The Yellow Pages Association has elected Dennis M. Payne, president and CEO of SBC Yellow Pages, the Association’s 2005 Chairman of the Board of Directors at its annual conference in Las Vegas.
SBC Yellow Pages is a subsidiary of Fortune 50 company SBC Communications.
Payne succeeds outgoing chair George Burnett, president and CEO of Dex Media, the largest publicly traded incumbent directory publisher in the U.S.
In addressing the conference Payne said, “Yellow Pages advertising, whether in print or online, is more relevant and valuable than ever. Better than any other media, we cut through the clutter with true permission-based marketing, reaching consumers who want information and are ready-to-buy, while providing advertisers effective, measurable results.”
YPA President Neg Norton added, “Denny has a deep directory heritage and has shown his vision in recently being part of the team that put together a deal to purchase Yellow Pages.com with BellSouth. He is perfectly suited to lead the effort to maintain the growth and health of our industry, and our membership looks forward to working with him. Having grown up in the industry, Denny has the Yellow Pages business in his DNA.”
The Yellow Pages Association also elected Kathy Harless, president of Verizon Information Services, Vice Chair of the Board and elected Isaiah Harris, president, BellSouth Corp. Advertising and Publishing Group, Secretary-Treasurer. Additional 2005 director seats include George Burnett, Dex Media, Inc.; Peter Broadbent, Wahlstrom Group; Susan Henricks, RR Donnelley; Marc Tellier, Yellow Pages Group; Gerard DiPippo, Data National/Volt Directory Systems; David Swanson, R.H. Donnelley; Herb Gordon, Association of Directory Marketing; and Chris Cummings, Marquette Group.
Payne, who has spent his entire career with SBC in the Yellow Pages area, became president and CEO of SBC Yellow Pages in October 2001. He had been the company’s senior vice president of sales since June of that year. Payne leads all functions of SBC’s almost $4 billion directory business, which includes more than 700 print directory titles serving customers in 13 states as well as one of the fastest-growing Internet Yellow Pages sites, SMARTpages.com.
In November 2004, SBC and BellSouth Corp. announced that their directory affiliates created an Internet Yellow Pages joint venture that entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the online directory publisher www.yellowpages.com.
Murdok | Breaking eBusiness News
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