MediaPost Publications - People on the Move 03/11/2003

J. Walter Thompson has named SEAN NEALL executive vice president and global business director on the Ford account, which is the agency’s largest. Neall is returning to JWT - he previously spent 13 years in account management positions at the agency from 1984 to 1997. Since 1997, Neall has worked at Ogilvy & Mather, and Urban Science Applications Inc. Effective immediately, he replaces MIKE O'MALLEY, who resigned last Monday from the post of president of J. Walter Thompson’s Detroit and Houston offices.
ID Media Chicago has hired RICK GILLIS as senior vice president, director of client services. His responsibilities include all media services, including planning, buying, reporting and campaign management for all clients in the Chicago office client services. Gillis was previously vice president, client media director of FCBi Chicago.
SCOTT NESLUND, former managing director of Starcom MediaVest Group Canada, was named President of StarLink, a Chicago based division of SMG. Neslund had worked with the SMG Canadian division since 1999.
JOHN A. GRECO JR., President and CEO of Yellow Pages Integrated Media Association, is leaving the company to pursue other interests. EDWARD G. BLACKMAN, formerly executive vice president and acting president of the Association, will succeed Greco on an interim basis until a replacement is found.
GAYLE CHAMPAGNE has been named Manager of the recently opened Detroit office of the James G. Elliott Company, an independent magazine advertising sales and consulting firm. Most recently, Champagne was the Detroit Sales Director for In Style Magazine, and prior to that she was the Vice President/Midwest Sales Director for MediaSpace Solutions, where she was responsible for all accounts in the Midwest and portions of the Southwest and Southeast.
JOHN SEARS has been named Vice President of Fox’s owned and operated WOFL FOX 35 and WRBW UPN 65. Sears previously worked for KPTV FOX 12 in Portland, Oregon, where he held the positions of reporter, assignment editor, producer, executive producer and, since 1991, news director.
SEAN FLANAGAN has been promoted to U.S. publisher of National Geographic magazine, where he served as associate publisher since 2001. Flanagan now assumes all responsibilities for the advertising sales and marketing of the English-language edition of National Geographic.
ANDREW PICONE has begun his own media planning based firm named Media Planning Resources. Prior to this, Picone spent part of his twenty-one year advertising career at BBDO, Ogilvy & Mather, and Horizon Media.
aQuantive (formerly Avenue A),has added RICHARD P. FOX to their board of directors. Fox worked for the accounting firm Ernst & Young LLP for 28 years and served as managing partner of their Seattle office. Currently, Fox is a partner at consulting firm RavenFire LLC.
Planning Group International has appointed THOMAS SMITHA its new chief financial officer. Smitha will be responsible for all financial and administrative functions, and was previously a senior executive at KPMG.
JOHN J. KILCULLEN has been named publisher of Billboard. Kilcullen also assumes the presidency of VNU BusinAustralia, Canada, India, and Singapore.
JOHN HOEFT has been named Vice President, Interactive Media for the Los Angeles Newspaper Group (LANG). Hoeft will oversee all revenue, product development and content publishing for each of the eight LANG websites, and will relocate from Denver, CO where he has been Business Development Manager for Media News Group Interactive since September 2002
Biography Magazine has named JOHN BALEN as Marketing Director, SUSAN LYMAN as Eastern Account Manager, and ERIN CRAIG as an Account Executive. Balen most recently served as Marketing Director for Primedia's Modern Bride Group, supervising all marketing concerns for the division's multi-media properties. Lyman was most recently Regional Director of Integrated Marketing at Hachette Filipacchi Magazines, and Craig most recently served as an Account Manager for Good Housekeeping.
iCrossing has appointed JEFFREY PRUITT as the company's new president. Pruitt, will be responsible for managing the company’s corporate strategies and objectives. He joined iCrossing in 1999, as CFO, and then became Director of Business Development, and lastly Senior Executive Vice President.
La Opinión, a Spanish-language daily newspaper, has hired CAROL MINTZ as Vice President of Advertising. She will be responsible for planning and directing all functions of the advertising sales departments that include national, territory and classified. Mintz previously worked at Newspapers First, where she held the position of Vice President for the Western Region.
Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation (RASCO) has named LINDA GALLO to the post of vice president, Midwest Sales, for AMC and WE: Women's Entertainment, networks. Gallo will oversee all advertising sales for the Midwest region. She previously worked for Bravo networks, as vice president, Midwest sales.
The R&J Group has named THOR JORGENSEN (left) and ANDREW CAMMARATA partners in the firm. Jorgensen has been with R&J since 1996, when he joined the agency as an Account Manager. Jorgensen will now hold the position of Vice President/Marketing and Strategic Planning where he will lead the agency in developing client strategies and market positioning. Cammarata will now hold the title of Vice President/Creative Director at the firm. He was previously Creative Director.
JONATHAN SCHWARTZ has been appointed Northwest Advertising Director, in the San Francisco Office, at Entrepreneur Media. Schwartz is replacing ED GOTFREDSON, who moved to Detroit, and is now working for This Old House. Schwartz was most recently West Coast Sales Director at MaxWorldwide, and was previously the VP/Associate Publisher-West for The Industry Standard.
DOUG MILLER has been named sales and marketing director at Henninger Media Services. Miller previously held the title of sales director, and prior to joining Henniger, Miller had been director of sales for Qwest Digital Media.