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Kennedy Information, publisher of an executive search directory that was once the bible of the industry, is part of a bankruptcy filing by its parent, BNA Subsidiaries. The company is itself a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Bureau of National Affairs.

Best known today for the Kennedy Conference (which was merged in 2009 with OnRec), Kennedy has some 70 staffers in offices in Los Angeles, New York, London, and its headquarters in New Hampshire.

Kennedy’s future is unclear; however, BNA is seeking Chapter 11 protection and reorganization for BNA Subsidiaries, which also includes the Institute of Management and Administration, Inc. as an asset.

The 40-year-old Kennedy Information began as a publisher of a directory of search firms in the U.S. The Red Book (officially, Directory of Executive & Professional Recruiters) is still published today, but its influence and value have waned. The Internet began usurping the book’s usefulness in the mid-90s, just as it did to so many other publications. keep reading…

Optimism returned to the recruiting community in November. That’s what my informal survey here in San Diego at ERE’s Expo tells me.

In conversations, people say things like, “We were told last year that we would start hiring again” or “I started seeing reqs from departments that I hadn’t heard from in a year.”

The vendors on the show floor are more specific: Business inquiries picked up noticeably by November.

After hearing three or four of these comments, I started my survey. An hour ago, Ethan Bloomfield, VP with JobTarget, said “the money started to show up” last summer. But it was November that he noticed “people had better moods.” keep reading…

I’m proud to announce that ERE Media has acquired SourceCon, the only live, in-person event for sourcing professionals in the world.

SourceCon is unique. It brings together the best minds in the sourcing profession to focus on minute intricacies of the art like no other event in existence.

I was at the first SourceCon, and remember being impressed by the vibe. There was an excitement in the air of a community coming together face-to-face for the first time. Several people came up to me unsolicited and told me how amazing it felt to finally be in a place where there were other sourcers “just like me.”

Since the current recession began, there has been talk of the death of sourcing. I disagree, and now ERE is putting its money where its mouth is.

So what does this mean? keep reading…