Virtual Worlds Forum

Speakers

Virtual Worlds Forum Europe 2008 is delighted to welcome our speakers, some of the most highly respected practitioners, writers and thinkers.

• Adam Frisby
  Chief Technical Architect, Sine Wave Company
• Adam Martin
  
• Alex Chapman
  Sheridans
• Anatoly Ropotov
  Executive Vice President of Products, Astrum Online Entertainment
• Anne Grikitis
  Business Engagement Team, Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform
• Arend Stührmann
  Associate Producer, EVE Online
• Bernard Horan
  Senior Staff Engineer, Sun Labs
• Björn Wahlgren
  CEO, Paynova AB
• Bruce Joy
  CEO, VastPark
• Burckhardt Bonello
  Founder & CEO, sMeet
• Carolin Kasparek
  Legal Adviser, Bigpoint GmbH
• Celia Francis
  CEO, WeeWorld Inc
• Chris Howard
  Manager, Worldwide Solution Development and Delivery, Emerging 3D Internet & Virtual Business, IBM Research
• Christian Renaud
  CEO, Technology Intelligence Group
• Cindy H. Rose
  Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Walt Disney Internet Group EMEA
• Craig Sherman
  CEO, Gaia Online
• Daniel Aguilar
  CTO and Co-founder, Mosi Mosi Metaverse
• Dave Green
  Communications Director, London Games Fringe
• Dave Taylor MSc MBCS
  Programme Lead, Virtual Worlds and Medical Media, Imperial College, London
• David Gettman
  Consultant, McKinsey & Company
• David Naylor
  Partner, Field Fisher Waterhouse
• David Norfolk
  Practice Leader Development, Bloor Research
• Dolf Wittkämper
  Senior Director, Philips Design
• Dr Ben Williamson
  Senior Researcher, Futurelab
• Dr Michael Müller, LL.M.
  Lawyer, Head of Interactive Business, ProSiebenSat1 Group / Seven Games
• Dr Sara de Freitas
  Director of Research at the Serious Games Institute (SGI)
• Dr. Andreas Lober
  Partner, SchulteRiesenkampff
• Dr. James M. Bower Ph.D
  Founder, Chairman of the Board and Chief Visionary Officer, Numedeon Inc
• Dr. Olaf Weber, LL.M.,
  Legal Service, European Commission
• Ed Bartlett
  Vice President, Publisher Relations Europe and Co-Founder, IGA Worldwide
• Edita Kaye
  Publisher iVinnie.com and Founder Association of Virtual Worlds
• Eric Emanuel
  Head of Online Business, NCsoft
• Filip Fastenaekels
  Producer Digital Media, VRT
• Francesco D’Orazio
  Founder and CEO, Myrl
• Frank Campbell
  Chief Business Officer, MindArk PE AB
• Geoff Iddison
  Chief Executive Officer, Jagex
• Giff Constable
  VP of Products and Strategy, The Electric Sheep Company
• Giles Hogben
  Expert in Network Security Policy, European Network and Information Security Agency
• Giles Rhys Jones
  Digital Strategy Director, Ogilvy Group UK
• Ginsu Yoon
  VP Business Affairs, Linden Lab
• Grant Murgatroyd
  Editor, Corporate Financier
• Greg Nuyens
  CEO, Qwaq
• Henrique Olifiers
  Head of Game Content and Design, Jagex Ltd
• James Cox
  Senior Producer, Home Tools and Support, Sony Computer Entertainment
• Jeff Barr
  Web Services Evangelist, Amazon
• Jeff Meek
  Managing Partner Edinburgh, French Duncan
• Jelena Godjevac
  Co-founder and Executive Director, HP Micro-Enterprise Acceleration Institute
• Jeroen Dontje
  Head of Endemol Virtual, Endemol
• Jessica Mulligan
  COO, ImaginVenture SA
• Joakim Achren
  CEO, Ironstar Helsinki
• John Burns
  Senior Director of Online Publishing, Electronic Arts Europe
• Julien Onillon
  Vice President, Global Head of Investor Relations, ArcelorMittal
• Kerry Fraser-Robinson
  Managing Director, RedBedlam
• Kevin Corti
  CEO and Chief Learning Archirect, PIXELearning Limited
• Liliana Mircescu
  Head, Staff Development and Learning Unit, International Organization for Migration (IOM)
• Liz High
  Founding Partner, Intrepid
• Lizzie Jackson
  AHRC Researcher, University of Westminster
• Lode Nachtergaele
  Business Architect, VRT
• Luba Cherbakov
  Director, Technology and Innovation, CIO Office, IBM
• Malcolm Clark
  CEO, CyberSports Limited
• Marc Goodchild
  Head of Interactive and On-Demand, BBC Children's Interactive
• Marco Behrmann
  CIO & Entropia Universe Community Director, MindArk PE AB
• Mark Stephen Meadows
  Founder, Echo and Shadow
• Matthew Brotherton
  Project Manager & Innovation Consultant, Applied Technology Centre, BT Group Chief Technology Office
• Mel Guymon
  Head of 3D Operations and Product Manager for Google's Lively
• Melanie Thielker
  CEO, Xumeo
• Michael Acton Smith
  CEO and Founder, Mind Candy
• Michel Cassius
  Board Member, Dubit
• Mike Butcher
  UK & Europe Editor, TechCrunch
• Mirko Caspar
  CMO & Co-founder, Metaversum
• Nic Brisbourne
  Partner, DFJ Esprit
• Nic Mitham
  CEO, K Zero
• Nils-Holger Henning
  Director of Business Development, Bigpoint GmbH
• Osma Ahvenlampi
  CTO, Sulake Corporation Ltd.
• Patrice Chazerand
  Secretary General, Interactive Software Federation of Europe (ISFE)
• Phil Hall
  MD & Founder, Elzware Ltd
• Philippe Moitroux
  CEO, TAATU
• Popke Rein Munniksma
  Head of 3D Experience, Direct Channels & Innovation, ABN AMRO Bank N.V.
• Professor Richard Bartle
  University of Essex
• Raph Koster
  President, Metaplace
• Ren Reynolds
  Philosopher and writer
• Robert Vinet
  Founder & CEO, Community Chest
• Robert Gehorsam
  President, Forterra Systems, Inc.
• Rodrigo Bruecher
  New media, Marketing Communication, SEAT S.A. / VW Group
• Scott Arpajian
  Co-founder, Dizzywood
• Stefan Lemper
  Partner, Aurellia Private Equity
• Stefan Rehm
  Corporate Identity & Architecture, Marketing Communication, SEAT S.A. / VW Group
• Steve Prentice
  VP and Gartner Fellow, Gartner
• Stuart Dredge
  Freelance journalist and blogger, covering games, music and technology
• Tahir Basheer
  Partner, Sheridans
• Tatiana Dearden
  Corporate Training and Development, SGS HR
• Tim Gorree
  IT Architect, Web Technologies, Nokia Corporation
• Timo Soininen
  CEO, Sulake Corporation Ltd.
• Tom Standage
  Business Editor, The Economist
• Uri Adoni
  Venture Partner, JVP (Jerusalem Venture Partners)
• Vili Lehdonvirta
  Researcher, Helsinki Institute for Information Technology

Full programme

Keynote speakers

• Craig Sherman, CEO, Gaia Online

  During business hours, Craig Sherman lives in gaiaonline.com, the leading teen hangout on the web. Craig leads the company’s strategic planning, management, and technology development. Prior to joining Gaia Online, Craig served as Entrepreneur in Residence at Benchmark Capital. Craig was also COO of MyFamily.com (ancestry.com), where he helped grow the company from $23 million to $150 million in sales and transform it from an advertising-based site to a highly profitable consumer subscription business. Before this, Craig held senior positions at American International Group, where he ran all marketing and internet sites for AIG in Japan and Korea. Previous to AIG, Craig was CEO of Cendant Japan, a joint venture founded by Cendant and Mitsubishi Corporation. Craig currently holds director or advisor positions on the boards of Homestead, Myheritage, Netquote and Singlefeed. Previously, Craig also held board positions with Photobucket, prior to its sale to the Fox network, and Logoworks, prior to its sale to Hewlett Packard. Craig has a BA from Princeton University.

  Craig Sherman will be presenting The best of both worlds - How are games / social worlds merging? on 7 October at 12.10pmplenary - keynote address on 7 October at 9.10am

• Geoff Iddison, Chief Executive Officer, Jagex

  Geoff Iddison is the Chief Executive Officer of Jagex, the UK's largest independent games developer and publisher. Geoff joined Jagex in October 2007, he has extensive experience in leading international e-commerce-based businesses and has worked in the internet industry for over ten years. Geoff held the position of CEO of eBay-owned payments business PayPal Europe Ltd from August 2003, having originally led the first expansion of PayPal from its base in California. Geoff joined eBay in 2000 from Christies Inc. where he held the role of COO.

  Geoff Iddison will be presenting plenary - keynote address on 7 October at 10.20am

• John Burns, Senior Director of Online Publishing, Electronic Arts Europe

  As EA’s Senior Director of Online Publishing, John is responsible for driving EA’s online gaming and digital distribution revenues and strategies across Europe. He was central to launching EA’s direct to consumer service - EA Store - and along with his team focuses on bringing to market quality digital content across the PS3 and Xbox 360 platforms. John further develops and executes strategies for leadership across massively multiplayer gaming including the recently announced Battlefield Heroes and the much anticipated Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning MMORPG, which launched in mid September. Prior to taking up his current role, John was European Sales and Marketing Director at EA Mobile where he was responsible for formulating and executing against EA’s Global Mobile gaming strategy. John has been actively involved in the interactive entertainment industry across Asia and Europe for over 15 years. Initially working for Atari Computers and Sega in Australia, he was involved in launching several new gaming platforms including the Sega MegaDrive. He has also held a variety of senior sales and marketing roles across several companies including the world’s third largest toy company – Bandai. From 1995 to 2000 he was Managing Director for Activision Europe. John has also launched several of his own ventures – principally in Online - including the publishing company, EON, which he sold in 2003.

  John Burns will be presenting PLENARY - Keynote address on 6 October at 10.20am

• Luba Cherbakov, Director, Technology and Innovation, CIO Office, IBM

  Ms. Cherbakov, IBM Distinguished Engineer and Member of the IBM Academy of technology, is currently driving IBM 3-D Intranet initiatives. She is a recognized expert and published author in development of enterprise–scale solutions that bring together emerging technologies, growing availability of services and enterprise data.

  Luba Cherbakov will be presenting Enterprise 3D Virtual environments> on 6 October at 11.20amEnterprise virtual worlds on 6 October at 2.00pm

• Mel Guymon, Head of 3D Operations and Product Manager for Google's Lively

  Mel Guymon is the Head of 3D Operations and Product Manager for Google's Lively. An authority on virtual world development, Mel is a co-founder of IMVU, and an early director of There.com. Over the past two decades, Mel shipped several video game titles and spent two years as a contributing editor for Game Developer Magazine. Mel is a former Submarine Officer (USN) and holds a B.S. in Nuclear Engineering.

  Mel Guymon will be presenting PLENARY - Keynote address on 6 October at 9.10am

Conference speakers

• Adam Martin

  Adam helped build and run an MMO development studio as CTO for NCsoft Europe. He has a degree in Computer Science from Cambridge University, and a patent for MMO server technology, but now spends more time in business and technology management, and with programming mostly done in his spare time. Adam is actively involved in finding better approaches, processes, designs, and technologies for making and profiting from online games. He is particularly interested in disruptive businesses and the convergence of Web 2.0 and games. He writes about new business models for online games at the FreeToPlay.biz blog, and chairs the Alternate Reality Games SIG for the IGDA. In the past, he used to co-run the £50,000 Cambridge business-plan competition. Adam is currently level 20 on Kongregate, and is currently running a new startup combining Education and Virtual Worlds. His main advice to people developing new online games or virtual worlds is to remember that Hope is not a Strategy.

  Adam Martin will be presenting Financial Perspectives on 7 October at 3.45pm

• Alex Chapman, Sheridans

  Alex is a leading lawyer in the interactive and digital media industry with particular expertise in intellectual property matters. He has first hand knowledge of the digital and interactive media and games industries as part of development teams on a number of successful projects before taking up the law and he now acts for a wide variety of clients.

  Alex Chapman will be presenting

• Anatoly Ropotov, Executive Vice President of Products, Astrum Online Entertainment

  Anatoly is responsible for overseeing, planning and launching the worldwide online games portfolio of Astrum Online Entertainment, the largest player in the online entertainment market of Russia and Eastern Europe with over 25 online MMO currently in operation. An experienced game analyst, project manager and producer with ten years of industry background he covers R&D, content strategy and community management of casual, gambling and multiplayer games on wide variety of platforms including Web, PC, Consoles and Handhelds.
  
  Prior to joining AOE, he worked in CTXM since day one, creating its first gambling products in Flash and further leading the company to the new markets as a Head of Games Division. Anatoly was responsible for more than 50 released products and launched services including 15 Xbox Live Arcade games, dozens of casual games and creation of a Flash multiplayer online gaming platform with its entire game portfolio.

  Anatoly Ropotov will be presenting Global Trends on 7 October at 9.40am

• Anne Grikitis, Business Engagement Team, Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform

  Anne Grikitis is a senior policy adviser at the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. She is Relationship Manager for a number of major companies in the telecommunications and internet space, and is responsible for a range of policy areas relating to Internet Service Providers. She is also part of the team working on the policy implications of Virtual Worlds. Prior to joining the Department, Anne worked in marketing for a software house specialising in investment banking systems. She has worked with ICT in a number of capacities, including programming, project management and content production.

  Anne Grikitis will be presenting Governance on 6 October at 4.45pm

• Arend Stührmann, Associate Producer, EVE Online

  Arend Stührmann is the Associate Producer acting as the liaison between CCP's Shanghai and Reykjavik offices, coordinating the work on the EVE China project. His other responsibilities include the project to bring EVE Online to the Mac and Linux operating systems, and to assist in the management of the Reykjavik content development department. He became an Associate Producer in July 2007.

  Arend Stührmann will be presenting Global Trends on 7 October at 9.40am

• Bernard Horan, Senior Staff Engineer, Sun Labs

  Bernard works as a Senior Staff Engineer for Sun Labs where he is the Principal Investigator for the Meeting Echoes project—its goal is to enable users of virtual worlds to record and replay meetings in a 3D space. He also acts as Sun's technical lead for their collaborative research project with the University of Essex whose goal is to employ a mixed reality environment to bridge the gap between local and physically remote students. Bernard's earlier published research has included the semantic web and wireless sensor networks.

  Bernard Horan will be presenting Future of virtual worlds on 7 October at 4.40pm

• Björn Wahlgren, CEO, Paynova AB

  Björn Wahlgren is the CEO of Paynova, one of the leading online payment service companies of Northern Europe. Björn has extensive experience from finance, insurance and payment operations and was most recently national supervisor for First Data International in Sweden. First Data is one of the world’s leading independent suppliers of solutions for electronic payments, with over five million customers across the world. Prior to that, Björn was CEO of Eurocard, Rikskuponger and Gota Finans. Björn is a former naval officer and holds a B.A. in business from the Stockholm University.

  Björn Wahlgren will be presenting monetisation and business models on 7 October at 2.30pm

• Burckhardt Bonello, Founder & CEO, sMeet

  sMeet enables users to talk, socialize and share experiences together like in real life from anywhere. sMeet empowers partners with this technology which is embedded on their site. Prior to sMeet, Burckhardt built four other successful start-ups in Europe, three of which he lead to profitability. His most recent one is profitable and exceeds $300 million in turnover. He actively invests into early stage high-tech start-ups as a business angel. Burckhardt graduated in Computer Engineering at Technical University Berlin, followed by PhD research at Frauenhofer FIRST, and 3 years of lecturing at TU Berlin and Stanford University.

  Burckhardt Bonello will be presenting Web 2.0 strategy and virtual worlds on 7 October at 3.45pm

• Carolin Kasparek, Legal Adviser, Bigpoint GmbH

  Since March 2007, Carolin has been in the employ of Bigpoint GmbH, one of the world's leading MMOG operators, as a counsellor-at-law. In addition, she holds the position of CEO for one of Bigpoint's subsidiaries. Carolyn completed her jurisprudential education at the University of Nuremberg in 2005 and passed her second exam at the county court of Nuremberg. Both during her studies and after graduation, she gained practical experience at various firms as a trainee and later as a legal adviser.

  Carolin Kasparek will be presenting Legal and regulatory perspectives on 6 October at 2.00pm

• Celia Francis, CEO, WeeWorld Inc

  Celia sets the strategic direction for WeeWorld’s continued growth and innovation as the most popular interactive avatar community. Previous to WeeWorld, Celia spearheaded the product development and marketing efforts for T-Mobile in the UK, first as Head of Product and then as VP of Marketing in Europe. Prior to T-Mobile, Celia served as a product development consultant and business development executive for IDEO, and as VP of Marketing for Xtime. In addition, Celia has served as Director of Marketing for AltaVista and as Director of the Consumer Internet Division for Compaq. Celia earned a BA from Harvard University and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

  Celia Francis will be presenting Brands in kids / teens virtual worlds on 6 October at 12.10pm

• Chris Howard, Manager, Worldwide Solution Development and Delivery, Emerging 3D Internet & Virtual Business, IBM Research

  Chris Howard is the worldwide development and delivery leader for IBM’s 3D Internet emerging business unit, part of IBM Research. Based in Ireland, Chris is responsible for all aspects of IBM's 3Di customer delivery projects as well as leading the development of new offerings. He has spent the last 10 years with IBM, in a variety of regional, European and worldwide roles and has a mixed background of technical consulting both as manager and practitioner. As the ecosystem leader, IBM is helping to drive the growth and adoption of the 3-D Internet with insights and actions that will shape the future of the 3-D landscape. Through these efforts, IBM is helping to make the 3-D Internet the essential tool for helping people work, live and play to their fullest potential. Our focus is on identifying, delivering, sustaining, protecting and expanding value for IBM and our clients.

  Chris Howard will be presenting Progress in interoperability on 6 October at 4.00pm

• 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. (http://www.techintelgroup.com) Prior to founding the Technology Intelligence Group, Christian ran the New Markets and Technology Group at Cisco Systems which was chartered to identify, incubate and develop new billion dollar businesses for Cisco. In addition, 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. He is a frequent keynote speaker at Serious Games and Virtual World conferences, author, and serves as an advisor and consultant to a number of startups and advisory boards. His personal blog is located at http://www.christianrenaud.com.

  Christian Renaud will be presenting Progress in interoperability on 6 October at 4.00pm

• Cindy H. Rose, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Walt Disney Internet Group EMEA

  Cindy Rose was appointed Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Walt Disney Internet Group EMEA in February 2007. Cindy joined Disney in 1995. She was appointed Senior Counsel of European Legal Affairs for The Walt Disney Company in 1996 and Vice President, Government Relations Europe for The Walt Disney Company in 1998. In 2001, she was promoted to Senior Vice President and Regional Managing Director for Walt Disney International, UK and Ireland, and in 2003, her territory was expanded to include the Middle East and Southern Mediterranean regions. Prior to joining Disney in 1995, Cindy worked as a private practitioner in a number of different law firms both in the US and UK specialising in corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions. Cindy obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Columbia University in New York and a law degree from New York Law School. Cindy is admitted to the practice of law in the State of New York, Massachusetts and in England and Wales. Based in London in her current role as Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Cindy is responsible for all aspects of Walt Disney Internet Group’s European regional operations, which encompass premium subscription content and Internet-based services, including advanced broadband, interactive television and mobile applications, as well as the 14 local European versions of Disney.com.

  Cindy H. Rose will be presenting Business issues for entertainment channels and brands on 7 October at 11.20am

• Dave Green, Communications Director, London Games Fringe

  Dave Green is a journalist with 20 years' experience of covering computer and video games, for publications as varied as Wired magazine, Amiga Power and The Guardian Guide. Until recently he edited Channel 4's casual gaming website http://www.channel4.com/games, and was a regular technology correspondent for BBC Radio 1, 6Music and Radio 5 Live. He has organised several grassroots technology conferences in London (from 2002's Extreme Computing to Open Tech 2005) and also runs the "100% unofficial" FMCG fansite Snackspot.org.uk.
  http://www.londongamesfringe.com

  Dave Green will be presenting Global Trends on 7 October at 9.40am

• Dave Taylor MSc MBCS, Programme Lead, Virtual Worlds and Medical Media, Imperial College, London

  Dave heads up a new unit at Imperial College developing the use of Virtual Worlds for Healthcare. He previously set up and ran the UK National Physical Laboratory’s Virtual Worlds business area. Dave is a founder of the SciLands, a Second Life continent for Science and Technology and has managed many new media projects such as ‘Second Health’, a virtual hospital to engage clinician and patient communities and NanoLands, an SL network and islands for the global Nanotechnology community. Dave's career has spanned most of the major digital technology shifts of the past 30 years, starting with the personal computer revolution itself in the late 1970s and 80s. He helped to produce and launch the first IBM PC network in 1984 working with development teams in the UK and US and went on to work with collaborative and multimedia design technologies as they emerged in the late 80s and 90s. He pioneered the commercial use of the web in 1994 and became Vice President of Global Web for a leading multinational, setting up and running their multi-branded and fully localised eCommerce sites on a single platform. As Web 2.0 began to emerge Dave shifted his attention to online communities and virtual worlds applied to knowledge transfer and education. Dave is a member of the British Computer Society and has a BSc in Mathematics and an MSc in Experimental Psychology.

  Dave Taylor MSc MBCS will be presenting Virtual world applications in the education sector on 6 October at 2.40pm

• David Gettman, Consultant, McKinsey & Company

  David Gettman is a London-based Consultant at McKinsey & Company, where he specialises in idea generation, business building, marketing and strategy. His client engagements have included, for example: conceiving and building online businesses for a global consumer brand; advising a telecommunications company on new business models; and helping a technology leader to re-imagine its business for the next decade. His role is also to encourage and implement McKinsey's own tech-driven innovation in areas such as teamwork, knowledge collaboration and communications. In parallel with his work at McKinsey, David has been involved in several non-commercial ventures including the world's first e-book publishing company and a team researching a new 3-D software platform. Earlier in his career, David was communications director for an environmental consultancy, a speechwriter in Washington DC, and a biomedical researcher. A book by David on early childhood education has been an international bestseller for over 20 years, and he recently edited and published a four-volume work in contemporary philosophy.

  David Gettman will be presenting Enterprise 3D Virtual environments> on 6 October at 11.20am

• David Naylor, Partner, Field Fisher Waterhouse

  David Naylor is a partner in the Technology Law Group at Field Fisher Waterhouse. He focuses on working with new media, internet, technology, communications and IP-focused businesses and investors. Clients he has worked with include AOL, Ask, the BBC, Blockbuster, Level 3, Mind Candy, MySpace, NBC Universal, Square Enix, Tiscali, Walt Disney and Warner Bros. David led the project to make his firm the world's first major law firm with offices in Second Life, and is currently working on a range of virtual worlds legal projects and matters. He is recognized as a leading adviser in the field, speaks regularly at virtual worlds conferences and is frequently quoted on the subject in the media.

  David Naylor will be presenting Legal and regulatory perspectives on 6 October at 2.00pm

• David Norfolk, Practice Leader Development, Bloor Research

  David Norfolk (BSc, CEng, MBCS, CITP) first got involved with enterprise systems computing professionally in 1978, and has worked in a variety of roles ranging from DBA to Development Standards, Network Management and even Internal Control. After about a dozen years of this he spent the next dozen years covering IT as an independent Writer, Editor and Analyst and is now Practice Leader for Development at Bloor Research. He is interested in radically new ways of enabling builder and stakeholder collaboration as "programming" changes into "automated business service delivery".

  David Norfolk will be presenting

• Dolf Wittkämper, Senior Director, Philips Design

  Dolf Wittkamper, Senior Director Philips Design, is responsible for building and managing the Virtual World capabilities and organization of Philips Design, called Design for Immersive Virtual Experiences (DIVE). The DIVE activities have a focus on people engagement, co-creation, collaboration, brand experience and new business creation both for Philips and other clients. In this role Dolf is acts as a Metaverse evangelist and 3D Internet expert. Prior to this assignment, Dolf was Senior Account Director at Philips Design responsible for the Philips divisions Semiconductors, Components, Medical Systems, and several other Philips and non-Philips accounts.

  Dolf Wittkämper will be presenting Enterprise 3D Virtual environments> on 6 October at 11.20am

• Dr Ben Williamson, Senior Researcher, Futurelab

  Ben is a senior researcher at Futurelab, a non-profit educational research and development charity. He has particular research interests in curriculum interventions, how education policies and ‘innovations’ become practice, and is currently coordinating research on games in education. Previously, he has carried out research on Futurelab’s three-year Enquiring Minds project, and in the areas of creativity, citizenship, videogames, and primary school science and maths. Ben also has a PhD on American fiction and pragmatist philosophy.

  Dr Ben Williamson will be presenting Virtual world applications in the education sector on 6 October at 2.40pm

• Dr Michael Müller, LL.M., Lawyer, Head of Interactive Business, ProSiebenSat1 Group / Seven Games

  With 26 commercial TV stations, 24 premium Pay TV channels and 22 radio networks the ProSiebenSat.1 Group is one of the largest and most successful pan-European broadcasting Groups. As the Head of Interactive Business Michael is, among others, responsible for the group’s gaming branch SevenOne Intermedia. As a multimedia center of competence, SevenOne Intermedia operates a broad range of digital and interactive platforms, including SevenGames.com, having been rolled out in Germany, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK. IVW standard measurements place sevengames.com, among the top online gaming networks networks. With the integration of the Group as a truly international player Michael faces the tasks of dealing with different regulatory requirements not only with the regard to protection of minors but to gambling laws as well.
  
  Having studied at the Universities of Heidelberg and Lausanne and having received his LL.M. degree from Duke Law School Michael concentrated his career from the very beginning on Media Law. After passing his par exam in 1999 he worked part-time for Kirch Media, at that time Germany’s key player within the Media industry while, on the other hand, writing his Ph.D. thesis on media law. Beginning of 2003 he became inhouse counsel of Germany’s first Quiz and Gaming channel “9Live”. In 2005 Michael transferred to the legal department of the ProSiebenSat.1 Group.

  Dr Michael Müller, LL.M. will be presenting Legal and regulatory perspectives on 6 October at 2.00pm

• Dr. Andreas Lober, Partner, SchulteRiesenkampff

  Dr. Andreas Lober is a partner at the Frankfurt-based law-firm SchulteRiesenkampff. His main areas of practice are legal questions of computer games, virtual worlds, and the Internet, with a particular focus on the implementation of new business models. He currently works for several developers of virtual worlds and online games, as well as some of the world's leading publishers of computer games. Together with his colleagues, he has been advising clients of all sizes for years, in every stage of their business: from MBA or seed financing, EULAs and contracts to litigation, intellectual property, unfair competition and merger control. His book Virtuelle Welten werden real has recently been published by Telepolis. He is a lawyer qualified in Germany, but also holds a French degree and a doctor's degree from Tübingen University. He wrote his thesis on youth protection in computer games. A gaming enthusiast since the early days of home computers, Dr. Andreas Lober has done work in the gaming space since 1991. During his studies, he has worked for various gaming companies, and managed Germany's first commercial gaming website. His blog can be found at http://www.gamelawblog.de
  
  Dr. Andreas Lober will be presenting Legal and tax update for virtual worlds on 8 October at 9.00am

  Dr. Andreas Lober will be presenting Legal and regulatory perspectives on 6 October at 2.00pm

• Dr. James M. Bower Ph.D, Founder, Chairman of the Board and Chief Visionary Officer, Numedeon Inc

  Dr. James M. Bower Ph.D. is the founder, Chairman of the Board and Chief Visionary Officer of Numedeon Inc., which in 1999 launched Whyville.net as one of the first virtual worlds for tweens. Whyville.net currently has more than 3.5 million registered users, and remains one of the few learning-based virtual worlds. Dr. Bower is also a member of the board of a new Spanish company, Whyworld S.L., currently designing a Spanish cultural and language version of Whyville. Dr. Bower installed his first virtual world (in hypercard) in the Los Angeles Public Library in 1988 in a project associated with the Caltech Pre-College Science Initiative (CAPSI) which he founded and directed while a faculty member at Caltech from 1985 – 2001. Dr. Bower was also an early educational consultant to Knowledge Adventure Inc, and the Internet incubator, Idealab. Dr. Bower has served on scientific and educational advisory committees for numerous organizations including the National Academy of Sciences, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the Society for Neuroscience. Professionally, Dr. Bower is a computational neurobiologist, currently on the faculty of the Research Imaging Center of the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio. He has published more than 100 scientific articles and numerous books. Dr. Bower lives on a ranch outside San Antonio where he breeds and raises Cleveland Bay horses, and plays polo.

  Dr. James M. Bower Ph.D will be presenting education through virtual worlds on 6 October at 4.00pm

• Dr. Olaf Weber, LL.M.,, Legal Service, European Commission

  Olaf Weber is a judge at the Saarbrücken district court and sits in civil and criminal cases. Since 2007, he has been seconded to the European Commission's Legal Service in Brussels, where he counsels the Commission and represents it before the courts in competition cases. He studied law in Heidelberg, Leuven and Edinburgh and holds an LL.M. in IP and IT law (Edinburgh) and a doctoral degree (Heidelberg). Prior to becoming a judge he worked as scientific assistant (Heidelberg, AHRC Centre Edinburgh), as trainee lawyer (Linklaters, ProSiebenSat.1 Media) and as associate lawyer (GleissLutz). His writings cover EC, WTO, media, competition law - and legal aspects of virtual worlds.

  Dr. Olaf Weber, LL.M., will be presenting Governance on 6 October at 4.45pm

• Ed Bartlett, Vice President, Publisher Relations Europe and Co-Founder, IGA Worldwide

  Ed Bartlett, Vice President Publisher Relations Europe and Co-Founder of IGA Worldwide is one of a new generation of multi-discipline industry visionaries, combining 14 years of videogame sector knowledge and experience with astute business acumen and proven advertising and media expertise. Having fulfilled senior creative and production roles on key game releases for publishers including Sega, Virgin Interactive, BMG Interactive, Acclaim and Hasbro Interactive, Bartlett moved into Business Development in 1999 as a Director of the renowned games development house, ‘The Bitmap Brothers’. Recognized as one of the first in the world to demonstrate the latent creative and commercial value of in-game advertising, Bartlett went on to found dedicated agency Hive Partners ahead of the curve in 2003. As its CEO, Bartlett led the company to six-figure revenues in its first year of trading, securing global Blue Chip advertiser accounts such as Red Bull, and striking genuinely innovative interactive in-game placement deals with leading videogame publishers including Sega and Vivendi Universal Games. In 2005 Bartlett negotiated the acquisition of Hive Partners by IGA Worldwide before helping to raise its $17 million Series A VC round. He has since been responsible for building the foundations of its industry-leading proprietary Radial Network, securing landmark global deals with the likes of Electronic Arts, Valve, Sega, Atari and Codemasters leading to its selection by Sony Computer Entertainment as its first partner for the PLAYSTATION®3 in-game advertising platform.

  Ed Bartlett will be presenting The best of both worlds - How are games / social worlds merging? on 7 October at 12.10pm

• Edita Kaye, Publisher iVinnie.com and Founder Association of Virtual Worlds

  Edita is the publisher of iVinnie.com, the go to site for virtual news and entertainment. She is the developer of vNews, the first daily news feed from virtual worlds to real world newspapers, and the creator of Clik, the first daily newspaper column written by an avatar columnist, Ava Tar. She is the founder of the Association of Virtual Worlds. She is also the author of The Blue Book: a Consumer Guide to Virtual Worlds; the Green Book: a Business Guide to Virtual Worlds; and the planned title, Virtual Worlds; The Next Big Thing.

  Edita Kaye will be presenting user experience on 7 October at 12.10pmBrands in kids / teens virtual worlds on 6 October at 12.10pm

• Eric Emanuel, Head of Online Business, NCsoft

  Eric Emanuel began his career in the online games industry in June 2000 when he joined GOA, the games division of France Telecom. Managing the Localisation, Community and Storyline teams, Eric was instrumental in the success of Dark Age of Camelot, which quickly became the biggest European MMORPG of its time. In November 2004, he was among the first to join the newly created NCsoft office in Europe, where he established the QA and Live Operations teams, before moving a year later to head up the Online Business department. At NCsoft, Eric has worked on games such as Guild Wars, City of Heroes and Lineage II.

  Eric Emanuel will be presenting Global Trends on 7 October at 9.40am

• Filip Fastenaekels, Producer Digital Media, VRT

  Filip Fastenaekels is a leading new media producer at the Flemish public broadcaster, VRT. His original designs are in no small part responsible for VRT being considered one of the trendsetters in new media in Europe. Filip started his career as a journalist at the public broadcaster. He moved on to many different roles, learning the total skill set involved in producing TV shows, dealing with such varied topics as news, children, human-interest, entertainment and fiction. As media became increasingly digital Filip started to create the first online websites, news portals, digital television applications, games and virtual world for VRT. Names like vrtnieuws.net, canvas.be, een.be en ketnet.be, start to run are now very familiar to the Flemish audience, and Filip was very influential in their design and production. Recognised as a visionary he was given a new role within the organization - to come up, every once in a while, with a new "cherry" or "red monkey" in a blue ocean as he had already done so many times in the past. This same talent resulted in his appointment as a new media expert for the EBU (the European Broadcasting Union). Filip also teaches at the Katholieke Hogeschool Mechelen – formatting and media.

  Filip Fastenaekels will be presenting Business issues for entertainment channels and brands on 7 October at 11.20am

• Francesco D’Orazio, Founder and CEO, Myrl

  Francesco is the founder and CEO of Myrl, a social gateway for virtual worlds. Driven by the concept of outeroperability, rather than interoperability, Myrl is building a layer on top of the virtual worlds with the ultimate goal of turning the system of the worlds into an integrated playground. Francesco has been working over the past 7 years as a strategic communication consultant and qualitative researcher specializing in social media strategy and immersive marketing. He holds a Ph.D. in New Media Studies and Sociology from the University of Rome. His research has been focussing on immersive communication, mapping the pervasive and ubiquitous spread of immersive strategies and tracking down the history of immersion from religious rituals, planetariums and panoramic painting, up to ambient music, experiential marketing, alternate reality games and virtual worlds. He is currently Lecturer in new media at the IULM University in Milan and is Senior Fellow at the McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology, University of Toronto.

  Francesco D’Orazio will be presenting Progress in interoperability on 6 October at 4.00pm

• Frank Campbell, Chief Business Officer, MindArk PE AB

  Frank Campbell is Chief Business Officer at MindArk PE AB, Swedish creators of the Entropia Universe, the first virtual universe to utilize a Real Cash Economy. Frank's background in language studies allowed him to join MindArk and focus on external/internal communication, community management and collaboration with computer entertainment media. He has also been closely involved with online activities and development of the Entropia Universe. As virtual worlds reach beyond gamers and into corporate and public spheres, Frank is now focused on business development and the introduction of Entropia into new international markets and the presentation of the virtual universe to new strategic partners.
  
  Frank Campbell will be presenting Entropia Universe – From Online Game to Global Virtual World Platform. Entropia Universe’s development from an MMO to a platform for independent companies to develop their own virtual worlds on 6 October at 11.30am

  Frank Campbell will be presenting Future of virtual worlds on 7 October at 4.40pm

• Giff Constable, VP of Products and Strategy, The Electric Sheep Company

  Giff Constable leads ESC's product efforts across design, strategy, marketing, and indirect business development. 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 software and IT services companies. He often speaks about virtual worlds at conferences and in the media, and writes the blog Out to Pasture .

  Giff Constable will be presenting Developing ROI models for virtual worlds campaigns on 7 October at 2.45pm

• Giles Rhys Jones, Digital Strategy Director, Ogilvy Group UK

  Giles works for UK, European and Global clients across the whole of Ogilvy Group’s digital offering from PR, Retail, Direct to Branding and Entertainment. The best bits from working at Saatchi & Saatchi, Agency.com, Agency Republic, The Brand Company & DRAFTFCB have neatly culminated in his current role at Ogilvy.

  Giles Rhys Jones will be presenting virtual worlds and immersive marketing on 7 October at 2.00pm

• Ginsu Yoon, VP Business Affairs, Linden Lab

  Gene Yoon handles business and corporate development for Linden Lab. As one of the company's early business executives, he has provided leadership in a variety of areas during the company's growth, including international market development, external developer programs, legal, human resources and 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. He worked with the Airespace founders prior to joining KTB, while consulting with portfolio companies of Storm Ventures. He practiced law at Venture Law Group, advising many technology startups and venture capital firms, and at Kirkland & Ellis in New York, where his practice focused on leveraged buyouts and other complex corporate transactions. Gene received an A.B. degree from Princeton University and a J.D. from New York University School of Law.

  Ginsu Yoon will be presenting Future of virtual worlds on 7 October at 4.40pm

• Grant Murgatroyd, Editor, Corporate Financier

  Grant Murgatroyd is a journalist with more than 15 years experience of writing on business and financial markets. He was founder editor of European private equity magazine Real Deals and is currently editor of Corporate Financier, published by the Corporate Finance Faculty of the ICAEW. He is a past winner of the BVCA Private Equity Journalist of the Year award.

  Grant Murgatroyd will be presenting monetisation and business models on 7 October at 2.30pm

• Greg Nuyens, CEO, Qwaq

  Greg Nuyens has more than twenty years experience as a high tech entrepreneur, including founding and executive roles at both private and public companies. Most recently, he was CEO of Devicescape whose venture backers include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and August Capital. Previously, Greg served as CTO of Neomar, a provider of wireless infrastructure software to Fortune 1000 enterprises, and chief technologist at Inktomi. Earlier, he served as 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.

  Greg Nuyens will be presenting Enterprise virtual worlds on 6 October at 2.00pm

• Jeff Meek, Managing Partner Edinburgh, French Duncan

  French Duncan LLP is a leading firm of professional advisers who are particularly close to the Games industry and acts for many of its players providing a range of consultancy and corporate finance services. Jeff Meek who is their head of Head of Creative industries is widely regarded as a key figure in the games sector. Jeff is a commercially aware and innovative Certified Management Consultant and Chartered Accountant, actively involved in developing clients’ businesses, with an understanding of the markets within which they operate. His professional interests are matched by his personal involvement in the arts through TIGA, BAFTA and the RSA. Consultancy assignments have included advising on accounting policies, VAT procedures for Online game sales, Valuation of Business for sale or investment, Royalty Audits for developers and licence holders, successful claims for Research and Development tax credits, valuation of shares for tax purposes, setting up share option schemes under EMI and other structures, development of Business Strategy, business plans, funding documents and financial models, due diligence for funders and acquirers, obtaining and negotiation of funding terms from bank, grant, angel and venture capital sources. His client assignments have included work for Real Time Worlds, Creative Assembly, Denki, Kuju, Fund4games PLC, Sports Interactive, Evolution, Iplay, Game Federation, Eurogamer, Loaded Inc, Revolution and Sumo Digital.
  
  Jeff Meek will be presenting Legal and tax update for virtual worlds on 8 October at 9.00am

  Jeff Meek will be presenting

• Jelena Godjevac, Co-founder and Executive Director, HP Micro-Enterprise Acceleration Institute

  Jelena holds an engineering degree from Belgrade University and a PhD from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne. She is author of two books and numerous publications. From May 2005, Dr. Godjevac has been leading the Micro-enterprise Acceleration Program (MAP) in close cooperation with UN organizations and Hewlett-Packard. She deployed the program in eleven countries in Europe, Middle-East and Africa. From Serbia by birth, she holds the Swiss and French nationality and speaks four languages: English, French, Serbian and Slovak.

  Jelena Godjevac will be presenting virtual world implementation strategies on 7 October at 11.20am

• Jeroen Dontje, Head of Endemol Virtual, Endemol

  Jeroen Dontje is Founder and Head of the business unit Endemol Virtual within Endemol, The Netherlands. This business unit started after the successful Big Brother pilot in virtual world Second Life. Endemol Virtual’s main goal is to translate new media technologies into commercial viable concepts, focusing on communities and '3d internet' like virtual worlds, augmented reality, mirror worlds and lifelogging.
  Jeroen started a marketing career after finishing an MBA at the Royal University of Groningen in fast moving consumer goods. Five years ago he switched professions and started in a creative role at Endemol where he combined creativity, marketing and new media with Endemol Virtual.

  Jeroen Dontje will be presenting Business issues for entertainment channels and brands on 7 October at 11.20am

• Jessica Mulligan, COO, ImaginVenture SA

  Jessica Mulligan is an online game professional with over twenty years of industry experience at all levels of management and is considered a pioneer of the online game/MMO space. Currently Chief Operating Officer of ImaginVenture, a virtual world start-up in Lugano, Switzerland, she was recently a consultant to Sunflowers GmbH of Germany and the Board of Directors for Nevrax and Executive Producer of Saga of Ryzom for Nevrax - Paris. Her past positions include Executive Producer and Creative Director at Turbine Entertainment Software on the Asheron's Call franchise, the Director handling in-game events and story in Ultima Online for Electronic Arts, Director of Operations for MM3D Inc on the Middle Earth Online game and positions with AOL, National Videotex and Interplay Productions, among others, in various executive and management roles. A respected author and commentator on online games, Jessica is the co-author of "Developing Online Games: An Insider's Guide" with Bridgette Patrovsky, which has been published worldwide in several languages, including Chinese and Korean. She was also the author of the influential bi-weekly industry opinion column, Biting the Hand, between 1997 and 2003. Jessica has served on the Board of Advisors for the Austin Game Developers Conference since 2004.

  Jessica Mulligan will be presenting Hard facts and figures on 6 October at 9.40amFuture of virtual worlds on 7 October at 4.40pm

• Joakim Achren, CEO, Ironstar Helsinki

  In 2005, Joakim Achrén founded Ironstar Helsinki to bring a 2D virtual world experience into mobile phones. MoiPal, the virtual world for Java handsets has now been launched. MoiPal's innovation is that your virtual world avatar can do things in the MoiPal world whilst you are not there. This has created a metaverse inside the mobile phone. The challenge has been to take into consideration all the handset limitations, but to be able to create new ways for social interaction in a world that runs 24/7. Joakim is a advisory board member of the IGDA Finland chapter and has been a member of IGDA himself since 2003. Please visit http://www.ironstarhelsinki.com and http://www.moipal.com.

  Joakim Achren will be presenting

• Julien Onillon, Vice President, Global Head of Investor Relations, ArcelorMittal

  Julien joined Mittal Steel as Director of Investor Relations in June 2005 and was one of the main actors in the merger offer from Mittal Steel to Arcelor in 2006. Previously Head of Global Steel Research at HSBC, he covered the global steel industry for 10 years. Prior to his position at HSBC, Mr. Onillon was an equity analyst covering various sectors including oils, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, metals and packaging at BNP Paribas, Detroyat Associes and Caisse des Depots et Consignation. He also acted as a special advisor to the International Iron & Steel Institute and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. In 2007, ArcelorMittal received several awards for its Investor Relations including most improved Metals & Mining corporate, number one ranked Metals & Mining corporate for buy-side analysts and number one ranked Benelux corporate from the Institutional Investors Survey. As equity analyst, Mr. Onillon received also numerous awards in various Metals & Mining surveys and studies from Institutional Investors, Extel and Starmine

  Julien Onillon will be presenting user experience on 7 October at 12.10pm

• Liliana Mircescu, Head, Staff Development and Learning Unit, International Organization for Migration (IOM)

  Liliana is responsible for managing the learning and development of more than 7,000 staff worldwide. This is a challenging task in the inter-governmental environment where every resource is dedicated to the services we provide to our beneficiaries - migrants and member states, for whom IOM facilitates the orderly and humane management of international migration. In her current role, Liliana is particularly proud of having conceived, designed and implemented an innovative learning solution for project management, and adapting existing eLearning programmes to IOM's needs, while consolidating the core learning programmes of the organization. She has succeeded by using her knowledge of the humanitarian field, gained through 15 years of experience working with IOM in Romania, Rwanda, Kosovo and 15 other countries, and her ability to foster multi-party collaboration and facilitate organizational processes. Liliana is based in Geneva, and works closely with IOM’s administration in Human Resource (HR) management, focussing on HR communication and performance management.

  Liliana Mircescu will be presenting user experience on 7 October at 12.10pm

• Liz High, Founding Partner, Intrepid

  Liz; a Geography graduate with an MA in Psychology of Leisure, is a founding partner of Intrepid and has been in the research industry for 20 years. Her interest in youth culture emerged early in her career when she set up a youth directed film project that focused on the invention of games, sports and leisure trends in adverse urban housing environments. She sees strong parallels between the offline world she observed 10 years ago and the trends Intrepid are observing in emerging digital youth cultures today. Liz is both MD of Intrepid UK, and working researcher. Her current commercial focus is Intrepid's News International Account (working both on digital and paper titles) and the O2 account, including a the development of a customer community to observe youth communication culture. Together with Intrepid's Digital Solutions team, Liz is leading on the design and commercialization of Virtual Ethnography as a research technique. Intrepid has successfully applied this emerging methodology in the Gaming, Financial Services, Feminine Hygiene and the Digital publishing industry so far. Today, in addition to fulfilling the role of Sales Director on the Intrepid Board, she directs selected accounts in the UK and abroad.

  Liz High will be presenting kids and teens behaviour online on 6 October at 3.00pm

• Malcolm Clark, CEO, CyberSports Limited

  Malcolm Clark is the CEO of CyberSports Limited, a publisher of Massively Multi-player Online Games (MMOGs) based in London, England. The mission of CyberSports is to bring MMOGs to a mainstream audience by building and operating persistent 3D virtual sports worlds. It’s first release, Football Superstars, will be unleashed later this year and is a virtual football world where participants take the role of a single footballer on the pitch, progressing their careers and living the life of a football superstar. Football Superstars already boasts partners such as PUMA and Reebok and has established strong links with the football community. Malcolm has founded and led several successful companies across a broad range of industries.

  Malcolm Clark will be presenting The best of both worlds - How are games / social worlds merging? on 7 October at 12.10pm

• Marc Goodchild, Head of Interactive and On-Demand, BBC Children's Interactive

  After winning a Bafta for Walking With Beasts interactive, he set up the BBC’s nascent iTV unit, became the first true 360 exec on projects like How To Sleep Better and the Climate Change Experiment and continues to play a key role in the Knowledge Building initiatives outlined in the BBC's Creative Futures work. At the beginning of April, Marc joined the BBC's Children's department to head up Interactive and On-demand production and continues to play an active role forging links across the factual community for audiences young and old.

  Marc Goodchild will be presenting education through virtual worlds on 6 October at 4.00pm

• Marco Behrmann, CIO & Entropia Universe Community Director, MindArk PE AB

  Marco Behrmann is one of Sweden’s most renowned game designers and is a published writer. He joined Mindark in 2002 and is the Chief Information Officer and Community Director. His typical day is spent balancing between the marketing department and in the development team of the award-winning and world-record-holding ENTROPIA UNIVERSE – the first virtual universe with a real cash economy.

  Marco Behrmann will be presenting Web 2.0 strategy and virtual worlds on 7 October at 3.45pm

• Matthew Brotherton, Project Manager & Innovation Consultant, Applied Technology Centre, BT Group Chief Technology Office

  Matthew Brotherton is Project Manager within BT’s Applied Technology Centre. Matthew graduated with a BSc in Cognitive Science in 2004 and went on to work in BT's Research and Venturing department until 2006. He leads on a number of projects across BT's business driving innovation and technology. The breadth of sectors he currently works in includes the transport industry and finance sector. His work touches on variety of technologies such as social networking for enterprise and intelligent infrastructures. Matthew has a specialist interest in Virtual Worlds and provides specialist consultancy to a number of account teams in BT. Within the past 12 months he has led and inspired BTs activities in the Virtual Worlds arena. Matthew has delivered a number of marketing initiatives including the launch of BTs first virtual phone box and the use of Second Life for facilitating a corporate new ideas scheme

  Matthew Brotherton will be presenting virtual worlds and immersive marketing on 7 October at 2.00pm

• Michael Acton Smith, CEO and Founder, Mind Candy

  Michael is CEO and founder of social gaming company, Mind Candy. The company recently launched Moshi Monsters, a new virtual world and online game aimed at children (7-12 year-olds). Kids adopt a unique, animated Monster from the world of Monstro City, and then nurture it by interacting with other Monsters and solving the daily puzzle games it sends them. Mind Candy's first project was Perplex City, an Alternate Reality Game played by thousands of people around the world across many different types of media including mobile phones, email, billboard advertising, actors at live events and skywriting. Prior to Mind Candy, Michael co-founded Firebox.com (online retailer of gadgets, games and gifts) and Second Chance Tuesday (events to connect technology investors with entrepreneurs).

  Michael Acton Smith will be presenting monetisation and business models on 7 October at 2.30pm

• Michel Cassius, Board Member, Dubit

  Michel's carreer in the games and on-line industry started at Apple where, in charge of the consumer business, he successfully created a game portfolio for Mac working with game developers and publishers. He then joined Electronic Arts in 1995 to manage the European content acquisition group, growing the external products games revenues from 1% to 20% of EAs European business. As European Director of EA.com, he managed the launch of Ultima Online, one of the first Massively Multiplayer Online Games in Europe and the start of EAs online business. Michel joined Microsoft in 2001 to lead the European Xbox publishing business, managing the relationship with Games Developers and Publishers as well as the product delivery of all games published on Xbox. He then launch and manage the Xbox Live, Microsoft Online games service in Europe before being heading the Marketing and Platform departments responsible for the launch of major games franchises such as Halo and the launch of Xbox 360. In 2007 Michel co-funded YoYo Games, now the largest user generated Casual Games Site. http://www.yoyogames.com. He has worked in different positions with internet and social network based start ups. He is Board member of Funcom, developer of some of the best MMOGs worldwide Anarchy Online, Age of Conan. Michel is board member of Dubit, leading youth marketing agency and developer of on-line virtual worlds such as Cartoon Network Minimatch.

  Michel Cassius will be presenting Brands in kids / teens virtual worlds on 6 October at 12.10pm

• Mike Butcher, UK & Europe Editor, TechCrunch

  TechCrunch UK & Ireland is edited by Mike Butcher. Mike has written for UK national newspapers including the The Financial Times, The Guardian, The Times and magazines including The New Statesman. He is a former editor of New Media Age magazine, the leading new media weekly in the UK, and The Industry Standard Europe and he has launched or re-launched several media web sites. In 2000 he was nominated as NetMedia’s European Internet Journalist of the Year. In 2004 he was voted ‘One of the 100 Innovators of the UK Internet Decade’ by GfK NOP, the fourth-largest custom research business in the world. In July 2008 Mike was put at No. 47 out of the Top 100 people in London’s creative industry the UK by The Independent newspaper and The Hospital Club. He has appeared on BBC News, Sky News, Channel 4 and Bloomberg, commenting on technology and new media. In August 2008 TechCrunch UK was named the best “Web 2.0 and business blog” in the UK, by the readers of Computer Weekly magazine. Mike’s personal blog is mbites, while he Twitters here.

  Mike Butcher will be presenting Financial Perspectives on 7 October at 3.45pm

• Mirko Caspar, CMO & Co-founder, Metaversum

  Founded in 2006 in Berlin, Metaversum develops and operates the 3D online world Twinity (http://www.twinity.com). The virtual world which is closely linked to the real world is currently in private beta. Mirko Caspar, co-founder and CMO of Metaversum is in charge of marketing, sales and strategic partnerships. Before co-founding Metaversum he worked as Senior Director of Business Development Universal Music and as Managing Director of Universal’s direct marketing subsidiary, where he was responsible for direct and online marketing, pricing and extending the music business into complementary markets. Prior to this he had gained over five years of experience in marketing and strategy at McKinsey’s media sector. Mirko received his PhD in Consumer Behaviour and Branding Strategies from the Westfälische Wilhelms-University Muenster.
  
  Mirko Caspar will be presenting Twinity - When virtual worlds become real! on 6 October at 3.30pm

  Mirko Caspar will be presenting Web 2.0 strategy and virtual worlds on 7 October at 3.45pm

• Nic Brisbourne, Partner, DFJ Esprit

  Nic has been in venture capital since 2000. In that time he has worked in London, Europe and Silicon Valley. His main areas of focus have been software and media. Prior to DFJ Esprit he was with Reuters Venture Capital. Nic's investment experience includes buy.at (sold to AOL for $125m) and UltraDNS (acquired by Neustar - NYSE NSR). He currently manages DFJ Esprit's investments in Zeus, WAYN and Tribold. Prior to joining Reuters Nic worked for Operis, a software and services start-up, and Cap Gemini. Nic also authors a blog commenting on the European technology and venture capital markets - http://www.theequitykicker.com.

  Nic Brisbourne will be presenting Financial Perspectives on 7 October at 3.45pm

• 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.

  Nic Mitham will be presenting

• Nils-Holger Henning, Director of Business Development, Bigpoint GmbH

  After graduating with “Diplom-Kaufmann”, “Master of Laws” (LL.M.) and several stays abroad in Argentina, Thailand and Italy, working in companies like AOL Time Warner, Whirlpool and Hays Plc., Nils-Holger Henning joined Bigpoint GmbH (formerly e-sport GmbH) as a Director for Marketing and Sales in 2005. Since then Bigpoint developed to become the leading developer and publisher of browser based multiplayer games, and grew from 20 employees in 2005 to 150 in 2008. Combining deep Internet distribution knowledge with games industry knowledge, Nils-Holger has successfully built up a sales and marketing department at Bigpoint with a growth strategy focussing on internationalisation. He has established business co-operations with major portals and media partners in Germany and around the world including AOL, Wildtangent, T-Online, Yahoo, Bild and Lycos as well as major TV stations like SBS, Pro7, Sat1, Giga, RTL, MTV and Viva

  Nils-Holger Henning will be presenting monetisation and business models on 7 October at 2.30pm

• Patrice Chazerand, Secretary General, Interactive Software Federation of Europe (ISFE)

  Patrice Chazerand has held the position of secretary general of the Interactive Software Federation of Europe (ISFE) since 2002. The first fifteen years of his career were spent with France’s foreign ministry, six of which at the French embassy to the United States. In 1989, he was hired by AT&T France as director, public affairs, in the run-up to the opening of European telecommunications markets. In 1999, he moved to Brussels to establish and run the European office of Viacom, the mother company of Paramount, MTV, CBS, etc.

  Patrice Chazerand will be presenting Governance on 6 October at 4.45pm

• Philippe Moitroux, CEO, TAATU

  Philippe is CEO, TAATU. The company launched a 2.5D virtual social community dedicated to the teens+ in 2006 (http://www.taatu.com). After a successful focus on Belgium, France and The Netherlands through French and Dutch worlds, the company is now deploying an English-based community. All TAATU worlds are interconnected to offer seamless cultural cross-experience. TAATU developed an excellence in the design, development and operation of virtual worlds extensions of television and movie concepts. Achievements include StarAc World (virtual world of the StarAcademy, a music and reality-TV show in cooperation with TF1, Endemol and Universal Music) and Plus belle la life (virtual world of Plus belle la vie, the very popular French soap serie, in collaboration with Telfrance Serie and France 3). TAATU is a managed and moderated virtual world for very large audience, fully multi-media enabled and web-based for easy access from anywhere. Philippe is an international serial entrepreneur and a business angel.

  Philippe Moitroux will be presenting Brands in kids / teens virtual worlds on 6 October at 12.10pm

• Popke Rein Munniksma, Head of 3D Experience, Direct Channels & Innovation, ABN AMRO Bank N.V.

  Popke Rein is head of ABN AMRO’s 3D Experience team. His primary focus is creating new business opportunities for ABN AMRO on 3D virtual worlds and making the organisation ready to adopt and adapt to this new channel. Popke Rein (1976) studied Information Systems and Management at the Tilburg University. In the past he worked for ABN AMRO as change manager where he helped to redesign internal processes and to change organisational behaviour. During this period he introduced the wiki concept in the Services NL organization. In his last function he designed and implemented new processes and methods to align operational (IT) projects with the strategy of ABN AMRO’s Business Unit Netherlands.

  Popke Rein Munniksma will be presenting Enterprise 3D Virtual environments> on 6 October at 11.20am

• Raph Koster, President, Metaplace

  Raph Koster is President at 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.

  Raph Koster will be presenting Web 2.0 strategy and virtual worlds on 7 October at 3.45pmFuture of virtual worlds on 7 October at 4.40pm

• Ren Reynolds, Philosopher and writer

  Ren Reynolds is a consultant, philosopher and writer based in the UK and numerous virtual worlds. Academically Ren writes about the philosophy / ethics of technology, computer games and virtual worlds. As global head of strategy for Internet, Mobile & Applications for Cable & Wireless, Ren developed a Digital Media service portfolio. Ren has also consulted in marketing and product strategy / development for British Airways, BBC, Sky, Publicis and the UK Government; and has written extensively for IBM on the business application of emerging technologies for strategic advantage. Ren has numerous media credits including MTV, G4 TV, BBC World Service, NY Public Radio, Radio Sweden, and has been interviewed by New Scientist, Popular Science, The Guardian and many others.

  Ren Reynolds will be presenting Governance on 6 October at 4.45pm

• Robert Gehorsam, President, Forterra Systems, Inc.

  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, and previously Senior Vice President for Programming and Production at Sony Online Entertainment (SOE). From 1985-1992 Gehorsam founded and led Prodigy's games and educational divisions, launching the first large-scale subscription-based sports simulations and nearly two dozen other online titles. He held management positions at Scholastic Inc. and consulted on entertainment and broadband strategy to Microsoft, America Online, CNET, Ziff-Davis and Children's Television Workshop. Earlier in his career he was an editor at Simon & Schuster, where he helped found its Electronic Publishing Division and published some of the first consumer applications for Macintosh.
  
  Robert Gehorsam will be presenting Forterra Olive Live Demo on 7 October at 12.30pm

  Robert Gehorsam will be presenting Enterprise virtual worlds on 6 October at 2.00pm

• Rodrigo Bruecher, New media, Marketing Communication, SEAT S.A. / VW Group

  Rodrigo is responsible for corporate new media branding solutions. He is continually working on internet and intranet strategy for SEAT S.A. and new media brand appearance. He also looks after Club SEAT / CRM solutions, relational marketing, new media marketing, B2C 960 degree solutions, co-branding and sponsorship involvement, and generation X projects. Rodrigo worked on SEAT S.A. Second Life appearance and helped create SEAT auto emoción Island – a really different Brand island in Second Life. He is responsible for the island’s operational planning, working in both B2C and C2B and also C2C marketing issues. SEAT auto emoción Island went online on May 2008 and never stops amazing.

  Rodrigo Bruecher will be presenting virtual worlds and immersive marketing on 7 October at 2.00pm

• 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 dolls and sold them at a garage sale, pocketing the proceeds. He has since made amends, but hasn't lost the drive. Scott has over 15 years of experience with consumer Internet properties. Most notably, he spent a decade overseeing CNET Download.com, which he founded in 1996. He grew the business to over 50 million monthly users and $40 million in annual revenues. He authored How to Use HTML 3, which won the Computer Press Award for Best How-to Book in 1997.

  Scott Arpajian will be presenting Kids and Teens on 6 October at 11.20am

• Stefan Lemper, Partner, Aurellia Private Equity

  Stefan leads the Internet and Software investment activities focusing on early stage companies at Aurelia Private Equity which invests in fast growing technology companies in media, telecommunication, IT, industry innovations and life sciences sectors. Before he joined Aurelia he worked at TFG Venture Capital group for several years, where he was responsible for media and IT companies of the portfolio. In a co-founded software and consulting company he gained operational experience being in charge of business development and finance. Previously he was consultant at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, where he was involved in different strategic and IT projects in the technology sector. Stefan holds a degree in Business Administration from the University of Münster.

  Stefan Lemper will be presenting Financial Perspectives on 7 October at 3.45pm

• Steve Prentice, VP and Gartner Fellow, Gartner

  Gartner Fellows take a leadership role in the investigation of high-level strategic issues across all research areas in Gartner, building a highly integrative view of future trends and industry developments. 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.. Mr. Prentice joined Gartner in March 1997, building on more than 20 years experience in a variety of marketing, product and consulting roles across hardware, software and services companies in the ICT sector. Mr. Prentice holds a B.Sc. Hons. degree in marine biology from the University of Liverpool, a postgraduate diploma in technological economics from the University of Stirling and a postgraduate certificate in business management from Coventry University.

  Steve Prentice will be presenting Hard facts and figures on 6 October at 9.40amEnterprise virtual worlds on 6 October at 2.00pm

• Stuart Dredge, Freelance journalist and blogger, covering games, music and technology

  Stuart currently works on a retainer for Steel Media, writing for its sites Pocket Gamer, PocketGamer.biz and Pocket Picks, while editing its bi-monthly (print) magazine. He also writes a daily bulletin for Music Ally, the music industry consultancy, which focuses on the day's news in digital music and also freelances regularly for New Media Age (mainly on mobile topics), Mobile Media, and Mobile Choice magazine, while also taking on one-off features for other publications and sites. Until earlier this year, Stuart was the editor-in-chief of Tech Digest, a consumer technology blog published by Shiny Media and also wrote the official blog for the Virtual Worlds Forum Europe.

  Stuart Dredge will be presenting Web 2.0 strategy and virtual worlds on 7 October at 3.45pm

• Tahir Basheer, Partner, Sheridans

  Tahir is a Partner at media and entertainment law firm Sheridans and having carved out a niche in digital media issues founded the firm's Technology practice. In addition to the specialist legal guidance he provides on the development and exploitation of interactive software and media products, Tahir's commercial legal practice replicates the ever-growing convergence of the media industry and includes areas such as music, e-commerce and digital distribution, trade marks and intellectual property, sport, fashion and merchandising. He advises a range of corporate and individual clients both within the UK and abroad from fledgling start-ups to established corporate entities. He is a member of the International Association of Entertainment Lawyers, has been quoted in numerous magazines, newspapers and publications and is a guest lecturer at Kings College London University for Creative Business Entrepreneur students.
  
  Tahir Basheer will be presenting Legal and tax update for virtual worlds on 8 October at 9.00am

  Tahir Basheer will be presenting

• Tatiana Dearden, Corporate Training and Development, SGS HR

  Tatiana has over 15 years of experience in Human Resources field working in multinational companies (JSC ROSCORP, Budget Rent –Car-of Moscow, Japan Tobacco International, and currently SGS) in various HR roles. Tatiana previously managed Management Development processes in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Baltic countries. She participated in Global projects on HR KPIs development, corporate competencies development, and others. Currently Tatiana is leading Corporate Training and Development for SGS Group, company with the business across the world and 54 000 employees. In the first few months she developed the Corporate Training and Development Strategy to address business needs and has launched various Leadership programs to support talent development and Succession Planning. Her challenge now is to launch various programs globally - one such initiatives is a “Performance Management” program, produced with DAESIGN. It is a blended approach: a combination of e-learning knowledge-based modules and interactive tools combined with the in-class session in various locations.

  Tatiana Dearden will be presenting user experience on 7 October at 12.10pm

• Timo Soininen, CEO, Sulake Corporation Ltd.

  Since his appointment in August 2001 Timo has been instrumental in driving Sulake’s corporate vision of building stimulating, creative, social and non-violent concepts that inspire creativity. Leading over 300 employees across 15 offices worldwide, Timo seeks to ensure the continued growth of Sulake’s flagship property Habbo. A popular destination site for teens, Habbo is one of the world’s largest virtual worlds. Timo ensures that the evolution of this product via the development of new features and functionality maintains Habbo’s relevance to the target audience and advertisers. Timo is also responsible for the development of Sulake’s plans for growth and expansion. In charge of identifying opportunities to exploit the solid infrastructure on which Habbo is built – over 150 different payment channels, hosting capabilities and a global network of offices – Timo managed the acquisition of IRC-Galleria.

  Timo Soininen will be presenting Kids and Teens on 6 October at 11.20amIs mobile the untapped market for virtual worlds? on 6 October at 4.45pm

• Tom Standage, Business Editor, The Economist

  Tom Standage is business editor at The Economist magazine and the author of four history books, including "A History of the World in Six Glasses", a New York Times bestseller, and "The Victorian Internet", described by the Wall Street Journal as a "dot-com cult classic". Tom has also written for publications including The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, The New York Times and Wired. He holds a degree in engineering and computer science from Oxford University, and is the least musical member of a musical family. He is married and lives in Greenwich, London with his wife and children.

  Tom Standage will be presenting Progress in interoperability on 6 October at 4.00pm

• Uri Adoni, Venture Partner, JVP (Jerusalem Venture Partners)

  Uri joined JVP and Animation Lab with extensive experience in internet and new media, gleaned from his prior position as the CEO of MSN Israel. During his years of managing the company, MSN Israel was the first MSN worldwide to move to profitability, and has grown rapidly ever since. During the last six years Uri has been one of the new media pioneers who saw the many stages that internet, mobile and TV went through. Working for Microsoft during these fascinating times, Uri was also part of some major international marketing and business challenges in fields such as search engines vs. Google, instant messaging vs. AOL and Yahoo and many other challenges. Prior to his work at Microsoft, Uri was a partner and a co-CEO at Geller-Nessis Leo Burnett Advertising Agency, working with leading brands such as Coca Cola, Procter & Gamble, Nokia, Philips and Energizer. Prior to that, he was a senior strategic planner at Fogel-Levin / Ogilvy Israel, working with brands such as IBM, Unilever, Adidas, Philip Morris and others. His vast experience in advertising and strategic planning, gave him the position of an "evangelist" in the fast growing online advertising market.

  Uri Adoni will be presenting Financial Perspectives on 7 October at 3.45pm

• Vili Lehdonvirta, Researcher, Helsinki Institute for Information Technology

  Vili Lehdonvirta is a researcher at Helsinki Institute for Information Technology, where he collaborates with MMO companies to study consumers’ motivations for spending money on virtual goods across cultures. Vili co-founded the Virtual Economy Research Network and is an Advisory Board member at Live Gamer, the leading publisher- supported RMT marketplace.

  Vili Lehdonvirta will be presenting Who are the buyers? on 7 October at 2.00pm

Expo speakers

• Adam Frisby, Chief Technical Architect, Sine Wave Company

  Adam is a leading developer of innovative virtual worlds software, he first began using Virtual Worlds back in 1998 and has been involved in development for a number of Virtual World platforms including Second Life, IMVU, There and more. Adam has been in the central team of developers on the OpenSimulator platform and is presently involved in multiple standards bodies relating to Virtual World protocols. He is Chief Technical Architect at SineWave Company (also known as ‘Another Dimension Media’) which specialises in media and content for use in Virtual World applications. SineWave operates a Motion Capture studio out of London and partners with leading content companies to bring their mechandise and brand into Virtual Worlds. SineWave also is involved in the development of artificial agents (”Robots”) designed for interacting with users inside of Virtual Worlds. Adam is also a Director at DeepThink - a leading provider of Virtual World products and services heavily involved in the development of the OpenSimulator Platform, and maintaining several large virtual continents in the world of Second Life™, including the Azure Islands, and Nova Islands.
  
  Adam Frisby will be presenting Open source and innovation in virtual worlds on 6 October at 4.45pm

• Bruce Joy, CEO, VastPark

  Bruce Joy is the founder and CEO of VastPark. He has been running businesses for over 15 years. Writing his first computer game back in 1982, Bruce’s background in the convergent space of media, technology and virtual worlds has led the creation of VastPark. Bruce studied media and literature at Deakin University and venture capital at HAAS, U.C.Berkeley. Through his businesses, he has worked with many of the largest and smallest brands in the world with names such as General Motors, Deloitte, Mars, BMW, Fuji Xerox and Linfox.
  
  Bruce Joy will be presenting Building microworlds – where small is smart on 6 October at 12.20pm

• Daniel Aguilar, CTO and Co-founder, Mosi Mosi Metaverse

  Daniel is CTO and co-founder of Barcelona-based startup, Mosi Mosi Metaverse. The company specializes in consultancy and content creation for virtual worlds, having developed and operating Second Life islands for brands like fashion firm Bershka and automobile manufacturer SEAT. He's a key part of the company's projects to date, designing and developing customized tools that help their clients succeed in their VW investments. They company recently launched Sloog, a social bookmarking tool for SL residents. It provides a platform for avatars to bookmark and share relevant content within the virtual world. The project is actively embracing partnering opportunities with educational related communities such as Salamander, a collaborative project open to Second Life educators and coordinated by staff at The Center for Advanced Technology in Education at the University of Oregon. His main interests are faced towards how virtual spaces can be used by both individuals, companies and organizations as a communication platform, and how they provide an amazing platform to interact with each other.
  
  Daniel Aguilar will be presenting Visualising virtual footprints on 6 October at 4.00pm

• Dr Sara de Freitas, Director of Research at the Serious Games Institute (SGI)

  Dr Sara de Freitas is Director of Research at the Serious Games Institute (SGI) – an international hub of excellence in the area of games, virtual worlds and interactive digital media for serious purposes, including education, health and business applications. Situated on the Technology Park at the University of Coventry, Sara leads an interdisciplinary and cross-university applied research group. Based as part of the largest commercial arm of any UK university, the SGI applied research group - with expertise in AI and games, visualization, mixed reality, augmented reality and location aware technologies - works closely with international industrial and academic research and development partners. Relevant links: The Serious Games Institute: http://www.seriousgames.org.uk
  
  Dr Sara de Freitas will be presenting How can corporates and educationalists capitalise on game-based theory’s unique insight into learning? on 6 October at 3.00pm

• Giles Hogben, Expert in Network Security Policy, European Network and Information Security Agency

  Giles Hogben is a security expert at the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) specialising in the study of emerging risks. In 2007 he edited a study on security issues in social networks. In 2008 he is leading ENISA studies on security and privacy risks in MMORPGs and a second study on security risks in Web 2.0.
  
  Giles Hogben will be presenting ENISA Report on Virtual World Security and Privacy on 6 October at 2.30pm

• Henrique Olifiers, Head of Game Content and Design, Jagex Ltd

  Henrique Olifiers is the Head of Game Content and Design at Jagex Ltd., makers of RuneScape one the most successful MMOG in the world. His career spans more than 20 years devoted to game design and production mostly aimed at novel platforms. Founder of FinalBoss.com, Latin America’s largest hardcore gaming portal, and formerly leading the production of IP-based games at Globo.com / Globo TV, his portfolio features more than 40 shipped titles, ranging from casual, mobile, television-convergent, VR, online trading card and massive online multiplayer games. He's currently leading the production of Jagexs next generation of AAA online titles.
  
  Henrique Olifiers will be presenting What MMOGs are made of: content development, management and release on 6 October at 11.50am

• James Cox, Senior Producer, Home Tools and Support, Sony Computer Entertainment

  James joined Sony Computer Entertainment in 2004 having worked in the games industry since 1990. Before working for SCE, highlights have included Resident Evil (CGB), Battalion Wars (GC) and running an independent game development company for 7 years. Since joining SCE, James has worked on PSP games, PS3 games and finally PLAYSTATION®Home. From February 2007, James has managed the Home Tools and Support group. This group is responsible for delivering the Home Development Kit and 2nd line developer support for 1st and 3rd party development on the PLAYSTATION®Home platform.
  
  James Cox will be presenting An introduction to developing assets for PlayStation®Home on 7 October at 12.20pm

• Jeff Barr, Web Services Evangelist, Amazon

  Jeff Barr is focused on furthering awareness of web services and inspiring developers to create innovative applications using Amazon Web Services. Barr meets regularly with developers throughout the U.S. and abroad to introduce Amazon Web Services' expanding platform and showcase businesses that currently utilize the program's services. Barr joined Amazon in August 2002 as a Senior Software Developer on the Associates team and has a longstanding interest in Web services and programmatic information interchange. He has held development and management positions at Microsoft, KnowNow, eByz, Akopia, was a co-founder of Visix Software, and launched the news feed service, Syndic8.com.
  
  Jeff Barr will be presenting Open source and innovation in virtual worlds on 6 October at 4.45pm

• Kerry Fraser-Robinson, Managing Director, RedBedlam

  Kerry Fraser-Robinson's background in virtual worlds predates the Internet and for nearly a quarter of a century he has watched first-hand as virtual worlds evolved from primitive chatroom-like text dial-up services right up to the broadband-based billion dollar global industry that they represent today. While his career has seen him acting as programmer, consultant, editor and the UK content manager for one of the world's leading online game services, his passion has always remained virtual worlds in all their forms. In 2001 he founded RedBedlam in order to create a suite of tools and technologies for the rapid prototyping and development of virtual worlds and virtual economic systems. In 2006 the company launched its first commercial service - the historically authentic MMORPG, Roma Victor.
  
  Kerry Fraser-Robinson will be presenting Virtual cultures: It’s not just a product - it’s a service. How to do both at once? on 7 October at 11.50am

• Kevin Corti, CEO and Chief Learning Archirect, PIXELearning Limited

  Kevin is an innovator and product evangelist who has a track record of having secured, designed and project managed numerous bespoke development contracts for clients over the last decade. Kevin is a member of several trade associations and industry groups, regularly writes on the subject of Games-based Learning and speaks at many conferences and events in the UK and overseas. Kevin was previously employed as a Senior eLearning Producer for Einstein Group Plc, a digital TV Plc (where he established and ran Einstein Learning, a bespoke eLearning solutions provider) and FSDC Plc, a multi-service people and process development services group. Kevin has undertaken a research degree (analysing the eLearning development process), holds a B.Sc in Disaster Management, previously ran a technology training start-up and has seven years of project management experience in the building engineering industry.
  
  Kevin Corti will be presenting How do we get serious? - The practicalities of using Serious Games in an enterprise environment on 6 October at 2.00pm

• Lizzie Jackson, AHRC Researcher, University of Westminster

  Lizzie was nominated as 'One of the 100 innovators of the UK Internet Decade' by NOP World and e-consultancy.com in October, 2004. Her teams created websites and services which were nominated for the Guardian Unlimited Race in the Media Award and The Internet Service Provider's Association Award for Safety on the Internet. Lizzie set up and managed the BBC's online community between 1997-2002, creating the management and training systems, leading a team o