News: Ad Venture Interactive
Ad Venture Interactive appoints Evans Gebhardt to its board of directors
OLATHE, Kansas - (April 10, 2008) - Ad Venture Interactive (AVI) today announced that Evans Gebhardt has been appointed to its board of directors.
As president and founder of 3 Peaks Consulting, LLC., Gebhardt oversees the growth and direction of an executive leadership and team development consultancy company. Gebhardt led the development of the 3 Peaks Consulting performance methodology and is responsible for signing on several notable accounts including AIG, Avaya, Cendant/Travelport, Securian Financial, Eos Airlines, SkyeTek, Tendril and Telecom New Zealand.
Gebhardt brings the unique ability to actualize theory in today's increasingly globalized business environment to his role as a director of AVI. "I am looking forward to using my experience in e-commerce and consumer marketing to help the team capitalize on growth opportunities," Gebhardt said.
Gebhardt draws on more than 20 years of experience culled from an executive management career at both Fortune 100 and start-up organizations. Before founding 3 Peaks Consulting, Gebhardt oversaw the growth and profitability of companies including Eos Airlines, Orbitz Worldwide and CheapTickets.com.
"Internet-based businesses have fertile ground from which to grow as more and more consumers switch over from offline channels," Gebhardt said. "Most e-commerce companies have yet to grow through globalization. AVI's management talent and long heritage in helping clients acquire and develop customers positions them well to take advantage of these opportunities."
Gebhardt earned his M.B.A. with a marketing concentration from New York University. He earned his B.A. in Political Science from Hobart College.
PLATTFORM HOLDINGS, INC., ANNOUNCES REORGANIZATION
UNDER THE NEW NAME, AD VENTURE INTERACTIVE
NEW YORK (March 24, 2008) - PlattForm Holdings, Inc., announced today that it will reorganize and operate under the new name, Ad Venture Interactive (AVI).
Based in New York and Kansas City, the parent company, AVI, is a full-service interactive marketing and advertising company encompassing three divisions: PlattForm Advertising (PFA), VentureDirect Worldwide (VDW) and Beauty Schools Marketing Group (BSMG). Together, these divisions offer a broad scope of interactive marketing and advertising services to a number of distinct verticals, including Education, Franchise and Business Opportunities, Senior Living, Self-Improvement, Home Services, and Financial Services.
PlattForm CEO Michael Platt will be assuming the newly created role of CEO for Ad Venture Interactive. Platt founded PlattForm as a media placement agency in 1988. It has since become one of the largest providers of interactive lead generation, advertising and marketing services to the career college sector of higher education, specializing in student acquisition for postsecondary education.
In his new position, Platt will oversee and integrate all three divisions of Ad Venture Interactive. He will also manage mergers and acquisitions and work closely with the CEOs of each division to develop the long-term strategy for AVI.
In addition, Dave Admire has been named the new CEO of PlattForm Advertising. Admire has more than a decade of experience in traditional and interactive marketing with PlattForm. Serving in numerous roles, he has helped establish the company's foundation for success in a number of different service offerings. He has served as President and Chief Interactive Officer where he was responsible for increasing Internet lead volume and lead quality for clients. In his new role as CEO, the managing directors of PlattForm will report directly to Admire.
Rich Baumer will continue as CEO of VentureDirect Worldwide. For 25 years, VDW has been a leading marketing services company, providing lead generation and customer acquisition services to advertisers, along with revenue generation services for publishers and list buyers.
"Rarely have I had the opportunity to work with someone who so intuitively understands the interactive lead generation space," Platt said of Baumer. "Rich and his team have built an organization that identifies and solves marketing challenges for companies in numerous industry verticals."
Platt continued, "This reorganization presents an exciting opportunity for me as I get to work with two of the most talented CEOs in the interactive marketing and advertising space. Having that level of leadership in New York and Kansas City allows me the freedom to focus on new initiatives in order to promote the continued growth of AVI and our clients."
Also in the corporate reorganization, Ad Venture has formed a new division that will specialize in providing marketing services to cosmetology schools. This new division, Beauty Schools Marketing Group, will allow AVI to offer new student acquisition services in the form of interactive and traditional marketing services to cosmetology schools, including the 600 plus currently working with their two recently acquired brands, www.beautyschoolsdirectory.com and www.beautyschool.com.
The new division will be led by Managing Director Bridget Duffy. Duffy has more than seven years of marketing experience within AVI's PlattForm Advertising division. In her new position, she will oversee new business acquisition and train and coordinate the sales and client service teams for all clients. Admire will serve as Chief Executive Officer of Beauty Schools Marketing Group.