News

DPAA head steps down, joins DOOH network

March 15, 2013

The Digital Place-based Advertising Association recently announcedthat organization president and CEO Susan Danaher has informed the DPAA's board of directors she will not be renewing her contract when it expires on March 31. She will continue to be active in the organization as an advisor to the board.

The same day, Adspace Digital Mall Network announced that Danaher had joined the company as executive vice president and chief revenue officer.

Mike DiFranza, DPAA board chairman and president/founder of Captivate Network, said Danaher informed the DPAA's 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.

"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," DiFranza said in the DPAA announcement. "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."

Danaher joined DPAA as president in September 2010 and during her tenure significantly increased the profile of digital place-based media, the DPAA said. The organization's membership grew to 45 companies under Danaher's watch, a gain of 150 percent, and the DPAA's annual Digital Media Summit in the fall set attendance records in each year under her leadership.

"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," she said in the DPAA announcement. "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."

In her new role at Adspace, Danaher will lead the overall sales effort of the company, serve on the executive committee, report directly to Adspace Chairman and CEO Dominick Porco, and will continue to evangelize both Adspace Networks and digital place-based media to the advertising community, according to the Adspace announcement.

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., which 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, Nick Recreations and Tours, Nickelodeon Hotel and the Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. Family magazines.

"We set out looking for someone with both industry experience and a clear vision about the future of the digital place-based advertising landscape, and Sue fits perfectly into that category," said Dominick Porco, chairman and CEO of Adspace Networks. "In her nearly three-year tenure at the DPAA, she established the first step in developing audience measurement standards for the entire industry, grew membership by 65 percent in the first year, and presented to numerous agencies and advertisers."

Danaher said in the Adspace announcement that now is "a fascinating time to be in this space."

"The integration of digital-place-based media along with social and mobile technologies will continue to converge and create even more opportunities for advertisers to reach their audience," she said. "As we've long said at the DPAA, all media is part of a continuum and a company like Adspace Networks sits squarely at the intersection of content, context, reach and relevancy."

Learn more about digital place-based, or digital out-of-home, advertising.