SmartMoney names senior editor

SmartMoney editor in chief Jonathan Dahl made the following staff announcement:

I am happy to announce that Kristen Bellstrom has been promoted to senior editor, which will involve heading up our consumer spending coverage, including writing many of the stories in the back of the book, and editing features for the well.

Anyone who has had the pleasure of working with Kristen knows that she is a consummate editor with an instinct for finding fresh consumer and travel pieces and a writerly talent for making them feel fresher and more compelling still. She has done a particularly strong job on our “DumbMoney” and “PlayMoney” features, turning them into fun must-reads. Not surprisingly, she has risen steadfastly up the SmartMoney masthead since joining the staff in 2005, earning three big promotions in seven years.

Kristen, who grew up in tiny Townsend, Vt. (where her grade school class had a whopping eight students), has skied glaciers with Olympians, been challenged by immigration authorities in the Dominican Republic, been rescued by the gendarmerie in St. Bart’s — and, as witnessed in the current issue, been bombarded by bone-shaking sound — all in pursuit of SmartMoney stories. In, no doubt, a less thrilling time of her life, she graduated from Duke and received her masters from Columbia Graduate School of Journalism.

Please join me in congratulating Kristen on her new role.