2009 Agenda

08:15AM–9:00AM   
Registration, Coffee & Networking

9:00AM–9:15AM   
Welcome to the Conference
Ned Sherman, CEO & Publisher, Digital Media Wire
Jay Baage, Event Director, NY Games Conference

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

Presenters
Michael Klotz, Games Business Senior Manager, The NPD Group, Inc.
Joost van Dreunen, Managing Director, SuperData Research
Moderator: Ned Sherman, CEO & Publisher, Digital Media Wire

10:00AM–10:30AM
KEYNOTE - "The State of The Casual Games Industry"
Tal Kerret, Chairman of the Board Co-Founder, Oberon Media
The casual games industry has rapidly evolved from the days of single-player solitaire into a mighty, multi screen, multi-billion dollar global business. As the casual gaming industry continues to grow, more and more multi-platform, social networking and revenue driving opportunities continue to present themselves. Oberon Media CEO Tomer Ben-Kiki will discuss the state of the casual game business for those looking to obtain the latest data on the fastest growing segment in gaming, those looking to make an impact on as many screens as possible, as well as discuss the continued growth of the casual games industry in the future.

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

• "Building Communities: Getting Customers to Invest in Your Brand" - moderated by Tony Hynes, Director of Marketing, Promethium Marketing
• "Fresh Ideas or Fresh Meat? How to Foster a Better Blend of Industry-Ready New Hires" - moderator Brett Phares, Assist. Professor, Media Arts, Marist College
• “Gaming Metrics - An Inside Look at the Metrics of Monetization” - moderated by Noah Kagan, President, Gambit
• “The Impact of Virtual Goods in Online Games” - moderated by Brian Balfour, Co-Founder and VP of Marketing, Viximo
• "XBLA, PSN, and iPhone, Oh My! Creating New IP for New Markets", moderated by Coray Seifert, Game Designer, THQ Inc. | Kaos Studios, Board of Directors, IGDA

11:15AM–12:00PM PANEL 1
Creating Cutting-Edge Games on the East Coast and Beyond!
In recent years there has been an increase in the numbers of creators and game developers who are on the cutting-edge of innovation within the industry. Where is the money flowing for development studios? How are game creators and developers distinguishing themselves from one another? What platforms and which types of games are the most exciting and provide the most opportunities for game developers today? How will they meet the challenge successful games that grip players’ hearts and guts in 2010 and beyond?

Panelists
Tom Akel, Supervising Producer, MTV Networks
Wade Tinney, CEO & Co-Founder, Large Animal Games
Eric Zimmerman, Game Designer / Co-Founder, Gamelab
Brandon Van Slyke, Game Designer, Vicarious Visions (an Activision Blizzard studio)
Martyn Brown, Studio Director, Team17 Software
Moderator: David Freeman, CEO, The Freeman Group

12:10PM–12:40PM
INTERVIEW
Ben Feder, CEO, Take-Two Interactive Software
Interviewed by: Mike Vorhaus, President, Magid Advisors

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

1:40PM–2:10PM
KEYNOTE
Masaaki Maeda, President & CEO, NTT DOCOMO USA

TRACK A
DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION

2:15PM–3:00PM PANEL 2
Disc or No Disc: New Forms of Game Distribution
Videogames are an important part of the migration of content "into the cloud." But despite the disruptive impact the internet is having on traditional retail, physical goods aren’t likely to disappear any time soon. What new forms of distribution work for different types of games? Which devices are going to be driving the future growth of the gaming business? This panel will give you an overview of current trends, provide relevant real-life case-studies and give you the unfiltered truth of technological opportunities and challenges facing the games industry in a digital age.

Panelists
Jay Eum, Co-Founder & Managing Director, TransLink Capital
Anders Evju, VP, Business Development & Partner Relations, Oberon Media
Robert Levitan, CEO, Pando Networks
Chris Petrovic, GM, Digital Media, GameStop
Nicholas Perrett, CEO and Co-founder, 4mm Games
Moderator: Michael Cai, Vice President, Video Games, Interpret
 

TRACK B
GAME MONETIZATION

2:15PM–3:00PM PANEL 3
Free, Pay-to-Play and Subscription Models for Games
Videogames account for the largest portion of paid online content, well ahead of other forms of content, such as movies/video and news. Lazard Capital Markets forecasts that online games will generate more than $11 billion in revenues this year, up from $3 billion in 2005, accounting for around 25 percent of global game sales. While subscriptions have proven a very successful model for games such as World of Warcraft, it might not be suitable for other online games. When it comes to mobile games and casual games, a model has emerged with a free version of the game and a paid version for those who are interested in upgrading. Is there enough money to go around for subscriptions? Is advertising a viable option? What hybrid models are emerging? This panel of game experts will give you a glimpse into the future of game monetization and provide many good ideas for what models will work for your products/services.

Panelists
Sanjay Sarathy, SVP, Marketing, Vindicia
Peter Blacklow, President, WorldWinner / EVP, Digital, GSN
Fernando Paiz, Executive Producer, Turbine
Cindy Cook, Former CSO & CMO, Vivendi Games
Michael Worosz, VP, Business Development, CBS Interactive - Games and Music
Moderator: Mike Vorhaus, President, Magid Advisors
 

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

TRACK A
DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION

3:30PM-4:15PM PANEL 4
Making Online Games Work – Looking Under the Hood of an Exploding Service Business
As more and more games go online, they are reliant on a robust infrastructure to provide a good user experience. Today's gaming companies are challenged with a tremendous complexity in terms of development and deployment of MMOGs and game infrastructures. This is a process which involves hardware platform vendors, data centers, ongoing support services, as well as city, state, and federal governments. All of these elements supporting an online game have the potential to break in a way that can take the game, or part of the game, offline. Some of these elements are under the control of the developer, some are under the control or influence of the hosting provider, and some are outside of anyone's control. This panel will give you an insider look under the hood of the growing online game industry. You will walk away with a better understanding of the stakes involved and the challenges and opportunities facing the games industry.

Panelists
Nanea Reeves, SVP, Online, Electronic Arts
Niranjan Nagar,Chief Game Operations Officer, Outspark
Kenny Rosenblatt, CEO and Co-Founder, Arkadium
Min Kim, Director, Nexon America
Jeff Anderson, Founder and CEO, Quick Hit
Moderator: David Reitman, VP, Content & Ent. Practice, Switch and Data
 

TRACK B
GAME MONETIZATION

3:30PM-4:15PM PANEL 5
Micro Transaction Models for Online Games, Social Networks and Virtual Worlds
There is a growing consensus that successful online games companies, social networks and virtual worlds need to complement advertising and freemium with a virtual goods micro-transaction business model. Hi5 has announced its own virtual currency. Facebook is now implementing “credits” and MySpace seems to be working on their own payments platform. The selling point is higher user monetization relative to advertising revenues because of the type of engagement that occurs in social communities and games, but what challenges face companies trying to enter this space and what models will emerge as the most successful?

Panelists
Adam Caplan, President, Super Rewards
Dan Jansen, CEO & Co-Founder, Virtual Greats
Hill Ferguson, VP of Product Management & Marketing, Zong
Andrew Sheppard, Executive Producer of Interactive Media, hi5 Networks
Mitch Liu, Co-founder and Vice-President, Offerpal Media
Rob Goldberg, Founder and CEO, GMG Entertainment
Moderator: Matthew Bellows, VP, Consumer Strategy, Vivox
 

TRACK A
SOCIAL AND CONNECTED GAMING

4:20PM-5:00PM PANEL 6
Viral Gaming – Innovations in Promoting and Distributing Games Online
What makes a successful game for social networking platforms such as Facebook or MySpace? How important is the social factor in gaming? Will we see casual massively multiplayer games anytime soon? How can games and interactive entertainment incorporate features such as user-generated content, sharing, rewards and referral programs? How do you monetize these new social gaming environments? This panel of executives from social networks, technology and games companies will tackle these questions and more.

Panelists
Sebastien de Halleux, Co-Founder & COO, Playfish
Gerardo Capiel, VP, Product, MySpace Open Platform
John Vechey, Co-Founder & Head of Social Games Studio, Popcap Games
Justin Smith, Founder and Editor, Inside Social Games
Vish Makhijani, COO, Zynga
Moderator: Eric Goldberg, Managing Director, Crossover Technologies
 

TRACK B
GAME MONETIZATION

4:20PM-5:00PM PANEL 7
Monetization 2.0 – In-Game Ads and Opportunities for Madison Avenue to Leverage the Gaming Experience
This panel of advertising, brand and games executives will discuss opportunities for advertisers and brands to reach consumers through the games, virtual worlds and social networks. How are brand marketers and their agencies navigating this space? What advertising campaigns work in games and online communities? How are consumers reacting to ads in games? How are advertising executives working with game developers? What are the opportunities and challenges in incorporating advertising and brands into games and online communities? On the other side of the coin, how can game companies generate revenue and free mass advertising by incorporating digital game content into brand advertising?

Panelists
Jonathan Epstein, CEO, Double Fusion
James Green, CEO, Giant Realm
Robert Driscoll, Partner, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
Nelson Boyce, SVP, Digital Ad Sales, MTV Networks Kids & Family Group
Ian Swanson, Co-Founder and CEO, Sometrics
Moderator: Gordon Bellamy, Senior Producer, Emerging Media, yU+co
 

TRACK A
SOCIAL AND CONNECTED GAMING

5:05PM-5:50PM
Game Showcase: Some of the most progressive games companies show you demos of the latest in gaming

Presenters
Tom Dusenberry, Founder, Dusenberry Entertainment; Director & Advisor, Robonica
Paul Bunch, Creative Director, SEE Virtual Worlds
Jason Citron, Founder & CEO, OpenFeint
Moderator: Jay Baage, Event Director, NY Games Conference
 

TRACK B
GAME MONETIZATION

5:05PM-5:50PM PANEL 8
Mobile Games – What are the Latest Trends in Games for the Third Screen?
Mobile games is already a multi-billion dollar industry, yet there are challenges that need to be collectively overcome for the industry to progress to a true mass market phenomenon. This panel of decision-makers in the mobile games value chain will discuss the state of the industry with a focus on innovation, pricing, new devices, marketing and distribution models for mobile games. Is the iPhone model the way of the future for the rest of the business? Among the thousands of applications available for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch, many are games, but what does it take to develop a successful iPhone game and for users to be made aware of it, since you can pay Apple to promote your applications? How are the operators working with publishers to allow mobile games to really take off? What factors are driving and hindering the industry? How is the mobile industry working with successful online games and brands to grow the market? Is a licensed game or branded title needed to succeed in the current mobile games market?

Paneliststs
Michael Chang, CEO & Co-Founder, Greystripe
Kyu Lee, President, Gamevil
Matt Liszt, VP, Global Product Marketing, Glu Mobile
Alex Bubb, Senior Partner Manager, Games and Media, Nokia
Simon Jeffery, Chief Publishing Officer, ngmoco
Moderator: Billy Pidgeon, Principal, Game Changer Research
 

7:00PM–9:00PM   
Cocktail Reception and After Party (Free attendance with NY Games Badge)
230 Fifth Ave Rooftop Garden
Free Admission for Badge holders. Guest Tickets for $10 HERE
Sponsored by: