speakers

Dave Anderson
Senior Director of Business Development and Licensing
Activision, Inc.

David Anderson has worked in various capacities at Activision, Inc. for the past ten years, most recently as senior director of business development and licensing, a position he has held for the past three years.

In this role, Mr. Anderson is responsible for four key areas of business including forging strategic relationships with consumer products companies to develop promotional and in-game sponsorship opportunities, which were initiated and developed under him over the last six years; assessing emerging gaming platform opportunities (ie: wireless, interactive TV, broadband and narrowband) and developing a strategy to leverage the company’s content on those platforms; licensing Activision owned or controlled intellectual properties to develop ancillary revenue streams; overseeing sales of the company’s games in Latin America.

Prior to joining Activision, Mr. Anderson served as a senior account manager for Creditek, a financial services consulting firm where he worked for two years.

Mr. Anderson holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of California, Los Angeles.  

Julie Ask
Research Director
Jupiterresearch

Julie Ask is the Research Director for wireless technologies as well as online advertising and marketing within the automotive industry. Prior to joining Jupiter, she worked first as a microwave circuit design engineer with COMSAT and then as a management consultant with telecommunications companies with Booz Allen & Hamilton.  

Kevin Browne
General Manager, Xbox New Media and Franchise Development
Microsoft Corp.

Browne has been at Microsoft for over 15 years. Prior to this role, Browne ran a game studio, led the Macintosh Business Unit making Office and IE for Mac, and worked as a product planner on Microsoft Excel  

Before Microsoft, Browne proudly served as an Armory officer in the United States Army. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Notre Dame. 

Michael Cai
Director, Broadband & Gaming
Parks Associates

Michael Cai studies developments in broadband services, broadband technologies such as FTTx and broadband wireless, electronic gaming, and other value-added services. He also follows emerging digital home technologies such as networked storage and whole-home entertainment solutions. Michael has written reports on the Chinese telecom market, broadband wireless, broadband services, storage, entertainment middleware, and gaming. Michael has presented his research in numerous industry events including CES, Supercomm, the National Show, CONNECTIONS™ , and E3.

Michael earned his MBA with a 4.0 GPA from Baylor University in May 2002. He also holds an MA in leadership from Landegg International University, Switzerland, and a BA in economics from Shandong University, P. R. China.

Simon Carless
Editorial Director
CMP Game Group

Simon Carless oversees both Game Developer magazine and Gamasutra.com, and is the Chairman of the Independent Games Festival. He has previously worked as a writer/editor for tech site Slashdot, and as a game designer for companies such as Eidos Interactive and Atari.

Nicholas Longano
President of New Media
Massive, Inc.

Nicholas has over 15 years in consumer packaged goods marketing, with 4 years as General Manager and Head of Marketing for Vivendi Universal Games. He was the former General Manager for Calvin Klein Cosmetics Canada and Latin America operations, and head of marketing, worldwide. Nicholas has an extensive track record of launching successful franchises worldwide, and up until recently was President of MOJO Advertising in Los Angeles – where he formed a new video game division, with clients such as Atari, ESPN Games, VUG, and Groove Games.

Nicholas holds a Business Degree in Marketing from the David Syme Business School, and a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.

Emily Della Maggiora
Vice President
Nielsen Interactive Entertainment

Emily Della Maggiora is the Vice President of Nielsen Interactive Entertainment and leads business development, product development and media measurement solutions for domestic and international interactive entertainment industries

In this role, Della Maggiora provides the interactive marketplace actionable insights into the current and future entertainment consumer, client proprietary research and strategy, as well as an industry facilitator for the development of standards and measurement for next-gen technologies, emerging content channels and new media outlets. Prior to NIE, Della Maggiora led Nielsen Entertainment's product development on the launch of Nielsen Cinema, a business unit designed to deliver media measurement to the cinema advertiser community.

Before joining Nielsen Entertainment, Della Maggiora served in various capacities focused on product development, professional services, sales management and client service for businesses delivering marketing services to agencies as well as direct to clients within the retail, cosmetics, videogame, and technology sectors.

Jonathan Epstein

Video game executive Jonathan Epstein opened the San Francisco office of United Talent Agency, marking the first time a major Hollywood agency has opened an office in the heart of the electronic and video gaming industry. Mr. Epstein has more than 20 years of media and marketing experience and a track record of success in creating new products, markets, and business models at the intersection of the Internet and gaming industries. Mr. Epstein has played a leading role in the development of the online media to serve the gaming community, having worked in key executive roles for all the top companies supporting the gaming industry. As founding president and CEO of GameSpot.com, Mr. Epstein reshaped the way by which gamers get their information and the ways that marketers most effectively reach gamers.

As president of GameSpy, Mr. Epstein transformed the company into a media powerhouse, building the largest subscription base of any gaming service. He later helped spearhead the merger of GameSpy with IGN Entertainment, where he served as executive vice president and general manager/media.

Mr. Epstein is a board member of Double Fusion, a leading in-game advertising company. He also works with Kuma Reality Games, Mofactor, and other mobile players revolutionizing the gaming industry.

Chris Gilbert
President & CEO
Adscape Media, Inc.

Chris Gilbert joined Adscape Media in November 2005 and oversees all sales, marketing and operational functions of the advertising services company. Chris brings 25 years of business-building experience to Adscape, including notable expertise in the interactive entertainment industry with multi-national hardware and software companies.

Most recently Chris was executive vice president and general manager of HIP Interactive’s U.S. division, where he held P&L responsibilities involving all sales, marketing and distribution activities in the U.S. market.

Prior to joining HIP, Chris held executive-level positions at Sega of America, including executive vice president of sales, marketing and operations and senior vice president of sales. Chris orchestrated the strategic sales plan for the Sega Dreamcast™ launch in North America, which became the largest retail product launch in the entertainment industry in 1999 grossing $97 million in its first day at retail. Chris’ role at Sega expanded to include responsibility for all operations at Sega of America, including sales, marketing, manufacturing and distribution.

Chris has a proven track record in building sales organizations and sustaining profitable growth for a number of industry-leading, multi-national companies, including Altec Lansing Technologies, GTE Corporation and Sparkomatic Corporation.

Chris earned an MBA at Cornell Graduate School of Management and Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Lawrence University.

Tim Harris
Senior Vice President
Play | a Denuo Group Company

Tim Harris joins Denuo with years of communication experience, a reputation for ingenuity and an intense interest in connecting with consumers via popular culture and emerging media.

In 2003, Harris co-founded Play - a division of Denuo and the industry's first agency unit dedicated to leveraging videogames as a consumer contact medium. Servicing clients such as General Motors, P&G, LEGO, Miller and Allstate, the agency quickly became a recognized force in the industry. As the creative component of Play, Harris is directly responsible for guiding creative ideation and content development, crafting brand value through gaming marketing implementation, seeking out forward-thinking clients and consulting with brands and games companies on new ways to partner. Prior to launching Play, Harris co-founded Starcom IP, a digital and online media agency within SMG, and served as Director of Messaging and Cross-Contact Architecture.

Harris graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in telecommunications from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.

Sarah McIlroy
Director In-Game Ads & Promotions
Midway

Sarah McIlroy was recently appointed as Director of In-game Advertising and Promotions for Midway Amusement Games, LLC. Formerly with Atari and with more than 12 years of experience in promotions, marketing communications, and strategic partnership development, Sarah focuses on developing relationships with advertisers and ensuring that products are presented in a way that enhances gameplay experience. She has secured new business and multi-faceted partnership programs with Fortune 500 companies, including Apple, NASCAR, Yahoo, Pepsi, Warner Bros., Intel, Ecko, Nokia, Samsung, PowerAde, AOL, Hershey's, Microsoft, Reebok and more. Sarah holds a BA from Duke University.

Dave Miller
Director, Global Brand Management
THQ

Dave Miller joined THQ in January of 2005 with more than 10 years of entertainment and brand marketing experience. Miller manages one of the company’s marketing teams within the core gaming group, and oversees the company’s in-game dynamic advertising efforts.

Miller’s background is comprised primarily of brand marketing positions within major motion picture studios’ home entertainment divisions, most recently serving as Director of Brand Marketing for Universal Studios’ event theatrical franchises on DVD. He also managed marketing-related product and content development for DVD product launch team at Warner Home Video. Mr. Miller holds an M.B.A. with a Marketing emphasis at the Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA and holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

Saneel Radia
Group Director
Play | a Denuo Group Company

Saneel Radia brings talent and fresh thinking to Denuo. With a reputation for successfully leveraging videogames as content platforms, he has forged meaningful connections between brands and consumers. Radia's digital media expertise can be attributed to his extensive client work, encapsulating both IP and gaming applications for clients such as GM, Best Buy, P&G and Miller.

He continues to lead the West Coast office of Play, the cutting-edge division of Denuo that broke ground and set standards as the first consumer marketing services company focused on the video gaming industry. Radia has executed client programs for P&G brands and handles all GM gaming work including Pontiac, GMC and Saturn. In his career, Radia helped spearhead the industry's first broadband upfront at Starcom MediaVest Group, which helped establish a number of benchmarks currently used in referencing the serving, measuring and tracking of streaming ads. In 2005, he was named an Advertising Age "Twentysomething," an honor extended to a select group of individuals under the age of thirty who are driving their industries into the future.

Radia graduated from the University of Texas with a Bachelor of Science degree in advertising. He currently resides in Los Angeles.

Adrienne Sanders
Technology Reporter
San Francisco Business Times

Adrienne reports on digital entertainment and technology for the San Francisco Business Times, where she has written extensively about the local gaming industry. She covered entrepreneurs, technology, and the world's richest people for Forbes magazine. At TheStreet.com, financial news website, she wrote about Bay Area software companies such as Electronic Arts.

Adrienne has written investigative reports for several San Francisco newspapers including The Chronicle and The Examiner. Her work has been featured on CBS's 48 Hours Investigates and has won recognition from groups including the Western Knight Center for Specialized Journalism.

Adrienne received a masters' degree in International Affairs from Columbia University, where she took reporting and writing courses.

Before founding IGA Worldwide, Justin was Head of Online Business and Member of the Board within the McCann Erickson Worldgroup, Germany. Prior to this, Justin was Director of Consulting at Zentropy Partners, Frankfurt.

He has held a number of senior positions with major European Digital and Classic agencies for the last 10 years, including forming his own interactive agency in the UK in the late 90’s.

Kudo Tsunoda
General Manager/ Executive Producer
EA Chicago


Kudo Tsunoda is the General Manger, Executive Producer of EA Chicago. He managed NuFx’s integration into a fully-owned EA studio as it developed into what EA Chicago is today. He is responsible for establishing EA Chicago as a leading next-gen videogame studio. In this role, he sets the creative tone and production methodologies for all EA Chicago games including hit franchises such as EA Sports Fight Night and the Def Jam series. Since Kudo joined EA 3 years ago, EA Chicago has won 11 game-of-the-year awards and has produced one of EA’s top rated Xbox 360 products.

During his 10 years in the video game industry, Kudo has designed such genre defining features as Fight Night’s Total Punch Control system and the Army Men Air Attack Winch Mechanic. Games he has worked on have grossed over $600 million dollars world wide including several #1 selling products.

Kudo majored in philosophy at George Washington University in Washington DC where he won on campus videogame tournaments in Tecmo Bowl, Double Dribble, and Racquet Attack.