Sidecut Reports

Now we know why we saw TMC chief Rich Tehrani and former pulvermedia COO Scott Kargman (separately) wandering the halls at WiMax World: according to scoopmeister Andy Abramson, the duo may have been doing some prep work for a new 4G event, with Kargman and former VON content king Carl Ford putting together a program to run alongside Rich’s ITExpo East in Miami, Feb. 2-4.

Since I have some recent history and past history working with Scott and Carl (before everything went kablooie) I can’t wait to see how Sidecut Reports might participate, at the very least as an active and interested attendee, alongside another quality TMC event from Rich’s capable crew. All aboard the 4G express…

As those who have been following the situation closely may have guessed, I am no longer doing active duty as editor in chief of VON Magazine. Since I have exactly zero details on what happened, I am not able to answer any questions about the current state of Pulvermedia, or the ongoing status of the VON.X shows or VON Magazine. What I can tell you is that there has been no activity at VON Magazine or its websites since March 21. And that going forward, if you have questions about the Magazine, websites or shows, they should be directed to Jason Chudnofsky or Scott Kargman at Pulvermedia.

Allow me to add my condolences to the growing list of folks remembering blogger and journalist Russell Shaw, who passed away last week. For those of us who covered the sometimes arcane topics of telecommunications and public policy, Russell could always be counted on to not just stay on top of the news (often linking to other blogs without any ego), but to give his readers the type of analysis that moves the ball forward. Not as easy as it looks.

And while he was clearly on the side of innovation and openness, Russell didn’t pull any punches or stay silent when it came time to knock down silly ideas — here is just one post that shows clarity of thinking in the middle of an issue where it was easy to get lost in emotion. It will be a quieter news room at VON this week, with one less sane voice in the mix.

Unlike some fast-to-the-keyboard types, I was waiting until the press release was official to let everyone know it is true — I am joining VON Magazine as Editor-in-Chief, effective pretty much immediately. Since the VON crew is busy packing things up for next week’s VON.x show in San Jose, I don’t have a VON-flavored email yet but you will be able to read more about what I’ll be doing there at Vonmag.com, going forward. If you want to try to get in touch at the show, shoot me an email here to kaps at sidecutreports.com and I will do my best to find some time to meet.

As for Sidecut, I will continue with the idea of developing long-form reports, and they will be offered here, independent of my work for VON Magazine. As you can see from our snappy new logo (thanks Mark) we aren’t standing still here either. Expect some news soon on our inaugural report on WiMax in the U.S.!