True story: An acquaintance of ours wanted to go for this job. We said, sure, if you can wave a wand and make six-figure traffic appear instantly, you're in.

The shoes of LA Weekly's former web honcho Erin Broadley are huge (like Ru Paul size). She was nothing short of a web-traffic alchemist — a magician really.

So it seems fitting that, after a nationwide search, we ended up with one of her mentors, a guy who helped put Village Voice Media's online news on the map …

… the one and only Keith Plocek.

We got him back (so you can't have him, AOL).

This guy has more Twitter buzz than Charlie Sheen on a bender.

Plocek is the former social media manager for VVM and once held this job at our sister paper the Houston Press, which helped pioneer the company's news blogs.

Plocek left us in 2009 to work for Jay Penske's mail.com in L.A., where he helped grow Movieline, Hollywood Life, Deadline, BGR and TVLine.

What we can't fathom, however, is how this guy is also a former (and highly-regarded) reporter, arts reviewer, and Society of Professional Journalists award winner. Few web people, with the exception of Broadley (and now Plocek), speak both tech and journalism.

It's a rare double threat.

Plocek also has a master's in Latin American Studies from Cambridge. He's training for the L.A. Marathon this month. And he performs heart surgery in his spare time. (We kid about that last part).

We're lucky to have him.

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