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Friday, June 14, 2002 Media Cynic | Forum | Advertising | Classifieds | Jobs Publishing Industry Soundbytes Launches and Redesigns | Miscellaneous People · Primedia Inc. announced that David Ferm has been appointed to head the company's Consumer Magazine and Media Group (CMMG) as President of Magazines and Media. Mr. Ferm continues to have management responsibilities for Media Central. He replaces John Loughlin. Mr. Ferm joined Primedia in 2000 and was most recently President of Primedia's Business-to-Business Group where he oversaw Primedia's Business Magazines and Media Group. He will continue to oversee Primedia's Media Central group, which provides 172 newsletters, magazines, websites, conferences, databases and other products that focus on the media industry. Prior to joining Primedia, Mr. Ferm was President of McGraw-Hill's BusinessWeek Group. Charles McCurdy, President of Primedia, will oversee Primedia's Business-to-Business group on an interim basis. · The Air Force Association (AFA) Board of Directors has approved Donald L. Peterson to become the next AFA executive director as of August 1, 2002. Peterson succeeds John A. Shaud, who will step down after completing seven years in the job. As top staff executive, Peterson will direct AFA's professional staff in all functional areas and be responsible for the management and operations of the association and its educational affiliate, the Aerospace Education Foundation. He will also hold the position of publisher of Air Force Magazine, the official journal of the 146,000-member association. · Penton Media announced the promotion of Bob Miodonski, editorial director of Contractor, its monthly newsmagazine serving the mechanical contracting industry, to the role of publisher and editorial director. Miodonski succeeds Jim McDermott as publisher, who is retiring after 37 years in the publishing business with Penton. Miodonski has been Contractor's chief editor since 1994. In that position, he has also been editorial director of Radiant Living since that publication's inception in 1996. · Conde Nast Publications' GQ magazine announced the appointment of Lee Rosenbaum as associate publisher. In his new role, he reports to Ron Galotti, vice president and publisher. Most recently, under the management of Ron Galotti, former president of Talk Media, Lee was the publisher of Talk, the three-year-old general-interest magazine that was a joint venture of Hearst and Miramax, and ceased publication in January 2002. Prior to that, he was publisher of Discover magazine from 1994 to 1998. · Avery Stirratt will join Newsweek this month as Regional Sales Director for the East Coast, Worldwide Publisher Greg Osberg announced. He will be responsible for managing the Atlanta, Boston, New York and Washington D.C. sales offices. Stirratt worked at Forbes for seven years and was Group Advertising Director for the East. · CMP Media announced the appointment of Mark Lapedus to editor of Semiconductor Business News (SBN), a news website for semiconductor industry managers and executives. Lapedus, a semiconductor industry news veteran who joined SBN in 1999 as managing editor, has held various positions with CMP including EBN West Coast Bureau Chief; Asian correspondent in Taipei, Taiwan; and from 1986 to 1991 Lapedus was a reporter in Silicon Valley for Electronic News. · Vivendi Universal Publishing has announced the appointment of Hans Gieskes as CEO of its Boston-based subsidiary Houghton Mifflin, effective July 1. Hans will report directly to Agnes Touraine, Chairman and CEO of Vivendi Universal Publishing. He succeeds Nader Darehshori, who is retiring. His mission will be to develop new business, strengthen know-how in digital publishing and foster synergies with other publishers within the group. Hans spent much of his career to date with the Reed-Elsevier group, where he held various posts, including sixteen years as CEO in the Netherlands, the UK and the U.S. Houghton Mifflin also announced that Theresa Kelly has been promoted to Senior Vice President and head of the Trade & Reference Division, effective July 1. Kelly will oversee the division's adult, children's and reference publication activities. She succeeds Wendy Strothman, who last month announced she would step down to become a consulting editor for the Company, working with several key authors. · VCampus Corporation, a provider of elearning solutions, announced that the company has completed its search for a Chief Financial Officer with the appointment of Christopher Nelson. Nelson takes on the role that has been filled on an acting basis by Deborah Colella, Vice President of Corporate Development, during the search process. Colella will continue in her development role with the company. · John Perrachon has been named President and CEO of TouchTunes Music Corporation by TouchTunes' Board of Directors. Tony Mastronardi will remain as Vice Chairman of the Company, which he co-founded in 1994, and will continue to be a source of strategic vision while guiding the Company's business development activities. Guy Nathan, the other co-founder, will also continue to refocus the company's R&D efforts. TouchTunes noted that the appointment was a natural extension of the Company's restructuring activities, which commenced in December 2001. Sickbay Health Media, Inc. announced that Dr. Art Ulene has assumed the position of consulting Medical Director for the company. Ulene's appointment coincides with Sickbay Health Media's acquisition of 100% ownership of "Dr. Art Ulene's Vitality Challenge". · CNN anchor Lou Dobbs will pen a weekly syndicated column for Tribune Media Services (TMS), beginning June 23. The column will expand beyond traditional economic topics, focusing on relevant issues about the political economy, society and government, among others. Dobbs will originate his Sunday column for the New York Daily News. TMS will syndicate it to newspapers in the United States, and the Los Angeles Times Syndicate International (LATSI) will represent Dobbs internationally. His column will also be available in Spanish. · Candy Altman, Brian Bracco and Gary Griffith, all longtime news executives at Hearst-Argyle Television, have been named vice presidents of the Company. The promotions, effective immediately, were announced by David J. Barrett, president and chief executive officer of Hearst-Argyle Television, Inc. The executives will continue to report to Fred I. Young, Hearst-Argyle senior vice president, news. Digital Publishing · Adobe Systems Incorporated, the provider of publishing software, announced Adobe Content Server 3.0, an end-to-end software solution that enables the secure distribution of Adobe Portable Document Format-based (PDF) eBooks. New Content Server 3.0 functionality makes it possible for libraries to loan and distribute Adobe PDF-based eBooks to patrons. Content providers and businesses may also use Content Server 3.0 to offer digital subscriptions of Adobe PDF content to consumers or employees. · ebrary, a provider of information distribution and retrieval technology, announced significant enhancements to its ebrarian for Libraries service. Among other developments, the company has increased its online collection of books and other valuable documents by 50%, has signed new content partnerships with Library of Congress, Bancroft Library, Marriott Library, Getty Images, Octavo and Maps.com, and now offers an all-encompassing pricing model. Content Deals · Microsoft Corp. announced that CNBC on MSN Money has expanded its leading editorial content through a new agreement with Forbes.com and the addition of two personal finance columnists. As a result of the agreement, new Forbes content will be featured on CNBC on MSN Money. · Moving.com, Inc., an online marketplace for relocation information, announced an agreement with Network Communications, Inc. (NCI), a provider of real estate advertising and publishing, and Citysearch, a local network of online city guides and one of the core businesses operated by Ticketmaster. Through this agreement, Moving.com will provide a full suite of moving tools including a digital change-of-address application to NCI and Citysearch's co-branded website, LivingChoices.com. · Listen.com announced it has signed a licensing agreement with Zomba Recording Corporation, an independent music company. The agreement will immediately add tracks from artists on Zomba's record labels, including Jive Records, Silvertone Records, and Verity Records, to Listen.com's Rhapsody's digital music service. Launches and Redesigns · Bobit Publishing Company announced Bella, a new magazine that enables advertisers to promote their products and services through magazine editorial. Bella is a bimonthly magazine debuting in June. Bella combines editorial with paid product placement. Advertisers can place products in buyer's guides within articles, allowing them to effectively reach their customers for less than the cost of traditional advertising. "Bella is highly product-oriented, and offers informative features on the latest skin care trends and products," says Hannah Lee, managing editor. · Io Energy LLC, publisher of power industry newsletters Power Daily Northeast and Power Daily Midwest, announced the launch of a new publication focusing on generation assets and markets across North America called Generation Markets Week. · Email911.com announced the launch of "1-Minute Email Tips", a resource for consumer and business computer users who suffer from email/information overload and a loss of productivity due to information paralysis. "Business email users now spend an average of over two hours a day just dealing with email!" says Email911.com President & CEO Adam J. Boettiger. Based in Portland, Oregon, Email 911 is a privately-held company. · Lycos is hosting the official 2002 U.S. Open Championship site. The site offers tee times and pairings, daily articles and news, real time leaderboard (courtesy of Unisys), and a live webcast. Other features of the site are a pro shop, player diaries, a daily photo gallery, games, an event schedule, TV shedule, and video interviews courtesy of InsideGolf.com. · Prime Plus/Red Hot Mamas, a menopause education organization, announced the launch of a new website. The site provides information for women and men to help them understand and manage the multiple health and lifestyle implications during the years before, during and after menopause. The website offers new information about the short-term and long-term consequences of menopause, hysterectomies and surgical menopause, and treatment options to help alleviate the often debilitating physical and emotional effects that menopause can have. Miscellaneous · Fortune has announced its list of cool technology companies. Pyra Labs of San Francisco, CA won Fortune's Coolest Media Company for 2002. About Pyra Labs, the company behind Blogger.com, Forbes said: "Nothing destroys productivity like blogs, the frequently updated online diaries that have exploded in the past year. Blogs, short for web logs, run from the personal (dating life in St. Louis) to the political (views on Arafat) to the arcane (diseased bees in Virginia Beach). The company behind the trend is Pyra, a miniscule operation in San Francisco that runs Blogger.com, the most popular tool for hosting and posting blogs, with almost 600,000 registered users." · Scholastic Entertainment and PlayCore, Inc. announced a licensing agreement in which PlayCore will develop playground equipment and backyard products based on Scholastic's Clifford The Big Red Dog. · Audible, Inc. announced an agreement to offer its Internet audio service to Costco Wholesale Corporations members through an initial test at 8 retail locations. Audible is a provider of downloadable spoken audio including audio editions of books, newspapers, magazines, radio programs and original shows. Beginning early in Q3 2002, Costco members will be able to purchase a two-book package for $28.99, which allows them to install AudibleManager software, immediately download from audible.com's collection of over 5,500 audiobook titles and burn to audio CD. Audible's first packaged content products will be available in the Technology section of Costco Wholesale warehouses. · Fine Living, Scripps Networks' new multi-platform brand, will add a half-hour series, Simplify Your Life, as well as a new one-hour special Born American to its Fall 2002 line-up. Additionally, the network has granted early pick-up to four of its most popular shows, including Radical Sabbatical, Your Private Island, The Genuine Article, and Breathing Room. 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