GO BACKPRESS RELEASES
Jim Garrity Named Chairman
Canoe Ventures, a joint venture launched in 2008 by the country's leading cable companies, has announced the formation of an advisory board comprised of industry leaders with expertise and experience in a range of businesses relevant to Canoe’s mission to make television a preeminent digital marketing medium.
Jim Garrity has been appointed Chairman of the Canoe Ventures Advisory Board. Garrity is the founder and CEO of Bellwether Digital Bridge, LLC, a marketing consultancy. He has held sales and marketing leadership positions for several Fortune 50 companies, including IBM, Compaq, and First Union, which later became Wachovia. He retired from Wachovia in 2007 after 10 years as the company’s Chief Marketing Officer. Garrity served on the Board of Directors for the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) from 1995-2007 and then as Chairman in 1998. During his tenure, he founded the organization's Digital Marketing Committee. From 1996-2007, Garrity also served as a Board Director for the Ad Council.
"To build this board, and ultimately achieve our vision, we reached out to a select group of extraordinary people who represent a depth and breadth of knowledge across a range of disciplines,” said David Verklin, CEO of Canoe Ventures. “As Canoe leverages the combined resources of our founding partners to introduce and scale cable's advanced advertising solutions, we look forward to the Board’s insights to help drive development of products and services that will accelerate the evolution of television.”
Vicki Lins, Chief Marketing Officer of Canoe Ventures, was named Vice Chairman of the Advisory Board. Also named to the advisory board were:
- Wendy Clark, Senior Vice President, Integrated Marketing, Communications and Capabilities for The Coca-Cola Company;
- Beth Comstock, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for GE;
- David Droga, Founder and Creative Chairman of Droga5;
- Mark Kvamme, Partner and Venture Capitalist at Sequoia Capital;
- Bob Liodice, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Association of National Advertisers;
- Wes Nichols, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of MarketShare Partners;
- Mike Pohl, Chief Executive Officer of Jinni Media, Ltd.;
- Gokul Rajaram , Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Chai Labs, Inc.; and
- George Wiedemann, Chief Executive Officer of UMarketing LLC.
“Canoe Ventures represents unprecedented industry collaboration to change the way advertisers and viewers use TV,” said Garrity. “I’m excited to lead Canoe Ventures’ new Advisory Board and to help them leverage our collective capabilities in navigating this opportunity.”
About Canoe Ventures ™
Canoe Ventures, LLC is a company founded by the nation’s leading cable operators including Bright House Networks, Cablevision Systems Corporation, Charter Communications, Inc., Comcast Corporation, Cox Communications Inc., and Time Warner Cable. Based in New York City, the company is focused on making cable’s advanced advertising solutions easier to buy, use and measure.
www.canoe-ventures.com
Canoe Ventures
Dana Runnells
VP, Marketing Communications
Tel: (212) 364-3627 or Email Dana Runnells