Dion, Iglesias, Carter, Groban, Foster & Others Headline 'The Concert for World Children's Day'

EXECUTIVE VISIONS INC. PRODUCES ABC TELEVISION MUSIC SPECIAL "The Concert for World Children's Day."  With performances by Celine Dion, Enrique Iglesias, The Backstreet Boys' Nick Carter, Josh Groban, Yolanda Adams and others, the show culminated with a group performance of "Aren't They All Our Children."  (all net proceeds from DVD and VHS sales benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities.)

ABC Musical Special, to Raise Funds for Children Via Ronald McDonald House Charities, Represents Leap Into Consumer Entertainment for Corporate Event Producers, Television Producers and Concert Producers EVI (providing Brand Strategy, Event Production, Live Entertainment Producers, Concert Production, Entertainment Booking, and Event Management)

ATLANTA, Nov. 7, 2002 -- Raising their voices to raise funds for children worldwide, some of the music industry's brightest stars will be seen in an hour-long primetime special, "The Concert for World Children's Day," premiering Thursday, November 14 on ABC (8:00 p.m. EST).  Benefiting Ronald McDonald House Charities and children everywhere, and dovetailing into a wider fundraising effort waged through 30,000 McDonald's restaurants around the globe, the program is a first for Executive Visions Inc. (EVI), a leading producer of brand-immersive experiences for Fortune 500 companies making its debut in consumer entertainment.

"The Concert for World Children's Day" forms the nucleus of one of the largest global corporate philanthropic efforts of all time, extending to 121 countries and benefiting millions of children through medical, educational, financial and artistic assistance.  The concert originally took place live as part of the annual Awards of Excellence Gala for Ronald McDonald House Charities, held at Chicago's Arie Crown Theater on September 14.  With performances by Celine Dion, Enrique Iglesias, The Backstreet Boys' Nick Carter, Josh Groban, Yolanda Adams and others, the show culminated with a group performance of "Aren't They All Our Children," written by the event's musical director and 14-time Grammy winner David Foster, and his wife, lyricist Linda Thompson.  The concert and television special were created and executive produced by EVI’s president and CEO Michael Marto, and president and CEO of Ronald McDonald House Charities Ken Barun.  EVI's executive vice presidents/co-founders Charles Marto and Robert Marto were co-executive producers.

With wide experience in creating programs for leading companies including Coca-Cola, BellSouth, IBM and Harley-Davidson, the EVI team worked with the client to develop an integrated brand marketing program which addressed their needs.  First announcing the initiative to 12,000 independent McDonald's franchisees through a similar, star-studded concert at the worldwide convention in Las Vegas in April, EVI's strategy was to use a traditionally freestanding event, the RMHC Awards of Excellence gala, as a focal point for a more ambitious effort. Given the client's key value of helping children and the existing work of Ronald McDonald House Charities, EVI developed a multi-platform strategy centered around the first annual World Children's Day on November 20, 2002, a fundraising initiative that McDonald's created.

Aided by seventeen years of celebrity relationships, including long-standing relationships with David Foster and Celine Dion, EVI created and guided the concept to fruition.  EVI produced the show, secured the celebrity entertainment, and laid out the strategy to secure a major network for the show taped in high-definition television (HDTV) in 24P (24-frame progressive provides film-look) with fifteen Sony cameras  -- leveraging the client's existing infrastructure and resources to complete the ambitious program.  Its elements include in-store promotion in 30,000 McDonald's restaurants around the world, a series of commercial spots on the charity, press tour with celebrity support, and a new website for online giving ( www.getconcert.com ) created in top-tier partnership with Yahoo.  The effort culminates November 20 on World Children's Day, one of the largest single-day fundraising efforts in history to help children in need.

"Because of the importance of this program to the continued success of RMHC, we needed to partner with an entertainment producer/brand communications firm with the skills, track record, and entertainment industry relationships to create and execute an all-encompassing communications platform," said RMHC's president and CEO Ken Barun.  "That's why we selected Executive Visions for this critical venture.  They understood our mission, and their strategy met our needs."

"We are proud of the massive team effort it took to help McDonald's launch this ambitious program, and we derive great satisfaction from its charitable impact," stated EVI president and CEO Michael Marto.  While indicating that "we would not have been able to deliver what we did without the assistance of our longtime friend David Foster." Marto also took pride in EVI's crossover into consumer entertainment via broadcast television.  "It is a wonderful milestone for us to partner with McDonald's and RMHC on this project, and we hope to work with other clients on efforts which directly reach the public with branded entertainment and top-quality television productions."

About EVI
Executive Visions Inc. (EVI) is a leading event producer, television producer & concert producer of Brand-Immersive Experiences™ and corporate communications for Fortune 500 companies and other top U.S. and global firms.  Since 1986 EVI has enabled clients to maximize shareholder value with innovative communications approaches.  Organic solutions include the strategic development, creative design and production of celebrity entertainment events, broadcast and high-definition television, corporate meetings, product launches, training programs, DVD and related multimedia.  Its clients have included Anheuser-Busch, Apple Computer, BellSouth, Harley-Davidson, Holiday Inn, IBM, McDonald's, Parke-Davis (Warner Lambert), Rolls-Royce/Bentley Motor Cars and Turner Broadcasting. Headquartered in Atlanta, EVI can be found online at http://www.ExecutiveVisions.com.

About Ronald McDonald House Charities
Ronald McDonald House Charities, a non-profit, 501(c)3, creates, finds and supports programs that directly improve the health and well being of children through its network of 171 local Chapters currently serving in 44 countries. Named one of America's Top 100 Charities by Worth magazine, the Charity makes grants to not for-profit organizations and provides support to Ronald McDonald Houses and Ronald McDonald Care Mobiles worldwide. To date, Ronald McDonald House Charities' national body and global network of local Chapters have awarded more than $340 million to children's programs.  For more information go to http://www.rmhc.org.

About McDonald's
McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) is the world's leading foodservice retailer, with more than 30,000 local McDonald's restaurants serving 47 million customers each day in more than 100 countries.  More than 70 percent of McDonald's restaurants around the world are owned and operated by independent, local businessmen and women. For more information go to http://www.mcdonalds.com.