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Pulvermedia (including VON events & VON Magazine)

Doug Mohney — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 09:44:07 -0500

Founded: 1997

Status: Died March 2008.

Cause of Death: Multiple injuries, some self-inflicted

What did it do: Initial rallying point for the VoIP ecosystem.

Website: See below

The VON events were where VoIP geeks went to network, do deals and play at one of the evening parties hosted by purple-wearing founder Jeff Pulver. And what parties they were, with bands such as the Counting Crows, the Goo Goo Dolls, Heart, Huey Lewis and the News and Liz Phair headlining in venues intimate enough for you to get to the front of the stage and actually see the performers without a $300 ticket.

<sigh>

At some point during the past three years, Jeff Pulver's muse shifted from VoIP to social media, online video and Israeli start-up companies. New management came in to operate the pulvermedia empire at the same time vendors started spending less money at the shows.

Maturity soon set in, and the new management got an investment of $11 million in June 2007 from TICC Capital Group, structured as senior secured notes with warrants. By March 2008, TICC's SEC filing reported that pulvermedia had stopped paying interest on the debt, forcing TICC to write off $10.6 million; TICC managed to claw back about $1 million in cash about a quarter later.

More dramatically, TICC seized the assets of pulvermedia during Spring VON 2008 and shut the company down, leaving vendors in the lurch and devoted followers gnashing their teeth. How did TICC get the right to do this? Don't pay interest on your warrants, warrants convert over into stock, TICC maybe gets enough stock to control the company. And senior notes put TICC at the front of the line for repayment of any debt.

Latest word is Virgo Publishing bought the VON trademarks and domain names and is trying to launch a September 2009 event in Miami using the VON name. The new logo has no purple anywhere in sight.

(Full Disclosure: Doug Mohney worked for pulvermedia as a contributior and ultimately editor-in-chief of VON Magazine.)

SPOTLIGHT: VON, Pulver move in separate directions

Doug Mohney — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 22:15:57 -0400

As Virgo Publishing attempts to bring back the VON brand in a magazine and shows, original creator of the franchise Jeff Pulver has moved on to embrace social media.

A whois.net search for von.com and voneurope.com indicates Virgo Publishing picked up the domain names around September 19. Within the telecommunications space, Virgo currently puts out Phone+ and xchange magazines. One source said Virgo intends to resurrect the VON trade show and publish a magazine of the same name.

Meanwhile, Jeff Pulver has moved to the Next Big Thing. Pulver is actively cultivating Israeli high-tech start-ups these days and building a new franchise around social media; in his blog he indicates he will be producing a social media seminar series around the United States and also has plans for a "special UnConference event" in the works.

At its height, Pulvermedia put on large VON shows in the spring (San Jose) and fall (Boston) in the U.S. and a yearly European event. In April, the operating company abruptly closed its doors and left a vocal community of attendees and enthusiasts wondering what happened.

IT Expo vs. the ghost of VON (and everybody else)

Doug Mohney — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 09:45:27 -0400

This week, the Internet Telephony Conference and Expo finds itself in the unique position of being the "only" fall show dedicated to IP telephony with the demise of VON - sort of.

Since pulvermedia had its big car crash, many of its faithful followers - mainly attendees who loved Boston in the fall and seeing Jeff in his trademark purple shirts, rather than vendors who were stiffed out of cash on events in Europe and left hanging out to dry on deposits they made for 2008 and 2009 - have been looking for a new place to call home in the fall tradeshow season.

A number of organizations considered a "VON replacement" show in Boston in October, but IP communications vendors had a lack of enthusiasm for supporting Yet Another Trade Show on their calendar. Some vendors confessed happiness - fewer shows means simpler decisions and more flexibility in deploying marketing dollars.

Not having VON to kick around any more, IT Expo now finds itself also jockeying for enterprise mindshare, an uphill sell when the franchise has more traditionally attracted resellers and system integrators. VoiceCon, with its successful spring event in Orlando, has established itself as "The" enterprise event.

In Spring 2009, IT Expo will find more numerous challenges, including the suddenly-hot eComm show, VoiceCon, and lots of larger niches (CES, CTIA, Mobile Wireless Congress) that tend to suck all the air, er, marketing dollars out of the room.

For more:
- Read Jon Arnold's blog on boring conferences

Related article
VoiceCon vs. VONx

SPOTLIGHT: Euro VoiceCon

Doug Mohney — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 22:24:01 -0400

TechWeb (the company formerly known as CMP) announced VoiceCon Amsterdam, the first European venture for the VoiceCon brand.

Large increases in exhibitors and attendees at events in San Francisco and Orlando has convinced the media company to go East. Probably didn't hurt that VON Europe, scheduled to occur in Amsterdam in early June, disappeared. Rarely does one launch a trade show in under four months; VoiceCon Amsterdam is happening October 14-16, 2008

VoiceCon's popularity has stemmed from its focus on the enterprise, plus IP telephony, unified communications, and converged networks. Amsterdam, in additional to being a great place for voice and a poor place for cuisine, is an international airline hub that should be able to offer (somewhat) attractive fares to Pan-European and North American travelers.

For more
- Visit the VoiceCon Amsterdam website

Related article:
VON chases the UC market