Advertising & P.R.

Benny Lai was named accounts supervisor at Imada Wong Communications Group in Los Angeles. He will be responsible for account management and adapting and translating commercials from English to Cantonese. Lai was most recently an independent advertising and marketing consultant for clients in Hong Kong and China. Rei Wei Chu was appointed chief copywriter at the firm. She will be responsible for writing ad copy, creative development, translation and proofreading. Chu was previously with McCann-Erickson. Also, Kevin Wang was named art director. He will be responsible for print layouts, campaign concepts, and photo and TV shoots. He previously worked on Fantasia 2000 for Disney Feature Animation.

Steven Schlein was appointed vice president and general manager of the new Los Angeles office of Nichols Dezenhall Crisis Communications Management Group. He will oversee all public relations activities. Schlein was previously vice president of the Washington, D.C. office.

Temra Wald was appointed senior vice president and director of account planning at Colby Effler & Partners in Santa Monica. She will work on all client and new business projects. Wald was most recently a senior account planner at DDB in Los Angeles.

Banking & Finance

Marty Kulman was appointed vice president at Prudential Securities in Los Angeles. He specializes in fixed-income securities, equities and stock options for high-net-worth individuals. Kulman was formerly a vice president with M.L. Stern and Co. in Beverly Hills.

Bahram Nour Omid was named technology partner at Shelter Ventures, a digital business incubator and venture capital firm in Los Angeles. He will identify and evaluate high-tech investment opportunities and emerging technologies. Omid was previously founding chairman and chief executive officer of StudioXchange (now iFilm). Also, David B. Kaplan was named partner and venture capital fund manager at the company. He will oversee investments in private tech companies. Kaplan was formerly a senior partner at Apollo Advisors.

Construction

Donald J. Blodgett was appointed vice president of internal audit at Kaufman & Broad; Home Corp. in Los Angeles. He will be responsible for preparing the annual audit plan and directing all audit activities. Blodgett was most recently vice president of internal audit at APL Limited.

Entertainment

Dolf Berle was named chief operating officer at HOB Entertainment, the Los Angeles-based company that owns the House of Blues chain of restaurants and music venues. He will be responsible for day-to-day operations and marketing as well as developing systems to support House of Blues locations throughout North America.

Juliet Blake was appointed senior vice president of creative affairs at Jim Henson Television. She will oversee all aspects of prime-time programming. Blake was previously with Pearson Television in Los Angeles.

Gina Ross was named vice president of marketing at Nickelodeon Movies in Los Angeles. She will oversee the development of marketing plans for all releases and will serve as the main liaison with the marketing team at Paramount Pictures. Ross was previously director of multicultural marketing at Disney’s Buena Vista Pictures.

Health Care

Rebecca Bales was named chief financial officer at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles. She will be responsible for all financial matters. Bales was most recently vice president at the Camden Group.

Neil T. Higashida was promoted to vice president of pharmacy programs for HealthNet in Woodland Hills. He will be responsible for managing member pharmacy benefits. Higashida was previously associate vice president of pharmacy programs.

High Tech

Anne Eddings was promoted to senior vice president of customer service at Elite Information Systems in Los Angeles. She will be responsible for customer service and support. Eddings was previously vice president of field operations for the company.

Bland McCartha was named vice president of business development at Archion, a Studio City company that makes networked storage systems for the video industry. He will oversee the U.S. sales team. McCartha was previously director of business development for the video and networking division of Tektronix.

Law

Donald Karl was named partner in the technology practice at Perkins Coie in Los Angeles. He specializes in advising entertainment and new-media companies on corporate matters, licensing, venture capital and financing. Karl was most recently with the technology group at Stern, Neubauer, Greenwald and Pauly in Santa Monica.

Media

Chris Dorsey was named vice president and editor in chief of Sports Afield in Van Nuys. He will oversee the relaunch of the 113-year-old hunting and fishing magazine. Dorsey was most recently group manager of publishing and communications for Ducks Unlimited.

New Media

Thomas G. Conforti was appointed president and chief operating officer at eMind.com (formerly Yipinet), a Los Angeles-based Web site that provides online business education courses. He will oversee operations and finance while serving on the board of directors. Conforti was previously executive vice president of business operations at Disney’s consumer products division.

Steven Corn was named vice president at the Los Angeles office of LicenseMusic.com, a Web site providing licensed music tracks to the entertainment, commercial, gaming and interactive industries. He will be responsible for developing and implementing alliances with film, TV, advertising and Internet companies. Corn was most recently vice president of Megatrax.

Ian Leicht was appointed chief technology officer at MXG Media, a Manhattan Beach company that provides interactive online entertainment and shopping targeted toward teen-age girls. He will provide strategic support for application development and enhancement of cross-media capabilities. Leicht was previously with Inspired Arts in La Jolla.

Mason Wiley was appointed vice president of membership marketing at CUShopper, an online and offline shopping service for credit union members based in Burbank. He will be responsible for all database marketing, Web site design, promotional efforts, collateral production and branding. Wiley was most recently creative director at Universal Pictures Marketing.

Allen Wolfsheimer was named senior vice president and publisher at RENTV.com, a commercial real estate Web site based in Los Angeles. He will be responsible for all aspects of news content development. Wolfsheimer was formerly publisher of the California Real Estate Journal.

Real Estate

Thomas Arai was appointed senior vice president of the Western region of Grubb & Ellis Management Services in Los Angeles. He will be responsible for planning and directing management and business development activities for the region. Arai was most recently vice president of asset management for PM Realty Advisors in Newport Beach. Also, Angela Siuta was named vice president and director of management services. She will direct management activities for the firm’s Northern and Southern California portfolio. Siuta was previously executive vice president and regional managing director at Kennedy Wilson Properties.

Gary DiMartino was named partner at Told Partners in Woodland Hills. He specializes in selling investment properties throughout Southern California. DiMartino was formerly an associate vice president in the investment services group of Grubb & Ellis’ San Fernando Valley office.

Telecommunications

Sharon D. Garrett was appointed chief executive officer at Zyan Communications, a Los Angeles-based DSL service provider. She will be responsible for developing strategic direction, business relationships and corporate expansion. Garrett was previously senior vice president and chief information officer at Walt Disney Co.

Sean McDermott was named Pacific division vice president of Allegiance Telecom in Los Angeles. He will oversee the division’s expansion from seven to 12 markets. McDermott was formerly vice president and general manager for MCI WorldCom.