High Gear Media Names Digg Advertising Executive Chas Edwards to Board of Directors

Posted: 12.08.2009 | By jeff

Digg Chief Revenue Officer/Publisher and co-founder of Federated Media
is a social media advertising leader

PALO ALTO, Calif., December 8, 2009 – High Gear Media, (www.highgearmedia.com), a next generation media company that publishes more automotive content than anyone in the world through websites targeting key buyer and vehicle segments, today announced that Chas Edwards, Publisher and Chief Revenue Officer of Digg, has been named to its board of directors.

“Chas is a superstar advertising sales executive and a cutting edge thinker on evolving advertising products that reflect media’s increasingly social and conversational nature,” said High Gear Media CEO Matt Heist.  “We’re excited to gain his guidance and advice as we continue to grow High Gear Media into the leading publisher for automotive content and the best place brands can reach audiences reading and sharing information driving car buying decisions.”

Chas Edwards has driven some of the web’s most innovative advertising and sponsorship approaches including Digg Ads as well as a variety of conversational marketing applications at Federated Media.  He is currently the Publisher and Chief Revenue Officer of Digg, the site that allows nearly 40 million monthly unique users to organize content from around the web.  Prior to Digg, Edwards co-founded interactive media and publishing company Federated Media, where he also served as Publisher and Chief Revenue Officer.   Before co-founding Federated in 2005, Chas was Vice President of sales and marketing for CNET Networks’ B2B Portfolio, managing the team representing News.com, ZDNet and TechRepublic to business-to-business marketers.  Chas also served as Vice President for CNET’s broadband & webcasting unit and as VP of business development for mySimon, CNET Networks’s comparison-shopping portal.   Prior to joining CNET Networks, Chas was the National Sales Manager for TechTV, a 24-hour cable TV channel and Web site dedicated to computing and the Internet (now owned by Comcast and called G4).

“I am excited about the opportunity to work closely with the High Gear Media team,” said Chas Edwards.  “They have an innovative approach to content publishing for the automotive vertical and have delivered impressive results despite a challenging environment.  I look forward to working with the board and the operating team to accelerate their momentum.”

High Gear Media publishes automotive content through websites targeting key buyer and vehicle segments with a rapidly expanding audience that now reaches well over 2 million visitors monthly.   The company’s key sites include TheCarConnection.com, its luxury site, MotorAuthority.com, its green site, GreenCarReports.com and its family-focused site, FamilyCarGuide.com.  High Gear Media editorial staff and over 100 content contributors have written at publications like Car and Driver, AOL Autos, Autoweek, Automobile Magazine, and Wired.  Independent automotive writers and people who are passionate about cars can contribute content by visiting HighGearMedia.com.

Edwards joins Heist on the High Gear Media board of directors along with Chairman and Founder Hesky Kutcher, Rob Solomon, the former CEO of Sidestep.com, and investors Andrew Braccia of Accel Partners and James Slavet of Greylock Partners.

About High Gear Media
High Gear Media is a next generation media company that publishes more automotive content than anyone in the world through websites targeting key buyer and vehicle segments.   High Gear Media’s owned and operated network of automotive destinations reaches well over 2 million visitors monthly and include its anchor site, TheCarConnection.com, its luxury site, MotorAuthority.com, green and electric car sites, GreenCarReports.com and AllCarsElectric.com, and its family-focused sites including FamilyCarGuide.com.  High Gear Media’s editorial staff and over 100 contributors have written at publications like Car and Driver, AOL Autos, Autoweek, Automobile Magazine, and Wired and the company’s content is syndicated to partners that include Yahoo! Autos, Huffington Post, and The San Francisco Chronicle.   Independent automotive writers and people who are passionate about cars can contribute content by visiting HighGearMedia.com.  High Gear Media is headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif. and received its funding from Accel Partners, Greylock Partners and DAG Ventures.

Press Contact:

High Gear Media
650.353.2433

http://www.highgearmedia.com/contact/

feedback@highgearmedia.com

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