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Friday, March 09, 2012
54 comments:
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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Just in case the guy at the end of the last thread was serious ... you may not be eligible for unemployment of you're fired for cause.
ReplyDeleteHow many will be taking buyouts in Jackson?
ReplyDeleteProbably most of them are leaving Jackson. New editor starts Monday. His welcome gift: losing 20 percent of his newsroom, including some of the top writers. It's the Gannett way.
ReplyDeleteNew GM/OPERATIONS in ROCHESTER...
ReplyDeleteTravis Komidar, any comments?
What is the deadline for these buyouts? And is it true people have to be gone within a few weeks after? That is going to be a nightmare in my department.
ReplyDeleteThe deadline to apply for buyouts is March 31. I don't think a date has been announced for when final decisions are made regarding who gets one and who doesn't.
ReplyDeleteThen, once management knows how many buyouts are actually being given, other steps could be taken to reduce payroll costs still further.
Buyout deadline is march 27.
ReplyDeleteGCI has 3 days after that to reject or accept a submitted offer. If it's accepted, the fired, errrr, laid off, errrrr, voluntarily retired employee can work no more than 2 weeks. Sometime around the 2nd week in April.
People have to submit their buyout acceptance by the last week in March - maybe Monday or Tuesday. They'll be told if their acceptance is accepted within three days, and then those who are retiring must leave by mid-April.
ReplyDeleteCorrection on what I wrote earlier: The buyouts are for those who meet the eligibility guidelines on March 31.
ReplyDeleteDickey's original memo was issued Feb. 9, and said participants had 45 days to accept. That would mean the deadline was March 25 or 26, depending on how you count days.
Jim,
ReplyDeleteLooks like our former Chief Digital Officer, Chris Saridakis, was one smart man. I was just reading ebay's preliminary proxy statement filed yesterday. He sold his Gannett holdings at the high in 2010 and he then joined Gsi commerce and made a ton of money after he sold gsi to ebay last year. Looks like he stands to do well there too. He holds over 350,000 shares of ebay (worth $12.5mm), plus he was paid a $5mm sign-on bonus, plus he has an incentive plan for $30mm paid after the fourth year. This is in addition to his $1.5mm annual cash salary and bonus.
The report can be found here:
http://investor.ebayinc.com/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1193125-12-104201
Hete is a question: what has GE done other than invest wisely? He has never created anything from scratch that was successful for more than a few years. He is a savant at finding and investing in the right companies but he is no Steve Jobs. Get off your knees people.
DeleteThis is the reason why I liked Saridakis. He had enough money that he did not have to worry about being fired when he challenged Gracia and the rest of these corporate drones. He certainly was not afraid to speak up against the Gannett "establishment" and he did often.
ReplyDeleteMost of the people at Gannett (admittedly, myself included) are afraid to challenge this leadership team because we need our jobs. This blog is a good resource for us to tell management what we are thinking.
We need more leaders on this management team that made their money taking risks!!! Not just accepting a corporate position and a jet!
As a reminder, Saridakis left Gannett as chief digital officer in April 2010.
ReplyDeleteI've read the proxy report as well, and note that eBay paid him $14.4 million last year, which included that $5 million special bonus, plus the estimated $8.5 million value of stock awards.
In his last full year as chief digital officer, 2009, GCI paid him $1.3 million vs. $1.8 million in 2008.
This is chump change for a guy who is apparently worth about a half a billion dollars. Amazing how he is so down to Earth.
ReplyDeleteChris and his wife are very special people in WIlmington and they give back to the community in so many ways.
ReplyDeleteI always wonder why Gannett cannot attract more people like him to this company. We have very selfish executives here at Gannett and it is quite disappointing.
I see Chris at Pure Bread Bakery in Greenville DE and he always goes out of his way to say hello and ask how I am doing and what is new with the News Journal.
Think you answered your own question, 4:22 ... A guy that classy and grounded SURELY wasn't CD's kinda guy! CD probably seethed if he saw CS attempting to connect on a personal level with "the littles."
ReplyDeleteNYT former CEO J-Rob got $24MM to go away. Not CD money, but damn close. NYT stock closed at $6.66 today.
ReplyDeleteTake the buy out David L Hunke. PLEASE.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Jodi Gersh is "working" hard on her first day at SXSW... She managed to register for a level-2 social drinking-badge at Uptapped. Untapped is a mobile based social network for beer drinkers. You can see Jodi's newly created page http://untappd.com/user/jodiontheweb/badges/825083?ref=social_badge
ReplyDeleteOr, you can follow Gersh's daily bar-crawl through Austin at:
http://untappd.com/user/jodiontheweb
Looks like she's been bar crawling since 1pm, today (Austin, TX time).
That just solidifies the argument that she is partying on Gannett's money. She should have been at the so-called convention at 1PM... Not signing up for beer-badges and bar-crawling.
ReplyDeleteGersh seems to think that she's Gannett's Social Activities Director, instead of a Social Media Director. Can you say, "clueless with an expense account?"
ReplyDeleteGersh seems to think that she's Gannett's Social Activities Director, instead of a Social Media Director. Can you say, "clueless with an expense account?"
ReplyDeleteWell, her behavior only contradicts the story she contrived in defense. You all know the story.. that she was only drinking water and getting plenty of sleep during SXSW-2011. I thought it was the most bizarre introduction. Given today's events, it seems to make sense that Mrs. Gersh fabricated the "plenty of hydration & plenty of sleep" prelude of her "How I do SXSW."
ReplyDeleteI followed the link. What are you all talking about? She had a beer at a bar. She is at one of the hottest digital events in the world and had a beer. Shut up
ReplyDelete7:45,
ReplyDeleteI think the point is that she's been to two bars today... Her first bar was at 1PM and the second bar at 5PM.
She's been drinking since 1PM!!!
And there have been two bars!!!
7:45 Amen.
ReplyDeleteIt will be interesting to see how long Gersh stays in Austin Texas. I bet she stays for the full duration of the festival, beyond the interactive portion.
ReplyDelete7:45 PM,
ReplyDeleteLOL it is not the hottest digital event. It is a very large party. The "social networking" portion of this "festival" is in conjunction with the party festivities.
Name a hotter digital event? Sure it's a party, it's digital. It's not a freakin print convention. This is where Twitter was introduced.
DeleteI enjoy a condemnation or two of the pompous; they have it coming, insulated and wreaking havoc on the lives of their underlings. But come on.
ReplyDeleteIt's a "top down" company, meaning the cocooned elite as opposed to a a cooperative, creative, horizontal organization, that's its structure. Obsolete, but that's it. The tone here is becoming a bit overly frothy!
Dry humor. Frothy. Beer. Jeez.
ReplyDelete7:45,
ReplyDeleteWhat are you talking about? It indicates more than just a drink. She's been partying, since mid-day!
Did you go here: (???)
http://untappd.com/user/jodiontheweb
It clearly states:
** Jodi is drinking an Austin Amber by Independence Brewing Co.
3 hours ago
** Jodi is drinking a (512) IPA by (512) Brewing Company at Champions Restaurant & Sports Bar
5 hours ago
I think in light of today's events, Gersh should pay for her SXSW expenses out of her own pocket.
ReplyDeleteHow different is this from dickey playing golf after his grim reaper routine? Or a gaggle of gannett francofiles going to Cannes? Or Heather Frank's boondoggle trips to Beverly Hills? Partying with a couple of beers doesn't seem that big a deal.
ReplyDelete8:10,
ReplyDeleteIt seems different in the case of Mrs. Gersh, who has made a career of attending conventions.
Questions for folks that are considering their EROP offers:
ReplyDeleteAre there any questions or insights that you've identified regarding the offer since meeting with your attorney or financial adviser?
What are the main reasons you've decided to accept or decline?
8:51 PM ,
ReplyDeleteTwitter ADVERTISED there, years ago, by displaying their product on two very large monitors. Twitter was not "introduced" there, because it had already existed, prior to that paricular advertisement campaign.
Also, the "interactive" kick off event is "video games" at a very large arcade. You can read about it here: http://sxsw.com/interactive
SXSW Interactive News
----------------------
ScreenBurn Arcade Open Late Saturday for the SXSW Interactive Opening Party!
Posted by tammy on March 9, 2012InteractiveScreenBurn Going to the SXSW Interactive Opening Party? Then try out the ScreenBurn side entrance open until 9:00PM that gets you into the party AND you can enjoy some video games along the way! Swing by early to check out the amazing fun and games at the Arcade. That means some time to play hands-on demos at exciting exhibitor booths from Alienware, IGN and Red 5. Then pick up a pre-party 3D print during MakerBot’s special appearance from 6:00- 9:00PM. Or you could enjoy a smorgasbord of play-tainment from the latest video game releases to classics like Settlers of Catan and Steve Jackson Games’ Munchkin! So don’t get caught in the boring
8:51 PM said: "Sure it's a party, it's digital. "
ReplyDeleteJust HOW MANY FOLKS FROM GANNETT DIGITAL ARE PARTYING AT SXSW????
The first Gersh-thread mentioned that there was a "group" going to SXSW. ( And, I imagine that all of these defensive posts are from the Gannett Digital Party group. )
You know what, our company is going through turmoil, and the Gannett Digital group feels that they can throw caution to the wind and spend whatever the hell they want. I hope that this group is dealt with, when they return home to corporate. I think a re-org for the Digital Group is in order. They can stay at home and play video games.
ReplyDeleteSomeone's got a serious case of Dubow-envy:
ReplyDelete"New York Times paid former CEO $24 million"
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/09/us-newyorktimes-ceo-idUSBRE8281A920120309
Note: Gannett is by no means alone in sending representatives to SXSW.
ReplyDeleteThe New York Times, for one, has a delegation headed by Executive Editor Jill Abramson.
That's interesting. NYT is sending journalists, no mention of a separate social-media group.
ReplyDeleteI think the anger on this thread is in relation to "someone's" reputation of work-dodging.
ReplyDeleteOh, lay off Jodi. She's doing what we're supposed to do: Go to places, talk to people, score some face time. The problem is not that she shouldn't do this -- good on her! -- the problem is that Gannett should let other journalists do the same thing. Maybe they could peel off $1 million from $300 million they're spending on buying back stock to let journalists travel.
ReplyDeleteAlso: She's smart, pleasant, and hasn't done any of the evil things that Maryam, Hunke and others are doing. Seriously. Aim a little higher, people, and don't turn on your own. If you're a writer, all she's doing is helping more people read your stuff.
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ReplyDelete11:22 PM,
ReplyDeleteJournalists would keep our buisness objectives in focus, and truly promote our content/ our product. Social media is just another platform for communication. Social media is far from rocket science, and to have a separate group, specifically designated to "social medai", is self-defeating. One look at GD's pinterest, and you know we have a real problem that needs to be addressed.
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ReplyDeleteI worked for Gannett for many years before being laid off. It took me three years to finally realize that leaving their was the best thing to ever happen to me. I was a battered soul and didn't even know it. It took me a long time to find work, but now that I have, my faith in myself has been renewed, and my colleagues and supervisors let me know of their appreciation of me almost daily. This rarely ever happened at Gannett, and when it did, the compliments were forced and even phony.
ReplyDeleteAdvice to anyone who wants to sleep better and reclaim their professional self esteem: Leave Gannett. I don't care if you work for the smallest TV station of the biggest newspaper -- it's a toxic company. You might have a hint about how toxic it is, but until you actually leave and put some distance between you and Gannett, you won't fully understand how rotten at the core that place is and how all of the bad karma has seeped into every corner and crack in the organization.
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