The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) announced yesterday that Randall Rothenberg will become the new president/CEO, effective Jan. 8, 2007. Rothenberg replaces Greg Stuart, who resigned in August.
Rothenberg comes to the IAB from Booz Allen Hamilton, the strategy consulting firm, where he has been Senior Director of Intellectual Capital. Rothenberg was an editor-at-large for Advertising Age magazine and spent six years at The New York Times as a daily advertising columnist, media and marketing reporter, technology editor and politics editor of the Sunday magazine.
“I couldn’t imagine a more exciting time to be joining the IAB and the Interactive industry,” Rothenberg said. “Media consumption online continues to increase and it is inevitable that advertising dollars will follow. Interactive platforms such as video, search, mobile and others offer marketers unparalleled opportunities to create deeper and broader relationships with their customers. I’m incredibly enthusiastic about building on the IAB’s and our members’ success during the next stage of growth.”
Sheryl Draizen, the IAB’s senior vice president/general manager, said “Randy is ideal for the position because he’s been in the media business for a long time and he’s well positioned to build on the momentum we’ve created and take us to the next level.”
She said the issues he’ll be focusing on include measurement, creative and public policy. Broadband video will also be a key issue. “It’s one of our biggest priorities,” she said. “We’ve created measurement guidelines and we’ll start to investigate what are the best formats, lengths and messaging and how marketers can leverage the interactivity. We think the biggest difference between TV and broadband video is when you’re online you have the ability to engage the consumer in a much deeper and broader way. It’s an opportunity that has never existed before and it’s the next phenomenon online that’s as big as search. We intend to take a leadership position in helping marketers and publishers best leverage it and it will be one of Randy’s biggest challenges.”
Utah Leaders and Locals Rally To Keep Sundance Film Festival In The State
With the 2025 Sundance Film Festival underway, Utah leaders, locals and longtime attendees are making a final push — one that could include paying millions of dollars — to keep the world-renowned film festival as its directors consider uprooting.
Thousands of festivalgoers affixed bright yellow stickers to their winter coats that read "Keep Sundance in Utah" in a last-ditch effort to convince festival leadership and state officials to keep it in Park City, its home of 41 years.
Gov. Spencer Cox said previously that Utah would not throw as much money at the festival as other states hoping to lure it away. Now his office is urging the Legislature to carve out $3 million for Sundance in the state budget, weeks before the independent film festival is expected to pick a home for the next decade.
It could retain a small presence in picturesque Park City and center itself in nearby Salt Lake City, or move to another finalist — Cincinnati, Ohio, or Boulder, Colorado — beginning in 2027.
"Sundance is Utah, and Utah is Sundance. You can't really separate those two," Cox said. "This is your home, and we desperately hope it will be your home forever."
Last year's festival generated about $132 million for the state of Utah, according to Sundance's 2024 economic impact report.
Festival Director Eugene Hernandez told reporters last week that they had not made a final decision. An announcement is expected this year by early spring.
Colorado is trying to further sweeten its offer. The state is considering legislation giving up to $34 million in tax incentives to film festivals like Sundance through 2036 — on top of the $1.5 million in funds already approved to lure the Utah festival to its neighboring... Read More