In-game ad company Adscape Media announced two new additions today. Matthew Ackerman has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer (and Vice President of Operations) and Greg Schaffer has been brought on as Vice President of Sales.

Ackerman is a finance executive with 20 years of financial management and operations experience, including Mergers and Acquisitions, IPO's, private financing, project management, and investor relations. Schaffer has spent many years in interactive media sales and service, including seven years with Knight Ridder Digital. Most recently he worked for PointRoll, Inc., the leading rich media solutions provider.

"Matt's ability to problem solve in rapidly changing environments makes him ideally suited to the still evolving in-game advertising space," said Chris Gilbert, President and CEO of Adscape Media. "His ROI mentality, proven track record with start-up companies, as well as his ability to see the big picture financially, will help Adscape Media scale as we continue to grow our business."

"The clear vision, unequalled product offerings, and experience of the management team make Adscape Media an incredible opportunity," Schaffer added. "I am thrilled to lead Adscape Media's overall sales-market strategy, offering the industry's most innovative in-game solutions on the market today."

This week, Circuit City Stores named Peter C. Weedfald as the company's vice president and chief marketing officer. He joined the company earlier this year as senior vice president, general merchandise manager for entertainment/content. Weedfald's merchandising responsibilities will be split amongst Randy Wick, senior vice president, general merchandise manager for audio & video and John Kelly, senior vice president, general merchandise manager for technology.

"With his knowledge of the consumer electronics industry and his strong record of results in building the Samsung brand, Peter brings a unique set of skills to take Circuit City's brand to a new level," said Philip J. Schoonover, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Circuit City Stores, Inc. "Peter will also focus on building the firedog(SM) brand and unifying our branding efforts."

Weedfald once held a few different senior publisher positions at Ziff-Davis Publishing for nearly a decade. He also worked at ViewSonic Corporation, a worldwide provider of advanced display technology, in positions such as executive vice president of corporate communications and emerging business, executive vice president of marketing and strategic business, and senior vice president of global marketing. Weedfald was the chief operating officer of Bigfoot Interactive before going to Samsung in 2001 to be senior vice president, sales and marketing, U.S. consumer electronics and North American corporate marketing.

"During my tenure at Samsung, I was impressed with the work underway at Circuit City to improve the business," said Weedfald. "I'm excited about the opportunity to re-energize Circuit City's brands. My brief time in the merchandising organization will help to better integrate our merchandising initiatives and vendors into our branding efforts."

Late today, David Edery informed us that he will be joining Microsoft's Xbox group. He will fill the role of Worldwide Games Portfolio Planner for Xbox Live Arcade.

David received his MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management. He then went on to be a consultant in the industry and an affiliate of the MIT Comparative Media Studies Program. He has also helped found the Convergence Culture Consortium (C3) at MIT and aided the growth of the CMS program's game design curriculum.

"Xbox Live Arcade is one of the most exciting things happening in the game industry," said an enthusiastic Edery exclusively to GameDaily BIZ. "It offers new opportunities to broaden the gaming market, to try out new gameplay (and business) models, and to entertain people. Suffice to say, I can't wait to join up."

Game Entertainment Europe BV, a company that deals with online community games, announced this week that their Advisory Board has accepted Prof. Dr. Willem Vermeend and Eckart Wintzen as new members. The new members will use their influence and information in helping Game Entertainment Europe's expansion plans.

"We are delighted to have Prof. Dr. Willem Vermeend and Eckart Wintzen in our Advisory Board," says Richard van Barneveld, CEO of Game Entertainment Europe. "Of course their fiscal, financial and management experience but most of all their entrepreneurial spirit will be of great value for our company and help us a great deal to expand our business in Europe."

Vermeend is acclaimed in the field of fiscal, financial and social-economics. He was a member of the Dutch Parliament, State Secretary of Finance and Minister of Labour and Social Affairs from 1994 to 2002. Vermeend is currently a professor of European Fiscal Economics at the University of Maastricht and senior counsel with Boer & Croon Strategy Management Group and is a chairman and member on company boards such as Free Record Shop and Randstad.

Wintzen was the founder and CEO of BSO, which is now called Atos Origin. He helped build the company from the ground up, eventually counting over 10,000 employees. He also founded the first Video Telephone company and Ex'pression College for Digital Arts. He is currently chairman and founder of the venture capital company Ex'tent

James Brightman contributed to this report.