Conference Keynotes

Transcription

Conference Keynotes

News, Strategy, Insight and Analysis. Updated Daily. www.VirtualWorldsNews.com
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Virtual Worlds Conference and Expo™ is a production of Virtual Worlds Management™
presented by
www.VirtualWorldsExpo.com
Welcome
Virtual Worlds Management
Tonda Bunge
Conference Director
512-484-5574
tonda@showinitiative.com
Welcome to the second annual Virtual Worlds Expo. When we launched
last year, we were still in Silicon Valley and still talking as early adopters. One year later and we are in the entertainment capital of the world.
Just putting together the content for this Expo was a lesson in how far
we’ve come.
Tim Williams
Sales and Marketing Director
512-289-8687
tim@showinitiative.com
Never mind the 100+ youth-oriented worlds that are live or in development - the actual user numbers and time spent in these worlds makes
it clear that they’re taking hold. With so much attention, we’re happy to
welcome the entertainment industry. Virtual worlds as a medium - not
just a technology - have the potential to revolutionize Hollywood. While kids are certainly a
focus, this show is not all fun and games: virtual worlds are being adopted and put to use
by organizations everywhere, from the U.S. government to the healthcare industry. Our
enterprise track provides key insight on how businesses can leverage virtual worlds.
Joey Seiler
Editor, VirtualWorldsNews.com
512-535-8650
joey@showinitiative.com
Christopher Sherman
Executive Director, Founder
512-633-4132
chris@showinitiative.com
www.VirtualWorldsManagement.com
Contents
Sponsors
Media Partners
Thursday Schedule at a Glance
Friday Schedule at a Glance
Keynote Speakers
Expanded Schedule
Virtual Worlds Kids
Virtual Worlds Hollywood
Enterprise Virtual Worlds
Future of Virtual Worlds
Technology & Results
Speaker Biographies
Expo Floorplan & Exhibitor List
Exhibitor Profiles
Sponsor Profiles
Virtual Worlds Innoviation Awards
Show Map
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5
6
7
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18
20
22
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40
48
49
50
And then there’s the future. With young users investing so much of their time and energy in
virtual worlds, the next five to ten years promise to be particularly exciting. We’re thrilled to
present an entire track dedicated to looking ahead at future applications, technologies, and
evolutions of the virtual worlds industry. After all, if we want to be ready for when all those
kids grow up, we need to start the conversation now.
That’s why we also encourage you to continue this discussion with us after the show. We’ve
built in lengthy breaks for networking that we hope you’ll take advantage of here, but please
also stay in touch after we all leave Los Angeles. You can keep up with the latest industry
news at VirtualWorldsNews.com and our online community at Virtual Worlds Connect.
For now, though, please enjoy our wonderful speakers and exhibitors. The newest technologies and applications for virtual worlds are on display in the exhibit hall, and the brightest
innovators from multiple industries are sharing their knowledge in our sessions. It’s a rare
opportunity, and I’d like to thank all our speakers and sponsors for making this event possible. Don’t forget to join us for the first annual Virtual Worlds Innovation Awards, Wednesday at 5pm in the exhibit hall (page 49).
Sincerely,
Christopher Sherman
Virtual Worlds Management / Show Initative, LLC
Virtual Worlds Management Events and Services
Virtual Worlds London™
Virtual Worlds 2009™
Virtual Worlds Expo™
October 20-21, 2008 in London, England
March 10-11, 2009 in New York City
Fall 2009 location to be announced
www.VirtualWorldsLondon.com
www.VirtualWorlds2009.com
Virtual Worlds News™
Virtual Worlds Jobs™
Virtual Worlds Weekly™
Virtual Worlds Connect™
Trade industry news blog, updated daily
The industry employment solution
Weekly email newsletter
The social network for VW professionals
www.VirtualWorldsNews.com
www.VirtualWorldsJobs.com
www.VirutalWorldsWeekly.com
www.VirtualWorldsConnect.com
Show Initiative, LLC
VirtualInsight
Worlds
| Daily.
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Gold Sponsors
Silver Sponsors
Bronze Sponsors
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Sponsors
Media Partners
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Schedule At A Glance
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
7:30 am
9:00 am
9:00 am
10:30 am
Registration and Badge Pick-Up
Welcome
- Christopher V. Sherman, Executive Director, Virtual Worlds Management
- Sibley Verbeck, CEO, The Electric Sheep Company
Keynote
- Jon Landau, Academy Award-winning Producer, Lightstorm Entertainment, Inc.
10:30 am
11:00 am
11:00 am
12:00 pm
Break and Demos in the Expo Hall
Virtual Worlds
Kids
Virtual Worlds
Hollywood
Enterprise
Virtual Worlds
Future of
Virtual Worlds
Technology &
Results
Room 409 AB
Room 408 B
Room 408 A
Room 406 AB
Room 404 AB
Virtual Worlds in the
Workplace
Technical Visionaries
Discuss and Debate
The Future of Virtual
World Technologies
Evolution of the Toy
Industry:
the Opportunities
of Online Play
12:00 pm
1:00 pm
1:00 pm
2:00 pm
3:30 pm
4:00 pm
4:00 pm
5:00 pm
5:00 pm
6:00 pm
Virtual Worlds
Primer for the
Entertainment Industry
Brands in the Virtual
World Case Study:
There and Scion
Virtual World Advertising:
Lessons Learned
Lunch and Demos in the Expo Hall
Purse Strings and Piggy
Banks: Generating
Revenue from
Younger Users
2:00 pm
2:30 pm
2:30 pm
3:30 pm
Room 403AB
Virtual Worlds By the
Numbers: A Look at the
Market Research
How to Convince the
Boss You’re Not Off Your
Rocker: Getting Buy-In
for Enterprise Immersive
Internet Initiatives
Business Visionaries
Panel: Where Is the
Business Headed Next?
Unified Communications
Meets the Virtual World
Investing in Virtual
Worlds
Bringing Celebrity
Brands to
Virtual Worlds
Virtual Worlds
in Healthcare:
Real-World Benefits
Mobile Virtual Worlds:
Leaving the Personal
Computer Behind
Winning Strategies
to Optimize
Online Revenues Leading initiatives in
MMOGs/Virtual Worlds
Afternoon Keynote
Steve Parkis, Senior Vice President, Disney Online
Exhibit Hall Stage
Evening Reception in the Exhibit Hall
Virtual Worlds Innovation Award winners announced
Plus, view exciting virtual worlds demos and have a drink.
Looking for something?
Show Map on page 50
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Thursday, September 4, 2008
8:00 am
9:00 am
9:00 am
10:30 am
Registration and Badge Pick-Up
Welcome
- Christopher V. Sherman, Executive Director, Virtual Worlds Management
Room 403AB
- Reuben Steiger, CEO and Founder, Millions of Us
Keynote
- Colin J. Parris, Ph.D., VP, Digital Convergence, IBM Research - interviewed by Erica Driver, Principal, ThinkBalm
10:30 am
11:00 am
11:00 am
12:00 pm
Virtual Worlds
Kids
Virtual Worlds
Hollywood
Enterprise
Virtual Worlds
Future of
Virtual Worlds
Technology &
Results
Room 409 AB
Room 408 B
Room 408 A
Room 406 AB
Room 404 AB
Best Practices for
Education in
Virtual Worlds
How TV Networks Are
Effectively Using Virtual
Worlds
Virtual-Worlds @ Work:
Onboarding and
Sales Training
Augmented Reality:
Virtual Interfaces
to Tangible Spaces
12:00 pm
1:00 pm
1:00 pm
2:00 pm
Lunch and Demos in the Expo Hall
Hot or Not: Generic,
Branded and
Functional Virtual Goods
… Oh My!
2:00 pm
2:30 pm
2:30 pm
3:30 pm
The Future of Virtual
Collaboration
in the Enterprise
Virtual Worlds Roadmap
From the Metaverse to
the Interverse:
Japanese Efforts to
Evolve the Virtual Worlds
Landscape
Virtual Worlds in Schools
3:30 pm
4:00 pm
4:00 pm
5:00 pm
How Virtual Worlds
Influence the Future of
Entertainment
Bringing Movies into the
Virtual World: A
Legal and Business
Perspective
Case Study: National
Guard’s Joint Training
Directorate’s Virtual
World for Collaboration
Virtual Worlds
Meet the Web:
The Present & Future
Working in Multiverse
Case Study: Bridging
the Gap between Digital
First Brands and
Consumer Product Lines
Virtual Worlds:
What Producers
Need to Know
Using Virtual Worlds to
Enhance, Streamline
and Augment the
Film-Making Process.
Open-Source
Interoperable
Virtual Worlds
mark your calendar:
Virtual Worlds 2009
March 10-11, 2009
New York City
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Conference Keynotes
Conference Keynote: Wednesday, September 3rd, 9:00am - 10:30am
Jon Landau
Academy Award-winning Producer
Lightstorm Entertainment, Inc.
Advisor, Multiverse
Academy Award ® - winning producer Jon Landau has repeatedly demonstrated an ability to oversee
and deliver major motion pictures. The combination of Landau’s thorough understanding of complex
visual effects technologies, his ability to work hand-in-hand with the highest caliber of creative talent, and his motivational ability with crews of all sizes has enabled him to play a significant role in
numerous major motion pictures. Currently in production on the widely anticipated James Cameron
film, AVATAR, Landau has also produced such films as James Cameron’s TITANIC and Steven Soderbergh’s SOLARIS, also under Cameron’s “Lightstorm Entertainment” banner. In the past, Landau
co-produced Warren Beatty’s DICK TRACY and the family comedy hit HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS.
Throughout the early ‘90’s, Landau was Executive Vice President of Feature Film Production at Twentieth Century Fox.
Conference Keynote: Wednesday, September 3rd, 4:00pm - 5:00pm
Steve Parkis
Senior Vice President
Disney Online
Steve Parkis is Senior Vice President of Disney Online (DOL), the business unit of the Walt Disney
Internet Group (WDIG). Parkis oversees Disney Online Studios, the internal team that builds, operates
and publishes an expansive line-up of games, virtual worlds and online social communities. Parkis
focuses on product development and operations of Disney-branded online entertainment including
Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean Online, Disney Fairies Pixie Hollow, Playhouse Disney Preschool
Time Online and Disney’s Toontown Online. Previously, Parkis served as Vice President of premium
content, where he oversaw the product development, operations and marketing of Disney-branded
Internet content. Prior to that, Parkis served in finance and corporate development at WDIG overseeing, among other things, the strategy for the delivery of the GO Network’s rich media content and development of its entertainment-focused vertical content areas. Most recently, Parkis was responsible
for leading the financial planning team of WDIG during the division’s drive to profitability.
Conference Keynote: Thursday, September 4th, 9:00am - 10:30am
Interviewed by leading industry analyst Erica Driver
Colin J. Parris, Ph.D.
Vice President, Digital Convergence
IBM Research
Dr. Parris is currently Vice President, Digital Convergence, in the IBM Research Group. Under his
leadership IBM has formed an emerging business which takes an end-to-end systems perspective
to bringing highly visual, interactive interfaces into the world of business, science, healthcare and
education. Previously Dr. Parris was Vice President, System Assurance & Post-Sales Technical Support, in the IBM Systems and Technology Group where he was responsible for end-to-end quality and
post-sales technical support for the IBM server and storage products. Prior to his Systems role, Dr.
Parris was Vice President, Strategic Growth Development and has also held several other technical
and business executive positions at IBM, Tivoli, and Prodigy Services Company as well as several
research positions at IBM’s Thomas J. Watson Research Center and AT&T Bell. He has published
numerous papers and has patents in the areas of network management, multimedia systems, and
mobile agents.
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Expanded Schedule
VIRTUAL WORLDS KIDS
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2008
11:00 - 12:00 pm
Evolution of the Toy Industry:
The Opportunities of Online Play
Kids are playing with more than just toys these days, engaging in virtual worlds often upwards of 16 hours each week
- creating avatars, playing games, earning and spending virtual currency, and socializing. These online-offline, web-connected products offer enhanced play value and are the glue
that bonds these digital natives, Generation Z (kids 2-14)
to a new generation of play. This cutting edge discussion is
focused on the evolution of toys and online play. Panelists
from leading toy companies will discuss their latest innovations and how the world of safe online play is bringing the
excitement of off line toys and online play to a whole new
level. Attendees will also share insights gained from a new
TIA/NPD Group research study, Online Play: Earning Mom’s
Trust and Children’s Interest, which was commissioned to
help industry players understand what’s driving moms and
kids ages 2 to 14 to social, gaming and/or entertainment
websites.
- Julie Livingston, Senior Director, Public Relations,
Toy Industry Association, Inc. (moderator)
- Ginny McCormick, Interactive Director, Techno Source,
maker of Clickables
- Brenda Elliot, Vice President, Marketing, iToys,
maker of Me2
- Joshua Howard, Senior Vice-President of Online
Development/Bella Sara Online, Hidden City Games
- Ethan Wood, Senior Industrial Manager, Mattel
1:00 - 2:00 pm
Purse Strings and Piggy Banks:
Generating Revenue from Younger Users
As more and more kids turn to the Internet for entertainment and communications, youth-focused properties have
become a hot ticket for many new virtual worlds developers.
As an ever increasing number of worlds targeting children
come to market, and populations in them soar, companies
find themselves looking for creative ways to generate revenue from kids and tweens. But with parents controlling credit
cards and purse strings, what are developers doing to make
sure their young users can actually put money into the virtual
world?
This session will focus on the changing nature of targeting
younger users and how to ensure positive revenues from
this audience. Topics to be covered include: What can be
done to gain parental buy-in? How can developers create
safe, secure financial environments for kids? What product
design considerations need to be made? What is off limits
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and what is absolutely required when monetizing kid-friendly
online worlds?
- Kenneth Locker, SVP Digital media, Cookie Jar
Entertainment
2:30 - 3:30 pm
Investing In Virtual Worlds
Investors are in the rare position to have a 30,000-foot view
of the landscape. Looking at markets and trends and the entire ecology of the market, leaders from the investment community come together in this session and discuss investing
in virtual worlds. Panelists will discuss today’s business environment, the evolution of the marketplace and where the
next growth opportunities are likely to materialize.
- Timothy Chang, Principal, Norwest Venture Partners
- Kevin Covert, Co-Head of Media & Internet
Investment Banking, Montgomery & Co., LLC
- Scott Raney, Partner, Redpoint Ventures
- Neil Harris, Executive Vice President, Simutronics
(moderator)
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2008
11:00 - 12:00 pm
Best Practices for Education in Virtual Worlds
Join author/educator Cathy Arreguin of San Diego State University and Global Kids Online Leadership Director Barry Joseph as they discuss the Global Kids report to the MacArthur
Foundation summarizing important concepts and examples
to incorporate best practices into virtual education using
Second Life. This fast-paced hour will also highlight practical
examples and activities designed to inspire educators and
others new to virtual worlds providing a broad level overview
based on reports from the field.
- Barry Joseph, Online Leadership Director,
Global Kids, Inc.
- Cathy Arreguin, Instructor in Virtual Worlds for Education,
San Diego State University
1:00 - 2:00 pm
Hot or Not: Generic, Branded and Functional
Virtual Goods… Oh My!
The latest pair of jeans, CoverGirl lipstick, a Skittles bikini,
or a “Go Obama” sign: What’s hot and what’s not? How to
effectively advertise in social media is still a hot debate,
and some doubt it will ever work. Consumers are spending millions of dollars on online branded goods within virtual
communities. The numbers are becoming hard for brand
managers and advertisers to ignore, but most don’t know
what types of opportunities exist and what is most effective.
People don’t want ads, but give them a branded good they
connect to and it’s a different story. Executives will provide
insight into what consumers are demanding and help brand
managers and advertisers learn how to reach key demographics in virtual worlds. Attendees will learn: Key lessons
about what’s worked and what’s flopped; How to evaluate
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what type of virtual good best meets your needs; And best
practices to deliver effective branded items for the avatarbased environment and more.
- Lauren Bigelow, GM and SVP Marketing, WeeWorld Inc.
- Jeremy Monroe, Director of Business Development,
North America, Sulake
- Matt Sterling, Property Sales Director - AIM, Platform A/
Time Warner
- Debra Aho Williamson, Senior analyst, eMarketer Inc.
(moderator)
2:30 - 3:30 pm
Virtual Worlds in Schools
Digital media is bringing up a new generation, where among
peers, kids are motivated to engage in challenging activities,
create their own content, and learn new skills. Through their
online activities, kids are finding immediate gratification as
well as a sense of competence, autonomy, self-determination and connectedness. Is it possible for public education to
inspire the same sense of engagement in learning?
In this case study, Dizzywood will discuss their unique pilot
program with a public school district in Marin County, CA.
In addition to learning core values such as caring, citizenship, fairness, respect, responsibility and trustworthiness,
students are engaging in activities which train them “to play
by the rules,” to “protect the environment,” and “to cooperate with others.” The pilot program proves that kids can get
excited about learning and engaged in the process. Is this
the model for the future?
- Scott Arpajian, co-founder, Dizzywood
- Patti Purcell, Principal, Bel Aire Elementary School,
Tiburon, CA
4:00 - 5:00 pm
Case Study: Bridging the Gap between
Digital First Brands and Consumer Product Lines
Many virtual worlds have stemmed from the creation of consumer product lines, but Neopets has made the transition
from virtual to the mainstream mega-store shelves. Founded
in 1998, Neopets is now branching out from their original online virtual architecture and is in the midst of launching their
consumer product line. In order to bridge the gap between
online and offline, the Neopets strategy is to retain the key
emotional drivers – collectibility, exploration and competition
– that made the kids-oriented virtual world so successful. This
session discusses the strategy, challenges and processes of
transitioning the once digital to the now tangible, maintaining
the continuity of emotional drivers between online and offline
elements, and evaluate their latest rates of success.
- Jeremy Padawer, Vice President of Entertainment
Brand Marketing, JAKKS Pacific
- Stefanie Schwartz, Vice President, Marketing and
Operations, Neopets, Nickelodeon
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VIRTUAL WORLDS
HOLLYWOOD
11:00 - 12:00 pm
Virtual Worlds Primer for The Entertainment Industry
How do you take an existing entertainment franchise to the
virtual world? What are the expectations? How do you leverage existing audiences to drive new revenue streams? What
are the hurdles? How do you create a compelling virtual environment that does justice to the original content and yet is
fresh, engaging and entertaining to participants? This session, designed specifically for content owners, will answer all
these questions and more.
- Chris Carella,Chief Creative Officer, The Electric
Sheep Company
1:00 - 2:00 pm
Virtual Worlds By The Numbers:
A Look at the Market Research
This session lays the groundwork by giving you the research
you need to take advantage of virtual worlds today. We’ll
also look at forecasts for where virtual worlds are going tomorrow. Plan your brand extensions based on current trends
as well as a solid understanding of growth projections and
the technologies of the near future.
- Steve Prentice, VP & Gartner fellow, Gartner
- Yuanzhe (Michael) Cai, Director, Broadband & Gaming,
Parks Associates
- Barry Gilbert, Vice President, Strategy Analytics
- Brian Dunbar, EVP Client Services, Millions of Us
- Nic Mitham, CEO, K Zero (moderator)
2:30 - 3:30 pm
Bringing Celebrity Brands to Virtual Worlds
The creators of films, television shows, comic books, and
games are focusing on virtual worlds now more than ever.
With young people spending more time in virtual worlds instead of watching television, media companies and celebrities are forging new relationships and “appearing” in virtual
worlds. This session looks at the promotional value of bringing celebrities into virtual worlds and how to maximize this
exposure and create meaningful engagement with fans.
- Matt Palmer, Executive Vice President and General
Manager, Stardoll
- Dan Jansen, CEO and Co-Founder, Virtual Greats
- Teemu Huuhtanen, Executive Vice President, Habbo
Business and President, North America
- Rajiv Mody, VP, 3D Worlds, MTV Networks
- Lewis Henderson, Senior VP, Head of Digital,
William Morris
- Arnaldo “AJ” Peralta, Executive Vice President,
Icarus Studios (moderator)
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11:00 - 12:00 pm
How TV Networks Are Effectively Using Virtual Worlds
Television networks have been exploring virtual worlds for
some time. Examples range from the promotional use of virtual worlds, like Showtime’s L Word community in Second
Life, to the virtual world extension of established franchises such as CBS’s CSI and MTV’s multiple virtual worlds,
all based upon established shows. This session provides a
series of mini-case studies exploring how Showtime, CBS,
Warner Bros., MTV and others are effectively using virtual
worlds.
- Valerie Williamson, VP of Marketing and Business
Development, The Electric Sheep Company
- Christopher Lucas, Vice President and Executive
Producer, Showtime
1:00 - 2:00 pm
How Virtual Worlds Influence the
Future of Entertainment
An exploration of cross-platform narrative possibilities, bringing video content into virtual worlds and vice versa.
- Tim Kring, Executive Producer/Creator, Heroes
- Reuben Steiger, CEO and Founder, Millions of Us
2:30 - 3:30 pm
Bringing Movies into the Virtual World:
A Legal and Business Perspective
This panel of business professionals and legal experts
will discuss what is involved in bringing movies into virtual
worlds. Several studios have already expanded the movie
experience into the virtual world. The movies “300” and “Live
Free or Die Hard”, just to name two, have created virtual
world extensions of the films where avatars can experience
the action of the movies. Moreover, Disney announced it
would build more virtual worlds like Pirates of The Caribbean
Online, based on a broad range of its properties, including
Toy Story, Narnia, Cars, The Incredibles, Cinderella and others. Other companies are taking a different tack and entering into licensing deals allowing film clips or movies to be
shown in the virtual world. Makena Technologies has struck
a deal with Paramount Digital Entertainment to license clips
from thousands of the latter’s films and TV shows for use in
Makena’s There.com virtual world. Likewise, Sony and Warner Bros. have both struck deals with Gaia Online. This session will discuss the main legal and business issues faced
in such deals.
- Sean Kane, Attorney, Drakeford & Kane LLC
- Daniel Light, Head of Interactive, Picture Production
Company
- Malik Ducard, VP North American Digital Distribution,
Paramount Digital Entertainment
- Roxanne E. Christ, Partner, Latham & Watkins
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4:00 - 5:00 pm
Virtual Worlds: What Producers Need to Know
Join us for a moderated two-way dialog between accomplished independent motion picture, television and new media producers and virtual worlds technology providers. This
session will evoke a lively, open discussion for advancing
collaboration between the world’s leading entertainment producers and the emerging virtual worlds industry.
- W. Vito Montone, Chairman & CCO, Neoverse
Technologies, Inc. (moderator)
- John Andrews, Senior VP/Creative Director, Klasky-Csupo
- Rafhael Cedeno, CTO & Co-Founder, The Multiverse
Network, Inc.
- Brad Lineberger, CTO for Icarus Studios
- Jeremy Ross, Director of New Product Development,
TOKYOPOP
ENTERPRISE VIRTUAL WORLDS
11:00 - 12:00 pm
Virtual Worlds in the Workplace
This panel will discuss current topics in virtual worlds for enterprise use. Whether developing meeting spaces or specialized training content, virtual worlds have broad implications
for enterprises and can provide a direct return on investment.
The session is targeted at enterprise decision makers looking for answers on how virtual worlds can help.
- Peter Haik, CEO & Cofounder, Metaversatility (moderator)
- Justin Bovington, CEO, RiversRunRed
- Jonathan Reichental, Director of IT Innovation,
PricewaterhouseCoopers
- Greg Nuyens, CEO, Qwaq
- Laura (Pevehouse) Thomas, Dell, Inc.
1:00 - 2:00 pm
How to Convince the Boss You’re Not
Off Your Rocker: Getting Buy-In for Enterprise
Immersive Internet Initiatives
Many Immersive Internet advocates and implementers who
talk about using virtual worlds, immersive workspaces, and
serious games to get real work done see rolled eyes or,
worse, have been bowled over by peals of laughter. In this
interactive session, a leading industry analyst shares examples of how companies are building the business case
for using the Immersive Internet for work. She leaves the
audience with a bag of tips and tricks for getting business
process owners and business stakeholders to listen to -- in
fact help create -- the value story.
- Erica Driver, Principal, ThinkBalm
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2:30 - 3:30 pm
Virtual Worlds in Healthcare: Real-World Benefits
CIGNA has launched a pilot program offering virtual world
health coaching, seminars and workshops to help members
make positive lifestyle choices and improve their long-term
health. As part of their commitment to engaging with its members in different ways, CIGNA, with the help of Method, has
created a virtual world experience that will ultimately augment other more traditional channels of communications,
such as telephone, web and face-to-face. This is one of the
first examples of a company implementing a cross-channel,
user experience centric designed, 3D environment and a
global first in the healthcare sector.
- Claus Nehmzow, VP, Virtual Worlds/Immersive
Experiences Practice Group, Method
- Peter Mills, Chief Health Officer, Cigna
11:00 - 12:00 pm
Virtual-Worlds @ Work: Onboarding and Sales Training
The session will focus on how virtual worlds can be used for
onboarding and sales training and what early adopting organizations are now doing on this front. This session will be
helpful for enterprise representatives that are considering,
or have just started, looking at the use of virtual worlds for
learning and training. Attendees will hear valuable insight,
information, and best practices about what innovators and
early adopter organizations are doing right now.
- John Boring, CEO, Accelerate
- Anders Gronstedt, President, Gronstedt Group
- Eilif Trondsen, Director, SRI Consulting Business
Intelligence
2:30 - 3:30 pm
Case Study: National Guard’s Joint Training Directorate’s Virtual World for Collaboration
This exclusive case study will provide attendees with a detailed look at the National Guard’s Joint Training Directorate’s virtual world for collaboration, the Emergency Management Nexus. The collaboration tool will soon have virtual
classroom capabilities. The collaboration tool, similar to a
project underway with the Department of Homeland Security, aims to provide virtual classroom capabilities and more,
integrated across multiple agencies and emergency management organizations.
- NLTC Greg Pickell, Chief, Training Technologies Branch,
Joint Education, Division, NGB J7
- Waymon Armstrong, President, Engineering & Computer
Simulations (ECS)
4:00 - 5:00 pm
Using Virtual Worlds to Streamline and
Augment the Film-Making Process
Virtual worlds are a useful medium for advancing the collaborative process. The filmmaking process involves large budgets and often globally distributed teams of people, making
it an ideal industry to take advantage of the medium to save
time, money, and develop new ways to work efficiently. We’ll
discuss developments in technology that will allow filmmakers to use virtual worlds for everything from previsualization
and location scouting to production meetings across geographical regions and post-production.
- Jeff Kleiser, CEO, Synthespian Studios
- Ken Brady, CEO & Cofounder, Genkii
- Demian Lichtenstien, CEO, Equilibrium Entertainment
1:00 - 2:00 pm
The Future of Virtual Collaboration in the Enterprise
Will collaboration be virtual worlds’ killer app? How long before virtual worlds are relevant business tools that companies
use on a day-to-day basis? This session takes a detailed
look at the use of virtual worlds for collaboration internally
between employees and outside the firewall with strategic
partners. Combining popular tools like Google Docs and Microsoft Office with a 3D environment, virtual collaboration
reduces the need for in-person meetings and closes the distance between company divisions. Even if a team member
can’t make a virtual meeting, Web-based tools can track the
virtual environment, offering transcripts, calendar systems,
and a set of customizable widgets to make the experience
more accessible. Learn the best practices of using virtual
worlds for collaboration in the enterprise.
- Ron J. Burns, President, ProtonMedia
- Tony O’Driscoll, Fuqua School of Business,
Duke University
- Robert Gehorsam, President, Forterra Systems
- Boas Betzler, Technical Leader for 3D Internet and
Virtual Worlds, IBM
- Steve Prentice, VP & Gartner fellow, Gartner (moderator)
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FUTURE OF
VIRTUAL WORLDS
11:00 - 12:00 pm
Technical Visionaries Discuss and Debate
The Future of Virtual World Technologies
This session will analyze the future course of virtual worlds
technologies. Join us for debate between leading industry
technology experts on the future of the technology, where it’s
headed and what needs to be done to get there. Don’t miss
this lively conversation.
- John Swords, Director of Business Development, The Electric Sheep Company (moderator)
- Ian Hughes/epredator, Metaverse Evangelist, IBM
- Ben Goertzel, CEO, Novamente LLC
- Mark Wallace, Chief Executive, Wello Horld, Inc.
- Christian Renaud, CEO, Technology Intelligence Group
1:00 - 2:00 pm
Business Visionaries Panel:
Where is the Business Headed Next?
Innovation is coming fast and furious on multiple fronts from
multiple vendors. This one-of-a-kind session brings together
the business visionaries of major virtual world companies for
an interactive discussion on the future of the industry. Join
us for a session you won’t want to miss.
- Ginsu Yoon, VP of Business Affairs, Linden Lab
- Corey Bridges, Executive Producer, Multiverse
- Michael Wilson, CEO, Makena Technologies, Inc.
- Raph Koster, President, Areae
- Joey Seiler, Editor, VirtualWorldsNews.com & Virtual
Worlds Weekly (moderator)
2:30 - 3:30 pm
Mobile Virtual Worlds:
Leaving the Personal Computer Behind
We are already starting to see virtual worlds disconnected
from the personal computer as a handful of companies begin to demo on mobile platforms. This trend will only accelerate in the months to come as technology providers follow
consumer use patterns: Millenials’ love for mobile and the
advent of new handsets with more robust graphics make for
a fertile playground for mobile virtual worlds. Already companies have announced plans to bring virtual worlds to 3G
handsets, including the iPhone, Motorola phones and Android, a platform for open handset development from Google.
This session explores the next-generation mobile world.
- Martin Dunsby, CEO, Vollee
- Victoria Coleman, Vice President, Samsung Electronics
- Tom Churchill, CEO, Earthscape
- James Au, Writer, New World Notes and GigaOM
(moderator)
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11:00 - 12:00 pm
Augmented Reality:
Virtual Interfaces to Tangible Spaces
Augmented reality is an emerging platform with new application areas for museums, edutainment, home entertainment, research, and industry. Novel approaches have taken
augmented reality beyond traditional eye-worn or hand-held
displays, creating links between the real and virtual worlds.
Join this panel of experts as they guide you to where the
augmented world is headed next.
- Marc Goodman, Director, Alcatel-Lucent
- Eric Rice, Producer, Slackstreet Studios
- Blair MacIntyre, Associate Professor, School of Interactive
Computing, Director, GVU Center Augmented
Environments Lab, Georgia Institute of Technology
- David Orban, Founder & Chief Evangelist, WideTag, Inc.
- Andrew (Roo) Reynolds, Portfolio Executive for Social
Media, BBC Vision (moderator)
1:00 - 2:00 pm
Virtual Worlds Roadmap
A cross-industry team will present a framework and effort
to publish virtual world case studies and descriptions of the
technical and business barriers to future mass market adoption of specific virtual world applications. The session will
invite the audience to contribute to virtual world industry predictions, analysis, and ideas for lowering barriers to innovation.
- John Hengeveld, Senior Business Strategist, Intel
- Bruce Damer, Executive Director, Contact Consortium,
Virtual Worlds Roadmap SIG
- Jeffrey Pope, Executive Vice President, ngi Group
Ventures / 3Di
- Victoria Coleman, Vice President, Samsung Electronics
- Mic Bowman, Principal Engineer, Intel
- Sibley Verbeck, CEO, The Electric Sheep Company
2:30 - 3:30 pm
Virtual Worlds Meet the Web: The Present & Future
The discussion of Web-based worlds versus download
worlds has changed significantly over the last year with the
advent of interesting new Flash-based efforts and effective
3D plug-ins. In this panel, a group of virtual world executives
discuss the business and technology decisions behind their
diverse product initiatives, analyze trends in Web usage that
are driving the rising importance multi-user virtual experiences, and tackle the bigger discussion of how the Web and
virtual worlds should interoperate.
- Mitch Olson, Co-Founder, SmallWorlds
- Keith McCurdy, CEO, Vivaty
- Daniel James, CEO, Three Rings
- Sean Ryan, Founder and CEO, Meez
- Giff Constable, VP of Products & Strategy, Electric Sheep
Company (moderator)
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4:00 - 5:00 pm
Open-Source, Interoperable Virtual Worlds
Support for standardisation in Virtual World technologies has
been growing steadily in recent times, join the developers of
OpenSim and industry commentators as they discuss where
open-source virtual worlds are heading and the progress
made towards standard protocols for interoperability.
- Adam Frisby, Director, DeepThink (and OpenSim
Developer)
- Tish Shute, Writer/Virtual World Evangelist, Ugotrade.com
- Mic Bowman, Principal Engineer, Intel
- Justin Clark-Casey, OpenSim Developer, IBM
TECHNOLOGY & RESULTS
11:00 - 11:30 am
Brands in the Virtual World Case Study:
There and Scion
Scion has established itself as one of the most progressive
and active brands in the virtual worlds space today. This
case study, presented jointly by Scion and Makena Technologies, will detail Scion’s strategy and programs inside
the 3D world There.com. The study will share learnings from
both the brand stakeholder’s perspective and the platform
stakeholder’s perspective, detailing performance metrics
and future plans for Scion’s strategy.
- Adrian Si, Interactive Marketing Mgr, Scion
- Benton Richardson, VP Business Development,
Makena Technologies, Inc.
11:30 - 12:00 pm
Virtual World Advertising: Lessons Learned
Marketing and advertising inside of virtual worlds can represent a challenge on many levels. Drawing upon over two
years of practical in-world advertising experience, Jared
Freedman of Code4Software will present hard statistics
showing the results of advertising inside of one of the most
popular Virtual Worlds, Second Life TM and some important lessons for those seeking to monetize their virtual world
venues. Code4Software created the system that currently
runs the largest centrally controlled advertising network in
Second Life that logs over fifteen million impression minutes
per month.
- Jared Freedman, President, Code4Software LLC
1:00 - 2:00 pm
Unified Communications Meets the Virtual World
The fusion of enterprise-oriented social networking and 3D
technology is giving rise to realistic human interactions in
immersive virtual meeting environments. IBM Lotus and
Forterra Systems have teamed up to develop an integrated
platform that leverages the unified communication strength
of Lotus with the immersive 3D virtual world technology from
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Forterra. The result is a visually rich set of collaboration
functionality available anytime, anywhere.
- Robert Gehorsam, President, Forterra
- Todd Page, Advisory Software Engineer, Unified
Communications Software, IBM Software Group
2:30-3:30 pm
Winning Strategies to Optimize Online Revenues Leading initiatives in MMOGs/Virtual Worlds
Listen to leading MMOG/virtual worlds thinkers present winning strategies regarding business models, user experience,
worldwide reach, billing solutions, lessons learned, current
issues and fraud prevention. Hosted by Paynova.
- Eric Smith, Moderator
- John Bates, Evangelist, Mindark
- Cyle Witruk, Strategic Developer, Paynova
- Mr. Herman Hsiung, Beijing Cyber Recreation District
- Wanda Gregory, VP Executive Producer, Flowplay
- Cary Rosenzweig, CEO, IMVU Inc
- Glynn Smith, CEO, Mobillcash
- Erik Betkhe, CEO, GoPets
1:00 - 2:00 pm
From the Metaverse to the Interverse: Japanese Efforts
to Evolve the Virtual Worlds Landscape
Linking disparate metaverses into a connected Interverse is
the next step in creating an ecosystem of virtual worlds that
supports both private and commercial entities. In this session, we describe virtual world technologies being developed
at 3Di, Inc., in Japan, in collaboration with the global OpenSim community, to work towards this goal of the Interverse.
Specifically, we describe our efforts regarding extended avatar interoperability (that preserves not only identity but also
avatar appearance and inventory across world boundaries),
our in-browser 3D viewer, and other enterprise-oriented
features such as 3D behavior analysis, load balancing, and
voice-over-IP.
- Taku Kamata, CTO and Vice President of 3Di, Inc.
2:30-3:30 pm
Working in Multiverse
Multiverse co-founders Corey Bridges and Rafhael Cedeno
will provide a high-level description of the company’s unique
platform, which enables anyone, from indie developers to
huge media companies, to create radically unique virtual
worlds. This session includes an overview of Multiverse’s
approach to building both 3D and Flash worlds, as well as
an innovative, new consumer initiative to be unveiled at the
conference.
- Rafhael Cedeno, CTO & Co-Founder, The Multiverse
Network, Inc.
- Corey Bridges, Executive Producer, Multiverse
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Speaker Biographies
John Andrews
Senior VP/Creative Director
Klasky-Csupo
Waymon Armstrong
President
Engineering & Computer Simulations (ECS)
As founder and President of Engineering & Computer Simulations
Inc. (ECS) since its inception in 1997, Mr. Armstrong is dedicated
to Advanced Learning Technology Solutions. Mr. Armstrong was a
2007 finalist for the Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the year award
for the State of Florida. Waymon attended the University of Central
Florida and served on the Advisory Board of their Digital Media Program; he also serves on the Metro Orlando Military Affairs Advisory
Committee, Digital Media Alliance of Florida, Valencia Community
College’s Digital Media Technology Advisory Committee, Otronicon
Advisory Board, Missionary Ventures International, and Industry
Advisory Council for the State of Florida Employ Florida Banner
Center for Digital Media.
Scott Arpajian
Co-Founder
Dizzywood
Scott was destined to be an entrepreneur from childhood. At age
10, he took all of his little sister’s favorite dolls and sold them at a
garage sale, pocketing the proceeds. He has since made amends,
but hasn’t lost the drive. Scott has 15 years of experience in his
field. He spent a decade overseeing Download.com, which he
founded in 1996. Scott graduated from Boston University with a
degree in Mass Communication. He is author of How to Use HTML
3, which won the Computer Press Award for Best How-to Book in
1997. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and two
children.
Cathy Arreguin
Instructor in Virtual Worlds for Education
San Diego State University
Cathy Arreguin is an educator, writer and consultant to nonprofits
and higher education institutions in effective uses of virtual worlds
for instruction and learning. Her recent projects include training,
research and curriculum development. Most recently she worked
with Global Kids, Inc., in the design and development of Science
in Second Life, a standards-based high school program. She also
currently works with San Diego State University, developing instruction and training educators in effective uses of virtual worlds
for both K-12 and adult learners. She has a M.ED in Educational
Technology from SDSU and a B.A. in Psychology from UCLA.
James Au
Writer
New World Notes and GigaOM
Au is the author of *The Making of Second Life: Notes from the New
World* (HarperCollins), the games/virtual world editor for GigaOM.
com, and the editor-in-chief of the Second Life blog New World
Notes http://nwn.blogs.com
Boas Betzler
Technical Leader for 3D Internet and Virtual Worlds
IBM
Boas Betzler is a Senior Technical Staff Member and the Technical
Leader for 3D Internet and Virtual Worlds in the Digital Convergence IBM Emerging Business Opportunity. In this role, Boas is
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responsible for working with different groups to understand how
to leverage Virtual Worlds to improve collaboration inside and outside of an organization. In previous positions, Boas was member
of the Systems and Technology Group Software Architecture Board
as lead designer for Web Services based Systems Management.
Previously he was working for the Linux Technology Center and
starting the embedded Linux initiative in IBM. Boas is widely know
as the Grandfather of Linux on zSeries.
Lauren Bigelow
General Manager and SVP Marketing
WeeWorld Inc.
Lauren Bigelow, General Manger and Senior Vice President, Marketing of WeeWorld Inc., has extensive experience pioneering interactive media companies that push online content, self-expression and marketing to the next level. From mobile and Web-based
models, to virtual worlds and social networking communities, Lauren has a proven track record in emerging technology and currently
leads WeeWorld’s North American growth strategy, as well as product management and marketing worldwide. Lauren has held executive positions at search portals (Lycos/AltaVista) and emerging
technology companies such as Mobot (mobile picture recognition),
and SkyGo (mobile advertising, now part of Enpocket/Nokia). Honored as one of the “Top 25 Most Wired Women in Boston,” Lauren
also regularly provides insight at industry events including Digital
Hollywood, GDC, SXSW, OMMA and Web 2.0.
John Boring
CEO
Accelerate
John is the founder and CEO of Accelerate. A Silicon Valley veteran, he is a highly experienced organization development executive known for his abilities to source, hire and retain great talent.
His expertise lies not only in Team/Organization Development and
Change Management, but also in building corporate training functions. John founded Accelerate in 2004 with the aim of providing all
the outsourced services of a corporate university to his clients. He
was hired by Netscape to establish HR in Engineering and build the
initial Product Development team. He has held senior positions at
Atari Games, Netscape, Portal Software and Apple/Apple University, and consulted to ChevronTexaco, AT&T, Silicon Graphics, HP
and Yahoo!, to name a few.
Justin Bovington
CEO
RiversRunRed
Justin Bovington, founder and CEO of Rivers Run Red, has been
instrumental in developing some of worlds major virtual launches.
At Rivers Run Red, he pioneered the development of the Immersive Workspaces Platform, a complete collaboration solution for the
enterprise. Recognized as one of the leading visionaries of the 3D
Web, Justin is a frequent speaker and regular contributor to the
media on the subject of virtual worlds.
Mic Bowman
Principal Engineer
Intel Corporation
Mic Bowman is a Principal Engineer in Intel’s Corporate Technology Group where he investigates scalable software architectures for
“Connected Visual Computing.” Bowman received his BS from the
University of Montana, and his MS and PhD in Computer Science
from the University of Arizona. Bowman has developed a number
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of large-scale distributed systems including the first distributed
search service for the Web (Harvest, 1993). More recently, he led
the Intel team that built and deployed PlanetLab, a global testbed
for networking and distributed systems research that runs at 500
academic and industrial labs worldwide and a winner of the “Top 50
Technologies” award from Scientific American.
Ken Brady
CEO & Cofounder
Genkii
Ken is CEO of Genkii, a Tokyo-based virtual world and social media
strategic consultancy, with a soft spot for open-source solutions. He
leads a team of dedicated thinkers and doers who aren’t afraid to
get their hands dirty in new creative spaces. Previously, Ken was
Director, International Strategies for Centric / Agency of Change in
Los Angeles, and has worked in a variety of jobs in the film industry. A professional science fiction writer and futurist, Ken works to
further the convergence of virtual worlds and the creative process,
looking for ways to help people play well with others.
Corey Bridges
Executive Producer
Multiverse
Corey Bridges is a co-founder of The Multiverse Network, Inc. As
Executive Producer and Marketing Director, he works to build the
world’s leading network of Massively Multiplayer Online Games
(MMOGs) and 3D virtual worlds. He and the Multiverse team have
pioneered a new technology platform designed to change the economics of virtual world development by providing independent and
fully funded game developers with the resources they need to enter
and compete in the $3 billion online game market. He oversees
business development and developer relations with over 4500
game development teams, ranging from garage developers to Fortune 100 companies to Hollywood legends. Under his guidance,
Multiverse has won multiple awards, including the “Red Herring
100” award for playing a leading role in innovating the technology
business. Corey brings marketing experience from some of the
most influential companies in the high-tech and entertainment industries, including Netflix, Netscape, Zone Labs, Borland and The
Discovery Channel.
Ron J. Burns
President
ProtonMedia
Ron co-founded ProtonMedia in 1998, and focuses on business development, marketing and alliances. Ron is a true evangelist, passionate about merging technology and gaming for next generation
solutions that improve communication and learning. He has spoken
at several industry conferences, and has published articles in Pharmaceutical Representative and Focus magazines. Prior to ProtonMedia, Ron established Burns Audio in 1987, building an extensive
music library that procured and produced music for television and
movies. Ron’s company began producing music and sound design
for video and computer games in the mid-90s - and in that process,
he began the quest to meld gaming with e-learning. He holds a
degree in music composition from Temple University. Ron is also
involved with e-Learning for Kids, a global nonprofit foundation that
provides free e-learning to children via the Internet.
Yuanzhe (Michael) Cai
Director, Broadband & Gaming
Parks Associates
Michael Cai studies developments in video and online gaming, lastmile technologies such as FTTx and broadband wireless, bundled
services, and other broadband value-added services. He has written reports on digital distribution of video games, online and net-
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worked gaming, broadband wireless markets, broadband services,
storage, and entertainment middleware solutions. In addition to
industry reports covering the gaming market, Michael has recently
completed a comprehensive multi-client gamer segmentation study,
which identified six unique gamer segment. He has also completed
numerous custom research projects on the gaming industry, including an international survey of online gamers, an international survey
of power gamers, an international research project on set-top box
gaming, a U.S.-centric study on digital distribution of video games,
and an industry interview project on console gaming.
Chris Carella
Chief Creative Officer
The Electric Sheep Company
Chris Carella is the Chief Creative Officer at The Electric Sheep
Company. He has received a Technical Emmy Award for his work
on the L Word in Second Life and was a producer on the Emmy
Award winning Virtual Laguna Beach. Chris has a design role
on most of The Electric Sheep Company projects including CBS’
CSI:NY Virtual Experience and Paramount’s I Am Legend: Survivor. Chris teaches a course in applications of Virtual Worlds at
Teacher’s College, Columbia University. His interests include virtual worlds, transmedia storytelling, multi-platform programming,
games, mobile computing, and social software. Chris is currently
working on the next generation of Hollywood virtual world projects.
Rafhael Cedeno
CTO & Co-Founder
The Multiverse Network, Inc.
With a distinguished track record of creating fundamental technologies that have made many large-scale applications possible, Rafhael Cedeno directs overall technology development at Multiverse.
At companies like Netscape, Excite, and Kontiki he built technologies that defied convention and enabled entirely new business
models to flourish. His proven ability to create scalable solutions
formed the foundation of several innovative new companies. Under his guidance, Multiverse has built a revolutionary virtual world
development platform that enables new creative talent to enter an
industry once limited to only extremely well-funded teams.
Timothy Chang
Principal
Norwest Venture Partners
Tim brings a combination of operational, technical and international
business experience to Norwest Venture Partners. Tim focuses on
investments in wireless and digital media as well as business development initiatives in Asia-Pacific. Tim has recently invested in
and joined the board of directors of 3Jam and Lumos Labs. Tim
also works with the boards of deCarta and Double Fusion. Tim began his career in venture capital in 1999 during his time at Stanford
Business School as part of the founding team of CTR Ventures
K.K., a venture accelerator in Tokyo. For a complete biography of
Tim, please visit www.nvp.com.
Roxanne E. Christ
Partner
Latham & Watkins
Roxanne Christ is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Latham
& Watkins and is a member of the Corporate Department. Ms.
Christ’s practice focuses on intellectual property and media transactions, including acquisitions and dispositions of intellectual property portfolios; commercial loans secured by copyrights, patents
and trademarks; securitizations of receivables arising from copyrighted works; and licensing and strategic alliance agreements.
Ms. Christ has represented companies in a variety of industries,
including video game development and publishing, social network-
ing sites, music, print publishing and software. Ms. Christ was recently named to the Legal 500 US: Volume II - Intellectual Property,
Media, Technology & Telecoms. Ms. Christ is Co-Chair of the Publications Subcommittee of the American Bar Association’s Special
Committee on Computer Gaming and Virtual Worlds.
Tom Churchill
CEO
Earthscape
Tom Churchill is the Founder and CEO of Earthscape. He has over
20 years of high technology experience, with much of that in the
Internet and mapping space. He was previously the founder and
CEO of AdKnowledge, a Kleiner-Perkins backed enterprise ad
serving company, as well as the lead engineer and manager of Yahoo! Auctions. When not working, Tom enjoys hiking with his family
in the mountains near Boulder, Colorado.
Justin Clark-Casey
OpenSim Developer
IBM
Right now Clark-Casey is in a very brief period between leaving IBM
and joining the Black Dress Technology subsidiary of the Fashion
Research Institute as lead developer. At Black Dress Technology
he will be helping to create, in partnership with IBM, an enterprise
apparel design application based on the OpenSim server platform
and Linden Lab’s Second Life viewer. He is an OpenSim core committer and writes about OpenSim development and related issues
at http://justincc.wordpress.com
Victoria Coleman
Vice President
Samsung Electronics
Victoria Coleman is a Vice President with the Corporate Technology Organization of Samsung Electronics where she is responsible
for Computer Science R&D in North America. Prior to this she was
Director of Security Initiatives at Intel Corporation. She has a long
R&D history including 6 years at SRI International as a Director and
10 years at the University of London as a Professor.
Giff Constable
VP of Products & Strategy
Electric Sheep Company
Giff Constable currently leads The Electric Sheep Company’s operations as Chief Operating Officer. He is a repeat entrepreneur
in the software and Internet industry, has designed and released
multiple software and Internet applications and also spent time as
an investment banker at Jefferies/Broadview providing M&A and
IPO advisory services to technology companies. He often speaks
about virtual worlds at conferences and in the media, and writes the
blog Out to Pasture, found at http://blogs.electricsheepcompany.
com/giff/ .
Kevin Covert
Co-Head of Media & Internet Investment Banking
Montgomery & Co., LLC
Kevin Covert serves as Managing Director and Co-Head of Media
and Internet Investment Banking at Montgomery & Co. Mr. Covert
advises growth companies in the Internet and digital media sectors
and has an extensive track record of highly successful M&A and
private placement transactions. Montgomery’s Media and Internet
group has completed industry leading M&A transactions such as
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Club Penguin/Disney, MySpace/News Corp, UGO/Hearst, SignStorey/CBS, Grouper/Sony, Musicmatch/Yahoo, element5/Digital
River, Neven Vision/Google, Trymedia/Macrovision, iFilm/Viacom,
xDrive/AOL and Rent.com/eBay. Montgomery has also raised
capital for clients such as meebo, Realtime Worlds, Visible World,
Vuze, WildTangent, Move Networks, LegalZoom.com, Reactrix and
DivX. Mr. Covert was a founding member of Montgomery & Co.’s
investment banking group.
Bruce Damer
Executive Director
Contact Consortium - Virtual Worlds Roadmap SIG
Bruce Damer is one of the pioneers of the virtual worlds medium
having formed the first organization dedicated to the medium (the
Contact Consortium), held the first conferences, and authored
some of the first publications (the book Avatars, 1997, and others).
Bruce has recently led open-source virtual worlds efforts in a number of industries including the space program and NASA. He is also
heading up a virtual worlds history project with Stanford University
and leading the EvoGrid effort for Biota.org, a virtual worlds grid for
artificial life experimentation.
Erica Driver
Principal
ThinkBalm
Erica Driver is a co-founder and principal at ThinkBalm. She is a
leading industry analyst with 14 years of experience in IT. Prior to
co-founding ThinkBalm, Erica was a Principal Analyst at Forrester
Research, where she launched the company’s Web3D coverage
as part of her enterprise collaboration research. She was also the
co-conspirator behind Forrester’s Information Workplace concepts
and research. While at Forrester Erica served as a strategic advisor
to a wide range of clients including Alcoa, Bell Canada, Dominion
Resources, GlaxoSmithKline, IBM, Marriott, Microsoft, Raytheon,
Roche, the United Nations, and the U.S. General Services Administration.
Malik Ducard
VP North American Digital Distribution
Paramount Digital Entertainment
Malik Ducard currently serves as Vice President of North American
Digital Distribution at Paramount Digital Entertainment. In this role,
Ducard is responsible for driving revenue and profitability growth by
enlisting third-party aggregators to distribute Paramount Pictures’
content across alternative distribution channels. He also leads the
domestic team, and drives digital development and exploitation of
growing digital business such as Virtual Worlds, Content-loaded
Hardware and Devices, and Consumer-direct Distribution Efforts.
Prior to joining Paramount, Ducard held VP positions at both Lionsgate and MGM Studios.
Brian Dunbar
EVP Client Services
Millions of Us
Brian Dunbar is EVP Client Services and Millions of Us, which has
spearheaded a consortium of virtual world industry leaders in commissioning a report on ROI in virtual worlds from Forrester consulting. Brian Dunbar has spent most of his career working at some
of the world’s most creative advertising agencies. Prior to joining
Millions of Us, he was an Associate Partner at Goodby Silverstein &
Partners in San Francisco and, before that, a Group Account Director and head of business development at DDB in Dallas. Brian’s career encompasses two decades of award-winning advertising and
marketing experience across a variety of industries. Dunbar has
worked with many marquee brands including American Airlines,
E*TRADE, eBay, Saturn, Adobe, Frito Lay, and Budweiser.
Page 26
Martin Dunsby
CEO
Vollee
Martin Dunsby is President and CEO of Vollee, which enables an
interactive PC experience on mobile – including the recently debuted Second Life application available for 3G handsets. Martin,
a 17-year telecommunications veteran, works with operators and
content publishers to create and launch innovative 3G services to
drive business success. Martin was formerly GM/SVP at mobile
solutions provider Openwave Systems, responsible for Global Services, accounting for half the company’s revenue. Previously Martin was VP of sales and operations for engineering consultancy,
inCode Wireless.
Brenda Elliot
Vice President, Marketing
iToys, maker of Me2
www.irwintoy.com
Brenda Elliott, V.P. Marketing at iToys Inc, has over 20 years experience in Marketing, Licensing and Product Development with
American Sensor ( Hi-tech carbon monoxide detection) , Irwin Toy,
Spinmaster, and iToys inc. Brenda is recognized for Global Strategic Marketing, and New Product Trends.
Adam Frisby
Director
DeepThink
OpenSim Developer
Adam Frisby is a founder and director of DeepThink labs, a company specializing in Virtual Worlds since early 2004. Adam is also
the Chief Technical Architect for Another Dimension Media and is
heavily involved in the development of the OpenSim platform and
participates as a core developer.
Robert Gehorsam
President
Forterra Systems
Robert Gehorsam, President of Forterra Systems, Inc., has more
than 20 years of management experience in the online games and
entertainment world. In recent years, he has applied that experience to leveraging commercial game technology for national security applications. Robert has participated in several government
studies on this subject and speaks frequently on the topic. Before
joining Forterra Systems he served as Senior Vice President, Programming and Production at Viacom’s CBS Internet Group, where
he was responsible for content, creative, production and operations
for CBS.com, CBSnews.com and related wholly-owned CBS internet properties.
Barry Gilbert
VP & Research Director
Strategy Analytics
Barry Gilbert was among the original founding members of Strategy Analytics. He rejoined the firm to lead the development of new
programs tracking emerging technologies and markets. While
away, Barry served as COO of Current Analysis, Inc., a competitive
intelligence firm based in Washington DC. Previously, Barry held
executive level positions with Giga Information Group where he
was Vice President of Quantitative Research and Vice President of
the Market Strategies Division (formerly BIS Strategic Decisions).
Barry’s involvement with high technology research, publishing, and
consulting spans over 25 years.
Jared Freedman
President
Code4Software LLC
Jared is currently President of Code4Software LLC, a full service
developer for Virtual World projects and creator of the V-Tracker
software system, the most advanced Virtual World metrics capture
and web based analysis tool currently available. Jared Freedman
has been involved in nearly all facets of software development for
over 20 years and has created enterprise level software for Coldwell Banker, IBM, American Express, Office Depot, Royal Caribbean and more. A life-long passion for electronic entertainment led
Jared to also spend six years in the Video Game business, having
designed games for Warner Brothers, GT Interactive, Sierra Online, Mattel and others.
Ben Goertzel
CEO
Novamente LLC
Dr. Ben Goertzel is CEO and Chief Scientist of AI firm Novamente
LLC, a company focused on creating powerfully intelligent NPC’s
for online games and virtual worlds. He is also CEO of bioinformatics firm Biomind LLC, and Director of Research of the nonprofit
Singularity Institute for AI. Dr. Goertzel is the originator of the OpenCog open-source AI framework, as well as the proprietary Novamente Cognition Engine AI system. A research faculty for 8 years in
several universities in the US and Australasia, he remains active in
the academic AI community. He was the Program Committee Chair
for AGI-08, the First Conference on Artificial General Intelligence;
and is the Conference Chair for AGI-09 which will be held in March
2009 in Washington DC.
Marc Goodman
Director
Alcatel-Lucent
Marc Goodman is a Director at Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) in the North
America Marketing Group where he is focusing on forward-looking
trends and technologies. He manages the University Innovations
Program which partners with universities to develop concept demos
of futuristic ultra-high bandwidth applications such as augmented
reality and mobile versions of massively multiplayer on-line games
(MMOG). Marc is a subject matter expert on social networking and,
for the past few years, has been researching social networking applications and how teens and young adults interact with this growing trend of self-expression and communication.
Anders Gronstedt
President
Gronstedt Group
Anders Gronstedt, Ph.D., is president of the Gronstedt Group, a
global firm specializing in improving management and frontline performance with consulting and custom-developed virtual world experiences, simulations, Podcasting, and other innovative learning
approaches. Their global client list includes industry leaders such
as Dell, FedEx’s, Ericsson, Farmers Insurance, and Volvo Cars and
his articles have appeared in Harvard Business Review, Marketing Management, T+D Magazine, and more. Gronstedt hosts the
weekly “Train for Success” meetings in Second Life.
Peter Haik
CEO & Cofounder
Metaversatility
Peter Haik, CEO of Metaversatility, constantly seeks to push the
boundaries of possibility in the metaverse space. Ever the techno-
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phile, Peter has been actively involved in bridging the gap between
the existing world wide web and 3d virtual worlds. Prior to working
with Metaversatility, Peter worked as a software development consultant providing clients with advanced, web-based custom software solutions. Today, Metaversatility is involved in building and
working within virtual worlds of all shapes, sizes and dimensions.
Neil Harris
Executive Vice President
Simutronics
Neil is the driving force behind the company’s key partnerships and
business strategies as head of business development and marketing. Prior to joining Simutronics in 1993, Neil spent five years with
General Electric as marketing director for its groundbreaking GEnie
online service, spearheading its strategic focus on games and forums. He spent eight years during the 1980s with Commodore and
Atari where he helped launch their computer systems. He has an
MBA from the Wharton School of Business.
Lewis Henderson
Senior VP, Head of Digital
William Morris
Mr. Henderson is a Senior Vice President and the Head of Digital at William Morris. His responsibilities include building revenuegenerating digital business opportunities domestically and internationally for all William Morris clients across film, television, music,
publishing, theater, sports, and corporate. In addition, William Morris Digital advises leading technology companies and digital media
start-ups like Mywaves, Hiro, Immersive, Scanscout, and Habbo
on entertainment strategy. He also works with the Mail Room Fund,
which is a partnership between Accel Partners, Venrock, and AT&T.
Mr. Henderson started his career as a trainee in 1989 and eventually advanced to the agency’s television department.
John Hengeveld
Senior Business Strategist
Intel
John Hengeveld has 20 years of experience leading the development of technology and business strategy. John is currently the
Senior Business Strategist for Intel’s Digital Enterprise group. Dedicated to life-long learning, he also teaches Corporate Strategy and
Business Strategy and Policy for Portland State University’s Master of Business Administration program. John is a graduate of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and holds his MBA from the
University of Oregon.
Joshua Howard
Senior Vice-President of Online Development
Bella Sara Online
Hidden City Games, maker of Bella Sara
www.hiddencitygames.com
Joshua Howard has 15 years of experience at Microsoft, where
he was group manager for Carbonated Games, the casual games
studio he started at the company. Prior to that he was part of MSN
Games/Zone.com, where he was responsible for overseeing all
efforts related to distributing, publishing and internally developing
games for MSN Games, Live Messenger and Xbox Live Arcade
before joining Hidden City Games.
Ian Hughes/epredator
Metaverse Evangelist
IBM
Ian Hughes, a.k.a., epredator is an IBM Consulting IT Specialist
who has worked on leading edge emerging technologies for the
past 18 years, a programmer since he was 14. As a gamer he has
seen a massive increase in the capability and design ethics within
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games and the rise of online gaming. In 1997 Ian started working
on all things web, changing his perspective on the technology and
the business due the much richer mix of people involved in the web
revolution. Graphic Designer, Producers and Programmers all having to work together. At work he has seen and been part of the Web
2.0 revolution has a top rated blog inside IBM and jointly writes
http://www.eightbar.com outside. As a digital native his epredator
persona spans many places, blogs, Eve Online, WoW, Xbox Live,
Twitter, Flickr etc. He is officially an IBM Metaverse Evangelist having led in band of colleagues into Second Life (as epredator potato)
and other virtual worlds for the past 2.5 years with a view to understanding what the social, business and technical implications are of
virtual world technology.
Teemu Huuhtanen
President, North America & EVP Habbo Business
Sulake Corporation Ltd.
As Executive Vice President for Habbo Business and President,
North America for Sulake Corporation, Teemu Huuhtanen is instrumental in leading the continued growth of one of world’s most popular online social networking and gaming communities for teens,
Habbo.com, Sulake’s top property. Since its launch in 2000, Habbo
has grown to over 7 million unique monthly users worldwide and
has been launched in 30 countries on five continents. Its highlytrafficked North American sites, headed by Huuhtanen, receive
over 1.5 million unique users per month. In 2003 Huuhtanen was
named Vice President, Sales for Sulake, overseeing sales at the
company’s headquarters in Finland.
Daniel James
CEO
Three Rings
Daniel is co-founder and CEO of Three Rings, developers of casual
MMO games PUZZLE PIRATES, BANG! HOWDY and the open
web-based virtual world, WHIRLED. Three Rings is an independent
game developer and operator with over thirty employees, based in
San Francisco. Prior to Three Rings Daniel developed MMORPGs
and text MUDs, starting in the field in 1982.
Dan Jansen
CEO and Co-Founder
Virtual Greats
Dan Jansen is the CEO of Virtual Greats, a company that distributes and sells branded virtual goods in partnership with the leading
social networks and virtual worlds. Prior to founding Virtual Greats,
Jansen was an active investor and entrepreneur in the new space.
He also led the Global Media & Entertainment practice for the
Boston Consutling Group. Jansen holds a BA in Economics from
UCLA and an MBA from the Wharton School and lives in Manhattan Beach with his wife and three children.
Barry Joseph
Online Leadership Director
Global Kids, Inc.
Barry Joseph holds a BA from Northwestern University and an MA
in American Studies from New York University. Barry has developed
innovative programs in the areas of youth-led online dialogues,
video games as a form of youth media, and the educational potential of virtual worlds, combining youth development practices with
the development of high profile digital media projects that develop
21st Century Skills. He has also worked with GK’s development
program to secure funding from a number of foundation’s and corporations. He has spoken at numerous conferences and published
articles in a wide variety of publications. More at olp.globalkids.org
and RezEd.org.
Sean Kane
Attorney
Drakeford & Kane LLC
Sean F. Kane is a member of Drakeford & Kane LLC and Manager of the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice Group. He counsels
clients in the interactive entertainment, video game, virtual world,
publishing, licensing and merchandising, and sweepstakes and
gaming industries. His clients are engaged in all aspects of these
industries and he regularly counsels his clients on various aspects
of their business enterprises, including negotiation and completion
of business agreements, counseling on the management and protection of intellectual property rights and other matters relating to
their business operations, mergers and acquisitions, and representation in resolution of disputes. Moreover, he is regularly involved in
transactions ranging from development, financing, publication and
distribution of interactive entertainment properties and related technology licensing; licensing and merchandising of brands, character,
entertainment and sports properties.
brand new site, Uniqlo.com was one of the top aggregators of ecommerce customers and recorded an astounding 47% conversion
rate for visitors entering the transaction process.
Taku Kamata
CTO Vice President
3Di, Inc.
Taku Kamata is the CTO and Vice President of 3Di, Inc., (3di.jp/en),
a founding committee member of the Metaverse Association (metaverse-association.jp), and a strong advocate for the Interverse, an
open virtual world. In 2001, he established the technology strategy
firm, ADN Group. Taku was also an affiliate consultant with McKinsey and Company. In 2000, Taku was the CTO of the Netyear
Group, Inc., which was lead by Satoshi Koike (current CEO of ngi
group, inc. and 3Di, Inc.), one of the leading advocates of Japan’s
“Bit Valley” in the Shibuya Area of Tokyo. While at Netyear, Taku
helped establish Uniqlo.com, the web presence for Uniqlo, one
of Japan’s largest apparel retailer (similar to the Gap). Even as a
Raph Koster
President
Metaplace
Raph got started in virtual worlds back in the days of the text MUDs
in the early 90s, working on LegendMUD. He was creative lead on
the original Ultima Online and lead designer for UO Live and Ultima
Online: The Second Age while working for ORIGIN and Electronic
Arts. He then went on to be creative director on Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided for Sony Online Entertainment. From 2003
to 2006 he served as Chief Creative Officer at Sony Online. He’s
also the author of the acclaimed book A Theory of Fun for Game
Design, and somehow finds the time to write constantly on his popular blog.
Jeff Kleiser
Visual Effects Supervisor
CEO and Cofounder Synthespian Studios
Jeff Kleiser’s pioneering work in computer animation has spanned
the history of the medium. He has contributed to films with groundbreaking visual effects including “Tron,” “Stargate,” “Judge Dredd,”
“Clear and Present Danger,” “Mortal Kombat Annihilation,” “X-Men,”
“X-Men United” and “X-Men: The Last Stand.” He served as senior
visual effects supervisor on “The One”—a film starring martial arts
master Jet Li that required the development of innovative digital
face replacement techniques. More recently, Kleiser supervised
visual effects for “Son of the Mask,” “Fantastic Four” and “Scary
Movie 4.” In addition to supervising visual effects projects, Kleiser
has directed numerous commercials.
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Tim Kring
Executive Producer/Creator
Heroes
Tim Kring is creator and executive producer of “Heroes,” NBC’s
Emmy nominated epic saga that chronicles the lives of ordinary
people who discover they possess extraordinary abilities. In 1996,
Kring became a producer on the popular television series “Chicago
Hope” and became the supervising producer on the series a year
later. In 1998, he co-created the series “Strange World” and served
as co-executive producer on the drama “L.A. Doctors.” Kring joined
the staff of NBC’s “Providence” in 1999 as co-executive producer
and signed an overall deal with NBC Studio. In 2001, Kring created
the procedural drama “Crossing Jordan,” which ran for 6 seasons
and over 100 episodes. In 2008, Kring expanded his horizons, from
the film and TV world by pairing with New York Author Dale Peck
to sell a pitch for a trilogy of books to Crown Publishing. The trilogy
is to be titled THE FLAG OF ORPHEUS with the first book in the
trilogy entitled SHIFT.
Demian Lichtenstien
CEO
Equilibrium Entertainment
Lichtenstein, best known for directing 3000 Miles to Graceland,
has been mentored by James Cameron on Avatar, and has been
trained in 3D techniques by James Mainard and Phil McNally of
Dreamworks. Lichtenstein has over twenty motion picture projects,
five television shows, multiple music acts, and a new video gaming
division in active development, in addition to running a full service
production and post-production company. Currently, he is preparing to produce and direct Relentless, a $25 million dollar 3D action
thriller starring Kiwi actor, Karl Urban.
Daniel Light
Head of Interactive
Picture Production Company
Daniel Light is Head of Interactive at Picture Production Company
(PPC), a leading international film marketing agency. Daniel heads
a 15-strong team of designers, developers and account handlers
delivering ground-breaking online marketing campaigns for clients
including Disney, Fox, Paramount, Universal and Warner Bros.
Dannyboy Lightfoot is General Manager of Silverscreen, an island
venue in Second Life owned by PPC. Dannyboy has planned and
executed events and initiatives in Second Life bringing film-makers
such as Zack Snyder, Frank Miller, Bruce Willis, Michael Bay and
Shia LaBoeuf into Second Life to promote movies including 300,
DIE HARD 4.0, TRANSFORMERS and IRON MAN.
Brad Lineberger
CTO
Icarus Studios
Brad is a twenty year veteran of the massive multiplayer online
game industry, and author of the first graphical MMORPG on the
Internet, the Kingdom of Drakkar. He became Vice President of
Development at MPG-Net in 1993, and Chief Technology Officer in
1994. Brad also worked as the CTO at World Gaming Corporation.
Today Brad manages multiple virtual world projects being built on
the Icarus platform.
Julie Livingston
Senior Director, Public Relations
Toy Industry Association, Inc.
Julie Livingston was appointed Senior Director, Public Relations of
the Toy Industry Association in November, 2003. She oversees internal and external communications and serves the association as
national media spokesperson. Through her efforts, Livingston has
successfully positioned TIA as the “go to” resource for media on
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toy trends, hot products and information on how toys enhance child
development which has lead to coverage in The New York Times,
Wall Street Journal, USA Today, CNN, The Today Show, Parents
and more. Previously, Ms. Livingston was Director, Corporate
Communications at Scholastic, where she worked on public affairs
and literacy programs. She has 25 years experience in public relations and marketing communications, including Luxury Marketing
Group, a private consulting practice whose clients included World
Gold Council, Gemological Institute of America (GIA), DeBeers and
Condé Nast Publications, among others.
Kenneth Locker
SVP Digital media
Cookie Jar Entertainment
Kenneth Locker establishes Cookie Jar’s wireless, broadband and
IPTV partnerships and online games initiatives. He also forms global partnerships and licensing arrangements in emerging digital distribution platforms. Before joining Cookie Jar Entertainment, Locker served as Senior Vice President for Digital Media for Comedy
Central where he successfully rebuilt the company’s website and
extended the network’s brands to wireless, online and interactive
TV platforms. He was instrumental in establishing strategic marketing and business partnerships with AOL, Yahoo!, Microsoft, RealNetworks, Nokia and Ericsson. Locker was General Manager and
Executive Producer for MGM Interactive, where he supervised the
studio’s online efforts and worked with game developers in creating
MGM Home Entertainment titles. Locker also co-founded Worlds.
com, an early industry leader in delivering online, multi-user, 3D
virtual environments.
Christopher Lucas
Vice President and Executive Producer
Showtime
As Vice President and Executive Producer of Showtime’s Digital
Media department, Chris oversees production of the network’s online, interactive television and wireless initiatives and the development of new business strategies leveraging emerging technologies
and shifting consumer behavior. During his tenure at Showtime,
Chris has established partnerships with key technology and content providers to create breakthrough entertainment experiences
resulting in increased exposure and awareness for the network’s
award-winning original programming. Showtime Digital Media
holds a reputation as an industry leader and technology innovator
and has received numerous industry awards, including three Emmys®.
Blair MacIntyre
Associate Professor, School of Interactive Computing
Director, GVU Center Augmented Environments Lab
Georgia Institute of Technology
Blair MacIntyre is an Associate Professor in the School of Interactive Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and directs
the GVU Center’s Augmented Environments Lab. His research focuses on understanding the potential of AR as a new medium for
games, entertainment, education and work. Recently, he has been
working on handheld AR games and on using AR as an interface
to large-scale virtual worlds like Second Life. He received a Ph.D.
from Columbia University in 1998, and B.Math and M.Math degrees
from the University of Waterloo in 1989 and 1991. He is the recipient of an NSF CAREER award.
Ginny McCormick
Interactive Director
Techno Source, maker of Clickables
www.technosourceusa.com
Ginny McCormick oversees the development and marketing of
Techno Source’s patent-pending Clickables technology. The innovation, which integrates with Disney’s online initiatives, allows
kids to take their online play into their offline worlds and join them
together in a collection of products. Ginny began at Reebok International in 1996, where she helped establish the company’s Web
presence creating one of the first interactive online consumer interfaces. In the late 1990s, Ginny was director of product marketing
at Mattel Interactive.
Keith McCurdy
Co-founder, President and CEO
Vivaty
As CEO and co-founder, Keith is responsible for setting Vivaty’s
overall vision and strategic direction as a leading web-based virtual
world platform. Keith’s career has spanned more than twenty years
in digital media and entertainment, where he has held numerous
executive positions ranging from CEO of venture-backed start-ups
to senior executive at Electronic Arts. Keith’s more than 10 years
at EA encompassed the company’s growth from 150 to over 3,500
employees and $8 billion in value. During this time he held Vice
President roles in Online, Product Development, and Technology,
and he developed his passion for creating innovative and high
quality consumer products.
Peter Mills
Chief Health Officer
vielife / Cigna
Peter trained in medicine at the Royal Free Hospital School of
Medicine and graduated in 1990. He is an accredited specialist in
respiratory diseases and still practices medicine on a part-time basis at the Whittington Hospital in north London. As well as an MD
Peter also has a PhD from the University of London for his original
research work on the effects of pollutants on the cells of the lungs.
Peter has a track record of involvement of entrepreneurial start ups
in the healthcare sector, having been part of the founding teams of
both Encyclomedica and vielife over the last 10 years. Both organizations were successfully acquired during this time. He is currently
Chief Health Officer within the Health Solutions division of CIGNA.
Nic Mitham
CEO
K Zero
Nic is CEO of K Zero, a leading virtual worlds consultancy formed
in 2006. Nic spent 7 years in the Telco sector in strategic marketing
role before setting up his own ad agency. The metaverse beckoned
and K Zero now sits in the hub between brands, virtual world operators and investors providing analytics, consulting and virtual world
strategies.
Rajiv Mody
Vice President of 3D Worlds
MTV Networks Music/Logo Group
Don’t let his pleasant virtual persona “raj” fool you because it’s rumored he also has a virtual evil twin! Behind his avatar’s perfect
physique is Rajiv Mody, the vice president of 3D Worlds for MTV
Networks Music/Logo Group. As the executive producer behind
MTV Networks’ award-winning virtual world initiative, Mody helped
start up and is currently overseeing the development of the company’s upcoming television and music-based virtual worlds. Both
are set to be unveiled by the end of 2008. Previously, Mody served
as senior director of franchise development, director of integrated
marketing for MTV, manager of strategic partnerships and public
affairs for MTV, and researcher and writer in MTV’s News & Documentaries department.
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Jeremy Monroe
Director of Business Development, North America
Sulake
As director of business development and a senior management
team member of North America, Sulake Inc., Jeremy Monroe is
instrumental in building unique and beneficial partnerships in the
professional sports and media entertainment industries. Monroe
is responsible for defining new branded products, traffic strategies
and revenue generating opportunities for Sulake’s top property,
Habbo, the world’s largest and fastest growing virtual world and
social networking service for teenagers. Preceding his current role,
he was head of production for Sulake. Monroe is based in Sulake’s
North American headquarters in Santa Monica, Calif.
W. Vito Montone
Chairman & CCO
Neoverse Technologies, Inc.
W. Vito Montone has produced over 25 stage plays including To
Oz and Back, the television show Entertainment Atlanta for a CBS
affiliate, three multi-million dollar award winning CD-ROM projects for Disney Interactive: 101 Dalmatians Animated StoryBook,
MathQuest with Aladdin featuring Robin Williams and Hades’ Challenge and the award-winning broadband website Concept: Cure for
Digital Domain and General Motors. As the Executive Producer at
Paramount Digital, he led the development of the next generation
of entertainment on the web. Out of his vision for the future, he
created The First-Ever Official 3D Virtual Star Trek Convention in
2002. He is now Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of Neoverse
Technologies, Inc.
Claus Nehmzow
VP, Virtual Worlds/Immersive Experiences Practice Group
Method
Claus Nehmzow is Vice President at the leading brand experience
design agency Method, Inc. He leads their Immersive Experience /
Virtual World Practice. Prior to joining Method, Claus led PA Consulting Group’s work on participatory media and virtual worlds.
Prior to PA Consulting Group, he was COO/ International Business
Development director at mobile startup Shazam. Claus has also
held positions as Managing Director of Viant Germany, Partner and
Vice President at Booz-Allen & Hamilton in London and New York
and Senior Manager at Accenture/Andersen Consulting in Zurich,
New York, London.
Greg Nuyens
CEO
Qwaq
With more than twenty years’ experience as a high tech entrepreneur, Greg Nuyens has served in a variety of executive roles. He
has served as CEO of Devicescape (backed by Kleiner Perkins
and August Capital), CTO of Neomar (now part of Motorola) and
chief technologist at Inktomi. Earlier roles included co-founder at
Ilog, director at Sun Microsystems and researcher at Xerox PARC
and Xerox AI Systems. Greg holds a MS in Computer Science from
Stanford University and a BS in Computer Science from Carleton
University.
Tony O’Driscoll
Professor of the Practice
Fuqua School of Business, Duke University
Tony O’Driscoll is a Professor of the Practice at Duke University’s
Fuqua School of Business. His current research focuses on how
emerging technologies such as virtual worlds can rapidly disrupt
existing industry structure and business models. His research has
been published in leading academic journals such as Management
Information Sciences Quarterly, the Journal of Management Infor-
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mation Systems, and the Journal of Product Innovation Management. He has also written for respected professional journals such
as Harvard Business Review, Strategy and Business, Supply Chain
Management Review and Chief Learning Officer Magazine.
Mitch Olson
Co-Founder
SmallWorlds
Mitch Olson is co-founder of SmallWorlds - the browser-based and
web2.0-inspired world that makes a 3D virtual world experience
more accessible than ever before to anyone aged 13 and above.
David Orban
Founder & Chief Evangelist
WideTag, Inc.
Alert analyst of the global high technology landscape, with broad
experience in structuring virtual subsidiary deals for companies
penetrating the EU, and EMEA markets. Deep understanding of the
needs and mechanics of both product marketing, sales development, localization, and globalization. Futurist, and speaker. David
Orban’s Specialties: Business case analysis, contract negotiation,
strategic market development, partner management. Startup management. Community, and metaverse design.
Jeremy Padawer
Vice President, Entertainment Marketing
JAKKS Pacific
Jeremy Padawer joined JAKKS Pacific in 2003 and has successfully grown the Entertainment Brand Marketing division worldwide.
In this role, Padawer is responsible for the business management
and product development of all action figure and collectible brands,
including WWE, Pokemon, Dragonball, Neopets and new initiatives
with Lucas and WB. Padawer began his toy career at Mattel in
2001 and worked in Brand Management from 2001-2003. Padawer
received his BA in Psychology & Business from The University of
Texas (1996), his JD from the University of Tennessee (1999), and
his MBA at Vanderbilt University with a concentration in Marketing
(2001).
Matt Palmer
Executive Vice President and General Manager
Stardoll
Matt Palmer is Executive Vice President and General Manager of
Stardoll (http://www.stardoll.com/), the world’s largest online entertainment destination for girls aged 9-17 focused on fame, fashion
and friends. Prior to joining Stardoll, Matt was named Advertising
Age’s 2006 Entertainment Marketer of the Year while serving as
Senior Vice President, Marketing, Disney Channel, at the Disney
ABC Cable Networks Group. His role at Stardoll is to develop innovative, integrated partnerships with advertisers, brands, music
labels, film studios, television networks, celebrities and musicians
that will ultimately expand the user base and increase traffic to the
website. Matt is able to discuss how advertisers can market virtual
products via virtual worlds.
Arnaldo “AJ” Peralta
Icarus Studios
Arnaldo “AJ” Peralta got his start in virtual worlds in the early ‘90s
when he founded Lamuz, a Tokyo-based software developer where
he published over a dozen 3D and virtual world applications, including a MacLife Product of the Year winner, Virtus VR. Recently,
as Executive Vice President at Icarus Studios, AJ has been responsible for the creative strategy behind MMOG and virtual world projects with partners including MTV, Discovery Networks, and FOX.
AJ also co-founded Vivaty (nee Media Machines), a Web-based
virtual world service and was President of Digital Brandcasting,
a brand management company where he built digital businesses
for celebrity clients including Will Smith, Alanis Morissette, and the
Deftones. Over the last twenty years, AJ has also worked in-depth
with companies such as Ogilvy & Mather, Coca Cola, Jack in the
Box, Nokia, Motorola, as well as every major film studio to develop
brand and content strategies for their products and services.
NLTC Greg Pickell
Chief, Training Technologies Branch
Joint Education, Division, NGB J7
National Guard
Lieutenant Colonel Greg Pickell is an Active National Guard officer
with over 22 years’ military service in the Army, the Army Reserve
and the National Guard. During the early course of his career, Greg
transitioned from tactical nuclear missiles, to training and plans,
and then to Civil Military Operations. As a civilian, while serving
for nine years as a traditional Army Reserve officer, he worked
as a deputy program manager for the Strategic Defense Initiative
Organization (SDIO), followed by support for the DARPA-National
Guard Simulation in Training for Advanced Readiness (SIMITAR)
program, and finally as an adjunct staff member with the Institute
for Defense Analysis. More recently, following a stint in the National
Guard Congressional liaison office, Greg returned to work in the
training arena, focusing on developing technologies for a civil military audience.
Jeffrey Pope
ngi Group Ventures / 3Di
Jeffrey is an Executive Vice President in ngi group and the founder
of ngi’s North American branch office. He is also a Director in 3di;
which is ngi’s group company innovating in virtual world and 3D
technologies. With over 13 years’ living and working in Asia, Jeffrey has an extensive background in business development, negotiating critical business alliances and opening new markets. Prior
to joining ngi group, Jeffrey held a position with Microsoft Japan
where he was involved with the development of Japans Xbox live
game server infrastructure and overseeing an MSN data center.
Thereafter he spent 6 years with Sun Microsystems Japan where
he managed various aspects of Sun’s Services and Sales business. He was instrumental in helping Sun to streamline its Services
processes, primarily through the Six Sigma quality control methodology, of which he was the lead practitioner and trainer.
Steve Prentice
VP & Gartner fellow
Gartner
Mr. Prentice takes a particular interest in the longer term (5-10
year) scenario for the development of IT; its evolving role in supporting and enabling new business models; and the relationship
with societal trends and behaviour. Current research topics include
the Consumerisation of IT, Virtual Worlds, Social Networking and
Gaming and emerging technology and societal trends.
Patti Purcell
Principal
Bel Aire Elementary School
Tiburon, CA
I began my career in recreation, designing “fun” activities and events
for children. I eventually moved into teaching, primarily in bilingual
classrooms and “newcomer” centers. I spent some time working
out of the classroom as an educational consultant, training teachers and writing curriculum for various school districts and publish-
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ing companies. I have co-authored a series of books with Essential
Productions entitled “Fabulous Follow Ups” providing challenging
and exciting ways to learn and practice language skills. One focus
of this school is the integration of technology in meaningful learning
experiences and another is the connection of students globally via
in purposeful project based learning.
Scott Raney
Partner
Redpoint Ventures
Scott Raney is a Partner with Redpoint Ventures focusing on information and consumer technology, and service investments in
consumer, enterprise, wireless and cleantech segments. Scott
serves on the board of directors of adap.tv, JumpTap, mig33 and
LetsTalk, and is involved with Redpoint’s investments in Gaia Online, Scribd, Cortina Systems, Mobilygen, MobiTV, and Kodiak Networks. Prior to joining Redpoint, Scott served as Senior Manager
of New Products with NorthPoint Communications, a data CLEC
providing nationwide DSL services. Previously, Scott was the Director of Engineering for VideoPort Technologies, a developer of
videoconferencing hardware. Scott began his career at Andersen
Consulting as a member of the Advanced Technology Group where
he assisted clients in the telecommunications industry.
Jonathan Reichental
Director of IT Innovation
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Dr. Reichental has 18 years of experience in the field of information
technology (IT). In addition to working in various technology roles,
he has consulted with many Fortune 500 companies and has spent
the last 12 years with PricewaterhouseCoopers. He is currently responsible for focusing on, understanding, and communicating the
impact of business-aligned innovative and emerging technologies
and processes. Dr. Reichental presents often on a range of subjects and has recently addressed audiences at Harvard Business
School and the Conference Board Council of CIO Executives. He is
interviewed often and was recently featured in CIO magazine and
Computerworld.
Christian Renaud
CEO
Technology Intelligence Group
Christian is the CEO of the Technology Intelligence Group, an
early-stage technology analyst firm. The Technology Intelligence
Group is an open network of key subject matter experts from diverse industries that provide their insights and experience to early
adopter enterprise and public sector clients. www.techintelgroup.
com Prior to founding the Technology Intelligence Group, Christian ran the New Markets and Technology Group at Cisco Systems.
The New Markets and Technologies group was chartered to identify, incubate and develop new billion dollar businesses for Cisco.
In addition to New Markets and Technologies, from 2006 to 2008,
Christian also served as Cisco’s Chief Architect of Networked Virtual Environments, developing the virtual collaborative teamspaces
market and product strategy, leveraging immersive gaming technologies into enterprise collaboration.
Andrew (Roo) Reynolds
Portfolio Executive for Social Media
BBC Vision
Roo recently accepted the position of Portfolio Executive for Social
Media at BBC Vision, which means he spends a lot of time thinking
about the intersection between television and social media. Television has always acted as a talking point for people, but the conversation doesn’t usually get as much attention as the content. Roo’s
job at the BBC is to develop and execute BBC Vision’s strategy
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in relation to social media (including blogs, tagging, games, user
generated content and third-party social media sites such as Flickr,
YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc) as well as working with teams
across the BBC to help shape various social media projects and
initiatives. Roo has been a long-term advocate of virtual worlds and
other social software. Previously, as a Metaverse Evangelist based
at IBM’s Hursley Park laboratory, he provided design and strategy
for virtual worlds within IBM’s intranet and championed the use of
public virtual worlds by corporate employees.
Eric Rice
Producer
Slackstreet Studios
Eric Rice is a Silicon-Valley based producer, artist, and writer focused on the sphere of user-created multimedia publishing and
virtual worlds. He consults for a wide range of companies and researches the applications of augmented reality in civic, educational, and entertainment industries. Eric is the executive producer of
the Saijo City open cyberpunk franchise, which is currently under
development.
Benton Richardson
VP Business Development
Ben Richardson leads all strategic partnerships for Makena Technologies involving interactive advertising, product and content
integration as well as custom worlds development. He is also a
company spokesperson and has been a featured speaker around
the world on the topic of virtual worlds. Prior to Makena, Mr. Richardson spent five years as a management consultant to CEOs in
the financial and news media industries, assisting in funding and
business planning. Prior to consulting, Mr. Richardson served as a
founding member and executive of Onvia, a business-to-business
ecommerce and services provider that he helped lead to $150M in
revenue and a subsequent $240M IPO on the NASDAQ.
Jeremy Ross
Executive Producer - New Product Development
TOKYOPOP
Executive Producer Jeremy Ross leads new product development
as part of the production team at TOKYOPOP Media. His focus is
on cross-media adaptation of the company’s original manga graphic novels into games, animation, film and other media. In 2004, Jeremy initiated TOKYOPOP’s original manga development program,
signing over 100 worldwide creators to date -- the largest mangabased IP library outside of Asia. Prior to joining TOKYOPOP, Jeremy was Executive Producer at Kleiser-Walczak, a pioneering 3-D
visual effects firm. Previous posts include Director of New Technology at Callaway Editions and Vice President of Brooklyn Games at
Byron Preiss Multimedia.
Sean Ryan
Founder and CEO
Meez
Sean is the Founder and CEO of Meez, a leading avatar and game
service. Sean recently served as vice president of music services
at RealNetworks, where he managed the music division after selling Listen.com/Rhapsody to Real in August, 2003. Previously as
CEO of Listen, Sean was charged with overseeing day-to-day operations and was responsible for the overall direction of the company. Prior to joining Listen.Com, Sean ran business development
for online game company SegaSoft Networks, spent several years
at the GAP helping launch the successful Old Navy clothing line,
and worked at Chemical Bank. Sean holds an M.B.A. from UCLA’s
Anderson Graduate School of Management and a B.A. from Columbia University.
Stefanie Schwartz
Vice President, Marketing and Operations, Neopets
Nickelodeon
Stefanie Schwartz is the Vice President of Marking and Operations
for NeoPets, based in Los Angeles. In this role, Schwartz is responsible for all marketing, consumer products, research, ad operations
and new business including wireless, games and subscriptions.
Earlier, she was Vice President of Ad Sales Strategy and Development for MTVN AD Sales. In this capacity, she was responsible for
evaluating alternative deal structures and acquisitions, developing
cross-network sales initiatives, and identifying growth prospects for
MTVN’s advertising sales business. Prior to this role, Schwartz was
the Director, Planning & Business Development for MTV Networks.
She originally joined Viacom in 1999 and has held positions both at
Viacom Corporate and MTV Networks. Prior to Viacom, she worked
as a Consultant for Mercer Management Consulting.
Christopher V. Sherman
Virtual Worlds Management
Show Initiative, LLC
Chris helms Virtual Worlds Management, the leading trade media
company serving virtual worlds professionals and organizer of this
conference. As an entrepreneur with more than 17 years’ experience, Chris is one of the world’s foremost experts on the virtual
worlds and video game industries. He leads the Virtual Worlds conference series, including shows in Los Angeles (this one), London
(October 20-21, 2008) and New York (March 10-11, 2009). He also
serves as the publisher of VirtualWorldsNews.com, the industry’s
leading information source. Chris has been involved in a variety
of startups. He founded the industry-leading Austin Game Conference (now Austin GDC) in 2003, UGO Networks in 1998, Multimedia Wire in 1994 and various companies in between.
Joey Seiler
Editor
VirtualWorldsNews.com
Virtual Worlds Weekly
As Editor, Joey Seiler is responsible for all news and editorial for
VirtualWorldsNews.com and Virtual Worlds Weekly. As one of the
main reporters covering the industry, Joey has been sought out by
professionals for advice and media representatives for commentary. His research on virtual worlds has been covered up by the
BBC, LA Times, NY Times, and many other outlets. Prior to Show
Initiative, Joey worked as a freelance reporter for both print and
online media, covering video games, technology, music, and art.
Tish Shute
Writer/Virtual World Evangelist
Ugotrade.com
My career in new media and technology began with innovation
in motion control, robotics, and special effects for film, television,
theme parks and aerospace. I continue my interest in pioneering
new technology and paradigm shifts as an entrepreneur, writer, and
evangelist for virtual worlds.
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Adrian Si
Interactive Marketing Mgr
Scion
Si is responsible for the overall online presence of Scion, including
Scion.com and associated microsites that support Scion’s marketing programs, online media buys and integrations, online promotions, online partnerships and dealer Web sites. Si joined Toyota
in 1993, and has worked as training and certification analyst, merchandising administrator, field operations administrator, accessories marketing administrator and distribution operations manager.
Most recently, Si was eBusiness strategy manager. Prior to working for Toyota, Si was a design engineer for Newport News Shipbuilding. Si holds a master’s degree, business administration, in
marketing from Penn State University and a bachelor’s degree in
mechanical engineering from SUNY Buffalo in N.Y.
Reuben Steiger
CEO and Founder
Millions of Us
Reuben Steiger is the CEO of Millions of Us, a company dedicated
to helping businesses understand and harness the power of virtual
worlds and online communities. Prior to founding Millions of Us,
Steiger was the Evangelist for Linden Lab, creators of the 3-D virtual world Second Life. In that role he was responsible for business
development efforts and bringing the first wave of corporations and
commercial developers into Second Life. Until 2002, he was Chief
Development Officer at OVEN Digital, where he helped build that
company into the world’s largest privately-owned Internet consultancy with 11 offices and 350 employees worldwide. Steiger holds
a BA in English Literature from Brown University and lives in Marin
County with his wife and two young children.
Matt Sterling
Property Sales Director - AIM
Platform A/Time Warner
Matt Sterling has been working in the advertising and publishing
industry for almost 20 years. Matt has a degree in Advertising from
the University of Florida and began his career in media planning
in New York at LINTAS working on IBM, Sara Lee and Johnson &
Johnson. During this time he planned and bought some of the first
ads on the Internet. He joined Time Warner as a Marketing executive at TIME Magazine where he worked on multimedia special issue projects and then moved into sales as the Worldwide Account
Director on the IBM account selling global advertising programs.
During the dot com boom, Matt launched eCompany Now an internet business magazine based in San Francisco born out of the
FORTUNE Mag. group which eventually acquired Business 2.0.
John Swords
Director of Business Development
Swords oversees strategic partnerships at Electric Sheep Company, a leading virtual worlds development firm based in New York.
Prior to his role in business development, John produced virtual
world media campaigns for clients such as NBC Universal and
Edelman. He was also responsible for some experimental virtual
world technology projects (which he can’t really talk about). John is
a contributor to the Metaverse Roadmap Project and is a frequent
speaker at social media and virtual world conferences. As an independent media producer, he has produced hundreds of hours of
recorded sessions on virtual worlds and other social technologies.
He writes a blog for the Electric Sheep Company and has a personal blog at johnswords.com.
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Laura (Pevehouse) Thomas
Dell, Inc.
Laura (Pevehouse) Thomas has worked in and around the Dell
family for more than seven years, primarily in the areas of corporate communications, employee communications, public relations,
community affairs, branding and online communication. She is currently part of the Global Online group where she is responsible for
the corporate content on Dell.com and community strategy for DellLounge.com. She previously assisted with the creation of Direct2Dell, and brought web feeds and podcasts to Dell.com. In her spare
time she led Dell into the metaverse with the creation of Dell Island
in Second Life. Laura has earned the designation of Accredited
Business Communicator from the International Association of Business Communicators, and received her News/Editorial Journalism
degree from Louisiana State University. She has been a resident of
Second Life since June 2006.
Eilif Trondsen
Director
SRI Consulting Business Intelligence
The focus area of my research and consulting at SRIC-BI—a spinout of SRI International (formerly Stanford Research Institute)—is
the use of technology for business performance improvement and
learning. I have 29 years’ experience at SRIC-BI and at SRI International, leading or contributing to a variety of projects for U.S. and
foreign clients in the private and public sectors. For ten years, I held
the position of Research Director of the Business Intelligence Program (now the Scan program) at SRI and I currently lead our Virtual
Worlds @ Work consortium ( www.sric-bi.com/vwc ).
Sibley Verbeck
CEO
T. Sibley Verbeck is founder of The Electric Sheep Company, and is
responsible for business development and overall company strategy. As a former Chief Scientist of StreamSage, Inc. and Comcast
Online, Sibley has been a leading researcher in advanced computational linguistic and statistical techniques for analyzing audio,
video, and text. In January 2001, Sibley received an award from the
Washington Techway Magazine as one of the top young technology executives in the DC area; in 2003 he was selected as one of
MIT Technology Review’s top 100 technology innovators worldwide
under the age of 35. He has been an invited presenter at conferences ranging across virtual worlds, digital television, computational linguistics, and undergraduate science education.
Mark Wallace
Chief Executive
Wello Horld, Inc.
Mark Wallace is chief executive of Wello Horld, Inc., a social Web
startup. In 2006, he founded 3pointD.com, a leading blog covering
virtual worlds and other social technologies. He is a contributor to
the Metaverse Roadmap project and co-author of a book about
virtual worlds (The Second Life Herald: The Virtual Tabloid That
Witnessed the Dawn of the Metaverse). As a journalist, his work
has appeared in The New York Times, Wired, The New Yorker, the
Financial Times, and many other publications.
Debra Aho Williamson
Senior analyst
eMarketer Inc.
Debra Aho Williamson has been a keen observer of Internet marketing and advertising trends since 1993. At eMarketer, she focuses on social network marketing, word-of-mouth marketing, virtual
worlds and targeting online marketing to key demographic groups,
including kids and teens, college students and women. Debra has
been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post,
USA Today, BusinessWeek, the San Francisco Chronicle, Advertising Age, MediaPost and other publications.
Valerie Williamson
VP of Marketing and Business Development
Valerie Williamson currently leads the Business Development and
marketing efforts for The Electric Sheep Company. Valerie spent
her formative business years working in the media, entertainment
and events industries. Prior to ESC Valerie was the VP of Marketing
and Business Development for OSTG (parent company of Slashdot
and SourceForge.net), she also worked in the film industry at Orion
Pictures back in the day, and was President of Interop Worldwide.
Throughout her career, Williamson has led business, marketing,
and sales strategy for leading media companies including OSTG,
ZiffDavis Events/Key3Media, IDG Entertainment (GamePro Magazine and co-founder of the E3 tradeshow), and Orion Pictures.
Michael Wilson
CEO
Working in the field of Online Community and eCommerce for over
30 years, Michael Wilson has been bringing exciting new technologies to consumers for years. At Oracle, he brought relational databases to the Macintosh, and at eShop he helped create the world’s
first online shopping platform. In 1997, he was one of eBay’s first
employees, creating the technology and organization behind the
world’s largest eCommerce site. In 2001, he joined There as an
investor, later joining the company to help drive its emergence as
the premiere 3D Virtual World for consumers. He has also held
leadership positions at daVinci Time and Space, The Well, Neuron
Data, Macy’s and Chevron.
Ginsu Yoon
VP of Business Affairs
Linden Lab
Gene Yoon handles a variety of business matters for Linden Lab,
including international market development, corporate and business development, and external developer programs. He was also
previously the company’s general counsel and provided interim
leadership for finance. Prior to Linden Lab, he was general counsel
and corporate secretary at Airespace, a wireless LAN equipment
company, where he negotiated key strategic relationships, including the sale of the company to Cisco Systems. Before joining Airespace, Gene was a principal at KTB Ventures, leading the firm’s
investments in wireless communications, networking equipment
and semiconductors.
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Page 38
presented by
Technology Pavilion
Hours of Operation
Wednesday, September 3, 2008 - 9:00am to 5:00pm
Thursday, September 4, 2008 - 10:00am to 4:00pm
Attendee Lounge
Sponsored by:
Exhibiting Companies
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117
218
119
414
104
116
310
115
314
412
316
100
107
307
118
207
200
206
114
211
Altadyn
Animax Entertainment
Avatar Reality
Chobots.com - Vayersoft
Code4Software
Dinokids - Avocado Entertainment
Egencie
Electrotank
Engineering & Computer Simulations
Forterra
Frima Studios
Habbo
HeroEngine (Simutronics)
IBM
Icarus Studios
iLemon
Linden Lab
Makena Technologies
MASA Group
Metaverse MOD Squad
Millions of Us
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101
400
214
216
215
312
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301
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416
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418
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300
212
317
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Multiverse
Mycosm
ngi group, inc
NICTA
Novamente
Parature
Pay By Cash
Paynova
Proton Media
Qwaq
ShanghaiPop
sMeet
Soft Kinetic
Spin AG - Freggers
Turbo Squid
Vastpark
Virtual Job Candy
Weblin
Yogurt Technologies
Virtual Worlds Innovation Award winners will
be announced at the Virtual Worlds Expo
on Wednesday evening, 5:00 to 6:00pm,
Wednesday, September 3, 2008, on the
stage in the Expo Hall. The reception kicks
off at 5pm with free beer for attendees,
celebration, and a good time for everyone.
Details on page 49.
VW Expo is presented by
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Altadyn
Altadyn is a developer of web3D technology that makes powerful
3D accessible from any PC or Mac. With the 3DXplorer “plug-inless,” browser-based web3D development platform -- and ToonMX, a 3D “digital puppetry” software application -- the company
has delivered a new dimension to the online experience, making
dynamic and immersive 3D immediately viewable on all computer
platforms, including Windows and Linux PCs and the Mac, and
browsers such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Opera. Altadyn customers include SAP, Orange, Bayer, and Glaxo-SmithKline, and the company has offices in Paris, France and Irvine,
California. For more information visit www.3dxplorer.com or email
marketing@3dxplorer.com.
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Animax Entertainment
Animax Entertainment (www.animaxent.com) is an Emmy awardwinning, full-service creative studio that creates interactive entertainment for Kid & Family properties. We’ve strategized, designed,
developed and deployed virtual worlds, MMOs, casual games,
websites, animation, social media, and interactive marketing applications. We develop new kids virtual worlds platforms, as well
as produce content within existing platforms. Our clients include
top entertainment studios, leading toy brands, CPG brands and
advertising agencies. The worlds we create range from drivers of
revenue to marketing focused experiences. Based out of our Los
Angeles headquarters and satellite office in Toronto, our in-house
team of 50 animators, designers and developers create compelling, kid-safe experiences that win our clients awards -- including
the first ever broadband Emmy Award.
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Avatar Reality
Avatar Reality Inc. is a Honolulu-based development entity dedicated to the advancement of online community building. Our mission
is to utilize leading-edge computing technologies to build serious
entertainment for the masses. Our premiere project, Blue Mars,
is a new massively multiplayer virtual world (MMVW), integrating
interactive 3D graphics and online networking. Set on Terraformed
Mars in the year 2177 AD, players will be able to experience life in
a beautiful, 3D-rich virtual environment. Blue Mars is scheduled for
beta release at the end of 2008. Currently, Avatar Reality is offering partnership opportunities for Blue Mars. A fully integrated platform for all business types including city development, marketing
research, product testing and advertisement, Blue Mars provides
its partners with practical and effective resources for their business.
To learn more about these opportunities, or to view a sneak peek of
the upcoming MMVW, please visit Avatar Reality at booth #218.
119
Chobots.com is a fun and safe online entertainment experience for
children and families. A fully featured virtual world where you can
make friends, play games, chat, go shopping and so much more! It
has a very strong multiplayer social gaming concept, original setting
and characters. Innovative multiplayer missions help develop communication, collaboration and decision-making skills. The game is
being developed by Vayersoft.com - a provider of rich media 2D
and 3D content such as: cartoons, animations, games, etc.
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We are looking for strategic partnerships for Chobots.com and
other virtual worlds to be produced in the near future. We are interested in:
- Media companies - for content delivery, various integration and
bringing the Chobots concept to other media formats/products; Distribution companies; - Venture companies - for possible investments; - Content developers - 3rd party content integration into
Chobots.com world. For more information visit us in booth 119, or
see our website, http://www.vayersoft.com/vwe
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Code4Software
Code4Software is unlocking the potential of virtual worlds by providing turn-key metrics capture and analytics platforms that enable optimization, advertising, and affiliate marketing systems for
any 3D Internet environment. Our products are first-in-class and
often first in the world: V-Tracker (Virtual World Metrics Capture
and Analytics), AdSoft (Distributed Display Advertising Systems),
P.O.M.P (Promotional Object Management Platform), and TAG
Affiliate (Affiliate Based Marketing System) are all live production
systems available for immediate porting to any virtual world. Our
solutions provide a competitive advantage to our partners, delivering advanced features at significant cost and time savings
With a diverse combination of expertise in enterprise Internet software, analytics, electronic entertainment, and virtual worlds, the
Code4Software team is uniquely qualified to provide world class
analytics and advertising solutions to the virtual worlds and electronic entertainment industries.
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Dinokids
Avocado Entertainment Inc. was founded in Feb. 2006 by veteran
online gaming product managers, game developers and designers
from Yahoo! Korea. DinoKidsTM is our flagship project in which
we intend to provide exciting new virtual world for kids and tween
swith cute dinosaur characters and a lot of funny contents. DinoKidsTM provides children-friendly and social networking environments, where users can meet friends and chat with them, decorate
characters or houses, complete missions and also play interesting
mini games. The goal of DinoKidsTM is to present educational and
social networking playground to our kids with safety. We offer parents monitoring tools for their kids’ activities such as playtime, chat
status, buddy list and so on because we strongly believe that the
parents should be aware of their kids’ online activities at all times.
The demo version of DinoKidsTM is live now. You can play for free
at www.dinokids.com
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Egencie
Egencie is an up-and-comer among the new breed of boutique
digital agencies. Since 2005, we have specialized in the custom
design and build of brand-based virtual worlds, flash games and
advanced CMS and community-based websites. Egencie also
provides marketing strategies and programs that brand managers
need to succeed in today’s digital world. With staff and partners
across North and South America, Egencie provides clients with innovative solutions at an exceptional value delivered with the speed
today’s marketplace demands. Egencie’s diverse group of clients
includes Russ Berrie (gifts), Myachi (toys), Fiskars (garden/crafts)
and Running Network (publications). Stop by and visit to learn how
Egencie can help you achieve your business goals.
www.egencie.com
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Electrotank
Electrotank® is an award-winning developer of Flash® multiplayer
games and innovator of the cutting-edge technologies currently
powering today’s most profitable virtual worlds. As creators of Electrotank Universe Platform™ (EUP™) and ElectroServer™ 4, Electrotank has reduced the production time and financial risk associated with making your Flash virtual world a reality.
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Engineering & Computer Simulations
ECS is a small, advanced learning technologies firm headquartered in Orlando, Florida. ECS develops and implements new training technologies to augment learning, improve skills retention and
increase training effectiveness. ECS was incorporated in 1997 and
has developed a set of top tier strengths in commercial and government virtual worlds, 3D games and simulations, and other collaborative training technologies. ECS’ virtual worlds experience focuses
on those environments that provide practical, purpose-driven, collaborative capabilities.
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Forterra
Forterra provides distributed, enterprise-grade virtual world software that enables our customers and partners to create their own
private, realistic 3D Internet solutions for the corporate, healthcare,
government, and education industries. Our software enables users to train, learn, communicate, rehearse, analyze, collaborate,
experiment, and socialize over any network. Using standard PC
hardware, customers can rapidly generate trusted, secure, collab-
orative solutions behind or through firewalls that scale to thousands
of concurrent users. Forterra’s open and extensible architecture
works with 3D authoring tools and integrates with real-world data
systems. Users get a better experience from 3D audio, realistic
graphics, and anytime, anyplace access.
412
Frima Studio
Since 2003 our studio has experienced a rapid growth and valuable recognition in the market place. Its talented creative and technological teams combine their strength to push the boundaries of
multiplatform game development. The launch in the last 15 months
of 6 MMOGs and Virtual Worlds along with numerous online promotional games clearly show our capability to rapidly deploy and manage multiple projects. With the recent acquisition of Humagade,
Frima expands its line of services to its partners with a truly integrated multiplatform key solution; this undoubtedly demonstrates
our commitment to being on the forefront of the marketplace…yes,
we are massively creative…and beyond.
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Habbo
Habbo is the largest virtual world and online community for teenagers. Richly colorful and multi-dimensional, users join for free by
creating a fully customized online character called a Habbo. At
its core, Habbo is about social interaction, having fun and building a world for self-expression and creative experiences. Currently
there are Habbo communities in 32 countries on six continents.
To date, over 106 million characters have been created and 9.5
million unique users worldwide visit Habbo each month. For more
information, please visit www.habbo.com or contact us at info.us@
sulake.com or (310) 395-0404.
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HeroEngine
207
Linden Lab: Second Life Grid
Simutronics is demonstrating the HeroEngine MMOG and Virtual World platform to developers. HeroEngine is the world’s most
complete platform for building online 3D worlds and is being used
worldwide by teams like BioWare, Zenimax, and many more.
HeroEngine is a breakthrough development environment for creating and deploying online worlds. HeroEngine is a complete solution
– advanced graphical client, highly scalable server, and integrated
toolset. HeroEngine is more than an engine – it is a new and much
better process for building a world online. HeroEngine reduces time to
market –HeroEngine’s development pipeline the team’s productivity.
Every single change to the game is instantly integrated and available
to all other developers without having to build or re-start the engine.
Coders, artists and designers and even management work together
within a common environment. HeroEngine is the next generation
in MMOG and Virtual World development. www.heroengine.com
The Second Life Grid is a platform that enables your organization
to create a public or secure private space using the leading 3D
online virtual world technology. Discover how your organization can
create its own secure space for communication, collaboration and
community engagement. Use the Second Life Grid to hold virtual
meetings, construct product simulations, provide employee training
and lots more. Visit secondlifegrid.net for more information.
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IBM
IBM is aligned around a singe, focused business model: Innovation. We believe that the 3-D Internet will drive Innovation that will
change the way we live, work and play. IBM is working across
virtual environments and applications to help define the future of
business leveraging the 3-D Internet. Our approach is to partner
with our clients and work with a broad community to define and
drive the standards and business applications for building out the
next generation 3-D Internet. For more information on IBM, visit:
www.ibm.com/3DInternet
Makena Technologies is an entertainment and communications
company focused on online interaction and specializing in virtual
worlds. Founded in 2005, Makena acquired There from Forterra
Systems in April 2005. Makena’s mission is to provide the leading virtual world platform for consumers and corporate clients. We
provide solutions that scale from the fun and excitement of our
consumer experience on There.com to a full suite of applications
available for corporate customization and the development of a
completely separate, fully functional, 3D social virtual world. Today, Makena operates two leading virtual worlds: There.com and
MTV’s Virtual Laguna Beach. Makena is led by seasoned executives Michael Wilson (CEO) and Steve Victorino (President and
COO). Michael has 25 years of experience with 15 years in on-line
communities. He was an early employee at eBay, responsible for
all technology. Steve has 20 years of venture capital experience
and led There’s first external financing in 2000.
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MASA Group
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Icarus Studios
Icarus Studios (www.icarusstudios.com) is a comprehensive resource center for builders of massively multiplayer online games,
virtual worlds, and serious games for the entertainment, corporate,
and government sectors. Icarus Studios provides a total solution
that includes design and content production, monetization, customer support, hosting, and a tightly integrated technology platform. PowerU, a serious games joint venture by Icarus Studios and
American Research Institute (ARI), a leader in role-based, resultsoriented education and training services. PowerU is the first company to offer an integrated learning infrastructure that incorporates
3DI (three dimensional immersive) learning environments for leading organizations to dramatically improve the effectiveness of their
workforce development. www.poweru.net
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iLemon
iLemon connects brands with their customers through custom made
virtual worlds. We create high-quality 2D and 3D virtual worlds faster and cheaper than any competitor. Utilizing a unique combination
of highly customizable software platform, global market expertise
and cost-efficient Chinese production, iLemon creates unique and
highly immersive virtual worlds for media and entertainment companies, existing communities, consumer brands and online properties to connect with their customers in a profitable way in virtual
real-time interactive space. iLemon services range from platform
licensing to customization and turn-key solutions.
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200
Makena Technologies
Based in France, USA and Singapore, MASA Group has 10 years
of experience in developing interactive simulation software and serious games for Defense and Homeland Security, with a unique
Artificial-Intelligence-based behavior modeling capability. MASA
Group’s offering ranges from packaged PC software for training,
self-training and planning, to Behavior Models to enhance existing
simulations and virtual worlds. MASA Group SWORD™ Behavior
Models turn stereotyped and unrealistic simulated agents into believable entities exhibiting complex behaviours without relying on
ad hoc Artificial Intelligence development. Based on the successful
DirectIA® 4 technology, SWORD™ Behavior Models offer easy to
use and reuse behavior components, targeting specific application
areas, such as military simulations, serious games and virtual
worlds. Thanks to SWORD™ Behavior Models, behavioral simulation is now available for the first time at a low integration and development cost. http://www.masagroup.net
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Metaverse Mod Squad
Yo!!11 Metaverse Mod Squad iz d leadR n avatar stafng solutNz 4 virtual wrlds!!!!!llll LOL & dn our avatars & d ppl Bhind dem
NtRtain awwwwdieNces, seL real wrld prodctz, & protek d sAfT of
chldrn n virtual wrlds!!!!!11111 frm mod3ra2rs 2 saels staf, & evnt
planers 2 actors, ~~~**d00d***~~~, we wrk w marKEE br&s lIk d
man Harry Potter, LEGO, Warner Bros. & The CW Network (OMG
OMG OGM) 2 cr8 & manetane XcitN, sAf, & slammin virtual wrld
XperENsz!!!!!1111
Don’t speak Kidspeak? Don’t worry we do.
Avatar staffing for Virtual Worlds.
Specializing in Kids, Entertainment, Brands.
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211
Millions of Us, LLC
Millions of Us LLC is an agency specializing in virtual worlds and
large online communities. Founded in 2006 and based in San Francisco, the agency’s clients include 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros.,
Toyota, Microsoft, and Intel. Additional information is available at
www.millionsofus.com.”
313
Multiverse Network, Inc.
Multiverse is a leading provider of virtual world development technology. The company’s technology platform has changed the
economics of this medium by empowering development teams to
create high-quality virtual worlds – including Massively Multiplayer
Online Games (MMOGs), social and educational worlds, and business collaboration environments – for less money and in less time
than ever before. Multiverse solves the industry’s prohibitive challenges by providing development teams with the Multiverse Platform, a comprehensive, pre-coded client-server infrastructure and
tools, a wide range of free content – including sample worlds for
modification – and a built-in market of consumers. The company
gives consumers a single program – the Multiverse World Browser
– that lets them enter all of the worlds built on the company’s platform and available in the company’s network. www.multiverse.net
101
MYCOSM
We are in relentless pursuit of creating a compelling virtual world platform, then letting you enjoy it for free in Mycosm.
At Virtual Worlds LA, we are proud to demonstrate Mycosm publicly for the first time at booth 101.
We believe there are 5 major problems with virtual worlds: 1. Low
fidelity. 2. Too technical. 3. No control. 4. No fun. 5. No friends
Mycosm allows you to create your own unique world by using our
intuitive tools and importing high quality 3D content. You can then
share it with the community online, play games, share media, talk
with friends and make money. Mycosm uses its own 3D engine
powerful enough to attract the even the most discerning 3D artist.
If you are interested in a flexible virtual worlds platform for commercial use and private labeling, talk to us about licensing opportunities. We are entering private beta in the coming months, so be
sure to sign up for an invite. Mycosm is a product of Simmersion
Holdings Pty Limited, an experienced 3D software and services
company. www.mycosm.com
214
NICTA
National ICT Australia (NICTA)
NICTA is Australia’s Information and Communications Technology
(ICT) Centre of Excellence. We are an independent company in
the business of research, commercialization and research training.
With over 700 people, NICTA is the largest organization in Australia dedicated to ICT research. You can learn more about NICTA
at www.nicta.com.au. BADUMNA network suite is a technology
platform for hosting virtual worlds and massively multiplayer online
games. The highly scalable and cost effective architecture that utilises a peer-to-peer network can support millions of users with very
minimal infrastructure. Badumna network suite provides a massive
competitive advantage over traditional approaches as it reduces
the hosting costs by more than 80%. Learn more about BADUMNA
at www.badumna.com
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Novamente
Novamente LLC - Leveraging its uniquely powerful artificial general intelligence technology, Novamente supplies software products
and services to power intelligent virtual agents for virtual worlds,
computer games, and simulations. For more information please
visit our web site: www.novamente.net
215
Parature Inc.
Today’s top names in gaming and interactive media are turning to
Parature for top-of-the-line service and support for their customers. Parature Customer Service™ software is rapidly deployed and
easy to use, integrating a customer portal, rich knowledgebase and
full ticketing application in one dynamic, tightly unified system that
manages all your support needs. More than 50 million players the
world over are supported by Parature. www.parature.com
400
ngi group inc. & 3Di Inc.
Cultivating the next generation of innovation, ngi group (http://
ngigroup.com/en) is a globally diversified investment, operating,
and holding company of Internet- and mobile phone-related businesses. We boast a team of highly motivated professionals whose
combined experiences and diversified skills lead to second-to-none
market insight and investment expertise. The virtual worlds market
is a strategic focus areas for ngi. Thus, we created 3Di, Inc. (http://
www.3di.jp/en) to revolutionize the way virtual worlds and the web
work together. 3Di’s initial contribution to the open-source software
community includes a substantial commitment to OpenSim, the
open-source virtual worlds platform. The company proactively supports the virtual world activities of other businesses through “3Di
OpenSim,” its B2B solutions product. 3Di believes its innovations
will be the key to developing the new 3D Internet.
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312
PayByCash
Founded in 1998, PayByCash™ gives merchants access to over 70
popular payment methods in 240 countries. PayByCash provides
merchants with the ability to reach into an unparalleled number of
markets with one integration, typically without fees or setup costs.
PayByCash also provides greater protection from payment fraud
than merchants typically receive from credit-card-based payment
systems. By partnering with PayByCash for alternate payment
options, Merchants immediately and easily become accessible to
some of the hardest demographics to reach. PayByCash has payment methods that are popular with all ages, from tweens, thru
teens, college students and adults, world-wide. Because merchants
can accept PayByCash’s payment options without any transaction
fees, merchants can accept these types of payments on their own
terms without sacrificing margins. PayByCash also handles all the
customer support for the payment options they accept and provides
easily processed reporting for merchant accounting reconciliation,
minimizing the complexity of handling international payments.
217
Paynova
Paynova offers an international, account based, one-stop shop
for payment service on the Internet. With Paynova as the single
source, your Virtual World gets a turnkey payment service for more
than twenty payment options in 12 languages with 12 currencies in
a security-certified interface (PCI). Consumers can also open an
a Paynova account, to make purchases simpler and more secure,
as well as look after transfers between family members, friends
and acquaintances. Paynova has agreements with around 1,800
clients. Most are found in the prioritized segments, travel, retailing
and media/network games. The company has been listed on NGM
Equity since February 2004.
301
ProtonMedia
tive, persistent, and provide users with all the tools they need to
work more effectively, to collaborate with others, and to identify and
solve problems. Setting up Qwaq Forums is easy: in less than ten
minutes, users can create their own virtual space by choosing from
one of the included templates, dragging and dropping content into
the space, and then inviting others to join them. With Qwaq Forums, users can follow workflow steps, create or review information
in applications, evaluate designs in 2-D and 3-D, all while discussing topics using built-in text and voice chat.
416
ShanghaiPop
Our passion is art. We are innovators in a dynamic industry that is
perpetually accelerating; and in a Web 2.0 world, we’re creating the
technologies for Web 3.0. Our capabilities are broad – from illustration, animation and storyboards to virtual world creation – we create
a range of interactive media in the style that caters to our clients’
needs. From 2-D cell and Flash to 3-D animation, our artists deliver
exceptional results with incomparable artwork. ShanghaiPop Interactive, an Interactive Art Services company, specializes in providing visual solutions for our clients. Founded in 1998, IAS has over
100 artists in five studios worldwide – Burbank, Miami, London,
Manila and Shanghai. Regardless of what time zone you’re in, we
can turn your ideas into visual realties.
110
sMeet
sMeet offers browser-based and installation-free 3D-worlds, in
which people can talk, socialize and share experiences (watch videos, play games, listen to music, etc.) together from anywhere like
in real life. How it works: • Partners integrate their sMeet worlds on
their websites. • Users enter them by clicking a link (URL) and starting a voice connection using their phone (or VoIP). • Users appear
as avatars and can talk & socialize with others by simply walking
up to them - just like in real life. Partners can choose to join the
network of worlds on a rev-share basis or pay for a closed solution
ProtonMedia® is the leading provider of enterprise-grade virtual
worlds. Our flagship product, ProtoSphere®, is the premier virtual
world for collaboration. In your private ProtoSphere world you can
hold meetings, share applications and documents, and communicate using voice, video, and instant messaging. ProtoSphere also
combines Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, wikis, and social networking
- all in one unique application. ProtoSphere is your communication
solution for telecommuters, distance learning, field force collaboration, and global meetings. It helps companies eliminate the need
for travel thus reducing their carbon footprint. ProtoSphere, the virtual world for collaboration, is being used by a number of large organizations and Fortune 100 companies such as Duke University,
Penn State University, TIAA, Cisco, Johnson & Johnson, Merck &
Co., and Deloitte. For a free trial of ProtoSphere, visit www.ProtonMedia.com or contact us at 215-631-1401.
418
Softkinetic
213
Qwaq
Freggers.com is a new virtual world that runs in the web browser
(100% Flash). The Freggers world has a very open concept: it can
include a variety of game elements and cover a broad range of
topics. It is open for partners to participate with their own branded
areas. Freggers is free to play. The business model is based on
selling digital goods. The target audience is 13 and up. Freggers
is made by the German company SPiN, and is currently looking
for partners and strategic investors worldwide. A first beta version,
freggers.de, was launched in Germany in May 2007 and has already reached 380,000 registered users.
Qwaq, Inc., creates virtual spaces for real work. The company’s
product, Qwaq Forums, is the leading secure virtual workspace application for the enterprise, and enables collaboration in ways that
weren’t possible before. Designed for enterprises and groups with
distributed teams, Qwaq Forums significantly increases productivity by bringing critical resources together in virtual spaces, and allowing people to work together as if they were in the same physical
location. Environments created in Qwaq Forums are highly interac-
Page 46
Softkinetic is the leading provider of 3D gesture recognition solutions for the Interactive Digital Entertainment, Consumer Electronics and Serious Games Markets. Our solution, iisu™, allows video
game and application developers to design intuitive, immersive,
transparent game plays and user interfaces that transform the way
people interact with the digital world. Our solution works with all
3D camera available on the market today, including 3DV Systems,
Canesta, Mesa Imaging, and Prime Sense. Contact us at http://
www.softkinetic.net.
124
Spin AG – Freggers
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300
ESC is a leading provider of virtual world technology, strategy
and design. Since 2005, ESC has worked with the world’s largest brands, media companies, and agencies to design and implement great virtual experiences. ESC works with multiple virtual
world technologies, including its proprietary WebFlock platform.
WebFlock is a new Flash- based product that enables the creation
of private-labeled virtual spaces for social interaction, media consumption and game play. Our client roster includes MTV, CBS,
Showtime, NBC, Warner Bros, NBA, MLB, WWE, AOL, IBM, Intel,
Reuters, Pepsi, Geek Squad, Procter & Gamble, Nissan, Bantam
Dell and many more. For more information, visit http://www.electricsheepcompany.com
212
TurboSquid
TurboSquid is the world’s leading seller of 3D models and 3D software plug-ins. With over 200,000 assets in our library, you are
bound to find the 3D model, software, or tool that is perfect for your
project. TurboSquid has a great selection of everyday items and
accessories that are ideal for your Virtual World, too! TurboSquid
offers premium 3ds Max plug-ins and training content from creative
developers around the globe. More information about TurboSquid
can be found at TurboSquid.com.
based version of the tool, weblin lite (http://lite.weblin.com), is also
available and requires no download or registration. Weblin was
founded in 2006, and is funded by T-Venture Holding, one of Germany’s leading venture capital firms. The company has received
multiple Web 2.0 innovation prizes including Red Herring Europe
100, and Business 2.0. AlwaysOn recently included weblin in its
AO Global 250 List. Companies such as Microsoft, IBM, and Italian
car maker Lancia are already using Weblin to expand the reach of
their community, create stickiness, and provide a revolutionary immersive Web experiences. http://www.weblin.com.
126
Yogurt
Yogurtistan : A new massively online marketplace (MOM) in Adobe
Flash! Developed by Yogurt Inc., Yogurtistan is a 3D avatar virtual
world based on Adobe Flash, where users can create shops, play
multiplayer games, sell and buy goods and services with animated
avatars. Users earn virtual credits upon registering and can start
doing business once they open up their stores. Yogurtistan will reward its active members by giving them back part of the value created inside the world. Yogurt, a start-up from Istanbul, has been
developing Yogurtistan since mid-2007. Backed by Golden Horn
Ventures. The company officials said they will go to open beta
phase by the end of this year and currently looking for Series B
investment. The company plans to develop cities in Yogurtistan for
every major world language, with local stores and content.
317
VastPark
VastPark is virtual worlds technology done right. • Open framework. • Open eco-system – Own your own! Commercialise as you
wish. • Free platform download – Free to use toolset for indie,
SME & personal uses. • New: Leverage our powerful portable 3D
widget and plug-in solution • Coming soon: Enable your users to
create, share, run and join up their own unique microworlds built in
seconds from your community content. Latest: Platform v0.94 now
available Join our VastPark Developer Program – opening soon!
VastPark is not a single virtual world. Instead, it is a series of tools,
APIs and libraries that you can use to make and deploy (and even
monetize) your own virtual worlds and 3D widgets for corporate,
educational and commercial purposes. It can run online or behind a
firewall. You can view examples and download the latest toolset for
free (no registration required) from www.vastpark.com. The framework is simple, distributed and extensible. Some call it elegant.
112
Virtual Job Candy
Virtual Job Candy is a job board dedicated to Virtual World Jobs
and Virtual World Employers. We deal exclusively with jobs in the
3D Animation, Multimedia and Virtual World production and development space. We ensure our client’s jobs get exposure on sites
such as Simply Hired, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter and
Indeed. Virtual Job Candy also offers virtual world services such as
virtual interviews, job fairs and training.
315
Weblin
Weblin (www.weblin.com) is a tool that allows Web surfers to make
themselves visible to other users by assigning an avatar, or “weblin,” to depict a user at the bottom of a Web site. With the application, weblins who are on the same site at the same time will see
each other and be able to communicate in real-time. A browser-
Page 48
SPONSORS
Aria Systems
Aria Systems is the leading provider of subscription billing solutions and offers the only “monetization platform” encompassing
the full spectrum of Billing and Customer Lifecycle Management
services. The “monetization platform” offers clients the on-demand
billing industry’s most flexible tool for accelerating revenue capture,
optimizing cash flow, and enabling actionable market intelligence
while significantly reducing operating costs throughout each phase
of the customer lifecycle. Acknowledged as the SaaS billing leader
in terms of experience and execution, Aria manages and maintains
more than 1 million accounts and has processed more than 1 billion transactions since it began operations in 2003. With Hummer
Winblad and software billing icon Dave Labuda as investors, the
company is based in Media, Pa. (metropolitan Philadelphia), with
offices in the San Francisco bay area as well. For more information,
visit www.ariasystems.com.
Fatfoogoo
fatfoogoo provides the leading game commerce ecosystem for the
monetization of online games and virtual worlds via micro transactions. Our plug-n-play system supports publisher-to-player and
player-to-player transactions as well as the traditional subscription
models. fatfoogoo enables the implementation of highly successful
business models into games quickly and reliably through its comprehensive services platform and open architecture. The fatfoogoo
offering includes a comprehensive set of building blocks designed
to process millions of daily transactions. It is designed to be embedded in online games and virtual worlds and is ready for global
deployment and operation. Operationally, commercially and legally,
fatfoogoo has vast experience through beta-testing the system with
170.000+ users. Our specialized team allows game operators to
focus on their core competencies and outsource the complexity of
the in-game commercial ecosystem to the experts.
TM
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
5:00pm to 6:00pm
On Stage in the Exhibit Hall
Join your industry colleagues for the First Annual Virtual
Worlds Innovation Awards.
There has been a huge amount of innovation in virtual
worlds over the past year. To celebrate and recognize
this, Virtual Worlds Management is kicking off a new
awards program to recognize top innovators.
2008 Judges
Joey Seiler - Awards Chairman
Editor
Virtual Worlds News
Nic Mitham
Managing Director
K Zero
Robert Bloomfield
Founder and Host
Metanomics
Steve Prentice
VP and Fellow
Gartner
Erica Driver
Co-Founder and Principal
ThinkBalm
Christian Renaud
CEO
Technology Intelligence Group
Virtual Worlds Innovation Award winners will be
announced at the Virtual Worlds Expo on Wednesday,
September 3, 2008, 5:00 to 6:00pm, on the stage in the
Expo Hall. The reception kicks off at 5pm with free beer for
attendees, celebration, and a good time for everyone.
Details on the winners can be found
online after the show at
www.VirtualWorldsAward.com
ISN Virtual Worlds
Metaversatility
ISN Virtual Worlds is the leading Italian provider of online virtual
worlds and web 2.0 consultancy. ISN Virtual Worlds provides consultancy, development, and management for projects within online
virtual worlds and communities, in particular within LindenLab’s
‘SL Grid’ platform. With a number of ongoing services in operation within Second Life, ISN Virtual World’s projects range across
the sectors of telecommunications, airlines, cinematography, the
health industry, business consultancy, and the arts, incorporating
elements of project management, development, event organization, vLearning, ‘machinima’ (video productions shot from within a
virtual platform), gaming, and music and arts. ISN Virtual Worlds
is at the forefront of the Italian community in Second Life, having
developed the leading gateway to SL for Italian users and having
set up a coalition of Italian lands and services in Second Life. This
conglomerate is now being extended to form an archipelago of
European islands in SL, with participating partners located across
Europe.
Metaversatility is a virtual world development company that fosters community, entertainment, education and commerce in on-line
spaces. From transnational corporations and broadcast media to
nonprofit agencies and educational institutions, we have put our
communication and technology skills to work on behalf of a diverse
range of visionary organizations.
Latham & Watkins
With more than 2,100 attorneys in 26 offices in the US, Europe
and Asia, including more than 150 lawyers specializing in intellectual property, Latham & Watkins’ Intellectual Property, Media and
Technology Group consistently achieves outstanding results for our
clients in many complex, precedent-setting intellectual propertyrelated disputes and cutting-edge transactions. Latham provides
strategic IP counsel to companies at all stages of growth, helping
our clients to acquire, manage, license, develop, defend and assert intellectual property in all forms. Our new media attorneys specialize in many entertainment industry sectors such as video and
massively multi-player online games, television and movies, music
publishing and professional sports teams. Select representative
clients include: New Horizon Interactive and Club Penguin, Sony
Online Entertainment, AOL and Time Warner, Ganz and Webkinz,
Nintendo, Perfect World, Vivendi Games, GigaMedia and The Walt
Disney Company.
Nixon Peabody LLP
Nixon Peabody LLP is a large international law firm with offices
in 18 cities and more than 700 attorneys collaborating across 25
major practice areas. Based in our Los Angeles Office, our lawyers on the Interactive Entertainment & Media Team have worked
at the cutting edge of media, technology, and financial issues for
decades. We combine industry experience, skill & knowledge with
respect to digital media and technology deals with full service support for clients from one of the top international law firms. Our team
includes some of the leading lawyers for dealing with Hollywood
entertainment content for new technologies and new consumer
applications. We are regularly representing buyers and sellers of
entertainment and media properties and have done thousands of
deals with respect to the licensing, developing, selling and distributing of entertainment content (movies, television, music and literary
works) for video game, internet, wireless, and new hardware and
software applications.
RocketOn
RocketOn transforms the web into a virtual world. You can take
your avatar everywhere. Meet up with friends on YouTube and
watch videos together, or hop over to Coca-Cola.com and grab
a soft drink. You can even go shopping online with friends, leave
notes on websites, or take your virtual pet for a walk across the
Internet. Every website becomes a parallel virtual world filled with
games, interactive objects and virtual spaces to explore.
Page 49
presented by
Show Map
Ground Floor
Expo Hall, Attendee Lounge and Expo Hall Stage
See page 39 for detailed view of exhibit hall.
Second Floor
All Conference Sessions, Meeting Rooms
Virtual Worlds Kids
Virtual Worlds Hollywood
Enterprise Virtual Worlds
Future of Virtual Worlds
Page 50
Room 409 AB
Room 408 B
Room 408 A
Room 406 AB
Technology & Results
Keynote Hall
Press Room
Speaker Lounge
Room 404 AB
Room 403 AB
Room 410
Room 407
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Habbo is theOlargest
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online community for teenagers.
Users join for free by creating a fully customized online character
cter called a Habbo.
At its core, Habbo is about social interaction, having fun and building
building a world for
self-expression and creative experiences. Currently there are Habbo
Hab
bbo communities
in 32 countries on six continents. To date, over 106 million characters
araccters have been
created and 9.5 million unique users worldwide visit Habbo each
ach month.
Interested? Please visit www.habbo.com or contact us at info.us@sulake.com
ulake
e.com or (310) 395-0404.
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Conference Keynotes

Transcription

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