UBM Electronics Appoints New CEO, Kathy Astromoff Tapped to Accelerate the Company's Strategic Growth Through Reach, Services and Commerce

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- UBM Electronics, the daily source of essential business and technical information for the electronics industry's decision makers, today announced the appointment of Kathy Astromoff as CEO, effective February 13.  Serving the needs of more than 1.7 million engineering professionals , UBM Electronics' extensive portfolio in media and marketing solutions for the electronics industry includes the industry-leading brands EE Times, EDN, Design News, DesignCon, as well as the Design event series and ESC, North America's largest and most comprehensive embedded event.  Astromoff will report to Paul Miller who has expanded his responsibilities to oversee the UBM Channel and UBM Design Central divisions in addition to leading UBM Electronics & UBM Canon (Publishing).

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As CEO of UBM Electronics, Astromoff will lead a committed team who are passionate about delivering decision-critical information, commerce solutions and marketing services to the global electronics community.  As a technology and media industry veteran, Astromoff previously served as EVP of UBM TechWeb, overseeing media brands serving deep-tech communities such as game developers, software developers and IT security researchers. These brands included UBM's leading paid conferences: Game Developers Conference and Black Hat USA.  She completed the international expansion of the Game Developers Conference franchise in Europe and China, led the initial development of Black Hat's online presence, and successfully initiated multiple acquisitions and managed their integration, including the upcoming Online Marketing Summit.

"We are excited to welcome Kathy to UBM Electronics," Miller said. "Kathy has a keen sense of the complex and fast changing technology industry and a strong understanding of customers' needs as she has successfully shown through her contributions with Black Hat, HDI and Web 2.0.  She will concentrate on the strategic positioning of our portfolio, drive our growth plan and accelerate the transformation of UBM Electronics into a broad based business focused on expanding our reach into the global electronics community, providing services to advertisers and readers and building upon the early success of our commerce initiatives."

"I couldn't be more enthusiastic about joining the UBM Electronics team," Astromoff added.  "The business's momentum with two consecutive years of record growth, combined with its venerable brands and strong core values, uniquely position UBM Electronics to become the knowledge and materials resource of choice for every electronics engineer in the world."

David Blaza, VP UBM Electronics, will move into a new role, focusing on revenue and product development of the business's leading media brands – EE Times, EDN and Design News, and Test and Measurement World as well as leading the sales organization.

Wendy Yamaguma, Senior Events Director, who recently joined UBM Electronics from Yahoo, will drive the strategic growth of the business's market-leading events such as the new Design event series, Embedded Systems Conferences, DesignCon and ARM Technology Conference where engineering professionals gather to share, learn, discuss and advance the critical issues and challenges facing the electronics industry.

For more information on UBM Electronics please contact:
Felicia Hamerman, Vice President, Marketing
T: 516.562.5652, E: felicia.hamerman@ubm.com

About UBM Electronics

UBM Electronics is the global leader in media and marketing solutions for the electronics industry.  UBM Electronics delivers results for the key influencers and decision makers involved in the design, development and commercialization of technology through its market leading brands, peer communities and professional education services.  More than 1.7 million engineering professionals engage with UBM Electronics brands which include EE Times, EDN, Design News and Test & Measurement World, TechOnline, EBN, Datasheets.com, Designlines and Embedded.com across the globe to accelerate technology sales. The international electronics community gathers at UBM Electronics market leading events such as the Embedded Systems Conferences, DesignCon and ARM Technology Conference to share, learn, discuss, and advance the critical issues and challenges facing the electronics industry. Additionally, UBM Electronics provides end-to-end services ranging from next-generation marketing, integrated media, custom solutions and research.  UBM Electronics is part of UBM (UBM.L) a global provider of media and information services for professional B2B communities and markets.

About UBM plc

UBM plc is a leading global business media company. We inform markets and bring the world's buyers and sellers together at events, online, in print and provide them with the information they need to do business successfully. We focus on serving professional commercial communities, from doctors to game developers, from journalists to jewellery traders, from farmers to pharmacists around the world. Our 6,000 staff in more than 30 countries are organised into specialist teams that serve these communities, helping them to do business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently.  For more information, go to www.ubm.com

SOURCE UBM Electronics