Hawkridge, Klaasen join Recon Analytics: Jake Hawkridge, a consulting services manager at Neustar for 10 years, is joining Recon as a director, while Mitch Klaasen, former Gartner Director, joins the team as an analyst and director after a stint as a portfolio strategy manager at Cisco. Both will be focused on business sector analysis and the firm’s Telecom Business Pulse service.
Informa Tech/TechTarget merger to close in Q4: Media powerhouse Informa expects the planned merger between its Informa Tech subsidiary and fellow B2B publisher TechTarget to close before the end of the year (creating a Boston-based company called Informa TechTarget). No personnel changes or layoffs have been announced for the Informa Tech editorial staff. Informa’s analyst properties, including Omdia and automotive specialist consultancy Wards Intelligence, will consolidate under a separate Informa umbrella, while the conglomerate’s virtual and live events will also be grouped together as its own entity.
Informa Festivals to launch in January: Informa has acquired new trade show businesses, including Ascential plc, the Lions and Money20/20, and will roll them into a new entity called Informa Festivals. It will be focused on “dynamic end-markets, immersive content, community connections, professional development and personal inspiration,” according to Informa, and will include Lions (marketing pros), Money20/20/Finovate (fintech), Black Hat (cybersecurity), GDC (gaming), London Tech Week and the Africa Tech Festival.
Lam joins TechInsights: Wayne Lam, former senior director at CCS Insight, covering IoT and connected technologies, is now service director at TechInsights, which offers semiconductor analysis and market information.
Decipher shuts down: Decipher, the B2B cybersecurity news outlet funded by Cisco via its Duo Security subsidiary, has shuttered as part of Cisco’s across-the-board workforce reduction last month. Editor-in-chief Dennis Fisher and executive editor Lindsey O’Donnell-Welch were both let go.
Filkins moves on from IDC: Patrick Filkins, former senior research manager at IDC who oversaw the firm’s worldwide telecom infrastructure research agenda, is now senior technical competitive intelligence manager at customer experience management vendor Genesys.
Hoffenberg retires: Steve Hoffenberg, longtime industry analyst and director of IoT & Embedded Technology at VDC Research, has retired. In what he notes was “a long and rewarding career as an industry analyst and product manager,” he covered various hardware, software, digital imaging, cybersecurity, and communications technologies.