Carat Fusion names Steve Ustaris group media director of the Boston office, Digitas promotes seven and more interactive new hires and partnerships.

Accipiter Solutions, Inc. announced its European office has added Virgin Radio to its growing list of customers. Migrating from an existing ad network, Virgin Radio recently hired new in-house sales staff and was in need of a new ad serving solution.

Bazaarvoice announced partnerships with four web analytics firms: Coremetrics, Omniture, WebSideStory and WebTrends. The partnerships allow clients to quickly and easily incorporate word-of-mouth metrics into overall measurements of online performance, as well as quantify and compare the strategic impact of customer ratings and reviews versus other online initiatives.

Booz Allen Hamilton announced the appointment of Jonathan Gage, a longtime financial journalist and senior publishing executive, as publisher and business development director of strategy+business media, the management publishing enterprise owned by the global strategy and technology consulting firm.

Carat Fusion announced the promotion of Steve Ustaris to group media director for the agency's Boston office. Ustaris will take a lead role in managing all the media clients for the office, and will oversee the digital media services group, including communications planning, and media planning and buying. Ustaris has been working in media in the Carat network for the last six years, including one year with Carat USA and the last five years with Carat Fusion.

Cartoon Network and VIZ Media announced a joint venture called Toonami Jetstream, a new broadband service that will provide on-demand, full-length streaming episodes of a number of hit animé and action series, including acclaimed hit series Naruto and Samurai Jack. 

Centro, a provider of local interactive media services, announced that Dan Mauch has joined the company as vice president, sales, for the Western Region. Mauch, who departed Napster in March, will be based in Los Angeles. 

The Clio Awards has named the Axe brand deodorant from Unilever as recipient of its prestigious 2006 Advertiser of the Year award. This eighth-annual Advertiser of the Year award will be presented at the upcoming Clio Festival, to be held May 13-16 in South Beach, Miami.

Digitas, an agency of Digitas Inc., announced the fall cycle promotions of seven executive leaders: two executives to executive vice president and five to senior vice president. Elevated to executive vice president are Neal Prescott and Seth Solomons. Prescott serves as head of technology for the Digitas agency. He leads development and execution of emerging technology development and technology solutions that drive clients' acquisition and branding efforts. Solomons serves as a marketing director for Digitas New York. He leads work across several client relationships including Pfizer and drives new business strategies for Digitas New York. Elevated to senior vice president are Terry Cohen, Matt D'Ercole, Linda Piggot, George Scribner and Marc Williams.

Email Data Source, a provider of email intelligence and the designer of Email Analyst -- the first comprehensive email intelligence platform -- announced that Chris Johnston has joined the company as vice president of products. In this role, Johnston will be tasked with producing a suite of products delivered by Email Data Source to complement its industry-leading Email Analyst solution. He will be based in the company's New York City headquarters.

ePrize, the largest international interactive promotion agency, opens an office in Dallas, Tex., the company's sixth location. Situated in Dallas' historic Landmark Center at 1801 North Lamar, the new West End facility is head by Vice President and Managing Director Michael Rodriguez. ePrize is headquartered in the Detroit suburb of Pleasant Ridge, Mich., and operates offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and London.

Nihal Mehta, co-founder and CEO of ipsh! -- the North American leader in mobile marketing -- has been named this year's recipient of the National Association of Minority Media Executives' (NAMME) Catalyst Award for New Media. The Catalyst Awards recognize and encourage the contributions of individuals whose actions and leadership have advanced diversity in the media industry.

MIVA announced new distribution deals in Europe, further establishing its momentum worldwide. Among the most significant partner agreements signed are The Sun in the UK, Newsports in France, Jokers in Germany and Groupo Hachette in Spain. This is just another confirmation that MIVA is deeply committed to helping partners monetize their brands on the web.

Scripps Networks and The Taunton Press have agreed to a partnership that will allow each to tap into the other's areas of expertise. The multi-year agreement will allow Scripps Networks' online properties (HGTV.com, Foodnetwork.com, DIYNetwork.com, FineLiving.com, GACTV.com, HGTVPro.com and HGTVKitchenDesign.com) to use select content, material and photos from The Taunton Press' well respected and authoritative books and magazines in the areas of homebuilding, gardening, woodworking and cooking.

Smashing Ideas, Inc., an entertainment and marketing services studio that creates immersive, interactive content for all screens, has been recognized by the Web Marketing Association in its 2006 Internet Advertising Competition Awards. Awards won include three for Smashing Ideas' Nintendo projects: "Outstanding Integrated Ad Campaign" for Nintendogs, "Best Game Site Integrated Ad Campaign" for Nintendo Trace Memory, and "Best Toy & Hobby Rich Media Online Campaign" for Nintendo Polarium.