2011 Conference Agenda

  VIPs PRESS & MEDIA BREAKFAST BRIEFING
sponsored by:
The VIP Breakfast is for members of the PRESS & MEDIA.
An opportunity for the Press to meet the Advisory Board together with keynote speakers and gain one to one interview time.

WELCOME
Dr. David J Hardman, MBE,
Chief Executive Officer,
Birmingham Science Park Aston

OPENING
Councillor Mike Whitby, Leader of Birmingham City Council & Chairman of Birmingham Science Park Aston

Mike is the Leader of Birmingham City Council & Chairman of Birmingham Science Park Aston.  Born and educated in Birmingham, Cllr. Mike Whitby was elected Leader of Birmingham City Council in June 2004. Birmingham City Council is one of the largest local authorities in Europe – with a turnover of £3.5bn, serving an urban population of over a million.  Birmingham, a Global City with a Local Heart, has a proud history of innovation and change. Once the beating heart of a global industrial revolution, in recent years it has enjoyed a transformation – and a new reputation for regeneration, business, quality of life, and visitor and cultural attractions.

KEYNOTE – Google Games: Chrome & more

Ilmari Heikkinen,
Chrome Developer Programs Engineer, Google UK

Ilmari is a Chrome Developer Programs Engineer at Google UK, with a focus on the web graphics stack. I’m an invited expert on the Khronos WebGL working group and have written a couple Canvas-based graphics libraries. My most recent published work (from before joining Google) are the 2D game Runfield and an augmented reality demo, both made for Mozilla’s Web O’(pen) Wonder. Before that, a friend and I tried to build a web startup in OCaml. Which was interesting. I have a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Helsinki.

KEYNOTE – The Future Gaming Landscape

Philip Oliver,
Chief Executive Officer,
Blitz Games Studios

Philip co-founded Blitz Games Studios in 1990 with his twin brother Andrew Oliver following nearly ten years of creating many number 1 UK games, including the hugely popular Dizzy series. Philip is responsible for the company’s overall management and direction he also ensures, along with his brother, that the company maintains its ongoing reputation for producing high quality games for a global market. Philip is one of the founders of TIGA and has served as an active board member since its inception in 2001; he has also recently been appointed an RSA Fellow and in 2008 received an Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) from Coventry University in recognition of his leading contribution to the growth of the electronic games industry both regionally and internationally.

 PANEL DISCUSSION / Q&A – Technology, Platforms

Chaired by Jim Horth,
Specialist Producer,
Rare Ltd, Microsoft Game Studios

Chris Southall,
Chief Technical Officer,
SEGA Europe
                                                                                   

Chris Southall, is SEGA Europe’s Chief Technical Officer, a 16 year industry veteran who has worked on titles such as Colin McRae’s Rally and the Total War™ series.  Prior to joining SEGA, Chris was Chief Technical Officer for Codemasters.

Alex McLean,
Studio Head,
Codemasters Birmingham

Co-Founder of three development studios. Previously lead programmer of six multi-platform titles including three all-formats UK number 1s. Contributing author for the first two volumes of AI Game Programming Wisdom.

   GAMING ENTREPRENEUR SHOWCASES
   Find out the true story, warts and all!

Chaired by Simon Jenner,
Head of Business Incubation,
Birmingham Science Park Aston

 a) Entrepreneur Showcase (10 minutes)

Charlie Horn, Creative Director,
OOP Games Studio & 2010 Digital Entrepreneur Award Winner.

 b) Entrepreneur Showcase (10 minutes)

John Tearle, Founder, Undrawn Reality

 c) Entrepreneur Showcase (10 minutes)

Kevin Corti, CEO & Development Director, Soshi Games

 d) Entrepreneur Showcase (10 minutes)

Dr Gavin Rummery, Chief Technical Officer, Legendary Games

 e) Entrepreneur Showcase (10 minutes)

Jason Slater, Technologist and Founder, Micromicon Media Ltd

 f) Q&A

Experiences of starting & growing a gaming/tech businesses. Killer idea..? Look for the opportunity, big risks, High growth, New audiences, Change in behaviour, Disruptive technology, Unclear business models, Execution is critical, People, people, people, 2-4 founders (tech, biz, art, design), social gaming, co-creation with users.

AWARDS 
Presented by Ian Livingstone, OBE, Life President, Eidos

He’s won a BAFTA, been awarded an OBE, and brought the world Lara Croft. Birmingham Science Park Aston are proud to welcome one of the founding fathers of interactive entertainment – Ian Livingstone, Life President, Eidos to present the LAUNCH awards.

Ian is one of the most respected figures in the industry: he co-founded Games Workshop, nurtured major franchises including Tomb Raider, has invested in numerous successful new independent studios, and is a key advisor to the Government on games-relevant issues such as finance and education.  Ian co-founded Games Workshop, launched Dungeons & Dragons in Europe and has sold over 16 million copies of his Fighting Fantasy series of books which have been translated into 25 languages.  Most recently, he has co-authored the NextGen report, looking at how the UK can be transformed into the world’s leading talent hub for the video games and visual effects industries.

Award 1 – LAUNCH: Digital Entrepreneur Award 2011

Award 2 – LAUNCH: New Startup Award 2011

Award 3 – LAUNCH: Conference Award 2011

- VIP ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION & MASTERCLASS SESSION
- NETWORKING EXHIBITION
- MEET EARLY STAGE GAMING ENTREPRENEURS
- VISIT BIRMINGHAM’S GAMING INCUBATOR
- DISCOVER ENTREPRENEURS FOR THE FUTURE (e4f)
- KINECT SPORTS SEASON TWO DEMONSTRATION ZONE
- LEARN HOW TO GET 6 MONTHS FREE SUPPORT & OFFICE SPACE FOR TECHNOLOGY BUSINESSES

Session chaired by
Cliff Dennett,
Director,
SOSHI GAMES 

KEYNOTE – The Publishing Journey

Stewart Bell, CEO of multiformat publisher, Ant Games Ltd

WHAT ARE UK PUBLISHERS LOOKING FOR?
WHAT IS THE FUTURE FOR BRITISH PUBLISHERS INDUSTRY?

Stewart is an industry stalwart and the CEO of Ant Games Ltd, an independent multiformat game publisher.  Stewart is the former UK managing director of the incredibly successful publisher, MicroProse Europe. Ant Games has already made gamers excited about their projects with the reveal of MMO Fallen Earth and JW Stealey’s Warbirds: Dogfights. Ant Games have a wide ranging line up of exciting products which are sold through distribution partners across Europe.

KEYNOTE – Why Games? Is digital important in the future to creating a studio?

Mills™,
Chief WONKA™
ustwo

mills™ co-founded ustwo™ back in 2004. Since then, ustwo™ has grown from a two-man start up to an 90 strong team of young, talented designers and developers. mills™ is very much the ustwo™ mascot and lives and breathes mobile as ‘The Willy Wonka of the app industry’. As the self proclaimed ‘King of Failure’ and the ‘Mobile Pied Piper’, mills™ has created apps which have sold globally in their hundreds. He openly talks about the ups and downs of running a cash positive, non-venture funded, idea generating Mothership.

  Q&A with panel of guest speakers
- Stewart Bell, CEO of multiformat publisher, Ant Games Ltd
- Mills™, Chief WONKA™ ustwo

  PANEL DISCUSSION Why a career in games? Why start a games business? 

Chaired by Dr Sarah Slater, Director of the Institute of Gaming and Animation/IT Futures: University of Wolverhampton

Guy Wilday, Games Consultant
Formerly Studio Director at SEGA Racing Studio (Sega Rally) as well as Head of Studio at Codemasters (Colin McRae Rally).

Nick Burton, Incubation Director,
Microsoft Game Studios,
Rare Studio

Trevor Williams,
Chief Operating Officer,
Playground Games

Session chaired by Sarah Darch,
Investment Manager,
Business Birmingham

  DEVELOPING GAMES BUSINESSES

FINANCE – Finance for Technology Businesses (10 minutes)

Paul Heaven, Managing Director,
Blue Sky Corporate Finance

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN THE DIGITAL AGE  (10 minutes)

Pam Bryer, Associate
Marks & Clerk
Protecting your technology Business through to strengthening your brand

  KEYNOTE – TECHNOLOGY & BUSINESS

Mike Gamble,
European Territory Manager,
Epic Games

Mike Gamble is a trusted industry vet dedicated to helping developers achieve success with Epic Games’ Unreal Engine technology.  An experienced industry exec, Mike became Epic’s first European territory manager in February 2011.  Previously, Mike was Crytek’s engine business licensing director, and before that, Mike drove adoption of Freedom technology as vice president of third party relations at In2Games.