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Monday, November 15th, 1999 Media Cynic | Forum | Advertising | Classifieds | Jobs Borders Group Names Greg Josefowicz President and CEO Borders Group, Inc. has announced the appointment of Greg Josefowicz as President, Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors. Mr. Josefowicz, age 47, succeeds Robert DiRomualdo, who has been serving as the Interim President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. DiRomualdo will remain as Chairman. Mr. DiRomualdo said, "The Board of Directors and I are extremely pleased to have Greg Josefowicz join Borders. Greg is a seasoned retailer who ran one of America's premier retail organizations and he will help us capitalize on the opportunities ahead. Greg's strengths in marketing, merchandising, logistics, operations and, above all, human resources will make Borders Group an even stronger business in the future. In addition, his experience in database management and e-commerce (as Peapod's Chicago affiliate) will serve to strengthen Borders.com. I'm delighted that our businesses are currently performing very well across the board and with Greg's leadership we are confident that Borders can fulfill its mission as the world's best-loved provider of books, music and other entertainment, educational and informational products and services." Mr. Josefowicz most recently served as President of Jewel-Osco, a division of Albertson's, Inc. Mr. Josefowicz served as President of Jewel-Osco since 1997 and previously served in myriad roles in merchandising, marketing and operations during his career there, which began as a high school student in 1968. Mr. Josefowicz received the 1999 Illinois Retail Merchants Association Retailer of the Year award in September for his commitment to the retail industry and dedication to the community. Mr. Josefowicz holds a bachelor's degree from Michigan State University and a master's degree from Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management, where he continues to serve as a member of the Advisory Board. Imagine Media Forms Business Division Imagine Media, publisher of the consumer business magazine Business 2.0 has announced the formation of a new operating unit. The new unit will leverage the success of the Business 2.0 brand and focus on developing new product lines. Michela O'Connor Abrams, a sixteen-year media and publishing veteran, has been appointed president of the division. She will oversee Business 2.0 and all new brand extensions. Business 2.0 was launched last year by Imagine Media Inc., the US subsidiary of The Future Network. Since its inception, circulation at Business 2.0 has grown from 125,000 to a rate base of 210,000 as of January 2000. The November issue carries more than 207 advertising pages, a 174% percent increase over last year's November issue. "This year has been an exhilarating one for Business 2.0. But despite the explosion in advertising and circulation we've enjoyed, we're still at the early stage of the brand's potential," explained Chris Anderson, chairman of The Future Network. "To successfully parlay the Business 2.0 brand into other media products and services, we needed the right structure, a dedicated business unit, and a superstar to run it. Michela's remarkable track record speaks for itself. She's one of the great leaders in our industry and I'm absolutely delighted that she is joining us." Over the last sixteen years, O'Connor Abrams has held executive positions at IDG, Ziff-Davis and McGraw-Hill. Most recently, she served as president and CEO of Computerworld. Prior to IDG, she was chief operating officer of ZD Events, which produces industry-leading expositions and conferences such as Comdex, Seybold and Networld. She also served several years as a publisher and group vice president at McGraw-Hill. SoftBook Press Introduces SoftBook Auto Publisher SoftBook Press, Inc. has announced the introduction of SoftBook Auto Publisher. SoftBook Auto Publisher is a server-based application that allows immediate conversion of documents (text and graphics) from the industry-standard Open eBook HTML format into a compressed and encrypted SoftBook Edition for secure distribution over the Internet without manual intervention. In addition, SoftBook Auto Publisher can be implemented to automatically compress and encrypt electronic documents for distribution to SoftBook Readers. "SoftBook Auto Publisher allows us to produce secure, electronic versions of TimesFax, the eight-page digest of the New York Times, automatically and simultaneously with the transmission of the publication," said Dan Barber, Sales Director of TimesFax. "In less than one minute from the moment that an issue is completed, we can convert the content into a SoftBook Edition for delivery to our subscribers. This gives us the ability to provide TimesFax to readers, in effect, instantaneously. This immediate availability of our content is exactly what we want to achieve in terms of spectacular customer service." NuvoMedia, Inc. Unveils eNewsstand NuvoMedia, Inc., creators of the Rocket eBook, have launched the eNewsstand. The eNewsstand enables Rocket eBook users to purchase and download six-month and year-long subscriptions to popular periodicals. "Our new dedicated and expanded eNewsstand was developed in direct response to customer feedback," commented Martin Eberhard, cofounder and CEO of NuvoMedia. "In addition to popular fiction and non-fiction Books, our readers wanted the ability to purchase, download and access their favorite periodicals on the easy-to-read and portable Rocket eBook. We are excited to offer our community content from these highly-esteemed periodicals and look forward to expanding our offerings in the near future." ibooks.com Appoints Former Ziff-Davis General Manager as CEO ibooks.com, a source for digital online reference books, has announced the appointment of Jerry Weissberg, a former executive VP and general manager for Ziff Davis, Inc., to CEO of ibooks.com. Weissberg will be responsible for guiding the company through a successful launch into the online digital book market as well as leading ibooks.com through accelerated growth following the launch. "We're confident that Jerry's years of experience in consumer publishing, IT training and managing high-growth businesses will enable ibooks.com to quickly become the expert source for online digital reference books," said Bob Fabbio, ibooks.com board member and managing director at TL Ventures, the lead investor in ibooks.com. "There is a significant opportunity to give need-to-know professionals immediate access to critical reference books while implementing a business model valuable to publishers," said Jerry Weissberg. "ibooks.com is entering into a virtually untapped multi-billion dollar market with the first online digital book solution that brings value to consumers and publishers alike." Prior to joining ibooks.com, Weissberg served as executive VP and general manager for four separate business units of Ziff-Davis Inc. Prior to Ziff-Davis, Inc., Weissberg held positions at Metscan Inc., the pioneer developer of Automated Meter Reading systems for the energy industry, and Nortel (formerly Northern Telcom, Ltd.). Reach Out Magazine Goes Online Reach Out Magazine, a resource which aims to help those with disabilities to meet others, is now on the Internet. Reach Out's website features issues of the magazine online. The magazine has stories, humor, and anecdotes related to the disabled community. Reach Out Magazine also provides features for people to chat, email, and learn about what happens to others who have disabilities and the challenges, pains, and triumphs faced. Reach Out Magazine was founded by Jim Jakubek. Jim has a disability called Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease (a form of Muscular Dystrophy). Jim says: "I started Reach Out originally for my own personal interests. I placed a personal ad in a local newspaper in Florida, upon moving here from New York. Since, I knew no one here, I thought it would be a great way for me to meet people. I was wrong and I didn't receive one response. I feel that is because I placed an ad listing my disability, and people were looking for the prince or princess, and not someone with a disability." MP Media Launches Bilingual American and Korean Website MP Media, Inc. announced the launch of a new website, HanBeat.com, which will provide a forum primarily targeting the 1.5 to 2nd generation Koreans in America as well as other Korean communities throughout the world. "Computer and internet usage has permeated throughout a great number of Korean households. Asian youth spend quite a bit of time on the internet as evidenced by the mushrooming number of online Asian communities," notes Mary Park, founder of HanBeat.com. "The only problem is that most of the existing Asian portals use the 'Pacific Islander category' approach by which they lump together numerous Asian nationalities as if they were one and the same. The Asian region isn't even like Latin and South America where most of the countries share a common language. While all Asians share some similarities, the existing all-Asian portals are going to run out of common ground at some point. In order to keep the continued loyalty of the viewership, a site has to be more vertical." Around the Web At the Atlantic's Helm, Two Contrasting Skippers Boston Globe Judge Slaps a Halt on GO Logo ZDNet LA Times, OC Register Hire Independent Auditor Editor&Publisher News Corp. Planning Launch of Golf Magazine Reuters Online Journalists Keep Their Eyes on Daily Numbers NY Times Publications Finally Catch on That Internet Isn't Going Away USA Today Click here to return to the homepage of The Write NewsTM Click here to subscribe to our free weekly email newsletter.  www.writenews.com Copyright © 1997-2007 by Writers Write, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
