"We are servants. That's not demeaning. As servants we have enormous opportunities, but we can only make the most of them by remembering that we exist to serve our clients, not our own selfish ends."

- Peter Geer, Principal, Geer Dubois, May,1977 The Wall Street Journal.

That's just it. It is not about us. It is about our clients, partners, friends and the work we have accomplished for them and with them.

Mr. Chuck Robbins,

I want to thank you for your visit to our class on Friday. The students were thrilled that you would take time out of your busy schedule and come to talk with them. They were even talking about your visit on Monday, you made a great impression on them. Ms. Pat West, our Marketing Program Director, and I spoke just after class and she was very excited about the visit. I hope that your schedule will permit a visit to our marketing research Class this fall. I will get with you weeks in advance to see if we can work out a visit.

Have a great day and again many thanks for your visit, it was
outstanding.

John Parker, Marketing Professor CPCC

Chuck Robbins is a veteran of the advertising, marketing and public relations community. A past president of the Charlotte, North Carolina Chapter of the American Ad Federation, Mr. Robbins has served as a consultant to many of the top Agencies and corporate clients in the Southeast. The Johnson Group, American Express, Summa Allan, Joe Gibbs Racing, Assets2auction.com, MindBlazer.com, Peak 10, Downs Group, Advantage Plus Group, Film Foundry, InfoVison, The Bluffs of Wilson Creek, and SavingDinner.com, are just a few of the companies he has worked with in the past several years. As a consultant and problem solver, he has conducted marketing research, developed marketing plans, managed agency searches, facilitated multimedia and web projects, initiated public relations campaigns, social media campaigns and managed several corporate identification makeovers. His clients have included new business startups as well as Fortune 500 Corporations.

2004-Current. Robbins and aro have managed public relations for several independent film projects including The Ultimate Gift, Stroke of Genius (The Legend of Bobby Jones). In addition, he created and produced “Living in Prime Time” an event designed for the Baby Boomer Market and developed marketing plans for SavingDinner.com and Creating a Productive Environment.

In 2002-2003 Robbins worked almost exclusively for InfoVision, both as an outside consultant and internally as marketing director for the firm. InfoVision is a Microsoft-centric Value Added Reseller that specializes in both hardware and software solutions for small to mid-size companies. The InfoVision specialty was Financial Management and Customer Relationship Management software solutions. Their customer list (at that time) was an impressive collection of Carolina companies Robbins managed all public relations as well as marketing planning, strategy and a major branding initiative. Public relations is a significant element of the culture at the company and the results of those efforts are evidenced in the numerous recognitions the company has received during Robbins stay:

Microsoft Corporation Excellence in Customer Care Awar d 2002
Microsoft Corporation Pinnacle Award for InfoVision Customer, Service Thread 2003
Deloitte Touche NC Tech Fast Fifty 2003
Business Journal Fast Fifty 2003
Charlotte Parent 40 Best Places to Work in North Carolina 2003
Charlotte Business Journal Family Friendly Awards 2003
Greg Aker, InfoVision President Finalist Charlotte Chamber's Entrepreneurial Awards 2003
See www.infov.com for releases, coverage and event footage

Robbins also managed over 20 events including a major technology exhibit and presentation at the Charlotte Merchandise Mart attended by over 420 people including Mayor Pat McCrory, County Commissioner Ruth Samuelson and numerous other dignitaries including several regional and national Microsoft Managers. These programs and recognitions resulted in thousands of lines of Print, Web and Broadcast public relations in 2003 alone.

In 1999-2000 Mr. Robbins was hired as a consultant to the dot com start-up assets2auction.com. A2A was created as a business to business auction site for the non-performing assets of banks and other financial institutions. He provided much of the research, the competitive analysis information and conducted a nationwide interactive ad agency search. assets2auction.com was so well received in the marketplace that it was sold (prior to actually finishing their web site) six months into its development.

As a result of this success, Chuck Robbins has worked with several dot com clients and other technology start-ups through his marketing and public relations company, Ingenium Corporation. In 1998-99 Chuck's work on an American Express multi-media presentation (to a large Charlotte based bank), resulted in the development of over 2 billion dollars of new business for the Travelers Cheques division.

In 1996-1997 Mr. Robbins was hired as a marketing consultant to work with an 800 store regional retailer in a very difficult bankruptcy-turnaround. His efforts (along with seven others on the transition team) were rewarded when the company went from 24 million in the red to 2 million in the black in just over 14 months. He hired two agencies, ran a seven million-dollar ad budget, helped re-design a new store front, and reengineered the marketing department from sixteen people down to seven.

In 1992, with Apple Computer as a strategic alliance partner, Chuck created the first technology showcase of Apple Products and peripherals in Charlotte. Sponsors included Tektronix, RasterOps, Avid Video Systems, and others. His designers and pre-press staff trained many of the leading graphics people in the area in the uses of desktop publishing software. He also created the marketing plan and corporate identity for PrinterNet an Internet/Intranet start-up for the Printing Industry in 1995.

In addition to Technology and Retail, Mr. Robbins has excellent experience in Legal, Entertainment, Sports Marketing, Financial Services, Manufacturing and the Human Capital Industry.

Robbins has been published in Lawyers Weekly, writing about the Intellectual Property law business in the Carolinas. He has also been published in the Roanoker Magazine, the Houston Chronicle and numerous trade magazines. He publishes his own e-newsletter to over 2,000 clients and associates around the U.S, and Canada. Chuck holds over 30 awards for creative excellence in advertising.

Michael Thayer. Currently serving as Manager, High Volume TP Solutions at IBM Corp., Mr. Thayer brings extensive knowledge and experience in large scale organizational change, supply chain management, e-Business transformation, and information systems to the leadership of aro.

Mr. Thayer's consulting clients include Fortune 500 manufacturers and distribution providers for engagements ranging from merger integration to business process redesign to electronic commerce and IT strategy.

Prior to joining IBM in 1995, Thayer held positions in various senior consulting roles with General Electric, Big 6 Consulting, and Scientific Systems Services, a logistics consulting firm based in Melbourne, Florida.

Mr. Thayer's role is business development for the market space that addresses the emerging extreme transaction segments of e-Commerce.

As a graduate of the University of Kentucky and with an MBA from the Executive Program at Baldwin Wallace, Mr. Thayer has been a frequent speaker at industry forums.

Catherine Plough has provided professional writing services in numerous mediums over the last 25 years. As a member of the aro team, Plough provides copy for web sites, press releases, videos, bios and text for various marketing/advertising materials.

Plough’s contributions have been recognized on a national level, including a first-place win in a short story contest sponsored by Charisma Magazine. Additionally, Plough has authored articles for Homeschooling Today Magazine, Today’s Charlotte Woman, The Charlotte Observer, Angie’s List, the Florida-Times Union, and The CharlotteWorld newspaper, among others.

As a Communications Major at UNC-Greensboro, Catherine moved directly into news and feature writing upon graduation. Shortly thereafter, she was employed by a number of prominent firms, including Dupont, to write promotional and training video scripts. Between 1990 and 1993, scripts written by Plough received two Telly Awards; in addition, she was contracted to write a video script for Covenant Theological Seminary as part of the school’s multi-million dollar fundraiser.

From 1986 to 1995, Plough utilized her marketing skills in the real estate industry, first with Coldwell Banker and, later as Marketing Director for Allen Tate, Realtors, Charlotte’s largest real estate firm. Since that time, Plough served Christ Covenant Church, then a 2000-memember congregation, as Director of Publications/Communications, and as a Project Manager for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Dan Simeone has over 12 years of experience in web design, graphic design, and photography. As a creative professional working with aro, he designed the new logo, graphics, and a completely new website for mysafercommunities.org, a not-for profit client.

Simeone, created most of aro’s “Living in Prime Time” event and web graphics and works on the aro web site as well. He has also assisted clients with CD ROM production and video production services. Dan’s outstanding work in web design, development and maintenance give aro both design and development expertise internally. Prior to aro, Dan has worked for clients like Montreat College, Total Promotions and clothing firm Mediumrare.

Dan graduated from Virginia Intermont College with a BA in Photography and Digital Imaging. He went on to teach photography and journalism at Charlotte Mecklenberg Schools. He also managed the design, development, of several internal and external publications.

While working at Central Piedmont Community College, he managed and maintained all software, hardware, and facility access for their darkroom, Mac laboratory, and lighting/effects studio. His technical knowledge includes expertise in Macintosh OS X, Adobe Creative Suite, Dreamweaver, Flash, Director, and Microsoft Office.

Domna Colepaugh has over 26 years of accounting and administrative experience, ranging from manufacturing and travel, to banking and many small businesses. She holds a B.S. Degree in Financial Management from Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC, as well as an A.A. degree from Columbia International University in Columbia, SC.

Mrs. Colepaugh has done small business organizational and operational consulting and administration. She has also done research, payroll, taxes, and cost analysis. She has the ability to communicate complex information to customers in simple terms and style.

Prior to joining aro, Colepaugh was the Accountant and Database Administrator for Corporate Travel Management in Charlotte, NC. Her major roles in that job involved all accounting facets of the business. In addition, she managed the database that contained all customer travel data, and was responsible for the quality control of that data. She worked with major corporate clients to prepare custom business reporting for their travels around the world. These reports covered the spectrum from expense reporting and budget analysis to major convention reports and analysis.

Finally, Domna is a published writer and Alumni President at Columbia International University in Columbia, SC.

Beth Wallace is a specialist in the research and public relations function. Ms. Wallace has worked with several aro clients in the development of competitor research and building of report documents. She has also done extensive meeting follow-up for several aro events. Wallace was the Office Manager for assets2auction.com and was responsible for the set-up of infrastructure for that group. Beth served as Executive Assistant to the President of Piedmont Natural Gas, after working for several years in the public relations and government relations departments.

At aro, Ms. Wallace devotes much of her time to conducting research for our clients. In addition, her extensive skills communicating with every level of businessperson from CEOs to secretaries offers us great dimension in phone follow-up for both research and public relations efforts. She also has excellent event planning skills and experience. Beth is an expert in the Internet research function and public relations follow-up. She has been with the company since June 2000.