Karen Schaffner

Current

• Publisher at Association for Retail Environments
• Owner at Corporate Image Consulting

Past

• Vice President/Group Publisher at VNU Business Media
• Vice President/Group Publisher, Retail Group at VNU (now Nielsen Business Media)
• Vice President/Group Publisher, Retail Group at Nielsen Co.

• vice President/Group Publisher, Retail Group at Nielsen Business Media
• Vice President/Editorial Director at Shore-Varrone Inc.

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Education

• University of Florida

Connections

206 connections

Industry

Publishing

Karen Schaffner’s Summary

I have more than 30 years publishing experience, nearly all involving the retail market. In the course of my career, I have received numerous honors, including the most prestigious award presented in business - to - business publishing, American Business Media’s Crain Award for career excellence.
My current business, Corporate Image Consulting, leverages my knowledge of the market, the publications and my client focus to provide public relations, marketing and custom publishing solutions in the retail design, hospitality design and contract design markets. Clients include the Association for Retail Environments, Chute Gerdeman Retail and idX Corporation.

Karen Schaffner’s Specialties:

Publishing, sales and editorial management, event management, public relations, marketing.

Karen Schaffner’s Experience

• Publisher

  Association for Retail Environments

  (Non-Profit Organization Management industry)

  2007 — Present (2 years)

• Owner

  Corporate Image Consulting

  (Publishing industry)

  December 2006 — Present (2 years 8 months)

  Corporate Image Consulting provides public relations, event planning and custom publishing services to the retail design industry. Current clients include the Association for Retail Environments (A.R.E.), where I am Publisher of Retail Environments magazine and serve as Managing Director of NADI, the Visual Merchandising division.

• Vice President/Group Publisher

  VNU Business Media

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Publishing industry)

  2002 — December 2006 (4 years)

  • Executive management of retail brands in the retail store design, jewelry, sporting goods, gourmet foods and apparel markets.
  • Led transition to “media agnostic” brands, with emedia revenues reaching 10% of total revenue in 2006, and successful face-to-face events in place for nearly all brands.
  • Launched face-to-face events (executive forums, table-top events, etc.) that generate revenue of close to $1 million.
  • Successfully launched VNU USA’s first-ever China event, an Apparel Sourcing Fair.
  • Extensive involvement in publication redesigns, repositioning and divestitures, including transitioning a European publication to the U.S.
  • Core brands (DDI, Impressions/EMB) consistently achieved EBITDA of 36% or higher.

• Vice President/Group Publisher, Retail Group

  VNU (now Nielsen Business Media)

  (Publishing industry)

  2002 — 2006 (4 years)

• Vice President/Group Publisher, Retail Group

  Nielsen Co.

  (Publishing industry)

  2002 — 2006 (4 years)

• vice President/Group Publisher, Retail Group

  Nielsen Business Media

  (Publishing industry)

  2002 — 2006 (4 years)

• Vice President/Editorial Director

  Shore-Varrone Inc.

  (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Publishing industry)

  1982 — 1999 (17 years)

  • Recruited, trained and managed top-notch, award-winning editorial teams.
  • Directly involved in successful launches of four publications, including DDI.

Karen Schaffner’s Education

• University of Florida

  BSJm , Journalism , 1966 — 1970

  Activities and Societies:

  Zeta Tau Alpha, The Alligator, Sigma Delta Chi

Additional Information

Karen Schaffner’s Groups:

American Business Media, Magazine Association of Georgia, Association for Retail Environments,

•    The Nielsen Company Alumni and Associates
•    Magazine Association of the Southeast
•    FOLIO: MediaPRO -- Magazine & eMedia Publishing Professionals
•    VNUlumni
•    Retail Environments Network
•    Shore-Varrone Alumni
•    DDI Magazine

Karen Schaffner’s Honors:

American Business Media Crain Award for career excellence. 1993
Jesse H. Neal Award for editorial writing. 1992
Jesse H. Neal Certificate for editorial writing. 1991
University of Florida Hearst Visiting Professional. May 1993
Judge, McAllister Essay Competition, Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University. 1996-1999
Hall of Fame, Magazine Association of the Southeast. 2005

Karen Schaffner’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

• consulting offers
• new ventures
• job inquiries
• expertise requests
• business deals
• reference requests
• getting back in touch