Don William Davidson died on February 8, 2022. Here’s Davidson’s obituary. He was 84 years old. Davidson had several jobs in the out of home business including a stint as CEO of Gannett Outdoor, the largest out of home company in the world at that time. He also worked at Gould Outdoor, EL Ruddy, Foster & Kleiser, Claude Neon, Mediacom and Trading Bay. In 1991 he was inducted into the OAAA Hall of Fame. Billboard Insider asked some readers to share their memories of Davidson.
Former OAAA CEO Nancy Fletcher:
I met Don Davidson in the mid 1980’s when I was at Naegele Outdoor and he was the head of Gannett. He came to MN wanting Naegele to join Outdoor Network USA, a national OOH business development effort that Don envisioned to bring the medium to a new professional level. I then worked closely with him starting in 1991 when I took the job as OAAA CEO. He was a big thinker with big goals for OOH. He was also a lovely and elegant man dedicated to his wife Olive, his family, and his many close OOH friends in the US and around the globe. His was a life truly well-lived. My hubbie and I will open a good bottle of Tuscan wine tonight in his honor.
Tantara Capital’s Steve McNeely:
Don will always be remembered for his “gentlemanly demeanor” totally committed to the well being of the out of home industry…thoughtful and collaborative in every sense of the way. Shared many great moments with Don…professionally when we would debate the “future” of large format printing and other pressing industry issues of the day or personally traveling with Don and Olive to exotic places to judge the Obies. My only real “disagreement” with Don was who got the most credit for selecting Nancy as OAAA’s CEO. I’ll miss Don’s wry sense of humor. Rest in peace my friend.
Former Gannett exec John Hope and former OUTFRONT exec Don Avjean:
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