CINDY DAVIS JONES has been named Director of Brand Development at The Weather Channel Companies. Her responsibilities include developing and coordinating the implementation of brand strategies to grow The Weather Channel Networks and weather.com brands. Previously, Jones had been a consultant at Zyman Marketing Group.

Ladies' Home Journal magazine has named KIM HOBSON Eastern Sales Manager; ALICESA VONGLUEKIAT Promotion Director and AMY LEVY Business Development Director. Hobson previously served as Beauty Director at Ladies' Home Journal. Vongluekiat most recently served as Senior Marketing Manager at Ladies' Home Journal. Before that, Vongluekiat served as Associated Marketing Director for the Youth Group at Primedia. Most recently, Levy served as Promotion Director at Better Homes and Gardens magazine.

BBDO West has hired STEPHANIE HIMFAR as Media Supervisor. Himfar, who joins the agency from Ad Sales 3, will work on both the MGM Home Entertainment and Air New Zealand accounts. The agency has also hired JENNIFER LYSAUGHT, ANNE CHU and ANNA LAMSON as assistant media planners.

Hill, Holliday recently launched a broadcast spot buying unit in the agency's San Francisco office and named ANDREA BOUCHANTE, who joins the agency as Associate Media Director, to oversee it. Bouchante's media career includes buying positions at Ketchum, Young & Rubicam and Foote, Cone & Belding. She will manage the 24 Hour Fitness, State Farm Insurance and Tilia Foodsaver broadcast buying assignments.

GARETH KAY joined Modernista! as Account Planning Manager. Kay joins from Lowe London where he was a Planner on the Unilever, Reebok and Vauxhall accounts. He began his career with TBWA / London and progressed to DFGW where he was Planning Director.

The Deal has made STEPHEN GOLDBERG its Associate Publisher. Prior to joining The Deal, Goldberg was national advertising director at Investor’s Business Daily. His responsibilities at The Deal include managing advertising sales, custom publishing and event marketing staffs. He is also charged with driving advertising revenues for the company’s online and print publications as well as integrated marketing services.

Paul Schultz Advertising has appointed JAMIE KRAFT Media Traffic Manager. Kraft most recently worked at Price Weber, where she was Media Traffic Manager. Prior to that, she was a media assistant at Red7E, and its predecessor agency, R.J.Beggs.

Modem Media has hired BILL FIRING (left) as Vice-President, Marketing Strategy, and MICHAEL MAHER, (right) also as Vice-President, Marketing Strategy. Firing will be based in the company's San Francisco office, and Maher will be based in the Connecticut office. Firing joins the company from SF Interactive. Prior to SF Interactive, Firing was Vice President, Consulting Services at ANALYTICi. Maher joins Modem Media from Draft Worldwide, where most recently he was Senior Executive Vice President and Director of Digital Services. There he launched DraftDigital in New York and helped create comprehensive, multi-channel CRM capabilities.

DAVID LEHMKUHL has been promoted to vice president, ad sales strategy and research, for ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com. Lehmkuhl will be responsible for the positioning, selling tools and oversight of research for The Magazine and ESPN.com. Lehmkuhl had been director of marketing for the magazine and ESPN.com since January 2002. He joined The Magazine prior to its launch in July 1997 as the director of research.

ANNE DAILEY has re-joined IMS as Associate Sales Director in their Los Angeles office, replacing CLAUDIA BARBANO. Dailey most recently worked at Telmar and will now manage IMS' West Coast sales efforts.