Holding their annual conferences together back in May worked out so well that Interactive and Newsmedia Financial Executives (INFE) and the Media Financial Management Association (MFM) have decided to merge. Members of each will continue to have the same services as in the past, plus access to the benefits provided by the other organization, with MFM as the surviving entity.
“With the ongoing convergence of media, we believe this will provide a very powerful, collaborative, and educational base to our members. Not only will the combination enhance the scope and quality of services that MFM can provide to our members, it will help to ensure that we continue to deliver on our common mission in support of the media industry’s finance professionals for decades to come,” said INFE President Jeff Hood and MFM Chairman Sam Bush in a joint memo sent this week to members of the two professional organizations.
The Executive Committee of INFE will be participating in MFM board meetings this year as the “Transition Advisory Board.” Former INFE members will now be members of MFM and eligible to run for board seats when elections for the 2010-2011 board take place in the winter.
“This decision was a very difficult one, as Bob Kasabian, INFE Executive Director, has been leading INFE for 26 years and built it into a respected organization that is recognized throughout the industry,” Hood said in a statement on the INFE website. Kasabian will remain an employee until all business affairs are wrapped up, then the INFE office in Sterling, VA will be closed and all operations consolidated at the MFM offices in Chicago, headed by President and CEO Mary Collins.
INFE dates back to 1947. The initials stood for International Newspaper Financial Executives until a change not long ago to Interactive & Newsmedia Financial Executives.
MFM was established in 1961. Until last year it was known as the Broadcasting and Cable Financial Management Association (BCFM). The services of its Broadcast Cable Credit Association (BCCA) subsidiary will now be available to former INFE members as well.
RBR/TVBR observation: Makes sense to us. Bits are bits and dollars are dollars. More and more the financial departments of both newspapers and broadcast/cable companies are dealing with new media revenues, costs and accounting issues.
