2012 Game::Business::Law Summit |
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 John Adler |
John Adler joined Silver Creek Ventures as a General Partner in 2007. His areas of expertise include data and voice communications, semiconductors, and wireless applications. He has also served as a board member of the Texas Venture Capital Association and SMU MBA Venture Fund since their inception. Prior to joining Silver Creek, Mr. Adler served as a Partner with InterWest, a leading diversified venture capital firm in information technology and life sciences. Prior to InterWest Partners, Mr. Adler developed 17 years of operating experience in product management and engineering from Rockwell International, Alcatel, Monterey Networks and Cisco Systems. Mr. Adler received a BS in Electrical Engineering and an MBA from Southern Methodist University and has authored or co-authored six U.S. patents. [TOP] |
 Jason Asbahr |
Jason Asbahr is an entrepreneur, inventor, and artist. He is the founder of Monstrous Company, monstro.us. At Monstrous he leads teams developing immersive entertainment for iPhone, Wii, Facebook, and other new media platforms. Previously, Jason co-founded Roxor Games, where he led the development of open-source based arcade systems, created the first music game published by RedOctane, and managed remote product manufacturing in Korea and China. Since the early 90s, Jason has developed video games, realtime 3D graphics, and virtual world software. He invented one of the first PC-based virtual actor systems for Compaq. At Origin Systems he developed simulation infrastructure for Ultima Online 2. In addition, Jason developed a Python-based scripting system for the Sony Playstation 2 and Nintendo Gamecube for Kalisto USA. Jason has also consulted on the development of toys—a handheld music game and a RFID-based game—as well as orchestrated live events for alternate reality games for nDreams and Sony. Jason attended Mediamatic and the University of Houston. [TOP] |
 M. David Burton |
David Burton concentrates his practice in the areas of general corporate and securities laws matters, principally for privately held, emerging technology companies. He has a broad based corporate and securities law experience, including corporate and partnership planning, mergers and acquisitions, and public and private securities transactions. He has represented numerous emerging technology companies, and investors in such companies, in seed capital and venture capital transactions as well as initial public offerings. David has been recognized by Chambers USA 2010-2011 as one of the leading practitioners in the United States for Technology: Corporate & Commercial law in Texas. He holds a JD from SMU Dedman School of Law, an MBA from SMU, and a BBA from the University of Texas at Austin. [TOP] |
 Bryan Daley |
Bryan Daley has been working with BOKU since 2009 and oversees all manner of legal issues for the company. Prior to joining BOKU, Bryan served as a Law Clerk for the United States Coast Guard and the Austin Law Group, a boutique entertainment law firm in San Francisco. Before attending the USF School of Law, Bryan pursued a double major in Film and Electronic Media as well as Psychology at CSU Long Beach. [TOP] |
 Sean Denton |
Sean Denton is the CTO (Chief Technology Officer) of Cxion, Inc. Sean leads the Cxion development team and is a lead visioneer for the company who helps come up with cutting-edge social gaming tools. Additionally, he has created marketing widgets for sharing on many websites and social networks. Sean has extensive experience developing for Facebook and other social networks. Previously he worked at Libredigital, where he was a Senior Development Engineer and helped design, architect and develop an HTML5 reader for eBooks that is available at Starbucks nationwide. He has over five years of experience creating social network applications. [TOP] |
 Evan E. Fitzmaurice |
Evan Fitzmaurice is Director of the Texas Film Commission, which supports Texas' growing and diverse media industries and helps to increase Texas' competitive position worldwide as a production destination. Before joining the Commission, Mr. Fitzmaurice practiced law in Los Angeles at the entertainment law firm of Jackoway Tyerman Wertheimer Austen Mandelbaum Morris and Klein P.C. While representing the firm's writer, director, actor and producer clients, Fitzmaurice focused on film, television, and digital production company financings and related transactions. Fitzmaurice practiced transactional law with the international firm of K&L Gates LLP in Los Angeles and Dallas, and in the Dallas office of Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell LLP. He is a member of the State bars of Texas and California, and a past member of the Beverly Hills and Dallas Bar associations. Fitzmaurice has his own stake in the film business. He co-produced the 2007 documentary, A Lawyer Walks Into a Bar, which was named Best Texas Feature at the 2007 AFI Dallas International Film Festival. A Dallas native, Fitzmaurice holds a law degree from the University of Texas School of Law and a bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at Austin. [TOP] |
 Christian Genetski |
Christian Genetski has served as a founding partner at Zwillinger Genetski LLP and a partner at Sonnenschein, where he has defended many prominent entertainment software clients on issues such as government regulation and third-party infringement. Other past clients include social networking sites, internet portals, ISPs, and satellite and cable television providers. Genetski has also worked as a federal prosecutor in the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and served as the vice-chair of Sonneschein's Internet, Data Protection, and Communications Practice Group. [TOP] |
 Richard Hilleman |
Richard Hilleman is a veteran of the video game industry who has touched nearly every category and job in the business during his career. From writing copy protection utilities to soldering cables, from designing and building hundreds of Racetracks, to settling labor actions on movie sets, he has tried nearly everything. Probably best known for his early design and production work on the EA Sports staples, including John Madden Football, Tiger Woods Golf and NHL Hockey, Richard made 20 fantasy role-playing, military, and action games. [TOP] |
 Matt Himelfarb |
Matt Himelfarb is an entrepreneurial JD/MBA with a strong professional background in all financial and legal aspects of private equity transactions and management. Formerly a Senior Associate with Trailblazer Capital, he was responsible for analyzing the firm's deal flow as well as managing the due diligence for every one of the fund's investments and bridge funding transactions. Most recently, he handled the financial and legal due diligence process for the sale of Spawn Labs to GameStop. Matt is a member of the State Bar of Texas, a former President and current Board Member of DFW TeXchange and a frequent contributor to the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship ("NFTE"). Matt received both a JD and an MBA from Southern Methodist University with a concentration in Finance. While in graduate school, Matt founded a digital music company where he was successful in both raising capital for his company and attracting local talent. He received his BA in Political Science from Colgate University. [TOP] |
 Zack Karlsson |
Zack Karlsson brings over a decade of professional commitment and dedication to the video games industry to his position. Currently the Vice President of Business Development & Digital Platforms at Capcom, Zack oversees the digital, mobile & social games businesses and portfolios as well as business development activities for this leading interactive entertainment software publisher. Previously, he was the Vice President of Business Development at Tim Schafer's award-winning development studio, Double Fine Productions, where he was responsible for all non-production related activities including Finance, Marketing, Business Development, HR, & Operations. Prior to Double Fine, Zack held the position of Senior Director of Business Development at NAMCO BANDAI Games America, Inc., where he was integral to the project acquisition and day-to-day operation of the company. An avid supporter of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences and its mission to recognize excellence in the interactive arts, Zack served on the industry organization's Board of Directors for nearly 4 years from 2008 through 2011. Early in his career, Mr. Karlsson held various positions throughout the industry, primarily in the MMO space including working on Vanguard, EverQuest, Planetside, and Star Wars Galaxies. In addition to his professional commitment to the video games industry, Zack is an avid gamer. He travels more often than he would like, and spends every free moment he can riding his motorcycle and blowing bubbles underwater in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. [TOP] |
 Carolyn Hoecker Luedtke |
Carolyn Hoecker Luedtke is a partner in the San Francisco office of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP who acts as an advisor to a variety of social gaming companies, advising them on complicated intellectual property and employee mobility issues. Her practice focuses on complex business litigation with a particular emphasis in intellectual property, breach of contract, trade secret and employee mobility disputes. Ms. Luedtke has defined herself as a leading authority in the rapidly growing and complex online social gaming industry. Since the social gaming industry emerged in 2009, Luedtke has served as lead counsel in nearly every high profile litigation involving this new industry. She represented Playdom in a hotly contested dispute with Zynga over the departure of eleven Zynga employees for Playdom. She also represented Green Patch in a source code copyright litigation dispute against Zynga that settled on the eve of trial. And most recently, she represented Vostu, the largest social gaming company in South American, in copyright litigation in the United States and Brazil in which Vostu was accused of copying Zynga's most popular games. In addition to her litigation expertise, Ms. Luedtke counsels numerous social gaming companies in intellectual property, employment, and contractual matters. Because these social gaming disputes are so fact-intensive and can turn on the court's understanding of what is truly unique in the social gaming space, Luedtke's depth of experience in, and knowledge about, how social games operate and the history and evolution of social gaming features and mechanics makes her uniquely suited for this field. Ms. Luedtke holds a JD, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School. Her undergraduate degree is from Princeton University, also magna cum laude, in History and American Studies. [TOP] |
 Pietro Macchiarella |
Pietro Macchiarella joined Parks Associates following an international career in the wireless industry. He has worked in management-level positions throughout Europe and the U.S. In his role as a research analyst, Pietro covers home entertainment media with specific focus on video gaming, digital music, 3DTV, and connected CE devices. Pietro's research interests also include global residential energy management, with a particular focus on international deployments. He earned his degree in business administration from Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi in Milan, Italy. He also has an MBA from Iona College in New Rochelle, NY. [TOP] |
 Hall T. Martin |
Hall T. Martin is Director of the Texas Enterpreneur Network, which seeks to foster the entrepreneurial community through networking and mentoring, and startup stories. Formerly he was the Executive Director of the Austin Entrepreneur Network and the Wilco Angel Network based in Austin, Texas, providing funding for startup and early stage companies in a broad range of areas. He serves on the board of several startups. Hall T. Martin worked at National Instruments for 23 years in various positions, including Product Strategy, in which he developed the Lead User process. Prior to that he was the Corporate Development Director – Emerging Technologies, in which he focused on research into new technologies. His earlier roles included Market Development Director, International Marketing Manager, and European Sales Manager. He joined the company in 1986 as an Applications Engineer. He holds an M.B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin and a BA. in computer science from Baylor University. He is a member of Upsilon Phi Epsilon, the Computer Science Honor Society. [TOP] |
 Chris Mayer |
Chris Mayer is the founder of the independent Austin-based game studio Night Owl Games and is responsible for the development and launch of "Dungeon Overlord." Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, Chris spent a decade developing and publishing MMOs. This includes lead engineering roles on "Ultima Online" at EA: Austin and "Star Wars Galaxies" at Sony Online Entertainment. He served as CTO and VP of Product Development at NCsoft Corporation North America , helping to fund and publish numerous MMO titles as well as setting up an infrastructure designed to assist development teams with common MMO technical requirements. Prior to entering the game industry in 1998, Mr. Mayer worked as a software engineer at National Instruments after graduating from Rice University. Chris currently lives in Austin, TX with his wife, children, and overly energetic dog. When he is not playing with his kids, he is online, playing PC games, or taking a beating, playing amateur hockey at the local rink. [TOP] |
 Marco Mereu |
Marco Mereu serves as Vice President of Business Development and General Counsel to Regan Mercantile, an independent developer and publisher of online games, including both Facebook and direct browser-based, massively multiplayer online (MMO) games. Regan Mercantile is the independent developer and publisher of Evony Age 1 and Evony Age II, both leading browser-based strategy MMOs with a focus on the Free-to-Play (F2P) virtual goods monetization model. Since launching in 2009, the Evony franchises collectively are played by over 20 million players in over 165 countries around the world. Marco manages game and platform business development, including identification of new monetization strategies, player analytics, establishing payment gateways, and introducing new mechanisms and promotions for the sale of in-game virtual goods. He develops brand recognition for new and existing intellectual properties and works with international partners and development teams located in the United States, China, and Europe on digital distribution and licensing of games regionally around the world. In addition, Marco also provides legal counsel to the company in all areas, including intellectual property development, corporate governance, licensing and contracts, litigation, and employment-related matters. [TOP] |
 Mark Methenitis |
Mark Methenitis is a transactional attorney with MetroPCS Wireless (NYSE:PCS), in Richardson, TX. Prior to joining MetroPCS in 2011, Mr. Methenitis focused on the technology sector as an outside counsel, where he assisted with traditional business, intellectual property, and contractual issues as well as cutting-edge legal issues in emerging technology in the software and video games industries. He also advised clients on cross-border international and domestic United States transactions, including issues in franchising, licensing and distribution, international trade, indirect taxation, and "deemed exports." Mr. Methenitis is a well known speaker and writer, and his Law of the Game blog has been named one of the American Bar Association's Top 100 Legal Blogs. He has been published in the Journal of Visual Culture and the Gaming Law Review. Mr. Methenitis is also the President of the Board of Directors of the Dallas chapter of the International Game Developers Association and the Chair of the American Bar Association Science and Technology Section Virtual Worlds and Multi-User Online Games Committee. [TOP] |
 Xuan-Thao Nguyen |
Professor Xuan-Thao Nguyen teaches Secured Transactions, Payment Systems, The Internet/Law of Electronic Commerce, Intellectual Property and International Intellectual Property at SMU Dedman School of Law. She focuses on the interdisciplinary of intellectual property, the Internet, commercial law and taxation in her teaching and scholarship. She has co-authored a treatise on IP and Information Licensing Law, and casebooks on IP and Information Licensing, IP Taxation, and IP Taxation Problems and Materials. She organizes and chairs the SMU Annual Symposium on Emerging Intellectual Property Issues. Professor Nguyen is the author of numerous articles for law journals and is a frequent speaker at national and international conferences. She also serves as expert witness in litigation matters. She was the first American law professor to lecture at the Vietnam National University Faculty of Law in Hanoi. She provides technical expertise to the Vietnamese government, law schools, and bar associations. Prior to entering academia, she practiced law at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson (New York City) and Pryor, Cashman, Sherman & Flynn (New York City). Professor Nguyen holds a JD from Northeastern University School of Law and a BA from Oberlin College. [TOP] |
 Steve Nix |
Steve Nix leads the strategic development and execution of GameStop's rapidly growing multichannel PC digital distribution business. Steve has more than 10 years of experience identifying, developing and bringing digital initiatives to market while. He most recently served as Director of Digital Platforms at id Software LLC where he managed digital distribution for some of the biggest brands in gaming including DOOM, QUAKE, Wolfenstein and RAGE. Prior to that, Steve served as CEO of independent game developer, Ritual Entertainment, an early adopter of PC digital distribution. Before entering the video game development industry, Steve was a portfolio manager focused on quantitative trading at Smith Breeden Associates and then CFO at AnywhereYouGo.com. Steve graduated summa cum laude from Texas Tech University with a BBA in Finance and then continued his education earning an MBA from SMU where he was an Armentrout Scholar. Steve helped found The Guildhall at SMU, the premier video game development program in the U.S. and currently serves on its advisory board. He is also active in e-mentoring for the Dallas Independent School District. [TOP] |
 Joseph Olin |
Joseph Olin programmed his first game, having taught himself BASIC while working as a copywriter on the Coca-Cola account in the 80's. Since then, Olin has been involved with more than 100 titles and interactive products on nearly every consumer game platform. He's been fortunate to serve many different development roles on both the production side and publishing side of the business. Joseph is currently the COO for Credible Research Corporation and FullTime Interactive, LLC game start-ups and was recently appointed to be the Executive Director for the International Digital Media & Arts Association – a professional trade group to foster interaction between the commercial and academic worlds. Prior to joining the Credible team, Olin was President of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences – the games industry's largest association of accredited professionals - where he championed the $21 billion video game industry by raising awareness of the talented workforce responsible for interactive experiences. Olin grew Academy membership more than six-fold from 3,000 to 20,000 and directed the annual D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit, the Interactive Achievements Awards® and the Into the Pixel™ video game art exhibit. As a precursor to the Academy, Olin spearheaded the introduction of gaming's most famous heroine, Lara Croft, with the launch of the blockbuster Tomb Raider franchise as vice president of marketing and business development for EIDOS Interactive. Olin also served as senior partner and group account director at Ogilvy & Mather where he launched Mattel's Generation Girl Teen Dolls product and the first Barbie brand advertising campaign. Earlier in his career, Olin held senior level positions in game publishing, advertising, sales, and marketing. At Elliot Portwood Studios, Olin co-created Leonardo's Multimedia Toolbox, an educational product, developed with Gene Portwood and Lauren Elliott (creators of Carmen Sandiego). His background also includes tenure at NEC's System Labs of Japan, Della Femina McNamee, Panda Management Company and Microprose/Hasbro Interactive. Olin sits on the advisory boards of FMX at the Film-Akademie of Baden Württemberg, AnimFX NZ, International Federation of Multimedia Associations (FIAM), China Joy Game Summit and the UCLA/CRESST Games Research Center and speaks at a number of digital conferences annually. Olin earned a BS in Business Administration from the University of Southern California and has been on its adjunct faculty since 2010. [TOP] |
 Jeff Patrick Pellegrin |
Jeff Pellegrin started off in the industry at the age of ten when he was included in Nintendo's Power Magazine issued in August 1992. Since then, his passion and deep desire for making games has lead to him becoming a developer, producer, business development manager, and, finally, economic developer. As a producer, Jeff coordinated the development of a full MMOG, Massively Multiplayer Online Game, and released schedules across department teams of a mid-sized studio. He worked closely with designing, concept, and writing teams. During which time, Jeff's expertise in business development included coordinating and conducting development dealings with middleware solutions, payment process, outsourcing firms, etc. After working as a producer, Jeff worked closely with Louisiana's economic organizations, including Louisiana Economic Development (LED), Baton Rouge Area Digital Industries Consortium (BRADIC), and Baton Rouge Area Chambers (BRAC), to promote industry space for Louisiana and Baton Rouge. Jeff is helping spearhead IGDA in Louisiana, and Jeff is executive director of LDGI. Jeff was born and raised in Houma, Louisiana. He obtained his graduate degree from the business college at Louisiana State University and his MBA from the University of New Orleans. Jeff also has a SCRUM Management Master Certification in video game production. [TOP] |
 Ted Price |
Ted Price is the President and CEO of Insomniac Games, Inc., an independent game studio, which he founded in 1994, headquartered in Burbank, California, with an office in Durham, North Carolina. Insomniac's first game was Disruptor, a critically acclaimed first-person shooter released for PlayStation in 1996. The company went on to create Rachet & Clank for PlayStation 2 and 3. Going back to its first person shooter roots, Insomniac also created Resistance: Fall of Man and its sequel Resistance 2, two of Insomniac's most successful games. Ted is a board member and former chairman of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences and has been active and outspoken in defense of the videogame industry's right to freedom of expression in state-level court cases since 2005. More recently, he assisted in industry efforts during the U.S. Supreme Court's hearing of Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association. Ted attended St. Christopher's School in Richmond, Virginia, and holds a degree in English from Princeton University. He is married and has four children. [TOP] |
 Peter E. Raad |
Dr. Peter E. Raad is the founding executive director of The Guildhall at SMU, a novel industry/university collaborative graduate educational program designed to educate and train future practitioners and innovators in the fast-growing field of digital game development. Dr. Raad also holds the Linda Wertheimer Hart Professorship, and is the founding director of the Linda and Mitch Hart eCenter at SMU, a university-wide center established in 2000 to stimulate, facilitate, and support innovative multi-disciplinary activities that enable the creative and responsible development and use of interactive network technologies. In 2002, The Guildhall at SMU was incubated as a program out of the Hart eCenter, and since the school’s opening in July 2003, the program has graduated over 400 alumni who have worked at more than 140 video game studios around the world. Prior to becoming the founding director of the Hart eCenter and Executive Director of the Guildhall, Dr. Raad served as the Associate Dean of the SMU School of Engineering, in charge of all academic affairs, research and graduate studies, and computer operations. Between 1990 through 1993, he held the first J. Lindsay Embrey Trustee Professorship in Engineering, an endowed chair for an outstanding junior faculty member. Dr. Raad has published over 50 articles and over 100 conference papers. He holds US and international patents in thermal metrology and computational characterization of multi-scale integrated circuits. He has received over $2.5M in funding from government and industry in support of his extensive research in tsunami mitigation and solid-fluid wave interactions, as well as his founding in 1995 of an industry-university collaborative laboratory dedicated to the computational modeling and laser-based measurement of submicron electronic devices. Dr. Raad’s research interests include the application of interactive media in education, with an emphasis on simulation-based decision making in multi-disciplinary complex systems. He received a BSME, MS, and PhD in mechanical engineering from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. In 1986, he joined the mechanical engineering department at SMU as an Assistant Professor and is currently a Full Professor. [TOP] |
 W. Keith Robinson |
Professor W. Keith Robinson teaches and writes in the areas of property, intellectual property, patent law, and law and technology. His current research focuses on analyzing the challenges small firms face in obtaining patent rights via the current U.S. Patent system. He has written or lectured on patent lawsuit avoidance, the patenting of business methods, joint infringement, and the USPTO's examination guidelines. Before joining SMU, Professor Robinson was an adjunct professor at George Washington University Law School. Professor Robinson practiced law in Washington, DC, at Foley and Lardner LLP as a member of the electronics practice group. Prior to practicing law, Professor Robinson was a technology consultant for Ernst & Young LLP and Cap Gemini Ernst & Young LLC. He counseled clients on software development processes, developed customized software solutions and designed and implemented client/server security architectures. Professor Robinson holds a JD, cum laude, from the Duke University Law School, as well as a BS in Electrical Engineering from the Duke University Pratt School of Engineering. [TOP] |
 Adam Sessler |
Adam Sessler is a respected veteran of the gaming industry and the Editor-In-Chief of Games Content for the G4 Network, as well as the talented Host of G4's "X-Play," the most watched videogame series on television. Each night, Adam delivers in-depth reviews, exclusive sneak peeks, breaking news and compelling interviews with the biggest names in the videogame industry. A knowledgeable and high-energy host, Adam excels at making sense of videogame-related issues for the non-gaming public. Adam has been in front of the camera as a host of video game television shows and been a video game journalist for over ten years. Known for his outspoken and articulate views on videogames and the industry as a whole, Adam's opinion is valued by both game companies and game players. He was named one of the top 50 games journalists by Next Generation Magazine in 2006 and regularly lends his expertise to CNN, MSNBC, AP, KROQ, ABC Radio and a broad range of videogame media across all platforms. In addition to his on-air presence, Sessler also hosts "Sessler's Soapbox," a weekly, script-less web series, where he tackles the latest and some of the most controversial issues in the industry, as well as being the moderator for "Feedback," a weekly roundtable show on gaming. Both shows are available on g4tv.com. Adam is originally from Berkeley, California and currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife. [TOP] |
 Mike Smith |
Cxion Inc. President and Co-founder W. Michael Smith, a published author who has immersed himself in the high-tech world, is an expert in the field of social gaming. Smith, an avid social gamer, helped organize the original group of players who created Cxion's first game Connexion. Smith works closely with shareholders but also has a direct hand in producing games, marketing and helping to manage the Connexion community of players. Before becoming a high tech executive, Smith worked as a journalist with outfits such as CBS News, CBS 60 Minutes 2, BBC, PBS Frontline, ARD Germany,and the Fort Worth Star Telegram. He has also worked closely with writer Molly Ivins, writer Gail Sheehy, and staffers from the New York Times. [TOP] |
 David Stelzer, Head – Game Department |
David Stelzer is the head of the Games department at Creative Artists Agency (CAA), an entertainment and sports agency based in Los Angeles with offices in New York, London, Nashville, and Beijing. Stelzer works in the Los Angeles office and represents many of the world's most respected and successful game creators and development studios, including Respawn Entertainment, Will Wright, and Insomniac Games. Stelzer began his career as Director of Business Affairs for House of Blues Entertainment, and went on to become the General Counsel for Sega and Southpeak Games. He joined CAA in 2010. Stelzer holds a JD from Western State University in Fullerton, California. His undergraduate degree is in Radio, Television, and Film from California State University, Northridge. [TOP] |
 Patrick Sweeney, Head – Interactive/Video Game Practice Group |
Patrick Sweeney is one of the leading attorneys in the games industry, having served both as in-house and external counsel to a variety of video game companies in his career. He represents various publishers, independent developers, IP owners and technology/middleware providers. In his 12+ years in the games industry, Patrick has negotiated an array of game development agreements, resulting in the commercial release of more than 250 game titles across all distribution platforms and territories. In addition, he has represented clients with respect to game rights for more than 50 major licenses, including motion pictures, television, comic book, music, and dance/fitness properties, as well as negotiated various technology licenses and other supplemental agreements inherent to the games industry. Patrick has written or been featured in various articles on video-game-related topics for publications such as The Daily Journal and Game Developer Magazine. In addition, Patrick is a frequent speaker on video game panels and seminars on behalf of organizations such as: Law Seminars International, International Game Developers Association, American Bar Association, Beverly Hills Bar Association, and the Association of Media & Entertainment Counsel. He is also an adjunct professor at Southwestern Law School, where he teaches "Video Game Agreements." Patrick is also a founding member and co-President of the Video Game Bar Association. [TOP] |
 Sean Thordsen |
Sean Thordsen is an attorney in the Thordsen Law Offices in Orange County, California where he began his legal career in 2007. He is licensed in both California and Nevada State and Federal courts. He is the firm's specialist for Copyright and Trademark law in addition to practicing in other areas such as contract law, employment law, mortgage/real estate law and wills and trusts. Mr. Thordsen focuses largely on copyright and trademark law where he assists smaller developers and film makers with their copyrights and licensing. His larger interest and focus is on the video game industry; he regularly attends conferences and seminars concerning legal matters affecting the video game and related entertainment industries in order to keep current on legal and industry news affecting the video game industry. His passion for the copyright and trademark law as it relates to the video game industry is such that he keeps up with both case law and news articles related thereto. Mr. Thordsen's experience includes: drafting employment contracts for businesses and corporations for both its independent contractors and W-2 employees, reviewing and drafting licensing agreements for writers and video game developers, defending copyright infringement claims, drafting employment and licensing agreements for motion pictures, and researching and following market trends in the video game industry. [TOP] |
 Scott Ticer, Principal |
Scott Ticer is an active angel investor and startup executive who founded and serves as Principal of Princeton Avenue Partners. He is a seasoned communications and digital media executive with extensive new business creation, development and operations expertise. He has served in key roles at Dow Jones, Computer Sciences, BellSouth, McGraw Hill, and as an entrepreneur at successful upstarts VentureWire and Covad, and airBand Communications, where he was a co-founder. He also co-founded and operates a small wireless ISP in Dallas called Tieless Communications. Ticer advises startups and provides management consulting services out of Dallas, Texas. He co-founded a new, non-profit angel capital association called Lone Star Angels to connect investors with startup opportunities in North Texas. He has extensive experience in helping create and grow new businesses, having raised nearly $300 million in capital for privately-held companies since 1998. Prior to relocating to Dallas, Ticer was vice president of business development for VentureWire, an information service of Dow Jones & Co., Inc. He led the sale of Technologic Partners to Dow Jones, and has more than 25 years experience in the communications and information services industries. Prior to VentureWire, Mr. Ticer was one of four co-founders of airBand Communications Inc., a Sevin Rosen-backed startup in Dallas providing wireless internet access, serving as vice president of business development and network operations. Before airBand, he was the founding business development executive at Covad Communications, crafting key partnerships with AT&T, Qwest and Concentric Networks, helping pave the way for Covad's IPO. Prior to Covad, Mr. Ticer served as a principal at Computer Sciences Corp.'s management consultant unit, and oversaw alliances, partnerships and product development at BellSouth Wireless. He began his career as a reporter and editor after graduating from the University of Texas at Austin's Plan II honors program, working for Times Mirror, Tribune Co. and McGraw Hill's BusinessWeek magazine. [TOP] |
