Category: Uncategorized

Remember how I related the tale of how SMD weren’t paying very promptly? One of those affected has contacted me again:

They’re using a new tactic over there now. They tell you payment has been sent out – for your invoice – but it really hasn’t. First, they tell you that your invoice has received “Final Authorization” and then you pressure them and they lie and tell you payment has been sent. So far, I’ve gotten paid for two invoices (I have three more outstanding) and the only way I got paid for those was threatening to withhold publication of future articles.

So if you were planning on writing for an SMD publication, I’d say hold off for a while, since you might not get paid for quite some time (assuming this isn’t an isolated incident).

CDI-MDM is suddenly hot in the IT world – why is that? Will this translate into big corporate CDI projects? Is it happening already?

Continue reading “Database Marketing: Customer data integration”

It is now more important than ever that businesses understand the status of their multiple software licences: what they have installed, who is using it, how much they are paying and how much of it is legal.

Continue reading “S Magazine: The importance of software licence currency”

What are the pros and cons of UTM and how it may be applied to the corporate workspace.

Continue reading “SC Magazine: Unified Threat Management”

Now, they’ve only been in business a little while, so you have to give them some slack, but SMD appears to be a little bit tardy at paying freelances, according to at least two contributors who have emailed me. Typical of many British publishing companies? Yes. Worrying all the same? Yes.

Just wanted to drop you a line and say thanks for blogging about the whole insane Highbury/SMD situation! I’m a relatively new Hotdog freelancer, though I lost money to Highbury and am having hell of a game getting any money out of SMD (five phone calls in three weeks — I was told in the initial one that the money would be with me within 4 days!)

And

I have three Invoices outstanding and they’re stalling on paying. This has been going on for two months. I think something’s going on there.

What’s up SMD?

Incidentally, I’ve now added RSS feeds to each of the categories in this blog, so you’ll know when I’ve added to them. In particular, there’s now a Highbury feed, so you’ll know whenever there’s been an update (not that there’ll be many more, I suspect).

Remnant Media, which acquired various titles from Highbury through its subsidiary, SMD Publishing, is to float on alternative stock exchange AIM, according to The Guardian. For SMD watchers, there are a few interesting nuggets about the two companies’ financial stability.

McDonald’s gets a whole heap of bad press, doesn’t it? There’s the world famous McLibel trial, news that its food contains ‘transfat’ or something and the big dispute about McJobs. Then there were those awful ‘Sex and the City’ ads, and their desperate attempts to convince us that their salads and sandwiches are healthy alternatives, despite being crammed to the top with battered chicken. I could go on, but we all have a range of McDonald’s stories locked in our memories that make us shudder already: you don’t need me to remind you of them.

So it’s good to see a positive article on McDonald’s for once. In this case, one of Spiked’s good writers explains why everyone’s ‘favourite’ fast food chain is absolutely perfect for autistic kids. It’s actually quite heart-warming.

Press Gazette has more details on how many Highbury people survived the transition to Imagine.

In case you want to get in touch with the new owners of Hotdog and DVD World, you can give them a call on 020 7608 6500. The accounts department, however, is at Remnant Media. Tel: 0845 225 9743