News

Operative’s Geoff Petkus Wins IAB Service Excellence Award

Petkus Recognized for Exceptional Leadership and Innovation in Service to the IAB

New York, NY- February 23, 2009 – Operative, a global advertising revenue management (ARM) software and services provider, today announced that Geoff Petkus, Senior Director of Product Management, has been awarded an IAB Service Excellence Award for his significant technical contributions and exceptional leadership during the Interactive E-business Standards initiative. Each year, only a handful of individuals are recognized for their distinguished contributions to the IAB, chosen from hundreds of participating IAB members.

“Geoff has played a key role in driving innovation at Operative over the years, and it’s great to see his expertise and leadership recognized by an industry standard body as well-regarded as the IAB,” said Mike Leo, CEO and president of Operative. “Along with the rest of Operative, Geoff will continue to build services and solutions that help media companies innovate while maintaining operational efficiency.”

Operative works closely with the IAB and is committed to driving standards that simplify and automate business transactions across all stakeholders in the industry. Geoff Petkus served on the IAB’s Interactive e-Business Standards initiative, where he authored a number of e-Business specifications, played an instrumental role in developing the overall project plan and managing numerous groups working towards the October 2008 Beta release of those specifications.

“In an increasingly complex and dynamic environment, individual expertise and contributions are more important to the industry’s ability to innovate and grow the interactive advertising market,” said Sherrill Mane, SVP, Industry Services. “Today, we are delighted to honor Geoff for the contributions he has made to the industry by going above and beyond in his service to the IAB. His work is important to us, and we celebrate his achievements.”

The IAB has nearly 400 member companies, 14 IAB councils and committees and dozens of working groups which shape the industry’s business, standards, guidelines and best practices, including educational outreach to the marketplace. Only a handful of outstanding individuals each year are honored for their excellence in leadership, demonstrated by completing and significant initiative that fosters the growth of interactive advertising.

The IAB Service Excellence Awards will be presented at the IAB Annual Meeting, February 22 to 24 at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Hotel in Orlando, FL.

About the IAB:
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is comprised of more than 375 leading media and technology companies who are responsible for selling 86% of online advertising in the United States. On behalf of its members, the IAB is dedicated to the growth of the interactive advertising marketplace, of interactive’s share of total marketing spend, and of its members’ share of total marketing spend. The IAB educates marketers, agencies, media companies and the wider business community about the value of interactive advertising. Working with its member companies, the IAB evaluates and recommends standards and practices and fields critical research on interactive advertising. Founded in 1996, the IAB is headquartered in New York City with a Public Policy office in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit http://www.iab.net.

About Operative
Established in 2000, Operative is a global organization that provides its clients with technology and services to streamline all aspects of their advertising operations lifecycle, from pre-sale to collections, trafficking to reconciliation.  The Operative product suite of software and services include the Operative Dashboard™, an ASP technology solution that enables media publishers to automate contract management, product packaging and pricing, inventory management, campaign reporting and revenue recognition. Operative Managed Services™ helps media companies effectively restructure ad operations cost and focus on core businesses through ad trafficking, campaign optimization and management services.  Operative’s client base includes The Wall Street Journal, MSN, Smart Money, iVillage, NBC Universal, and National Public Media.  More information about Operative can be found at http://www.operative.com.