Pulvermedia's Silence Isn't Golden

Referring to my story, “Pulvermedia Pulls a Disappearing Act” in the May 26 issue, the first indication that something was amiss at the tech company that has produced the successful VON (voice over net) series came from the blogosphere.

I write a lot about technology, a world that is by definition more tech-savvy than others. As a result, there have been other times I found news about something that's happening at a company from a blog long before it hit more traditional media outlets.

A few different bloggers said pulvermedia seemed to be in financial trouble but, in the meantime, Spring VON ran as usual in San Jose, Calif., and VON Europe Amsterdam was still on the schedule for June 2-5.

In between those two events I called Jason Chudnofsky, pulvermedia's CEO, who told me the company was just going through a “restructuring.” It seems TICC Capital, which had invested in pulvermedia last year and was now losing money on it, had other ideas.

As the house of cards began to collapse, Jeff Pulver, who started the company that carries his name, used a medium that was apropos for announcing he was out of it – his own blog. In short order, Carl Ford, another company executive, did the same on his blog, “Carl's Corner.”

While their faithful blog readers were learning the scoop, an untold numbers of exhibitors, not to mention a few venues with dates booked, were left to wonder what was happening.

TICC wasn't talking. Neither was Chudnofsky nor Scott Kargman, show manager of Spring and Fall VON. I called exhibitors listed on the Fall VON Web site and learned that many had tried to contact their sales reps at pulvermedia repeatedly to find out whether the Boston show was still on, and – if not – what about their money? No one returned their calls. Even worse, for exhibitors who had committed to, and bought plane tickets for, the show in Amsterdam – at a time when international travel is outrageously expensive – the fact that no one bothered to pick up a phone and tell them anything about the fate of the show is particularly egregious.

More than one exhibitor I spoke to who had bought booth space and made travel plans for the Amsterdam show was less than pleased with both pulvermedia and TICC.

Amsterdam RAI, where the event was booked, wasn't happy either. “We have never received an official cancellation for the show, but with all recent developments (at pulvermedia) and not being able to reach the organization, we have reached our conclusions,” said Denise Capello, RAI's business development manager.

Back in the United States, without any official word on the fate of the future VON shows, San Jose decided to move on, making the dates Spring VON had been holding at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center in 2009 available to others.

Officials in Boston, on the other hand, are still holding out hope that Fall VON, which signed a contract last year with the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center through 2012, might still take place this year.

Somehow, I doubt it.

Even if the Boston show was to go on as planned without the involvement of pulvermedia (or with it, for that matter), why would the exhibitors, who have been calling to find out answers and get refunds, suddenly turn around and support a company and a show that doesn't seem to care about them?