ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER DEFECTION: Alyce Alston is the latest lieutenant to follow Mary Berner to Reader's Digest Association. The former publisher of W was named president, Home & Garden and Health & Wellness, as Berner organizes an executive committee and plans to build the RDA properties around reader interests. Alston will leave her current position as De Beers' chief executive officer at the end of the month and will join former Condé Nast executives Suzanne Grimes and Eva Dillon at RDA. "This is a huge step forward for me," said Alston on her move. "The vision is to restructure the company. That's what I do. I launch brands and restructure companies. It's a huge opportunity and I couldn't pass it up. It's nothing against De Beers; it's been an amazing ride." — Stephanie D. Smith

TEEN BEAT: At least one magazine's cross-platform promotions has helped generate buzz for the printed product. Since the MTV reality show "The Hills," based on Teen Vogue intern Lauren Conrad, returned in mid-January, newsstand sales for the Condé Nast teen title have increased by double digits over last year. Based on early internal estimates, Teen Vogue's newsstand for February and March are on track to post at least a 16 percent growth over the same issues last year. In 2006, its February issue sold 174,378 copies; the March edition moved 190,375 issues. Ratings for the popular MTV drama have reached 2.5 million viewers on average this season, compared with 2.3 million last season, but the MTV show may not fully account for the uptick in Teen Vogue's single-copy sales. Fewer competitors in the teen category may have helped: Hachette Filipacchi Media shuttered Ellegirl in April, while Time Inc. closed Teen People in July.

Meanwhile, Teen Vogue will repeat in October its weekend-long Fashion U event, where teens attend seminars and classes to learn about the business of fashion. Last year, 500 students listened to executives and designers from Catherine Malandrino, Juicy Couture, Barneys, Thakoon Panichgul, Rebecca Taylor and "Project Runway" mentor Tim Gunn. Next year, Gunn will make time in between "Project Runway" and his new gig as chief creative officer at Liz Claiborne to participate in Fashion U. Additional participants have yet to be confirmed. — S.D.S.