The Direct Marketing Club of New York (DMCNY) has named its 2009 Silver Apple Awards winners. The Silver Apple Awards honor leaders in the direct and interactive marketing industry who have at least 25 years' experience, have shown a commitment to volunteerism and who have made significant contributions to the growth of the industry.

The New York Blade, a 22,000-circ gay and lesbian paper, has suspended publication. The Blade, sister title to the New England Blade — which shuttered its print edition in October 2008 — and HX Magazine, was distributed for free around New York City on a weekly and bi-weekly schedule, depending on time of year.

Sonny's Real Pit Bar-B-Q has signed Engauge as its new agency of record, replacing seven-year incumbent AdPartners Inc.

Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has expanded its long-running b-to-c marketing partnership with Epsilon to include efforts aimed directly at healthcare professionals. Epsilon has been working with AstraZeneca on direct-to-consumer marketing, including e-mail and database efforts, since 2003.

Ryanair, a discount airline based in Ireland, has partnered with Webloyalty in a move to encourage repeat customers. Through the new agreement, customers who book tickets online with Ryanair will receive a prompt at the end of the checkout process inviting them to join Webloyalty's Shopper Discounts and Rewards program.

The US Forest Service, National Association of State Foresters and the Advertising Council have teamed with Draftfcb to launch a new round of PSAs featuring Smokey Bear. The campaign, which includes a redesigned Smokey Web site and enhanced social media presence, debuts this week.

Vibe Media Group (VMG), parent company of Vibe and the newly launched The Most Mag, will shut down at 8pm tonight, June 30. All properties, including its Web sites, will be discontinued. Vibe, the flagship magazine, had a total paid and verified circulation of 817,825 as of December 31 — a slight drop from a high of 879,072 in 2007. Per MRI, Vibe's readership was split evenly between men and women, and median reader age was around 29.

Marquette Group, a direct marketing and advertising company, has replaced its SalesLogix CRM system with Microsoft Dynamics CRM. The Microsoft Dynamics CRM system, which will be fully up and running by the end of September, was chosen following a lengthy evaluation of multiple systems, including the incumbent.

MeritDirect announced on June 26 it will acquire list management company Mail Marketing Incorporated (MMI). Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Merit adds more than 350 list management properties to its business through the deal, which is effective July 1.

Bonnier Corp. has continued its expansion by adding Chris Allen to its management team as VP of group publishing and corporate sales. Allen worked on Time Inc.'s Cooking Light brand for 17 years, most recently as publisher. At Bonnier, Allen will manage nine titles in the travel, shelter and lifestyle categories, including Islands, Garden Design and Spa.