-Former Mother/StrawberryFrog Amsterdam creative Maurice Van De Ven has joined MEC as its first executive creative director, a post that calls for him to work with owned/earned media team, MEC Access, among other things.

-Bicoastal/Munich-based prodco Aéro Film has added executive producer Unique Hammond to its L.A. office.

-Fernando Tassinari, former CEO of MRM Worldwide Brazil, has joined demand-side platform Turn to lead its Sao Paolo office.

-It’s a day of appointments, friends, as VFX/design company Smoke & Mirrors has appointed The Mill alum Jeff Stevens as creative director of its New York office.

-Adidas has teamed with United States of Fans/TBWA to help launch its new siloed football boots brand, Nitrocharge (above).

-Facebook is following in Twitter’s footsteps with its own verified pages. link

-The Clio committee is siding with the ADC in a sense, encouraging a 50/50 gender split amongst its 2014 jury. By the way, the Clio Awards will also be shifting schedules next year to coincide with Advertising Week come 2014. Call for entries will now open on Feb 3, 2014. link