Tipster: Trade Publisher Penton Media Freezing Salaries, New Hires

Add trade publisher Penton Media to the "worried about the economy" list: A tipster tells us that the NYC-based company is battening down the hatches:

In an email to employees... Penton CEO John French announced a companywide salary and hiring freeze. He also requested ideas on cutting costs. John also "asked for a complete reforecast from all of our product managers, including a restated revenue forecast and a projected expense forecast for the remainder of 2008." That process should be completed by the end of the month, at which time John promised to report back to the staff "on our findings."

Penton's products include 113 trade mags and holds 96 trade shows and conferences; its co-owned by MidOcean Partners and Bruce Wasserstein's U.S. Equity Partner II fund. Anyone have more details? Write to us at tips@alleyinsider.com or use our anonymous tip box.