Online ticket marketplace TicketsNow has hired Julia Vander Ploeg to serve as senior VP of marketing. Vander Ploeg will lead TicketsNow's strategic business initiatives in the areas of direct and brand marketing, advertising, promotions and merchandising, public relations, CRM, search, and affiliate marketing. Prior to joining TicketsNow, Vander Ploeg served as a marketing director at Tribune Company, where she led the rebranding and marketing launch of the Chicago Tribune newspaper Web site.

Before working at the Tribune, Vander Ploeg served as VP of brand marketing for The Mills Corp., where she built a management team charged with coordinating direct marketing and communications strategy for a rapidly growing global portfolio of retail shopping centers. Prior to Mills, Vander Ploeg spent three years in marketing and finance roles at United Airlines in Chicago. She began her career as a management trainee at the Ford Motor Company.