The Yellow Pages Association Elects AT&T Advertising And Publishing President And CEO Dennis Payne As Its 2007 Chairman Of The Board Of Directors

The Yellow Pages AssociationTM (YPATM) today announced that it elected Dennis Payne, president and CEO of AT&T Advertising and Publishing, YPA’s 2007 chairman of the board of directors. YPA made this announcement at its Annual Conference and Exhibition: “Masters of Transformation” in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino. Payne succeeds outgoing chair Katherine J. Harless, president and CEO of Idearc Inc.

“Denny is truly an industry thought leader and has proven his dedication to the Yellow Pages industry time and time again,” said Neg Norton, president of YPA. “He is perfectly suited to lead the effort to maintain the growth of our industry and our members look forward to working with him.”

Payne, who has spent his entire career with AT&T in the Yellow Pages area, became president and CEO of AT&T Advertising and Publishing in October 2001. Payne leads all functions of AT&T’s $5.8 billion directory business, which includes more than 1,250 print directory titles serving customers in 22 states as well as one of the fastest-growing Internet Yellow Pages sites, YELLOWPAGES.COM.

“It’s an honor to help lead this vibrant industry through a challenging period as many, varied methods of local advertising search—from print to electronic to mobile—all converge,” Payne said. “The Yellow Pages industry is in a unique position to guide customers through this search convergence and deliver additional benefits to businesses seeking the best ways to connect with ready-to-buy consumers.”

YPA also elected David Swanson, chairman and CEO of R.H. Donnelley, vice chairman of the board and elected Harless, secretary-treasurer. Additional 2007 director seats include Peter Broadbent, Wahlstrom Group; Christopher Cummings, Marquette Group; Gerard DiPippo, Data National/Volt Directory Systems; Herb Gordon, Association of Directory Marketing; Kathy Hipple, Ambassador Publications; Edward Lane, RR Donnelley; Marc Tellier, Yellow Pages Group and Neg Norton, YPA.