2010 Agenda

08:15AM–9:00AM
Registration, Breakfast & Networking
Breakfast Sponsored By:


9:00AM–9:15AM   
Welcome to the Conference

9:15AM–10:00AM
2010 Top Gaming Trends - Analyst & Expert Presentations
Leading analysts and industry experts kick-off the day's discussions with an overview of the latest research that reflects and illustrates the current state of gaming and the directions in which the industry is heading, including: consumer behavior & attitudes; adoption & penetration rates of key technology channels & platforms; and business & economic performance numbers.

Presenters:
Christophe Ramstein, CTO, Immersion Corporation
Christopher Weaver, Founder, Bethesda Softworks

10:00AM–10:30AM
KEYNOTE INTERVIEW
Steven Chiang, President, Studios, Zynga
Interviewed By: Mike Vorhaus, President, Magid Advisors

10:30AM–11:15AM
NETWORKING BREAK & *Delegate Roundtables - Join a Discussion Group*
Delegate roundtables are led by attendees and speakers who volunteer to moderate discussions around specific topics. Sign up for the roundtable of your choice at the registration table. Discussion groups will fill-up fast, so please make sure to sign up when you arrive. Each group will meet at a designated roundtable (signs will mark the topic for each table) at 10:45am. If you are registered for the event and would like to volunteer to moderate one of the discussions below or propose a new topic to moderate, please contact jay@digitalmediawire.com.
Discussion Topics:

• Building an Independent Dev Studio in 2010
  Moderator: Brandon Van Slyke, Editor-in-Chief, nycgameindustry.com
• Gaming Metrics - An Inside Look at the Metrics of Monetization
• Are Women the New Hardcore Gamers?
• Risk Management Issues in Online Gaming Communitie
• How to Attract VC Capital and Investors To Your Game Start-Up
  Moderator: Hany Nada, Partner and Co-Founder, GGV Capital
• Developer's Perspective on Surviving the Great Gaming Re-alignment
  Moderator: Jason Schreiber, CEO, Powerhead Games
• Customer Service in Gaming: The Key to Differentiation in the Player Experience
  Moderator: Duke Chung, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Parature

11:15AM–12:00PM PANEL 1
The State of the Games Industry - View From The Top
Industry leaders discuss the current state of the games industry as the business continues its transition towards a digital future. What does it take to make a hit game these days across platforms? What trends and developments are leading the industry? Does the industry need to take more creative risks in breaking new styles of play? What players in the games space will push the creativity? How do you make money in this more and more complicated gaming universe with new digital platforms and other mediums and forms of entertainment now competing with the time and pocket.

Panelists:
Lars Buttler, CEO, Trion Worlds
Chris Petrovic, GM, Digital Media, GameStop
Mari Baker, President & CEO, PlayFirst

Moderator: Eric Goldberg, Managing Director, Crossover Technologies

12:10PM–12:40PM
KEYNOTE PRESENTATION
Alex St. John, President & CTO, hi5

12:40PM–1:40PM   
Lunch Buffet in the 2nd Floor Events Hall

1:40PM–2:10PM
KEYNOTE PRESENTATION
Tal Kerret, CEO & Co-Founder, Oberon Media

TRACK A
DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION

2:15PM–3:00PM PANEL 2
Gaming in the Cloud: Exploring New Forms of Game Distribution
At this very moment we’re witnessing an evolution in the gaming industry – one that has all the characteristics of what our media industry predecessors have and continue to experience (books, music, print, TV, movies, etc.). Videogames are an important part of the migration of content "into the cloud." But despite the disruptive impact the Internet is having on traditional retail, physical goods aren’t likely to disappear any time soon, or will they? If so, when can we expect that to happen? What new forms of distribution work for different types of games? Which devices are going to be driving the future growth of the gaming business? This panel will give you an overview of current trends, provide relevant real-lifecase-studies and give you the unfiltered truth of technological opportunities and challenges facing the games industry in a digital age.

Panelists:
Robert Levitan, CEO, Pando Networks
John Watson, Exec. Dir., Bus. Dev., AT&T Digital Media Solutions
Teemu Huuhtanen, President, North America, Sulake Inc. (Habbo Hotel)
Jim Poole, General Manager, Global Networks & Content, Equinix
Julie Uhrman, VP & General Manager, Digital Content, IGN

Moderator: Daniel Kayser, Founder/EIC, Host/Writer, Host/Producer -
                      EpicBattleAxe.com, GameTrailers TV, GameTrailers.com

TRACK B
GAME MONETIZATION

2:15PM–3:00PM PANEL 3
Money for Nothing? How To Succeed In Selling Virtual Goods for Games and Social Networks
There is a growing consensus that successful online games companies, social networks and virtual worlds need to complement advertising and freemium with a virtual goods micro-transaction business model. The selling point is higher user monetization relative to advertising revenues because of the type of engagement that occurs in social communities and games, but what challenges face companies trying to enter this space and what models will emerge as the most successful? The business of virtual currencies (both earned and bought) have now already become a big business – but are there any inherent limitations in the future growth of the industry given the fragmented nature of it today (e.g., a game’s currency is, for the most part, tied to that specific game and cannot be used elsewhere or exchanged for other items of value)?

Panelists:
Richard Borenstein, VP, Strategic Partnerships, Zong
Conrad Sheehan, Founder and CEO, mPayy
Dave Etling, Vice President, Product Development, inComm
Chethan Ramachandra, CEO and Co-Founder, Turiya Media
Jeff Reine, Director, Digital Goods Business Development, PayPal
Cary Rosenzweig, CEO, IMVU, Inc.

Moderator: Hany Nada, Partner and Co-Founder, GGV Capital

3:00PM–3:30PM   
Refreshment & Networking Break
 

TRACK A
DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION

3:30PM-4:15PM PANEL 4
Transmedia Panel – Creating Compelling Storylines that work for Games, Film, Music, Print and TV Alike
Transmedia is the new buzz-word in the biz and it relates to unfolding of serial narratives on different platforms at the same time. Recent film and TV projects, such as Avatar, True Blood, and District 9, have all (with mixed success) relied on transmedia strategies to generate audience interest in previously unknown fictional universes, often combining promotional and expositional functions. This panel brings together visionaries and experts in the field of producing content for different mediums such as film and games, people who think deeply about our experiences of play, fun, and entertainment, to think about the future of entertainment as a concept. Topics that will be discussed include in what ways will the desire to produce and consume such experiences reconfigure the entertainment industry or conversely, how will the consolidation of media ownership generate or constrain new forms of popular culture, as for example by Disney buying of Marvel Comics? What models of media production, distribution, and consumption are implied by these future visions of entertainment?

Panelists:
Elan Lee, Chief Designer and Founder, Fourth Wall Studios
Jeff Gomez, President, Starlightrunner
Allen DeBevoise, Chairman & CEO, Machinima.com
Danny Bilson, Exec. VP, Core Games, THQ
Frank O'Connor, Franchise Development Director, Microsoft Halo

Moderator: Ted Cohen, Managing Partner, TAG Strategic

TRACK B
GAME MONETIZATION

3:30PM-4:15PM PANEL 5
Selling Games in 2010 and Beyond – Payment Models that Work and the Analytics You Need To Track Them
Games account for the largest portion of paid online content, well ahead of other forms of content, such as movies/video and news. While subscriptions have proven a very successful model for games such as World of Warcraft, it might not be suitable for other online games. At the same time, GameStop, BestBuy and traditional retailers still sell physical games for billions of Dollars. Redbox have proven that the rental model still works well for physical DVDs, now will similar services be successful for games? When it comes to mobile games and casual games, a model has emerged with a free version of the game and a paid version for those who are interested in upgrading. Is there enough money to go around for subscriptions? Is advertising a viable option? What hybrid models are emerging? This panel of game experts will give you a glimpse into the future of game monetization and provide many good ideas for what models will work for your products/services.

Panelists:
Susan Choe, President, Outspark
Ian Swanson, Co-Founder and CEO, Sometrics
Rob Ulrich, Senior Director, PaymentOne
Michael Doron, Vice President, ClickandBuy
Gene Hoffman, CEO, Vindicia

TRACK A
SOCIAL AND CONNECTED GAMING

4:20PM-5:00PM PANEL 6
Power of Community – Integrating Social Design in Creating, Promoting and Distributing Games
Xbox 360, MMOGs, Playstation Home all underscore the social aspects of video gaming in the 21st Century. Flash and browser-based games that work both stand-alone and as application widgets on social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace have also been a growing segment of the gaming industry lately. How important is the social factor in gaming? How can games and interactive entertainment incorporate features such as user-generated content, sharing, rewards and referral programs? How do you monetize these new social gaming environments? This panel of executives from social networks, technology and games companies will tackle these questions and more.

Panelists:
Jack Buser, Director, Sony Computer Entertainment America
Manu Rekhi, General Manager, Content, Games and Developer Platform, MySpace
Robert Ferrari, VP Publishing & Business Development, Sanrio Digital
Joe Minton, President, DDM
Wade Tinney, CEO & Co-Founder, Large Animal Games

TRACK B
GAME MONETIZATION

4:20PM-5:00PM PANEL 7
Madison Avenue Got Game! Attracting Big Brands Advertisers to Games and Social Networks
This panel of advertising, brand and games executives will discuss opportunities for advertisers and brands to reach consumers through the games, virtual worlds and social networks. How are brand marketers and their agencies navigating this space? What advertising campaigns work in games and online communities? How are consumers reacting to ads in games? How are advertising executives working with game developers? What are the opportunities and challenges in incorporating advertising and brands into games and online communities? On the other side of the coin, how can game companies generate revenue and free mass advertising by incorporating digital game content into brand advertising?

Panelists:
Jason McMinn, Co-Founder, Blockdot
Owais Farooqui, Managing Director, NA, King.com
Jack Koch, Head of Marketing, Massive
Kenny Rosenblatt, CEO and Co-Founder, Arkadium
Chris Davis Sr. VP, Sales, Gaia Online

TRACK A
SOCIAL AND CONNECTED GAMING

5:05PM-5:50PM PANEL 8
The Smartphone Revolution - What are the Latest Trends in Games and Social Networking for Mobile Platforms?
This panel of decision-makers in the mobile games value chain will discuss the state of the industry with a focus on innovation, pricing, new devices, marketing and distribution models for mobile games. Is the iPhone model the way of the future for the rest of the business? What, if anything, will change with the introduction of the iPad? How are the operators working with publishers to allow mobile games to really take off? What factors are driving and hindering the industry? How is the mobile industry working with successful online games and brands to grow the market? Is a licensed game or branded title needed to succeed in the current mobile games market? What other platforms are the most exciting; Ovi, Android, BlackBerry, etc.? What roll will the operators play in the future of mobile games?

Panelists:
Kyu Lee, President, Gamevil
Simon Jeffery, Chief Publishing Officer, ngmoco
Justin Siegal, CEO & Co-Founder, MocoSpace
Cindy Armstrong, President & CEO, Electric Bat Interactive
Ron Hirson, SVP, Marketing & Bus. Development, BOKU

TRACK B
GAME MONETIZATION

5:05PM-5:50PM PANEL 9
Accessorize! The Lucrative World of Game, Toys and Entertainment Merchandise
For a lot of gamers, merchandise isn't just about merchandise; it's about fandom. Whichever side of the swag fence you're on, it's hard to deny that videogame merchandise has a considerable social and economic presence in the American gaming community - even if, as an industry, it goes more or less ignored. True, merchandise doesn't have any impact on the actual experience of gaming, but it has become an important element of videogame culture nonetheless.

Panelists:
Peter Marx, Vice President of Production & Technology, Mattel
Joel Weinshanker, President & CEO, NECA

Moderator: Peter Levin, Co-Founder, GeekChicDaily
 

7:00PM–9:00PM   
Cocktail Reception and After Party (Free attendance with NY Games Badge)
   

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