NEWSMAKERS

Trade Show Veteran Markets Conventions

Ellen Schwartz said her new role as director of sales and marketing at the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center for venue operator SMG is an easy fit.

“After more than two decades in the business, I know the industry very well,” she said. “I understand customer needs and I now how to match those needs with the services we can provide.”

A California native, Schwartz returns after spending the last three years as director of sales for the SMG-managed Miami Beach Convention Center. She previously had been a trade show manager for a woodworking machinery and furniture supply fair in California.

As for the transition from show manager to running the actual venue: “I still have a customer’s perspective in mind now that I am a representative of a facility,” she said. “As a past organizer and operator of events, I am more in tune with customers’ needs than someone who has only done booking.”

Schwartz said the 322,000-square-foot convention center, which attracts nearly 2 million people a year, has created a niche in the convention market different from the larger L.A. Convention Center.

“We don’t compete with Los Angeles. We attract the smaller conventions that are seeking the benefits of a mid-sized facility,” she said. “Many of the local shows we get are looking for the big fish in a small pond feeling that they could only get at a smaller center.”

Schwartz said she hopes leverage the strengths of the region to expand the reach of the convention center. She cited six hotels, all within walking distance, and a new entertainment and retail center being built across the street.

“Long Beach has become a different and distinct destination for both meetings and tourists over the last 10 to 15 years,” she said. “The area has really grown and blossomed, we hope to benefit from that.”

Schwartz received an undergraduate degree in business administration from University of California at Berkeley. She lives in Long Beach.

Dana Brody

Accounting

Scott Sachs has joined Good Swartz Brown & Berns LLP as an audit partner at the firm’s Studio City office. Prior to joining GSBB, Sachs was a partner at Arthur Andersen LLP, where he worked in initial and secondary public offerings, debt and equity financing, and acquisition and divestiture analyses.

Diana McCutchen was named a partner and Jeffrey Wax was named a principal at Deloitte & Touche’s Los Angeles office. With the firm for more than eight years, McCutchen’s clients include manufacturing, distribution, retail and high technology firms. Wax is a partner in charge of the firm’s Pacific Southwest Tax Controversy practice.

Banking

Simon Clark has been appointed regional managing director of First Republic Bank’s Southern California region. Based in the bank’s Century City office, Clark will be responsible for First Republic’s private banking business in Los Angeles, Newport Beach, San Diego and Santa Barbara. Clark had previously worked for Bank of America and NationsBank.

Entertainment

Randi Olsen has been promoted to senior director of income tracking for Universal Music Publishing Group. She will be responsible for tracking the combined UMPG catalogs, including Polygram and MCA, and monitor the accuracy of payments and resolve disputes related to revenue collections.

Matt Mallon has been named general sales manager at KABC-AM radio in Los Angeles. Mallon comes to ABC from Infinity Broadcasting’s KFWB-AM.

Mandy Martin has been named executive producer for Goodspot, a design firm specializing in motion design, marketing and branding projects for feature films, TV networks and programs and commercials. Prior to joining Goodspot, Martin was executive producer for Attik/San Francisco.

Beverley Kite has been named chief information officer of the Screen Actors Guild. Kite comes from the information technology division of Washington Mutual where she served as vice president for e-business.

Mike McNellis and Ron Mencer have been named business development executives and Christine Russell a business development strategist at Autonomy, an entertainment industry branding and marketing firm in Hollywood. McNellis will handle broadcast and cable television projects, while Mencer will work on motion picture, post production, music and new media clients.

Sonya De Rose has been named director of affiliate relations for E Network’s Southwest region. Most recently, De Rose served as director of affiliate sales and marketing for DMX Music’s Western Region.

Dan McCarroll has been appointed senior creative director for EMI Music Publishing. He will be responsible for signing new talent as well as working with current EMI bands and songwriters. Prior to joining EMI, McCarroll was senior vice president of A & R; at The Music Company.

Finance

Paul Richey has been named president of Janas Associates in Pasadena, where he will direct services to investment banking clients. Richey had previously worked at KPMG, where he had been a managing partner in the firm’s Rochester, New York and San Diego offices.

Edward Godycki has been appointed executive vice president of e-business for Countrywide Credit Industries Inc., responsible for enhancing its e-business strategies. Most recently, Godycki was chief technology officer for Fandango Inc., where he was responsible for all operational and technical aspects of the business.

George Steinhoff has been named senior vice president of applications at WMC Mortgage Corp., an Internet-based loan origination and servicing firm. Steinhoff, formerly vice president of group systems at WellPoint Health Systems, will oversee the company’s e-business applications.

Health Care

David Hirsch has been appointed senior vice president of worldwide sales and marketing for Alpha Therapeutic Corp., where he will seek to expand Alpha’s position in the global market for plasma derived products. Hirsch had been vice president of sales and marketing at Nexell Therapeutics.

Pamela Dannenberg has been appointed vice president of risk services for Keenan HealthCare, a division of Keenan & Associates, a privately held brokerage firm. Prior to joining Keenan HealthCare, Dannenberg managed the occupational health medical unit of the United States Postal Service in San Francisco.

Insurance

Karen DeCoud has joined the Los Angeles office of Marsh Risk and Insurance Services in its Middle Market Employee Benefits practice as senior retirement plan consultant. DeCoud will focus on plan design, vendor searches, employee education and fiduciary issues.

Christopher Barbieri has joined Chicago Title at its Torrance office. He will be developing new business in the South Bay, focusing on commercial, industrial and subdivision transactions in the area between Long Beach and Los Angeles International Airport.

Law

Mary Neale has been made a partner at Sidley Austin Brown & Wood, expanding the firm’s banking and public finance practice. Neale was a partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. Along with Neale, Melanie Murakami and Stephan Haytayan left Orrick to join Sidley as associates.

Michael McAndrews, a partner in Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe’s real estate group, has been appointed to lead the firm’s Los Angeles office.

Michael Berk, a former partner at Pircher, Nichols & Meeks, has joined Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman Machtinger & Kinsella LLP. Berk is a commercial and real estate litigator.

Christian Castle has joined Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld LLP as senior counsel in the entertainment practice group, where he will focus on music industry related matters. Most recently, Castle worked in the Palo Alto office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.

Gerald Knapton has joined Ropers, Majeski, Kohn & Bentley as a partner in the firm’s Los Angeles office. Knapton, a litigation management and fee dispute expert, was previously a partner in the law firm of Cooper Kardaras & Kelleher in Pasadena.

Dorothy Reyes and Michele Wofle have formed Reyes & Wolfe LLP in Claremont. The two had been partners in the Los Angeles office of LaFollette, Johnson, DeHass, Fesler & Ames.

P.R. & Consulting

Michael Fox has been named managing principal and market leader of Towers Perrin, an international management and human relations consulting firm, responsible for managing the firm’s Irvine, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Diego offices. A principal in the firm’s health and welfare benefits consulting practice, Fox advises clients on benefits strategies, health and welfare plans and retirement plans.

Michael Wilner has been appointed senior vice president of extended workforce solutions at Sertan, responsible for seeking and placing top rated technical professionals. Prior to joining Sertan, Wilner was CEO of Net-Strike Worldwide.

William Goodmen has been appointed executive vice president of human resources of Liberty Livewire. He had most recently served as a director in the Los Angeles office of Spencer Stuart, a global executive search firm.

Real Estate

Timothy Macker Jr. and Brian Peterson have joined the commercial real estate and leasing staff of Coldwell Banker Commercial Westmac. Both came from the downtown Los Angeles office of Grubb & Ellis and will focus on the downtown market.

Retail

Heather Coffey and Linda Rosenberg have joined pH Beauty Labs, a producer of beauty and health products, as senior art director and marketing director, respectively. Most recently, Coffey served as design director at Do Not Cross Studios and Rosenberg was director of consumer development for Red Bull North America Inc.