I'm sure by now most of you have seen Tim Weller's note about Incisive's UK business and the renegotiation of its bank debt. A couple of people have asked me what I think the implications are for our North American business. The quick answer is that there are few if any implications for us. Our North American businesses remain profitable--less so than we would like, but certainly enough to pay the interest on the North American debt plus make the kinds of investments we need to make in new technology, for instance. The renegotiation to which Tim's note referred involves only the UK businesses, not us. And given the state of the UK economy, I suspect many media companies over there are already or will be facing similar renegotiations with their banks for the same reason that we are--the downturn has been unexpectedly severe, and commitments made two years ago in a different environment no longer match current realities.

At this point, we can be optimistic that Incisive and its lenders and investors will resolve their issues speedily, and that we in North America will continue to do what we have always done. That means focusing on our customers--readers, users, conference attendees, advertisers and sponsors--and making sure that they receive the quality of content and service which they expect from us. Anything else is just a distraction and we certainly don't need that right now.