Interplay Marketing and Consulting was founded by Mark Taylor, a 20+ year veteran of the sports, lifestyle and resort marketing business who brings an exceptional background of producing over 200 major events, and Paula Blanchet, an experienced promoter, event manager and operations specialist. This boutique agency is focused on creating affordable solutions for today’s businesses from event & entertainment marketing and production to startup and small businesses. As strong team builders, motivators and results producers, Interplay has the ability to create performance-based environments fostering unparalleled team contribution. The agency’s culmination is fundamentally rooted by their entrepreneurial mindset combined with corporate experience, ensuring success in the high-pressure, deadline-driven environments of project planning and live event management. The key to its success is the superior level of organization Interplay brings to every project, with no detail left ignored and no obstacle unforeseen.
INTERPLAY SERVICES AVAILABLE:
- Event Property Consulting
- Event Management
- Resort Event & Programming Strategy
- Media Rights & Broadcast Consulting
- Sponsorship Packaging & Consulting
- Operations & Production Management
- Small Business Planning Solutions
CURRENT PROJECTS
Crankworx Freeride Mountain Bike Festival - crankworx.com
Having created the Crankworx brand, Mark managed the first original edition of Crankworx in 2003 under his VP role at MASEV Communications. In 2008 Interplay helped lead the growth of the event by expanding an audience via live webcast and increased production values for sponsors, athletes and the audiences. The event is now Whistler's largest annual event with a direct economic impact of over $18M and an audience of millions world-wide taking in the action. Mark acts as the Executive Producer of Crankworx events and a business consultant for the event management & long term growth of Crankworx series internationally.
Turtle Bay Resort (Replay Resorts) - turtlebayresort.com
Having 20+ years of creating and managing successful resort based events & programming, the team at North America's leading experience driven resort development company, Replay Resorts has engaged Mark as a consultant to support the short and long term envisioning the resort - with a focus of integrating the only resort on Oahu's north shore deep into the lifestyle and culture represented within the local communities. Initial work has seen the creation of partnerships and activations with the Sunset Pro of the Stand Up Paddleboard World Tour, The Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, athlete relations with renown waterman and industry relations within the Surf & SUP world.
Interplay founded and created this innovative lifestyle real estate business: a vacation management and destination club concept designed for an affluent niche of surfers who travel the globe to enjoy their passions of travel and surf. Interplay will service all project management associated with the Waverider Real Estate Club.
The Search For the Ultimate Athlete (SFUA) - searchfortheultimateathlete.com
The "American Idol" of sports television, SFUA will finally answer who really is the best all-around athlete in the world. Interplay is partnered with MoBetta Production out of Portland, Oregon to launch this new and unique reality-competition TV property. A thorough model, validated by a judging panel of renowne
d experts from the sporting world, has been created to truly test the skills and aptitude of the best athletes out there. From the fusion of mainstream "stick & ball" sports, outdoor adventure sports and action sports will arise the SFUA Ultimate Athlete. Stay tuned for details as the event goes into pre-production in 2011.
MARK TAYLOR 
A strong team builder, motivator and personal producer, Mark has the ability to create performance-based environments fostering unparalleled team contribution. His successful track record includes managing the many complex layers of event organization and rights management combined with expertise in media production, particularly television and new media on a global scale.
Vice President, Event Properties, IMG
IMG acquired MASEV in 2004 where Mark took on the role of overseeing the event properties activities for IMG in Canada. In addition to a strong action sports portfolio from MASEV, Mark also oversaw key golf properties such as the Skins Game and managed business in figure skating and client based projects.
Founder and VP of MASEV Communications
An innovative youth marketing and communications agency with clients through North America and revenues of over $6M.
2005 FIS World Snowboard Championships - President of Organization Committee
Mark led the successful bid, venue development, financial structuring and event operations. This was Whistler's biggest event to date and included the largest mountain sport sponsorship agreement ever negotiated in the history of mountain sports in Canada.
Creator and Manager of Molson DV8/SnowJam
A North American-wide action sports & music festival tour that drew 25,000-60,000 attendance per stop features the best ski, snowboard, skateboard, bmx athletes alongside the best live music acts with the highlight being a massive 6 story high ramp leading to a quarter pipe covered with over 100-tonnes of snow.
FIS Snowboard World Cup
During the early 1990's, Mark's years of sport and European World Cup Ski Tour background led to the opportunity to work with the Federation International du Ski (FIS) and the Canadian Snowboard Federation (CSF) to establish the FIS World Cup as an ongoing Canadian stop on the international tour. This included launching events at Whistler and Sun Peaks resort and 10+ years of ongoing successful event production and management. This led to Mark working closely with the bid committee on the development of the snowboard venue for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Canadian Open of Skateboarding
While at MASEV Mark founded and led the creation of one of the world's biggest skateboard events that operated out of Ontario, Canada.
Wakefest
The world's biggest stop of the Pro Wakeboard Tour was developed and managed by Mark under both MASEV and IMG. A 30,000+ audience each year took in Canada's biggest annual action sports & music festival from 2000-2007.
Other Noteworthy Projects: MTV Sports & Music Festival, World Ski & Snowboard Festival, Westbeach Classic, Molson Pro Snowboard Tour, Talent Rock Entertainment Festivals, FIS Alpine World Cup, Gorge Games
PAULA BLANCHET
Paula offers extensive experience in Operations, Management, Marketing and Client Services. Her strong organizational skills and experience allow her to effectively oversee a variety of projects simultaneously. She is a confident manager and a strong team builder with the ability to create performance-based environments. Paula has been the lead with Interplay clients such as Blissology + Eion Finn Yoga and Beauty Through Balance.
BACKGROUND HIGHLIGHTS
Director of Operations, Rio Rain Eco Apparel
Paula developed a one-year brand launch plan for this Vancouver based startup. She worked with the design department to create the overall look and feel of the brand, oversaw production, created an operations budget and mapped out an inventory management plan for multiple locations. In addition, Paula drafted a comprehensive Marketing and Community Relations plan and oversaw store openings in multiple cities.
Franchisee, lululemon athletica, Portland, OR
Paula and Mark teamed up to negotiate franchise agreements for Maui and Portland, the latter opening of which Paula relocated to oversee. From store construction to hiring training and managing to inventory management and accounting to creating and executing a marketing plan, Paula oversaw every detail of the store operations. Prior to this venture Paula held a corporate position with lululemon as Team Sales Manager and Wholesale Account Manager for Canada, Asia and Europe. Her responsibilities included expansion of the brand into new markets and reporting new market trends to the design and marketing teams.
Client Services, MASEV Communications
Paula managed multiple client accounts at MASEV with the purpose of maximizing exposure opportunities through various marketing initiatives, sponsorships and special events. She was responsible for event budgets, on-site execution and post-project reporting for each client. Events included World Cup Snowboarding, World Cup Skateboarding, Wakefest, and The World Ski & Snowboard Festival. Clients included Bell, Molson, Nissan, Audi, West 49, Da Kine, and Billabong
Unit Publicist, The Rhino Brothers Film Co
Paula joined the team of this independent Canadian production that went on to be a film festival favorite. She managed the publicity, press releases and press kit development and coordinated media interviews with the cast and filmmakers. On set she directed the Still Photographer to ensure the best images were available for release to the press. Paula worked with the film’s producers to submit entries to film festivals around the world, generating a high level of festival acceptance for a first time film-making team.
General Manager, Western Canada, HOI Agency
As this agency developed from the ground up, Paula played an integral role in providing superior service and effective marketing campaigns that created this agency`s reputation as the go-to for personalities and talent. She managed all promotions on site to ensure delivery above and beyond client expectations. Events included Molson Indy, Vancouver Snow Show, and The World Ski & Snowboard Festival. Clients included Pontiac-GM, BMW, and Revlon.
