Virtual Worlds Forum

Expo Speakers

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

• Melanie Thielker
• Dr Sara de Freitas
• Lode Nachtergaele
• Tim Gorree
• Osma Ahvenlampi
• Kerry Fraser-Robinson
• Daniel Aguilar
• Stefan Rehm
• Phil Hall
• Adam Frisby
• Robert Vinet
• Giles Hogben
• Kevin Corti
• Henrique Olifiers
• Mark Stephen Meadows
• Bruce Joy
• Jeff Barr
• James Cox
• Lizzie Jackson
• Professor Richard Bartle

Expo programme

Demo and keynote theatre speakers

Developers' track speakers

• Melanie Thielker

  Melanie Thielker is a successful entrepreneur and current CEO of Xumeo, a startup that develops virtual world applications and services. Melanie has a history in key telecommunication technologies and is now involved with the OpenSimulator project as a central contributor.
  
  Melanie Thielker will be presenting Open source and innovation in virtual worlds on 6 October at 4.45pm

  Melanie Thielker will be presenting

• Dr Sara de Freitas

  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

  Dr Sara de Freitas will be presenting

• Lode Nachtergaele

  Lode Nachtergaele is Business Architect at the Flemish public broadcaster (VRT). He is currently involved in two R&D projects. The IBBT Teleon project is about storytelling in 3D virtual worlds and the IBBT Cupid project pioneers a Cultural Profile and Information Database. Lode blogs at http://castfortwo.blogspot.com.
  
  Lode Nachtergaele will be presenting What if the TV audience invades virtual worlds? on 7 October at 3.45pm

  Lode Nachtergaele will be presenting

• Tim Gorree

  Tim has been with Nokia for almost 10 years in various roles. He was a Communications Officer for Nokia Online Services in 2002 when winning a Nokia Venture Challenge Award for his concept of 'Virtual Characters', a mobile application concept using avatars on a mobile device. He is an expert in Web 2.0 applications and digital marketing, and entered Second Life in late 2006 to model an avatar on Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo to deliver a keynote speech on his behalf in front of 500 attendees at the Nokia 2.0 Conference. He has been responsible for the Nokia presence in Second Life and has acted as an evangalist for virtual worlds ever since.
  
  Tim Gorree will be presenting A strategic approach to developing virtual world applications for mobile devices on 7 October at 2.00pm

  Tim Gorree will be presenting Is mobile the untapped market for virtual worlds? on 6 October at 4.45pm

• Osma Ahvenlampi

  Osma Ahvenlampi joined Sulake in 2003 to help the company launch and operate Habbo Hotel with a global footprint. Since then, his responsibilities have ranged from managing the production infrastructure to leading scale-up projects as well as coordinating process improvement and systems architecture across product development, operations and product management. He has 10 years of experience of leading software development teams across varying businesses such as publishing, financial software, games and social networking.
  
  Osma Ahvenlampi will be presenting Building a virtual world is a long-term commitment – what do developers need to know to plan for long-term success? on 7 October at 11.20am

  Osma Ahvenlampi will be presenting

• Kerry Fraser-Robinson

  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

  Kerry Fraser-Robinson will be presenting

• Daniel Aguilar

  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

  Daniel Aguilar will be presenting

• Stefan Rehm

  Stefan is responsible for Corporate Identity, Architecture & Design. He is continually working on brand identity, corporate look & feel, global appearance in worldwide SEAT dealer networks and at points of sale – in both real life and virtual worlds. Stefan 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 the visual art director of this amazing island and never stops thinking and working on new and surprising ‘look & feel’ and experience concepts and details. SEAT auto emoción Island went online on May 2008 and never stops amazing.
  
  Stefan Rehm will be presenting Visualising virtual footprints on 6 October at 4.00pm

  Stefan Rehm will be presenting

• Phil Hall

  Phil Hall is MD & Founder of Elzware Ltd a company set up with the specific objectives of opening up a conversational system marketplace in line with: available bandwidth, digital consumer devices and the general public’s desire to communicate with computers in natural language. 6 years later Elzware and its partners are delivering millions of AI conversations monthly across the UK and US. Prior to his commercial interests, he built furniture, ran production lines and studied Anthropology as a mature student at University College London. His definitive research was an ethnography of online community during 1997/1998 where he focused on the implications for an individual’s sense of self in virtual environments.
  
  Phil Hall will be presenting Artificial intelligence bots – how are they being used to enhance virtual worlds? The Semantic Web, intelligent avatars, and non-player characters: commercial reality time is here on 7 October at 2.30pm

  Phil Hall will be presenting

• Adam Frisby

  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

  Adam Frisby will be presenting Progress in interoperability on 6 October at 4.00pm

• Robert Vinet

  Robert Vinet is the founder and CEO of Community Chest (http://www.community-chest.com) , a leading french company devoted to introducing corporations to virtual worlds and Second Life in particular. Over the last 18 months, the company has worked mainly with large corporations or prominent causes including ArcelorMittal, Jean Paul Gaultier, Shell, Michelin, Caisse d’épargne, Canal +, Lacoste and, during the last french presidential election, the socialist candidate: Ségolène Royal. Other Community Chest activities include Webia, a network of in-world Second Life virtual bilboards. Robert has been active throughout all its carrer in the fields of marketing and technology. Before creating Community Chest, Robert had presided over the French operation of Kantar / WPP qualitative and quantitative market research in France : MillwardBrown. Prior to that, he managed the French operation of Ogilvy One, a leading below-the-line marketing agency. Serial entrepreneur, Robert had also created Synthèse Marketing in the late 1980’s, a marketing database and internet company. This company was later sold to InterPublic Group. Robert was born Canadian and has been living in France for more than 25 years. One of Robert’s favarite saying is : “What’s your dream ? is it big enough ?”
  
  Robert Vinet will be presenting Usability - what are the do's and don'ts? on 7 October at 4.15pm

  Robert Vinet will be presenting

• Giles Hogben

  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

  Giles Hogben will be presenting

• Kevin Corti

  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

  Kevin Corti will be presenting

• Henrique Olifiers

  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

  Henrique Olifiers will be presenting

• Mark Stephen Meadows

  Mark Stephen Meadows (aka Pighed) is an American artist, engineer, and author with over 15 years experience in interactive media. Founder of Echo & Shadow and HeadCase he has also spent time at Xerox-PARC, Stanford Research Institute, Construct, and The Waag. He is the author of "I, Avatar, The Culture and Consequences of Having a Second Life", "Pause & Effect, The Art of Interactive Narrative" and others. He has won awards such as the Ars Electronica Golden Nica and the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum's highest honors. He holds a USCG certified 100-ton Captain's license and migrates with his wife between Mazatlan and Paris.
  
  Mark Stephen Meadows will be presenting Artificial intelligence bots – how are they being used to enhance virtual worlds? The Semantic Web, intelligent avatars, and non-player characters: commercial reality time is here on 7 October at 2.30pm

  Mark Stephen Meadows will be presenting

• Bruce Joy

  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

  Bruce Joy will be presenting

• Jeff Barr

  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

  Jeff Barr will be presenting virtual world implementation strategies on 7 October at 11.20am

• James Cox

  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

  James Cox will be presenting

• Lizzie Jackson

  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 of 22 producers and assistant producers. She went on to oversee the BBC's Internet safety initiatives from 2003-2007. Lizzie is now a Researcher at the University of Westminster, School of Media, Arts and Design. Her most recently completed research project (July 2007 to June 2008) was on Adventure Rock, the BBC's virtual world for children aged 6-12. Lizzie is completing a PhD on the facilitation of participatory media content.
  
  Lizzie Jackson will be presenting Artificial intelligence bots – how are they being used to enhance virtual worlds? The Semantic Web, intelligent avatars, and non-player characters: commercial reality time is here on 7 October at 2.30pm

  Lizzie Jackson will be presenting Is mobile the untapped market for virtual worlds? on 6 October at 4.45pmeducation through virtual worlds on 6 October at 4.00pm

• Professor Richard Bartle

  Dr Richard Bartle co-wrote the first virtual world, MUD ("Multi-User Dungeon") in 1978, and has thus been at the forefront of the online games industry from its very inception. A former lecturer in Artificial Intelligence and current Visiting Professor in Computer Game Design (both at the University of Essex, U.K.), he is an influential writer on all aspects of virtual world design, development, and management. As an independent consultant, he has worked with most of the major online game companies in the U.K. and the U.S. over the past 20 years. His 2003 book, Designing Virtual Worlds, has already established itself as a foundation text for researchers and developers of virtual worlds alike.
  
  Professor Richard Bartle will be presenting Evolution through revolution: new MMO genre possibilities on 6 October at 11.20am

  Professor Richard Bartle will be presenting