Thursday, October 23rd

9:30 AM - 10:45 AM

ThinkTank I: Admiralty Room

Advertising and Micro-Commerce, Games and Game Networks - Mobile, Broadband and Console - Serving Individuals and Communities of Interest

Clark Stacey, co-founder and CEO, WildWorks

Rob Grossberg, CEO, TreSensa

David Schwartz, COO & Cofounder, Voxel

Maura Sparks, founder, KissAppGames

Jamie Ortiz, VP, Marketing and Communications, Sleepy Giant Entertainment

Rizwan Virk, Co-Founder and CEO, Midverse Studios

Dmitri Williams, CEO, Ninja Metrics, Moderator

successful games across a variety of platforms.  There, he variously designed or directed titles such as Redline, Motor Mayhem, Hot Wheels: Velocity X, and many others -- all of which depended heavily on explosions. Together with co-founder Kris Johnson, Clark launched WildWorks in 2003 with Series A investment from Signal Peak Ventures.  From their studio headquarters in Salt Lake City, Smart Bomb’s team of around 100 developers is now extending the Animal Jam experience into mobile games and other media, as well as developing new original titles.  Their latest, Tunnel Town, is available worldwide via the Apple App Store and Google Play.  Clark graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in English Literature and Philosophy, and is evidently doing what one does with those qualifications.

Rob Grossberg is the CEO of TreSensa. He  brings over twelve years of digital advertising experience to the company. A corporate lawyer by trade, Rob spent almost 8 years at DoubleClick, first as Deputy General Counsel and then as VP of Sales Operations. After leaving DoubleClick, Rob focused on video advertising, becoming General Manager of Visible World’s agency-facing, dynamic television ad customization product. At the start of 2007, Rob combined his digital advertising and video experience to become SVP of Business Operations and Strategy at Tremor Media, one of the leaders in digital video advertising. Rob left Tremor Media in January of 2011 and provided consulting services to several companies before founding TreSensa in July 2011. Rob has a BA from Dartmouth College and a JD from NYU School of Law.

David Schwartz, COO & Cofounder, Voxel: David is a seasoned sales and business development executive.  Prior to Voxel, David was responsible for cultivating and managing several Fortune 50/500 accounts for a consumer and small business cloud storage company.  During David’s tenure, he directly grew and managed eight figures in yearly revenue.  David is the Cofounder and COO of Voxel and is responsible for all business and marketing related activities.

Maura Sparks, Founder, KissAppGames: Maura Sparks has been a key member in several start-ups. She recently co-founded, KissAppGames, a casual game company for mobile and the web. In our first game, Glass Ceiling, our hero fights her way up the corporate ladder-literally. By battling fresh men, backstabbing co-workers, asinine accountants, crazy clients, and bad bosses. We anticipate building a franchise around our characters to expand the brand beyond games. At Broadband Mechanics, a white label social network company, she developed social networks and social media for corporate clients. She co-founded an interactive entertainment company, Pop Rocket, which she grew from first sketch to achieving worldwide recognition. As part of the core development team, she created graphics, video, and animation for their award-winning music video adventure game. She also managed the operations and worked closely with all departments to implement company vision and strategy. A veteran of the multimedia industry, she has been involved with producing and marketing pioneering software, such as: Swivel 3D, Modelshop, Spaceship Warlock, Total Distortion and PeopleAggregator.

Jamie Ortiz, VP, Marketing and Communications, Sleepy Giant Entertainment: Sleepy Giant is an independent game company focused on enthusiast gamers. Founded in 2007 by live game operations pioneers, Sleepy Giant is based in Newport Beach with an office in Chicago. The company is led by industry veterans and backed by TPG Capital and CAA’s Evolution Media Capital. Sleepy Giant’s fofofum, the leading provider of backend game technology and services, partners with global publishers, studios, and developers at all stages to deliver complete game solutions. fofofum has worked on some of the biggest titles in the industry, and on every platform from PC to console to mobile, helping solve the complex problems involved in running service-driven games.

Dmitri Williams, CEO, Ninja Metrics: Dmitri Williams (PhD, University ofMichigan) is a 15-year veteran of analytics and consumer behavior research, and a world-recognized leader in the science of online metrics and analysis. The author of more than 40 peer-reviewed articles on consumer psychology and large-scale data analysis, Dr. Williams' work has been featured on CNN, Fox, the Economist, the New York Times, and most major news outlets. Dr. Williams is the CEO and Co-Founder of Ninja Metrics, Inc., an advanced predictive analytics company and inventor of Social Value, a precise measurement of who influences others and how much that influence is worth in dollars and cents.

Rizwan Virk, Co-Founder and CEO, Midverse Studios: Rizwan “Riz” Virk is an entrepreneur, author, investor, game developer and film-maker. He is the co-founder and CEO of Midverse Studios, leading the team that is redefining mobile user acquisition and monetization. Fed up with rising CPI costs developers were actually paying to acquire and the low quality of users acquired for their games, Virk and the Midverse team created AppEngage, a system that uses the more cost efficient CPE+ model to acquire and engage new players.  Prior to Midverse, Virk was the co-founder of Gameview Studios, where he helped TapFish become the No.1 grossing app in the Android Market, redefining the possibilities for free-to-play games.  Virk is considered a pioneer in mobile advertising going back to his time with Tapjoy, where he was an integral part of the team that enabled publishers to quickly acquire users to help them establish a broad user footprint.  Virk is nationally known as a thought leader in knowledge management and as a technical visionary. He has been featured in and a resource for a broad range of media and featured speaking opportunities around the globe.  Virk also has participated as an angel investor in Pocket Gems, Funzio, Telltale and Iddiction.  Virk holds a B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Thursday, October 23rd

Video, Social Media & Crowdfunding