Speakers

Aroon Tan, Magma Studios, Managing Director
Aroon Tan (Managing Director - Magma Studios; Founder - Interactive Digital Dreams; President – Games Exchange Alliance), has been in the virtual worlds / online games, 3D computer graphics and the animation industry since 1993. He took up his first management role at Virtual Reality Technologies in 1995, building online multiplayer virtual worlds and virtual reality simulations. By 1997, he was appointed Managing Director, and held a concurrent role as CEO of MMOG developer Paraworld (APAC) from 2000 to 2001. In 2001 he founded Interactive Digital Dreams (IDD) to establish a platform and gateway for “digitally interactive” enterprises to access Asia Pacific markets. From 2004 to 2007, IDD formed a joint venture with European games developer / producer 10TACLE STUDIOS AG where he took the role of CEO (Asia Pacific). Magma Studios (2005) is his latest company in partnership with award winning writer, producer and director Chris Jones. Magma builds virtual worlds for global media brands. Aroon is also the President of the Games Exchange Alliance, a non-profit organisation involved in expanding the capabilities and infrastructure of Asian game developers and service providers. Specialties: Virtual Worlds, Video Games & Digital Media - Development, Production, Publishing, Distribution, Licensing.
Aunkur Arya, Admob, Director of Business Development
Aunkur is responsible for AdMob’s iPhone and Android publisher network in North America, with a focus on establishing new partnerships with developers. In this role, Aunkur works with the mobile app ecosystem to help developers leverage AdMob to create new revenue streams for their mobile business. Aunkur has spent the last 10 years creating, commercializing, and marketing innovative Mobile and Internet products. Prior to AdMob, Aunkur managed strategic partnerships at July Systems (a mobile commerce platform provider) and partnered with operators and mobile game publishers to create new consumer-facing channels for selling mobile content. Previously, Aunkur has held positions at ComScore Networks and InfoSpace, and graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a BA in Economics.
Bart Decrem, Tapulous, Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Bart Decrem is founder and CEO of Tapulous, a Palo Alto-based startup building fun and social apps for the iPhone, including the wildly successful rhythm game Tap Tap Revenge. Previously, Bart was the founding CEO of Flock, the social web browser company, and a co-founder of Eazel, a company working to make Linux easier to use. Bart also headed marketing and business affairs for the Firefox 1.0 launch. In between, Bart has been an Entrepreneur In Residence at Doll Capital Management and worked on a number of community projects. Bart was born and raised in Belgium, holds a JD from Stanford Law School and was featured as one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business in May of 2009.
Chris Morris, VentureBeat - Entrepreneur Corner, Editor

Chris Morris has covered consumer technology and the video game industry since 1996, offering analysis of news and trends and breaking several major stories, including the existence of the Game Boy Advance and the first details on “Half-Life 2” (after a five year cone of silence from the developer). He currently writes and edits “The Cut Scene,” Variety’s video game blog and writes the “Business of Xbox” column for Official Xbox Magazine. His work also regularly appears on CNBC.com, Yahoo! Games and AOL. He also edits VentureBeat’s “Entrepreneur Corner” section.

Previously, Chris was the author of CNN Money’s “Game Over,” which was the site’s most widely read commentary column and has also written for Forbes.com and other publications. He has appeared on The CBS Evening News, CNN, CNN Headline News, CNN International, CNN fn, G4 and Spike TV.

Despite all of this, he is regularly stomped by people less than half his age when he joins a multiplayer match on any system.
Chris Petrovic, GameStop Digital Ventures, Senior Vice President and General Manager

Chris Petrovic serves as the SVP & GM of GameStop Digital Ventures, the newly created strategy, M&A an incubation arm of the world’s largest video game and entertainment software retailer. As a member of the company’s senior management team, Petrovic serves as the principal leader of GameStop’s

digital strategy. He is responsible for building on the company’s ongoing efforts to integrate digital media into the company’s multi-channel strategy, as well as overseeing the development and execution of a digital acquisition strategy. This includes leveraging the company’s unique and distinctive relationship with customers in-store, online and around the globe to drive driving digital sales through more than 6,400 domestic and international stores and on its Web sites: gamestop.com and gameinformer.com.

Prior to GameStop, Petrovic served as VP, Digital Media for Playboy Enterprises. In this role, he was responsible for developing and managing digital-focused strategic and business development initiatives for all divisions the company, including online, mobile, TV, radio and publishing. Petrovic was also responsible for finding the next generation products and services and developing launch strategies for their successful global execution. This position places him at the leading-edge of new and future ideas and technologies as well as and new-media business models.

Before joining Playboy, Petrovic served as VP, Business Development for AG Interactive, a division of American Greetings. Petrovic oversaw all business development efforts across of the division’s digital business units. Petrovic joined AG Interactive from theglobe.com, where he served as VP, Strategy and Business Development and was responsible for developing and growing the company’s digital and print media businesses.

Petrovic is a graduate of Columbia University in New York and holds a J.D. from Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles. He began his new media career as the CEO of Internet start-up BannerGreetings.com in 1998, and from there went on to become COO of Buzztone, a leading viral marketing agency, before joining the venture capital firm Prime Ventures as their VP of Business Development and Legal Affairs, managing the business development and legal operations of its portfolio companies, including most notably drkoop.com.

Petrovic is based in the company’s Los Angeles offices.
David Helgason, Unity Technologies, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
An entrepreneur, visionary and ex-programmer, David’s job is to lead the team to stardom, while making sure that each step is taken with love and care. In the past, David founded and participated in startups in fields such as news and community integration, music distribution and consulting. David serves on the boards of several games and technology startups.
Eric Chu, Android Platform, Group Manager
Chu will speak on a panel entitled A Sea of Mobile Devices which will highlight a discussion about the best mobile gaming platforms of the future. He is responsible for driving the application ecosystem for phones operating on Google’s Android. Chu leads Android developer initiatives, and communications with partners Open Handset Alliance.
Eric Goldberg, Crossover Technologies, Managing Director
Eric is a 30-year veteran of the game industry, serving in capacities ranging from game designer to executive. Since 2002, Eric is or has been a board member of, advisor or consultant to over 30 consumer-facing technology companies, from seed-stage to public, in the game, virtual world, consumer Internet, wireless data, and monetization sectors; and to three US venture capital firms. Previously, Eric was co-founder and president of Unplugged Games and of Crossover Technologies, the consumer online pioneer; and president of West End Games, an adventure game company. He’s been a speaker and a member of the programs advisory board for seven national game, wireless, and Internet conferences; and a board member for the New York New Media Association and NYU’s Center for Advanced Digital Applications. His award-winning games include Paranoia, Tales of the Arabian Nights, The Tom Peters Business School in a Box, and MadMaze, the first online game to draw one million players
Gareth Davis, FaceBook, Platform Manager
Gareth Davis is a Platform Manager at Facebook, where he heads up games for Facebook Platform. Prior to Facebook, Gareth spent many years in the game industry, where he produced titles for leading publishers such as Sega and Electronic Arts. He also led software development at Pixar Animation Studios for five years on the award winning and commercial blockbuster films The Incredibles, Cars and Ratatouille. He has a degree in Artificial Intelligence, a MBA from UC Berkeley and lives in San Francisco’s North Beach District.
Geoff Keighley, Spike TV, Host

Geoff Keighley is host of Spike TV’s Game Trailers TV with Geoff Keighley television show. He has covered video games for more than half his life, starting at the age of 13. He is a journalist, television personality, and producer. Today, he is the host and executive producer of the No. 1-rated videogame show on TV and has a talent and development deal with MTV Networks Entertainment Group. Behind the camera, Keighley is one of the most prolific producers of videogame television, including Gears of War: Race to Launch for MTV, the landmark 5-hour documentary “I, Videogame” for the Discovery Channel, and various live event specials at the G4 network. He serves as co-chairman of the Game Critics Awards, an independent group of journalists who award the annual Best of E3 and Game of the Year awards.
Jack Buser, Sony PlayStation Home, Director
At Sony’s Home virtual world, Jack Buser has been busy driving new business initiatives for the PlayStation 3 in North America. Home has 10 million registered users and has recently launched Sodium, a social game within the virtual world that is monetized through a virtual goods model. Buser has 10 years of marketing experience and was previously director of worldwide technology evangelism at Dolby Laboratories. An avid supporter of the virtual life and virtual goods, Buser knows what it takes to disrupt the industry.
Jamil Moledina, Electronic Arts Partners, Outreach Director, Business Development
Jamil works in service of the game industry. At Electronic Arts, he is the Outreach Director, Business Development for EA Partners, connecting the best independent visionary game creators with the industry-leading production and commercial power of EA. Previously, he was for several years the Executive Director of the Game Developers Conference, the world’s largest professionals-only event in the game industry, where he managed the financial and creative direction of this multi-million dollar learning/inspiring/networking show. Prior to that, he was Editor-in-Chief of Game Developer magazine, the leading B2B publication in the game space. Jamil is currently serving on the Board of Directors for the charity organization One Big Game and the International Game Developers Association, as well as various game industry event advisory boards, including GamesBeat. He is also working on getting his first science fiction novel published.
Jeff Bellinghausen, Sixense, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer
Jeff Bellinghausen is a 15-year veteran of the visual simulation and virtual reality with Paradigm Simulation and Digital ArtForms. Now he is applying his experience developing professional motion-enabled interfaces to the creation of the best and most immersive gaming experience possible in the home.
Jeffrey Tseng, Crowdstar International, Co-founder
Jeffrey Tseng co-founded Secret Level, a San Francisco game development firm that quickly expanded doing ports of games at first and then moving into its own original content. It was acquired by Sega and made games such as Iron Man and Golden Axe. The console game business took its toll and Tseng tried something new a couple of years ago as the co-founder of Crowdstar. Since the launch of Happy Aquarium in September, Crowdstar has seen its numbers soar and it has become one of the top developers on Facebook.
Jeremy Liew, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Managing Director
Jeremy Liew invests primarily in the Internet and mobile sectors, with a particular interest in social media, commerce, gaming, financial and methods for increasing monetization. He joined Lightspeed in early 2006.

Previously, Jeremy was with AOL, first as SVP of Corporate Development and Chief of Staff to the CEO and then as General Manager of Netscape.

Jeremy joined AOL from InterActiveCorp (originally USA Networks), where he was VP of Strategic Planning. While there, he was responsible for acquisitions, divestitures and investments in TV Networks, consumer Internet companies and online travel companies.

Jeremy started working in the consumer Internet industry as an early employee of CitySearch in 1996, where he held a variety of sales management, operational and business development roles. He was also a management consultant at McKinsey & Company.

Jeremy holds an MBA from Stanford and a BA/BSc from the Australian National University in Linguistics and Pure Mathematics. Jeremy is a frequent contributor to the Lightspeed blog at http://lsvp.wordpress.com.
Joe Hyrkin, Trinity Ventures, Entrepreneur in Residence
Joe Hyrkin has more than 18 years of experience in general management, and senior sales and business development management both domestically and internationally. He has focused his career on creating and launching new businesses in the US and Asia, and has been instrumental in pioneering creative revenue opportunities in the community and social Web space.

Prior to joining Trinity as an EIR, Joe was the Senior Vice President of Sales and Business Development at Gaia Interactive. While there, Joe oversaw all revenue including virtual goods, advertising/sponsorship and merchandize as well as all Business Development efforts including strategic partnerships, content acquisition and distribution. He has pioneered business models that have created some of the best brand and consumer engagement on the web.

Prior to Gaia Online, Joe headed up the business side of Multimedia Search at Yahoo!, where he also served as head of Business Development and Sales for Flickr. Before his time at Yahoo, Joe served as Vice President of Strategic Accounts and Asia Pacific Operations at publicly listed company, Virage Inc, a provider of video search and publishing services and software. While at Virage, Joe and his team pioneered some of the first business relationships in the broadband entertainment space, working with some of the world’s leading media companies. Prior to Virage, he headed sales for Sina.com, the top Chinese language web portal, and before that Joe ran The Economist Group’s business in China for 4.5 years establishing the company’s presence in the country and overseeing offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Joe serves on the Board Of Viximo, Inc.
John Salter, The Raine Group, Partner
John is a Partner at Raine and is responsible for Raine’s interactive and digital media practice. Prior to Raine, John was Global Head of Digital Media at UBS Investment Bank where he had worked for over 8 years in the Technology, Media and Telecommunications Group in San Francisco. While at UBS, he worked on advisory and capital raising assignments for leading entertainment and digital companies including Activision Blizzard, Giant Interactive, Infogrames/Atari, Lionhead, Shanda Interactive, Square Enix and THQ, among others. Prior to UBS John worked in the Internet and New Media group at Volpe, Brown, Whelan & Co, a boutique investment bank based in San Francisco. John has a B.A. from Stanford University.
Joseph Staten, Bungie, Design Director
Joseph Staten joined Bungie in 1998, back when Bungie was still developing and publishing games for PC and Mac. He has worked on every Bungie title since, including “Myth II: Soulblighter”, “ONI” and all of the “Halo” games. He served as Creative Director for Bungie’s game collaboration with film director Peter Jackson, and then as Writer and Creative Director of “Halo 3: ODST”. He is a New York Times bestselling author and currently a Design Director at Bungie, working on an unannounced, non-Halo title – the first of Bungie’s next big universe of games.
Jules Urbach, Otoy, Chief Executive Officer
Jules Urbach is CEO of Otoy and Lightstage. At Otoy, Urbach is working on creating a next-generation games-on-demand service with partners such as Advanced Micro Devices. He made his first game, Hell Cab, at age 18. He was the co-founder of Groove Alliance, which pioneered making online Flash games on Shockwave.com such as Real Pool. At Lightstage, he is working on technology that could revolutionize 3-D rendering; the company worked on face-capture technologies that helped create Brad Pitt’s morphing face in the film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Like OnLive, Otoy is trying to create cloud-based gaming, which allows consumers to play games in their living room that are actually hosted on servers in a distant data center.
Justin Smith, Inside Network, Founder
Justin Smith founded Inside Network, a site dedicated to providing news and market research on the Facebook platform and the social gaming ecosystem. He serves as editor of Inside Facebook and founder of Inside Social Games. He is the author of the Facebook Marketing Bible and co-author of Inside Virtual Goods reports. From 2007-2009, Smith was head of product for Watercooler, a venture-backed social games and sports entertainment startup. He was also an early employee of Xfire and co-founder of MyDesktop Network.
Keith Lee, Booyah, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer
Keith is a veteran of the interactive entertainment industry with a proven track record of helping create best-selling video games, developing compelling experiences, and attracting broad audiences into the gaming space. Prior to founding Booyah, Keith was the Lead Producer for Blizzard Entertainment’s Diablo III franchise. The Diablo series has sold over 20 million copies worldwide. Before Blizzard, Keith’s roles as the Project Manager and Lead Programmer for Insomniac Games helped propel the Ratchet & Clank series to surpass 10 million units sold. Leading up to the games industry, Keith worked at several investment banks, including Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. Keith graduated from Stanford University with a BS in Computer Science and a BA in International Relations and Economics.
Lisa Hanson, Niko Partners, Founder and Managing Partner

Lisa Hanson is the Managing Partner and Founder of Niko Partners, as well as Director of DFC-Niko Emerging Markets. Her responsibility includes client relations, research & analysis, business development, operations, and partnerships. Her belief is that international business expansion, while complex, need not be complicated to plan for or execute.

Lisa has spent 16 years honing her experience in management positions and in the roles of Asian and specifically Chinese market research analyst, Asian and Chinese market entry consultant, Japanese equities analyst, and US-Japan economic policy analyst. She has been a well-regarded speaker on global technology markets for many years.

Lisa has lived and worked in New York, Washington DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, Tokyo, and London, and makes frequent trips to Shanghai and Beijing for Niko Partners. Her past US-based international business roles included extensive travel throughout Asia and Europe. Lisa speaks Japanese and is studying Mandarin.

She earned an MA in International Economic Policy from The American University in Washington, DC, and a BA in Political Science & International Affairs from UCLA. She believes in peace through intercultural understanding, hence she volunteers her time for AFS Intercultural Programs, a leading global exchange student organization.
Mark Friedler, IndustryGamers.com, Publisher

Mark is a serial entrepreneur who is currently a business consultant and publisher of IndustryGamers.com. He has founded, grown and sold 3 companies. He started GameDaily and grew it to one of world’s largest video games websites and ad networks. It was acquired by TimeWarner AOL in 2006. He was an AOL executive until late 2007. Previously, he founded Gigex, the leading download service for game and software demos. He started Internet content delivery company V-Cast, Inc, which was acquired by Verizon Wireless.

He spent 6 years in Europe where he was Managing Director of Teleworld, a division of Philips Media, that operated interactive TV services with MTV. Mark’s first business was Sweden’s first chain of cookie stores, Marks Cookies .

Mark consults with a variety of companies building their businesses. He is also an investor and board member of several Internet companies.
Neil Young, ngmoco, Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Neil Young is the CEO and Founder of ngmoco, creator and publisher of games exclusively for iPhone and iPod touch. Prior to founding ngmoco, Neil held various positions at Electronic Arts, most recently as the Group General Manager of the EA|Blueprint Studio group that included Maxis (creators of Spore™ & The Sims™) and EA’s collaborative partnership with Steven Spielberg. Neil joined Electronic Arts in 1997 as the General Manager of EA’s Origin Systems subsidiary, where he supervised the launch of the world’s first Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing game, UltimaOnline™.

Prior to EA/Blueprint, Neil served both as Vice President and General Manager of EA Los Angeles (EALA) and EA Maxis, where he oversaw all aspects of the studios responsible for the blockbuster franchises Medal of Honor™, Command & Conquer™, The Lord of the Rings™ & The Sims™. In 2002 and 2003, Young also led the development of the first The Lord of the Rings games at EA Redwood Shores - The Lord of the Rings™: The Two Towers™ and The Lord of the Rings™: The Return of the King™.

In addition to his other producing and management credits, he was also the creator and driving force behind Majestic™, the first Alternate Reality Game (ARG) and a pioneering internet experience that blurred the line between fiction and reality by engaging players through non-traditional gaming media.
Owen Mahoney, Outspark, Chief Executive Officer
Owen Mahoney joined Outspark last year as the company’s business was taking off. On the forefront of nextgen social and virtual goods gaming, Outspark takes massively multiplayer online games from Asia and refashions them for Western markets as free-to-play games with virtual goods business models. The company has millions of players a month coming to its web site and is recruiting third-party publishers to make their games available on its portal. Mahoney has 15 years of experience in digital media, including nine years at Electronic Arts, where he was senior vice president of business development in charge of investments and acquisitions.
Patrick Mork, GetJar, Vice President of Marketing
Patrick joined GetJar in 2008 as VP of marketing and member of the executive team. His primary role at GetJar is to develop the company’s overall marketing, branding, content and communications strategy.

Patrick has been in the mobile content space since 2004 first at mobile games publisher I-play then subsequently at glu mobile. Prior to joining GetJar, Patrick was Marketing Director Europe at glu where he built up the company’s marketing team and was a key part of the European management team that helped take the company public on the NASDAQ in March 2007.

With 15 years of marketing experience at leading companies such as PepsiCo and Diamondcluster, Patrick has worked in large multinationals and venture-backed start-ups in marketing, sales and general management.

Patrick holds on MBA from INSEAD and a BS from Georgetown University.
Paul Lee, Vanedge Capital, Managing General Partner

V. Paul Lee is the Managing General Partner of Vanedge Capital Partners Ltd., a venture capital fund established to focus on opportunities in the interactive digital media space. The market for interactive and digital entertainment and media is massive, growing, and changing at an extremely rapid pace. It affects the ways companies use the Internet to attract and engage target audiences and conduct commerce electronically.

Lee is the former President of Electronic Arts, Inc., the global leader in interactive software, and was responsible for its Worldwide Studio group. Electronic Arts had fiscal 2008 revenues of US $3.67 billion. He managed more than 6,000 employees and US$1 billion in annual capital and operating expenses in the development studios making it the largest entertainment studio in the world.

In 1987 Lee graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Commerce with Honours Degree and was one of six students selected to enter the prestigious Portfolio Management Fund program at the UBC Sauder School of Business. Lee is a Leslie Wong Fellow and is also a designated Chartered Financial Analyst. From 1987 – 1989 Lee worked at Chrysler Canada as an Investment Manager for the pension fund and health and welfare benefit plans.

Lee invested in and joined Distinctive Software as a Principal in 1989, having been a member of its board for several years prior. Distinctive Software became a leading independent videogame developer and was acquired by Electronic Arts in 1991. Lee has been a member of the executive management team since, holding a variety of positions.

1994 saw Lee recognized as one of the “40 Under 40” business leaders by Business in Vancouver. In 1996 he was awarded the Outstanding Young Alumnus Award from the University of British Columbia. In 2002 Lee was awarded the BC Technology Industries Association Person of the Year Award for his outstanding leadership in the high technology industry. Lee has also received numerous awards for his community service including the Commemorative Medal for the Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for significant contribution in the form of public service in 2003. In 2005 he was recognized as an Honorary Fellow of the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business. Lee has served as Chair of the BC Technology Industries Association from 1998 to 2001. Lee was an investor and member of the Board of Directors of A.L.I. Technologies until its landmark sale to McKesson Corporation in 2002. Lee was Co-Chair, along with the Premier of British Columbia, of the Premier’s Technology Council from its inception in 2001 until 2005 and remains a member of the Council. Lee currently serves as a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council for the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia, is a member of the Minister’s Steering Committee for the Vancouver International Financial Institutions Sector, and currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Vancouver Board of Trade. He is Chair of the Board of Directors of DigiBC, a merger of New Media B.C. and WinBC. Lee is also Chair of the Board of Directors at D-Wave Systems, a company working to build the world’s first commercial quantum computer.
Peter Relan, CrowdStar, Chairman
Peter Relan is the Chairman of CrowdStar, the popular social gaming company and creators of Happy Aquarium and Happy Pets. He is also the Founder and Chairman of YouWeb, the incubator behind Aurora Feint: maker of OpenFeint, the iPhone’s fastest growing social gaming network; and Sibblingz, the company building a multi-channel social gaming platform for developers. Peter has spent the last 25 years in Silicon Valley in the networking, software, consumer and mobile services industry, both as product development executive at Oracle and Hewlett Packard and as a serial entrepreneur. Peter is also an active angel investor in, and board member and advisor to, a number of early stage companies. He is an avid tennis player, children’s basketball coach and percussionist in Indian Classical Music. He holds a BS from UCLA and a MS from Stanford University.
Ray Muzyka, BioWare, General Manager and Chief Executive Officer
Originally trained as a doctor, Muzyka began making games with his pal Greg Zeschuk. They co-founded BioWare in 1995 and built BioWare into one of the hottest makers of role-playing games for the PC and consoles. Their hits included Shattered Steel, the Baldur’s Gate series, MDK2, MDK2: Armageddon, the Neverwinter Nights series, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, and Mass Effect. Elevation Partners invested $400 million into BioWare as well as Pandemic and then sold the combined company to EA for $800 million in 2008. At EA, BioWare has just published a couple of big hits — Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age Origins — and it is at work on a new Star Wars online game, The Old Republic.
Tim Chang, Norwest Venture Partners, Principal

Tim brings a combination of operational, technical and international business experience to Norwest Venture Partners. Tim focuses on investments in mobile, gaming, digital media, and also leads NVP’s investment practice in China and Asia-Pacific. Tim led NVP’s investments in and joined the boards of directors of ngmoco, Lumos Labs, Brite Semiconductor and 3jam. He also led NVP’s investment in Playdom, a leader in social gaming, and PCH International, a turnkey global supply chain services firm based in Shenzhen. Tim is a board observer working closely with Borqs, deCarta, Double Fusion and Veveo.

Prior to joining NVP in 2006, Tim was a principal at Gabriel Venture Partners where he was actively involved in over a dozen wireless-related deals and led Gabriel’s investments in Iridigm Display Corporation (acquired by Qualcomm), Sequoia Communications, Sandbridge, and Kajeet. He also contributed to the boards of Placeware (acquired by Microsoft) and Arula Systems (acquired by Raritan), TestQuest, NextG Networks, and IPWireless. Tim built Gabriel’s wireless sector practice and helped establish business development capabilities through strong, strategic relationships across the wireless value chain, particularly in Asia-Pacific.

Prior to joining Gabriel, Tim spent more than five years working in Japan. He was a product manager at Gateway Inc. where he successfully launched direct-marketed PC servers in the Japanese market and quickly grew an enterprise product line into a full offering of network desktops, workstations, servers and configurable turn-key solutions. Prior to Gateway, Tim was a development engineer for General Motors. As a tri-lingual engineer based in Tokyo, Tim led project teams in China, Korea and Japan in the development, testing and sales of advanced chassis control systems for clients such as Toyota and Daewoo.

Tim holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar, and an MS in electrical engineering/system engineering as well as a BS in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan.
Won Il Sue, Nexon America, Vice President of Business Development
As VP of Business Development, Won is responsible for managing Nexon America’s strategic partnerships as well as expanding the company’s game development channels.

Won comes to Nexon America with many years of business development and management experience with online gaming companies including serving as CEO of Nexon Corp. between 2004 and 2005. He also founded the Internet startup called Smartplay and served as its CEO before joining Neowiz Games in South Korea. There he held several executive posts including Senior Vice President of International Business.

Won is a native of South Korea and speaks fluent English and Korean. He attended Seoul National University where he earned a Degree in Business Administration.
Klaas Kersting, Gameforge, Chief Executive Officer
After brief stints in business and law, Klaas Kersting began his study of international economics with a sponsorship from KPMG in Mannheim, Germany, specializing in IT and project management.

In December 2003, while still a student, Kersting established Gameforge in Karlsruhe together with Alexander Roesner. The company would specialize in the development and publishing of browser-based Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs). In June 2004, Kersting graduated with a degree in international economics, using Gameforge as part of his thesis on the internationalization of an internet business.

Today the company employs over 400 people, and with more than 100 million registered users and 18 games in more than 50 languages, Gameforge has become the leading independent developer and publisher of browser- and client-based MMOGs worldwide.
Tomoko Namba, DeNA, Chief Executive Officer
Tomoko Namba founded DeNA in 1999. In her previous employment at McKinsey and Co., she had become only the third Japanese woman in the company’s history to be made a partner. Namba’s wealth of experience is reflected in every aspect of DeNA, from day-to-day operations to charting future directions for this young, dynamic IT company with its unique corporate culture. Under Namba’s leadership, DeNA is committed to the delivery of outstanding service while also striving to instill environmental awareness in its rapidly expanding consumer base. Namba has also been involved in a number of national government efforts, such as the Prime Ministers’ Council for the Promotion of Regulatory Reform. She has also worked with the IT Strategy Headquarters. Namba holds an MBA from Harvard.
Steve Perlman, OnLive, Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Steve Perlman, OnLive founder, president & CEO, is an entrepreneur and inventor devoted to pioneering Internet, entertainment, multimedia, consumer electronics and communications technologies and services. Best known for the development of QuickTime(r), WebTV(r) and Mova(r) Contour(tm) facial capture technologies, he has over 30 years of technology development experience, 19 years of start-up experience and a track record of bringing media-rich products and services quickly to market. In addition to having founded and operated multiple startup companies, Steve has been a Microsoft division president and a principal scientist at Apple Computer.

Steve’s technology work is built into all iPhones, video iPods, Macs and most PCs, and has been deployed by DirecTV, Dish, Comcast, Time Warner, Charter and Adelphia cable TV and satellite TV networks. Consumer products incorporating Steve’s work have also been retailed by Sony, Philips, RCA, Panasonic, Mitsubishi, Samsung, Fujitsu, Motorola, Scientific Atlanta, Sega and Nintendo.

Steve’s recently patented facial motion capture technology, Mova Contour, was used for the production of the Academy Award(r)-winning photoreal computer-generated face of Brad Pitt in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (2008), and of Edward Norton and Tim Roth in “The Incredible Hulk” (2008).

Steve holds over 90 US patents, and has more than 100 additional patents pending.
Alex Pham, The Los Angeles Times, Staff Writer
Alex Pham covers digital content and video games for the Los Angeles Times. She has been a business reporter for more than two decades, writing for the Oregonian, the Washington Post, USA Today and the Boston Globe before joining the Times in 1999 as a technology reporter. When not chewing on SEC filings, Alex enjoys mixing up Lego bricks with her son.
Brian Reynolds, Zynga, Chief Designer
An eighteen-year industry veteran, Brian Reynolds is recognized as one of the industry’s most talented and productive game designers. Honored by PC Gamer magazine as one of twenty-five “Game Gods,” Reynolds played a key role founding two successful videogame studios: Firaxis and Big Huge Games. Reynolds’ videogames have sold over 6 million copies worldwide, and he has masterminded the design of several smash hits including Civilization II®, Alpha Centauri®, and Rise of Nations®, as well as Catan® for Xbox360 Live Arcade.

Highly regarded as well for his mastery of the art of programming, Reynolds’ dual specialty gives him the substantial advantage of being able to bring his own visions to life - and he has built a reputation for finely tuned gameplay. As Chief Designer for Zynga, Brian now applies these talents to the rapidly growing world of social network games, and with his cohorts at “Zynga East” is hard at work on new social strategy games!

In June 2006, Brian was also elected Chair of the International Game Developers Association the non-profit professional society dedicated to advancing the careers of game developers worldwide, and he continues to serve the organization in an advisory role. Brian is particularly interested in finding ways to get developers a better deal on intellectual property rights, credit and recognition, awards programs, and general quality of life - leading him to focus his volunteer work in those areas. Brian’s other volunteer work has included judging the International Game Festival, the Game Developers Choice Awards, and the AIAS Interactive Awards.
John Schappert, Electronic Arts, Chief Operating Officer
John Schappert has 17 years of experience building successful teams and profitable businesses in the game industry. After working as a game software engineer and project leader, he founded Tiburon Entertainment in 1994, the studio behind EA’s Madden NFL, NCAA(R) Football and Tiger Woods games. Tiburon was acquired by EA in 1998. In 2002, he moved to EA’s Burnaby Studio in British Columbia and was promoted to Senior Vice President and Group General Manager. In this role, he oversaw production of blockbuster franchises such as FIFA Soccer, NHL(R) hockey, and Need For Speed(TM).

He joined Microsoft in 2007 to create the LIVE Software Division, the online services group for Xbox(R). His responsibilities were expanded to include oversight for the Microsoft Game Studios and Xbox LIVE. This role included oversight of some of the industry’s largest franchises, including Halo, Gears of War and Forza Motorsport. John and his team launched the New Xbox Experience which brought new functionality to Xbox LIVE and helped grow the Xbox Live business from 6 million to 20 million members.

He returned to EA as Chief Operating Officer of EA Worldwide Studios and, subsequently to Executive Vice President with oversight of EA’s Online Platform and Central Development Services Group. EA made a big splash when it agreed to buy social game publisher Playfish for as much as $400 million, and Schappert is a big thinker on the transition that is happening between traditional games and the explosion of new platforms.
Alex St. John, hi5, President & Chief Technology Officer
Alex leads all product strategy, design, development and operations at hi5. Previously, he was CEO and co-founder of WildTangent Inc. the world’s largest privately held game network with over 30 million monthly unique visitors. During his tenure, WildTangent developed a unique and highly successful micro-currency based economy that blended ecommerce and advertiser sponsored play of premium content. Alex also pioneered technology for online game publishing, resulting in an extensive portfolio of rich media delivery and micro-currency based monetization patents.

Prior to founding WildTangent, Alex was responsible for Microsoft’s multimedia strategy. He was one of the principal creators of Microsoft’s DirectX technology, which become the foundation for all Windows multimedia applications, 3D graphics, media players, and casual multiplayer games, as well as thousands of PC and Xbox games. Several books have been written about St. John’s exploits at Microsoft including Renegades of the Empire by Michael Drummond, Opening the Xbox by Dean Takahashi, and Masters of Doom by David Kushner.

Alex was awarded an honorary degree in Real-Time Interactive Simulation from the DigiPen Institute of Technology for his extensive contributions to innovative game technology and the school’s curriculum. Alex also advises the University of Washington on ways to enhance its technical degree programs and serves as an EIR advisor to the Tech Transfer department.
John Vechey, PopCap Games, Founder and Executive Producer
John Vechey co-founded PopCap Games with Brian Fiete and Jason Kapalka in 2000, and has been instrumental in driving nearly every aspect of the company’s operations at one time or another. John served as PopCap’s interim CEO until 2003, heading up business development and securing some of PopCap’s largest partnerships with major Web portals and game publishers. After hiring a new CEO, Dave Roberts, John managed PopCap’s direct-to-consumer experience as Director of PopCap.com, overseeing all aspects of the company’s Web site and online presence while directing PopCap’s e-commerce, privacy/security and online games services. John then worked in both the Business Development and Game Studio to establish PopCap’s social games business. In 2009 he helped originate, launch and grow Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook which went from zero to 25 million users in its first twelve months. John is now focused on Corporate Development, managing PopCap strategy and mergers and acquisitions.

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