Monday, February 28, 2011

Mail | Anyone know more about this memo?

Anonymous@11:15 a.m. has posted the following, and asks: "Any idea what this is about?"

Please join Gracia Martore, our division presidents and me on Friday, March 4 at 1 p.m. EST for a 30-minute, companywide videocast. We will preview with you an exciting, new initiative our company will launch next week to help further accelerate our transformation and growth efforts. Employees in McLean are welcome to join us in the auditorium on that day. Later this week, Corporate Communications will provide details for accessing the videocast. I look forward to seeing many of you then.

Best regards,

Craig

51 comments:

  1. When this popped up in my inbox, first thought: "What fresh hell is this?"
    Hoping for some intel here.

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  2. I see it's set for Friday. Maybe they're hoping there will be fewer of those pesky journalist types around.

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  3. Read My Boss's prior postings...The answer is in there!

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  4. They are planning on announcing how desperate Gracia MArtore was when she gave away $3.5mm in guarantee bonuses to 3 Pointroll employees, begging them not to leave the company.

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  5. I believe it has something to do with Gannett repositioning itself as a media brand

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  6. Welcome to the world of Rupert Murdoch.

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  7. My Boss' Murdoch tip was a long time ago. I'll have to dig it up in an hour or so.

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  8. http://gannettblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/gci-said-in-content-sharing-talks-with.html
    Seems like this would eliminate lots of higher-pay newsroom jobs in the Crystal Palace.

    Transformation is corporate-speak for "you're getting laid off."

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  9. 3:14 Wow: You're fast. That's the one I was going to search for. How'd you find it so quickly?

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  10. I wonder if this is the origin of recent speculation about a sale/spin-off of USAT?

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  11. Best regards, my ass. I can't imagine any good news Craigy could have for me other than his resignation. Unfortunately it looks like he's getting ready to release another whacko Crystal Palace "initiative" on us. We'll see.

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  12. It's probably a rollout of the effort to develop a media brand from the media company no one ever heard of. Why it's necessary is still up for debate.

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  13. "Initiative" "Transformation" "Growth"

    Same useless corporate buzzwords that usually mean more layoffs, more work for the remaining survivors, and more bonuses for the brass.

    Typical Gannett.

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  14. Content Two?

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  15. Mracia Gartore2/28/2011 7:13 PM

    The Bold Subscript?

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  16. What ever it is. It will fail.

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  17. They've decided to centralize all the customers. They will be relocated to timbuktoo and forced to design their own ads and write articles.

    This will solve the problem with the minons complaining.

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  18. 2:03's post about Gannett possibly repositioning itself as a media brand may relate to speculation a year ago about discussion of a branding campaign.

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  19. Thanks 7:21 p.m. for a good laugh! It's appreciated, believe me.

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  20. They've leaked various scenarios to different GMC members in order to find out who My Boss is.

    It's a trap.

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  21. My Boss is no longer with the company.

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  22. I like 8:14's conspiracy theory. It's like what happened in 2006 on Hewlett-Packard's board of directors. (And, of course, we all know how well that ended.)

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  23. Hey Jim @ 3:14 - I just used gannettblog "My Boss" Murdoch as my 3 searches on Google, in that order.

    Took less than a minute to find the right one.

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  24. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  25. My Boss is full of crap ... why not reveal what Hunke, Dickey and Resnik say the topic is for Friday's announcement?

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  26. 8:57
    I guess you have not been paying attention.
    MY BOSS is usually NOT full of crap !
    The layoffs that my boss predicted last yeaar are happening,slowly,but picking up speed
    and soon faster than you can say
    LET ME CLEAN OUT MY DESK FIRST !

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  27. 9:05: Come one? Who DIDN'T predict layoffs last year?

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  28. Topic:
    Gannett Final Solutions

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  29. Gannett worker cog #1285998753/01/2011 10:03 AM

    News 2000, The First Five Graphs, Content One, does this remind anyone of "Catholicism Wow!" in Kevin Smith's "Dogma? Is Craig going to hand out a smiling bobblehead of himself to all the worker drones called "Buddy Boss" holding a pink slip in one hand and a bonus check in the other?
    Do any share holders or institutional investors remember that Craigy and the other four failures are responsible for that $800 million debt payment due this summer that will cost a lot of us our jobs?
    How in good conscience can anyone pay them a bonus of any kind based on that poor performance? (rhetorical question alert, no one on the compensation committee would dare question the five wizards behind the curtain)
    I am pissing my self with anticipation of the announcement of "Content Wow!"

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  30. I really think everyone just needs to relax. Stop working yourself up. Go back read the memo... the reality is that it's not really that big of a deal. How do you get "new initiative = layoffs" I mean really?

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  31. What other solutions does the company have to resolve the debt payment?

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  32. Following is an edited version of a comment posted by My Boss at 6:51 a.m.:

    1. Sadly, 8:14p is correct. Between Dave Hunke, Bob Dickey and Josh Resnik, they have all said three different topics for Friday's meeting/webcast. Ms. Martore and the rest of the GMC do not realize that there are more than one My Boss and we all coordinate well.

    2. Ms. Martore is embarrassed by the events that have occurred at Pointroll over the last few weeks. In particular, paying a guarantee over $3.5 million to the top three Pointroll executives for 2011 to retain them has caused plenty of problems internally.

    3. USAT and GCI have met with bankers to discuss potential sale or spin off. So far, there is no interest in the USAT brand.

    4. Related to #3, Gannett has over $800 million in debt due this year (June/July) and will need to show improvements it their balance sheet and operations or they will breach certain debt covenants. Hence the read on for aggressive layoff's this year.

    5. "Womanizing in the workplace" has become a major concern for the Gannett HR department (and the GMC) as they have been receiving more than normal complaints from Digitalmcompamies. Recently on this blog there was mention of a [XXXXX] that has been accused of this behavior. This has created an company-wide notification to GMC members that this behavior will not be tolerated and will result in immediate termination. Pointroll is being investigated.

    6. Gannett still on track to reduce FTE's by 5,000 for 2011. There will not be another furlough this year, but will see an intensity in layoff's.

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  33. A Message From:



    Craig A. Dubow

    Chairman

    Chief Executive Officer



    I want to share with you an important next step in our company’s transformation. We have accomplished a great deal over the last several years, including expanding our portfolio and improving the many platforms on which we deliver our product.



    With today’s fundamentally changed, and rapidly changing, media landscape, we need to build on and accelerate the progress we have already made. Over the last several months, Gracia Martore, president and chief operating officer, each of the division presidents and I held a series of sessions to assess the changes taking place in our industry, take stock of our own business and competitive advantages, and plan the next steps of Gannett’s ongoing transformational strategy. An outcome of these meetings was an agreed-upon set of initiatives which, together, will help us identify opportunities to continue to grow our business now and in the future. We created a team of leaders from across all divisions and Corporate to pursue each of these initiatives. And, we agreed that any strategy, if it is to be successful, must be developed as one company, and driven as one company.



    We recently launched the next phase of this effort. Cross-divisional leaders and team members met to plan the work around a number of strategic areas of inquiry under the direction of Gracia, our division presidents Bob Dickey, Dave Hunke, Dave Lougee, Jack Williams, our CFO Paul Saleh and me. Our intent is to pursue them in an integrated fashion. This team will focus primarily on strategic, company-wide initiatives, but also on some specific divisional efforts. Each initiative is aimed at a particular opportunity such as content monetization and local ad opportunities. When combined, we believe these efforts will create for Gannett the agility and flexibility to act on opportunities as they arise and help define the future of our company.



    We hope to have an ongoing dialogue with you about this process, and you will hear more about our progress in the coming months. The changes in our sector are exciting and signal a new operating environment. We must be capable of moving forward strategically and yet quickly to pursue the right opportunities. This effort is geared towards both.



    As always, thank you for your continued support and commitment to our company.

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  34. http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobDetails.aspx?sc_extcmp=JS_JobAlert_Title&ipath=PSSGT21P&psa=1&Job_DID=J8A2NZ6ZBB8B6BW3Z9S


    STOP THROWING GOOD MONEY AFTER BAD!!!!

    HSS.net is a train wreck. Let it go, already.

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  35. The big Ten newspapers will have a name change.

    The Free Press will now be called the Gannett Free Press
    The Arizona Republic will now be called the Gannett Republic
    The Indianapolis Star will now be called the Gannett Star
    The DesMoines Register, Gannett Register, so on and so forth.

    Makes Gannett more of a brand.Just saying

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  36. How will branding help increase revenue unless it is related to sharing content between the 10. That would cut more jobs and increase their bottom line – exciting, I think not.

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  37. Is it true that one of the My Bosses was let go?

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  38. 6:18 has GOT to be joking. Corporate ain't that stoopit.

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  39. Gannett is a dirty work in my community. They took our local paper and ruined it with less news about the area and more AP stories that everyone sees online or gets in other papers.

    They also fired a bunch of people, including all the press workers.

    And try to get a response from someone when you didn't get your paper. Just try!

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  40. Believe me, this is so trivial it's borderline stupid. Don't get worked up nothing.

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  41. 6:18
    I hope you're wrong. Having grown up in Iowa we always felt that in having a subscription to the Des Moines Register we 'felt' that we owned a piece of our esteemed capitol based news. If they take away the capitol name and replace it with a corporate name a lot of people will be annoyed. It will only remind them of the larger problem of the corporate take over of family farms which has been a huge thorn in the states communities for many years.

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  42. Our location is video conferencing the meeting in one of our large meeting rooms for anyone who wants to see it - and they are also providing popcorn. (I kid you not!)

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  43. Next week all the local managers will be offsite I suppose planning for the new "whatever" it is.

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  44. Gannett's name is worth the paper it's printed on

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  45. My thoughts:
    If it means I get laid off, then I really don't care.
    And if the result is that I DON'T get laid off ... well, then I really don't care, either.

    Go ahead and change the logo ... knock yourselves out.

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  46. our new logo, without any kerning whatsoever. it's all within reach, but we still can't seem to find it...

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  47. you've established credibility and trust...and we're about to blow it....

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  48. marketing....hmmmmm.....

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  49. this is one of THE most exciting times ... to be starting an advertising campaign.

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  50. Huh? What? Is the meeting over?

    Sorry, must have dozed off.

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  51. Regarding the Myboss comment posted earlier, I keep hearing the 5,000 number of cuts in 2011, and I know there have been a whole lot more than the 220 reported. My sources say two locations alone totaled that number (Indy/Phoenix). But in any event, the furlough comment got us talking around the lunch table. It was a 2 who hate furloughs, but the other two who think they are the best thing in the world. The latter view it as a complete getaway. Time off. So I guess there always will be disagreement on some things. Justsayin'

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Jim says: "Proceed with caution; this is a free-for-all comment zone. I try to correct or clarify incorrect information. But I can't catch everything. Please keep your posts focused on Gannett and media-related subjects. Note that I occasionally review comments in advance, to reject inappropriate ones. And I ignore hostile posters, and recommend you do, too."

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