Laura Desmond appointed as chairperson for 2009 Spikes Media jury

Starcom MediaVest Group's CEO Laura Desmond (pictured) has been appointed to chair the 2009 Spikes Media Jury. The Festival is to be held in Suntec City, Singapore from 16 to 18 September 2009.

Speaking about the appointment, Terry Savage, festival chairman, Spikes Asia 2009 said, “Rising through the ranks, Laura has become one of the most powerful figures in Media. To have somebody of this calibre with such leadership skills and complete understanding of the business to chair the Media competition is a huge honour for Spikes”.

Added Desmond, “The Spikes Asia Festival gives our industry, and specifically the growing and dynamic Asia-Pacific region, an opportunity to compete, applaud and nurture the creativity and innovation being incubated and executed within the exciting space of Media, especially with digital’s acceleration and proliferation. I’m honoured to accept this invitation to be the Jury President especially during a transformational time in communications and marketing history.”

From 2007 (and prior to her appointment to global CEO), Desmond was CEO of SMG The Americas, where she managed a network spanning the United States, Canada and Latin America. In this role she was responsible for media agency brands - Starcom, MediaVest and Spark - as well as SMG Multicultural. During this time, she also led the creation of SMG Performance Marketing (PM) and SMG Pixel. She is also a member of Publicis Group’s VivaKi Board of Directors.