AMBASSADOR PRESIDENT LEAVING TO START FIRM

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Lanny R. Julian will resign his position as president of Ambassador Cards in March to establish an independent marketing company.

and to identify licensing partnerships for client firms. Ambassador and its parent company, Hallmark Cards, will be among Julian's first clients.

During Julian's three years as president, he is credited with having developed the Ambassador brand as "the fastest growing greeting card brand in the mass channels today," said Irvine O. Hockaday, president and chief executive officer of Hallmark Cards. Ambassador is the leading brand within supermarkets.

Julian has devoted 25 years of his career to Hallmark and Ambassador, serving as a sales rep, district manager and senior product marketing manager for specialty products. He later became vice president and general manager of Hallmark Properties. In 1985, he was named president of Hallmark Marketing Corp., and became president of Ambassador in 1992.

A successor has yet to be named.