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Benjamin Palmer, cofounder and CEO, The Barbarian Group, New York, has been elected to serve a three-year term as the 58th president of the Art Directors Club, the premier organization for integrated media and the longest-running global creative collective of its kind with membership in design, advertising, interactive and visual communications.

Palmer cofounded The Barbarian Group and has served as CEO since company inception in 2001. He has quickly risen as one of the most recognized and respected voices in interactive advertising, playing a pivotal role in transforming the digital industry from an experiment into a central component of successful marketing and earning accolades including one of Esquire magazine's "Best and Brightest". Under his leadership, The Barbarian Group was named Creativityʼs "Interactive Agency of the Year" in 2006 and "Digital Company of the Year" in 2008, and recently recognized as one of the worldʼs 50 most innovative companies by Fast Company.

He joined the ADC board in 2008, and has played an active role in club direction and programing. Palmer succeeds Doug Jaeger, president, JaegerSloan, Inc., New York, who when appointed at age 33 was the youngest president in ADC's 91-year history, a move reflective of the organization's continued commitment to remain relevant and connected to the changing creative community.

"Doug laid the groundwork for reinvigorating ADC as a cultural hub with strong year-round programming," said Palmer. "I want the club to continue in that direction, with programming that appeals on both local and global levels and cool events in our great gallery space that connect people and provide real value to members."

"Benjamin Palmer is absolutely the right person to lead ADC," added Jaeger. "He's a hardcore entrepreneur and artist who has proven himself as a successful creative, leader and businessperson. He's brought valuable partnerships to ADC, helped curate activities and made key contributions to club direction. Benjamin's approach to the creative process and the field overall will be a great asset to ADC, its members and the global creative community."

New board members
The club also named four new members to its board of directors: Nicole Jacek, creative director, karlssonwilker, New York; Alessandra Lariu, cofounder, SheSays, New York; Dany Lennon, owner/president, The Creative Register, Inc., New York and Robert Wong, executive creative director, Google Creative Lab, New York. For a complete list of ADC board members with bios, please visit here.

The Art Directors Club ((www.adcglobal.org)) is the premier organization for integrated media and the first international creative collective of its kind. Founded in New York in 1920, the ADC is a self-funded, not-for-profit membership organization whose mission is to connect creative communications professionals around the globe, and to provoke and elevate world-changing ideas. It focuses on the highest standards of excellence in communications for the industry, and encourages students and young professionals entering the field. ADC provides a forum for creatives in Advertising, Design, Interactive Media and Communications to explore the direction of these rapidly converging industries. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.