Event Team

These are just a few of the team members working on Banff 2010:

Robert Montgomery

Robert Montgomery, CEO, Achilles Media & First Maximilian Associates
Robert Montgomery is an investor, adviser and entrepreneur focused on the digital media and information technology industries. Robert owns Achilles Media in Toronto, a business-to-business media company that produces some of the world's leading media and investment events including the Banff World Television Festival, nextMEDIA, History Makers and the Canadian Innovation Exchange where Robert acts as Co-Chair. From 2000 to 2004, Robert was Co-Founder and Partner in Achilles Partners LLC, an investment, advisory and research firm that focused on the media, communications and technology industries. Previously, Robert has been an executive and adviser for media, communications and technology companies and the investment community for many years. His work has generally been in the areas of operations, strategy, financing and development; market, financial and public policy analysis; and fairness opinions and valuations. Until 2000, Robert was President, Americas and a member of the management board at the Fantastic Corporation in San Francisco, a broadband software provider where Robert was instrumental in the company's successful IPO. During this time Robert was also Non-Executive Chairman of Media Content plc, a UK-based media rights company which he co-founded and took public on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market. Before this, Robert was Managing Director at Kagan World Media in London, a media and communications research and consulting company where he was responsible for the firm's European and Asia Pacific operations. Before this, Robert co-founded Digital Media International, an events and publishing company focused on the digital media markets in Europe and Asia. Prior to this, Robert ran international financial and technology publications for Euromoney plc, and what is now Informa plc, in London. Robert has served on several boards and is very active in the community. He currently serves as Chair of the Board of Governors of the Ontario College of Art and Design.
   
Mark Greenspan

Mark Greenspan, Executive Director, nextMEDIA
Mark Greenspan is Vice President of Digital Media for Achilles Media, a new media producer and educator with a decade‘s worth of experience in the field. During this time he has taught and designed new media curriculum in Singapore, Philippines and India. He worked for Razorfish Inc in both London, England and Milan, Italy. He produced MTV Asia‘s first web cast, set up a boutique design and branding firm called methodgroup and produced a 12-series alternative travel show entitled Above the Clouds. Mark was also Training Programs Manager at the Canadian Film Centre‘s Habitat New Media Lab where he oversaw the quality of the curriculum design and delivery of the TELUS Interactive Art and Entertainment Program (IAEP).
   
Georges Leclere Georges Leclere, Director of Program Competition and Awards
Georges Leclere is currently the Director of Program Competition for The Banff World Television Awards as well as Founder and President of global television producer LGMA Inc. Leclere has an extensive background in television and awards programming. Prior to launching LGMA, Georges was Senior Vice-President of The International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, a sister organization of the US Television Academy, where he ran the International Emmy Awards from 1997-2006. Georges was also the Executive Producer of the International Emmy Awards Gala ceremony and television shows, and remains a Fellow of the International Academy. With LGMA, Leclere has acted as advisor for the Foundation for International Understanding, an initiative of the US Congress. He is an Ambassador for the Rose d'Or Festival and consultant for several companies including the Monaco Media Forum, the Cousteau Awards, the Seoul Drama Awards, The Prix Galien and the Banff World Television Festival. Leclere was Director of Press, Radio and Television for the United Nations in 1986 and was awarded the Medal of "Chevalier des Arts & des Lettres" by the French Government in 2003.
   
Megan Dalrymple Megan Dalrymple, Manager of Operations & Logistics
After graduating with Honours from Image Arts, New Media program at Ryerson University, Megan's career evolved through hospitality and tourism. She soon landed in the world of corporate Event Management, accepting a position with a highly successful Destination Management Company in Banff, Alberta. She joined Achilles Media in 2008 to put in place and oversee the smooth operation of the Banff World Television Festival and nextMEDIA Banff. Megan's considerable experience with corporate clientèle and her skill at juggling multiple event components makes her the key player in logistics for all our event teams. Eager to be expanding her involvement, she is now laying the foundation for the upcoming History Makers (New York City) and Smart TV (Los Angeles) conferences of 2010. Megan knows the devil is in the details.
   
Amy Davies, Manager, Events and Programs
Amy brings to Achilles experience in the events, television, digital media and public relations industry and has a proven track record of planning and executing land mark events including nextMEDIA, the Banff World Television Festival and the Canadian Innovation Exchange. Prior to her role at Achilles Media Amy was Senior Conference Producer at Broadcast Magazine and Screen International where she produced leading seminars and business training events including The Media Summit, Mobile Television and Broadcast Live. She has also programmed IMM (International Media Management Training) for Media & Marketing Europe. In her previous role she was head of public relations and marketing communications at Wireless World Forum, an online social network for the telecommunications industry. Amy is a graduate of Brunel University London (B.A.) and the London School of Public Relations (with distinction).
   
Ana Plenter Ana Plenter, Senior Marketing Manager
Ana Plenter is an accomplished marketing professional with significant experience in consumer, business-to-business and digital marketing. In her current role as Senior Marketing Manager for Achilles Media, Ms. Plenter is part of the management committee working closely with the executive team to design the company’s long-term strategic plan as well as leading a team of marketing professionals to execute on the Company’s current strategy to transform Achilles Media into an industry-leading business facilitation company. Prior to joining Achilles Media, Ms. Plenter honed her digital and social media marketing expertise while working in Montreal for Vircom, an industry leading provider of email security software where she designed and implemented Vircom’s online and social media marketing strategy. Ms. Plenter has also worked as a Marketing Manager at Ice.com, a leading online retailer jeweller, Lure Media, a start-up enterprise where she worked on overall corporate strategy and equity financing, and Exchange Solutions a Consulting firm that engages in designing and hosting buyer-seller collaboration capabilities where she worked with major clients such as U.S. Bank. Ms. Plenter received an Honours degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from the University of Western Ontario.
   
Ferne Cohen Ferne Cohen, Director of Business Development
Ferne Cohen is the Executive Producer and creator of Smart TV. She is also the Director of Business Development for the Banff World Television Festival, both run by Achilles Media Ltd. Ferne has been with the company since 2008. During her time at Achilles, Ferne has developed and produced several new initiatives including Kids and Animation Day at BANFF, 2009. Before joining Achilles, Ferne was the Director of Business Affairs for Alliance Atlantis Television Production Group, responsible for overseeing various television properties. With a background in intellectual property law, Ferne began her career in private practice as a litigator in the areas of trademark and copyright law.
   
Jory Groberman Jory Groberman, Director of Business Development
Jory Groberman has an entrepreneurial background in Digital Media, Music, Television and Events. He holds degrees in English and Anthropology from the University of Western Ontario, and is also a graduate of Ryerson University‘s Radio & Television Arts program. Jory is the founder of Vancouver‘s 29 Productions Inc., a recording studio, mobile content and events company. The company has had a wide range of successful international projects including audio for advertising, television, and video games, and a weekly production of the Billboard Charts for mobile ringtones across the US, Europe and Asia. From 2005-2008, he served as President and Owner of the influential New Music West Festival & Conference, which has been running since 1990. He has worked as a program producer for one of Canada‘s top talk radio programs on the Corus Network, and in the newsroom at CTV. He also manages a rock n roll band.
   
Robert Francia Robert Francia, Partnership Executive
Robert Francia studied Business and Marketing at Humber College and has an extensive background in advertising and management in both print and digital media. Prior to joining Achilles Media, Robert worked for over fifteen years at Trader Corporation where he played an integral role in getting the online ad component of the business off the ground back in the early dot com days. He spent most of his time managing, promoting and cultivating the many different facets of the company including, Auto Trader, Auto Trader.ca and Renters News brands. He successfully developed print and online ad campaigns for many industry leading Automotive resellers including Ferrari, Ford, GM, and Toyota to name just a few. Robert is currently working towards his PMP.
   
Tiffany Rushton Tiffany Rushton, Program Producer - Awards
Tiffany Rushton began her career in Human Resources Management and Consulting in Nova Scotia before leaving it all behind to venture into the entertainment and media industries in Toronto. She graduated at the top of her class from the Entertainment Business Management program and received the President’s Award from the International Academy of Design and Technology- Toronto Film School in 2006. In August 2007, after various gigs in Toronto’s entertainment community, she joined the Achilles team (and is known internally as Tiffania, Queen of Achilles), most recently managing the program competition for the 30th Annual Banff World Television Awards.
   
Emily Atherton Emily Atherton, Associate Producer / Speaker Coordinator
Emily began her career in events management even before graduating from the Radio and Television Arts program at Ryerson University in 2008. Hired by the university to organize student events throughout the year, she was one of the driving forces behind an ambitious program of Orientation Week events in 2007, 2008 and 2009. She has also volunteered behind the scenes at various Toronto arts and cultural festivals and, as Street Fair Coordinator for Pride Toronto, was largely responsible for the planning, organizing and management of the Pride Week Street Fair in 2009. Since coming to Achilles Media in August 2009, Emily has worked on organizing program content for nextMEDIA and History Makers.
   
   Nagar Rahmani, Associate Producer
Nagar has been with Achilles Media since the fall of 2009. She came on board as an Associate Producer for The Banff World Television Festival and nextMEDIA 2010, and continues to help create programming and co-ordinate speakers for all Achilles events. Prior to joining the Achilles team, Nagar was Project Manager at Vcamlo Services Inc. Nagar also served as a Service Manager at CHS Red Cross and as a Web Conference Production Specialist. Nagar is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario with a Major in Psychology and a Minor in Criminology.
   
Baylea Mahoney

Baylea Mahoney, Marketing Communication Coordinator
Baylea is a graduate of The University of Western Ontario and of Humber College where she honed her love of English and her dependence on spell-check. After travelling, teaching and tutoring, Baylea moved into advertising and marketing, briefly as a copywriter and now marketing coordination. Baylea began at Achilles Media in September of 2009 specializing in media relations and publicity.
   
   Katye Seip, Marketing Coordinator
Katye Seip began her event’s career as Registration Coordinator at the Office of Advancement and Alumni Relations at Concordia University. She was pleased to join Achilles Media in October 2010 first as a Marketing Assistant, before moving on to become a Marketing Coordinator. She holds a Masters degree in English Literature from Concordia University and is pleased to continue using her love of literature and the written word as she navigates the new world of email marketing, websites and social media.

 

 

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