Execs & Accounts: Mediasmith, Brand.net, Winstar Interactive

Mediasmith names two media executives. Robert Cleary was named group media director. Prior to Mediasmith Cleary was SVP of media strategy at Gyro International, and ran media strategy and functions for its U.S. operations and handled media integration globally. Melissa Yearta was hired as media supervisor. She previously held the position of media planning supervisor at TBWAChiatDay.

Brand.net brings in new sales executives, opens Atlanta office. Scott Thompson joined Brand.net from WebMD to run the Central region; he was previously director of Midwest consumer sales at WebMD. Laura Lasiter will lead the Southeast region from the new Atlanta office. Lasiter worked for seven years at AOL and ran the Southeast region.

Winstar Interactive and Fodors.com launch “Check Rates” widget. Fodors.com launched a widget that enables users to check real-time air fares and hotel rates. The widget was developed in partnership with Winstar Interactive, the ad sales team for Fodors.com. The partnership was formed in response to advertiser demand for more direct response-driven advertising opportunities.

Ask.com CEO leaves. Jim Safka stepped down as chief executive of IAC/InterActiveCorp, reported the Wall Street Journal. He held the position for a year and a half. Safka accepted the position of chief executive of online textbook rental company Chegg. Scott Garell will take over duties under the title of president at Ask Networks.

ShortTail Media, Schematic, and Visible Measures partner to create a new video ad platform. The new platform, dubbed Digital 30 or D30, lets advertisers distribute existing :15 or :30 spots across a network of sites.

Fry cooks up two sites for The Thompson Group. E-commerce solutions profider Fry, created the sites casuallivingusa.com and thompsoncigar.com. The sites utilize an online store using Fry’s Open Commerce Platform.

Theorem doubles its office space. Creative, media operations, and data services company Theorem moved within the same office building in Chatham, NJ, increasing its office space to 5,000 square feet. The company doubled in size over the past year.

Discgear ramps up its user community with PowerReviews. The Texas-based manufacturer of CD and DVD storage cases incorporated customer reviews onto its site using PowerReviews Express.

EZanga moves to bigger digs in Delaware. The search engine and online advertising company moved to 7,500 square foot office space in Middletown, DE. The space accommodates eZanga’s 66 employees and plans for an increase in headcount. The company expect to hire for its sales and new business development teams.