pursue new partnerships with other trade associations, more regional events, and new digital resources.

The two research initiatives will serve related functions. The first -- "research to know" -- will roll out new data-delivery tools to provide users with real-time business intelligence, including restructuring the Business Information Network reports. The second, "research to show," aims to provide publishers with data that demonstrates the effectiveness of B2B publications and digital assets as advertising platforms.

U.S. b2b publishers take significant hit on trade shows & events business

U.S. b2b publishers, like others in print, are feeling the recession both in depressed ad pages and revenue, but also in what had been a growing and hopeful part of their business -- trade shows and events.

According to a story from MediaDaily News, trade association American Business Media reported Monday that trade show revenues declined 18.6% during the first half of 2009: down 20.1% during the first quarter; and down 16.9% during the second quarter.

B-t-B magazine ad pages plummeted 31.6% and advertising revenues fell 26.1% in May vs. the same month a year ago, and the most recent month for which data is available. Through the first five months of 2009, B-to-B ad pages are off 30.3%, while revenues are down 26.3%, according to the ABM's Business Information Network.

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.

B to B ad pages in U.S. continue slow slide

The total year-to-date erosion of advertising in U.S. business-to-business magazines has been about 2.5%, according to a report from American Business Media. Pages dropped 2.8% in April from April a year ago. While reported revenue drops have been smaller, that is based on the assumption that magazines are staying on rate card. Accentuating the positive, Gordon T. Hughes II, president and CEO of ABM, pointed to other, growing revenue sources:

"As we move into the second quarter of 2007, the story remains the same. Print remains stable, while we see tremendous growth from events, custom media and of course, e-Media."

According to an item in MediaDaily News, among the stronger B-to-B print advertising categories in April were the architecture, design, lighting category, with a year-to-date increase in ad revenue of 14.7%; the pharmaceutical category with a 13.4% increase; and the resources, environment, utilities category with an 11.2% increase.

Canadian Business Press cuts membership deal with its American counterpart

The Canadian Business Press, representing about 42 publishing companies and about 170 trade magazines, has cut a deal with its American counterpart, American Business Media, to give members non-voting access to all the resources of the U.S. association. The arrangement became effective June 5.

ABM has about 300 members companies, representing about 5,000 print and online publications.

CBP members will get passwords at no cost and no increase in their membership fees (at least for now) and as a result, will have access to members-only products and services provided by the ABM, including "an extensive library of advertising and editorial research, white papers and webinars on industry issues."

CBP members will also be encouraged to serve on ABM committees and a new International Advisory Board, which will comprise several Canadian members and representatives from other countries. This initiative will provide all CBP Members with a "window on the world of business press publishing," says the CBP announcement.

It is also important to point out that the agreement in no way inhibits the ability of the Canadian Business Press to aggressively support the Canadian policy on Canadian ownership and content rules; and other matters related to international trade and the publishing sector, says the announcement.

(Interestingly, while this arrangement is clearly important to CBP, there is no mention of it on the ABM website.)

There's no business like the show business for U.S. trade books

For the first time, American Business Media, representing many of the U.S. trade magazines, has found that non-print activities have eclipsed print advertising sales.

According to a story in MediaPost's Research Brief, the face-to-face events industry (trade shows and events) is a rapidly growing, critical part of business media.

Trade shows accounted for 36% ($11.3 billion) of revenue in 2006 while magazines brought in 35% says ABM President and CEO Gordon T. Hughes. This is surpassed only by digital and custom media.

"As business media companies continue to move into a multiplatform environment, the industry is experiencing growth in three out of four of its major segments: trade shows, custom media and e-Media," he said.

"E-Media has grown... 22% in revenue over 2005, followed by custom media's 18% growth spurt and trade shows... at a 10% growth variance over 2005. Although ad pages and revenue for January 2007 showed a decline of 3.1% and 2.78% respectively, as predicted, the business media industry now represents $31.1 billion in revenues across all four platforms..."