Verve Wireless Expands Management Team With Addition of Dan Hodges and Aimee Irwin

SAN DIEGO and WASHINGTON, April 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Verve Wireless, Inc. the leading mobile advertising platform for local media, announced today that it has hired two senior executives with proven track records of success in mobile media and digital advertising.  Dan Hodges will run national advertising sales for Verve and Aimee Irwin will run the Verve publisher network.  

"We are extremely pleased to welcome Dan and Aimee to the Verve team," said Tom MacIsaac, CEO of Verve. "Their skills, experience, and relationships will strengthen Verve in its mission to provide both advertisers and publishers the highest-value experience in local mobile media."

Dan Hodges joins Verve as Chief Revenue Officer, working directly with agencies and brands providing solutions and partnerships across Verve's national footprint of premium local media properties.  Dan was most recently Head of Global Sales at the Associated Press where he led all monetization efforts for the AP's award winning products in mobile and digital media.  Prior to the AP, Dan ran the largest dedicated mobile sales force in the world as Head of Global Sales for Nokia Interactive.  Dan joined Nokia through the acquisition of Enpocket, one of the pioneering companies in mobile advertising, where he was Head of U.S. Sales.  Prior to Enpocket, Dan held several executive sales positions at Discovery Communications where he was part of the team that was rated the number one sales organization in the entire media industry for eight years in a row. During those years, advertising revenue grew eightfold, from $125 million to $950 million. Dan will be based in Verve's New York City office.

Aimee Irwin joins Verve as SVP Business Development and Publisher Network. Aimee brings more than fifteen years of strategy, business development and marketing experience in digital media and advertising.  Most recently, Aimee served as VP of Strategy and Corporate Development at AOL, where she was responsible for strategic planning, M&A and strategic partnerships for AOL's advertising and ad network businesses.  Prior to AOL, Aimee held executive positions at several successful internet and mobile companies including: Lightningcast, an internet video advertising company now part of AOL, Leap Wireless, the seventh largest US wireless carrier and Backwire, an internet and mobile marketing company acquired by Leap in 2001. Aimee will be based in Verve's Washington DC area office.

The announcement of the additions of Hodges and Irwin comes just a week after Verve announced the formation of an Advisory Board comprised of some of the most successful thought leaders in digital advertising -- http://www.vervewireless.com/about-advisory.html.

About Verve Wireless

Verve monetizes local mobile media. Our solutions help local media companies monetize their mobile inventory and enable advertisers to reach a valuable, premium audience where they live, work and play. Over 1000 local publishers use the Verve platform to manage their mobile advertising businesses and help make their sales teams more effective. In addition, we bring incremental revenue to our publishers through our relationships with national advertisers, who value the Verve network's high quality local media companies, including the mobile outlets of recognized local media brands as well as newer digital-only local and hyper-local publishers. It is a brand-safe, editorially-driven, high-quality and transparent environment with market-leading targeting, creative and reporting capabilities. Only Verve has assembled such an extensive national footprint of high quality local media. Verve is located in Encinitas, CA and Bethesda, MD.  For more information, visit www.vervewireless.com.

SOURCE Verve Wireless, Inc.