High-profile industry identity and long-term association professional, Karen Goldsmith, is resigning from her role as general manager, Visual Connections in September. The well-liked Goldsmith ends a 14-year engagement with the supply side of the printing industry, initially as director of GAMAA, the graphic arts merchants association, then latterly as joint GM with Peter Harper of Visual Connections following the merger.
The move has taken the industry and her colleagues by surprise. According to Mitch Mulligan, president of Visual Connections, she’ll be thoroughly missed. “She achieved a lot over the years. She’s always been a stable force, pulling people together. It must have been like herding cats. We should consider ourselves lucky to have been the beneficiary of her talents for so many years. She’s a true north and will be bloody hard to replace,” he said.
In a brief statement Goldsmith indicated she is leaving ‘to pursue a new challenge outside of the industry. After 14 years this is a huge decision as you can imagine, with so many good friends and colleagues that I have worked closely with over the years. The decision wasn’t made lightly but it is time.’ The growing success of Women in Print which increased its attendance this year is a singular cause of satisfaction, along with the many good industry people and mentors she's met over the years.
She’s leaving with Visual Connections in good shape, gearing up for a sold-out Sydney Visual Impact exhibition in September.
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New marketing magus for NewsMediaWorks
Taking on the task of marketing news media to advertisers for the peak publishing body is Simon Davies. A former committee member at the Audit Bureau of Circulations, he’s also worked in sales management roles at ACP Australia (now Bauer) and Murdoch Magazines. He replaces Charlie Murdoch, who is joining News Corp as GM trade marketing.
According to Peter Miller, CEO, Davies is joining at a time when advertisers are re-evaluating and investing back in newspapers and news websites.