Tuesday, March 28 2:15 PM – 3:30 PM Track IV: Mobile Games: In-Game Advertising & the Custom Branded Experience As the games industry continues to gain momentum and consumer loyalty as well as massive sales, as with all the other mass mediums, it was simply a matter of time before the industry discovered an appropriate relationship with the advertising and brand management industries. Games are not a niche. Games are a primary entertainment medium with growing power and consumer loyalty. The combination of the greatest brands with the greatest game titles makes perfect sense. If a hit CD can be broken in a video game just as the movie industry can spawn a soundtrack hit, the relationship of games to brand extension and advertising can not be far behind. The evolution of advertising, brand extension and promotions in the games industry is at hand. Minard Hamilton, Executive Vice President of Sales and Brand Partnership, JAMDAT Mobile Inc. Jonathan Epstein, United Talent Agency Julian Corbett, Vice President of Business Development and Brand Partnerships, In-Fusio Steven Hoffman, North American Studio Head - Games & Mobile Entertainment, Infospace, Inc. Yme Bosma, Business Manager Eccky, Media Republic (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) David Bloom, Principal, Words & Deeds, Moderator Minard Hamilton, EVP, Distribution and Marketing, JAMDAT Mobile Inc.: Minard Hamilton joined our company in August 2001 as Executive Vice President, Sales and Brand Partnerships. From September 1999 to July 2001, Mr. Hamilton served as general manager of international business for ESPN Internet Group, part of the Walt Disney Internet Group. Mr. Hamilton was a Senior Vice President at ESPN International Television from 1995 to 1999. Mr. Hamilton holds an BA from Princeton University and an MBA from the Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA. Jonathan Epstein, United Talent Agency: Leading video gaming executive Jonathan Epstein recently opened the San Francisco office of United Talent Agency, marking the first time a major Hollywood agency has opened an office in the heart of electronic and video gaming industry. Epstein's appointment significantly expands UTA's video game and interactive operations into new areas representing the convergence of gaming, filmed entertainment and the marketing and advertising worlds. Epstein brings more than 20 years of media and marketing experience to UTA,and brings a profound track record of success in creating new products, markets and business models in the Internet and gaming businesses. Epstein has played a leading role in the development of the online media serving the gamer, having worked in key executive roles for all of the top online media supporting that industry. As founding president and CEO of GameSpot.com, Epstein reshaped the way by which gamers get their information and the ways that marketers most effectively reach gamers. As president of GameSpy, Epstein transformed the company into a media powerhouse, building the largest subscriptiQn base of any gaming service. He later helped spearhead the merger of GameSpy with IGN Entertainment, where he served as executive vice president and general manager/media, for the bulk of 2004. Steven Hoffman is the North American Studio Head for Infospace, Inc., where he runs Infospace’s U.S. mobile games group. Hoffman is a founding member of the Academy of Television’s Interactive Media Group and sits on the Board of Governors for the Producers Guild’s New Media Council. Hoffman was the Chairman & CEO of Spiderdance, one of Hollywood's leading interactive television studios. Prior to Spiderdance, Hoffman owned and operated LavaMind, which developed games published by Microprose / Spectrum Holobyte, Seiko Epson, Magellan, Manaccom, McGraw-Hill. In 1993, Hoffman worked for Sega in Japan, generating new concepts for amusement gaming. Before that, Hoffman was a TV development executive at Fries Entertainment in Hollywood. He holds a degree in Computer Engineering from the University of California and a Masters in Cinema & Television from USC. Hoffman serves on the Board of Advisors for the Vancouver Film School and has authored the book "Game Design Workshop" published by CMP in 2004. Julian Corbett, Vice President of Business Development and Brand Partnerships, IN-FUSIO: Julian leads the U.S. based business development efforts for IN-FUSIO, a global leader in mobile gaming. In this capacity he has played a key role in the expansion of IN-FUSIO into the North American market and has negotiated key partnerships with some of the largest brands and companies in the world including Microsoft, Viacom, Universal, Neopets and Twentieth Century Fox. Julian previously served as Vice President of Business Development for vizrt, a leader in 3D broadcast graphics. Previous to this he headed up U.S. operations for Medialab, a 3D real-time animation arm of Vivendi-Universal. Julian is a graduate of La Sorbonne University in Paris where he received his bachelor’s degree and MBA with a Concentration Marketing Communications. Yme Bosma, Business Manager Eccky at Media Republic, a leading digital media and entertainment company based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Yme joined Media Republic at the beginning of 2004 to lead a team of engineers and creatives in the development of Eccky, a ‘game’ that enables two people to make and raise a virtual child using the web, MSN Messenger and mobile phone. Eccky has been developed in close partnership with Microsoft and was introduced at the end of 2005 on the Dutch market. It currently enjoys high visibility through several promotional partnerships with leading Dutch brands and media outlets. Eccky is a very innovative concept, from a creative and technological perspective, and it is also a prime example of how advertising and gaming are being mixed into a new revenue model for the entertainment industry. Already over 100 specialists have been working on Eccky over the past two years, external suppliers not included. Yme currently manages a team of 25 people who are continuously working on the further (commercial) development of Eccky. Media Republic is planning a US rollout for this year, again in cooperation with Microsoft. Before Yme joined Media Republic he was working as a strategy consultant at Lost Boys, Europe’s largest webdesign agency. For 5 years he has been advising clients in many industries on how to use the internet (technology) in order to built a competitive advantage. Companies Yme has worked for include Unilever, HP, ING, KPN/i-mode, MTV and KLM. Before starting at Lost Boys Yme worked in the advertising industry at Young & Rubicam’s Dubai and Tel Aviv offices. Yme is a well known and longtime blogger, primarily writing on technology and it’s impact on business/marketing and society. His blogs are Yme’s Thoughts, Ymerce, the Eccky Weblog and Panbo. He is also regularly lecturing at universities, business schools and conferences. Yme has written several articles for leading industry magazines and the ‘Mobile Marketing’ chapter of a popular Dutch book on Interactive Marketing. David Bloom, Principal, Words & Deeds: David Bloom is a writer and media-relations consultant with Words & Deeds, specializing in entertainment and technology issues and companies. He previously was vice president of corporate communications for MGM Inc., and worked for 20 years as a journalist covering entertainment, technology and politics for such publications as Variety and Red Herring. Bloom is a frequent speaker and guest lecturer on issues such as videogaming, mobile entertainment and next-generation media/entertainment platforms.