ADDISON, Texas, Dec. 30, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Marge Boatright, one of the founders of Wieck Media Services and its president since May 2001, will step down as president Jan. 1, the company announced today.
Boatright will remain with the company as a Vice President for Business Development, said Chairman James F. Wieck. She also will retain her position on the board of directors.
An announcement regarding her successor will be made in a few days, Wieck said.
"Marge Boatright has been critical to our success since the founding of the company," Wieck said. "She was the first person that Travis Hughs and I recruited in 1991 to help us build a client base and launch operations. Marge proceeded to sign The New York Times Syndicate Services as our first client and then guided our growth through the next decade."
"She kept us on target as the company moved from a photo distribution service using analog technology to a Web-based service company utilizing the Internet to deliver annually more than a million media files of all types to broadcasters and publications around the world," Wieck said. "We are glad she will continue to serve the company as a senior executive and as a member of the board."
"My 12 years with Wieck have been extremely exciting," Boatright said. "I feel a great sense of accomplishment in the success of our company, and I am delighted to continue in an executive position during this transition period."
Boatright, Wieck, Hughs and General Manager Tim Roberts, the fourth founding member of the company, all worked for United Press International in Dallas in the 1980s. Hughs died in March 2001.
"Marge has been a pillar of strength for the company during its first 12 years," Roberts said. "Wieck Media Services would not exist in its current form were it not for her leadership and business acumen."
Boatright left UPI in the Spring of 1990 and joined Wieck for its startup the following year. She had joined UPI in 1961 at the Southwest Division headquarters in Dallas. She held a range of marketing positions until 1983, when she was named Vice President and General Manager of the division, with responsibility for all operations. In the mid-1980s, Boatright was promoted to Vice President/Regional Sales at UPI and supervised all newspaper sales executives west of the Mississippi.
Wieck Media Services specializes in Web delivery of multimedia files -- text, graphics, photos, audio and video -- to media organizations worldwide. The 11-year-old firm was ranked No. 7 on the Dallas Business Journal's 2002 annual list of the area's largest Web-hosting companies.
Wieck utilizes Internet and Web technologies to distribute the news reports, columns, photos and graphics for The New York Times News and Syndicate Services, as well as the daily Times Digest and the daily and weekly crossword puzzles. The company also distributes the daily photo reports for Agence France-Presse, Kyodo News Service and LAT Photographic in London.
Wieck's corporate clients include American Honda Motor Co. Inc., American Suzuki Motor Corp., AT&T, The Coca-Cola Co., DaimlerChrysler, Ford Motor Co., General Motors, HIT Entertainment, Kmart, Toyota Corporate Services and Weber Shandwick.
Editors: A photo of Boatright is available via the Wieck media Web site.