Bill Gaskey and Geoff Arnoldi

Toronto, ON - Jordan Bitove, President and CEO of Vision Group of Companies, announced today that Bill Gaskey has joined the company as Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Geoff Arnoldi has assumed the role of Managing Partner, "Y-Drive".

"This announcement marks a very exciting time in this company's history. In Bill and Geoff, we have added a wealth of experience and insight which will be fundamental in our development as an industry leader," says Bitove.

Gaskey, formerly the National Basketball Association (NBA) managing director for Canada, brings a 15-year combination of agency experience (FCB and Bozell), client-side experience (Labatt Breweries of Canada) and sports and entertainment experience from over eight years with the NBA.

"I'm extremely excited to get back to the agency side of the business, but even more so to have a chance to build something special with a set of partners, a team and a product I believe in," indicated Gaskey. "There is an obvious shift in the marketing mix from "traditional mediums" to this emergent trend of street-level "experiential" marketing. History taught us to build the brand and let the consumer find you, now the challenge is to help the brand and the consumer find each other. I believe Vision Group of Companies is the company to drive this new charge."

Also joining Vision Group of Companies is Geoff Arnoldi, who will assume the newly created role of leading "Y-Drive". He brings a wealth of marketing and brand-building expertise with more than 20 years of agency and client-side experience where he has held such positions as vice president, business development and corporate affairs, Molson Canada; president of Publicis-BCP Toronto; vice president at MacLaren McCann and director, client services at Bozell. As the leader of the newly formed Creative Planning unit, "Vision Y-Drive", Arnoldi's role will be to provide a strong strategic and analytical presence to the Vision Group of Companies' mix of assets and to help create market-penetrating tactics for Vision Group of Companies' partners.

"I have always aspired to new challenges and I look forward to working with Vision Group of Companies' team to transform challenges into profitable opportunities for our clients," says Arnoldi. During the past 12 months, Arnoldi has worked with Vision Group of Companies and various other clients under his own consulting arm, The Arnoldi Group.

As part of this re-structure, Vision Group of Companies will also represent the NBA in a consultancy role and as the event agency for this summer's NBA grassroots initiatives (NBA Hoop it Up, Jam Session and Mad Skillz) which will form a stronger presence in the sport and entertainment arena for Vision Group of Companies. These new responsibilities will form the base for an additional new unit called Vision "S-Drive". S-Drive will handle sport and event-related consulting, sponsorship asset analysis and in-market execution for an expanded partner base. Also within this re-structure the Incentive Travel and Corporate Hospitality function of Vision Group of Companies will be re-named "I-Drive".

"With the addition of "Y-Drive" and an enhanced presence in the Sport realm ("S-Drive"), Vision Group of Companies will widen its historical focus in terms of assets and services but we will not stray far from our concentration of delivering integrated brand and event experiences for our partners, customers and their consumers," says Bitove.

ABOUT VISION GROUP OF COMPANIES:
Vision Group of Companies is an experiential marketing agency located in downtown Toronto that provides clients with innovative marketing strategies and solutions. Established in 1998, Vision Group of Companies is comprised of specific business units that specialize in creative planning, incentive travel, corporate hospitality and sports & entertainment.

For further information or to arrange interviews, please contact:
Deborah Bowers,
Vision Group of Companies
(416) 341 2474 x 231
deborah@visioncompanies.com