It was with shock that I returned home from a night out last night to hear the news of Russell's passing. How terribly, terribly sad. Most of all for him, as he'd seemed buoyant, healthier, and content when I'd last seen him several months ago when he was in town - he was happy that work was busy and rewarding and was having fun with it but most of all was thrilled about how things were going with his girlfriend, Ellen.

I've known Russ for what seems like ages now (in a good way) though in fact it's only been about six or seven years since the early days of "commercial" blogging when he started working on various projects at and around Corante. He was a diligent, committed, and prolific journalist who had impressively and more ably than others been able to make the transition from the old-school way of doing things to the new. He had his quirks, as we all do, but I greatly valued that he was good-natured, collegial, reliable, quick to adopt, trustworthy, eager to learn, and earnest in his interest in helping others better understand what he wrote about.

He was also, it should be said, a kind and thoughtful soul and it was the rare conversation in which he didn't ask, with sincerity, about what he knew of my life, e.g. our new babe, and we didn't talk as seemingly old friends about our lives and respective paths. I can't say I knew him very well, of course, but in our half-dozen get-togethers over the years and dozens of conversations I got a good sense of the man: he cared about learning and sharing and his bearing was earnest and ego-less and we'll miss him for that and more.

We wanted to let you know about a discount to New Comm Forum, the annual event event put on by our friends at the Society for New Communications Research. The conference, which runs from April 22-25, will feature many of the field's leading observers and is an important event for those looking, in the words of SNCR, to "better understand new communications tools, technologies and emerging modes of communication, and their effect on traditional media, professional communications, business, culture and society."

Check out the event's website and, if you're interested in attending, be sure to use the code supplied below for a special discount.

EARLY BIRD PRICING - NOW UNTIL FEB. 15th

NewComm Forum Conference - $995.
Pre-conference or post-conference session - $195.
SNCR Jam only - $75.

REGULAR PRICING - AFTER FEB. 15th

NewComm Forum Conference - $1095.
Pre-conference or post-conference session - $249.
SNCR Jam only - $75.

CORANTE READER DISCOUNTS

NewComm Forum Conference - save an additional $100
Use discount code: NCF08100

Pre-conference or post-conference session - save an additional $45.
Use discount code: NCF0845

We've been remiss in letting you know about two new independent blogs we've helped launch in the past month or so.

The first - the ConversationHub - is a companion blog to Supernova 2007, the latest edition of Kevin Werbach's excellent conference on all things connected. As the conference site says: "Supernova examines the effects of an increasingly connected world on business, life, and public policy. As disparate physical and social networks link with one another, a new societal network is rapidly evolving... The New Network is greater than the sum of its parts. It challenges us to re-create everything from the software and hardware we use...to the business models we employ...to the information and entertainment we encounter...to the ways we work and play."

Visit the ConversationHub and you'll find several dozen leading thinkers and doers, led by a few notable ringleaders, weighing in on the themes and trends of the day in technology and business. We encourage you to tune in - feel free to comment and even suggest topics and ideas for posts.

The second blog - Mobile Messaging 2.0 - convenes about a dozen top observers of the mobile messaging space for an intense discussion of the industry and where it's headed. Among its contributors are leading commentators, journalists and players in the field - tune in and you'll find them touching on topics such as mobile device design, messaging platforms, market pressures, user-generated content, interface design, and much, much more.

Also, if you visit the site, which is sponsored by Airwide Solutions, this week, you'll find live coverage and commentary from Global Messaging 2007, to which several of our contributors have traveled to hear about the latest developments from a broad spectrum of the industry's players and providers.

[Update: the Enterprise 2.0 Rave is now a virtual event - for info on the updated program check out the Rave's website.]

We are producing an Enterprise 2.0 RAVE at the Hudson Hotel in NYC on May 21-22, 2007 for Longworth Venture Partners - the organizers of the event.

If you are a practitioner looking at deploying web 2.0 tools within your enterprise or actively working on Enterprise 2.0 pilot projects, you should not miss this 24 hour brainstorming session specifically designed for practitioners like yourself.

Some of the leading thinkers in the space will be moderating and facilitating rich discussions - including HBS prof. Andrew McAfee, Euan Semple, Jenny Ambrosek, Jerry Bowles, Bill Ives, Kathleen Gilroy, Jevon McDonald, Joe McKendrick, Jim McGee, John Musser, Susan Scrupski, and Jason Wood.

If you plan to attend you will get a $250 discount if you use the discount code "bloggers" (without quotes) when registering as a Friend of Corante.