Crunched

Sadly, the chain of events which led to Sam’s dismissal from TechCrunch UK continued to have repercussions that unfortunately overshadowed the conference itself…

• Michael Arrington, proprietor of the CrunchNetwork decided to put TCUK on hold, locking out Sam, Mike Butcher and contributors like myself without any warning…though I later managed to recover my password, I figured it was impolite to continue posting!
• Michael later posted his perspective on the events leading up to the dismissal and closure.
• A few days later Mike butcher resigned as co-editor of TCUK.
• Over the weekend, Loïc Le Meur posted his recollection of events and his response to criticisms of Le Web.
• Yesterday, Natali Del Conti resigned from TechCrunch, partially due to the abusive comments surrounding these events.

I have sympathy for Sam, Mike A and Mike B’s positions, more so for Natali…each seemed to face unfortunate choices. Le Meur however conducted himself appallingly; I’ve read reacted similarly to criticism last year too. This is a shame, he’s someone who appears to be quite likable and has great enthusiasm and energy – there was no need for his outburst; Sam was justified in his criticisms.

In just three-and-a-half months, Sam and Mike B lifted TCUK from a standing start and located it at the centre of the UK tech scene. Those of us at the periphery, as contributors and writers, were planning to extend coverage and events around the UK, energising entrepreneurs and innovators wherever they existed. TCUK was doing good work and pretty much for free!

TCUK was more than a brand and a blog, it was the sum total of relationships and trust developed by its contributors; that won’t dissipate…it’ll follow Sam and Mike to whatever they plan to do next. I hope TCUK will relaunch soon as well as Sam and Mike’s new venture – a competitive news landscape for the tech industry is healthy and neccessary.

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UPDATE: Sam and Mike are back on the air as Vecosys, tracking European statups…great news and I wish ’em both the best of luck. Unfortunately, the spat between Sam and Michael Arrington appears to be getting uglier and distracting from real industry news.