It’s the end of the ski season and I’m jumping up and down that spring is here, bringing pink blooms on my trees, weekend camping trips, and margs on the patio. But, I also have a tinge of regret at seeing the last runs close down and an epic season wrap up. I have similar feelings about the news that Umbria was acquired by J.D. Power on April 2nd.
A GroundFloor Media client for three years, Umbria is one of those rare companies that you talk up even when you’re off the clock. It’s just plain cool and stocked with smart people. It’s on the cutting edge of Web 2.0, but still reeks of Boulder…in a good way.
For those who follow the social media research industry (Umbria’s milieu), the acquisition was hardly a surprise – the news was more about who was doing the acquiring. That’s because Umbria is one of many new-school research companies that has been paired with an older-school counterpart in recent years. BuzzMetrics, Intelliseek and Cymfony met similar fates, and we’re all guessing who’s next.
A big congrats goes out to the Umbria team, as well as to the brains at J.D. Power who are keeping Umbria’s talent and Boulder location in tact! It’s been awesome to watch them move fast and furiously from the startup cradle to “graduation,” and we’ve been proud to be associated with them along the way.
Buzz analysis is mind-blowing stuff and it’s just now moving up the bell curve. It’ll be fun to take stock of the industry after making my last runs on next year’s spring slush.
~Rebecca S.
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