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PRIMEDIA's Consumer Guides Group Names David Crawford President And Chief Operating Officer
NEW YORK,
NY
-- (October 18, 2005) -- PRIMEDIA Consumer Guides, the country's leading publisher and
distributor of free apartment, new home and auto guides, today announced the appointment of David
Crawford to the newly created position of President and COO of the Consumer Guides Group,
consisting of Apartment Guides, New Home Guides and DistribuTech. He will report to CEO of
Consumer Guides, Bob Metz . Mr Metz will continue to oversee all groups under the Consumer Guides
portfolio, including Auto Guide, Consumer Internet, and all corporate functions.
At the same time, the company announced the promotion of Arlene Mayfield to president, Apartment
Guides. She will report to Mr. Crawford. James Moon was promoted to vice president, New Home Guides
and will report to Mr. Crawford. Jamie Gallo was promoted to President, Consumer Internet and will
continue to report to Mr. Metz. Robert McCray assumes the role of President of Auto Guide, reporting
to Mr. Metz. Gary Austin, who along with Mr. Metz, oversaw the development of Consumer Guides into
the successful company it is today, announced his retirement and will take on a consultancy role.
David Crawford, President and COO, Consumer Guides
Mr. Crawford most recently served as head of PRIMEDIA's New Home Guides and DistribuTech, the
company's distribution arm. Crawford now adds Apartment Guides to his portfolio. At DistribuTech, he
oversaw exclusive relationships with many of the country's grocery and other retail chain stores.
Crawford, along with Mayfield, also orchestrated the aggressive growth and expansion of New Home
Guides. Early in his 18-year career at Consumer Guides, Crawford was integral to the fast success of
Apartment Guide, helping to make it the group's flagship product and model to emulate in launching
new guides. Crawford brings a strong record of success in creating organic growth through aggressive
expansion and product launches.
"We are thrilled to promote David to lead these groups into the next phase of growth," said Bob Metz,
chief executive officer, PRIMEDIA Consumer Guides. "This is a true home grown success story that
began with David's early achievements in creating Apartment Guides' momentum and high visibility in a
competitive marketplace. His contributions to Apartment Guide helped cement its status as the most
extensive group of apartment rental directories in the U.S and under his impressive leadership, we
have also seen significant growth for New Home Guides and DistribuTech. We expect to leverage his
expertise and build out an even more robust offering in this segment."
Arlene Mayfield, President, Apartment Guides
Ms. Mayfield, previously vice president of New Home Guides will take over as president of Apartment
Guides. Mayfield, in her previous role, oversaw 26 markets, including the Atlanta Databook. The
group's national build-out, steady gains in market share and category-leading status can be
attributed to her leadership. Ms. Mayfield started her career at Consumer Guides twelve years ago as
a market publisher of Apartment Guides, demonstrating from the outset a firm understanding of this
real estate segment.
James Moon, Vice President, New Home Guides
Mr. Moon will assume Mayfield's post at New Home Guides. In his previous position at the company,
Moon served New Home Guides as director of new business development where he helped launch the
Metro D.C. New Home Directory, the group's most aggressive roll-out to date. In various other
management roles at Consumer Guides, Moon has hired and developed high-performance teams and
achieved strong financial results.
Jamie Gallo, President, Consumer Internet
Ms. Gallo most recently served Consumer Internet as COO. She joined the company in 1997, spearheading
the development of its robust portfolio of Web-based offerings. Gallo oversaw the successful launch
of apartmentguide.com, which delivers more leads to its advertisers than any of its competitors. She
has continued to build Consumer Guides' presence online, launching and integrating Websites to create
an impressive cadre of complementary real estate resources.
Robert McCray, President, Auto Guide
Mr. McCray amassed an impressive history that combines advertising expertise with an acute focus on
building relationships and visibility in the automotive industry. Prior, he worked as advertising
director and general manager at newspapers in top media markets across the country. McCray worked
closely with automotive dealers to help increase their sales and generate incremental gains in
revenue for the various publications.
Gary Austin, Consultant, Consumer Guides
Mr. Austin announces his retirement after years of shaping and influencing the forward direction of
the business. Austin assumes a consultancy role with Consumer Guides through 2006, including
management of the group's growing roster of publications in various international markets.
Metz added, "We would like to thank Gary for his many years of leadership. His imprint can be seen at
every level and in the impressive, overall growth of the company . Particularly with Apartment
Guides, Gary showed great skill in building successful businesses and was instrumental in driving
incremental and significant revenue growth.
"We believe that we have the right team in place for future success. All share a long history with
the company, understand the model, and have the expertise needed to fuel our penetration and market
position in the free publishing industry."
David Crawford commented, "I look forward to the challenges that come with taking on a broadened role
at the company. Across all groups, we have strong and talented teams of executives in place to
sustain the growth trajectory."
All positions are effective immediately. Rodney Barton and Derek Duhame will continue to manage the
day-to-day operations at DistribuTech.
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