Online Game Development Conference 2007 Reveals Growing Slate of World-Class Speakers
Speakers from K2 Network, Turbine, The Bohle Company, Flying Lab Software And Other Groups Join Conference Bandwagon
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SEATTLE, WA - February 7, 2007 - The winter season is becoming deeper and colder; but the agenda for the Online Game Development Conference 2007 (OGDC) is only heating up! The list of respected and talented speakers who are participating in one of this year's most exciting, influential interactive entertainment industry conferences continues to grow and diversify.
Confirmed Speakers:
Sue Bohle -- President of The Bohle Company Sue Bohle is a highly regarded public relations professional. After starting her career at Burston-Marsteller, the world's largest public relations agency, she was hired by the J. Walter Thompson Co. and became JWT's first vice president on the West Coast and the first woman in L.A. to be named general manager of an office of an international PR firm. In 1979, Sue opened The Bohle Company, now one of the 75 largest independent PR firms in the country. Joshua Hong -- CEO & Founder of K2 Network Joshua Hong co-founded K2 Network in 2001. Prior to establishment of the company, he was vice president of strategic planning and growth at Kali, developer of one of the first network-based multiplayer game systems. In 2004, Mr. Hong co-founded Item*Star, China's leading digital game item trading platform, and serves as its CFO. Mr. Hong also co-founded Game Networks in the United States, the game industry's first cross-industry conference for broadband ISPs, content aggregators, service providers and game developers. Prior to becoming an entrepreneur in the online games industry, Mr. Hong was a management consultant at Accenture. He holds a B.S. in industrial engineering from Purdue University and an M.B.A. in finance, accounting and international business from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. Darius Kazemi -- Data Analyst for Turbine, Inc. Darius specializes in data metrics at Turbine Inc for MMORPGs including Dungeons & Dragons Online and Lord of the Rings Online. He is also a technology officer for the IGDA Education SIG, a committee member for the Boston Postmortem, and spends a good deal of his free time giving advice on how to break into the game industry.* Jess Lebow -- Lead Writer and Content Designer for Flying Lab Software
Jess Lebow is a best-selling novelist and an award-winning game designer. He has also written short stories, magazine articles, restaurant reviews, a television pilot, and the list goes on. He has even published poetry, although he tries not to these days. Jess was the original World Designer for Guild Wars and Guild Wars Factions and is now the Lead Writer and Content Designer for Pirates of the Burning Seas.
Brian Robbins -- Executive Producer and Gaming Evangelist for Fuel Industries Brian Robbins has been active in the online gaming industry since 1999 and is widely recognized as one of the most influential developers in online gaming today. He is co-founder and chair emeritus of the International Game Developers Association's (IGDA) Casual Games Special Interest Group (SIG), and has also served as Chair for the IGDA's Online Games SIG. An accomplished developer, Brian has been the lead programmer on over 70 published titles, with contributions to more than 100 games, and has worked with a host of worldwide brands including Coors, Gap, Dodge, FedEx, Pog and Best Buy to name but a few. As Executive Producer and Gaming Evangelist, Brian is responsible for providing on-the-ground technological and creative insight to Fuel's New York clients. His vast experience in the gaming industry allows Fuel to continue producing the most technologically advanced and enjoyable games online today while ensuring that they create measurable ROI for the client. David Simkins -- Graduate Student, University of Madison-Wisconsin Before joining the UW-Madison Curriculum & Instruction PhD program, David worked for over a decade in instructional design, computer aided instruction, and videogames journalism. In his PhD work, David focuses on the skills that participants develop through high level participation in role playing games, both offline and online. Through roleplay, he argues, participants practice management, negotiation, critical thinking and critical ethics. Constance Steinkuehler -- Assistant Professor, University of Madison-Wisconsin Constance Steinkuehler is an Assistant Professor in the Educational Communication & Technology program in the Curriculum & Instruction department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research is on cognition, learning and literacy in massively multiplayer online games (MMOs). Current interests include "pop cosmopolitanism" in online worlds and the intellectual practices that underwrite such a disposition, including informal scientific reasoning, collaborative problem solving, media literacy (as production, not just consumption), computational literacy, and the social learning mechanisms that support the development of such expertise (e.g., reciprocal apprenticeship, collective intelligence). Zhan Ye - President of GameVision Zhan Ye is an interaction designer, writer, academic, and entrepreneur. Zhan began his career in China's digital entertainment industry in 1995 and was one of China's first-generation game developers. An influential writer, he has published numerous articles on many Chinese magazines exploring technical, economical, social and cultural issues related to digital entertainment and media. In 2003 he co-authored Game Design and Development: Theory and Practice, the first book written in Chinese language on game creation. Zhan co-founded and serves on the editorial board of Game Creation magazine, the first game developer magazine in China. Zhan Ye is a China advocate. Through his articles and lectures, he is actively helping the rest of the world understand China's new market landscape, especially its digital entertainment sector. He has given lectures at various industry events such as GDC, INET, CHI and ChinaJoy. Zhan Ye received a Master's Degree in Computer Science from Illinois Institute of Technology and a Master's Degree in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) from Carnegie Mellon University."As our list of tremendous panels and speakers grow by the day, we become more and more energized by the potential positive impact the Online Game Development Conference can make in the work lives for those of us in the trenches - the game developers," states Peter Freese, the conference chairperson for OGDC. "We only expect the value we can bring developers through our program to continue to increase as we move forward."
OGDC is tailored to offer game developers forward-thinking, in-depth answers to the challenges facing the fast-growing, rapidly evolving online segment of the game development industry. OGDC will be held on May 10-11, 2007 at the elegant Fairmont Olympic in downtown Seattle. Visit the official website http://www.ogdc2007.com for the latest news and information, including registration, the most current speaker list and agenda and more. Early registration rates for OGDC end on March 2nd. To be on the fast track to receive updates, join the official conference mailing list.
About Evergreen Events
Evergreen Events, Inc., ( http://www.evergreenevents.org/), is a Seattle area-based producer of conferences and events for the interactive entertainment industry. Evergreen Events is dedicated to the enrichment of both established and aspiring professionals through innovative first-class events offering exceptional content that is compelling, educational, and cogent. Our directors and advisors bring over a century of collective successful experience and involvement in the game industry.
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