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A panel of industry leaders having an open debate about what makes content on Facebook thrive, survive, or dive. Discussion to address key issues such as, whether or not branded content belongs on Facebook, what can be learned from the veterans, if new social game brands can co-exist with established game brands, if brands are focused enough on Facebook and do they know what they are getting in to, and more.
Delivered at Casual Connect Seattle, July 2011.
Bertram (“Bert”) Chan heads Strategic Partner Marketing for Playfish, handling all aspects of sponsorships, in-game advertising opportunities and endorsements. Prior to joining Playfish, he worked as a strategy consultant at the Monitor Group and in investment banking for Credit Suisse. Bert holds an MBA at London Business School and a BA from Yale University. [Email Bertram]
James Jones is a veteran games industry executive with over 15 years in digital media and online leadership. He has served integral roles in the design, production, operations, and executive management on nine MMOs/Virtual Worlds since 1999 and has diverse experience across almost all gaming platforms having shipped product on over a dozen platforms; Xbox360, PS3, PS2, Wii, DS, PSP, iPhone/iPad/android, PC, Browser, Social Network (Facebook), mobile, XBLA, and PSN. In his current role as Vice President of Creative Production for Hasbro, Inc., James oversees digital media and game production on all Hasbro brands, including Transformers, Magic the Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons, GI Joe, Monopoly, Scrabble, Battleship, Risk, and Nerf. [Email James]
Joel Brodie is the founder and the self-appointed Chief of Gamezebo. Previously, Joel was head of business development for Yahoo! Games, where he was responsible for building numerous enterprising products, including Yahoo! Games Downloads, Games on Demand, and Video Games. Joel graduated from University of Maryland with degrees in economics and political science. [Email Joel]
Davin Miyoshi leads GSN’s “Games” application (http://GSNgames.com), the leading casual game portal on Facebook with over 7 million monthly active users. Prior to GSN, Davin was Co-Founder and CEO of Mesmo, an early pioneer and leading social game developer that engaged over 25 million users on Facebook, MySpace, hi5, and Bebo. Davin was also an early Internet entrepreneur at Intraware, a pioneer in online digital media distribution where he helped drive a $2+ billion market cap and $50 million in annual revenues. After Intraware, Davin was VP of Business Development at EQuill, an early social web discovery company that was acquired by Microsoft. He started his career in Investment Banking at Montgomery Securities (acquired by Banc America Securities) and also led corporate development initiatives at 3Com. Davin serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors for Hands On Bay Area, a Bay Area non-profit where he previously served as the Board Chair and Treasurer. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Economics with honors from the University of California at Berkeley.[Email Davin]
Mike Vorhaus is the President of Magid Advisors, a unit of Frank N. Magid Associates. Mr. Vorhaus founded the Internet and New Media practice in 1995, with AOL and Excite as his first two clients. Magid has completed over 2,500 engagements with over 100 clients including Google, Digg, LinkedIn, Metacafe, MSN, Ask Jeeves, Yahoo!, Warner Bros, Reuters, AOL, Dow Jones, NY Times, Tribune, USAToday and NBC.
Mr. Vorhaus began the Gaming practice in 2001 with EA and Sony as his first two clients. Mike now works with most of the major game publishers. He provides research and consulting services to a number of major traditional media companies in regard to their new media initiatives, as well as consulting a number of leading Internet and gaming companies. Mr. Vorhaus has consulted on a number of film projects such as You’ve Got Mail and The Matrix. He has also led Magid’s efforts providing investment and strategic advice to investment firms regarding media and related assets. [Email Mike]
