cclarry

Mesh
I just can't imagine why Gibson would want to fire someone as valuable as Craig.....I would've thought he'd be on the priority list as a "keeper".

When you start cutting costs, the ones that are the "most expendable" are the first to go.
Granted, he contributed a great deal to the community, but he wasn't "instrumental" in
keeping the product line "functional".  So, most likely, they were looking at ways to reduce
their bottom line without affecting the product.  Just a thought

Good points there Lars....I was thinking being a valuable asset to the community = getting more people into Sonar = functional?
Then again, I know Bo Diddly about business and just hang out in the Deals Forum for no brainers.  

Mesh
I just can't imagine why Gibson would want to fire someone as valuable as Craig.....I would've thought he'd be on the priority list as a "keeper".

Unfortunately, there is a HUGE distinction between 'tangible' and 'intangible'.  Most of us admire and are grateful  to Craig for his 'intangible' contributions.  That's not to say that those contributions aren't valuable to us, just that the bean counters can't easily quantify those contributions in terms of $$ added to the bottom line.
 
I'm not sure how much of Craig's official responsibilities to Gibson had FA to do with Cakewalk either.
 
From OUR perspective as SONAR users, Craig's contributions are invaluable.  I'm not sure the same could be said from the perspective of a Gibson CEO.  We have no idea what the expectations were.
 
Personally, I figger Craig's  contributions to the SONAR community amounted to approx. 25% of my commitment to the product.  In practical terms, that means I'm 25% closer to bailing - depending on how much Craig continues to contribute to the SONAR community.
 
Considering that CS support is 25%, that's not insignificant.
 
Who knows what the future holds for SONAR specifically and Cakewalk in general.  I keep hanging on for some big surprise that pulls it all together, but I don't think the Momentum is there.  I guess we'll see.  Time answers all questions. 
 
Eventually.

cclarry
That's who I was speaking of...not Cakewalk, but, in 
his capacity at Gibson, who owns Cakewalk, he worked
primarily as a Cakewalk representative

Actually that is not at all true. I did a lot of CW stuff on weekends and evenings...kind of a hobby.
 
I fulfilled many tasks at Gibson...
 

• Lots of videos for KRK, including the marquee one on the V-Series speakers.
• Ad copy for KRK and Cerwin-Vega, as well as Cerwin-Vega videos for the P-series speakers.
• Representing Gibson on various industry executive boards.
• Was heavily involved in four mergers and acquisitions, including Cakewalk.
• The sample library that's being shipped with 2017.10...I put together that deal.
• Assisted Henry in some negotiations with the Chinese government re manufacturing facilities.
• Helped bring Harmony Central back from the dead after GC almost killed it. It's grown 29% over last year, the newsletter has gone from 24,000 to 91,000 opt-in subscribers, and the site manages over $40K of digital advertising.
• I developed the transient suppressor circuit for the Les Paul Standard, and the switchable wiring in the control cavity was my idea.
• I assigned two patents to Gibson, one with telecommunications applications.
• Wrote press releases, and a lot of content about the guitars.
• Did owner's manuals for the automatic tuning.
• Provided the sales people with key selling points for various products.
• Put together the slide shows that looped in the background at trade shows.

 
That's the tip of the iceberg, but you get the idea. I also worked on licensing and ran Entertainment Relations for six months. 
 
So basically you can think of what I did as being the corporate equivalent of a utility infielder. I was stretched pretty thin. Gibson wants to get a full-time infield, which makes me more or less superfluous.
 
There are no hard feelings, I'm on the top of the list of people they'd like to re-hire someday in a different capacity, and there's already talk of my doing some consulting.