Thursday, August 19, 2010

Mills leaving MITX for West Coast

By Galen Moore

Two weeks after getting engaged to be married, MITX president Kiki Mills says she will leave the post at the end of October, departing for the West Coast to be with her fiance.

Mills, who joined the Massachusetts Innovation and Technology Exchange in 1999, started out as director of business development for the regional Internet, technology and marketing trade association, becoming executive director in 2005. Last August, she assumed the title of president. She told board members on Wednesday about her plans to depart.

Under her leadership, MITX has grown programs such as its popular technology awards, which are now entering their eighth year.

The organization plans to hire a new president by October, she said. “We’ve just started the succession planning and getting the job out there.”

She said the new leader has to be someone with knowledge of digital marketing and media, who can be a “thought leader” for the organization – and combine that with an understanding of associations, membership, marketing and retention.

Mills’ plans to move come a month and a half ahead of MITX’s FutureM event, which she called “probably the biggest initiative we’ve ever undertaken.” The week-long conference will include 40 events in multiple locations around Boston.

Two weeks ago, Mills got engaged to Keith Johnston, a former Mullen ad executive, who has been on the West Coast at the San Francisco ad firm Butler Shine Stern & Partners. The wedding is planned for March. She’s moving west to join him, she said, and isn’t sure what she’ll do professionally once she gets there. “I’m going to take some time off,” she said.

Launched in 1996 when the organization was known as the Massachusetts Interactive Media Council (MIMC), MITX is a New England-focused Internet business and marketing association with 250 member companies representing over 7,500 professionals.