Cygnus Responds to AMT Exodus

Davis and O'Brien can put out PR statements all they want--it won't change the fact that the folks at Cygnus know the company is headed south, that the employees can't wait to get out of there, and that advertisers see the writing on the wall. The staff knows it, the clients know it, and the Cygnus upper management knows it. Folio's characterization of AMT as being crippled by the loss of 66% of its staff was dead on, and no amount of prepared statements can change that, as everyone can do the math. Advice to Davis and O'Brien: If you want to prevent this sort of PR nightmare from happening again in the future, stop mistreating your employees and start giving them the respect and pay they deserve. Because as we all saw today, they can always go elsewhere if and when you fail to do so--and if they can, they'll all leave at the same time.

Print pages grew 4%. Did revenue?

Amt had 2 publishers, Kathy Marr, and Greg Napert, and maybe 3 editors over its lifespan - one of them was Napert, the founding editor. Who's left there that's commited to the brand? Get real boys...your ship is turning into a submarine with open hatches.

that Cygnys even releasd a stament liek that, when it should have been obvious peopel would immediately call them on their lies. Whoever wrote that PR statemetn was asleep at the wheel...which is par for the course at this place.

Perhaps the person who submitted the opinion headlined "it's amazing to me" would do well to consult with someone at Cygnus for help with spelling AND grammar. The staffers who abruptly left Cygnus probably will have no shame when they start a competitive publication(my opinion of what will happen) using the experience and contacts they acquired from working at Cygnus.

Oh, I'm sure the ex-AMT folks will start a competing publication, but I hope it won't be like the "competition" to RV Trade Digest that former RVTD editor Greg Gerber started following his departure. What, you can't recall the name? That's because it's really made no impact in that crowded RV B2B market; a similar situation exists in aviation MRO, too.

Nice jab at us...Thanks. It really represents Cygnus well. Cheers, Wolfgang

Advertisers should be concerned. When defections of this nature occur, they usually reflect a lack of investment in the product which prompts the mgt and sales team to rightfully worry about future earnings. They begin looking for other opportunities and when the company itself is struggling (which is why there are no investments being made), those opportunites are best found outside.

The only advertisers who should be concerned are those who have members of the Mass AMT Exodus call on them. I don't know how you could trust those people. Does their defection reflect a lack of investment or a lack of good judgement on their parts?

As a former employee looking in from the outside wow what a BAD PR job by Cygnus. What do you expect this company changes things like the wind. Everyday is something different or new, oh wait not really more people are leaving. Nothing new there just the same old banter at Cygnus. Salary cuts and I'm sure they have tightened up on the sales like counting calls or something on a daily basis. Hey some more people left for other opportunities good for them. How many of you reading this are sitting at your desk right now and work for Cygnus? Are you happy or are you just afraid to leave. I say good for anyone has left for better opportunites. I would surely take a pay cut for a better work environment, hey look here I am. I left, I make more money now and well geez I'm happy too. GO FIGURE! Kudos to those guys. Oh by the way we know when managment writes these comments like "Cygnus is great" hey does a bear sh-t in the woods how great is that?

After reading the anonymous post titled, “Yeah, like the RV guys did?,” it appears as though someone at Cygnus needs a hug. The name of our competitive magazine is RV Industry News and you can check it out by visiting www.rvinews.com. In fact, feel free to compare the content, layout and design to what you see at www.rvtradedigest.com. We’ve made great inroads in the five months since leaving CBM. In fact, our first 60-page issue came out just a few weeks ago, which was well received by the industry for the meat it contained. And, it provided a nice comparison to RVTD’s 36-page March and 42-page April issues. But the comparisons don’t stop there. RV Industry News has posted 707 news stories to its website since Jan. 1, compared to RV Trade Digest’s 345. Our bloggers have posted 38 articles since Jan. 1, compared to RV Trade Digest’s 17. Yes the industry is taking notice. Our e-mail subscription list has grown 17 percent in the last 90 days. Online subscription requests have soared 56 percent since the first issue came out. So, if the folks at Cygnus think we have made “no impact in the crowded B2B market," I suppose they are entitled to interpret the facts any way they wish. The Cygnus staff may not remember our name, but I assure you they’ll hear it often.

This PR nightmare proves it. The juvenile (and, as Greg Gerber has made clear, quite inaccurate) cheap shot at RV Industry News proves it. The recent salary cuts prove it. The embarrassingly obvious followups on this and other blogs from Cygnus management plants pretending to be happy employees defending the company prove it. And pretty much every decision and PR release of the past several years proves it. And now F&W, Cygnus' sister magazine, has laid off 30 employees. If the workers at Cygnus want to keep getting a paycheck, they should really jump off that sinking ship NOW. And if advertisers want to keep making money, they should do the same.

While we always permit—and in fact encourage—an open dialogue and comments, personal attacks or slanderous comments may be subject to review. Please refer to the 'Info/Rules'.

In examining these and comments on the previous column about Cygnus, where slander runs rampant, it appears Folio's concern for slander only applies to its personal hero, of whom it knows little, apparently.

...as they are all provably true.

Take a pill. I'm not arguing with Folio about what is being said about Cygnus.

...I have found this whole Cygnus drama fascinating for months now. Every time the company gets mentioned on Folio, people come out of the woodwork in unprecedented droves to air their complaints about the company. This says much about Cygnus as a company--and none of it positive--but also makes it clear just how different the world is now than it was even ten years ago. Before the advent of blogging, workers had very little recourse when it came to publicizing the wrongs perpetrated by their employers. Now, tnat barrier is a thing of the past, and big companies like Cygnus should take note: If you screw over your staff, it's no longer a private matter. Outsiders--specifically, advertisers, readers and potential advertisers and readers--are now afforded an unfettered and decidely unflattering look at all the ugliness within a company's operations. All the mistrust, all the resentment, all the corporate greed, all the poor management decisions, and all the employee disharmony, are laid bare for anyone to see--and while it offers an amazing tool for workers to keep their bosses in check, that's not a good thing for companies looking to keep such things private in an effort to put forth a positive public face. And when members of those companies' upper management attempt to derail such threads by posing as contented staffers, it only makes the firms look that much worse (particularly if the efforts are as easy to spot as some of them have been in this and other forums). I would strongly suggest that Cygnus (and other companies facing similar problems) begin treating their employees better. A happy employee is a productive--and non-complaining--employee, after all, and the days when you can take them for granted with impunity are behind us.

"...when members of those companies' upper management attempt to derail such threads by posing as contented staffers" Why is the assumption always that anything remotely positive being said is a plant or disingenuous? Cygnus is a company of several hundred people and surely there are at least as many there that are content as there are discontent. Why assume that only postings of malcontents are genuine?

Gerbie, nice response! I see you registered cygnuts.com after leaving the company in November. Is that well-endowed, but feisty squirrel planning a comeback? We could use a few good laughs around here.

In response to "why" Let me take a shot at it: I understand why employees at Cygnus would post anonymously if they are angry...they'll get in trouble with the brass. I don't understand why anyone else would post anonymously. Post your names and all speculation of who's real and who's a poser will be eliminated. Everyone here is a professional (I hope), why not behave as such? Don't hide behind your computers!!! Additionally and most importantly you should all visit our band's web site www.audibledrynk.com and see where and when we play, join us at an A-D party, relax and have a good time. Don't take yourselves too seriously, life is too short for that. I do wonder why we got dragged into this. Cheers, Wolfgang

The reason people always assume the positive commenters are plants is that there are NOT a lot of happy people at Cygnus, and because there's very little company loyalty from staffers after more than a decade of their being so repeatedly screwed over. The morale at the company is at an all-time low, and a LOT of people are looking to leave. As such, the few times that someone comes in pretending otherwise, it's obvious they're plants because no one feels that way who is making less than six figures. It's as simple as that.

Because regular employees don't use words like "staffers", "disengenuious" and "malcontents". Regular employees would use "valued employees", "being honest" and "outspoken".

The beauty of America is that these men can leave a job position that has become rancid. They can go and do whatever they please whether it is becoming self employed, working for a competitor, or going into a whole new field. If Cygnus doesnt like this exdous perhaps they should change how they operate, treat people, honor workers efforts and create an atomosphere of appreciation. I am sure there is much finger pointing between MM, DD, Davis, obrien etc. The answer is simple....point at yourselves. It is difficult to accept the responsiblity that this IS, in fact, your fault. It lies at your feet. Anger at the people who left is just useless energy, it cannot be changed. So move on boys and clean up your own house and secretly admire those who left, wish them well. I believe this move wasnt easy for them either. It must have been intollerable for 4 men to leave their jobs. Bravo!

Been in b2b publishing my entire career, and funny thing, I noticed right at the start that Cygnus wasn't a company anyone was proud to be a part of. Proud of their magazines yes, but not Cygnus. And that is unusual for our industry. So many leaders of our industry were magnamimous; charming, but at Cygnus on all levels it was cut-throat. Point all the fingers you want, but we all know (or were told) that when Wasserstein did due diligence and rightly declined to purchase, PM was let go (Napolean complex), KB was let go, and the new non-publishing professionals Carr and O'Brien figured it would take a year to get it off Abry's hands (and they'd look like heros and make a killing to boot). So why would they have to cater to a group they looked down upon (a crowd of professional editors and publishers that indeed knew their stuff)? Pride in a company is an important asset, and there was (and apparetly still is listening to the bloggers) little of that to go around at Cygnus. And correctly there were some really fun talented people there. Those of us that left earlier are the lucky ones. It will take a long time, if ever, or a very low price for (or maybe print media will make a comeback ha ha) someone to take Cygnus off their hands. So empoyees leave, have left or stay and complain and feel bad they can't be proud of their company and never really could be. Very sad. How could it get better? Doesn't seem very likely...