THIS PAGE IS AN ARCHIVE. GO TO THE HOMEPAGE TO FIND OUT WHAT TO DO NEXT.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. arch emisou panton
	Phil's Blogservations Tuesday, October 08, 2002 Posted by philgomes 6:57 PM A Publication Dynasty Remembered: What a &$#*ing week... First, Forbes' editorial supplement for the "digital age" folded, taking ten staffers along with it. Then today came tales of Upside closing its doors and Red Herring selling itself to itself in an incredibly shrewd gambit to get out from under real estate obligations. The New York Times and The San Francisco Chronicle offer further details on Upside and Red Herring. Plenty of bad news all around. I got an email from former Upside Associate Editor Kent German with the subject head "Bye-Bye Upside." Sad to see, since Upside offered an unusual blend of technology business reporting coupled with gleeful irreverence. I was looking forward to seeing how the magazine would take shape under the guidance of ex-Line56 editor Lester Craft. Now, alas, one could only imagine. On my last visit to Upside, I witnessed a stunning tableau of technology publishing deflation. My colleague Kristin Ely and I stopped in to pick up some copies of then-editor Jerry Borrell's excellent Silicon Valley retrospective issue. (SRI's CEO was featured.) When we walked into the lobby, we saw that the office was mostly empty. There was a large-screen, super-thin plasma television—easily $15,000 or more—on the wall. The TV was hanging about 30 degrees off-kilter and mewling out a static-filled Bloomberg TV broadcast. Somehow, in that moment, that entire display drove home what I always knew intuitively—that the bubble was an unsustainable fluke and that the inevitable correction had yet to run its course. However, amid all of this negativity, think for a minute about the dynasty that these magazines represented as a triumvirate of technology business publishing. Upside was founded by Rich Karlgaard (now Forbes' publisher) and Tony Perkins (founder of Red Herring) during a cab ride with William F. Buckley. To preserve this bit of publishing history before Upside's site shuts down: It was December 1986. The great William F. Buckley Jr. (yep, that one) had arrived in San Francisco to debate George McGovern at the Flint Center in Cupertino. Tony Perkins and I were asked to pick up WFB at the San Francisco airport and escort him to his hotel. WFB strode off the plane wearing a navy blazer over a navy sweater and necktie. It took us five minutes to load all of his bags and boxes--clothes, a small library of papers, magazines and books, and the newest Epson portable—into the back of the Cadillac stretch limo. Once inside, WFB leaned way back. "Tell me—what accounts for this miracle called Silicon Valley?" he asked. During the 10-minute ride, we talked feverishly of chips, software, Stanford, venture capital, the 1978 capital-gains tax reduction and wild-eyed, long-haired kids with dreams. WFB listened and nodded. At the hotel, Tony and I helped him with his bags. We had stepped off the curb when WFB came jogging after us. "One more thing," he said. "Is there a magazine where one can learn more about this Silicon Valley?" Tony and I shrugged our shoulders. "Nope," we said. WFB looked disappointed, but then suddenly his eyes brightened: "Then you must start one." - Rich Karlgaard, Sept. 19, 1997 This provided the seed from which Upside, Red Herring, and Forbes ASAP germinated. Karlgaard and Perkins also founded the venerable Churchill Club, Silicon Valley's premier public affairs forum. The Churchill Club is doing very well and I'm confident that Red Herring will weather the storm. Trust me...You wish that you had this kind of success rate. HOME | OBSESSIONS | FAQ | HEROES | CAREER | BLOG | CONTACT Note that the views expressed on this site do not necessarily reflect those of Phil's employer, its business partners, its clients, or anyone or anything that doesn't come from Phil.	ABOUT THIS BLOG This blog not only discusses PR and media matters, but Phil's everyday observations about a variety of topics. EMAIL phil[at] philgomes[[dot}]com SYNDICATE Feedburner ARCHIVE YAHOO! IM SKYPE WISH LIST PITCH POLICY MY PHOTOS www.flickr.com Photostream RSS Enter your Email Powered by FeedBlitz COMMENT AND TRACKBACK POLICY Comments and trackbacks are unmoderated, though I will delete the patently offensive ones. Any comments and trackbacks are the opinions of the individual writer of those comments and trackbacks, and not those of Phil Gomes, his employer, its clients, or its business partners. If you have a bone to pick, bug the people who wrote the comment or trackback.