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Held on:
Tuesday, September 16th
Wednesday, September 17th
The Worlds in Motion Summit @ Austin GDC, is geared for those looking to bring their content and brands into interactive worlds. This summit is presented by WorldsinMotion.biz and made its overwhelmingly successful debut this past spring at GDC 2008 . Now back by popular demand, the Worlds in Motion Summit will provide new insight to the next steps in virtual worlds. This movement is powered by game technology and development, and offers a broadening of the worldwide business market through the wildly popular interface of social game networks.
The WiMS features candid sessions detailing the state of the art in leading virtual spaces, and the results that businesses – from small start-ups to Fortune 500 companies – have derived from them. The goal is to provide a realistic and in-focus snapshot of the intersection of games, business, and entertainment today, and where it's trending for the future. Topics include the viability of promoting your brand in Second Life and other immersive environments, the business of kids' virtual worlds, and the future of the Metaverse.
Dunder Mifflin Infinity: A Case Study in Using Game Mechanics to Drive Community Behavior
Speakers: Stephen Andrade (NBC.com), Rajat Paharia (Bunchball)
Status, competition, reward and achievement are concepts that the game industry has used for years to increase engagement and drive behavior in games. Now these same concepts are making the leap to the web. Join Rajat Paharia, CEO of Bunchball, and Stephen Andrade, SVP of Digital Development and General Manager of NBC.com, as they discuss how Bunchball’s Nitro meta-gaming platform is being used to drive user behavior and increase engagement on Dunder Mifflin Infinity, a social networking and user-generated content site for fans of NBC’s hit TV show The Office.
Stephen Andrade
Senior Vice President, Digital Development
General Manager, NBC.com
Stephen manages and oversees operations for NBC.com as well as creative development activities related to NBC Entertainment interactive programming. His responsibilities include working closely with show creative personnel to make their sites true online extensions of on-air programming, with internal and external technologists to use common web applications to create new creative products and with advertisers to complete the loop with their customers. Recent site highlights include the Heroes 360 alternative reality game experience, The Office’s – Dunder Mifflin Infinity creative social networking project, Biggest Loser Diet Center Site and Subscription Club, the Deal or No Deal SMS/Web live game and the Coastal Dreams, Pale Force and Jay Leno’s Garage original web programs. Prior to joining NBC, Stephen was a member of the legal and business affairs department of Sony Interactive Entertainment (now known as Sony Computer Entertainment) where he played a significant role in the third party licensing program connected with the launch of the PlayStation.
James M. Bower
Founder, Chairman of the Board and Chief Visionary Officer
Numedeon Inc.
James received his Ph.D. in neurophysiology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He was a professor at the California Institute of Technology for 17 years and now holds a joint position as professor of Computational Biology at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, and the University of Texas San Antonio. His scientific work involves computational studies of cerebral and cerebellar cortex. He is also founder, chairman of the board and chief visionary officer for Numedeon Inc., which in 1999 launched Whyville.net as one of the first virtual worlds for tweens. Whyville.net currently has more than 3.4 million registered users, and remains one of the few learning-based virtual worlds. James has published more than 100 scientific articles, several books, and has served on scientific and educational advisory committees for numerous national organizations including the National Academy of Sciences, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the Society for Neuroscience. James lives on a ranch outside San Antonio where he breeds and raises Cleveland Bay horses, and plays polo.
Jonathan Epstein
CEO
Double Fusion
As CEO of Double Fusion, Jonathan brings a record of launching and building the most successful gaming media properties worldwide. Jonathan is responsible for providing strategic vision and direction for the company. Before joining Double Fusion, Jonathan was co-head United Talent Agency’s digital media group. Prior, he served as executive vice president and general manager for IGN Entertainment, acquired by Fox Interactive Media in 2005. Jonathan came to IGN with the sale of GameSpy, where he was president and established the company as a major media player. Jonathan was founding president and CEO of GameSpot.com where he reshaped the way gamers acquire information.
Teemu Huuhtanen
Executive VP, Marketing, Ad Sales and Business Development, Sulake Corporation
President, North America, Sulake Inc.
Teemu directs the continued development of Sulake’s top property, Habbo, the leading teen social networking and virtual world community. Teemu cultivates relationships with major music, television and movie studios and creates unique joint ventures with advertisers throughout the entertainment, retail, fashion and sports industries to generate interactive brand partnerships. He also oversees global marketing and PR efforts. Since Habbo’s launch in 2000, Teemu has helped it grow to more than 9.5 million unique monthly users worldwide. He will serve as a judge at the 2008 Hollywood Film Festival and he is a member of the Virtual Worlds Expo advisory board. Teemu is based in Sulake’s North American headquarters in Santa Monica, Calif.
Rajat Paharia
Founder and CEO
Bunchball
Rajat is the founder and CEO of Bunchball. Bunchball's Nitro platform distills concepts from behavioral economics and game design into a web service that major media companies, social networks, ISPs, and others are using to drive user behavior and increase engagement on their web sites. Rajat's skill set combines a unique understanding of technology and design that stems from a four-year career at design firm IDEO where he was co-director of the Software Experiences Practice. Prior to IDEO, Rajat worked at Philips Consumer Electronics, IBM Research and ViewStar.
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Check out the Worlds in Motion session line up at this past GDC!
Don't forget to check back in early June for session updates.
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