What drama if this is true: David Unger allegedly fired Genre magazine's sales staff and refused to pay their salaries and/or commissions....
and he announced "so that everyone could hear it" that he's closing the magazine.
Word is Unger is in "behind closed doors" appointments wit a rep from the US Department of Labor!!!!
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Here is a copy of the memo that Genre's William Kapner gave staffers of his leaving.
Subject: William Kapfer stepping down as Window Media CMO/Genre
Magazine Publisher
Dear Staff:
I wanted to confirm that each of my team members were aware that I am stepping down as Window Media’s CMO and Genre Magazine’s Publisher, effective March 27th.
Attrition is a natural progression in any industry, and I feel I’ve done my best to bring the company into a Web 2.0—21st Century state of mind. Although I am not aware of the details for a succession plan, the company will remain in good hands, under the direction of David Unger, Mike Kitchens and Steve Myers.
The management team I’m leaving behind has an acute understanding of the current economic situation, and I am confident are making significant steps—courageous steps—to ensure that Window Media and Genre Magazine are able to maintain our leadership position in the LGBT community. In addition to working with world-class sales and publishing executives over the past three years, I've been able to build two amazing teams in Marketing and Online—talented teams I'm leaving behind at Window Media.
We have a deep and talented management team across all areas of the company. Our successful implementation of core strategies and the timely rollout of key products this past three years testify to the effectiveness of this team. I continue to believe that intense focus on our key news products is the best means to create value with our available resources and continuing to create cross-platform, integrated programs that include a rich digital strategy to address that value—will continue to strengthen Window Media’s unique operating platform in the industry.
Window Media did not begin to fully invest in its online department until I arrived in 2006, so the recent successes we have seen are largely in part due to the maturation of investment into a strategic online strategy. Under the leadership of Kevin Smith, specific items that attributed to the success of our digital strategy include: simple weekly/monthly rates, sales training in creating packages, resource investment into search engine optimization, capitalizing on high-traffic components to increase page-views (photo galleries, surveys, etc.), redesign of sites to accommodate large agency buys, and much more were introduced.
What's more, 2008 pushed the envelope in development and strategies that had been missing previously, enabling us to expect to see continued growth in 2009 due to the following: additional online revenue stream opportunities, investment in e-marketing strategies, further online sales training, and many more added website features to drive traffic (interactive dining guides, new bladewire 2.0 system, and interactive video sections for every website).
Our commitment to high quality journalism also continues unabated. Window Media and Genre Magazine are public service journalism companies—and we understand that our investment in providing honest, independent information continues to perform a vital role in our democratic society. In so doing, David Unger and his team will continue to broaden our reach in each community and should expect our total audience in print and online to grow, further solidifying the company’s position for delivering mass reach for advertisers in each market.
The same technology that brings us new competition for audiences and ad sales also empowers us to redistribute work, centralize some functions and operate far more efficiently. Over the past three years, Window Media has done a better job at sharing news content and resources within our company, which both saves money and improves quality.
Finally, and after much soul searching and contemplation, I am leaving Window Media & Genre Magazine with the confidence that the leadership team will continue my vision of creating a hybrid print and online, news and advertising company for the increasing needs of the LGBTQ Community—one strongly positioned to capture our share of business in the evolving media world.
Sincerely,
Bill Kapfer
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