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Absolutely Inventive - Entertainment Weekly's amrketing campaign centers around Absolut Vodka - Brief Article
Greg Lindsay
A hot club in New York has a lifespan of about 60 seconds, and a club based on a magazine has even less. So goodbye, GQ Lounge, and hello, Club EW. As part of their pitch to be on Absolut Vodka's 2003 schedule, Entertainment Weekly's marketing team built a diorama of an Entertainment Weekly nightclub with rooms themed to various sections. Finding publisher David Morris' idea of "Let's buy a dollhouse and fill it with Entertainment Weekly stuff" a little impractical, a handful of designers and marketers put in two weeks of late nights with glue guns and sewing kits to bring the club to life. Absolut executives liked their handiwork enough to ponder underwriting a real Club EW to help promote a new Absolut flavor launching next year (but still haven't committed to buying space in EW). It'd be a nice return on a project that cost less than $1,000, although some employees became unhealthily attached. "We were sitting in on conference calls while sewing pillows," says executive marketing director Rose Bleszcz. "We really became obsessed."
COPYRIGHT 2002 Copyright by Media Central Inc., A PRIMEDIA Company. All rights reserved.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group
The People - "Entertainment Weekly" makes staffing changes; other personnel changes
Susan Thea Posnock
Byline: Susan Thea Posnock
Entertainment Weekly managing editor Rick Tetzeli, who inherited the Time Inc. title last October from longtime m.e. Jim Seymore, kept the staff largely intact for several months, but lately Tetzeli has begun to shake things up.
The biggest changes are in "News & Notes," the mag's highly readable front-of-the-book section. In January, Tetzeli let deputy news editor Jeff Gremillion go and reassigned senior editor Thom Geier to the back of the book. Taking over "N&N" are new senior editors Jason Adams, arriving from Blender, and Ari Karpel, from TV Guide.
Tetzeli won't discuss his plans for the section but stated in a release announcing the hires that it will be revamped. Gremillion says, "My understanding is the two new people he brought in are charged with a massive overhaul of the section. He wanted something so new that he wanted four brand-new eyes on it."
The look of EW could also be in for changes. Photography director Sarah Rozen is no longer with the mag.
Furthermore, speculates Gremillion, the transformation Tetzeli plans overall for the 13-year-old book will be significant. "There clearly is a major cultural shift in the making at Entertainment Weekly," he says. "It will affect the tone and substance of the magazine, and it will affect the day-to-day working environment for the staff." Current staffers approached by FOLIO: would not discuss the personnel moves.
Some EW editors recently appear to have lost luster, although titles don't necessarily reflect that. In addition to Geier's move to the back of the book, former book reviews and book features editor Tina Jordan will no longer be handling the reviews. However, a spokesperson for the magazine says Jordan's role has not diminished, as she's been handed a weekly books column, and she will continue to edit features. As for Geier's new role, Tetzeli told FOLIO: in a statement that "some of the changes in assignments are designed to bring a new perspective to various sections of the magazine. This is one of them, and I'm confident that Thom will bring new energy to the books section."
Tetzeli, who arrived at EW from Fortune, has also announced several important promotions. For example, in February he increased the number of assistant managing editors at EW from three to five. (See box.)
"This is a terrific magazine and a great place to work, so it isn't surprising that there's been very little turnover [over the years]," says the new m.e. "Change can be difficult, but the staff here seems really energized."
ADVERTISING & SALES
Popular Science promoted Jill Schiffman to northeast sales manager, from New York sales manager.
Maureen O'Connell to consumer products director, Self, from This Old House, where she managed the Sony, Kraft, and DuPont accounts.
James Manry to southeast endemic sales manager, Time4Media's Field & Stream, Outdoor Life, and SHOT Business magazines. Previously, he was southeastern sales manager for American Hunter and American Rifleman.
Lance M. Adeszko to sales development manager, USA Weekend Magazine, from midwest director for Meredith Interactive.
Michelle Balaz to midwest ad director, Biography, from midwest manager.
CORPORATE
Angelo Gaziano was promoted to chief operating officer of Mariah Media, parent company of Outside magazine. Gaziano had been vice president of finance and administration for Mariah.
Gerard Griffin to vice president of enterprise financial systems, Primedia's Consumer Magazine and Media Group (CMMG), from chief operating officer of Primedia's Media Central division.
Chuck Cordray to vice president of consumer marketing, TV Guide Publishing Group, from vice president of circulation business development for Primedia's CMMG.
Kevin McKean to CEO and editorial director of IDG's InfoWorld Media Group, from vice president and editorial director of IDG's PC World.
Linda McCutcheon to director of publications for AARP, overseeing AARP: The Magazine and the monthly "AARP Bulletin," among other titles. A former executive at Time Inc., most recently she was CEO of KOZ, Inc.
CMP Media announced the promotion of Jeff Patterson to the new position of executive vice president, corporate sales and marketing. Patterson had been president of the electronics group at CMP. The company also named Paul Miller to group publisher, electronics. Most recently he was publisher and vice president/managing director of the electronics group.
Mountain Sports Media has named Andy Bigford to vice president of the Warren Miller Entertainment division. Bigford was promoted from editor-in-chief of Ski magazine. Kendall Hamilton, deputy editor at MBA Jungle, was named Bigford's replacement at Ski.
EDITORIAL & ART
Michael Lafavore to editor-in-chief, TV Guide. The former editor-in-chief and founder of Men's Health magazine, Lafavore was most recently a consultant.
Cathy Cavender, former editor-in-chief of Rosie, was named deputy editor of Hearst's Lifetime magazine. The magazine also announced the following appointments: Deborah Baer as entertainment editor, from senior editor at Cosmogirl!; Darcy Jacobs as senior editor, from senior editor at Seventeen; Lauren Hicks to photo director, from photography editor of Travel + Leisure Golf; and Farah Ameen to copy chief, from copy chief at Seventeen.
Steven Russell to deputy editor at Playboy, from executive editor at Maxim. Joining Russell there is new editor-at-large Robert Love, who was most recently managing editor of Rolling Stone.
Vibe made the following staff announcements: Shani Saxon has been promoted from music editor to executive editor; Serena Kim has been promoted to the newly created position of features editor, from senior editor; and Eric Parker, previously senior editor at The Source, has been named music editor.
Kathleen M. Joyce to editor-in-chief, Promo magazine. Joyce was formerly editorial director and associate publisher of Directory World and executive editor of Catalog Age.
Kurt Hoy to editor, TransWorld Snowboarding, from special issues editor.
Linda Hallam to editor-in-chief, Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Publications Decorating and Design Group. She had been senior interior design director for Traditional Home.
Lygeia Grace to features editor at Organic Style. Since June 2002, Grace has worked with the magazine as a freelance editor and writer.
Charlotte Rudge to senior beauty editor at Lucky, from associate beauty editor, and Lori Bergamotto to associate beauty editor there, from beauty assistant at Glamour.
Tracey Pepper to senior editor, Spin, from associate editor.
MANAGEMENT
Teresa M. Kendregan to publisher, Gear. Previously, she was senior vice president of business development, Fairchild Publications.
Susannah Pask to publisher, W Jewelry, from publisher, Salon News.
Todd Johnson to publisher, and Ron Spink to associate publisher, of Crain Communications' Workforce magazine. Johnson was previously corporate facilities director for the company, and Spink had been the advertising director for Workforce.
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS
Marsha Greenberg to marketing director, Fast Company, from executive producer of BR Creative Group.
Erica S. Kasel to marketing director, Departures. Prior to joining the magazine, Kasel was president of Kasel Luxury Marketing Group, Ltd.
Barbara Seerman to music business development director, Relix magazine, from publisher, Guitar Player.
NEW MEDIA
Janett Kennedy Haas to east coast sales director, and Richard J. Kosinski to regional sales manager, New York, at Forbes.com. Previously, Haas was eastern associate publisher, Interactive Week. Kosinski had been vice president, new sales, at CNET Networks.
DEATHS
Sarah Pettit, 36, formerly editor-in-chief and vice president of Out Magazine, died in January after battling lymphoma. She cofounded Out in 1992 and was most recently a senior editor at Newsweek.
E.T. Meredith, III, the 69-year-old chairman of the Meredith Corp., passed away in early February. He was the grandson of Meredith Corp. founder E.T. Meredith.
Brian P. Bradfield, a magazine executive who was involved with the launch of TV Guide, died in January at the age of 82. He was named vice president and general manager of Triangle Publications in 1968 and remained with the company until his retirement in 1982.
Dan Friedman, former chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Kable News Company, passed away early last month. Friedman, who retired in October 2000, was also a senior vice president and director of Amrep, Kable's parent company.
MOVIN' AT 'EW'
CATCHING UP WITH... Carol Wallace
When we last heard from Wallace... She had left her post as managing editor of People and taken a short-term, part-time role as an editor-at -large at Time Inc. After striking that deal in April, Wallace started jetting back and forth between NYC and Aberfeldy, Scotland - where she owns a spa. Wallace was working on developing a less expensive celeb-driven newsweekly for Time Inc., but now that her stay is officially over (it ended in December) Wallace says she's taking some time to relax and visit family and friends before diving into new projects.
"I'm just trying to get things up and running in Scotland. I'm renting some office space so I can do some freelance writing for people here or there. And I've started a journal in case I want to do a book about the experience," she says. With no intention of giving up her New York apartment, Wallace says she plans to return to Scotland in the spring and stay through the summer. Already she has a few assignments lined up, including a piece for Fortune sometime next fall, and a monthly column in the Scotland-based Property Illustrated. "The great joy of what I'm doing now is I get to pick and choose. I don't have to take anything," she says. As for a return to full-time status, she says it's nothing she's "sitting around and envisioning." But that doesn't mean a big project isn't in the future. "I've always thought that if I had a fairy godmother come and tap me on the shoulder, I might want to do a mainstream travel magazine." Regarding those friends who predicted she'd "tear her hair out" without a full-time gig: "I haven't had a lobotomy, so I still have to keep my brain active. Just doing it in other ways than putting out a magazine." - STP
COPYRIGHT 2003 Copyright by Media Central Inc., A PRIMEDIA Company. All rights reserved.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group
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