NEW YORK Lebhar-Friedman Inc., parent company to Nation’s Restaurant News, has named Randall Friedman publisher of NRN, replacing Tom Larranaga.
Friedman brings more than 15 years of experience in media marketing, sales and business development to the position. He also serves as group publisher for the retail and foodservice groups of Lebhar-Friedman, a media company with more than 80 years of history.
In other leadership changes, Robin Lee Allen, NRN magazine executive editor, who has been with the publication for more than 15 years, and Sarah Lockyer, online executive editor of NRN.com, were appointed co-leaders of the NRN editorial team, replacing Ellen Koteff.
“For more than four decades, NRN has been the flagship brand of Lebhar-Friedman and the first-choice information source and marketing partner for foodservice operators and suppliers,” Friedman said. “By capitalizing on the shifting dynamics of the business media marketplace, NRN continues to extend its leadership with innovative media products and services that connect industry decision-makers in print, online and at events. I am proud and excited to be asked to lead the day-to-day operations of this team and serve this extraordinary market.”
Chris Keating, who has served as NRN’s national sales director since May 2008, has been promoted to associate publisher and will continue to be responsible for all sales and marketing strategies for the NRNbusiness. Prior to joining NRN, Keating had served as a publisher, group publisher and group show director within the technology industry.
Susan Szymanski Vincer, who has been with NRN for more than 14 years, will continue to help lead the NRN multimedia sales and marketing team and has relocated to NRN’s headquarters in New York. In addition, NRN boasts a new director of integrated marketing, Chris Meyer, who brings experience from McGraw-Hill, Saatchi & Saatchi, and Edelman.
NRN’s team, which includes more than 20 editors and contributing editors and more than 10 sales and marketing executives across the nation, continues to provide the strongest content and services in the industry.
The new leadership structure is an outcome of strategic changes announced earlier this year to adjust the brand’s print publishing frequency to 26 issues in 2010 and to channel additional resources to online development.
Beginning with the Jan. 11 issue, print subscribers will receive a bi-weekly magazine that has been redesigned to cover more topics and provide more analysis and perspective on innovation, trends and events shaping the foodservice industry.
“If you want to know what’s happening in the foodservice industry and what that means to the restaurant business, NRN magazine is the place for insight,” Allen said. “Reading NRN magazine gives operators a competitive advantage because we publish content that can’t be found anywhere else.”
Also beginning in January, NRN.com will begin to expand its online news and information network. Its unparalleled distribution of e-newsletters, including the daily NRN a.m., will continue to serve the growing 24-7 demand for business information. NRN.com’s web traffic grew 83 percent to 196,000 users in the first half of 2009, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
“NRN.com continues to grow as the No. 1 online destination for foodservice information,” Lockyer said. “A redesigned site with additional commentary and content, more accessible data and the fastest news gathering in the industry will further drive NRN.com as a one-stop shop for industry executives.”
The appointments of Allen and Lockyer as the editorial team leaders of NRN recognize their proven abilities to identify the different needs of diverse business audiences and deliver vital, timely and relevant content to them across multiple media platforms, Friedman noted.
“Now more than ever, no other media brand has the editorial bandwidth and reporting experience to serve the foodservice market as dynamically as NRN,” he said.
