MediaBistro to Sell Media Assets to Focus on 3D Printing, and Bitcoin Trade Shows

May 31, 2014 by Tiffany Orr 3D Printing Business

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Come July, popular education, writing and media job hub, MediaBistro, may look completely different. The parent company of the website, Mediabistro Inc., announced recently that it was selling off its editorial and e-commerce assets to Prometheus Global Media for $8 million.

What’s left of MediaBistro will become Mecklermedia Corporation and focus on the company’s growing trade-show business. Via a statement, the company’s CEO Alan Meckler said the change is necessary because he thinks a narrowed focus is best for all involved.

“The new Mecklermedia will be able to significantly reduce debt, add working capital and concentrate on being an international trade show company concentrating in the fields of Bitcoin, cryptocurrency and 3D printing, which currently encompasses over 22 trade shows in 11 countries.”

Although Meckler’s previous company JupiterMedia paid $23 million to acquire MediaBistro in 2007, Meckler said that the sale of MediaBistro’s editorial and e-commerce assets is just a smart move financially because there’s a lot of competition out there now.

Meckler said that when he acquired MediaBistro, nobody was doing online education. Now it’s common. The company’s job board also has had more competition from companies such as LinkedIn in recent years.

Because of fierce competition, Meckler wants to be a pioneer of sorts in the Bitcoin, cryptocurrency and 3D printing markets—making money in relatively untapped spaces.

“There were all these different areas, and I wondered if there was a significant trade show [for the industry], and there wasn’t,” said Meckler.

Meckler’s company was behind the highly successful Inside 3D Printing Conference and Expo at New York City’s Javits Center, as well as the Inside Bitcoin trade show in which took place the following week..

Meckler hopes that by putting all his time into the trade shows, Mecklermedia will be able to find success with international trade shows. The company put on some of its first international trade shows this year, with mixed results. Meckler doesn’t take that as a sign of defeat. On the contrary, the results give him greater hope for the future.

“Revenues will double or triple quite significantly … If you’re in a country for the first time, even if you hire locals, which we do, there are logistical and tactical errors. Then you learn, and the second year will cost less, and the revenues should be significantly higher,” said Meckler.

Both Brian Krassenstein and Edward Krassenstein, the founders of 3DPrint.com, were in attendance at Mediabistro’s last ‘Inside 3D Printing Conference,’ which was held in New York City during the first week of April. They were both impressed by the organization of the conference, as well as the number of people in attendance.

“I was impressed at the constant flow of scheduled conferences, and the big names within the 3D printing industry, who were in attendance, stated Brian. I can’t wait until next year’s NYC conference. It will be interesting to see how much it has grown from this year’s conference.”
Let us know your opinion on MediaBistro’s decision to concentrate on the trade show side of their business, at the ‘Inside 3D Printing’ forum.