LAUNCH: Games & Digital Meetup

Come along for an informal games social and network with fellow games and digital businesses. The last meetup saw Dr Jo Twist of UK Interactive Entertainment Association (UKIE) and Karl Hilton, Managing Director from Crytek UK give updates on emerging trends for the industry and insights into future developments.  Plus finishing off with networking and pizza! Check out the photos.

For the 20th June 2012 games meetup we are delighted to welcome Caroline Norbury, CEO of Creative England and Suresh Sudera, Head of Games, Vodafone Group.

Caroline Norbury, CEO, Creative England
Caroline Norbury is Chief Executive of Creative England. She was previously Chief Executive of South West Screen from 2001 – 2011. Caroline has extensive experience of the media industry as a producer, director and commissioning executive. Prior to establishing South West Screen she ran First Take Films, an agency dedicated to developing new talent and new voices.  Caroline is a member of BAFTA.  She studied for her first degree in Government at the University of Essex and has an MA in Cultural Leadership from City University, London.

Caroline Norbury, CEO, Creative England commented, “Birmingham is a great city with a real opportunity for growth of the digital and technology sector. I am delighted to be attending this event and share what Creative England are doing to support the Games, Digital and Creative Services sectors. At the end of last year, Birmingham Science Park Aston announced during a visit by the Prime Minister, David Cameron, the 50th new technology business enrolled onto the Park’s Entrepreneurs for the Future programme. This is testimony of the opportunities that lie ahead for the sector”.

Suresh Sudera, Head of Games, Vodafone Group
Offering over ten years of experience in mobile, Suresh Sudera’s career has enabled him to gain invaluable and extensive experience of commercial management and technical development of terminals, networked platforms & content.  As head of games at Vodafone Group, Suresh is responsible for games on a global level, implementing and evangelising Group strategy, managing over 20 global content relationships and content for some 27 territories worldwide across the Vodafone and partner network footprint.

Back in 2002 Suresh successfully launched Vodafone UK’s Java games download service and later worked as business development manager for Vodafone Group where he was involved in the company’s worldwide 3G launch in November 2004. More recently, he has been focussed in delivering Vodafone’s centralised android and social gaming strategies.  Suresh cut his teeth as a product manager for Psion in 1998 and moved to Purple Software in 2001 where he worked on a range of award winning PDA and Smartphone applications. His strengths include strong partner relations and effective negotiation and influencing skills, coupled with an unrivalled knowledge of the intricacies and inner workings of the mobile games industry.

SHOW & TELL plus GAMES SHOWCASE SPACE
If you are a mobile games developer and interested in presenting and taking part in the brief “Show & Tell”, please email info at launchconference.co.uk or contact Matthew Hidderley on 0121 260 6168. The pitches are a maximum of 2-5 minutes each.

		Neill Watson, CEO, 2Fold20 Play			Birmingham’s ‘Enjoy! Karaoke’ Facebook game
		Stephen Morris, Technical Director, Greenfly Studios Ltd			Have you played Ski Solitaire for iPad yet?
		Simon Prytherch, CEO, Chromativity Ltd			Mobile Gaming: “Fluid Football”
		Nick Holzherr, Co-founder, Foodient			Find out from The Apprentice 2012 (BBC) candidate’s latest venture.

WHY ATTEND:

The last meetup had over 80 registrations with companies such as these attending: Soshi Games, UKIE, Crytek UK Ltd, bluegfx, Undrawn Reality, Fuzzy Frog Ltd, Sync Interactive, Sega, University of Derby, Blitz Games Studios, Technology Strategy Board, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd, Nyamyam Ltd, Flaming Tarball, OOP!™ Games Studio Ltd, Play My Code, 3dnative, Gamer Camp, University of Wolverhampton, Staffordshire University, Codemasters and many more….

• @nyamyamgames  Had a brilliant time @launchconf Thanks for the pizza! #launchconf
• @IainAHarrison Great time at #Launchconf, lots of interesting conversations. #Gamercamp made many new friends!
• @Arndreth Awesome time at @launchconf games meetup with @JonesyVision @AdamSRussell @DanielCake and others
• @Rich_Eddy  Super @launchconf social in Brum, great to see @matthidderley, Dr Jo off of @UK_IE and @NatLG1971.
• @re7ox Great hearing Jo Twist speak passionately about supporting the games industry @launchconf beers & pizza meet.

FURTHER DETAILS

Parking:  There is a pay and display car park at the basement of Faraday Wharf located off Love Lane or a £7 token for 24 hours car parking can be purchased from Faraday reception. Please bring change!

By Train: – Come into Birmingham Moor Street (nearest station with Chiltern Railways, London to Bham from £25 rtn), or Birmingham New Street Station or Snow Hill Station. It takes about 5 mins via taxi and will cost under £10 to reach the Science Park. Or you can walk which will take about 15-20 mins (circa 1.1 Mile or 2000 steps).

Hotels: please visit the Venue Page

Events: To find out how you can get involved from speaking, exhibiting or sponsorship opportunities please call Matthew Hidderley on 0121 260 6168 or email matthewh@bsp-a.com

Further event are available on the events calender including:

- 13-14th November 2012 LAUNCH: Future Gaming & Digital Conference (check out the early bird tickets!)

Exchange and Refund Policy
In general all ticket purchases are non-refundable.  Please asks for further details.

Delegate List (as of 7/5/12):

1. Simon Prytherch, CEO, Chromativity Ltd
2. Dominic Cushnan, Director, Mixed Reality Studio Ltd
3. Neill Watson, CEO, 2Fold20 Play
4. Silvia Ferrero, Director, MediaLoc
5. Chris Steele, Co Founder, Koko Digital
6. Karl Bloor, Co Founder, Koko Digital
7. Stuart Howarth, Co Founder, Koko Digital
8. Drew Wilkins, Production Director, fish in a bottle
9. Ben Wyatt, Business Development Consultant, Mathys & Squire LLP
10. Daniel Corbett, QA Manager, Soshi Games
11. Geoff Parkes, Researcher, Aston Business School
12. Llewela Bailey, Director of Training, Prominent Media and Communications Ltd
13. Dan Holden, Student, Prominent Media and Communications Ltd
14. Steve Holden, Managing Director, Prominent Media and Communications Ltd
15. Stephen Morris, Technical Director, Greenfly Studios
16. Craig Duncan, Senior Studio Director, Rare Ltd / Microsoft Studios
17. Andrew Goff, Founder, Interactive Opportunities Ltd
18. Jim Horth, Specialist Producer, Rare Ltd, Microsoft Game Studios
19. Nia Wearn, Senior Lecturer in Computer Games Design, Staffordshire University
20. Dean Reilly, Programme Manager for Media and Games, Birmingham Metropolitan College
21. Maria Stukoff, Academic Development & Partnership Manager, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd
22. Chris Swan, Head of IndieCity, IndieCity
23. Sam Collins, Commercial Manager, UKIE
24. Kevin Corti, CEO, SoshiGames
25. Luiz Ferreira, Director, White Room Games Ltd
26. Tony Maher, Chair, Platform
27. Jim Farmery, Director of Business Development, Creative England
28. Caroline Howes, COO, Playmob
29. Sion Lenton, Studio Manager, SEGA Europe Ltd
30. David Bozward, CEO, dojit games
31. Neil Parmar, Company Director & Co-Founder, bluegfx
32. Guy Wilday, Games Consultant, Independent
33. Cliff Dennett, Commercial & Design Director, SOSHI Games
34. Jason Hall, Director of Digital Innovation, Birmingham Ormiston Academy
35. Bineet Desai, Sector International Trade Adviser – ICT & Digital, UK Trade & Investment
36. Dr David Hardman, Chief Executive Officer, Birmingham Science Park
37. Aidan Jones, NA, NA
38. Suresh Sudera, Head of Games, Vodafone Group
39. Caroline Norbury, Chief Executive, Creative England
40. Matthew Hidderley, Business Development, Birmingham Science Park
41. Kim Parker Adcock, Managing Director, OPM Response Ltd
42. Mohammed Khan, Student, Birmingham City University
43. Abdullah Awan, Student, Birmingham City University
44. Stewart Morton, Business Development Manager, Matmi New Media Ltd
45. Jeff Coghlan, MD, Matmi New Media Ltd
46. Joanna Tong, Academic Developer Evangelist, Microsoft
47. Lee Stott, Academic Evangelist, Microsoft
48. Mak Sharma, Head of School Computing, Telecommunications and N, Birmingham City University
49. Andrew Wilson, Course Director BSc Computer Games Technology, Birmingham City University
50. Philip Oliver, CEO, Blitz Games Studios
51. Natalie Griffith, Head of PR & Marketing, Blitz Games Studios
52. Albert Marshall, Legal Director, Take 2
53. Paul Meikle, International Trade Adviser, UK Trade & Investment
54. Matthew Hidderley, Birmingham Science Park Aston
55. Albert Marshall, Legal Director, Take 2
56. Caroline Norbury, CEO, Creative England
57. Paul Meikle, International Trade Adviser, UK Trade & Investment
58. Suresh Sudera, Head of Games, Vodafone Group
59. David Fullick, Co-Founder, Monster and Monster
60. Dan Griffiths, Co-Founder, Monster and Monster