Susan Danaher Steps Down As DPAA President And CEO
Susan Danaher has informed the Digital Place-based Advertising Association’s board of directors she will not be renewing her contract as president and CEO when it expires on March 31.
Danaher will continue to be active in the organization as an advisor to the board.
Mike DiFranza, DPAA board chairman and president/founder of Captivate Network, said Danaher informed the board of her intentions more than 30 days ago and that a nominating committee, including Danaher, has identified several high-level executives as candidates to fill the position.
DiFranza says, “It is DPAA’s policy to bring in a very high-level executive from within the media industry to run the organization and, as such, we expect to have periodic, natural leadership transitions. Under Sue’s guidance, DPAA as an organization moved to – and well beyond – the next level, and it’s no coincidence that our entire industry did as well.
“Her successor will take over a well-oiled machine that is ready to address many exciting opportunities on the horizon. Our nominating committee already has identified several terrific candidates from within our industry and we expect to fill the post soon.”
“I greatly enjoyed my two-and-a-half years at the helm and am proud of the role DPAA played in our industry’s growth and accomplishments during that time,” says Danaher. “This is an exciting time for our industry. We are arriving at a positive inflection point, with new technology impacting scalability, targetability and the overall impact of digital place-based campaigns.
“I look forward to taking on a corporate operational role within the digital place-based media industry, and to continuing to work closely with the DPAA as an advisor to the board and member of the nominating committee formed to select my successor.”
Danaher joined DPAA as president in Sept./10 and during her tenure significantly increased the profile of digital place-based media. The organization’s membership grew to 45 companies under Danaher’s watch, a gain of 150%, and the DPAA’s annual Digital Media Summit in the fall set attendance records in each year under her leadership.
Before joining the DPAA, Danaher sat on its board in 2007 and 2008, when the organization was known as OVAB. At the time, she was president of Reactrix Systems, Inc. Reactrix provided interactive media experiences, based on projection technology, in shopping malls and theater lobbies.
Danaher joined Reactrix from MTV Networks, where she spent 13 years in a variety of ad sales roles. As executive vice president/general sales manager from 2001-06, she oversaw sales for Nickelodeon, Nick on CBS, Nick@Nite, Noggin, TV Land and Spike TV, as well as for various MTV Networks web properties and magazines.
Before joining MTV Networks, Danaher was vice president, western region ad sales manager for Turner Broadcasting Company, She earlier worked as an account executive in the ad sales group at USA Network, following six years on the agency side of the business with Benton & Bowles (media planning) and Young & Rubicam (media research).
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