Click on the Video Below and Sample a Session from a previous Digital Hollywood event. For Additional Video Sessions, Click Here Digital Hollywood, May 4-7, 2009 Tuesday, May 5th 9:00 AM - 10:15 AM Track IV Innovation in Games, Game Networks and Social Gaming - Massive User Communities and Commerce As the platforms become more robust, as broadband, mobile, social media and TV provide greater consumer interactive flexibility, games as a product, as a destination, as a network or community and as a force in commerce grows. The growing power of the network, the relationship between the technology and the consumer, is opening the door to an entirely new and more complex set of tools in designing a multi-layered gaming consumer experience. From the explosion in casual gaming to the dedicated hardcore gamer, the power of the network is redefining games and user engagement which is ultimately revolutionizing the bottom line of the industry. Bernie Yee, Executive Producer and Head of Game Development, The Electric Sheep Company Spencer Hunt, Vice President, Game Production & Digital Product Development, Sony Pictures Televsion Greg Mills, Director, AOL Games Brandon Barber, Vice President of Marketing, Zynga Jonathan Epstein, CEO, DoubleFusion Philip DeBevoise, President, Machinima.com Aaron Lassila, National Sales Manager, Microsoft Gaming and Advertising Tim Chang, Principal, Norwest Venture Partners, Moderator Aaron Lassila, Massive National Sales Manager, Microsoft: Aaron Lassila is Head of Sales for Microsoft’s Fixed Product Placement In-Game Advertising offering, responsible for leveraging Microsoft’s various gaming media assets to deliver holistic brand alignment with game consumers via top-tier entertainment properties such as Guitar Hero, Tony Hawk and World of Warcraft; providing a one-stop shop for advertiser’s looking to reach the game audience in a meaningful and engaged manner. Over time, Lassila has established himself as the category expert within the in-game ad space, building more deals in the sports entertainment category than any player in the in-game business, annually establishing the top deals in the industry with partner brands Nike, Coca-Cola and Toyota and closing or managing over $50 Million in revenue in the space. Aaron was most recently tasked as sales head for Double Fusion's Core Games division, focusing on management of Double Fusion's Core Games P&L in North America and Europe. Prior to Double Fusion, Lassila was Electronic Arts' (EA) Director of Sales, Videogame Advertising & New Media. As a co-founder of the In-Game Advertising group at EA, Mr. Lassila leveraged his experience in sports and event sponsorship in developing relevant advertising programs for consumer marketers in EA's global best-selling EA SPORTS and EA GAMES branded interactive entertainment titles. In this capacity, Aaron established in-game advertising campaigns with key top 100 advertisers who wished to tap into EA's core demographic, the increasingly elusive 18-34 year-old male. Lassila's time at EA, which began in 2003, included the largest EA Online deal ever (within Pogo.com's casual offering) and establishment of EA as the number one direct seller of integrated advertising placements in games. Prior to joining EA, Mr. Lassila drove sponsorship revenue for Clear Channel Entertainment and Kemper Sports Marketing, working in development of multi-million dollar strategic partnerships with such companies as Visa, Microsoft, Levi's, Coca-Cola and SAP. Bernie Yee, Executive Producer and Head of Game Development, The Electric Sheep Company: Bernie has a diverse background in virtual world and video game development at a senior level. As a veteran in the industry, he's been privileged to work on some of the most influential interactive entertainment properties at development studios (Harmonix: Rock Band), publishers (Atari: Alone in the Dark, Marc Ecko's Getting Up, Test Drive Unlimited) and online game operators (Sony Online: EverQuest) and has console launch environments (PS3 games prototype) and international online games experience as well (En-Tranz Entertainment, Hong Kong: Shadowbane). He began his career in games as a QA tester for Infocom in 1982, one of the first and most influential commercial games companies in the history of the industry, working on Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Planetfall. Bernard is an adjunct professor in Columbia University's computer science department where he teaches a class in game design and development. Spencer Hunt is vice president, game production and digital product development, a post he assumed in February 2008, and is based at Sony Pictures Television International’s headquarters in Culver City, California. Hunt is responsible for developing and implementing SPTI’s games strategy, supporting key SPE tentpole products (theatrical, TV) with mobile and on-line games, and developing game-derivative video content for multiple screens.  He manages the development and production of a comprehensive slate of mobile games in line with SPTI’s strategy to deploy a wide range of high-quality games across multiple carriers throughout the competitive global marketplace.  Additionally, Hunt is responsible for developing online game extensions to key studio brands in an effort to enhance SPTI's audience reach and depth of consumer experience around the world. Hunt was previously the executive director of production for Sony Online Entertainment and Sony Pictures Digital, where he was instrumental in the development of the award-winning God of War: Betrayal mobile game, and the 2005 Mobile Game of the Year, Ratchet and Clank: Going Mobile.  He has shipped more than 35 games for platforms including PS3, Mobile, PC, Blu-Ray, PS2 and Xbox.  Prior to his tenure at Sony companies, Hunt held art and technology director positions at Pandemic Studios and Eight Cylinders.  He is also the co-owner of the Santa Monica trend-focused retail store Brat. Greg Mills, Director of Casual Games, AOL Games, AOL: As Director of Casual Games, Greg develops the strategy of monetizing free and premium game usage across all AOL 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 thirteen years of marketing and business experience in the gaming industry. Prior to his nine years at AOL, 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 hundreds of online and downloadable games from the best game publishers on the Web. It’s video game counterpart, GameDaily.com offers exclusive demos of the hottest video games, comprehensive video games information including cheats, tips and reviews, and exclusive original streaming video programming. Brandon Barber is the Vice President of Marketing at Zynga. He was previously the Senior Director of Global Online Marketing at Electronic Arts. Before that he was the Director of Entertainment Development and Programming, managing EA's branded entertainment activities across all TV, Web and digital mediums. Originally brought in to help establish EA's music marketing group, Barber has worked to broaden EA's entertainment footprint by working with am array of media and production partners on a broad range entertainment products based on EA franchises, such as the ESPN original series Madden Nation, NBA LIVE Bring It Home on ESPN and dozens of product-focused television shows and integrations. Before his work at EA, Barber was the fifth employee at the original Napster, taking the service from 100k users to 100mm during his tenure and managing all aspects of the product experience and brand. Prior to that, he was a product manager and editorial contributor at Rollingstone.com and other Tunes.com properties. Barber holds a bachelor's degree from Marquette University and credentials in creative advertising from Northwestern University. Barber also co-authored a how-to manual on digital music called Sam's Teach Yourself E-Music Today, which was published by Macmillan USA in 2000. Jonathan Epstein, CEO, DoubleFusion: Epstein brings more than 20 years of high-technology media and marketing experience to Double Fusion, and a track record of launching and building the most successful media properties that reach the gaming audience, on a worldwide basis. As CEO of Double Fusion, Epstein is responsible for providing the strategic vision and direction for the company, and for ensuring the execution of the company against its core business plan. Prior to joining Double Fusion, Epstein served as co-head of the digital media group of United Talent Agency, overseeing a wide range of transactions in the gaming, mobile, Internet and advertising technology markets and serving as a consultant to a number of leading media startups. Prior to UTA, Epstein served as executive vice president and general manager, media division, for IGN Entertainment, which was acquired by Fox Interactive Media in 2005. Epstein came to IGN with the sale of GameSpy Industries, where he served as president; while at GameSpy, Epstein established the company as a major media player and developed the companies significant subscription and middleware businesses. Before GameSpy, Epstein was the founding president and CEO of GameSpot.com, where with the other co-founders he reshaped the way by which gamers get their information. GameSpot was acquired by ZDNet (and subsequently, CNET) after which time Epstein served as EVP, International, overseeing the management and rollout of GameSpot and ZDNet sites around the world. Epstein holds a degree in physical sciences from Harvard College. Tim Chang, Principal, Norwest Venture Partners: focusing on Wireless and Digital Media investments, and also leads Norwest's China initiatives. Tim led NVP's investment in 3jam and Lumos Labs, and serves on the board of directors for both companies. He is actively involved with NVP's wireless portfolio, including deCarta, DoubleFusion, and Clairmail. Prior to joining Norwest, Tim was a Principal at Gabriel Venture Partners, where he established and led the Wireless investment practice, and was actively involved with investments in Placeware (acquired by Microsoft), Iridigm (acquired by Qualcomm), IPWireless (acquired by NextWave), Skycross, NextG Networks, Sequoia Communications, Kajeet, and Eyespot. Tim served as a director on the boards of Iridigm, Sequoia Communications, Kajeet, and Eyespot. Before entering the venture capital industry, Tim was a Product Manager at Gateway, where he launched Enterprise products into the Japanese market, and began his career as a tri-lingual development engineer for General Motors, working across China, Korea, and Japan. Tim is an active contributor to the wireless industry, and serves on the advisory boards of Telecom Council Silicon Valley, TiEcon, Under-the-Radar, Wireless Communications Alliance (WCA), CommNexus (San Diego Telecom Council), VC Task Force, Silicon Valley Chinese Wireless Association, and Digital Hollywood. Tim received his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he graduated in the top 10% of his class as an Arjay Miller Scholar. He also holds an MSEE and BSEE in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan, where he was a Deparmental Scholar and received full fellowship. Tim is also an accomplished musician and actor, and continues to perform around the Bay Area. Brandon Barber, VP of Marketing, Zynga: Brandon Barber is Zynga’s VP of Marketing, a lifelong gamer and social networking addict. His responsibilities include driving all marketing functions, product strategy, and turning Zynga into the biggest brand in gaming. Prior to joining Zynga, Barber served as senior director of global online marketing at Electronic Arts (EA). At EA he played a key role in developing the company’s global online presence and was responsible for the concept, design, deployment and profitability of EA’s web services based business model. During his seven years at EA, Barber also established the entertainment and music marketing functions there and created strategic content creation and distribution partnerships between EA and key partners in the music, television, video-on-demand, mobile, online and film industries. Prior to EA, Barber ran the product team at the original Napster, the pioneering digital music company. During his tenure, he helped the service increased from 100 thousand to 100 million users.