• by Jennifer Coleman , Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, January 28, 2008

After only nine months on the job, Kim Norris is stepping down as president/CEO of the Out-of-Home Video Advertising Bureau, a new trade association formed last year to help market the burgeoning market of place-based media networks to Madison Avenue.

Norris, a veteran cable advertising sales executive who modeled OVAB's structure on the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau's, is leaving to become senior vice president-strategy and business development/digital marketing and commerce at Cablevision.

"Kim did an awesome job in establishing the industry group," said Mike DiFranza, president-general manager of Gannett's Captivate Network, and chairman of OVAB. DiFranza added that the bureau has already tapped a successor: Suzanne Alecia as president, advertising sales at The Hotel Networks--which, along with Captivate, is a founding member of OVAB.

"From our standpoint, we're not missing a beat as far as the execution of this organization goes. We will be announcing more new members joining shortly," he said.

OVAB recently announced new members including measurement giant Arbitron, as well as its advertising advisory panel.

Among the key agenda items outlined under Norris that DiFranza said would continue is a push to develop industry standards for defining out-of-home video advertising formats and how to measure audiences and advertising accountability.