MacDirectory named Paul Kent -- IDG vice president and General Manager of Macworld Conference & Expo -- its 2010 person of the year Monday. Based in part on the success of the just-concluded Macworld Expo 2010, the magazine cited Mr. Kent's tireless efforts to make a post-Apple Macworld Expo into a viable event as the primary reason for naming him person of the year.

The magazine's tribute to Mr. Kent included the work begun in 2009 after Apple pulled out of Macworld, the development of a keynote program to replace the keynote that used to be presented by Apple CEO Steve Jobs, and Mr. Kent's moonlighting gig as head of The Houserockers.

"These humble paragraphs of recognition Kent and his team's greatest accomplishment: the fact that Macworld will return next year. And we're willing to bet that the show floor will be even more crowded with some of the big names returning with some big booths," Ric Getter wrote for MacDirectory.

Runners up for the magazine's award included Apple CEO Steve Jobs, New York Times columnist David Pogue, former Apple engineer Bill Atkinson, and Dr. Bott CEO Eric Prentice.

IDG VP Paul Kent