Advertising & Public Relations
Ruder Finn, an independent communications, counseling and services agency, appointed David Nobs as managing director of its Los Angeles office. Nobs was previously general manager of Rogers & Cowan and Weber Shandwick in Los Angeles.
Apparel
Gramicci, a Westlake Village-based outdoor sportswear manufacturer, named Joe Dessinger national sales manager. Dessinger was most recently the vice president of sales and marketing at South Bay Sportswear.
Architecture & Design
The Jerde Partnership, an architecture and urban planning firm with offices in Venice, appointed Ahmed E. Yehia chief marketing officer. Yehia was most recently chairman and chief executive of Santa-Monica based Quantum Leadership Solutions.
H. Hendy Associates, a business interior planning and design firm in Newport Beach, named Cheryl J. Eisenhauer vice president of business development. She was previously the senior manager, corporate marketing for FileNet Corp., an enterprise content managing solutions provider.
Banking
City National Bank appointed Victor Massarano as the senior vice president and private banking advisor in the company’s Westside Private Banking Services unit. Massarano most recently was the Western Division lending manager with UBS Financial Services.
Entertainment
Participant Productions, a Los Angeles-based entertainment company, has named attorney Meredith Blake senior vice president, corporate and community affairs. Blake was most recently chief executive of Break the Cycle, a non-profit organization she founded to fight domestic violence.
Ted Chi has been named director of marketing for Fuel TV, a Los Angeles-based action sports network. Chi spent four years as global brand manager at Activision.
Rank Group unit Deluxe Laboratories, a provider of entertainment industry services and technologies, hired Kevin Scott as vice president, digital strategy and business development. Scott most recently worked as an independent consultant for Deluxe.
The Tennis Channel, based in Santa Monica, named William Simon as chief financial officer. Previously he was chief financial officer, vice president of finance and treasurer for Dick Clark Productions, the independent TV production company.
Insurance
Countrywide Insurance Group named Jody Smith vice president in the construction practice of Countrywide Insurance Services. Smith, who most recently served as executive vice president in Brown & Brown’s Los Angeles and Newport Beach operations, will develop insurance and risk management programs.
Law
DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary U.S. LLP appointed Gary Rosenbaum, Jean LeBlanc, and Adam Spiegel as partners in the Los Angeles office. They were previously partners at Winston and Strawn LLP.
Jeffer Mangels Butler and Marmaro LLP appointed Jeffrey Berkowitz as partner. He was most recently a partner at Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner.
Media
Univision Communications Inc., the Spanish-language media company, appointed Michael O. Johnson to its board and to the audit committee of the board. Johnson is chief executive of Herbalife Ltd., a nutritional supplements company.
Sennari, a L.A.-based provider customer-retention services to mobile carriers, game publishers, and music and video publishers, has named Jonathan Leach vice president of business development and Sanjeev Bhalla to vice president of engineering and operations. Leach was most recently vice president of licensing for Atari Inc. Bhalla was assistant vice president in the U.S. for the instant communications division of Comverse, a provider of network-based multimedia communication services.
ValueClick Inc., a provider of online marketing services, promoted its executive vice president of operations, Jeff Pullen, to chief operating officer for the U.S., working out of the company’s Westlake Village headquarters.
Non-Profit
The Los Angeles County Bar Association appointed Edith R. Matthai as its 127th president. Matthai is a partner in Robie & Matthai LLP.
Real Estate
Progressive Real Estate, the L.A.-based brokerage arm of Bilak Enterprises, appointed Jonathan Varsano director of acquisitions. Varsano was most recently an associate vice president in the retail group of Grubb & Ellis’ West L.A. office.
Recruiting
Don Wells has changed positions at Lee Hecht Harrison, a career and leadership consulting firm. Wells, who was previously the senior vice president and general manager of the firm’s Los Angeles office, will now fill the role of senior vice president, Signature Service consultant in the LA office. Signature Service is a personalized service for senior executives in career transition.
Technology
The Cinema Division of DTS Inc., an Agoura Hills based digital technology company, promoted Susie Beiersdorf to director of sales, cinema products; Michelle Maddalena to director of business development, film licensing; and Daniel Shulz to manager, post production. Beiersdorf was most recently manager, North American sales. Maddalena was director, cinema services, and Shulz was account manager, post production.
Sabeus Photonics, a developer of fiber optic components and subsystems, named Mark Demos to general manager of Sabeus Optical Components and Michael Hochmeister to vice president of operations. Demos most recently was vice president of marketing and interim chief executive for Carlsbad-based Oluma Inc., a manufacturer of fiber-optic components. Hochmeister worked on F-15 Eagle and AC-130 Gunship radar systems for Raytheon.
