Ben Isaacson Reportedly Departing AIM

Ben Isaacson is leaving his job as executive director at the Association for Interactive Marketing, sources said.

Isaacson would not confirm nor deny the reports.

Rumors that Isaacson had been fired, “are 100% not true,” Isaacson said.

“I am still the executive director of AIM,” Isaacson. “Everything is fine with the organization and we’re in the middle of making plans for upcoming events and everything is coming along just as planned.”

Sources said he is leaving sometime in the next few months, possibly by the annual Direct Marketing Association conference in mid-October.

“I cannot confirm or deny right now, it’s just rumors,” said Christina Duffney, spokesperson for the DMA.

Isaacson, who has close ties with many of the AIM members and has built the membership through those personal relationships, will not be easy to replace, observers said.

Isaacson was named executive director of AIM in 1999.

AIM, an independent subsidiary of the DMA, was founded in 1993 as the Interactive Television Association. By 1996, it had changed its name and mission to focus on the Internet, as well as interactive media, including ITV.

Members are from a range of industries including e-mail marketing, online marketing, content provision, e-commerce, customer relationship management, market research, broadband access and the rollout of interactive television.