12:50 PM - 2:00 PM
Track IV:
Broadband Games Expand – From the Casual to the Massively Multiplayer Universe
Casual games are now big business. With all the major players from AOL, Yahoo and Microsoft right in the middle of the action, this sector, along with already dominant Massively Multiplayer Game world, make broadband gaming in general the hot topic in the world of entertainment and the games industry. And with the expansion of the games industry reaching into all demographic sectors, from kids to hard core gamers and now with women, seniors and teens being drawn further into games, whether through the expansion of PC and broadband, portable players and mobile devices, through interactive TV or simply through the greatness of the new consoles, the casual gaming experience, facilitated by the downloading opportunity on all platforms is driving a formidable marketplace. What will this market look like in the future? How will the games played evolve? What will the growth from simple to sophisticated game and game player look like? We are just at the start of a new phenomenon.
Dave Williams, CMO and GM Chief Marketing Officer, General Manager, AtomShockwave
Greg Mills, Director, Premium Games, AOL Games, America Online
Patricia Fry, Global Offering Executive, Digital Content Creation (DCC) and Online Games, IBM Corp.
Kevin Donovan, President, Planetwide Games
Scott Cohen, President, Game Trust, Inc.
Steve Parkis, Vice President, Premium Products, Disney Online
Matthew Bromberg, Chairman and CEO, Davidson Media Holdings, LLC, Moderator
Greg Mills, Director of Premium Games, AOL Games, America Online: As Director of Premium Games, Greg develops the strategy for subscription games across all of America Online’s brands, and creates new sales and revenue opportunities for online and downloadable games. Greg’s responsibilities include interacting with AOL’s marketing team to develop concepts for games, establishing a financial model and working with partners to build and launch games on the AOL service. Greg Mills has more than ten years of marketing and business experience in the gaming industry. Prior to his nine years at America Online, Greg worked at WorldPlay Entertainment and at The 3DO Company in a variety of marketing and business development positions. Mills earned his Bachelor’s degree from Pomona College and an MBA from Santa Clara University. Consistently ranked among the leading online gaming sites, AOL Games offers online games, exclusive demos of the hottest video games, comprehensive video games information including cheats, tips and reviews, and exclusive original streaming video programming. According to comScore Media Metrix, nearly 9 million game fans visit AOL Games and spend an average of 267 minutes per visitor each month. Games are the second most popular activity on AOL behind email/instant messaging based on time spent per account.
Kevin Donovan, President, Planetwide Games: Mr. Donovan was VP-M
anaging Director of Marketing Headquarters (MHQ), the newly created promotional and marketing arm of publicly traded Fotoball USA, Inc. where he worked with all Major Sports and Entertainment Properties and Licensors. Prior to MHQ, Mr. Donovan was President, CEO of Smoothie King Franchises, Inc. Expanded it's franchise system in one year from 21 to 32 states, added 175 franchises units and guided the Company's first international expansion into Seoul, Korea. Prior to Smoothie King, Mr. Donovan was the Director of Brand Image for the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the Olympic Winter Games of 2002 and was responsible for the development of the overall brand, "Look and Feel" of the games presentation. Mr. Donovan worked closely with all forty-five Organizing Committee functions, international broadcasters, host cities, local government officials, competition and non-competition venues, volunteers, official worldwide sponsors, suppliers and licensees in creating a consistent, global award winning, and memorable brand image. Prior to the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Committee, Mr. Donovan was SVP New Business, Sales and Marketing for the All-American SportPark, an original, live action participatory, 65-acre, $40M sports theme park located on the Strip in Las Vegas. Mr. Donovan was also SVP New Business Development for Saint Andrews Golf Corporation the publicly traded parent company of All-American SportPark. Mr. Donovan currently, is also the strategic advisor to the co-founder, President of Subway Restaurants, and New Business Development Consultant for Subway which is the #1 Franchise Company with over 22,000 locations.Steve Parkis, Vice President, Premium Products, Disney Online: Steve Parkis is the vice president of the premium products team at Disney Online, the division of the Walt Disney Internet Group that produces the No. 1 kids' entertainment and family community destination on the Web. He oversees the product development, operations and marketing of Disney branded Internet content sold both directly to consumers online and via distribution agreements with narrowband and broadband ISPs. Products in the group's portfolio include Disney's Blast, the acclaimed Disney's Toontown Online - a multiplayer online game, Disney Connection - a broadband only kids channel for high-speed ISPs, Hot Shot Business - an educational game for budding entrepreneurs, and downloadable games including "Incredibles: Escape from Nomanisan Island." Previously, Parkis served in finance and corporate development at the Walt Disney Internet Group overseeing, among other things, the strategy for the delivery of the GO Network's rich media content and development of its entertainment focused vertical content areas. Most recently, Parkis was responsible for leading the financial planning team of WDIG during the division's drive into profitability. Parkis first joined The Walt Disney Company in 1998 as a senior analyst in the business planning and development function at Walt Disney World. Before joining Disney, Parkis was a managing director at Windhorst New Technologies, a venture capital and operating firm focused on technology and media investment. He began his career at Kimberly-Clark Corporation, where he spent five years in various roles working on consumer brands such as Kleenex facial tissue and Huggies diapers. Parkis holds a master's of business administration degree from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and a bachelor's degree in financial administration from Michigan State University. Parkis resides in Valencia, California with his wife and three sons.
Patricia Fry, Global Offering Executive, Digital Content Creation and Onli
ne Games, IBM: Patricia (Patty) Fry is the global offering executive for digital content creation (DCC) and online games for IBM's Digital Media Emerging Business Opportunity. She leads IBM's efforts to craft meaningful solutions for the DCC and online games markets by applying IBM products, services and advanced technologies, together with products from industry specific independent software vendors, to the market's requirements. Fry was a founding member of the IBM corporate strategy online games task force, which was formed in 2002 to analyze the online games marketplace. Digital Media is one of the key strategic growth areas for IBM globally. IBM has made a multi-year, multi-million dollar investment in digital media products, services and alliances, in addition to building a focused team of hundreds of people. Fry has been a contributing member of this team since its inception. Fry’s prior IBM experience includes having been a principal for systems integration for IBM Global Services, as well as other solutions management, sales and technical sales support roles. She has experience working with automotive, health, government, utility, insurance and other industries. Previously, Fry was a software engineer at the former Hughes Aircraft Company. Fry earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California. She is an associate member of the Visual Effects Society and has previously spoken at the Harvard Cyberposium, Digital Hollywood conference and Game Networks conference. Fry has been cited in key industry publications, including Warcry, Computer Graphics World, Tech News World and C!Net. She speaks conversational French.Matthew Bromberg is Chairman and CEO Of Davidson Media Holdings, LLC( DMH), an investment and advisory firm dedicated to online games and games-related media. He currently sits on the advisory boards of X-Fire and Major League Gaming. Prior to founding DMH, Mr. Bromberg was General Manager of AOL Games, responsible for all gaming related activities across AOL. Previously, Mr. Bromberg was General Manager of Moviefone and Publisher and GM of CMP’s Techweb. He holds a law degree from Harvard, and began his career working for Steven Brill at American Lawyer Media, LP, where he was the Deputy Publisher of The American Lawyer magazine group and Director of Sales and Marketing for Lexis Counsel Connect.
Scott Cohen, President, Game Trust Inc.: Scott Cohen serves as Presid
ent of Game Trust Inc., the leading provider of gaming infrastructure. As President, he is responsible for domestic and international sales, strategic acquisitions, client services and business development. The Game Trust platform now reaches 50-million players each month throughout North America, Europe, and Latin America, counting ShockWave, MiniClip and Star Media among its major clients. Cohen joined Game Trust in April 2004, and brings over 25 years of expertise in strategic development, deal making and successful negotiations. For several web-related enterprises, Cohen has built sales teams coast to coast and in Europe, developed client services to support accelerated growth, and conducted work-outs and reductions in periods of downturn. His career exhibits leadership in the interactive field in the United States and Europe, and exceptional performance in both corporate and entrepreneurial environments. As a co-founder and/or senior level executive, Cohen was critical to the success of two IPO's over the past six years: LivePerson (LPSN on the NASDAQ exchange) and 24/7 Media (TFSM on NASDAQ). His responsibilities included business development, mergers and acquisitions, sales, marketing, finance, strategic planning, management consulting, and client services. As part of the senior management team, he worked to raise more than $150 million from the public markets and private investors for affiliated companies (Market Cap at IPO over $700 million). Prior to Game Trust, Cohen served as Partner in the Red Tie Media consulting group, assisting venture capitalists and CEO's to help nascent and leading companies expand market share, develop business plans, hire and train their sales force, secure investment, and identify and negotiate potential deals, mergers or acquisitions. Industries of focus included Internet, technology, media, M&A, banking, real estate, and consulting. Long-standing company affiliations, board memberships and Red Tie clients include: LivePerson, 24/7 Media, Petry Media Corp, New World Communications Group, MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings, Revlon, Coopers & Lybrand, EWomp, BeliefNet, Network Commerce, Universal Music, Six Degrees (YouthStream Networks), ShopNow, Next Response, FinanCenter and many others. Cohen began his career in real estate and opened his own firm in 1981. In the late 1980's, he founded a network of commercial real estate affiliates, charged with responding to proposals from the US Resolution Trust Corporation. Metropolitan Asset Corp. grew to encompass over 40 major US cities, handling multi-million dollar transactions, including hotels, shopping malls, office complexes and other investment sales, appraisals and work-outs. Cohen earned his Masters in Business Administration from the William Simon Graduate School of Business at the University of Rochester, after ten years of professional experience in business and real estate. He presently serves on the Board of Directors and/or Board of Advisors for several Internet and technology companies.