Nine Lives Media Inc. Shrinks the Globe

31 10 2008

I’ve nearly completed my flight from Australia to New York. I’m blogging from 35,000 feet up in the sky, using onboard WiFi access that American Airlines is rolling out.

Sit on an airplane for a full day, and you’ll find it hard to believe that “The World Is Flat.” But Nine Lives Media Inc. does see proof that the world — especially the IT world — continues to shrink.

During the past week, Amy Katz (my business partner) has been working closely with our sponsors in North America and India. Meanwhile, I was hopping between three of Australia’s largest cities (Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane). Read the rest of this entry »





Nine Lives Media Inc. Continues the Ultimate Journey

27 10 2008

After blogging about technology events in Miami and Dallas, I’m spending the week in Australia (Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane), speaking at a series of managed services events hosted by Kaseya and Intel.

When I began my flight to Australia, I considered it the ultimate business journey. When I landed in Melbourne, I began to see the bigger picture: The real business journey is building Nine Lives Media Inc. with my business partner, Amy Katz.

Talk About Timing

Launching a media business during a US recession and a global financial crisis almost sounds reckless. But look around. Many great media businesses were born during times of economic crisis:

  • Ziff Davis launched in 1927 and survived the great depression.
  • CMP Media (formerly CMP Publications) launched in 1971 during a major recession.
  • And CNet launched in 1992, while the US was still struggling to emerge from a recession.

I am not suggesting Nine Lives Media Inc. is the IT industry’s next great media giant. But I’m proud to say we’re onto something here, folks. And unlike thousands of media companies that came before us, we’ve achieved global readership and global sponsorship — nearly overnight — thanks to the power of the Internet.

Still, we’re not resting on our laurels. Watch for continued enhancements to our three media brands — The VAR Guy, MSPmentor and Works With U — over the next few months.

Regardless of the economic climate, we look forward to continuing the ultimate business journey with you.





Nine Lives Media Inc. Heads to Australia

21 10 2008

As Nine Lives Media Inc. kicks off its fourth quarter, we continue to travel the world to strengthen our business, bolster our media brands and develop new relationships. This week Amy Katz and I will attend the CompTIA Managed Services Summit in Miami, Fla., then, I’ll be speaking at the N-able Partner Summit in Dallas.

Both of those efforts reinforce our channel-oriented media brands:

By the end of the week, we’ll avoid the temptation to head home. Instead, we’ll set our sights on Australia. There, I’ll be speaking at the Managed Services International Seminar Series, hosted by Intel and Kaseya. The half-day managed services summits include stops in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Aukland and Perth. Read the rest of this entry »