Just a few weeks away from getting underway, the news from the Casual Connect USAÂ camp is coming fast and furious.
From the content side, the full agenda, talks included, at Casual Connect has been announced. Headlining the agenda is a fireside chat-style keynote on content and digital media given by Michael Eisner and John Riccitiello, the former being interviewed by the latter. If you grew up familiar with the House of Mouse, you may recognize Eisner as the one-time face of Disney corporate. In fact, Eisner was the company’s CEO from 1984 to 2005.
The Tornante Company, which includes another America staple — trading card company Topps — in its portfolio, is Michael Eisner’s current enterprise. On the other side of the fireside chat will be John Riccitiello, another longtime C-suite resident at a AAA media brand. Riccitiello was the COO and president of Electronic Arts from 1997 to 2004, then CEO at the Redwood City, California-based company from 2004 to 2013. Currently he leads Unity Technologies as its CEO.
Casual Connect Content
Summing up the three day-long train of content, covering the companies represented in these diverse tracks, straight from the Casual Connect mailing:
“We believe good strategy needs good intel. Discover more of the ever-changing games industry landscape, and see through the eyes of visionaries. Industry Insights track: Wedbush Securities, Amazon, Twitch, Fnatic, ESL, Super Evil Megacorp, Theorist, Newzoo, Topps, Unity, WME, RED Games, Skybound, Pocket Gems, Universal Pictures, Facebook, Kongregate, SGN, FlowPlay, Disruptor Beam and GamesIndustry.biz.
We believe games are about exploring new worlds and learning more about our own world in the process. See how you can carve a foothold in the up and coming Kids and Family segment in the games market. Featuring market leaders from:Â Google Play, PlayScience, StoryToys, Fox & Sheep, PlayKids, TabTale, Tinybop, Thup, Fingerprint, Star Stable and TechwithKids.com/USA Today.
We believe games can bring next-gen devices into people’s lives and change the way we live. Collaborate with history makers to shape the future of gaming. Next-Gen track includes Augmented and Virtual Reality, New Tech and Haptics leaders: Dolby, Oculus, Samsung, Rovio, Google, Unity, Epic, Highland Capital, Redpoint Venture, Intel Capital, Rothenberg Ventures, Evolution Media Capital and Digi-Capital.
We believe the best ideas deserve best practices. Shore up your business know-how and learn about the legal and economic pitfalls that keep even ingenious games from reaching their potential. Business track includes Platforms Track, Funding/VC Track, Emerging and Global Markets Track. Speakers from: Pebble, TinyCo, Pollen VC, Bullpen Capital, NCSOFT WEST, Spark Capital, Lionsgate, Houlihan Lokey, London Venture Partners, NetEase Capital, IPC Ventures, Yodo1, iDreamsky, MyGamez, PikPok, Playlab, Gamiana, Playphone/GungHo, Gumi and Smilegate.
We believe it takes a pioneering spirit to traverse a tricky market. Find out what’s possible when industry leaders are your co-pilots. Experts from:Â FunPlus, Chillingo, App Annie, Spil Games, Lvl6, Pixelberry, Limbic, Big Huge Games 2.0, Spellgun/TalkWeb, ZQGames, Appsaholic, Perfect World, Reality Squared, DDM, Glu Mobile, DeNA, InMobi, Growmobile, Appodeal, Google, Supersonic, AdColony, AppsFlyer, Wooga, Storm8, Fyber, TUNE, Tapjoy, Wooga, StartApp, Playtika and VentureBeat.
We believe creativity begets creativity. Meet people whose ideas have changed the market, and get ready to make some changes of your own. Featuring: N3TWORK, Kabam, Machine Zone, TinyCo, Scopely, Rovio, Spry Fox, Carbon Games, Plarium, Fifth Column and Unravel.
We believe that everyone in the industry and the audience wins with good social casino experience. Find out how masters of the genrehave made chart-topping games that players can’t set down. Hear from: Facebook, FunBinge Social Labs, Fox Cub, GSN and Westgate Resort Las Vegas.
We believe good design is the intersection of inspiration and knowledge. Make your own breakthroughs as you meet the other developers that are driving the industry. An amazing lineup from: Design Roundtables with Juan Gril, Dave Rohrl and Steve Meretzky and lectures from Dots, Double Fine, Massive Damage, East Side Games, Mavenhut, Spinpunch, Goodgame, Funtactix, Americana, and Zeptolab.
Calculated Connections at Casual Connect
Rather than leaving networking epiphanies purely to chance or preset meetings with a set groups of folks, Casual Connect USA 2015 now joins several other conferences who have taken to offering one-on-one matchmaking with an entire pool of opted-in attendees. This new feature should certainly be a boon for folks trying to manage their hours more efficiently at a show that looks to be pretty packed with content and after-hours networking opportunities.
