Barry Salzman To Leave YCD Multimedia
Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief
Effective August 5th, 2009 Noam Levavi will succeed Barry Salzman as CEO of YCD Multimedia. Noam is currently chairman and one of the co-founders of the business.
We were one of the first to welcome Barry when we wrote back in October 2007 ‘Dot Com / Web 2.0 Executives flock to Digital Out of Home‘ – Barry was previously of course the DoubleClick president and incredibly well known, well respected and liked in the media world.
In that story we thought that the announcements in such a short space of time; Ajay Chowdhury joining EnQii and Barry joining YCD were good for the industry (we still think that) and of course as we said at the time “‘Both companies have previously announced their global ambition and both have set the bar very high with these appointments”
YCD Multimedia went backwards a little we think when they (seemingly) lost their focus on music (they were in our top 10 digital signage vendors of 2008 but NOT in our top 10 in 2009 mainly because of this lack of focus on music). Barry disagreed with that of course and whatever the rights and wrongs of our top 10 and the selection criteria thereof wrote a polite, positive open letter to us in response.
Barry was just the sort of person we needed in the industry and he did a hell of a lot for YCD – recruiting some very good people, dragging the business out of Israel and building a good brand. His focus was very much on retail and he will still tell you to this day that “every one of (their) pilot tests and installations of the digital merchandising applications have demonstrated a measurable ROI”
To be fair, YCD’s end-to-end platform for creating, managing, distributing and optimizing in-store promotions (especially with music that creates the digital ambience offering) does offer retailers a relatively unique suite of solutions.
The challenge for YCD now is that they do not slip back even further. We don’t know what their plans for New York are yet but we doubt and hope that anything major will change there.
Whilst Noam is CEO from early August we believe that VP Business Development, Josh Kampbell will eventually take over the role of CEO.
Barry, a skilled and sometimes professional photographer (he shot for Vogue many times) tells us that he has “decided to explore other professional interests, more closely aligned with my Internet marketing and advertising background” and we wish him good luck going forward.
July 22nd, 2009 at 16:32 @730
Dear Adrian, I am puzzled by your incredibly supportive opinion of Barry Salzman. *** *** **** **** Barry *** *** *********** ***** ********** Barry also in numerous occasions badmouthed you to company employees and partners. On June 24th he said “He is such a scum bag!” and mentioned that you took YCD off the top 10 list since they refused to buy your consulting services… You’re being played, and as the industry leading analyst you shouldn’t let that happen.
July 22nd, 2009 at 17:37 @776
I have to say I disagree. That YCD is not “on the map” is entirely Barry Saltzman’s fault. He was obviously not a strong leader. I hope Noam can take the vision he had in creating the company and put it into leading it. I met Josh at a sales call he did for my company and if he were to “grow up” he could do a fine job in sales but CEO – well, guess good bye YCD is all I can think. It’s a shame too – they really have great stuff.
July 22nd, 2009 at 20:30 @896
I worked with Barry before I got married at double click. He’s got luck on his side especially where doublclick was concerned. It is obvious why YCD hasnt made it and I agree with above and assume if Salzman is leaving it’s because people have had enough. I hear they’re down to a skeleton staff in NY. My advice as a new entrepreneur – take the staff that have survived the Salzman (lack of) reign and promote each of them and have a co-run unit of employees that each make the decisions as consensus with this Noam having final veto. I mean how many people are there there that have worked at least a year? 10? Those 10 should now be in charge! Adrian, you should know better than to attribute kind words to a man that you should walk away from backwards….
July 22nd, 2009 at 20:42 @904
So it’s Barry Salzman bashing day. I wont add to that – I mean I did meet the man to discuss YCD and he sat with his legs hung over the chair like a 3 year old and as for vision – well there is more vision in a blind man!
I like Carols suggestion. I work for a large company and we’re a group of 9, we make TEAM decisions about company direction, strategy and we take everyone from the assistant through coordinator through manager up to Managing Directors thoughts before we proceed and we decided by committee. WE ARE PROFITABLE in this economy. Hey Salzman, did you ever ask EVERY one that works for you what they think you should do? Hmmm and you’re failing. Do they equal eachother – I say yes. As for Josh running the show – MS you’re right – BAD IDEA YCD – I think you should start making much better decisions moving forward. If you don’t want to listen to us – listen to your staff – ALL OF THEM afterall, they probably know what’s going on and have been stifled – until now… at least lets hope you’ve learned your lesson.
July 22nd, 2009 at 22:03 @960
Well Barry never listened to employees, he always knew better. The only ones he ever listened to were those who had their tongues way up his **.
Too bad for YCD – if they truly are going to let Josh run the show, they’re headed for a major fall. I sincerely hope Mr. Levavi will have the insight and strength to steer the boat away from this mess and make up for the losses caused by hiring the wrong CEO.
July 22nd, 2009 at 22:03 @960
Never ever have we had so much email / comments on one post about an individual. Most of it anonymous and not printable. It’s usually our job to bad mouth execs and businesses not our readers BUT we gladly provide a forum for folks to share their opinions – PLEASE though don’t be slanderous, be objective and don’t be anonymous.
Whether it is true or not that execs slag us off (hey! the way we write we quite expect it) does NOT affect our original judgement of them – we are not in a name calling tit-for-tat school playground. We try to be as objective as possible.
The likes of Barry will be a loss to the DOOH industry. We firmly believe that we need seasoned media and internet execs to join the big companies.
Lastly we don’t typically do ‘consulting-services’ and never offered / nor were declined by YCD in said manner. I don’t even think we spoke to them about banner advertising AND if we did it would NOT have affected any editorial or any placement in a top ten listing.
July 23rd, 2009 at 00:09 @048
Adrian
I back you up 100% on that. You are typically completey impartial.
July 23rd, 2009 at 14:15 @635
I’ve had the great pleasure of working with Barry and the comments on this page DO NOT, in any way, reflect the experience I’ve had.
Barry has always been a stand-up executive and a gentleman. The Digital Signage industry is in a period of growth and flux and YCD is certainly included in that mix.
I think anyone would be hard pressed to find a client (or potential client) who was not given truthful, candid answers or information from Barry under all circumstances.
People have different leadership styles – it’s much easier to criticize someone than be in the hot seat.
Let’s keep it factual and be mature here.
Thank you Barry for the work you’ve done (and will continue to do) and for the good name you’ve given the Digital Signage world.
MJF
July 23rd, 2009 at 15:53 @703
MJF – we know who you are, *** *** **** ****** ******** ***** ****** goes to show just how true some of the things that were written here are. Noam now has a second chance and we all hope he can make it work, but maybe he should start by getting rid of certain useless staff members and rehiring some of the talented ones that Barry Salzman got rid of despite their contribution to the company (ie C.E.)
July 23rd, 2009 at 16:20 @722
Well Noam Levavi, it apears to me, you have got quite a few fans, regardless of past actions. So, I say this much: rarely in life people get second chances; you got it, got it big time. Just make sure you saw, see ans learn from the signs, and return this ship to its previous course of success!!!
July 23rd, 2009 at 19:55 @871
Sounds to me like YCD have some internal cultural issues to sort before their eye can be on the ball !!!!
Either that or the inmates are running the asylum.
July 23rd, 2009 at 21:10 @924
I work for a major telecom company that Barry and Josh presented to. I’m sorry but Barry was the utmost in professional and had a a refined and defined demeanor. I’d like to work with YCD in the future, but not if Josh is in charge.
July 24th, 2009 at 13:14 @593
Barry brought some good things to the company in his first year but since then he lost it. Under Noam Levavi’s leadership the company grew 100+% and it declined as soon as Barry arrived – for those who don’t know, Noam is the one that decided with the board to bring a high profile CEO, unfortunately Noam is the only one that can lead this company with his vision, leadership and inspiration. I heard that Josh is very smart and great biz dev guy, but no one can jump from managing 2 people in a small office to manage almost 100 people with 3 international offices. It will take him several years and few more positions, before the shareholders can even evaluate it.
July 24th, 2009 at 17:14 @759
I just got a link of this sent to me. I agree with the comments about Noam. Barry did a fine job, we wish him luck. We dont think Josh should be running the show and nor should he look after anything or anyone outside of Bus Dev. His efforts over the next year will then be evaluated.
July 25th, 2009 at 17:11 @757
Hi Adrian,
Barry was as wrong for YCD as he was for Double Click. As a close watcher, he failed to do anything positive for the company, other than a lot of damage.
Noam has been there from the beginning, continued as President, not as Chairman, and now thankfully resumes the seat he should never have been asked to vacate. He is a man of integrity who knows the way YCD needs to continue on, and will get her there safely. I for one – am taking bets on it, just as I rightly did when I claimed Barry is a no no after having sat with him. Josh hopefully is not going anywhere and will continue to do his existing great job. Barry’s ability to talk nice and civil is PC today, and as we see in Obama’s case, people fall for it, but it is never enough to get results. For results you have to work – not just enchant your listeners.
July 25th, 2009 at 18:32 @814
Erez Turin, you could’nt have said any it better.
Two thumbs up !!!!
July 31st, 2009 at 01:23 @099
It would appear that there are a good deal of people posting here who know Noam, Barry and Josh well. If this were truly the case, none of the postings would mention all three in the same note. Barry is a seasoned executive with years of experience, a very high level education and his own way of presenting ideas and representing a company. Noam is one of the nicest individuals out there. Noam listens first and acts second. Josh is well, just Josh. He is fortunate to be in the position that he is in and his fate will be determined by either his real abilities or his real faults. YCD as a company was a strong player in 2008 and it is quite sad to see a company with so much potential and so many good people who contributed to its success leave due to “personal” issues with the company. Other posters are correct in that if YCD is to succeed Noam needs to get rid of the problems and re-establish his core staff as a team rather than individuals working under a leader who provided little direction and drove the company off of the radar.
June 25th, 2010 at 20:28 @895
i have worked on and off with barry for 22 years.He is the ultimate proffesional.He is honest, decisive and smart.he is a good listener and a geat leader.i have been a CEO for 11 years and employ 300 people .Our business turns over 450 mil pa and I suggest that my views of Barry are shared by many business leaders in Europe and the US.i would love Barry to run my company