WIESBADEN, Germany–DDV, the German DMA, has named Holger Albers to succeed Dr. Hasso Herbst as managing director, effective at DDV's annual meeting in Berlin next April 16.
Dr. Herbst will retire after 14 years as head of the German association on reaching retirement age. Albers, 35, has run the DDV's public relations department for the last two years.
But the DDV dropped plans to install a full-time president who would have combined the managing director's functions with those of the DDV president, generally a DDV member chosen for the honorary post for 2-3 years.
Friedhelm Lammoth, the current president and head of his own DM agency in Frankfurt and St. Gall, Switzerland, said a meeting of the board on October 23 had decided against combining the two jobs.
“The tasks are too complex for one person to handle,” Lammoth said in a statement. “Demands made on both men are too different, given the size and the importance of the DDV.”
The association has been looking for a full-time president since last spring. “We looked at 100 resumes,” Lammoth said, “but didn't find one we could recommend to the membership.”
While the DDV will continue its present separation of powers the association agreed to make the president's job a paid one, rather than an honorary position.
“We are still looking for a qualified candidate,” Lammoth said.
