What do you get when you combine pro athletes, gamers and Xbox? One kick-butt media launch event for Kinect Sports: Season Two — that’s what.

October 24 was no ordinary Monday night on Queen West. Xbox 360 Central was transformed into a world-class sports arena, complete with AstroTurf, and played host to Toronto Blue Jays Catcher JP Arencibia, and recent CFL Hall of Fame inductee Damon Allen, as they engaged in some friendly competition in many of the six new sports featured on the soon-to-be best-selling title.

Toronto media from outlets like TSN, Sportsnet, The Score, Toronto Star and National Post turned up for the fun and went toe-to-toe with the athletes and Xbox Canada’s Jeff Rivait.

Two lucky gamers from the East coast also attended the exclusive launch event and got the pro-athlete treatment as the winners of Kinect Sports: Season Two’s All Star Challenge. They were flown to Toronto, put up at a luxury hotel and had the chance to meet and play with JP Arencibia and Damon Allen. “This is awesome; we don’t have anything like this in Fredericton!” exclaimed Scott Mazerall after stepping up to the plate with Allen and Arencibia.

You can check out all the fun in this video.

Challenged to prove they were Toronto’s best dancer, media joined some of Toronto’s top bloggers to battle it out in a Dance Central 2 dance-off at Xbox 360 Central on 330 Queen Street West. The place was bumpin’ as the dancers took on all-new routines set to an unstoppable soundtrack featuring hot tracks from Usher, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj, Bruno Mars, Daft Punk, and Montell Jordan.

Dance Central is all about learning real routines with full body choreography, and Dance Central 2′s completely redesigned Break it Down mode lets players get into the groove better than ever before, with practice sessions to focus on select moves and the power of Kinect’s voice commands to move your rehearsal along more quickly or slow it down. It even lets you record yourself dancing a move and compare your video with an onscreen dancer!

The coolest feature about the addictive new edition of Kinect’s #1 selling dance game? Friends can team up or choose a Dance Crew to go head-to-head in a fierce Dance Battle. Things get really interesting when the all new Free-4-All minigame appears, allowing players to quickly perform moves worth tons of points and jump ahead in score. Players can drop in or out at any point during a song, so the party never has to stop.

We must say we were quite impressed with everyone’s rhythm! Congrats to CityLine guest expert, Yummy Mummy’s Sarah Gunn (@lovelaughshop) who danced away with the highest score and Casie Stewart (@casiestewart) who tallied up a close second!

To see all the dance moves, check out this video.

Mark’s who? You might ask…

Over the past couple of years Mark’s has dropped the ‘Work Wearhouse’ from its name and begun a series of store renovations across the country. Why the change? Mark’s wants to better represent the variety of fashionable and innovative apparel that the brand offers up to Canadians for everyday living.

To get Canadians talking about the NEW Mark’s, the High Road team hung a clothesline in Calgary, grabbed Mark’s models to walk the runway in Toronto and took media on a behind-the-scenes tour of the newly renovated stores in Calgary.

Mark’s hosted an exclusive event on September 15 in Calgary to celebrate the recent reinventions of all 14 Calgary locations. Held at the flagship store, media were invited for a night of Mark’s festivities, which included a media styling challenge, a specially prepared Mark’s-tini cocktail and a tour of the stores latest innovations. Mark’s executives, including president Paul Wilson and vice-president of operations Wendy Bennison, were also on hand to talk with media about all recent changes at Mark’s and the vision for the brand.

During the event, media experienced several new features of the store including the highly anticipated walk-in freezer where customers can test out the Mark’s cold weather apparel like the T-Max vests. With over 15 media outlets in attendance, the event was a great success and gave Mark’s the opportunity to introduce the new Calgary stores in a fashionable and oh-so-fun way!

In Toronto, Mark’s brightened up Yonge and Dundas square on a cloudy September day by hosting three fashion shows featuring exclusive looks from the new fall/winter collection. Models walked the runway in Mark’s latest Perfect Fit underwear, Denver Hayes Soft lounge wear, yoga wear, business casual and winter looks, while host Lisa Rogers discussed the new innovative features and styles that define Mark’s clothing. Street teams stood at each corner of the square handing out 20 per cent off coupons for Mark’s in celebration of the newly renovated Eaton’s Centre location. The chance to win a $1,000 Mark’s fashion makeover got people stopping at the Mark’s tent and signing up for the contest while winning a free piece of T-Max socks in the process.

From outerwear to underwear the show had it all, and consumers flocked to the newly renovated Eaton’s Centre location to pick up the latest looks from Mark’s.

Finally, Mark’s returned home to Calgary on October 13 to set up a 150-ft. clothesline on Stephen Ave. with 350 pieces of FREE clothing up for grabs. The clothesline boasted a variety of Mark’s innovations including Perfectly Pressed shirts, T-Max vests and DH Soft sweaters for both men and women. Fashion host, BR Pirri was on hand to help Calgarians pull pieces of Mark’s clothing from the line to thank them for their loyalty and support of the Mark’s brand over the last 30 years. Within 35 minutes all of the clothing had been pulled from the line and Calgarians went home happy, with new clothing in hand.

Next up for Mark’s? Mark’s Winter Look book comes out just in time for the holiday season previewing styles for holiday parties, nights by the fireplace and outerwear to brave the Canadian winter. Stay tuned and happy shopping!