Birkner, as former chief sales officer: agency sales at the Sunday Times, is synonymous with the 2009 Media Owner Sales Teams (MOST) Awards, initiated by AMF and Wag the Dog publishers. She led AVUSA's national sales team to win the newspaper category, and the overall MOST award for the best sales team in the media industry across South Africa.
"I have been head-hunted for all of my previous positions and had numerous offers from competing companies during my career," she says. "I declined all of these as I needed a growth opportunity that would enable me to operate at a more strategic level."
"She brings a wealth of knowledge and achievement into the Primedia Unlimited stable," says Ken Varejes, CEO of Primedia Unlimited. "In 2005, she received a Sales Achiever Award for service excellence and in 2001 was recognised by the media industry as one of its top 10 sales people when she was presented with a MOMA Award.
