First on FishbowlNY: Steven Kotok, general manager of The Week's U.S. edition, is being promoted to president of The Week Publications, Inc. He has been with the magazine since 2002 and in his current position since 2007.

Kotok joined Dennis Publishing, which produces The Week, in 1996 and served as publisher of Maxim Books before joining the American version of the successful newsmagazine. It's one of the few publications gaining advertising pages, posting double-digit percentage gain during the first quarter of 2009. Adweek named The Week No. 1 on its "10 Under 60" Hot List.

In one of Kotok's first moves as president, he announced a host of other new positions. Kevin Morgan is the new CFO, while Arielle Starkman joins as controller. David Weeks moves from The Economist to become international advertising director. Lori Crook joins as production director with Shelby Washington coming onboard as senior promotion manager.

Both releases are after the jump.

STEVEN KOTOK NAMED PRESIDENT OF THE WEEK

NEW YORK (May 18, 2009) -- Steven Kotok has been named President of The Week Publications, Inc, publisher of The Week magazine's U.S. edition, and TheWeek.com. Felix Dennis, Chairman, announced the appointment today.

Kotok takes the title of president after serving as general manager of the company since 2007. Under his leadership, The Week magazine has seen extraordinary circulation and advertising growth and was recently recognized by Adweek, as #1 on its "10 Under 60" Hot List. Additionally, during a time of double-digit advertising declines, The Week was one of the very few magazines to show a double-digit increase in ad pages during the first quarter of 2009.

Kotok started at The Week in 2002 as the title's original business and circulation director, creating a plan that resulted in an average of 40 percent annual circulation growth each year since 2003. He took the reigns of The Week as general manager in 2007, just as Dennis Publishing was completing its sale of Maxim, Stuff, and Blender. As GM, he installed an entirely new management team, relocated the company, acquired TheWeek.com domain and relaunched a successful new website, and continued growing circulation and advertising, in one of the most challenging economic climates in recent history.

Kotok started at Dennis Publishing in 1996. Before working for The Week, Kotok was publisher of Maxim Books, where he launched a successful book publishing venture for Dennis Publishing, conceiving and editing 5 new book titles and selling over 500,000 copies of Maxim-branded books in just two years. Prior to that, he served as executive producer of Dennis Interactive and before that was the business manager at Maxim. Before his successful publishing career, Kotok created a wholesale food business in Minnesota, and opened his own restaurant in Prague.

"I've always loved launching and growing new businesses" said Kotok. "Working for Felix Dennis has been one of the most entrepreneurial experiences of my life. As The Week continues to expand around the world, becoming a respected global news and opinion brand, it's an honor to lead the continued growth of our American operations."

Kotok earned a BA in economics, with a minor in philosophy, from Macalester College. He resides in New York City.

THE WEEK CREATES SIX NEW MANAGEMENT POSITIONS TO DRIVE CONTINUED GROWTH
-- Maer Roshan to Lead TheWeek.com--
Chief Financial Officer, Controller, International Advertising Director, and Production Director Among The Week’s New Hires

NEW YORK (May 18, 2009) -- Having just surpassed the 500,000 mark in circulation in its sixth consecutive year of circulation growth, and as one of the very few magazines to show an increase in ad pages during the first quarter of 2009, The Week, which recently secured the #1 spot on Adweek's Hot List "10 under 60," has just announced six newly created key positions within its digital, finance, advertising, marketing, and production departments.

Steven Kotok, President of The Week, announced the appointments today. They include: Maer Roshan, Editor, TheWeek.com; Kevin Morgan, Chief Financial Officer; Arielle Starkman, Controller; David Weeks, International Advertising Director; Lori Crook, Production Director; and Shelby Washington, Senior Promotion Manager.

"We are delighted that this group of extremely talented individuals is joining The Week," says Kotok. "Their addition to our team ensures that we have the necessary resources to maintain and accelerate our business growth as The Week continues to add readers and advertisers in print and online."

Roshan will join TheWeek.com as editor for an interim period to spearhead growth of The Week's digital offerings and lead a redesign of TheWeek.com, which saw its traffic triple during the 2008 elections, and double yet again since then. Roshan will be responsible for The Week's online presence and manage all new and existing online staff while serving in this newly created position. Roshan is the founder and former editor in chief of Radar magazine and the popular Radaronline, which was nominated for an ASME general excellence award last year. He also has served as a Features Editor at Interview, Deputy Editor of New York, and Editorial Director of Talk magazine, and has written for The New York Times, The LA Times, The New Republic, The Advocate, Spin, Harper’s Bazaar, and numerous other publications.

"I'm really excited to have the opportunity to work with Maer, whose work I've long admired,” said William Falk, the Editor-in-Chief of The Week. "He has a real gift for producing compelling content. His sensibility is a great match for The Week's witty personality and succinct delivery."

Roshan added, "I've always admired the energy, irreverence and exhaustiveness of The Week. I look forward to working with Bill and Steven to bring the same spirit to the web on a daily basis.

Additional management appointments include:

Kevin Morgan, Chief Financial Officer, will manage an existing four person operations staff while serving in this newly created position for the magazine. Morgan comes to The Week from Marc Ecko Enterprises, where he was the Corporate Controller. From 2001 until 2007, Morgan worked for Dennis Publishing as the Group Financial Controller. He initially began working with Dennis Publishing’s finance team while a senior accountant with the company’s longtime auditing and tax firm Grodsky, Capporino, and Kaufman.

Arielle Starkman, Controller, will report to Kevin Morgan and will be responsible for managing The Week's accounting staff, accounting controls, and operations, as well as its annual audit. Prior to The Week, Starkman was the Controller for Complex magazine and before that, was the assistant Controller for The Source magazine. Starkman will serve as The Week’s first-ever Controller.

David Weeks, International Advertising Director, will be based in London, and joins The Week from The Economist, where he had held a variety of sales positions over the past 14 years, including head of sales for the UK, Northern Europe & Middle East, as well as the UK Sales Director of The Economist Newspaper and Economist.com. Weeks will report to The Week's Publisher Jed Hartman.

Lori Crook, Production Director, will manage The Week's manufacturing, paper purchasing, distribution and production financial operations, and will supervise The Week's existing Production Manager. Crook has worked in the field for the past 17 years and had been the production director for the Nickelodeon Magazine Group since 1995, with time out from 2003-2005 during which she served as Production Manager for Maxim and The Week.

Shelby Washington, Senior Promotion Manager, will be joining The Week's growing marketing department and will be reporting to Alain Begun, Associate Publisher of Marketing. Prior to The Week, Washington spent several years as the Merchandising Manager at Glamour. Before that she was the marketing manager at Men's Health, and a marketing associate at Time Inc. In her new role, Shelby will be responsible for developing and executing unique, on-brand marketing programs that help bring additional value to The Week's advertising partners.