GameDaily Connect USA 2019 Speakers.
EXPERT INSIGHTS & ACTIONABLE KNOWLEDGE
Zynga, Inc.
Chris Petrovic
SVP and Head of Corporate Strategy, M&A and Business Development at Zynga, Inc.EMAIL CHRIS VIEW LECTURE
Mr. Petrovic is a games, technology and digital media veteran, with over 20 years of global experience in the sector. He currently serves as SVP and Head of Corporate Strategy, M&A and Business Development for Zynga, a leading developer of the world's most popular social games that are played by millions of customers worldwide. Chris is responsible for driving the company’s growth through strategic M&A, partnerships and market expansion efforts, including the acquisitions of Small Giant Games, Gram Games, Peak Games board and card studio, Harpan and Puzzle Social as well as licensing partnerships with Disney (Star Wars), Warner Brothers (Harry Potter), Univeral (Fast & Furious), HBO (Game of Thrones) and World Poker Tour.
Chris Petrovic
SVP and Head of Corporate Strategy, M&A and Business Development, Zynga, Inc.
Riot Games
Chris "Chopper" Hopper
Head of Esports for North America at Riot GamesEMAIL CHRIS "CHOPPER" VIEW LECTURE
As Head of Esports for North America, Chris Hopper is responsible for defining the vision and strategy for esports within North America. He maintains operational oversight of the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS), the premier league for the world’s most-watched esport in the US and Canada. Under his leadership the LCS moved from a relegation system to permanent partnership, creating long-term franchises with esports stalwarts TSM, Cloud9, and Team Liquid as well as traditional sports teams the Golden State Warriors, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Milwaukee Bucks, amongst others. Additionally, Chris works alongside the collegiate League of Legends team to advise on its development in North America, which currently sees the participation of 300 colleges & universities. Prior to his position as the Head of Esports for North America, Chris Hopper worked on the central Riot Games esports team that first launched League of Legends as an international esport around the world. During this period, the ecosystem grew to 13 regional leagues, over 120 professional teams, nearly 1,000 full-time players and sold out multiple iconic arenas, including New York’s Madison Square Garden, Los Angeles’ Staples Center and the Beijing National Stadium (also known as the Bird’s Nest).
Chris "Chopper" Hopper
Head of Esports for North America, Riot Games
343 Industries
Kiki Wolfkill
Studio Head - Halo Transmedia and Entertainment at 343 IndustriesEMAIL KIKI VIEW LECTURE
bio coming soon...
Kiki Wolfkill
Studio Head - Halo Transmedia and Entertainment, 343 Industries
Skydance
Guy Costantini
Vice President, Global Interactive Marketing at SkydanceEMAIL GUY VIEW LECTURE
Guy Costantini is Vice President of Global Interactive Marketing for Skydance Media, known for high profile blockbusters on cherished franchises like Terminator, Altered Carbon, Mission Impossible, StarTrek and many others. As marketing leader for the Interactive group, Guy worked on 2018’s critically acclaimed VR title Archangel: Hellfire and is currently focusing on the studio’s next title The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners. While diving head first into virtual reality is his current focus, Guy also serves in an advisory capacity to a select number of companies, out to change the games space for the better. In his career, he has had the chance to work on several industry-shaping games like The Witcher 3, League of Legends, Marvel: Contest of Champions, Arena of Valor and Gwent.
Guy Costantini
Vice President, Global Interactive Marketing, Skydance
FoxNext Games
Aaron Loeb
President of Studios, FoxNext Games
Wedbush Securities
Michael Pachter
Managing Director, Equity Research at Wedbush SecuritiesEMAIL MICHAEL VIEW LECTURE
Mr. Pachter is an analyst at Wedbush Securities providing coverage of the Entertainment Software, Entertainment Retail, Social Internet and E-Commerce & Movies and Entertainment sectors for the last 17 years. Previously, Mr. Pachter spent two years as the Director of Research at Wedbush Securities. Before joining Wedbush Securities, Mr. Pachter served as the Director at Management Resource Center, a middle-market investment bank. Before that, Mr. Pachter spent 15 years in various financial and management positions at Atlantic Richfield Company, most recently as Director of Strategic Planning. Mr. Pachter has been recognized as StarMine’s Top Earnings Estimator year after year and Best on the Street by the Wall Street Journal.
Michael Pachter
Managing Director, Equity Research, Wedbush Securities
Netmarble US
Simon Sim
President at Netmarble USEMAIL SIMON VIEW LECTURE
Simon is CEO and President of the global games industry powerhouse Netmarble US. He oversees the mobile games serviced in the western market, including Lineage 2: Revolution, Magic: The Gathering: Project M and MARVEL Future Fight among many others. His role includes managing Netmarble’s long term growth in North America and Europe and expanding its live operations, community management, and marketing capacity.
Simon Sim
President, Netmarble US
Intellivision Entertainment
Tommy Tallarico
CEO & President at Intellivision EntertainmentEMAIL TOMMY VIEW LECTURE
Video game industry icon and creator, producer and host of Video Games Live, Tommy Tallarico is CEO & President of Intellivision Entertainment. He brings his deep knowledge in the industry, as he leads the launch team for Intellivision Amico, a brand-new home entertainment system that invites everyone to gather and play games together side by side.
Tommy Tallarico
CEO & President, Intellivision Entertainment
Wizards of the Coast
Elaine Chase
VP Esports at Wizards of the CoastEMAIL ELAINE VIEW LECTURE
Elaine Chase has over 18 years of experience in competitive play and brand leadership for Magic: The Gathering. She was a key member of the foundation of Wizards of the Coast Esports initiative and currently serves as Vice President. As VP, Elaine leads development, operations and broadcast of our competitive play programs across games, platforms and geographies. During her time at Wizards of the Coast, Elaine has also served on the board of directors for the Safe Crossings Foundation and currently is the President of the Board of Directors for the Child’s Play Charity.
Elaine Chase
VP Esports, Wizards of the Coast
HBO
Adam Foshko
Director of Narrative Design at HBOEMAIL ADAM VIEW LECTURE
Whether through the hard-hitting Call of Duty, the wonder of Skylanders, or the provocative universe of Destiny, Adam’s desire to captivate the imagination of consumers worldwide with boldly drawn characters and storylines helped to elevate these franchises to significant critical and financial success. His work continues at HBO, where his drive and ambition to create resonant, emotionally engaging entertainment through bold innovation meets theirs.
Adam Foshko
Director of Narrative Design, HBO
Jam City
Lisa Anderson
SVP of Studio Operations at Jam CityEMAIL LISA VIEW LECTURE
Lisa Anderson is Senior Vice President of Studio Operations for Jam City. She oversees mobile development for Jam City’s LA offices. Prior to joining Jam City Lisa spent 18 years at Disney and most recently was Vice President, Disney and Pixar Games at Disney Parks, Experiences and Products. While there she was responsible for Global game development across both internal and externally developed titles including the mobile hit Disney Emoji Blitz.
Lisa Anderson
SVP of Studio Operations, Jam City
Niantic
Veronica Saron
Product Marketing Manager, Pokémon GO at NianticEMAIL VERONICA VIEW LECTURE
Veronica came to Niantic's Global Product Marketing team with a background spanning Strategy, Marketing, and Management Consulting. At Deloitte Consulting, Veronica worked primarily on client projects in Customer Experience, Sales Strategy, and Operations. Now as a Product Marketing Manager for Pokémon GO, she has led marketing efforts for some of your favorite Pokémon GO feature launches such as Team GO Rocket, GO Snapshot, Trainer Battles, and Adventure Sync.
Veronica Saron
Product Marketing Manager, Pokémon GO, Niantic
Ubisoft
Robb Chiarini
Director esports, NCSA at UbisoftEMAIL ROBB VIEW LECTURE
As one of the most senior and diverse professionals in competitive gaming, Robb's roles as a player, community organizer, league operator, consultant, advocate and publisher spans nearly twenty years. Robb now leads the competitive initiatives and activity at Ubisoft for the North, Central and South America territories, including programs such as the Rainbow Six Pro League.
Robb Chiarini
Director esports, NCSA, Ubisoft
Gameloft
Flavio Caracas
Monetization Director at GameloftEMAIL FLAVIO VIEW LECTURE
Flavio oversees monetization efforts at Gameloft Toronto, working with high-profile licensors including Disney, LEGO, and Mattel, to keep players engaged and grow revenue streams. Flavio has spent over 10 years of his career successfully monetizing and marketing games, navigating the unique challenges of small agile start-ups, and for the past 5 years at Gameloft, a storied mobile games publisher with a significantly larger reach.
Flavio Caracas
Monetization Director, Gameloft
Electronic Arts
Curtis Cherrington
Senior Manager, World-Wide External Development at Electronic ArtsEMAIL CURTIS VIEW LECTURE
Curtis Cherrington is a gaming industry veteran with over 30 years of experience and over 30 credited titles. He has developed games for such companies as Midway, THQ, Fox, Disney Interactive and now Electronic Arts where he is a Senior Manager of Worldwide External Development (XDI). He supports all EA studios with external development support in all disciplines as well leading negotiations for all external engagements.
Curtis Cherrington
Senior Manager, World-Wide External Development, Electronic Arts
Twitch
Justin Dellario
Head of Esports at TwitchEMAIL JUSTIN VIEW LECTURE
Justin Dellario is the Director of Programs for Twitch Esports, where he oversees competitive gaming operations for the world's largest video game live streaming platform. Justin works with game developers, tournament organizers, professional teams, and broadcasters to direct the business, strategy, and operation of esports leagues, tournaments, and circuits globally. Prior to Twitch, Justin served as Head of Global Esports for gaming hardware developer, Razer, where he developed the company's sponsorship and marketing campaigns.
Justin Dellario
Head of Esports, Twitch
FoxNext Games
Steve Fowler
Senior Vice President of Marketing at FoxNext GamesEMAIL STEVE VIEW LECTURE
Over his 22-year career, Steve Fowler has headed marketing and overseen the launch of some of the most recognizable game titles for consoles, PC and mobile. He comes to FoxNext from Blizzard Entertainment, where he managed global publishing for Hearthstone, the massively popular online card game with more than 100 million players worldwide. Before Blizzard, Steve served as Head of Marketing at Amazon Game Studios, helping build the organizations global publishing operations as they launched their first game projects. While there, he led the initiative to adapt Amazon’s robust customer data and user acquisition tools and apply them to building audiences for their games. Prior to Amazon, Steve headed marketing for NC SOFT studio ArenaNet, makers of the hit MMO Guild Wars 2. In addition to roles at Sega-Sammy, Take-Two and Ayzenberg Group, Steve worked on the team at Microsoft that launched the original Xbox. There, he managed the marketing campaign and oversaw the launch of Halo, the console’s biggest hit title and Microsoft’s most successful game franchise to-date. Throughout his career, Steve has kept himself at the forefront of trends, recognizing the potential of free-to-play mobile and multi-platform games early on, and embracing data science and analytical marketing in adapting his craft from marketing game products to marketing game services.
Steve Fowler
Senior Vice President of Marketing, FoxNext Games
Blizzard Entertainment
Kevin He
Program Manager, Tespa at Blizzard EntertainmentEMAIL KEVIN VIEW LECTURE
Kevin He is a program manager for Blizzard Entertainment’s collegiate esports team, Tespa. Currently, he manages Tespa’s chapter program, an initiative that focuses on developing student leaders, on-campus gaming communities, and epic student experiences at colleges across North America.
Kevin He
Program Manager, Tespa, Blizzard Entertainment
Vortex Rising
Chris Hewish
Co-Founder & Creative Studio Head at Vortex RisingEMAIL CHRIS VIEW LECTURE
Chris Hewish is a highly creative Interactive Executive and Studio Head, who's built and run multiple development and publishing studios. He's also conceived and implemented successful interactive strategies for multiple game and media companies. Chris’ design driven career has been a journey from QA tester to C-suite leader, and along the way he’s touched all facets of the video game business. Whether winning awards for his creative work, delivering games on time & budget via his production work, or implementing revenue positive strategies as an executive; Chris has consistently helped his co-workers and companies find success in the ever evolving video game space. The results include over 50 games across all platforms, generating over $1B in revenue.
Chris Hewish
Co-Founder & Creative Studio Head, Vortex Rising
Independent
Raph Koster
Designer at IndependentEMAIL RAPH VIEW LECTURE
Raph is a veteran game designer and creative executive who has worked at EA, Sony, and Disney as well as run his own company. The lead designer and director of massive titles such as Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies, he’s also contributed writing, art, music, and programming to many titles. He is the author of the classic book A Theory of Fun for Game Design.
Raph Koster
Designer, Independent
HitPoint Studios
Ariella Lehrer
President at HitPoint StudiosEMAIL ARIELLA VIEW LECTURE
Lehrer currently serves as CEO of Legacy Games, which she founded in 1998, and President of HitPoint Studios. She is a 30-year veteran in the video game business. Lehrer has a PhD. in Cognitive Psychology from Claremont Graduate University and writes about kids and technology on her blog, www.ariellalehrer.com.
Ariella Lehrer
President, HitPoint Studios
Ghost Gaming
Lee Massie
Director of Operations at Ghost GamingEMAIL LEE VIEW LECTURE
Operations and business development professional with 8 years tech & esports experience. Air Force Veteran with a communication background. Founding member of Muxy, who aided and managed design of the Bits and Extensions systems implemented on Twitch.
Lee Massie
Director of Operations, Ghost Gaming
Jam City
Vanessa Rouhani
VP of Publishing at Jam CityEMAIL VANESSA VIEW LECTURE
As vice president of Publishing, Vanessa Rouhani is responsible for managing best-in-class relationships with key platform partners to maximize Jam City’s reach globally. In addition to gaining visibility on the App Store, Google Play, and partner marketing channels, Vanessa and her team evaluate and evangelize new platform products and services for the organization. Previously, she served on the Mobile Publishing team at Electronic Arts where she contributed to the successful launch of over 35 highly-rated original and licensed games, including Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes, The Simpsons Tapped Out, and FIFA.
Vanessa Rouhani
VP of Publishing, Jam City
Los Angeles Valiant
Mike Schwartz
General Manager at Los Angeles ValiantEMAIL MIKE VIEW LECTURE
Michael Schwartz is the General Manager of the Los Angeles Valiant, an Overwatch League franchise owned and operated by Immortals Gaming Club (IGC). As GM, Schwartz is the architect of the Valiant's roster and coaching staff and oversees day to day operations of the group. In the 2018 season of the Overwatch League, Schwartz and the Valiant captured the Stage 4 Title as well as the Pacific Division Championship. Prior to joining the LA Valiant, Schwartz was the Player Development Coach for Counter Logic Gaming (CLG) working specifically with the organization's League of Legends and CS:GO teams. With CLG, Schwartz and the League of Legends team captured the 2016 NALCS Spring Title, as well as a 2nd place finish at the Mid-Season Invitational and a World Championship berth.
Mike Schwartz
General Manager, Los Angeles Valiant
Riot Games
Matteo Stronati
Audio Director at Riot GamesEMAIL MATTEO VIEW LECTURE
Matteo Stronati is an established Audio Director and Sound Designer credited in numerous high profile games. He is currently Audio Director at Riot Games working on League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics. Matteo has produced audio for major publishers including Tencent, CCP, 2K Games, and Microsoft for PC games, console games, and mobile games.
Matteo Stronati
Audio Director, Riot Games
Warner Bros
Adam Telfer
Director of Product Management at Warner BrosEMAIL ADAM VIEW LECTURE
bio coming soon...
Adam Telfer
Director of Product Management, Warner Bros
Sandbox VR
Steve Zhao
Founder & CEO at Sandbox VREMAIL STEVE VIEW LECTURE
Steve Zhao is Founder and CEO of Sandbox VR, the leading out-of-home VR destination with full body immersive social experiences, with a recently announced $68M Series A from Andreessen Horowitz. Steve has nearly two decades of game development experience. In 2003, he founded Blue Tea Games, the developer of some of the best selling casual game titles in the world. Blue Tea Games' Dark Parables series has sold millions of copies worldwide both digitally and in major retail outlets, including Walmart and Target. Steve Zhao also developed Mavenfall, a collectible card game for mobile, which received an Apple's Editor's Choice award in 2015.
Steve Zhao
Founder & CEO, Sandbox VR
thatgamecompany
Jenova Chen
Co-Founder & Creative Director at thatgamecompanyEMAIL JENOVA VIEW LECTURE
Jenova Chen is the designer of the award-winning games Cloud, flOw, Flower and Journey at thatgamecompany, After earning a bachelor's degree for computer science in his hometown of Shanghai, Chen moved to Los Angeles, where he got a Master's Degree in the founding class of University of Southern California's Interactive Media and Games Division. Following graduation, he co-founded thatgamecompany with fellow graduates, where he remains its co-founder and Creative Director. Alongside thatgamecompany’s critically-acclaimed reviews and multiple honors including the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards, D.I.C.E Awards and Game Developers Choice Awards, the studio’s works have been featured in exhibitions across the world including the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan and the Smithsonian. To date, Chen has been named one of Variety Magazine’s “10 Innovators to Watch” and given the prestigious honor of being named to the MIT Technology Review Magazine’s “World’s Top Innovators under the Age of 35” list in 2008. Fast Company also profiled him as one of the “Most Creative Entrepreneurs in Business” in 2009 and 2010, in addition to being listed in their “Most Creative People in Business 1000” list in 2014.
Jenova Chen
Co-Founder & Creative Director, thatgamecompany
Tankee
Gerald Youngblood
Co-Founder and CEO at TankeeEMAIL GERALD VIEW LECTURE
Gerald Youngblood is the co-founder and CEO of Tankee, an Austin-based media company dedicated to the future of kids’ digital entertainment. As a dad and seasoned technology and gaming executive, Youngblood set out to develop a free entertainment app for kids 6-12 that helps parents protect their kids from inappropriate online content while giving kids access to the gaming videos they love. Tankee recently won the 2019 Kidscreen Award for Best Streaming Video Platform and 2019 SXSW Pitch Award for Entertainment and Content technology. The Tankee team also works with top influencers to produce exclusive original content. He’s married and has a son who games with him several times a week, purely for research purposes.
Gerald Youngblood
Co-Founder and CEO, Tankee
AppLovin
Michael Fortune
Business Development Manager at AppLovinEMAIL MICHAEL VIEW LECTURE
Michael Fortune is a Business Development Manager at AppLovin. AppLovin gives mobile game developers of all sizes the ability to publish, market, and grow their businesses. Michael is responsible for driving growth by managing and developing strategic partnerships with game developers. He has been working in the mobile industry for more than five years helping game studios with monetization, user acquisition, and publishing. Prior to AppLovin, Michael was Senior Manager of Developer Relations at Fyber overseeing publisher partnerships.
Michael Fortune
Business Development Manager, AppLovin
Federal Trade Commission
Jared Ho
Attorney at Federal Trade CommissionEMAIL JARED VIEW LECTURE
Jah-Juin “Jared” Ho is an attorney with the Division of Privacy and Identity Protection (DPIP) at the Federal Trade Commission. This Division of the FTC has responsibility for enforcing federal statutes and regulations that pertain to information security and consumer privacy. Jared investigates and prosecutes violations of U.S. federal laws governing the privacy and security of consumer information and has worked on enforcement actions under Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act. Prior to joining DPIP, Jared was an attorney in the FTC’s Office of Technology Research and Investigations. Jared has also served as a Senior Policy Advisor in the Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau where he advised on cases and rulemaking. In addition to his federal service, Jared was a Deputy Attorney General for the State of New Jersey where he led his office’s privacy and data security efforts. He has also served as a visiting fellow at Princeton University’s Center for Information Technology Policy.
Jared Ho
Attorney, Federal Trade Commission
WB Games
Kimberly Corbett
Vice President, Mobile Publishing and Analytics at WB GamesEMAIL KIMBERLY VIEW LECTURE
Kimberly Corbett is Vice President of Mobile Publishing and Analytics at WB Games, working on top-grossing mobile titles like, Game of Thrones: Conquest and console titles such as Mortal Kombat 11. She has spent the past seven years in mobile user acquisition and over a decade in digital marketing, focusing on globally scaling titles and programmatic solutions grounded in data science and analytics.
Kimberly Corbett
Vice President, Mobile Publishing and Analytics, WB Games
Estars Studios
Christian Bishop
WSOE Commissioner and VP of Business Development at Estars StudiosEMAIL CHRISTIAN VIEW LECTURE
As World Showdown of Esports (WSOE) Commissioner, Christian Bishop has been an integral part of the multi-genre, multi-game tournament series development since joining the team in Fall 2018. Today, Bishop is responsible for the continued growth of the series, a subsidiary of Estars Studios, while managing current and new developer partnerships. He also oversees new, large-scale business opportunities and transactions to accelerate ESP Gaming’s white-label production growth.
Christian Bishop
WSOE Commissioner and VP of Business Development, Estars Studios
Phoenix Games
Mickael Bougis
Vice-President M&A at Phoenix GamesEMAIL MICKAEL VIEW LECTURE
Mickael Bougis has been in gaming for 10 years. Ex Harmonix, EA and Microsoft, he joined Flaregames 4 years ago as Chief Marketing Officer. With the reorganization at Flaregames, he became VP M&A in holding company Phoenix Games, to acquire a studio every quarter.
Mickael Bougis
Vice-President M&A, Phoenix Games
Consumer Acquisition
Brian Bowman
Founder & CEO at Consumer AcquisitionEMAIL BRIAN VIEW LECTURE
Brian Bowman is the CEO of ConsumerAcquisition.com, which provides a creative studio, fully-managed user acquisition services and SaaS tools for Facebook and Google App Campaigns. We've managed over $1.5 billion in social advertising spend for the world’s largest mobile games and apps. Previously, Bowman served as an Internet executive for Disney, ABC and Yahoo!
Brian Bowman
Founder & CEO, Consumer Acquisition
Evolution Interactive
Chris Chaney
Founder at Evolution InteractiveEMAIL CHRIS VIEW LECTURE
Chris Chaney’s leadership experience is underlined by a 10-year track record of success in the global sports and entertainment industry. A native of Germany, Chris is an award-winning serial founder, including being recognized in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, and is an active esports and entertainment advisor and investor. He currently serves, among others, as board director of We Are Nations and Rise Above the Disorder while building new esports ventures.
Chris Chaney
Founder, Evolution Interactive
Berklee College of Music
Jeanine Cowen
Professor at Berklee College of MusicEMAIL JEANINE VIEW LECTURE
Jeanine Cowen works as a freelance composer, music producer, and sound designer focusing primarily on the intersection of audio and visual medias. She trained at Northwestern University as a classical percussionist, graduated from Berklee College of Music with degrees in film scoring, and music production and engineering, and has completed master’s work in interactive design and game development. She maintains an active teaching presence in music composition and technology. As a highly experienced technologist with extensive musical training in classical, jazz, and contemporary genres, Jeanine excels in creative, collaborative productions with credits spanning the film, television, game, and music industries.
Jeanine Cowen
Professor, Berklee College of Music
Kabam
Kris Davis
VP of Business Development at KabamEMAIL KRIS VIEW LECTURE
Goal-driven executive with 20 years of experience in technology. Unique breadth and depth of expertise in new business opportunities, brand licensing, marketing, strategic planning and collaboration with product development, marketing, legal and analytics teams. Successful record of developing and executing corporate strategy to become one of the most successful and profitable companies in the mobile games industry.
Kris Davis
VP of Business Development, Kabam
FTX Games
Casey Dickinson
CEO at FTX GamesEMAIL CASEY VIEW LECTURE
Casey Dickinson is the CEO of FTX Games, overseeing all aspects of game publishing and operations. A veteran in the gaming industry, Casey has worked deeply in the Free to Play (F2P) and Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) gaming space with a career spanning both Marketing and Production. Casey launched FTX Games publishing division and became the General Manager for FTX Games in 2014, leading to a string of high-profile releases and the subsequent acquisition by Playtech (PTEC) in 2016.
Casey Dickinson
CEO, FTX Games
Consultant and Freelance
Huy Dinh
Art Director/2D Artist at Consultant and FreelanceEMAIL HUY VIEW LECTURE
Huy is a Los Angeles-based Art Director/2D Artist for games. He has been in the heart of the games industry for 17 + years, and has worked on a variety of projects from AAA to mobile titles, including Marvel Strike Force, Medal of Honor Airborne, Empires and Allies, and BoomBlox. Having spent his entire career at companies such as EA, Zynga, and FoxNext, he is currently focusing on consulting and freelancing.
Huy Dinh
Art Director/2D Artist, Consultant and Freelance
Survios
Mike Domaguing
Vice President of Marketing at SurviosEMAIL MIKE VIEW LECTURE
Mike Domaguing is Vice President of Marketing at Survios, a virtual reality developer and distributor that releases chart-topping titles like “Raw Data,” “Sprint Vector,” and the latest collaboration with investor MGM, “Creed: Rise to Glory.” Domaguing oversees all marketing efforts and is responsible for the company’s brand identity, growing product portfolio and efforts across its broad VR arcade network. A video game industry veteran, Domaguing carries an extensive background in digital media, gaming and entertainment. He previously led marketing for properties such as “Delta Force: Black Hawk Down,” “Dead or Alive,” “Yar’s Revenge,” “Ninja Gaiden,” Hasbro’s “Game of Life,” “Clue,” “Scrabble” and countless others.
Mike Domaguing
Vice President of Marketing, Survios
Amazon
Barry Dorf
Business Development, Amazon Game Services at AmazonEMAIL BARRY VIEW LECTURE
bio coming soon...
Barry Dorf
Business Development, Amazon Game Services, Amazon
Hothead Games
Gregan Dunn
Director of Publishing at Hothead GamesEMAIL GREGAN VIEW LECTURE
Gregan is an accomplished gaming executive with nearly two decades of experience negotiating game distribution and intellectual property rights licensing agreements for top tier games and properties. He’s overseen strategic distribution and licensing partnerships for top games such as Kill Shot, World of Warcraft, Doom, Battlefield, as well as film and sports properties including Jaws, Major League Baseball, and the National Hockey League. As head of publishing at Hothead, his current umbrella of expertise and responsibilities include pipeline management, analytics, economy design, and market research.
Gregan Dunn
Director of Publishing, Hothead Games
Ateyo
Rachel Feinberg
Co-Founder & CEO, Ateyo
Facebook
Hakeem Harrison
Client Solutions Manager, Facebook
ESG Law
Krista Hiner
Attorney at ESG LawEMAIL KRISTA VIEW LECTURE
Krista is an attorney at ESG Law, an industry leader in esports, where she represents the premier North American esports teams and other key esports stakeholders. She has negotiated major esports contracts with companies like Marvel, AT&T, the LCS, and the Overwatch League. Krista also provides strategic counsel and transactional support for clients pivoting into esports.
Krista Hiner
Attorney, ESG Law
Respawn
Lee Horn
Director of Product Management, Respawn
Jam City
Jeremy Horn
VP, Jam City
Tilting Point
William Hughes
Senior Creative Director at Tilting PointEMAIL WILLIAM VIEW LECTURE
William is a creative professional with over 15 years of experience working in advertising and games. He is an expert in creative direction, strategic planning, brand development, and design with a focus on data-driven results.
William Hughes
Senior Creative Director, Tilting Point
Insomniac Games
Brian Moore
Art Outsourcing Manager at Insomniac GamesEMAIL BRIAN VIEW LECTURE
Brian Moore is an Interactive industry veteran with over 25 years’ experience. He has experience working with outsourcing on the developer, vendor and publishing sides of the business, thus having a unique view of the business from all sides. He has developed games for Activision, EA, DreamWorks Interactive and Microsoft Game Studios. He is currently at Insomniac Games managing the art outsourcing for the studio.
Brian Moore
Art Outsourcing Manager, Insomniac Games
University of California,
Irvine
Irvine
Jonathan Pan
Esports Instructor at University of California, IrvineEMAIL JONATHAN VIEW LECTURE
Jonathan Pan is currently an Esports Instructor at the University of California, Irvine. He has over 13 years of experience in management, strategy, or business development roles across companies small and large. His primary focus is in online gaming and esports. After serving as a Product Manager at Riot Games, he co-founded and served as CEO of Ember, an esports team. He has also delivered one of the most viewed TEDx talks on esports. Jonathan received his MBA from NYU Stern School of Business, specializing in entertainment and finance. Jonathan is a veteran of the War in Afghanistan where he served as a Captain in the U.S. Army.
Jonathan Pan
Esports Instructor, University of California, Irvine
Spirit AI
Aaron Reed
Character AI Specialist at Spirit AIEMAIL AARON VIEW LECTURE
Aaron A. Reed is a writer, designer, and engineer focused on finding new ways for gamemakers and players to tell stories together. His award-winning games have been featured at IndieCade, SXSW, Slamdance, GaymerX, and the Independent Games Festival (IGF); and he has spoken about digital storytelling at Google, PAX, WorldCon, NarraScope, and GDC. Aaron holds a PhD in Computer Science and an MFA in Digital Arts and New Media,.He is currently a lead on the Character Engine project at Spirit AI.
Aaron Reed
Character AI Specialist, Spirit AI
Blizzard Entertainment
Pete Stilwell
Senior Producer, Blizzard Entertainment
WorldGaming & Collegiate StarLeague
Wim Stocks
GM/CEO at WorldGaming & Collegiate StarLeagueEMAIL WIM VIEW LECTURE
Wim has been a respected leader in interactive and online gaming since 1990. From 2001 to 2006, Wim was Executive Vice President of the “new” Atari Inc. (a roll-up and amalgam of Hasbro Interactive, Infogrames, and GT Interactive), leading and managing one of the most broad-reaching interactive entertainment publishing networks in the world. In 2006, Wim started an entrepreneurial online gaming publishing business named Elephant Entertainment, assuming the role of President and COO. In March 2008, the leading games publisher THQ purchased Elephant and Wim assumed the role of EVP and leader of the Online Gaming division and initiatives. In 2010, Wim was recruited to join the executive management team of Virgin Gaming (now WorldGaming) as Executive Vice President. In this role, Wim helped launch the company and platform in 2010, as well as developed strategic investor, technology, game publisher, retailer, and other brand partnerships. In April 2016, Wim was named CEO of WorldGaming and Collegiate StarLeague, which was acquired by Cineplex in the Fall of 2015, and is presently leading the esports business, strategy, initiatives, and programs for the Company.
Wim Stocks
GM/CEO, WorldGaming & Collegiate StarLeague
Gamers Outreach
Zach Wigal
Founder at Gamers OutreachEMAIL ZACH VIEW LECTURE
Zach Wigal is the founder of Gamers Outreach, a nonprofit organization that provides recreation to children in hospitals through the power of video games and the gaming community. To date, an estimated 1.2 million patients benefit from Gamers Outreach programs in nearly 200 healthcare facilities across the United States.
Zach Wigal
Founder, Gamers Outreach
Nifty Games
Pete Wanat
Chief Creative Officer at Nifty GamesEMAIL PETE VIEW LECTURE
Former VP of Production for Universal Games division. Delivered the 5th most downloaded game of all time Despicable Me: Minion Rush, and top ten grossing games surrounding major brands such as Jurassic Park. Mr. Wanat is a 20+ year industry veteran and creative leader, integrating sports & entertainment IP’s into games throughout the evolution of console, PC and mobile F2P games.
Pete Wanat
Chief Creative Officer, Nifty Games
FUN-GI Games
Alfred Fung
CEO at FUN-GI GamesEMAIL ALFRED VIEW LECTURE
Alfred is the Founder and CEO of FUN-GI, the publisher of House Flip (a top-ranked title in the Apple App Store and Google Play with over 10 million downloads) that is defining a new genre in home renovation games. With nearly a decade of experience in free-to-play monetization and user acquisition, Alfred leads FUN-GI’s product development, live operations, and marketing teams.
Alfred Fung
CEO, FUN-GI Games
Glu Mobile
Sarah Fuchs
Vice President & General Manager for Covet Fashion at Glu MobileEMAIL SARAH VIEW LECTURE
As Vice President and General Manager of Covet Fashion, Sarah is passionate about creating a best-in-class team with a rich diversity of thought that empowers Covet Fashion’s players to express and share their style with the world. Covet Fashion is the world’s leading next-gen fashion entertainment platform bridging real-world fashion with mobile gaming. Over the six years since initial launch, Covet’s audience of 2-3 million monthly users have grown to consider the platform much more than a mobile game; but an experience that inspires deep engagement and bonds amongst a community of creative thinkers and fashion enthusiasts from across the globe. Prior to Glu, Sarah served as the Head of Production for The Sims Mobile at Electronic Arts as well as various leadership roles atnWay, DeNA, ngmoco:) and Activision.
Sarah Fuchs
Vice President & General Manager for Covet Fashion, Glu Mobile
Wargaming
Maxime Mashkov
Head of Live Operations North America at WargamingEMAIL MAXIME VIEW LECTURE
Maxime Mashkov is Head of Live Operations at Wargaming America. He has been been with Wargaming since 2012, working on Marketing, CRM, Monetization and taking part in building data analytics infrastructure for various games. After moving from Europe to the US he spent his last 2 years expanding audience management vision and experience to North and South American markets.
Maxime Mashkov
Head of Live Operations North America, Wargaming
Immersive Play
Marco Carvalho
Founder & CEO at Immersive PlayEMAIL MARCO VIEW LECTURE
Founder Immplay inc (www.immplay.com). Multi-award winning inventor and founder of global brands, products & companies. Changing education and play globally. Innovative product, content, art, games, technology, education, parks and business development worldwide. Endeavor Entrepreneur (endeavor.org)
Marco Carvalho
Founder & CEO, Immersive Play
Niantic
Liz George
Global Community Manager, Pokémon GO at NianticEMAIL LIZ VIEW LECTURE
With over a decade in community management and social media, Liz’s experience has spanned leadership roles at Full Sail University, Wargaming America, and now Niantic Labs. As the Global Community Manager for Pokémon GO, Liz is passionate about fostering strong communities that bring people together, transcending global borders and beyond. Her specialty lies between understanding the voice of the customer and desires of the community along with the needs of any given product or game. She believes that the relationship between a brand and its community is crucial to the success of all marketing strategies, especially for Niantic games which foster real-world social engagements.
Liz George
Global Community Manager, Pokémon GO, Niantic
Niantic
Errol Villasanta
Global Social Media Manager, Pokémon GO at NianticEMAIL ERROL VIEW LECTURE
As the Global Social Media Manager for Pokémon GO, Errol oversees the organic social strategy, campaign creation, and creative direction of Pokémon GO’s social channels. His role includes ideating and executing social campaigns to support Pokémon GO’s features and events. As a believer in the impact of creative storytelling and social engagement, Errol loves to inject narrative and social teases whenever he can. Prior to Niantic, Errol has worked in social media management and communications planning roles in companies like Viacom, BBDO, Edelman Digital, and 360i. While there, he’s worked with a variety of brands like Comedy Central, eBay, Comcast, Kraft, Grey Goose Vodka, etc. Being a MAIP alumnus, Errol also likes to champion diversity in Gaming.
Errol Villasanta
Global Social Media Manager, Pokémon GO, Niantic
FGL
Chris Hughes
Co-Founder at FGLEMAIL CHRIS VIEW LECTURE
Chris is Co-Founder of FGL.com, a mobile game publisher managing over 1,000 apps. Chris is also Co-Founder and CEO of Enhance, a patented innovative technology platform that allows mobile developers to easily implement and manage third party SDKs with no coding.
Chris Hughes
Co-Founder, FGL
Activision, Inc.
Christopher Baggio
Business Development Manager at Activision, Inc.EMAIL CHRISTOPHER VIEW LECTURE
Former attorney who has worked across all aspects of the gaming industry, in both publishing and development capacities. Currently working as a Business Development Manager, focused on expanding Activision’s external publishing portfolio and strategies, and assisting internal studios in all outsourcing capacities.
Christopher Baggio
Business Development Manager, Activision, Inc.
Kabam
Mark Panelo
Senior Director of Global Business Development at KabamEMAIL MARK VIEW LECTURE
bio coming soon...
Mark Panelo
Senior Director of Global Business Development, Kabam
Microsoft
Mark Val
PlayFab Engagement Manager at MicrosoftEMAIL MARK VIEW LECTURE
Mark ran multi-million user online projects, as an entrepreneur and award-winning developer with 19 years of experience. He has produced and directed many projects for corporations, private and public organizations around the world. In the games industry, Mark built studios for Ubisoft, Unity Technologies and grew PlayFab from 0 to more than half of the global high-profile games while leading departments and pushing the limits for U.N.E.S.C.O., Marketel, Cossette, and others. Mark is currently PlayFab Engagement Manager at Microsoft.
Mark Val
PlayFab Engagement Manager, Microsoft
Nick Berry
Nick Berry
Nick BerryEMAIL NICK VIEW LECTURE
Rocket scientist, privacy ambassador, geek, consultant, TED speaker and blogger. Nick has worked in the games industry for over 20 years, including a dozen at Microsoft and most recently at Facebook as a data scientist.
Nick Berry
0, Nick Berry
Playtech
Alona Assouline Polak
COO Casual Games at PlaytechEMAIL ALONA VIEW LECTURE
Alona has held numerous appointments at top performing mobile & social game publishers as a director, producer, and strategist, including as one of the first members of the mobile division at Playtika. Alona sources potential development partners and handles operations and M&A for the casual games group at Playtech.
Alona Assouline Polak
COO Casual Games, Playtech
Capcom Media Ventures
Ian Atkinson
VP, Operations & Business Development at Capcom Media VenturesEMAIL IAN VIEW LECTURE
bio coming soon...
Ian Atkinson
VP, Operations & Business Development, Capcom Media Ventures
FunPlus
Shanti Bergel
Executive Vice President at FunPlusEMAIL SHANTI VIEW LECTURE
Mr. Bergel serves as Executive Vice President at FunPlus where he oversees investments, M&A, and strategic partnerships. A 25-year digital entertainment industry veteran, he has held a variety of leadership roles at globally acclaimed companies such as GREE, Electronic Arts, Playfish, and Interplay.
Shanti Bergel
Executive Vice President, FunPlus
Amazon Game Studios
Jeff Charvat
Sr Manager, Software Development at Amazon Game StudiosEMAIL JEFF VIEW LECTURE
Jeff Charvat has been outsourcing game development since the early 2000s at Electronic Arts when he was a Sr Development Director on the Medal of Honor and Command and Conquer franchises. From there he spent a few years working with THQ’s outsourcing team on the publishing side helping several studios learn and embrace art outsourcing. Recently, Jeff has been involved in Amazon Game Studio’s Orange County development team defining and improving their outsourcing practices. When Jeff isn’t engaged in outsourcing and other facets of game development, he is typically found with his wife and two grown boys hiking in the mountains, at the beach or in the desert.
Jeff Charvat
Sr Manager, Software Development, Amazon Game Studios
Rogue Games
Mike DeLaet
CEO & Co-Founder at Rogue GamesEMAIL MIKE VIEW LECTURE
Mike DeLaet is a seasoned content executive with more than 19 years of experience in content, games, digital distribution, mobile, business development and executive leadership. Prior to founding Rogue, Mike spent 4 years at Kabam running the worldwide Business development and licensing team. He served as a senior vice president of Global Publishing at Glu Mobile and in various roles over 10 years at Sprint Corporation including running the games business.
Mike DeLaet
CEO & Co-Founder, Rogue Games
Rise Above The Disorder
Jason Docton
CEO at Rise Above The DisorderEMAIL JASON VIEW LECTURE
Jason Docton is the CEO of Rise Above The Disorder, a non-profit that has provided free mental health services to over 29,000 youth within the gaming community. Leveraging 36 university chapters and partnerships with Sony, Subaru, and Twitch, RAD brings critical mental health services to students.
Jason Docton
CEO, Rise Above The Disorder
ESG Law
Genie Doi
Esports Immigration Attorney at ESG LawEMAIL GENIE VIEW LECTURE
As head of ESG Law’s immigration practice, Genie provides responsive and results-driven counsel to the industry’s top teams and talent. She has successfully represented players, support staff and casters in addition to esports investors and executives in obtaining U.S. visas and permanent residency.
Genie Doi
Esports Immigration Attorney, ESG Law
Overwatch
Malik Forte
Host, Overwatch
MoPub
Kavitha Gadde
Head of Strategic Publisher Partnerships, Americas at MoPubEMAIL KAVITHA VIEW LECTURE
bio coming soon...
Kavitha Gadde
Head of Strategic Publisher Partnerships, Americas, MoPub
Disney Games and Interactive Experiences, The Walt Disney Company
Nicholas Gallant
Audio Director at Disney Games and Interactive Experiences, The Walt Disney CompanyEMAIL NICHOLAS VIEW LECTURE
Nick Gallant has run the Interactive Audio team at Disney since 2011; prior to that he was a music/rhythm game pioneer, working on Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Tap Tap Revenge, Samba De Amigo, Karoake Revolution, and many more. He is an Emmy award winning composer, and songwriter. He likes spending time with the people he loves, surfing, being on mountains, and hoppy beer.
Nicholas Gallant
Audio Director, Disney Games and Interactive Experiences, The Walt Disney Company
Interscope Records
Jurgen Grebner
Head Of International at Interscope RecordsEMAIL JURGEN VIEW LECTURE
bio coming soon...
Jurgen Grebner
Head Of International, Interscope Records
Ateyo
Breanne Harrison-Pollock
Co-Founder, Ateyo
Lucky Day
Joshua Javaheri
CEO & Founder, Lucky Day
GameMakers.com
Joe Kim
Principal, GameMakers.com
Rogue Gaming
Lauren Laracuente
Partnerships, Rogue Gaming
App Annie
Herman Lee
Senior Manager Professional Services at App AnnieEMAIL HERMAN VIEW LECTURE
Herman Lee leads Professional Services at App Annie. His team is responsible for helping customers analyze mobile industry trends and advise them with actionable insights and recommendations that help them run better mobile first businesses. Prior to App Annie, Herman was a Digital Business Consultant at Forrester Research, advising customers across a variety of industries as they navigated their unique digital transformation journey
Herman Lee
Senior Manager Professional Services, App Annie
Vungle
Abraham Leibovitz
Demand Sales Lead - Americas at VungleEMAIL ABRAHAM VIEW LECTURE
Abraham is a five-year veteran of Vungle and its current demand lead. His team has guided advertisers to spend their budgets profitably as well as take risks that pay out. Abraham works with Zynga, WB, Big Fish and Fun Games For Free.
Abraham Leibovitz
Demand Sales Lead - Americas, Vungle
Uken Games
Conrad McGee-Stocks
Growth Lead, Uken Games
Facebook Audience Network
Nate Morgan
Vertical Lead - Publisher Sales (Games) at Facebook Audience NetworkEMAIL NATE VIEW LECTURE
Nate is a ten year mobile gaming veteran with experience and expertise in monetization, distribution, user acquisition and strategic partnerships. Prior to joining Facebook, he worked at companies such as ngmoco, DeNA, N3TWORK and Zynga.
Nate Morgan
Vertical Lead - Publisher Sales (Games), Facebook Audience Network
Rekt
Michael "Odee" O'Dell
CGO, Rekt
ESPN
Arda Ocal
Host at ESPNEMAIL ARDA VIEW LECTURE
Arda Ocal is an Emmy Award nominated host, anchor and commentator with ESPN. His esports resume includes hosting over 300 events including Ninja New Years & Thunder Smash. Arda lives in Westchester with his wife Jennifer.
Arda Ocal
Host, ESPN
Li & Ortega
David Ortega
Partner, Composer at Li & OrtegaEMAIL DAVID VIEW LECTURE
Dr. David Ortega has been writing game music for top products and industry leaders for years, including DreamWorks, Disney, King, and Ubisoft. As a Licensed Psychologist, David explores the overlap between emotion, cognition and music, and is a founding partner at Li & Ortega.
David Ortega
Partner, Composer, Li & Ortega
Seriously Digital Entertainment
Alex Pan
Senior Director of Performance Marketing at Seriously Digital EntertainmentEMAIL ALEX VIEW LECTURE
Alex is a Senior Director of Performance Marketing at Seriously. He has over 9 years experience in performance marketing, all in the gaming industry. He previously managed performance marketing campaigns at Tencent, nWay, and PlayQ before joining Seriously.
Alex Pan
Senior Director of Performance Marketing, Seriously Digital Entertainment
Scopely
Jori Pearsall
SVP of Product, Scopely
Facebook
Shaleen Pooni
Client Solutions Manager, Facebook
BITRAFT Esports Ventures
Scott Rupp
Founding Partner at BITRAFT Esports VenturesEMAIL SCOTT VIEW LECTURE
Scott Rupp is a Founding Partner of BITKRAFT Esports Ventures based in San Francisco. An interactive entertainment entrepreneur, investor and operating executive for over 20 years, Scott is also a senior advisor to Modern Times Group, a global leader in games and eSports, regarding their VC fund, M&A efforts & US expansion. Scott held co-founder and CEO roles at influencer marketing and digital content companies Digital Artists & Icebox and was an early leader in the US online games industry as SVP of Corporate Development for Gazillion. He advised the world’s leading entertainment companies on the games industry while at McKinsey, and previously served at Deutsche Bank and Carlyle Group. He has an MBA from Kellogg and an MPA from Harvard.
Scott Rupp
Founding Partner, BITRAFT Esports Ventures
Cloud9 Esports
Jordan Udko
EVP Commercial Partnerships at Cloud9 EsportsEMAIL JORDAN VIEW LECTURE
Jordan Udko is the Executive Vice President of Commercial Partnerships for Cloud9 Esports Inc. Since joining Cloud9 in 2017, Jordan has overseen revenue generation and has substantially expanded the Cloud9 partners’ network. In 2019 alone, Jordan lead the way for an eclectic mix of global partners to enter the esports space by creating and launching first-ever campaigns and category-breaking deals including those with Microsoft, AT&T, BMW, and PUMA. Through these collaborations he has achieved programs that are strategic, while evoking emotion and lead to a unique level of engagement with fans.
Jordan Udko
EVP Commercial Partnerships, Cloud9 Esports
The Upper Deck Company
Jodi Wasserman
Director of Marketing at The Upper Deck CompanyEMAIL JODI VIEW LECTURE
Jodi Wasserman creates innovative marketing programs and activations that take fan engagement to a new level. As the Director of Marketing of Upper Deck, Wasserman works with the world’s top sports and entertainment licensors, leagues and teams to develop highly impactful marketing campaigns that resonate with fans and collectors around the globe.
Jodi Wasserman
Director of Marketing, The Upper Deck Company
Facebook
Jay Waters
Client Solutions Manager at FacebookEMAIL JAY VIEW LECTURE
Jay is the Client Solutions Manager for North America Mobile Gaming at Facebook. Prior to joining the team, he led the growth of a number of verticals across the app ecosystem in Facebook EMEA, ranging from dating to mobile tech, e-commerce and financial trading. He is now leading the efforts to fuel the growth of North American Gaming.
Jay Waters
Client Solutions Manager, Facebook
D20 Strategic Advisory Group
Matt Wolf
Founder at D20 Strategic Advisory GroupEMAIL MATT VIEW LECTURE
Gaming industry and CPG executive, investor, advisor and mentor. Developed/published dozens of games while at EA and Sega. Lead The Coca-Cola Company into esports and oversaw global entertainment. Emmy, Clio, Lion and Webby winner. Founder of D20, a strategic advisory group that bridges the divide between brands and esports, videogames and streaming culture.
Matt Wolf
Founder, D20 Strategic Advisory Group
Google
Megan Li
Product Marketing, Next Billion Users at GoogleEMAIL MEGAN VIEW LECTURE
Megan Li works on the product marketing team for the Next Billion Users unit at Google. Prior to joining the NBU team, she worked on multiple marketing teams at Google, including AdWords and Appdev, for almost four years. Megan earned a bachelors degree at the University of California, Los Angeles, and she resides in San Francisco.
Megan Li
Product Marketing, Next Billion Users, Google
Hatch Entertainment (Rovio)
Nick Thomas
VP, Commercial Partnerships at Hatch Entertainment (Rovio)EMAIL NICK VIEW LECTURE
Nick is the VP of Commercial Partnerships for Hatch Entertainment, a revolutionary mobile game streaming service. Hatch has launched globally with major partners including Vodafone, Docomo and Samsung, and is coming to the US this summer in partnership with Sprint on their 5G handsets.
Nick Thomas
VP, Commercial Partnerships, Hatch Entertainment (Rovio)
Nifty Games
Jon Middleton
Chief Executive Officer at Nifty GamesEMAIL JON VIEW LECTURE
Mr. Middleton is a career entrepreneur, and former founder of Eight Cylinders, a game developer acquired by On2.com and subsequently Google. Also, a co-founder of Massive, acquired by Microsoft and of Boom Music, acquired by LiveGamer. Mr. Middleton has held executive roles in comics (Madefire), game publishing (Pulse Entertainment) and game hardware (Mad Catz) over a career spanning 20+ years.
Jon Middleton
Chief Executive Officer, Nifty Games
Swrve
Alex Gray
VP of Solutions Consulting, Swrve
Chatterbox
Kevin Elgan
Founder & CEO at ChatterboxEMAIL KEVIN VIEW LECTURE
Kevin Elgan is obsessed with the power of technology to transform learning and education. In his previous roles as Director of Education at Tynker and VP of Education at Piper, Kevin has helped more than 40 thousand schools teach coding and electronics skills to millions of kids all over the world. Kevin is now the founder and CEO of Chatterbox, which makes a DIY smart speaker that is preparing kids for the future of ubiquitous voice-interaction and artificial intelligence.
Kevin Elgan
Founder & CEO, Chatterbox
IBM
Jason Webster
Data Science & Watson AI at IBMEMAIL JASON VIEW LECTURE
Graduated from Elon University in North Carolina with a Business Administrations degree. Currently the Commercial Sales Leader for IBMs NA Data & AI group with a strategic focus in our Watson AI product suite. Products include all of our Watson APIs, Data Science and ML toolkits in addition to our Business Analytics assets, namely, Cognos Analytics & Planning Analytics. As the Commercial sales leader I have a focus on all industries for North America for small, mid-sized and depending on a companies spend with IBM, large enterprises. My extended team consists of 12 Data Science & AI sellers that are aligned by Geography and Industry and are based in either Littleton, MA or in Chicago, IL.
Jason Webster
Data Science & Watson AI, IBM
N3twork
Catherine Silvestre
Executive Producer at N3tworkEMAIL CATHERINE VIEW LECTURE
Catherine Silvestre is the executive producer behind an unannounced mobile game designed by women, with women in mind. She is building N3TWORK’s first Los Angeles-based game team. Prior to joining N3TWORK, Catherine held leadership roles at The Ellen DeGeneres Digital Network, Zynga, Warner Bros. Games, ngmoco:) and Glu. She was responsible for multiple top-grossing mobile titles including Heads Up!, Injustice and We Rule.
Catherine Silvestre
Executive Producer, N3twork
Discord
Andy Swanson
Head of Publisher Relations at DiscordEMAIL ANDY VIEW LECTURE
As Head of Publisher Relations at Discord, Andy Swanson leads the evangelism and adoption of Discord's platform and features for the gaming industry. His current focus is educating publishers and developers how to set up and manage official or "Verified Servers" to service and engage with their communities. A 20+ year veteran of the gaming industry, Andy has held various key positions with Future Publishing, Ubisoft, GameFly, and most recently, Twitch before joining Discord in 2017.
Andy Swanson
Head of Publisher Relations, Discord
Somatone Interactive
AnnaLyn Griffin
CEO at Somatone InteractiveEMAIL ANNALYN VIEW LECTURE
As CEO of Somatone, Griffin, as she is known, is responsible for the vision and growth of a worldwide leader of Audio Production Services. A 20 year Entertainment Industry Veteran, Griffin excels at building creative teams and predicting industry trends. Somatone provides custom music, sound design and voice over services to market leading video game companies such as WB Games, Niantic, JamCity, PocketGems, Super Evil Megacorp and Dolby. Prior to her role as CEO of Somatone, Griffin worked for over 15 years in the position of CFO in the video game industry, and prior to that she served as a Director of Marketing in the entertainment industry in Hollywood for the management company that represented rockstars, Alice Cooper and Meatloaf.
AnnaLyn Griffin
CEO, Somatone Interactive
CNET
Dan Ackerman
Senior Managing Editor at CNETEMAIL DAN VIEW LECTURE
Dan Ackerman is a former radio DJ turned journalist and Senior Managing Editor at leading technology news website CNET. He leads a team covering the computer and gaming industries and writes about hot-button consumer technology topics, from virtual reality to cybersecurity. Dan appears regularly as the in-house tech expert on CBS This Morning. His 2016 non-fiction business history book, 'The Tetris Effect,' covers a tangled web of software licensing deals in the Cold War Soviet Union, and has earned rave reviews from the New York Times, Fortune, LA Review of Books, and many other publications. Dan's latest project is Techlandia, a tabletop board game about the dangers of out-of-control technology companies. It launches in August at TechlandiaGame.com
Dan Ackerman
Senior Managing Editor, CNET
Facebook Audience Network
Amit Bhojwani
Head of Partner Management at Facebook Audience NetworkEMAIL AMIT VIEW LECTURE
Amit Bhojwani leads partnerships globally for Facebook Audience Network. His team collaborates with strategic partners to help address opportunities across the publisher ecosystem, while creating incremental value for publishers, advertisers and people. Amit brings over 15 years of deep commercial, product and partnership experience in AdTech and messaging to Facebook. Prior to joining Facebook, Amit led product at Amobee, AdColony/AdMarvel and was GM of VeriSign's enterprise messaging business.
Amit Bhojwani
Head of Partner Management, Facebook Audience Network
Rogue Games
Matt Casamassina
CSO & Co-Founder at Rogue GamesEMAIL MATT VIEW LECTURE
As Rogue Games’ chief strategy officer, Matt Casamassina taps into his robust games and technology experience, specifically in product and digital content distribution and discovery, corporate strategy, business development, and monetization. Prior to Rogue, he built the Apple Store’s game editorial team from scratch, transforming the games vertical into a multi-billion-dollar business. Prior to Apple, he was a co-founder of IGN Entertainment, and served as both editor-in-chief and editor-at-large.
Matt Casamassina
CSO & Co-Founder, Rogue Games
CTRL
Sundance DiGiovanni
Co-Founder, CTRL
Ghost Gaming
Matt Dillon
CEO at Ghost GamingEMAIL MATT VIEW LECTURE
Named CEO of Ghost Gaming in 2017 and previous co-founder and general counsel for APE | Agency for Professional esports, where he represented preeminent talent and esports professionals, representing players from across all major esports including League of Legends, Overwatch, Dota 2, CS:GO. Matt has also represented teams, players, tournament organizers, brands and major sports teams entering esports as an associate at Gatzke Dillon & Balance LLP. Matt earned his JD from Loyola Law School and his BA from UCLA.
Matt Dillon
CEO, Ghost Gaming
PlayFab
Brent Elmer
Senior Program Manager at PlayFabEMAIL BRENT VIEW LECTURE
Brent Elmer is a technology pioneer with a proven track record designing and executing experiences on emergent platforms – both as a creative lead on HoloLens, and as lead producer for Xbox Kinect launch titles. Brent is currently a Senior Program Manager at Microsoft helping realize the Live Ops platform PlayFab by developing a comprehensive solution for gaming data and analytics. Additionally, Brent is the entrepreneur & founder of Pump Action Games, a mobile FTP studio dedicated to live ops gaming.
Brent Elmer
Senior Program Manager, PlayFab
Hyper Hippo Productions
Sam Fisher
President at Hyper Hippo ProductionsEMAIL SAM VIEW LECTURE
Sam is President at Hyper Hippo Productions and his key focus is to support the business by bringing together amazing talent and encouraging creativity. Prior to working with the organization, Sam worked as an Executive in Residence (EiR) at Accelerate Okanagan and a long, long time ago, he earned his MBA at Ivey School of Business – in other words, he knows his stuff, is passionate about tech and is constantly diving deep to learn more about the industry so that he can better guide the Hyper Hippo teams in creating successful games. Fun Fact, Sam doesn’t like bananas…like, at all. Ask him why sometime; it’s a pretty intriguing story. Aside from his distaste for bananas, Sam LIKES to play sports and enjoys music of all sorts, and his favourite activity is anything he can do with his family.
Sam Fisher
President, Hyper Hippo Productions
Twitch
Dan Frodan
Esports Program & Operations Manager at TwitchEMAIL DAN VIEW LECTURE
Dan's experience includes 10+ years of on-camera broadcast talent experience as news anchor, studio commentator, and stage host,; 7+ years of behind-the-scenes experience as a live show producer, project & account manager, operations director, and consultant; Hundreds of live events and online broadcasting eperience wearing many hats in the gaming/esports space. Dan produced thousands of content hours amassing millions of views on YouTube and Twitch for the industry's leading developers, organizers, and clients. Portfolio of clients include ESPN, Red Bull, Intel, ReedPop, IGN, FOX Sports, Gamespot, Blizzard Entertainment, Riot Games, Valve, Major League Gaming, Douyu, OnGameNet, and more.
Dan Frodan
Esports Program & Operations Manager, Twitch
Cloud 9
Greyson Gilmer
Pro League of Legends Player at Cloud 9EMAIL GREYSON VIEW LECTURE
bio coming soon...
Greyson Gilmer
Pro League of Legends Player, Cloud 9
Gross Labs
Nick Gross
Founder at Gross LabsEMAIL NICK VIEW LECTURE
Nick Gross is known as one of today's most creative trailblazers in media and beyond. Beginning with a hit show on MTV, Gross shared his raw talent as a musician and drummer with the world, catapulting him to secure deals with major labels and produce music for top artists such as Ariana Grande, Zendaya and Wiz Khalifa, to name a few. As founder of Gross Labs, he and his team have created an ecosystem in which artists, businesses, and ideas can flourish, pushing the boundaries of creativity and ingenuity. Most recently, Gross founded Find Your Grind- an education platform rooted in self-discovery, launching nation wide events and curriculum to thousands of schools and students.
Nick Gross
Founder, Gross Labs
Forte Labs
MJ Irwin
VP of Product at Forte LabsEMAIL MJ VIEW LECTURE
MJ is an experienced expert with a background in game production, UX, product marketing, and developer tools. At Forte, she’s helping accelerate the adoption of blockchain in the games industry. Prior, she co-founded Merigo and worked at leading organizations including ngmoco, DeNA, and Forbes.
MJ Irwin
VP of Product, Forte Labs
Fifth Era
Matthew Le Merle
Managing Director at Fifth EraEMAIL MATTHEW VIEW LECTURE
Matthew is co-founder and Managing Partner of Fifth Era and of Keiretsu Capital - the most active early stage venture investors backing almost 200 companies a year. He is also Chairman of Linqto, Securitize (Europe) and CAH, Vice Chairman SFOX and an advisor at Warburg Pincus. Matthew is an expert on corporate growth, innovation and business transformations having advised leading companies including Amazon, Cisco, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, PayPal and many others on growth and innovation-related issues. Matthew is also an expert in economic value creation including revenue, cost and capital productivity programs.
Matthew Le Merle
Managing Director, Fifth Era
Scopely
Henry Lowenfels
Senior Vice President, Business Development at ScopelyEMAIL HENRY VIEW LECTURE
Henry Lowenfels serves as Senior Vice President of Business Development at Scopely, an interactive entertainment company and one of the largest independent publishers of mobile games in the western world. Scopely leverages its proprietary technology platform and publishing expertise to deliver immersive gaming experiences to both casual and core audiences around the globe. Scopely has launched six consecutive top-grossing franchises, including: the award-winning Star Trek™ Fleet Command, Looney Tunes™ World of Mayhem, WWE Champions 2019, The Walking Dead™: Road To Survival, YAHTZEE® With Buddies and Wheel of Fortune®: Free Play. Since joining the business in 2012 as one of the first 25 employees, Henry has been a key leader in Scopely’s continued growth, driving corporate development and strategy initiatives along with new partnerships with developers and IP holders. Henry began his career producing independent feature films and branded digital content at such companies as X-UP, Unique Features and Ram Bergman Productions.
Henry Lowenfels
Senior Vice President, Business Development, Scopely
Cryptokitties
Mickey Maher
Head of Revenue at CryptokittiesEMAIL MICKEY VIEW LECTURE
Mickey is Head of Revenue, responsible for Gaming Partnerships and Revenue with CryptoKitties. His primary goal is to expand CryptoKitties and upcoming blockchain projects into the greater gaming market with our goal of bringing the first billion to the blockchain. CryptoKitties is the fifth venture-backed startup Mickey has worked for in the gaming industry. Two have been acquired, and one is likely to IPO in the near future—with all of them, he has significantly and consistently grown revenue. Mickey has worked as Head of Global Sales for Unity Technologies where he built a mobile ad business from pre-launch to nearly $300M in revenue.
Mickey Maher
Head of Revenue, Cryptokitties
Ultimate Media Ventures
Chris Mann
CEO at Ultimate Media VenturesEMAIL CHRIS VIEW LECTURE
Currently serving as CEO of Ultimate, a gaming lifestyle company focused on content & clothing. Chris is a regular speaker & participant of gaming and esports industry & consumer events, including initiatives that focus on commercialization, monetization and interoperability of products, technology and marketing.
Chris Mann
CEO, Ultimate Media Ventures
Seriously
Matt McMahon
Senior Vice President, Business Development at SeriouslyEMAIL MATT VIEW LECTURE
Matt McMahon is SVP, Business Development at Seriously. McMahon is responsible for the company's strategic distribution and animation partnerships for Best Fiends. McMahon was VP, Mobile, at 20th Century Fox where he led the mobile apps and games business. McMahon produced top grossing mobile hits for brands such as ‘Family Guy’, ‘Ice Age’, ‘Avatar’, 'Glee' and ‘The Simpsons’, as well as 'Angry Birds Rio'.
Matt McMahon
Senior Vice President, Business Development, Seriously
March Capital Partners
Gregory Milken
Managing Director at March Capital PartnersEMAIL GREGORY VIEW LECTURE
Gregory Milken, Managing Director at LA-based March Capital, has over 15 years of entrepreneurial experience and leads the firm’s investments in digital media, video games, esports, and streaming. Recent investments include game developers Wavedash and nWay, broadcasting solution Genvid Technologies and game mastery platform Dojo Madness.
Gregory Milken
Managing Director, March Capital Partners
Unity Technologies
Burcu Ozcengiz
Senior Client Partner at Unity TechnologiesEMAIL BURCU VIEW LECTURE
bio coming soon...
Burcu Ozcengiz
Senior Client Partner, Unity Technologies
AMD
Leslie Pirritano
Global Account Manager at AMDEMAIL LESLIE VIEW LECTURE
Leslie Pirritano has been in various gamer and VR-related roles over the past 15 years and is officially credited as Your Best Friend at AMD. She actively works to promote diversity within the gaming and virtual reality communities and specializes in developer and influencer relations. Her role at AMD is more than a job for her as she also invests personal time building her own PC’s for gaming and streaming. She also owns a batarang.
Leslie Pirritano
Global Account Manager, AMD
Hyper Hippo Productions
Lance Priebe
CEO at Hyper Hippo ProductionsEMAIL LANCE VIEW LECTURE
Lance (or RocketSnail as many know him to be) is lead hippo, mountain man and the visionary behind the organization. Lance has been developing online worlds since he was a child, creating his first virtual world in 2000 called Penguin Chat and later co-founding and creating Club Penguin in 2005. In Lance’s spare time, he likes to work or as he would likely phrase it, “pursue his passions!” This guy is known for “working” from some pretty unique locations, with a few of the most interesting being the mountains, ski hills and even during his daily biking adventures. He creates ALWAYS and loves that he gets to be a part of an organization that connects people around the world through fun!
Lance Priebe
CEO, Hyper Hippo Productions
Scopely
Rob Ricca
VP of Corporate Development at ScopelyEMAIL ROB VIEW LECTURE
As VP of Corporate Development, Rob Ricca leads Scopely’s M&A and strategic investment initiatives. His focus is on growing Scopely globally, seeking out best-in-class partnership opportunities and connecting with teams who are passionate about building exceptional mobile entertainment experiences. He spent four years at Glu Mobile, most recently as Head of Business & Corporate Development. Prior to Glu, Rob negotiated M&A and investment transactions as a corporate attorney, including stints at Fenwick & West and Wilson Sonsini.
Rob Ricca
VP of Corporate Development, Scopely
Mobile Deluxe
Sean Thompson
VP of Production at Mobile DeluxeEMAIL SEAN VIEW LECTURE
Sean Thompson is a mobile veteran with over 18 years of experience in the games industry. As VP of Production for Mobile Deluxe, Sean leads the Monetization, Analytics, Project Management and Creative teams in publishing best-in-class casual games. He has been foundational in building the Solitaire Deluxe franchise into the longest-running, best-selling mobile solitaire suite of all time. Prior to Mobile Deluxe, Sean worked as a Sales and Operations Analyst at Encore Software.
Sean Thompson
VP of Production, Mobile Deluxe
Jam City
Brian Sapp
VP of User Acquisition Marketing at Jam CityEMAIL BRIAN VIEW LECTURE
Brian Sapp is Vice President of User Acquisition Marketing & Ad Monetization at Jam City, where his responsibilities include media buying, marketing analysis, and driving ad revenue across Jam City’s portfolio of mobile games, including Jam City's recent successful launch of Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery. Prior to joining Jam City, Brian served as Director of Digital Publishing at WB Games from 2014 to 2017, where he oversaw UA, Analytics, and Monetization and helped launch many successful titles, including Injustice 2, DC Legends, and Game of Thrones: Conquest. Prior to WB Games, Brian served as Director of Developer Partnerships for Tapjoy from 2011 to 2014, where his responsibilities included strategic partnerships, developer relations, app monetization and distribution.
Brian Sapp
VP of User Acquisition Marketing, Jam City
FOUNDRY IV
Tobias Sherman
CEO & Co-Founder, FOUNDRY IV
FlyQuest Sports
Tricia Sugita
COO at FlyQuest SportsEMAIL TRICIA VIEW LECTURE
Across her eclectic 8 year career, Tricia Sugita has cemented herself as a renaissance woman of esports. From competing in Starcraft II, hosting esports events as on-camera personality, to helping develop the ecosphere surrounding esports as Director of Esports, Global at Azubu and Head of Partnerships of Immortals, Tricia has created incredible value in the esports space while maintaining an aura of gratitude. Now, as COO of FlyQuest, Tricia has developed the vision, Showcase Greatness, a multi-tiered marketing plan geared to uplifting Women, College Students, FlyQuest’s Staff, and Storytellers in the esports and gaming space.
Tricia Sugita
COO, FlyQuest Sports
GamesBeat at VentureBeat
Dean Takahashi
Lead Writer at GamesBeat at VentureBeatEMAIL DEAN VIEW LECTURE
Dean Takahashi is lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He covers video games, security, chips and more. He previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News, the Wall Street Journal, the Red Herring, the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register and the Dallas Times Herald. He is the author of two books, Opening the Xbox and the Xbox 360 Uncloaked.
Dean Takahashi
Lead Writer, GamesBeat at VentureBeat
Unity Technologies
Vladimir Vukicevic
Runtime Solutions Lead at Unity TechnologiesEMAIL VLADIMIR VIEW LECTURE
Vladimir Vukićević and his team at Unity focus on enabling developers to bring their content to a broad range of environments using cutting edge technologies optimized for both size and performance. Prior to joining Unity, he spent 10 years at Mozilla working on foundational web technologies and the Firefox web browser. He is the inventor of WebGL, the standard for high-performance 3D on the web, as well as the initiator of the WebVR R&D effort to bring VR capabilities to the web.
Vladimir Vukicevic
Runtime Solutions Lead, Unity Technologies
100 Thieves
Sabrina Wong
League of Legends Team Manager at 100 ThievesEMAIL SABRINA VIEW LECTURE
Sabrina is the current manager for both the 100 Thieves LCS franchise team and the Academy League of Legends team. Her previous work has been diverse: she was the events lead for the Overwatch League team, the Los Angeles Valiant, in 2018, as well as Esports intern at Blizzard Entertainment in 2017.
Sabrina Wong
League of Legends Team Manager, 100 Thieves
Jam City
Savannah Wu
User Acquisition Manager, Jam City
Super Evil Megacorp
Taewon Yun
General Manager, Global Publishing at Super Evil MegacorpEMAIL TAEWON VIEW LECTURE
Taewon Yun is General Manager for Global Publishing at Super Evil Megacorp, the developer of the world’s leading mobile esport, Vainglory. Taewon is responsible for strategy, business development and partnership of Super Evil Megacorp. He is an industry veteran with 24 years of experience and worked on several industry changing titles such as Starcraft, World of Warcraft, World of Tanks before turning completely evil.
Taewon Yun
General Manager, Global Publishing, Super Evil Megacorp
Gametapas
Juan Gril
Principal at GametapasEMAIL JUAN VIEW LECTURE
For the past 2 decades, Juan has been involved in the design and production of mass market games. In the late 90s Juan was one of the original members of Yahoo! Games (the first and most popular gaming web site in the early years of the Internet). From Yahoo! he went to found Joju Games, a successful casual games studio which in the span of 12 years developed more than 50 games for PC, console, and mobile platforms, for big media companies and game publishers. Currently, Juan heads up Gametapas, an instant-games development studio. Juan is Advisor for the F2P Games Summit at GDC, and judge for the "Sense of Wonder Night" Game Festival at Tokyo Game Show.
Juan Gril
Principal, Gametapas
CVCapital
Jim Ying
Managing Director at CVCapitalEMAIL JIM VIEW LECTURE
Jim Ying is Managing Director and Head of CVCapital's Digital Entertainment and Mobile practice. CVCapital is a Asia-centered global investment bank that provides high-impact strategic and financial advice to industry leaders on mergers and acquisitions, capital raising and other strategic alternatives. Cross-border investment and M&A transactions executed by CVCapital include Behaviour Interactive (undisclosed), Byton ($500mil), SenseTime ($620mil), Applovin' (US$981mil), Media.net ($889mil) and Smaato ($148mil). Prior to joining CVCapital, Jim served as Vice President of Games at Tango and launched Tango's $25mil Global Games Fund. Jim was also VP of Publishing and Partnerships at GREE and SVP of Publishing at 6waves, where he led the US office.
Jim Ying
Managing Director, CVCapital
GSN Games
Brian Truman
Executive Director, Digital Ad Revenue and Operations at GSN GamesEMAIL BRIAN VIEW LECTURE
bio coming soon...
Brian Truman
Executive Director, Digital Ad Revenue and Operations, GSN Games
Jam City
Sabrina Chen
User Acquisition Specialist at Jam CityEMAIL SABRINA VIEW LECTURE
Sabrina is a UA marketer at Jam City. She has been in the mobile industry for 5 years, working in social casino and the casual gaming space. Within her current position, she works closely with the business intelligence, creative and product teams to manage and optimize media buys based on the product. Sabrina is in charge of the UA buying strategy for multiple live and launching titles across DSPs, video networks and paid social networks.
Sabrina Chen
User Acquisition Specialist, Jam City
Concept Art House
James Zhang
CEO at Concept Art HouseEMAIL JAMES VIEW LECTURE
James is an experienced executive and advisor in the gaming and tech sector. He is the Founder and CEO of Concept Art House, a leading creative services company for gaming industry. With over 20 years of experience in games and tech, James has held positions as board member, advisory board member, public company officer, and CEO where he led his company from seed financing to a successful exit in 2012. James is also a partner at Fifth Era, an investment and consulting firm focused on early stage technology companies. He is an investor and advisor at Keiretsu Capital Blockchain (LP of Blockchain capital, Pantera, etc).
James Zhang
CEO, Concept Art House
Shaw Rocket Fund
Agnes Augustin
President & CEO at Shaw Rocket FundEMAIL AGNES VIEW LECTURE
Since 2004, Agnes Augustin has been leading the Shaw Rocket Fund’s ongoing commitment to champion Canadian media content for kids and families through strategic investment in content on all platforms, spearheading industry initiatives and building global partnerships.
Agnes Augustin
President & CEO, Shaw Rocket Fund
Bark
Lisa Thee (Polvi)
VP of Strategic Partnerships at BarkEMAIL LISA VIEW LECTURE
Lisa is an A.I. startup founder whose passion lies at the intersection of child safety and technology. She’s dedicated to protecting vulnerable populations and harnessing groundbreaking technologies to address serious issues like human trafficking,cyberbullying, and self-harm.
Lisa Thee (Polvi)
VP of Strategic Partnerships, Bark
Andrews McMeel
John Vivona
VP, Sales and Business Development at Andrews McMeelEMAIL JOHN VIEW LECTURE
We are the world’s largest syndicator of comics, puzzles, games and columnists. We represent hundreds of iconic titles like Dilbert, Garfield, Peanuts, Doonesbury, Calvin and Hobbes and Dear Abby. Top game titles include Universal Crossword, Sudoku, Word Roundup, KenKen, Up and Down Words and Lexigo. We invented online syndication back in the mid-nineties, and our games are currently on hundreds of third-party websites worldwide. We are expanding our lineup and are look for quality game and puzzle titles. We are also looking for comic brand licensing, and other opportunities. We also publish books, greeting cards and calendars.
John Vivona
VP, Sales and Business Development, Andrews McMeel
HATCH Entertainment Ltd.
Martina Santoro
Content Manager at HATCH Entertainment Ltd.EMAIL MARTINA VIEW LECTURE
As the new member of Hatch's content team, Martina is helping to build an exciting and evolving collection of premium games for HATCH's users to enjoy in a completely new way with their friends and families.
Martina Santoro
Content Manager, HATCH Entertainment Ltd.
Jago Studios
Stuart Drexler
CEO & Founder at Jago StudiosEMAIL STUART VIEW LECTURE
Stuart Drexler is an entrepreneur, product leader and digital innovator with over 20 years of experience in gaming and interactive entertainment. He has created for some tremendous global brands including Barbie, Elmo, Harry Potter, LEGO, Club Penguin, Moshi Monsters, and Habbo. The magic and power of play is as important for adults as it is for kids. As the Founder and CEO of Jago Studios, he leads a team of designers, developers, and marketers to create infectiously compelling mobile games with some of the coolest humor brands ever.
Stuart Drexler
CEO & Founder, Jago Studios
Dubit
David Kleeman
SVP, Global Trends at DubitEMAIL DAVID VIEW LECTURE
Strategist, analyst, author, speaker, connector — David Kleeman has led the children’s media industry in developing sustainable, child-friendly practices for more than 35 years. He began this work as president of the American Center for Children and Media and is now Senior Vice President of Global Trends for Dubit, a strategy/research consultancy and digital studio.
David Kleeman
SVP, Global Trends, Dubit
KidSense AI (Kadho)
Dr. Nelly Farnoody-Zahiri
Advisor & Psychologist at KidSense AI (Kadho)EMAIL DR. NELLY VIEW LECTURE
Dr. Nelly Zahiri is the Executive Director of Global Education Institute. She is an author, keynote speaker, college professor, and a pychologist who specializes in working with families in the area of Digital Parenting, Social Emotional Learning, Peace Parenting, Mindfulness, and Diversity/Multicultural Training. She's the author and producer of MomTalk and Peace Learning Parenting and founder of the International Center For Social Emotional Peace Learning in West Los Angeles.
Dr. Nelly Farnoody-Zahiri
Advisor & Psychologist, KidSense AI (Kadho)
ironSource
Damon Marshall
Vice President of Business Development - Developer Solutions at ironSourceEMAIL DAMON VIEW LECTURE
Damon is Vice President of Business Development for ironSource, the leading growth platform for mobile gaming apps. Damon is responsible for bringing some of the largest game publishers and developers onto the ironSource platform, including Activision, Zynga, EA, Scopely, Jam City and many more. Damon also works with top Entertainment brands like MGM and Universal Pictures to deploy mobile marketing campaigns that leverage interactive ad products inside the ironSource marketplace. Damon is the creator the GPM Forum, a program that gathers Product Managers in various cities around North America for a day of sessions that tackle the biggest challenges that game producers face. Damon has held a number of roles in the video games industry, working for IGN Entertainment, WeGame and Macrovision in the past.
Damon Marshall
Vice President of Business Development - Developer Solutions, ironSource
Strategic Marketing, PR
& BizDev Consulting
& BizDev Consulting
Elizabeth Olson
Consultant at Strategic Marketing, PR & BizDev ConsultingEMAIL ELIZABETH VIEW LECTURE
Elizabeth Olson is a 25+ year game industry veteran in Branding, Marketing, PR, BizDev, Thought Leadership and Journalism. Her clients range from launching titles like PvZ2 and Never Alone to working on behalf of ICHEG, XTech Expo, Casual Connect, the OGA, and 21st Century Leadership for Diversity.
Elizabeth Olson
Consultant, Strategic Marketing, PR & BizDev Consulting
Rogue Games
Levi Buchanan
Director of Business Development at Rogue GamesEMAIL LEVI VIEW LECTURE
Levi Buchannan recently joined Rogue Games as Director of Business Development focused on scouting new titles and studios, and managing key developer relationships. He served as director of Business Development for EA Mobile’s Chillingo studio, working on blockbusters like Angry Birds, Cut the Rope, and Iron Force. He also pioneered mobile game coverage at IGN Entertainment. Buchanan has been published by Random House and syndicated by Tribune Media and MSNBC. He’s also co-creator of a comic book called PiNKHEARTS.
Levi Buchanan
Director of Business Development, Rogue Games
Magic Fuel Games
Kristina Taylor
Head of Marketing at Magic Fuel GamesEMAIL KRISTINA VIEW LECTURE
Kristina Taylor has been marketing games across console, online and mobile platforms for 10 years. She has worked on 20 mobile titles across virtually all genres and has managed product marketing, brand, live ops, social, analytics and UA. She recently joined Magic Fuel Games as the Head of Marketing to support the portfolio of new titles in development.
Kristina Taylor
Head of Marketing, Magic Fuel Games
Bright Black
Jordan Blackman
Founder at Bright BlackEMAIL JORDAN VIEW LECTURE
Jordan is the CEO of Bright Black, an agency that helps studios, publishers, and brands develop winning free-to-play strategies and products. He has designed and produced for Ubisoft, Zynga, EA, Beeline, AMC, Nickelodeon, and The Pokemon Company. Jordan is also the host of the Playmakers podcast.
Jordan Blackman
Founder, Bright Black
Fogbank Entertainment
Ken Capelli
Art Director at Fogbank EntertainmentEMAIL KEN VIEW LECTURE
Ken is an art director and illustrator with over 25 years of experience building and leading game art teams, with expertise in both creating original IP and directing top IP like Titanic, The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Hunger Games, Conan, The Godfather, Disney’s Tangled, X-Files and many more. Ken is a “full-stack” veteran game artist with hands-on experience in every stage of visual development from concept art to animation/ rigging, tech pipelines and tools, implementation, outsourcing, marketing, etc.
Ken Capelli
Art Director, Fogbank Entertainment
Esports One
Matthew Gunnin
CEO at Esports OneEMAIL MATTHEW VIEW LECTURE
Former VP of Product at Unikrn and Director of Content at Azubu, Matthew Gunnin founded Esports One in 2016 with a mission of lowering the barrier of entry for esports. Gunnin has set industry standards in the past with Leaguepedia which surpassed ten million monthly users within the first six months.
Matthew Gunnin
CEO, Esports One
Shadow
Asher Kagan
Co-Founder at ShadowEMAIL ASHER VIEW LECTURE
Asher Kagan is a self-taught entrepreneur who has always had a passion for computers. He began his career working at Israeli tech start-up MusicGenome before joining his cousin Emmanuel Freund in Paris to work on Isidor. Following the company’s acquisition by Doro, he and Freund left the company and teamed with Stéphane Héliot to create the most powerful PC ever: the cloud-based Shadow.
Asher Kagan
Co-Founder, Shadow
NRG Esports
Brett Lautenbach
President at NRG EsportsEMAIL BRETT VIEW LECTURE
Brett is currently the president of NRG Esports & The San Francisco Shock where he oversees day to day operations and long-term planning for sponsorships and gaming. At NRG he has worked on first of their kind sponsor activations with Events DC and Amazon Coins. Brett joined NRG Esports in the fall of 2016. Prior to joining NRG, Brett worked as an agent at the talent and media agency WME|IMG where he consulted for brands, worked with tournament organizers, and advised on investments in the esports space. During his time at WME|IMG he worked with notable brands such as TMOBILE, BudLight, and VISA advising them on their initial spends in the esports landscape with teams and tournaments.
Brett Lautenbach
President, NRG Esports
Tron Foundation
Roy Liu
Head Of Business Development, Tron Foundation
Hexany Audio
Richard Ludlow
Audio Director at Hexany AudioEMAIL RICHARD VIEW LECTURE
Richard Ludlow is the Audio Director and co-Founder of Hexany Audio, a Los Angeles based sound and music studio specializing in audio for games, VR, and interactive media. Richard has worked on projects for Disney, Activision, Ubisoft, Universal, Amazon, Tencent, Sony, Google, and many more.
Richard Ludlow
Audio Director, Hexany Audio
Forte
Allen Ma
VP of Partnerships at ForteEMAIL ALLEN VIEW LECTURE
Allen Ma pioneered mobile games for the smartphone generation as an early member of ngmoco where he won an Apple Design Award for titles he produced. He also consulted with EA on game design and live event frameworks for Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, a consistent top 10 Grossing title. Allen was previously Head of Publishing for DeNA West and managed a portfolio of titles, many of which lived in the Top 100 Grossing Apple and Google charts. Additionally, he founded Merigo, which is creating a specialized Server Development Environment focused on helping developers build and launch highly scalable and rich online game experiences. Currently, Allen is Vice President of Partnerships at Forte which is accelerating the adoption of blockchain technology in the games industry by equipping developers with easy-to-use technology and tools that lay a new foundation for player-driven game economies, better aligning incentives between players and publishers.
Allen Ma
VP of Partnerships, Forte
Morrison Rothman LLP
Ryan Morrison
Founding Partner at Morrison Rothman LLPEMAIL RYAN VIEW LECTURE
Ryan has made a name for himself within the legal industry as someone focused on making sure the law protects everyone, not just the financially superior. Whether it be matters of intellectual property, complex contract issues or just making sure you are comfortable as you take your company forward into the future, Ryan has handled it all. Deemed “The Video Game Attorney” by the countless developers he has helped through his free online legal Q&A’s, Ryan understands that this new and innovative industry requires a new and innovative approach to law. While his passion will forever rest within games and esports, Ryan has taken taken his experience in keeping his clients protected and comfortable into other areas of entertainment as well.
Ryan Morrison
Founding Partner, Morrison Rothman LLP
TSM
Jocelyn Parmenter
Senior Director of Partnerships at TSMEMAIL JOCELYN VIEW LECTURE
Jocelyn is responsible for long-term team sponsors and driving revenue through influencer activations. She joined TSM in 2018, and brought with her a strong digital background in entertainment, sports, and technology. Previously, she held positions at Time Inc., Digital Trends, and Conde Nast.
Jocelyn Parmenter
Senior Director of Partnerships, TSM
Collegiate Starleague
Duran Parsi
CEO at Collegiate StarleagueEMAIL DURAN VIEW LECTURE
Duran runs a worldwide organized collegiate gaming league, the NCAA of video games, which consists of over 600 universities and 20,000 players. He manages a volunteer staff of over 50 persons and handles client relations and acquisition. Duran is also primarily responsible for brand development and marketing of the brand. He has orchestrated several major social media campaigns 'April Sweepstakes,' and 'Back to School Tour.' in order to help generate social media buzz.
Duran Parsi
CEO, Collegiate Starleague
FlyQuest Sports
Nicholas Phan
General Manager at FlyQuest SportsEMAIL NICHOLAS VIEW LECTURE
Nicholas has been involved in esports on both sides of the table for about 4.5 years. He's worked in business development, sales, and operations as well as competitive development and operations during his journey with Team Liquid, Immortals, and most recently FlyQuest. Nicholas currently helms all competitive esports operations as the General Manager of FlyQuest, working on the development of talent/infrastructure across any and all game titles, players and staff under the FlyQuest banner.
Nicholas Phan
General Manager, FlyQuest Sports
Gamedesire
Michael Podyma
Head of Engineering at GamedesireEMAIL MICHAEL VIEW LECTURE
Michael has been associated with Gamedesire for over 8 years. Starting there from Junior Programmer, he went through a variety of technologies on a variety of target platforms. Michael is Involved in many projects in the area of Social Casino and Casual Games. Today Michael is in charge of Gamedesire engineers.
Michael Podyma
Head of Engineering, Gamedesire
Soomla
Andres Prilloltensky
Gaming Director at SoomlaEMAIL ANDRES VIEW LECTURE
With almost a decade in the mobile industry, and after leading the gaming vertical Andres now oversees strategic partnerships, business development and sales in the Americas. He possesses unique knowledge in ad monetization with expertize in gaming and a vast network with mobile developers world wide.
Andres Prilloltensky
Gaming Director, Soomla
FlipSid3 Tactics
Hector Rosario
CEO at FlipSid3 TacticsEMAIL HECTOR VIEW LECTURE
Hector is the Founder of FlipSid3 Tactics an esports team since 2012 with championships in CSGO/Rocket League/Dota 2/Fighting games. He also Founded Stathelix which is a stats/analytics platform that enhances player performance and also powers streams on twitch using interactivity via game data.
Hector Rosario
CEO, FlipSid3 Tactics
TNB Studios
Jake Simpson
CEO at TNB StudiosEMAIL JAKE VIEW LECTURE
Jake has been in the games industry for 30+ years having worked on titles including NBA Jam, Wrestlmania, Revolution X (Midway’s golden years); Raven's Soldier of Fortune I & II, Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force, Heretic II and Jedi Knight II; EA’s The Sims. 2 Jake has also worked in the movie industry, providing tools for virtual production on Ready Player One. Most recently, Jake has worked as lead developer on Age of Empires : Definitive Edition and the shortly to be released Age of Empires 2 : Definitive Edition, for Forgotten Empires / Microsoft.
Jake Simpson
CEO, TNB Studios
IMC | An Experience Studio
Christie St. Martin
Gaming Director at IMC | An Experience StudioEMAIL CHRISTIE VIEW LECTURE
Christie is a former competitive Counter-Strike player who has over a decade and a half of marketing and strategy experience under her belt. Notably she has managed social media communities and produced content for companies like J.P. Morgan Chase, L'Oréal, and Viacom. She has built social strategies for clients like Twitch, Samsung, Microsoft, Epic Games, and PUBG. Christie is currently gaming director at IMC, an experience studio that creates extraordinary audience engagements for the world's best known brands.
Christie St. Martin
Gaming Director, IMC | An Experience Studio
wappier
Ted Verani
Vice President, Business Development at wappierEMAIL TED VIEW LECTURE
A veteran in mobile technology companies, Ted Verani is VP of Business Development for wappier, where he is responsible for business development and strategic partnerships with game developers, publishers, and platform providers. Prior to joining wappier, Ted was VP of Business Development for Scientific Revenue, a pioneer of dynamic pricing for mobile games. For nearly 20 years, Ted has held leadership roles in creating innovative consumer facing mobile services with technology companies like Trilibis Mobile, Enpocket (acquired by Nokia) and Jumbuck, as well as wireless carriers’ Vodafone and AirTouch (now Verizon Wireless).
Ted Verani
Vice President, Business Development, wappier
Super.com
Nikita Vladimirov
VP Production at Super.comEMAIL NIKITA VIEW LECTURE
Nikita Vladimirov serves as Vice President of Production at Super.com where he oversees teams duedilligance for Super. com Fund and Super.com Publisher . A 20-year entertainment industry veteran, he has over 300 products released on varaety of platforms, was leading teams up to 350 engineers. Personally participated in over 20 investment/publishing deals on both sides.
Nikita Vladimirov
VP Production, Super.com
TSM
Walter Wang
Head of Operations at TSMEMAIL WALTER VIEW LECTURE
Walter oversees all of the organization’s operations, including finance, strategic planning, and acquisitions. Prior to TSM, he created and developed the esports/gaming division at HTC. In addition, Walter manages WW Capital, the family office for the Wang family.
Walter Wang
Head of Operations, TSM
CORSAIR
Yugina Yun
Student Programs at CORSAIREMAIL YUGINA VIEW LECTURE
Yugina Yun is a Boston University CAS ’16 alumni where she was president of a gaming club on campus while working towards her degree in Marine Science. She has spent many years working in the collegiate esports industry helping to create new gaming clubs and supporting the pre-existing ecosystem. She is now focusing on Esports Collegiate Programming at CORSAIR.
Yugina Yun
Student Programs, CORSAIR
Drivetime
Niko Vuori
CEO & Founder at DrivetimeEMAIL NIKO VIEW LECTURE
Niko Vuori is the founder and CEO of Drivetime, the world’s first gaming company targeting the driver of the car. 110 million Americans commute to work solo by car every day – Drivetime is offering this desperately underserved audience voice-powered interactive entertainment for the first time. Niko has over a decade of experience building gaming experiences on diverse technology platforms, ranging from desktop web, to social networks, to mobile – and now on the emerging voice platforms. Prior to founding Drivetime, Niko was co-founder of successful mobile gaming company Rocket Games (sold to Penn National Gaming in 2016) and held several leadership positions at social gaming pioneer Zynga, most notably as General Manager of the company's flagship game, Zynga Poker, where he was responsible for all aspects of the studio's >$250M/year business, across mobile and web.
Niko Vuori
CEO & Founder, Drivetime
National Basketball Association, NBA 2K League
Manny Lorras
Director, Team Marketing & Business Operations at National Basketball Association, NBA 2K LeagueEMAIL MANNY VIEW LECTURE
bio coming soon...
Manny Lorras
Director, Team Marketing & Business Operations, National Basketball Association, NBA 2K League
AdColony
David Pokress
EVP Global Publishing at AdColonyEMAIL DAVID VIEW LECTURE
David Pokress is EVP Global Publishing and is responsible for partnering with publishers to enhance monetization while delivering high-quality inventory for advertisers on the AdColony network. David is a seasoned business leader in the interactive entertainment industry having spent 11 years in a variety of positions at Activision and 3 years with his own consulting firm helping companies from start-ups to global entertainment conglomerates in navigating emerging business models and optimizing their marketing, monetization, and business strategies. His career includes some of the most iconic brands in the industry including Call of Duty, DOOM, Tony Hawk, Marvel, James Bond, Atari and Guitar Hero.
David Pokress
EVP Global Publishing, AdColony
Tapjoy
Ben Chen
SVP and General Manager of Global Developer Relations at TapjoyEMAIL BEN VIEW LECTURE
Ben is Senior Vice President and General Manager of Global Developer Relations at Tapjoy. Chen is responsible for all aspects of global supply side partnerships which includes go to market strategy, new business development, account management, and developer operations. Chen is a veteran in mobile monetization and previously served as EVP of Global Developer Relations at Fyber and has overseen publisher partnerships at some of the world’s largest mobile game studios including GREE and DeN.
Ben Chen
SVP and General Manager of Global Developer Relations, Tapjoy
Morrison Rothman LLP
Allison Rothman
Founding Partner at Morrison Rothman LLPEMAIL ALLISON VIEW LECTURE
Allison has represented players across all of the top titles in esports. Allison took her strong intellectual property background and turned it into a mechanism to fight for player rights and bolster these athletes’ position within the industry. Now, as a Founding Partner of Morrison Rothman LLP, Allison actively provides legal services in all aspects of video games and esports, as well as other areas such as digital entertainment, fashion, and consumer goods. She is passionate about educating others and advocating for proper representation, whether through handling countless pro bono deals, showing players the power of having an attorney, or teaching clients about the value of securing, maintaining, and enforcing their IP rights.
Allison Rothman
Founding Partner, Morrison Rothman LLP
Fyber
Adam Corrado
Director, Partnerships, Fyber
StreamElements
Scott Clark
SVP Brand Partnerships at StreamElementsEMAIL SCOTT VIEW LECTURE
Scott Clark is SVP of Brand Partnerships at StreamElements, a cloud-based production platform for live streaming, where he enables brands, agencies, talent managers, esports teams and publishers to work with content creators across YouTube Live, Twitch, and Facebook Gaming. This includes deploying media budgets, securing sponsorships, and running influencer programs with unprecedented efficiency and scale via proprietary technology and a suite of professional services. Previously he ran North American sales and served on the executive leadership team for Innovid, a global video ad tech company. As a 20 year veteran of the space, Scott has held several sales and leadership positions, always working with brands to maximize their investments in digital media.
Scott Clark
SVP Brand Partnerships, StreamElements
Esports Journalist
Kevin Hitt
Esports JournalistEMAIL KEVIN VIEW LECTURE
An accomplished esports journalist, Kevin's work has been featured on ESPN, WWG, and Dexerto. His passion is helping esports start-ups excel exponentially in terms of views and worth. Additionally, Kevin has produced, hosted, and directed esports and sports media shows.
Kevin Hitt
0, Esports Journalist
Destination Esports
Kim Meltzer "Esports Mom"
CEO at Destination EsportsEMAIL KIM VIEW LECTURE
Kim Meltzer is a 25 year veteran in the luxury hotel and hospitality industry having worked with Hilton Worldwide, Rock Resorts, Parker Palm Springs and Ojai Valley Inn & Spa to name a few. In her extensive career, she has supported and produced more than 500 corporate and entertainment events globally, along with co-producing a top music video hitting 5 million views for Sony Music. In the video gaming industry, her gamer tag, given to her by the Call of Duty community is, "COD Mom". Meltzer has worked with Twitch, Amazon, DreamHack, Activision, Blizzard, Riot Games, Treyarch, and Psyonix to name a few. Supporting the community, production and developers, she has been branded the "Esports Event Mom" who has raised and supported more than 1,000 pro players across more than eight gaming titles at global events since 2010. She is also CEO of Destination Esports a creative esports group. Destination Esports focuses on working with global destinations and venues, esports teams, talent, broadcasters, investors, gaming publishers, production companies, and brands that want to cohesively activate and be leaders in this one-of-a-kind market.
Kim Meltzer "Esports Mom"
CEO, Destination Esports
Age of Learning (ABCmouse)
Zachary Katz
EVP at Age of Learning (ABCmouse)EMAIL ZACHARY VIEW LECTURE
Zac leads teams responsible for partnerships, legal, communications, and external affairs at Age of Learning, Inc., an education technology company committed to helping all children develop a strong foundation for academic success. Before joining Age of Learning in 2014, Zac was Chief of Staff of the Federal Communications Commission, overseeing all policymaking, operations, and budgeting on behalf of the agency’s Chairman.
Zachary Katz
EVP, Age of Learning (ABCmouse)
Tree
Alex Simpson
Founder at TreeEMAIL ALEX VIEW LECTURE
Part mega-connector, part growth catalyst, Alex is all about architecting businesses from the inside out to unlock new potential revenue. Most known for his drive and vision, Alex earned a reputation for substantial deal making in the Venture Capital and Private Equity space. His profound passion rests in helping the future generation become more self-sufficient and he has dedicated his core purpose towards aiding parents and children in this digital world through Tree.
Alex Simpson
Founder, Tree
kidoodle.tv
Daniel Riddell
Chief Technology Officer at kidoodle.tvEMAIL DANIEL VIEW LECTURE
20 years experience in media/broadcast industries. Simply put "I build digital platforms". Daniel's current mission is "keeping kids safe with tech" as CTO of Canadian based Kidoodle.TV, a world leading children's AVOD service, and Advisor to the DECENT Foundation, a content delivery company leveraging its proprietary blockchain technology, based in Geneva, Switzerland. Daniel has deployed extensive content management and delivery frameworks for platforms such as Kidoodle.TV and their "Family Moments" video upload personal PVR service.
Daniel Riddell
Chief Technology Officer, kidoodle.tv
SuperScale
Kathee Chimowitz
COO at SuperScaleEMAIL KATHEE VIEW LECTURE
Kathee Chimowitz was recently the CRO at BoomBit & Play With Games. She led teams in a multitude of technology and gaming companies including YouTube, Chartboost, CNET Networks, Gamespot, RockYou and more. She was a pioneer of defining standards for in-game advertising when on the IAB board in 2006.
Kathee Chimowitz
COO, SuperScale
Nifty Games
Dan Wasson
Head of Production at Nifty GamesEMAIL DAN VIEW LECTURE
As Head of Production for Nifty Games, Mr. Wasson creates long-lasting and profitable external partnerships across development, technology, and live operations. With over 23 years in video game publishing, Mr. Wasson has held leadership roles at EA, Konami, LucasArts, Kabam, and Wargaming.
Dan Wasson
Head of Production, Nifty Games
Author and Freelance Writer
Michael Futter
Author and Freelance WriterEMAIL MICHAEL VIEW LECTURE
After leaving behind a career in nonprofit funding, Michael Futter put his MBA to work as a journalist covering business and legal issues. He served as the news editor at Game Informer, before taking a break to write two books: The GameDev Business Handbook and The GameDev Budgeting Handbook. Michael is currently a freelance journalist writing for GameDaily. His past credits also include a monthly column on Variety Gaming and a series of business features on Polygon.
Michael Futter
0, Author and Freelance Writer
PikPok
Mario Wynands
Managing Director at PikPokEMAIL MARIO VIEW LECTURE
Mario Wynands is the Managing Director and co-founder of PikPok, a leading publisher across mobile, tablet, and desktop. In his 22 years at the New Zealand based company, he has led the studio, built a successful game portfolio and overseen the creation of many engaging console titles including Shatter®, GripShift®, and Speed Racer The Videogame, as well as multiple hits in the mobile space including the Flick Kick® series, Rival Stars® series, the Into the Dead® franchise and the BAFTA nominated Super Monsters Ate My Condo. Wynands is a graduate of Victoria University in Wellington with degrees in business management and computer science.
Mario Wynands
Managing Director, PikPok
HyperX
Daniel Kelley
Marketing Guy at HyperXEMAIL DANIEL VIEW LECTURE
Kelley currently serves as director of corporate marketing for HyperX, the gaming division of Kingston Technology Corporation. With more than 20 years of professional marketing experience, Kelley leads his full-service marketing department to develop creative, innovative, carefully-planned, and award-winning strategies that support the company’s overall marketing programs, including advertising, media and public relations, web design and maintenance, and a variety of channel sales functions.
Daniel Kelley
Marketing Guy, HyperX
Ricoh
Susie Law
Office Operations Specialist at RicohEMAIL SUSIE VIEW LECTURE
Susie Law is an Office Operations Specialist from Ricoh supporting Twitch, the world's leading livestreaming platform for multiplayer entertainment. She led community development around collegiate esports through the California State University, Fullerton League of Legends Club and Esports Club before she graduated in 2018. You can find her queuing up online in Overwatch or creating strange NPCs in her spare time.
Susie Law
Office Operations Specialist, Ricoh
Asteri Entertainment
Lisa Foster
Executive Producer at Asteri EntertainmentEMAIL LISA VIEW LECTURE
Lisa Foster has over twenty years of creative and technical media development and management experience in the interactive and linear entertainment industries, from technical director through exec. producer. Game credits include: LEGO Universe, LOTR: The Two Towers, Parasite Eve, Evil Dead: Hail to the King, Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders.
Lisa Foster
Executive Producer, Asteri Entertainment
Skyship Entertainment (Super Simple)
Devon Thagard
Co-Owner & Partner at Skyship Entertainment (Super Simple)EMAIL DEVON VIEW LECTURE
Devon Thagard is a career educator, content creator, and partner at Skyship Entertainment™, a digital-first production studio focused on original series and song content. Skyship’s “Super Simple” branded content is popular with teachers and parents of young learners around the world, having garnered over 17 billion views on YouTube.
Devon Thagard
Co-Owner & Partner, Skyship Entertainment (Super Simple)
Moonbug Entertainment
Andy Yeatman
Head of Americas at Moonbug EntertainmentEMAIL ANDY VIEW LECTURE
Andy Yeatman is a global media and entertainment executive with a proven track record of leading industry-disrupting content strategies. He has 15+ years of experience in the film and television entertainment industry with a focus on content programming, development, acquisition and distribution for Netflix and Disney. Andy currently is Managing Director of the Americas at Moonbug, a global children’s entertainment company that develops and distributes safe and fun value-based content that helps kids develop fundamental life skills.
Andy Yeatman
Head of Americas, Moonbug Entertainment
Future Today
Vikrant Mathur
Co-Founder at Future TodayEMAIL VIKRANT VIEW LECTURE
Vikrant Mathur is the Co-Founder of Future Today, a pioneer in the OTT space with nearly a decade of experience managing and growing Kids channels on OTT platforms. Future Today's flagship channel - Happykids is a Top 25 Free Channel on Roku (among 5,000+ channels) and a Top 5 Channel in the Kids & Family category. Future Today currently manage over 250 Kids channels on OTT platforms including Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and others, and works with most major animation studios.
Vikrant Mathur
Co-Founder, Future Today
Tapas Media
Chang Kim
CEO at Tapas MediaEMAIL CHANG VIEW LECTURE
Chang Kim is the Founder and CEO of Tapas Media, the next-generation digital publishing company specializing in bite-sized comic books, novels and graphic novel inspired mobile games. A veteran in the digital publishing industry, Kim has worked at Google (Blogger.com), TNC (leading Korean blog service), and overseeing Samsung Mobile’s content strategy. He has spoken at TEDx, SXSW, Digital Book World, and San Francisco Writers Conference and he has been featured in The Hollywood Reporter, Publishers Weekly, International Business Times, The A List Daily, The Next Web, etc.
Chang Kim
CEO, Tapas Media
Somatone Interactive
Dale Crowley
Creative Director at Somatone InteractiveEMAIL DALE VIEW LECTURE
Dale is a veteran of the games industry with 20+ years experience in all aspects of game production. His focus the past 13 years has been on audio, working on hundreds of games over that time. He currently has three roles - Creative Director at Somatone Interactive, Director of US Business Development at Elias Software, and Managing Editor of Designing Music NOW.
Dale Crowley
Creative Director, Somatone Interactive
Akamai Technologies
Paul Jackson
Senior Manager at Akamai TechnologiesEMAIL PAUL VIEW LECTURE
After a 20-year career as an industry analyst, Paul joined Akamai in early 2018. He works in the media industry team, looking at the trends, opportunities, and threats facing the industry and Akamai. Paul is an acknowledged global expert in videogaming, digital media and consumer technology – usually approaching this from a business model, market sizing and technology feasibility perspective. He has spoken at global industry events like CES, E3, G2E and CDN World as well as being featured in publications like the Economist, FT, and Wall Street Journal and other media like the Today programme, CNN, MSNBC and BBC news.
Paul Jackson
Senior Manager, Akamai Technologies
Megacool
Aurora Klæboe Berg
Co-Founder at MegacoolEMAIL AURORA VIEW LECTURE
Aurora is Co-Founder and CEO of Megacool. Previously she was VP of Business and Marketing of Dirtybit, the studio behind the popular Fun Run game series. She holds a MSc in CommTech Engineering and Entrepreneurship, and is deeply passionate about helping game studios grow their user base in new and creative ways.
Aurora Klæboe Berg
Co-Founder, Megacool
Big Boat Interactive
Mike Arkin
CEO at Big Boat InteractiveEMAIL MIKE VIEW LECTURE
During his 25+ years creating video games, Mike has worked as a producer and studio head on both the publishing and development sides of the games business. While working at companies like Acclaim, Fox, Activision and Crave, Mike shipped 150+ games, including top franchises like WWF/WWE, The Simpsons, Die Hard, Battlezone, UFC and Tokyo Xtreme Racer.
Mike Arkin
CEO, Big Boat Interactive
PopDog
Avi Bhuiyan
VP Product & Strategy at PopDogEMAIL AVI VIEW LECTURE
Avi Bhuiyan is VP of Product Development and Strategy at Popdog, a gaming technology and services company which is the parent company of Loaded, a talent management firm that represents many of the most popular gaming influencers in the world including Ninja, Lirik, and Shroud among many others. Avi started his esports career on the publisher side of the industry at Riot Games, where he ran day-to-day league operations for its flagship North American esports league, the LCS, for a number of years. More recently, he co-headed and built the esports division at Catalyst Sports & Media, where he advised marquee esports teams such as Counter Logic Gaming and the Dallas Fuel on their acquisition by publicly traded companies and family offices, professional sports teams including the Golden State Warriors on their entry into and strategy for esports, and blue-chip brands on activating in the esports space.
Avi Bhuiyan
VP Product & Strategy, PopDog
XLIVE
Kye Browning
Program Director at XLIVEEMAIL KYE VIEW LECTURE
Kye Browning is a 10+ year veteran of the live event industry, getting his start producing shows in Chicago, Illinois before entering the esports space in 2013. He started his esports career organizing esports tournaments and LAN parties, and has since has established collegiate esports programs for Utah Valley University, created and produced a convention, Salt Lake Gaming Con, Browning currently works as the Conference Manager for XLIVE, an Informa Company, and is responsible for overseeing and curating educational and programmed content for both the XLIVE Esports Summit and the XLIVE Annual Conference, designed for professionals and executives in the esports and live experience industries respectively.
Kye Browning
Program Director, XLIVE
Twitch
Mark "Garvey" Candella
Director of Strategic Partnerships at TwitchEMAIL MARK "GARVEY" VIEW LECTURE
Mark "Garvey" Candella is the Director of Strategic Partnerships for Twitch. Garvey currently leads the Twitch Student program and has dedicated himself to creating gaming and esports opportunities for students and universities around the world. From humble beginnings as a Magic the Gathering professional player in 1993 and an avid pen and paper role player prior to that, he has been involved in the esports industry in various ways ever since. His message of inclusiveness, diversity, and collaboration is a personal philosophy deeply ingrained in every project he works on.
Mark "Garvey" Candella
Director of Strategic Partnerships, Twitch
Unity Technologies
Maxim de Wit
Global Head of Content, UDP at Unity TechnologiesEMAIL MAXIM VIEW LECTURE
Maxim started his career in China and became a connector and thought leader in the Asian tech space organizing the GMIC and GMGC conference series, Asia's largest B2B mobile internet and mobile gaming conferences. Having had first-hand experience of the complexities of distribution while working at goGame (a SEGA subsidiary) as its BD Director, Maxim joined Unity as its Global Head of Content to provide developers with a solution to unlock the potential of alternative distribution channels. A cultural chameleon and Asia expert, Maxim has lived in China, India, Vietnam, and Singapore for the past 9 years.
Maxim de Wit
Global Head of Content, UDP, Unity Technologies
UCI Esports
Mark Deppe
Director at UCI EsportsEMAIL MARK VIEW LECTURE
Mark led the effort to create the award-winning esports program at UCI. Working closely with student leaders, administrators, faculty, and industry partners, Mark built a business plan that is both cost-neutral to the university and that broadly approaches the world of esports through the five pillars of Competition, Research, Community, Entertainment, and Careers. Mark was selected to serve as the inaugural commissioner for the North American Scholastic Esports Federation, helping connect learning to student interests. In June 2018, UCI’s League of Legends team won the College League of Legends Championship. In October 2018, UCI’s esports program was awarded “Most Outstanding Collegiate Program” by the esports industry at the Tempest Awards. While at UCI, Mark has helped UCI break six world records and led their League of Legends team to a 2018 Collegiate Championship.
Mark Deppe
Director, UCI Esports
Freelance Broadcaster and
On-Camera Host
On-Camera Host
Daniel Gonzales
Freelance Broadcaster and On-Camera HostEMAIL DANIEL VIEW LECTURE
bio coming soon...
Daniel Gonzales
0, Freelance Broadcaster and On-Camera Host
Evolved Talent Agency
Taylor Heitzig-Rhodes
Head Talent Manager at Evolved Talent AgencyEMAIL TAYLOR VIEW LECTURE
Taylor received a BA in Psychology from the University of Colorado. She was an academic and test prep test tutor, a chess coach, and a PM for Headspace. At Headspace, she built and launched their esports initiative. Tia joined Evolved in 2018 as a player manager, and is currently the Head Talent Manager.
Taylor Heitzig-Rhodes
Head Talent Manager, Evolved Talent Agency
Gen.G
Dominic Kallas
Head of US Operations at Gen.GEMAIL DOMINIC VIEW LECTURE
Dominic is the Head of US Operations at Gen.G Esports, a leading global esports organization connecting the US and Asia. Gen.G has esports teams that compete in the world’s most popular esports, including League of Legends, Overwatch (i.e. Seoul Dynasty), Call of Duty, APEX, Clash Royale, Fortnite, and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG). Dominic is ensuring the expansion of the Gen.G brand into North America via competitive esports teams and other revenue-generating gaming initiatives. Prior to Gen.G, he spent five years in venture capital/private equity and was the esports/gaming expert at Battery Ventures where he helped lead the initial fundraise of capital for Gen.G.
Dominic Kallas
Head of US Operations, Gen.G
Evolved Talent Agency
Barry Lee
Director of Esports at Evolved Talent AgencyEMAIL BARRY VIEW LECTURE
Barry is the Director of Esports at Evolved Talent Agency, where he not only directly represents top Overwatch, League of Legends, and FGC talent, but also oversees the player representation division. Barry previously worked for NRG Esports' League of Legends team as a team manager and for OGN's League of Legends Champions Korea broadcast as an broadcast interpreter and translator.
Barry Lee
Director of Esports, Evolved Talent Agency
Intersport
Kurt Melcher
Executive Director, Esports at IntersportEMAIL KURT VIEW LECTURE
Kurt Melcher is the Executive Director of Esports at Intersport and Robert Morris University in Chicago, IL. Through his efforts, RMU became the first university to recognize esports as part of the athletic department and offer athletic scholarships to gamers, helping to legitimize the world of collegiate esports. Recently the NCAA selected Intersport to lead the research and ideation surrounding the association’s potential role in collegiate esports. Mr. Melcher’s visionary program has been highlighted in a number of prominent news sources including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, among others.
Kurt Melcher
Executive Director, Esports, Intersport
StreamElements
Benjamin Mercke
Brand Partnerships & Account Management at StreamElementsEMAIL BENJAMIN VIEW LECTURE
Ben manages brand partnerships for StreamElements, covering digital activations, streaming tools and analytics through the StreamElements platform. In addition to managing partnerships for The Fusion OWL team, creating content for Ghost Gaming and Meta Threads, Ben founded several esports teams and content production groups over his 5 years in the industry. In his spare time, Ben enjoys skating, snowboarding and laying on the beach.
Benjamin Mercke
Brand Partnerships & Account Management, StreamElements
Player 2
John Pierce
CEO at Player 2EMAIL JOHN VIEW LECTURE
John is the Co-Founder & Partner of Player 2, an esports marketing and strategy firm that helps brands reach young consumers. Player 2 has helped Barclays, Mattel, Stubhub, Amazon Appstore, J.P. Morgan Chase, the San Francisco Giants, the Fiesta Bowl and others develop esports and gaming strategies to reach key objectives for their respective businesses.
John Pierce
CEO, Player 2
Mobile Game Doctor
Dave Rohrl
Owner at Mobile Game DoctorEMAIL DAVE VIEW LECTURE
Dave has been producing and designing games professionally for nearly 25 years, with a strong focus on F2P games for the last 9. He has held senior creative and production positions with Pogo, PopCap, Zynga, and Playdom, among others. For the last 4 years, he has partnered with game developers worldwide to improve their games, teams, and processes.
Dave Rohrl
Owner, Mobile Game Doctor
GumGum Sports
Tia Smith
Account Manager - Esports at GumGum SportsEMAIL TIA VIEW LECTURE
Tia leads all esports client relations for GumGum Sports as an account manager, beginning originally as a social media analyst. She works with a variety of esports and traditional sports clients, from tournament organizers and publishers to NBA teams. Tia and the GumGum team have 360 degree visibility throughout esports and sports sponsorships using AI, and have presented data driven branding best practices to organizations such as the NBA2K League. Prior to her current position, Tia managed social media at the team level for Tempo Storm, and games IP firm Morrison/Lee LLP.
Tia Smith
Account Manager - Esports, GumGum Sports
APPTUTTi
Donald Tang
CEO & Founder at APPTUTTiEMAIL DONALD VIEW LECTURE
Donald started his career in the IT industry, working at worldwide IT giants like Compaq, Dell and HP, covering the whole Asia Pacific region with specific focus in the Greater China region. In his experience of supporting his client China Mobile’s game stores, he identified the serious lack of efficiency and effectiveness. He saw issues with acquisition of international games by Chinese publishers. He invented a system and process based platform and founded APPTUTTi to facilitate the whole communication and publishing processes for international developers to enter the huge Chinese game market.
Donald Tang
CEO & Founder, APPTUTTi
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
Darren Traub
Partner at Davis Wright Tremaine LLPEMAIL DARREN VIEW LECTURE
As a thought leader on legal issues facing the esports ecosystem, Darren represents all segments of the esports industry, including leagues, teams, publishers, events, product providers, content creators, media companies, marketing companies, tournament providers and investors. He provides business counsel and legal solutions to a variety of industry-related transactions, with a focus on team and league organization; licensing, promotions, and sponsorships; tournament and event production; and litigation.
Darren Traub
Partner, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
Bytedance
Tom van Dam
Senior Director Overseas Business at BytedanceEMAIL TOM VIEW LECTURE
A Dutchman living in China, Tom is a games-veteran sporting 10 years of China experience and has worked on the industry's biggest West to East deals. Having led the mobile BD team at NetEase for 6 years up till mid-2019, Tom is now heading gaming business development for ByteDance, owners of the massively popular TikTok & DouYin platforms.
Tom van Dam
Senior Director Overseas Business, Bytedance
Uplandme, Inc.
Idan Zuckerman
Co-Founder at Uplandme, Inc.EMAIL IDAN VIEW LECTURE
Idan is an entrepreneur and 20 year veteran of the Casual Gaming and Consumer Internet, where he brings his expertise in product and engineering. Prior to co-founding Upland, Idan was a member of the founding team of Rocketplay - a leading mobile games developer that was subsequently acquired by AGS (NYSE:AGS), where he served as VP of Interactive Product.
Idan Zuckerman
Co-Founder, Uplandme, Inc.
Mobile Game Doctor
Steve Meretzky
Senior Design Consultant at Mobile Game DoctorEMAIL STEVE VIEW LECTURE
Steve Meretzky began his career at the legendary adventure game company Infocom, where his titles included “Planetfall”, “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy” (a collaboration with Douglas Adams), “Leather Goddesses of Phobos”, and “Zork Zero”. Steve has run his own development studio, Boffo Games, and has been a VP at Disney Interactive, Game Show Network, and King. Over his prolific career, Steve has worked with teams at Activision, Blizzard, EA, Harmonix and Hasbro, to name a few. Steve is currently offering his services as a game design consultant while exploring his next career move; recent clients include Google, Draft Kings, and Mobile Game Doctor. A former board member of the IGDA, Steve organizes the Free-to-Play Summit at the GDC as well as the annual Game Designers Workshop.
Steve Meretzky
Senior Design Consultant, Mobile Game Doctor
XiaoMi Game
Neo Liu
BD Head of Global Publishing at XiaoMi GameEMAIL NEO VIEW LECTURE
Neo Liu started his adventure in the mobile gaming business in 2011. He is currently the BD Head of Global Publishing at XiaoMi Game. Neo has expertise in bringing western games to the China market. Former General Manager of Glu Mobile Inc. Greater China Publishing. Former Managing Director of Gameloft S.A. China Publishing.
Neo Liu
BD Head of Global Publishing, XiaoMi Game
Skillz Inc.
Justin Sampson
Manager of User Acquisition at Skillz Inc.EMAIL JUSTIN VIEW LECTURE
Justin manages the User Acquisition team at Skillz and is tasked with growing a worldwide user base of over 2 billion mobile gamers. Skillz, #1 on Inc 5000 2017 & Forbes' Next Billion-Dollar Start-ups, is a market leader driving the eSports industry forward. Justin began his growth marketing career at Skillz four years ago and now manages a team of UA experts. Previously, Justin worked in strategy consulting and has deep expertise in statistics and economics.
Justin Sampson
Manager of User Acquisition, Skillz Inc.
DigitalDevConnect
Josh Burns
Founder at DigitalDevConnectEMAIL JOSH VIEW LECTURE
Josh is a consultant in the gaming industry working with game developers, game publishers and service providers focused on online and mobile gaming to support key business areas including strategy, market intelligence, marketing, game publishing, business operations and more. Previously he worked at 6waves, leading the US product management team.
Josh Burns
Founder, DigitalDevConnect
kidSAFE Seal Program
Shai Samet
Founder and President at kidSAFE Seal ProgramEMAIL SHAI VIEW LECTURE
Shai Samet is a husband and father of five, an experienced and award-winning Internet safety and privacy expert, and a college tennis hall-of-famer. When he’s not exploring California’s coastal food scene for the best kosher dish, he's fulfilling his role as the founder and president of the kidSAFE Seal Program, a popular safety certification service and seal-of-approval program designed exclusively for children-friendly websites, mobile apps, and connected technologies.
Shai Samet
Founder and President, kidSAFE Seal Program
BOSi Art Studios
Joseph Santos
Director of Sales at BOSi Art StudiosEMAIL JOSEPH VIEW LECTURE
Operating in games and tech for 25+ years, Joe recently hung up his consulting hat and went "all-in" with BOSi Art Studios to help open up western markets by providing beautiful high quality art and animation services. Prior to BOSi and consulting, he seized an opportunity to join Unity Technologies as their 18th team member during the formative period - as their first business development & sales focused employee. Joe brings to the table a large breadth of experience steeped in production as a Producer and Designer, which allows him to effectively communicate between core developers and business stakeholders to solve problems. As a passion project, Joe advises Independent game developers and enjoys helping students break into the games and interactive industry.
Joseph Santos
Director of Sales, BOSi Art Studios
Freelance
Lauren Gaba Flanagan
Creative Strategist and Art Director at FreelanceEMAIL LAUREN VIEW LECTURE
Lauren Gaba Flanagan is a creative strategist and art director focused on helping brands activate in esports and gaming. Most recently, Lauren was the Director of Esports and Gaming at marketing services agency UEG, where she provided creative counsel on the space to corporate clients including Toyota and Frito-Lay. Prior to UEG, she was a creative in the corporate marketing group at entertainment and sports agency CAA, where she worked on the launch campaign and promotional strategy for the inaugural season of the Overwatch League. Lauren is also a writer whose most recent work, a feature on esports and streaming, was published in Flaunt Magazine, and the former author of thisweek.gg, a weekly newsletter covering the latest news in esports through the lens of pop culture, entertainment, marketing, and investing.
Lauren Gaba Flanagan
Creative Strategist and Art Director, Freelance
Biba Ventures
Matt Toner
CEO at Biba VenturesEMAIL MATT VIEW LECTURE
Matt is CEO of Biba, a smart playground system that uses augmented reality features and location-based games to get kids off the couch and back outside for the physical and imaginative play they need. Matt grew the company by forging multi-year exclusive partnerships that have led to more than 4500 playgrounds set up in countries worldwide. In 2019, Biba was named one of the world’s Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company magazine.
Matt Toner
CEO, Biba Ventures
Novel Effect
Melissa Hammersly
Co-Founder at Novel EffectEMAIL MELISSA VIEW LECTURE
Melissa Hammersley is co-founder and Chief Design Officer of Novel Effect, a leader in voice-driven story-based entertainment, adding dimension and interactivity to traditional media-books, television, games, and more. A SCAD educated graphic designer, Melissa oversees Novel Effect's product strategy, innovation, creative direction, and development. She previously spent over 10 years as the owner of a patent illustration firm, and now holds an issued patent herself.
Melissa Hammersly
Co-Founder, Novel Effect
kidSAFE Seal Program
Nate Sawatzky
Head of Member Support at kidSAFE Seal ProgramEMAIL NATE VIEW LECTURE
Nate Sawatzky has built and lead Global service and safety focused teams for Disney, Two Hat, Tiny Speck, and Facebook. His deep experience in working with online communities, and his interest in what makes culture & society tick, has enabled him to move fluidly throughout various areas of business and academia. Nate is currently the Head of Member Care for The kidSAFE Seal Program.
Nate Sawatzky
Head of Member Support, kidSAFE Seal Program
good2grow
Edzra Gibson
VP, Brand Marketing at good2growEMAIL EDZRA VIEW LECTURE
Edzra Gibson, vice president of brand marketing at the #1 kids’ beverage brand in the U.S., good2grow, brings 13+ years of brand marketing and CPG experience to the company. Prior to joining the good2grow team as director of brand marketing in 2015, Edzra supported multiple brands at Fortune 500 companies Abbott Laboratories and Kraft Heinz. In his current role at good2grow, he leads the brand marketing team in identifying future consumer-based growth opportunities that deliver against brand and financial objectives – including portfolio development and consumer activation strategies for national scale and customer-specific shopper marketing initiatives.
Edzra Gibson
VP, Brand Marketing, good2grow
StoryPHORCE Entertainment
Steve Peterson
CEO at StoryPHORCE EntertainmentEMAIL STEVE VIEW LECTURE
Steve Peterson is an award-winning game designer (co-creator of Champions), experienced marketing executive, game business journalist, and author. Currently he’s launching his new company, StoryPHORCE Entertainment, creating a storyplaying platform for a mass audience – ask him about it!
Steve Peterson
CEO, StoryPHORCE Entertainment
Pocket.Watch
Chris M. Williams
Founder & CEO at Pocket.WatchEMAIL CHRIS M. VIEW LECTURE
As pocket.watch’s CEO, Chris is responsible for setting the company’s vision as well as cultivating a strong working environment where his world class management team is driven to perform at the top of their abilities. Chris is a true pioneer of online video, with 20 years of proven success in both predicting and capitalizing upon opportunities that have dictated the future of media and entertainment. Most recently, he served as the Chief Audience Officer of Maker Studios and prior to that, he was the founder and CEO of venture backed startup, Take180. Both companies were acquired by The Walt Disney Company where Chris also launched Disney Online Originals, a division dedicated to the creation of Disney branded short form content.
Chris M. Williams
Founder & CEO, Pocket.Watch
MoxieGirl
Lydia Henshaw
Founder & CEO, MoxieGirl
Industry Advisor/Consultant
Stan Press
Industry Advisor/ConsultantEMAIL STAN VIEW LECTURE
Stan Press brings with him 14+ years of experience in gaming and esports as a senior marketer, partnerships, and business development professional. Currently advising tech startups and industries looking to get into esports, he had the pleasure of working with fantastic companies such as VY Esports, Magid, Elgato Gaming and ASTRO Gaming by helping establish leadership positions in their respective fields across media agencies, market research, and accessory brands. Stan’s time as a competitive gamer, strategic consultant, and brand marketer makes him an ideal representative for esports at the highest levels of all interested industries.
Stan Press
0, Industry Advisor/Consultant
Greenlit Content
Bryan Dawson
Head of Esports at Greenlit ContentEMAIL BRYAN VIEW LECTURE
Bryan Dawson has an extensive background in the gaming industry, having worked as a journalist at various publications for over 25 years, and participating in a multitude of competitive gaming and esports events. He has authored over a dozen strategy guides for Prima Games, worked as a consultant on numerous gaming-related TV and web shows for DirecTV and other networks, and was an Operations Manager for the IGN Pro League before joining the Greenlit Content team as Head of Esports.
Bryan Dawson
Head of Esports, Greenlit Content
Mobile Game Doctor
David Nixon
Chief Operating Officer at Mobile Game DoctorEMAIL DAVID VIEW LECTURE
David Nixon has developed games professionally for more than three decades, and has shipped hundreds of game titles, with a wide range of experience including development, production, marketing, publishing, and product management. His notable accomplishments including helping bring Real Arcade to the world in 1999 and producing the launch catalog for Xbox Live Arcade. He has operated free-to-play online and mobile game services since that have generated hundreds of millions in IAP and advertising revenue since 2007, helped plan major industry conference programs, and played key roles in the inception and operation of multiple rapid-growth publishing businesses. Over the past 10 years, David has served in executive management roles at Wooga, Lockwood Publishing, Joyrocks Games, Gemini Hive Inc., and Mobile Game Doctor.
David Nixon
Chief Operating Officer, Mobile Game Doctor
Owl Studio
Vera Velichko
CEO at Owl StudioEMAIL VERA VIEW LECTURE
Vera has been drawing for more than 23 years, the past 10 of them in the game industry. Since 2013, Vera has worked as a lead artist. In 2015 she founded Owl Studio, an art outsource company working with the greatest Russian and European game development companies. In 2016 started regular offline and online educational activities for artists.
Vera Velichko
CEO, Owl Studio
GameDaily.biz
Amanda Farough
Editor-in-Chief at GameDaily.bizEMAIL AMANDA VIEW LECTURE
Amanda has been meandering around the game journosphere since 2010, mostly covering indie games, culture, and industry news. These days, she talks about the business of making games through a critical cultural lens. She adores RPGs, weird narrative indie games, and strategy games that take forever to learn. Amanda is also the editor-in-chief of SuperParent.
Amanda Farough
Editor-in-Chief, GameDaily.biz
GameDaily.biz
James Brightman
Editor-at-large at GameDaily.bizEMAIL JAMES VIEW LECTURE
James has been covering the games industry for nearly two decades. He built up the original GameDaily trade site and newsletter and continued to manage it under AOL ownership. He also co-founded trade publication IndustryGamers (along with Greenlit CEO John Benyamine) and continued to lead it as it was merged into Gamer Network’s GamesIndustry.biz, which he also served as EIC for in recent years. James has cultivated numerous relationships with industry professionals, and earned a reputation in the business for insightful, ‘tough-but-fair’ interviews. He’s met with the biggest names in gaming, including (now late) Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata, Peter Moore, John Riccitiello, Phil Spencer, Todd Howard, Sid Meier and other legends.
James Brightman
Editor-at-large, GameDaily.biz
Co-op Mode Communications
Bob Holtzman
Principal & Founder at Co-op Mode CommunicationsEMAIL BOB VIEW LECTURE
Bob Holtzman is the founder and principal of Co-op Mode Communications, a consulting firm that helps video game developers and esports companies achieve their company objectives by helping them tell their best stories to the right audiences. Co-op Mode consults with a wide range of companies, including Tencent and its leading studio TiMi, as well as indie studios like Darewise Entertainment and Hero Blocks. Before founding Co-op Mode, Bob worked for more than a decade in video games at several leading global online game developers in the world, including Riot Games and Nexon America. He also led marketing communications for PC indie darling Kerbal Space Program. Before joining the video game industry, Bob worked as a sports writer and editor at The Daily Breeze, a daily newspaper in Torrance, Calif., breaking national stories in his work covering high school football and Major League Soccer.
Bob Holtzman
Principal & Founder, Co-op Mode Communications
Crossover Technologies
Eric Goldberg
Managing Director at Crossover TechnologiesEMAIL ERIC VIEW LECTURE
Eric is a 35-year veteran of the game, mobile, consumer internet, monetization, and edtech industries, serving in capacities ranging from game designer to executive. Since 2002, Eric is or has been a board member of, advisor or consultant to AOL, Art+Craft, AT&T Wireless, Bandai Namco, BBC Worldwide, Centerscore, Digital Chocolate, Electronic Arts and many more.
Eric Goldberg
Managing Director, Crossover Technologies
Zebra Partners
Perrin Kaplan
Co-Founder & Principal at Zebra PartnersEMAIL PERRIN VIEW LECTURE
Perrin is a marketing strategist with a diverse background in consumer entertainment marketing, politics and journalism. She drives strategic planning, corporate positioning, public policy and viral marketing efforts and is well entrenched in the gaming world. Prior to founding Zebra, Perrin was VP of Marketing and Corporate Affairs for Nintendo.
Perrin Kaplan
Co-Founder & Principal, Zebra Partners
Indie Prize
Yuliya Moshkaryova
Director at Indie PrizeEMAIL YULIYA VIEW LECTURE
Yuliya manages the Indie Prize Showcase which hosts over 400 development teams each year.
Yuliya Moshkaryova
Director, Indie Prize