GamesBeat 2016: Our updated agenda with 105 speakers

Day 2

GamesBeat 2016

Mainstage

Hey, kid, I have something for you in this back alley. ...
Hey, kid, I have something for you in this back alley. …

9:30 am to 10:30 am Expo at Palos Verdes Foyer and GamesBeat Expo

10:30 am to 10:35 am

Welcome address by Bryan Pray, emcee

10:35 am to 10:45 am

GamesBeat welcome by Dean Takahashi, lead writer for GamesBeat

10:45 am to 11:05 am

An analyst’s view of gaming’s future. Keynote by Michael Pachter, managing director at Wedbush Securities

11:05 am to 11:35 am

Crafting the perfect game platform. Panelists: Zvi Greenstein, general manager of GeForce at Nvidia; Sinjin Bain, CEO at MaxPlay; Hao Chen, senior software engineer at Amazon. Moderator: Kate Edwards, executive director at the International Game Developers Association.

11:35 am to 11:55 am

How marketing can open up creative and game design possibilities. Fireside chat between Lee Jones, head of global app advertising at Google and Matt Marshall, founder of VentureBeat.

11:55 am to 12:15 pm

Why Warner sees games as a key business pillar. Fireside chat between Dean Takahashi and David Haddad, president of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

Picnic lunch and expo 12:15 pm to 1:30 pm

Breakout sessions

1:30 pm to 2 pm

Catering to gaming’s super fans. Panelists: Phil Westerland; Jeremy Kenyon; Jeff “SuiJeneris” Chau. Moderator: Maarten Noyons, CEO of the International Mobile Gaming Awards. Palos Verdes 6

1:30 pm to 2 pm

How influencers are changing game marketing. Panelists: Meghan Camarena, CEO at Strawburry17; Noah Whinston, CEO of The Immortals. Moderator: Perrin Kaplan, principal at Zebra Partners. Palos Verdes 7

1:30 pm Balancing monetization and engagement. Panelists: Tammy Levy, director of mobile product at Kongregate; Greg Canessa, senior vice president at GSN Games; Chris Heatherly, senior vice president at Disney Mobile Games. Moderator: David Pokress, senior vice president at AdColony. Palos Verdes 8

Networking break 2 pm to 2:15 pm

Breakout sessions

2:15 pm to 2:45 pm

The opportunities in esports. Panelists: Niccolo Maisto CEO of FaceIt; Todd Krieger, director of emerging technology at Deep Focus; Andy Swanson, vice president of esports at Twitch. Moderator: Jeff Grubb, news writer for GamesBeat. Palos Verdes 6.

2:15 pm to 2:45 pm

How to do a publishing deal. Mark Stanley, vice president at GameStop; Walter Driver, CEO of Scopely; David Jaffe, founder of Bartlet Jones Supernatural Detective Agency. Moderator: Ophir Lupu, head of games at United Talent Agency. Palos Verdes 7.

2:15 pm to 2:45 pm

How to revitalize your IP. Panelists: Nathan Stewart, global franchise director for Dungeons & Dragons at Wizards of the Coast;; Brian Fargo, CEO of InXile Entertainment; David Reid, CEO of MetaArcade. Moderator: Jason Wilson, managing editor for GamesBeat. Palos Verdes 8.

Networking expo, outdoor lawn games. 2:45 pm to 3:30 pm

Mainstage

3:30 pm to 4 pm: Creativity: What’s diversity got to do with it? Panelists: Megan Gaiser, co-CEO of Spiral Media Ltd. and principal at Contagious Creativity; Michael Condrey, cofounder at Sledgehammer Games’ Ru Weerasuriya, creative director at Ready At Dawn Studios. Moderator: Nicole Lazzaro, CEO of Xeo Design.

4:00 pm to 4:30 pm

Riding the Pokémon Go rocket. Fireside chat between John Hanke, CEO of Niantic Labs, and Paresh Dave, reporter for the Los Angeles Times.

4:30 pm to 5 pm

Tepid, hot, or just right? The state of gaming investments. Panelists: Chris Fralic, partner at First Round Capital; Clinton Foy, managing director & general partner at CrossCut Ventures; Dan Fiden, chief strategy officer at Funplus. Moderator: Martin Rae, president, The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.

5 pm to 5:05 pm

Closing comments by Bryan Pray

5:05 pm to 6 pm Happy Hour in Expo
6 pm GamesBeat Fiesta. Palos Verdes Terrace.

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.