Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief
With novel coronavirus (COVID-19) spreading across the world at a rapid rate, are we all consigned to a grim future of economic sclerosis? Not if you judge the optimism of the members of our first ever 60 over 60, with 92 percent of this year’s nominations reporting positivity about the future for their own retirement.
Tim Bleakley Tops Our 60 Over 60 List
For the last nine months our reporters have tirelessly vetted thousands of nominations and polled expert judges to compile this inaugural DailyDOOH 60 Over 60 list.
Throughout the year we will feature all 60 of the leaders that have been nominated. They hail from 34 European countries and 22 non-European countries but all have one thing in common – they would all like everything to stay exactly the same. America by the way, where anyone over the age of 50 has so much botox and / or plastic surgery, does not feature in this list. Here, we had a lot of trouble in identifying the correct ages of individuals nominated.
The SCN: The Nine recognises young talent in the professional audiovisual industry (and has already highlighted so many who are sure to make an impact on the future of AV), InAVate’s 40 under 40 has done similar but they are all missing the point. Their age range is far too low. Who really, still runs industry? Let us tell you now, it certainly isn’t diverse, energetic young people and rarely do women ever get a look in.
In our 2020 DailyDOOH 60 Over 60 list, women are underrepresented but perhaps not for the reason you might think. We could not find one woman in our industry who admitted to being over 40, let alone 50 or 60!
However, do not despair, our list forms a formidable group, mainly c-level executives and people who have racked up big achievements both inside and outside their profession in their 60 (or more) years.
Throughout the rest of the year we will cover all of the 60 individuals in our list but let’s start with our top three three nominations: –
- Ocean Outdoor’s CEO Tim Bleakley. It’s ‘the end of the line for Tim Bleakley’ we wrote back in September 2009 when he was unceremoniously dumped from CBS Outdoor (now Exterion Media) but what a come back this young centre half has made. Ocean Outdoor was an early pioneer of Digital Out of Home.
- Ocean Outdoor Co-Chair and Woohoo’s (formerly FEPE) President Tom Goddard. Affectionately called ‘Uncle Tom’ by those who love him (it’s a common written term of endearment, so we suggest you google it). He comes across as a lovable Irishman but the truth is, he is a genius at paddywhackery. He’s always involved in a deal.
- Former Kinetic Worldwide Chairman and Talon Outdoor’s Founder Eric Newnham. Named Serial Entrepreneur of the Year at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards back in November 2013. If he’s not down the pub then he’s doing a deal.
As you will see in the coming months as we reveal the rest of our list, our reporters were looking for sixty individuals, each over sixty years old who possess those rare skills of innovation, passion and a penchant for new ideas. As they couldn’t find any, our final list was pretty much, a collection of rich, well known, hard drinking, sports-loving, old white guys who pull many of the strings in our beloved industry.
Watch this space!
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