David P. Drimer

 DAVID DRIMER is the co-founder of Metafair.com, a start-up e-commerce/e-tailing services and consulting brand (division of Matted LIC) focused primarily on the online auction space. The guiding philosophy is that the online auction channel of e-sales is no longer a "trend," but an essential segment of selling highly-appraised art, antiques and collectibles in the 21st century. Yet, the management and execution of this critical function is left neither to specialists or professionals nor is it afforded the strategic prominence it deserves.

Metafair fills this gap with expert personnel especially qualified in the valuation of high-end art and collectibles supported by the cutting-edge online systems and advanced services essential for ensuring healthy profit margins. Far beyond the scope of e-Bay, the company is set-up to avail itself of numerous alternative online auction platforms appropriate to a client’s specific inventory.  And, since the only remuneration Metafair requires is a commission on consummated sales, working with the company is an entirely risk-free proposition for its clientele. Metafair soft launched in late October 2018 and hard launch was February 2019. Transfer of majority ownership to its founding investors is targeted for Fall, 2019.

Most recently, Drimer has immersed himself as a volunteer member of the Advisory Board for ZAKA Search & Rescue (U.S.). He is helping ZAKA build out a North American base of operations for this United Nations-sanctioned NGO notable as the only organization which trains and deploys with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on its humanitarian rescue missions across the globe. The objective is to establish a presence in the Western Hemisphere that will allow faster deployment by full-trained, adequately equipped volunteers to disaster sites, such as Brazil and Haiti, to enable quicker deployment and save more lives.

Drimer had been National Executive Director (COO) of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), a renowned 501(c)3 not-for-profit association. Founded in 1897, ZOA is the oldest pro-Israel organization in the United States. In that role, he was the Chief Operating Officer and sometime Chief Financial Officer for the historic, 122-year old advocacy group. Drimer was responsible for all business operations for the ZOA. He was most recently noted for championing the sale of ZOA’s East 34th Street building for $38.2 million ($17 million over assessed value) and the subsequent purchase and buildout of its new midtown office condominium, featuring a full-service, broadcast quality video studio. Under his leadership, ZOA expanded national campus operations, opened new chapters in Jewish hub cities across the U.S. and revamped print and digital communications and social media initiatives resulting in radically expanded reach and impact, plus receiving recognition in numerous national and international digital awards competitions.  

Drimer was a founding partner and general manager of Media Decision Sciences, consultants in marketing and operations for 21st century media, specializing in services to not-for-profit news and information delivery enterprises. In this capacity, he also served as Director, Business Development & Content Syndication for the now world-renowned Global Press Institute, a multiple award-winning not-for-profit media enterprise that trains, empowers and employs women journalists in developing countries at middle-income wages. Within six months, Drimer forged GPI content syndication deals with numerous publishers, including Reuters and UPI. GPIs worldwide reach now approaches 22 million potential readers. In recognition of these achievements, he was nominated for Audience Development magazine’s prestigious “2012 AD All-Stars” award in the online category. Drimer was also nominated as one of “21 Leaders for the 21st Century” by Women’s e-News Network. Subsequent to the conclusion of his contract with GPI, Drimer was invited to join the Board of Directors. He was later unanimously elected Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Previously, he was associate publisher and general manager of the Forward, the legendary 122-year old weekly Jewish newspaper and daily updated website. Within two years of Mr. Drimer joining the company in 2005, audited paid circulation of the nationally distributed print edition grew 43% and total advertising revenues increased by 51%. As associate publisher, he led the circulation marketing, advertising sales and public relations efforts for the weekly print publication and daily website and other digital initiatives. He also served as business manager for all company operations. The Forward was granted 501(c)(3) tax status as a not-for-profit educational institution in 2010; over the course of two years, Mr. Drimer crafted the strategic development plan and built the fundraising infrastructure necessary to launch annual giving, membership and capital endowment campaigns. Under his leadership, the Forward won some 30+ editorial and Web awards, including multiple Rockower (“the Jewish Pulitzers”), Online News Association and Deadline Club awards.

He is proudest of his team’s digital accomplishments, winning numerous awards in various competitions, most notably three Webbys in a row (“The Oscars of the Internet,” NY Times). Forward was far and away the smallest and lowest funded enterprise ever so honored in that prestigious category. Subsequently, the Forward site was named Newspaper “Best in Class’ by the Web Marketing Association (WMA) awards. The previous year’s winner was The New York Times.

Drimer helped manage the sale of the newspaper’s Park Avenue building and the subsequent purchase and buildout of the company’s headquarters at Maiden Lane in New York City, where he was a member of the Board of the Condo Corporation and later elected to its executive committee.

Prior to joining the Forward, Mr. Drimer had been the sole knowledge management consultant in the Enterprise division of LexisNexis, the leading global provider of business information solutions to the legal and business communities. While there, he advised a multinational clientele on using Web-based applications to address compliance, sales prospecting and other business process engineering issues. He was named a “LexisNexis Superstar” for conceiving, developing and introducing the first-to-market Anti-Money Laundering application for the international investment banking community, anticipating the Due Diligence requirements of the Patriot Act.

Previously, he had worked for upwards of twelve years in a wide variety of roles in Knight Ridder publications and later in the Economist Group, beginning as creative director and ending as vice president of marketing & new product development for Journal of Commerce, Inc., Chief Operating Officer of the JOC Newspaper Division, and founding publisher of the Safe Workplace magazine and websites. In his first year with K-R, the second largest newspaper conglomerate in the western hemisphere, Drimer was named a finalist for the premiere Knight-Ridder Achievement Award in the Business Information Services (BIS) division.

Mr. Drimer had also worked in various positions at several advertising and public relations agencies. Most notably, he was account supervisor at Richard Weiner, Inc. on three Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Silver Anvil award-winning campaigns for new product introduction for COLECO’s Cabbage Patch Kids and ADAM computers and General Foods’ Sugar Free TANG and Crystal Light beverage mix products. He began his career in marketing at the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency, working exclusively on the Burger King account in Miami, BK’s headquarters city.

Drimer received an MBA in marketing while serving as assistant director of admissions and interim director of minority admissions for the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. He was awarded a BA in English from the same institution. He later studied digital design and multimedia production at the Center for Advanced Digital Applications (CADA) at New York University.

He is a current or former member of The 100 Year Association, Online News Association (ONA), the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), the Deadline Club (executive committee, Board of Directors) and Society of Competitive Information Professionals, The Special Libraries Association, Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and The Advertising Club, NY and the American Marketing Association (AMA), among others. He served on the audit committee of the World Jewish Congress (WJC).

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