Joanna Popper is the Chief Metaverse Officer at leading entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA).  Based in Los Angeles, Popper leads metaverse initiatives for the agency and its clients. Popper joined CAA in 2022 from HP, where she led its XR initiatives for Go-To-Market, overseeing the launch of award-winning technology, such as the HP Reverb G2 VR headset (winner of Red Dot Design Award, CES Innovation Award, IF Design Award) and HP Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition (winner of VR Hardware of the Year, Entertainment Technology Lumiere Award, Red Dot Best of the Best, CES Innovation Award, IF Design Award).  Previously, she was Executive Vice President of Media & Marketing at Singularity University, a NASA-based, Google-backed organization founded by Ray Kurzweil and Peter Diamandis to train leaders on the future of technology including blockchain, VR/AR, artificial intelligence, robotics and digital biology. She was also the Vice President of Marketing at NBCUniversal, where she worked across properties, including television, film, digital, and parks, and launched hits in primetime, music award shows, sports, news, daytime, and more for Telemundo. She started her career as an investment banker in New York and Brazil and then a consultant at McKinsey & Company. She was selected as “50 Women Can Change the World in Media and Entertainment,” ”25 Pioneers in the Metaverse,” “Top 50 Original Thinkers in VR,” “Top Women in Media: Game Changers,” “Top Women in Media: Industry Leaders,” “Digital It List,” and “101 Women Leading the VR Industry.” She served as Executive Producer on BREONNA’S GARDEN, FINDING PANDORA X, and FIGHT BACK, the award-winning virtual reality content, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, and SXSW.    Popper graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelor’s degree, and The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania with an MBA.

Thomas Dexmier, Country Manager, HTC VIVE ANZ: Thomas is the HTC VIVE ANZ Country Manager, based in Sydney, Australia. A passionate Product Marketer and Sales Leader who has been with HTC for 12 years, Thomas runs the ANZ market for HTC VIVE and has an extensive track record of product launches with Telcos, Retailers and B2B channels. With his versatile technical and marketing profile, he has a holistic understanding of the XR market as it is today and how it is bound to evolve in the near-future, which makes him a trusted thought-leader across the XR industry. With a soft spot for mobile technologies, Thomas has launched one of the world’s first 5G commercial products in 2019 and is committed to driving HTC’s VIVE Reality grand vision, where 5G meets XR to deliver the next generation if immersive experiences in the metaverse that will change humanity. A high-energy storyteller at heart, Thomas is an Australian-French dual citizen who likes to travel with his family, play tennis, swim and look after his 2 boys in his downtime.

Jayne Peressini is the VP, Growth at Dapper Labs. In her role, she leads and directs all new and existing user growth efforts for Dapper Labs across NBA Top Shot, CryptoKitties, upcoming titles - as well as Flow. Jayne’s career across the mobile and sports technology industries includes over thirteen years of driving growth at notable companies like DraftKings, Machine Zone, Reddit, and Electronic Arts (EA). She ran growth for major properties—from DraftKing’s Sportsbook launch in the US to the most recent Madden game release and FIFA’s mobile app globally. Jayne is passionate about mental health and is a staunch supporter of women in the industry. She holds a Masters of Science in Digital Marketing from the University of East London and a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Santa Clara University.

Ted Schilowitz, Futurist, ViacomCBS: Ted spends his time and pursues his passion in a unique role in the entertainment industry. Ted works across the leadership and the technology teams across Paramount Global, including CBS, CBS Sports, Paramount Pictures, Paramount Plus, MTV, Nickelodeon, BET, PlutoTV and Comedy Central, exploring emerging tech for entertainment with an emphasis on Virtual and Mixed Reality and Web 3.0/ MetaVerse pursuits. Prior to joining Paramount, Ted was the Futurist at 20th Century Fox, where he worked on the evolving art, science and technology of advanced interactive visual storytelling. He was part of the creation team for the Martian VR and Wild VR experiences, which premiered at CES and Sundance as groundbreaking projects that pushed the envelope of Virtual Reality storytelling, Ted was part of the creation teams for the Alien, Planet of the Apes and Predator VR experiences at Fox, and at his current home at Paramount Pictures, he’s been instrumental in bringing the Grease Mixed Reality experience, the Light as a Feather mixed reality experience and the Quiet Place Virtual Reality experience to life. Ted was an integral part of the product development team at Red Digital Cinema as the company’s first employee. The Red One and Epic cameras have made a significant impact on the Motion Picture Industry, winning a Sci-Tech Academy award. Many of the world’s biggest movies are now being shot with these ultra high resolution digital movie cameras. Ted is one of the founders and creators of the G-Tech product line of advanced hard drive storage products. As one of the most recognized brands in that industry, they are implemented worldwide at the highest levels on cinema, episodic television, sports and news production. In his role as Chief Creative Officer at Barco Escape, he spearheaded an experimental immersive cinema project for movie theaters worldwide. Titles include Paramount Pictures Star Trek Beyond and 20th Century Fox Maze Runner & Maze Runner 2.  Before being part of the founding teams at Red Digital Cinema and G-Tech, Ted was on the team that developed and launched the Macintosh desktop video division of AJA Video Systems, creating professional video products in tandem with Apple. These products are used on a massive scale worldwide for video production and post at the highest levels, on many of the world’s biggest movies, TV series and sporting events. Ted has presented worldwide at numerous conferences on the advancements in next generation visual experiences for the movie, television and, interactive entertainment industries. He’s been featured in Wired, Variety, NY Times, LA Times, Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, The Hollywood Reporter, NBC, CNET, Studio Daily, Videography, Film and Video, DV Magazine, TV Technology, HD Video Pro, Engadget, Gizmodo, Millimeter, American Cinematographer, MacWorld, Post Magazine, Popular Science, and countless other publications discussing his areas of passion and exploration. In 2019, Ted was honored at the Variety Hall of Fame event with the Variety Innovation Award.

Patrick Costello, Senior Director of Business Development at Qualcomm Technologies Inc., is responsible for building partnerships with strategic partners in the sports and entertainment verticals.  In support of Qualcomm’s XR business, Patrick leads North American engagements with film studios, sports leagues, top brands, OEM’s, and ISV’s to drive both content partnerships and adoption of Qualcomm’s broader technology portfolio. Prior to joining Qualcomm, Patrick led business development for Kyocera Wireless in emerging markets in EMEA and SEA. Following completion of his International Relations degree from the University of San Diego in 1995, Patrick obtained his MBA from San Diego State University.

Aaron Luber, Director, Partnerships, Google: Aaron leads the Business Development and Partnerships team for Google's Labs efforts, the early innovation group within Google that is helping incubate and graduate long term bets Google is making in AR/VR, Blockchain, Future of Work and AI/ML Aaron has been at Google for over 10 years and has helped to launch and commercialize a number of 0 to 1 efforts across YouTube, Daydream, ARCore, Google Lens -- all supported by major partnerships across hardware, content, platform and brand partners.

Charlie Fink, Metaverse Consultant, Forbes Columnist, Author, Adjunct: Charlie Fink writes the weekly Forbes column “This Week in XR" and co-hosts its eponymous companion podcast. He is the author of the upcoming Dissecting the Metaverse (Fall 2022), Remote Collaboration and the Future of Work (2020), and the critically acclaimed AR-enabled books Charlie Fink’s Metaverse (2017), and Convergence, How The World Will Be Painted With Data (2019). He teaches XR at Chapman University Film School in Orange, CA. Fink's forty year career at the convergence of popular culture and technology began at Walt Disney Feature Animation in 1987 where he famously came up with the idea for “The Lion King" and became the studio’s youngest creative Vice-President. Fink's work in technology began in 1992 when he joined Tim Disney’s pioneering location-based VR company, Virtual World Entertainment, as its COO. In 1995, AOL recruited him to be Senior Vice President & Chief Creative Officer of AOL Studios (1995-1999). Fink was President of American Greetings Interactive and Blue Mountain (2000-2004). His other experience includes exits from several startups and running the New York Musical Festival.  Fink's consulting clients include both tech giants and start ups trying to find their place in the rapidly evolving metaverse ecosystem.