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Since taking the helm as General Manager of Olive Canada Network, Simon Jennings and his team have been on a ‘crazy growth’ path over the last year, doubling their growth in a year and securing advertising representative deals all across North America and the latest is their annoucement of 17 new hires for the company’s Toronto and Montreal office.

Claire Anderson joins the Account Management team and prior was with Mosaic Sales Solutions traveling the province on behalf of Labatt’s.

Vicki Anzenavs joins OCN as Ad Operations from St Joseph Media where she worked in the interactive/online division doing both ad trafficking and sales coordination.

Nik Gardiner, also joins as Ad Operations for the Toronto office, Nik comes to OCN directly from LiveDeal.ca where he was introduced to the online industry. Prior to his introduction to the online world, Nik spent 13 years in the customer service industry in various roles including technical support, team manager and is also a Xerox Certified Adult Trainer.

The third Ad Operations addition is Emie Hoshi, prior to OCN, Emie worked with the Online Marketing group at Loblaws Companies.

Rose Lee has been added to the team as Ad Operations Manager after fifteen years at M2 Universal, where she spent the last five years as a Digital Planner/Buyer working on a variety of clients such as General Motors, RBC Financial Group and Microsoft. She won the Ad Club People’s Choice Award as Internet Buyer/Planner of the Year in both 2006 and 2007. After a career ending injury playing hockey, she is now focused on improving her golf game. When not working, Rose can be found spending time with family and friends.

Nathalie Boucher has been appointed Director Sales and Marketing for the company’s Montreal office. Nathalie Boucher most recently occupied the position of Director of Sales, Eastern Canada, for Sympatico/ MSN. She has a Bachelors of Business Administration from HEC Montreal, and has dedicated the last 10 years of her career to the area of online advertising. Most notably, she has worked with Bell Actimedia and Sympatico-Lycos Inc, as well as Sympatico.ca. Nathalie Boucher is also the Chairman of the Quebec Board of the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada.

Greg Banducci has been added as Strategic Account Executive for Olive Canada Network, moving over from LiveDeal Canada, where he developed and honed his online sales experience. Prior to his arrival in online media, Greg pursued his entrepreneurial interests, and he currently holds numerous conceptual and design patents. Greg has a BA in Business Administration from Brock University.

Phil Connell has been appointed Director, Corporate and Strategy Development in the Toronto office. Previously Phil ran a private consulting practice where he completed a variety of projects in both the traditional and digital media space. He has been working with Torstar since 2004, most recently crafting a broad strategic plan for OCN. Phil began his consulting career at the Monitor Group, and over the years, has also pursued a diverse set of entrepreneurial ventures in travel, tourism, theatre producing and filmmaking. Phil has a Bachelor of Commerce from Queen’s School of Business.

Gerard Doyle takes on the role as Sales Production Manager and was previously at toronto.com where he spent eight years working in several roles, including Managing editor and A&E Channel Manager. He has a BA in Sociology and a diploma in online journalism. Gerard has visited more than a dozen countries in search of the “perfect curry.” When he’s not perfecting the ice rink in his backyard, he is busy working on his golf swing or pouring through statistics for one of his many fantasy sports leagues.

Vanessa Fehringer joins Olive as the company’s Strategic Account Executive from Microsoft Canada Co. where she held various roles over six years starting off in XBOX Marketing, Operations to Sales roles all the while running and owning a successful modeling/events company.

In OCN’s Montreal office, Elise Hofer has been hired as a Sales Producer to help maximize business opportunities with external publishers and previously worked in the print media area before joining Cyberpresse in 2005.

Khai Huynh joins as an Account Manager in Toronto, and prior was with Rydium, where he was most recently Director of Ad Operations. Khai has been involved in advertising since the beginning of his career, working in a junior sales capacity at the National Post, followed by several years at Bowne working in financial print. Khai is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario, where he studied Psychology and Media. His hobbies include movies, music, literature, video games, snowboarding, tennis, soccer, basketball and travel.

Mona Kiriakopoulos comes to OCN as a Sales Producer from toronto.com where she utilized her degrees in Mass Communications and Sociology as an account manager, staff photographer and web consultant during her tenure. A die-hard Leafs fan, Mona spends her free time watching sports, playing with her son, continuing her family’s photographic tradition, and shopping.

Andrea Lawlor also joins as a Sales Produce bringing a wealth of agency expertise to OCN Canada after three years as a digital media strategist at OMD where she managed the online buying and planning for several high profile clients including McDonald’s and Ontario Tourism. She hails from the East Coast and has travelled extensively across Canada. She is now making inroads into Europe. Andrea is also a video game fanatic.

Donna Nguyen recently joined the Olive Brand Response team as a Strategic Account Executive after developing her knowledge and experience in online advertising at Yahoo! Canada, CTV and Rogers Sportsnet. Before entering the online world, Donna pursued the life of an entrepreneur in the family restaurant business. To balance her life, she enjoys dining out, snowboarding, traveling and watching lots of TV with her two big dogs – Tobe and Zen.

Theresa Smith has been added to the team as a Strategic Account Executive after working in the Canadian ad industry for 15 years and selling online advertising since 2000. Prior to joining the online world Theresa worked in print advertising at both the National Post and The Financial Post newspapers. Theresa joins OCN from MSN Canada where she held a variety of sales positions over the course of the last six years. Theresa has two young children and when she’s not pushing the virtues of Internet advertising, she can be found at her local neighbourhood playground or at Dolce Italian Ice Cream on College Street.

Bromley Switzer has been added to help keep things together as an Executive Assistant directly from Torstar Digital’s administration team. Previously, she worked in the entertainment industry, hobnobbing with the stars on film sets. In her off time, she enjoys her newfound sport, Ultimate Frisbee, reading, writing, and travelling to far away locales.

With this many new hires, you have to wonder if the man in the baby blue suit has the magic touch!?

* Photo is of General Manager Simon Jennings (on the left) at the Olive Canada Party in the Spring of ‘07.

Categories: New Hires
Tags: Olive Canada Network, Online Advertising, Simon Jennings