Games go Social September 26, 2008

Don't miss out on the most powerful gaming revolution since the release of Pong, the iconographic videogame. After fundamentally changing the internet and the ways people communicate and interact, the entire games industry is about to be socialized. During the Picnic special 'Games go Social' on September 26 in Amsterdam this phenomena will be explored in detail. From 09.00 to 17.00 we will present you a jam-packed program of inspirational presentations and dynamic panel sessions.

Games go Social is a full day event probing the synergies between games and communities, organized in collaboration with PICNIC, the undeniably most original, pioneering and unusual get-together for creatives. The trend 'Games go social' is predicted to revolutionize the gaming industry, fusing games, communities and networks by playing against your friends, family and people you know (or don’t). Unless you’ve been stranded on a desert island without an iPhone to pass your time, you won’t have missed the phenomena of social networking. What started off as niche communities, and sub-culture, has evolved to mainstream social activities capturing all sorts of our online endeavours, from blogging, flickering and digging to instant messaging, profiling, dating and gaming. To this add the latest pass-time of the typical iSocialite, namely Community Gaming. And this is where it gets interesting. Because games fused with social communities turns traditional (console, hard-core) gaming on its head. Now reaching out to anyone out there, instantly creating critical mass, new consumers are being pulled into the game.

To explore this phenomena, from it’s roots in MMORPG’s to the latest causal games dedicated communities we have invited a selected number of creatives, visionaries and industry leaders to share their visions, ideas, case-studies and strategies. Meet luminaries from leading companies such as EA, Playfish, Spil Games, Game Entertainment Europe, Social Gaming Network (SGN), Myspace and Hyves, during a jam-packed program of inspirational presentations and dynamic panel sessions.

Check out the Program!
Games go Social will present to you speakers and panel members for a full day of intellectual stimulation and entrepreneurial inspiration.

09.00 Coffee
09.30 Opening by Frank van Oirschot, COO Ex Machina
09.40 Keynote Presentation “Games go Social” by Kristian Segerstråle, CEO Playfish
10.10 Presentation by Maximilian Niederhofer, Associate Atlas Venture
10.40 Drinks & Social
11.00 Presentation “Social Gaming – Measuring Success” by Shervin Pishevar, CEO Social Gaming Network
11.30 Panel Games and Social Networks (Casual Games within social networks) moderated by Yme Bosma, Hyves.
Panel members: Shervin Pishevar (SGN), Maximilian Niederhofer (Atlas Venture), Kristian Segerstråle (Playfish)
12.10 Presentation Social Networks, Speaker to be announced shortly
12.40 Lunch
13.40 Presentation by Jeroen Elfferich, CEO Ex Machina
14.00 Presentation Zynga, Speaker to be announced shortly
14.30 Presentation “Evolution of a Games Developer – Case watAgame and GoSupermodel” by Marko Orenius, VP Business Development watAgame
15.00 Case Study Hyves/Sportdreams
15.20 Drinks & Social
15.40 Panel Games as Social Communities moderated by Martin de Ronde, OneBigGame
Panel members: Maarten Brands (Virtual Fairground), Robin Hunicke (EA), Jurriaan van Rijswijk (Game Entertainment Europe), Marc van der Chijs (Spil Games Asia)
16.20 Presentation by Robin Hunicke, Senior Producer EA
16.50 Ding! Awards presented by Martin de Ronde (TBC)
17.10 Closing and Toast!

Official Website: http://www.picnicnetwork.org/page/22325