House Party Hires COO and CPO

House Party, a consumer activation and experiential marketing company, has hired Jon Yaged, formerly of Disney Publishing, as chief operating officer.

Yaged replaces Greg Besner who left to pursue other business opportunities.

Another new hire, Michael Perry, formerly of Story Worldwide, has been named the company’s first chief product officer.

Yaged is responsible for business planning, finance and operations. Most recently, he worked for The Walt Disney Co. as vice president U.S. publisher of the Disney Book Group, overseeing publishing operations in North America and product development for Disney’s global book licensing business. Under his leadership, DBG reached record revenue and operating income, House Party said. Also while at Disney, he was vice president, business affairs and development for Disney Consumer Products and Disney Publishing Worldwide, as well as vice president, business and legal affairs for Miramax Books.

Perry will be responsible for House Party’s product vision, design and development, as well as product marketing and management. Prior to joining House Party, he spent over 20 years on the client side, leading strategy, product, marketing and data analytics teams.

Most recently, Perry worked as senior vice president of marketing, brand strategy and emerging technology at Story Worldwide, a global content marketing agency. He has established himself as a leader in the social media marketing space, creating social media and storytelling approaches, tools and methodologies at Story, and as a major contributor to the Online Marketing Blog Network. He has also worked in marketing positions at Wyndham Worldwide/Group RCI, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bertelsmann AG (BMG), Citibank and Time Warner.

House Party is known for staging in-home parties where a brand or product is at the center of the party. It has executed parties for Microsoft, Royal Caribbean, Fisher-Price, Sargento, Domino’s, Xbox, Ziploc, Ford, Werther’s, Turner Broadcasting and many others.