In-House Agency Forum Appoints New Chairman and Names 2011 Board of Directors

BOSTON, MA, January 20, 2011 (Press-News.org) Mark Shafer, Director of Bank of America's in-house agency, Enterprise Creative Solutions, has been selected as IHAF's new Chairman of the Board. As Chairman, Shafer will provide guidance to the IHAF program team and leadership to the Board of Directors—influencing the direction that IHAF takes over the next two years.

In addition to Bank of America, IHAF's 2011 Board of Directors is comprised of in-house agency leaders from Blue Cross Blue Shield, CVS, Discovery Communications, Fidelity, FM Global, MFS Investment Management and Putnam Retail Management.

"It's clear that the in-house agency business model will only become more influential, more relevant and more of a presence in advertising," said Shafer. "And IHAF is at the forefront. The tools, insights and networking opportunities that IHAF provides to an increasingly important community are unmatched. I'm proud to be a member of IHAF and honored to be stepping up as Chairman of the Board."

Exiting Chairman and current Board member, Marta Stiglin of Stiglin Consulting added, "Mark's leadership of one of the largest in-house agencies in the country, combined with his experience working for some of the largest external agencies, assures his understanding of the business and his ability to optimize the benefits that IHAF has to offer."

At present, IHAF maintains a membership base of nearly 2,000 in-house agency professionals, from over 80 companies nationwide. IHAF's corporate members range in size from 300-person operations to three-person teams—supporting an array of industries including financial services, insurance, healthcare, high tech, retail, manufacturing, transportation, packaged goods, and more.

For more information, go to http://www.ihaforum.org.

IHAF is the In-House Agency Forum—the leading membership association for in-house advertising, marketing, and creative services organizations. As an association dedicated to meeting the ever-changing needs of today's in-house agencies, IHAF's mission is to provide its members with the tools, insight and networking opportunities they need to advance as marketing communications service providers. Member benefits include exclusive access to IHAF's library of in-house agency benchmarking data, discounted admission to conferences and events, and enrollment in IHAF's online community.