Summit Business Media Forms Customer Solutions Group under the Direction of B2B Media and Marketing Veteran Jeff Patterson

NEW YORK, Oct. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Summit Business Media, a leading business-to-business media company serving the insurance, financial services, legal and investment advisory markets, today announced the creation of its Customer Solutions Group. At the same time, Summit announced that it has named Jeff Patterson, a 25+-year veteran in the B2B industry, to lead the new unit as Senior Vice President, Customer Solutions. The unit, which represents 13% of company revenues, brings together some of Summit's fastest-growing businesses in a single group devoted to developing integrated, multichannel marketing programs for Summit's key clients.

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Jeff Schottland, founder of Summit's highly successful Producers' Web lead generation business, is being promoted to Director of Lead Generation businesses for the entire company, reporting to Patterson. Also reporting to Patterson will be Summit's Chief Audience Officer, Peter Westerman, its Integrated Marketing Services group under Josh Heitsenrether, its Strategic Content group under Elliot Markowitz, and its Data Businesses under Eric Ryles.

Summit CEO Steve Weitzner said, "This is a serious, customer-centric effort that will bring every asset in the company to bear on our clients' needs. Summit already has the top lead generation business in the insurance professionals market as well as a great multichannel custom team and some of the most sought-after data in the insurance, benefits and retirement markets. By bringing these strengths together in one unit we can offer our clients measurable, results-driven programs drawing on content creation, audience marketing and creative capabilities from across Summit."

He added, "With market-savvy specialists like Jeff Schottland, Josh, Elliot, and Eric and their teams firmly in place, and with Jeff Patterson at the helm, the Customer Solutions Group will facilitate the creation of effective and innovative marketing outreach programs for our clients across all channels."

Patterson added, "I am very excited to join Summit as a part of an executive team that is committed to working together closely to provide innovative marketing solutions that draw on the full range of Summit assets. I will also be working with a team of talented managers with great experience across integrated, multichannel marketing."

Patterson, a proven media executive whose experience spans agency, research, media and digital content, has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to customer satisfaction throughout his career. He came to Summit from Mile 21 LLC, where he advised B2B media companies on new product strategy with emphasis on paid- and advertising-supported digital content. Before that, he was CEO at Safari Books Online, a joint venture between Pearson Education and O'Reilly Media. He has also held senior management positions at CMP Media (currently United Business Media LLC), Cahners Publishing (then part of Reed-Elsevier) and was co-founder and managing partner of Beacon Technology Partners, LLC, a research firm. He also held management positions at National Semiconductor, FCB/Impact, Raychem and Pinne, Garvin, Herbers & Hock.

Patterson joins Summit's executive management team in the New York area, which includes Executive VP of Media John Whelan, SVP of Events Jonathan Moore, and VP of Professional Publishing Rick Kravitz, all of whom report to Weitzner.

About Summit Business Media
Summit Business Media is the leading B2B media and information company serving the insurance, financial, legal and investment advisory markets.  Summit strives to be "The Next Generation of Business Information" for executives and practitioners by providing breaking news and analysis, in-depth practice management strategies, business-building techniques and actionable data.  Summit services the information needs of its customers through numerous channels, including digital, print, and live events.  For more information, please visit www.summitbusinessmedia.com.

SOURCE Summit Business Media