Gregg Benkendorfer | Chris Marshall | Gordon Paddison | Mark Rice | Tim Smith | Kristi Vandenbosch
Gregg Benkendorfer
National Manager – Interactive Marketing
Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
Gregg Benkendorfer is national manager – interactive marketing for Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), USA, Inc.
Benkendorfer is responsible for managing the company’s websites and direct marketing activities to support  Toyota’s line-up of cars, trucks and SUVs. Benkendorfer works with a number of agencies and business partners including Saatchi & Saatchi, Rapp Collins, and Intermark Interactive.
An 18-year veteran of the automaker, Benkendorfer has held various positions in the National Headquarters in Torrance, CA along with a 4-year tour in the Boston region. Prior to taking over the interactive marketing department in June 2003, he was responsible for developing marketing strategies for the full line-up of SUVs and Trucks for the Toyota Division.
Benkendorfer earned his MBA from Loyola Marymount University and resides in Redondo Beach, CA with his wife Tina.
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Chris Marshall
Manager, Relationship Marketing
Mitsubishi Motors North America
Chris provides strategic direction for all Interactive and Direct Marketing activities at Mitsubishi Motors, including Owner Loyalty, Conquest initiatives, E-Lead Management, Dealer E-Commerce Systems  Management, Online advertising, Website initiatives and Call Center integration.
Prior to joining Mitsubishi in 2000, Chris was Director of Marketing at Dreamlot.com (an Automotive, e-commerce buying service). Chris has also worked at Automobile Magazine as a Regional Sales Director, at American Honda in the public relations department, and at Rubin Postaer as an Assistant Account executive. Chris received his M.B.A. from UCLA and his B.S. in marketing from Santa Clara University.
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Gordon Paddison
Executive Vice President of Integrated Marketing
New Line Cinema
Over the course of his 10-year tenure at New Line Cinema, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Interactive  Marketing and Business Development, Gordon Paddison has been actively involved in developing and redefining the online component of national and regional marketing for the studio’s motion pictures. He is one of the architects of the company’s Integrated Marketing unit, which serves as a single entry point for promotional opportunities across all windows of release of the studio’s properties.
In 2001, Paddison was named one of the top 100 creative people in show business in Entertainment Weekly’s “IT List” issue. He led the team that developed the acclaimed websites for The Lord of the Rings, Austin Powers and Blade franchises. Paddison also helped develop and integrate a number of interactive DVD innovations that set new standards for DVDs and which have gone on to become studio models.
Most recently, Paddison has spearheaded successful interactive promotional campaigns for such New Line hits as The Notebook, Elf and The Butterfly Effect. He is currently working on the upcoming New Line releases Monster-In-Law starring Jane Fonda and Jennifer Lopez, Wedding Crashers starring Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, and director Terrence Malick’s The New World among others.
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Mark Rice
Managing Director
MindShare Los Angeles
Mark is the Managing Director of the MindShare West Coast Operation. Mark oversees Media Planning and Buying on Mattel, 20th Century Fox, Boost Mobile, THQ Video Games, ARCO, am/pm, Bandai, Namco, and TV Guide Channel. Mark also helped establish the MindShare Entertainment operation in the Los Angeles office,  finding ways to provide unique, branded content opportunities for our clients (e.g. Sears Extreme Home Makeover).
MindShare is the world’s largest Media Investment firm, with nearly $10 billion in US media billings. In addition to the clients listed above, MindShare manages media on IBM, American Express, Unilever, Ford, Burger King, Gillette, Nextel, Novartis, Kimberly Clark, Yahoo and Sears. Ad Age awarded MindShare with Global Agency of the Year in 2004 and 2005.
Mark came to Los Angeles in 1998 from New York where he was Media Planning Director in the New York office of Ogilvy and Mather. Back in the 1980’s, Mark spent two of the best years of his life as Media Director for Ogilvy and Mather Hong Kong.
Mark has two young daughters who are the light of his life, and help keep him on his toes. They are masters at behavioral manipulation of their dad.
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Tim Smith
President
Intelevision
Tim Smith’s fascination with new technology began in 1977 when he played his first
computer game on an IBM 360. Since then he has written applications on everything
from Osbornes to mainframes. Earning a business  degree from Berkeley in Marketing
and Management Science, Tim joined Ernst & Young's Advanced Technologies group
in San Jose early on, consulting for Apple, HP, Sun, Seagate and a host of smaller
start-ups up and down Silicon Valley.
After years in technology, and watching the onset of interactive multimedia, Tim
became determined to figure out the creative side of application design. With a
pack full of books he left the country to read, think, and write a business plan. 24,000
miles later he returned with (sore feet, and) a sense of what a successful new media
company might look like - an aggressive blend of both creativity and technology - and
founded Red Sky Interactive in San Francisco.
From its humble beginning in 1993, Red Sky grew to produce some of the most
influential work in the medium, for clients including Nike, Sony, Coca-Cola, HP, Procter & Gamble, Nikon, Miller and many others. Red Sky was included in Adweek's Top 10
Interactive Agencies 3 years running, featured twice in Communication Arts , and in
2000 the company was recognized by IDEA as the 3rd most awarded interactive
design firm in the world. Tim was the first interactive board member of the
prestigious One Club in New York.
Red Sky was acquired by AGENCY.COM in October, 2001, and Tim turned his attention
and energy to a new start-up in the interactive space. That energy however comes
through in surprising ways in Tim's public presentations, which are always multimedia
events and still a big part of his exploration process. As an outspoken advocate for both
great design and fine engineering, Tim has been a featured speaker at many noted industry forums. He has also judged most of the major design and advertising competitions, culminating in his serving as President of the 2000 Cannes Cyber Lions jury.
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Kristi Vandenbosch
President, TEQUILA\, Los Angeles
Kristi is a founding member of TEQUILA\ when the global marketing services network launched its North American operations in 2002.
 Before starting TEQUILA\, Kristi served as EVP, Managing Director of Direct Partners, running the West Coast offices for this Omnicom direct marketing agency and managing relationships with clients ranging from financial services to automotive to technology. Prior to that, Kristi was Executive Vice President, Managing Director at Draft in Chicago, leading the agency’s “things with wheels” practice, which included clients such as Cadillac, General Motors, British Airways, LAN Chile, Peterbilt and Kenworth Trucks during her tenure.
In addition to more than 12 years of experience in the automotive field, Kristi helped launch the marketing-to-women focus of Harris Marketing Group in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she served as EVP, Creative Director for nearly a decade before changing sides of the house. Among her most valued accomplishments is the creation of “Concept:Cure,” General Motors’ partnership with the fashion industry, which has raised millions of dollars for breast cancer research.
Today, under her leadership, TEQUILA\ has grown to nearly $100MM in billings, and features a roster of blue-chip clients, including Nissan and Infiniti, Sony’s Qualia and PlayStation brands, Masterfoods and Sara Lee. The agency has developed an impressive reputation for creating leading-edge integrated marketing campaigns, employing promotion, direct and interactive disciplines in tandem.
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