• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, March 6, 2008

ORLANDO - In a surprise announcement on the eve of Madison Avenue's annual media gathering here, Starcom MediaVest Group said Dennis Donlin is out as general manager and president of GM Planworks.

No reason was given for Donlin's departure, but in a statement, Starcom MediaVest Group/The Americas CEO Laura Desmond seemed to imply that the timing was not planned. She said a transition plan was still being finalized and would be announced next week.

""We wish him the very best in his future endeavors," Desmond stated.

Donlin also provide little insight about his sudden departure from an organization that he has worked on in some form for nearly three decades, through various evolutions since he started his career in the media department of DMB&B in 1979, and followed it as it morphed into Televest, MediaVest, and Starcom MediaVest Group, which created GM Planworks and installed Donlin as its chief in 2000.

"It is simply the right time for me to take stock and consider my next career move," Donlin stated, adding, "and I want to do that while spending more quality time with my kids, the youngest of which graduates from high school next year."