Robert Gehorsam is President at Forterra Systems Inc and is one of the world’s most experienced and successful exeecutives in the online games and entertainment world.

Before joining Forterra Systems he served as SVP, Programming and Production at Viacom's CBS Internet Group, where he was responsible for content, creative, production and operations for CBS.com, CBSnews.com among others. Prior to this, he was SVP for Programming and Production at Sony Online Entertainment (SOE). In addition to business planning for SOE, he was directly responsible for all operations, product acquisition and development, and technology for The Station @sony.com, one of the world's most popular game destinations on the Internet. He oversaw the creation of a robust, highly scalable game platform that supports millions of customers of dozens of online games including, Everquest, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! Online. From 1985-1992 Robert founded and led Prodigy's games and educational divisions, launching the first large-scale subscription- based sports simulations and nearly two dozen other online titles.

Robert has held management positions at Scholastic Inc. and consulted to Microsoft, AOL, CNET, Ziff-Davis and Children's Television Workshop. Earlier in his career he was an editor at Simon & Schuster, where he helped found its Electronic Publishing Division and published some of the first consumer applications for Macintosh.

Meg Pickard is the Head of Social Media Development for Guardian News & Media, responsible for developing and supporting existing and new social web strategy and interactive experiences.

She comes from a background in social anthropology and in the mid-nineties conducted ethnographic fieldwork into community participation and cultural identity first in Bolivia and subsequently online. Since then, she has worked in New Media including a long stint at AOL, plus consulting roles with a range of small startups, global brands and charities.

Meg’s particular areas of interest are community engagement and the emergence of new forms of collaborative and participatory media, which are inspired by her ongoing curiosity about the cultural, social and psychological aspects of online interaction plus an enduring personal passion for publishing and participating online. She describes herself as a creative geek, is one of the longest-running bloggers in the UK and lives in London and online.

Frank is Chief Business Officer at MindArk, Swedish creators of the Entropia Universe, the first virtual universe to utilize a Real Cash Economy. Frank's background in language studies allowed him to join MindArk and focus on external/internal communication, community management and collaboration with computer entertainment media. He has also been closely involved with online activities and development of the Entropia Universe.

As virtual worlds reach beyond gamers and into corporate and public spheres, Frank is now focused on business development and the introduction of Entropia into new international markets and the presentation of the virtual universe to new strategic partners.

Nic has over seven years experience in venture capital, working in London, Europe and Silicon Valley. His main areas of focus have been software and media. Prior to Esprit he was with Reuters Venture Capital. Nic has been involved in a number of investments including UltraDNS (acquired by Neustar), Zeus Technology and Perfiliate (trading as Buy.at). He manages Esprit's investments in Buy.at, Zeus Technology, Axiom Systems, SRC, Cityspace and Tribold.

Prior to joining Reuters Nic worked for Operis, a software and services start-up, and Cap Gemini. Nic also authors a blog commenting on the European technology and venture capital markets. Please see www.theequitykicker.com

Director of Product Development (NCsoft Europe) (Brighton)

Widely recognised as one Europe’s leading figures in the development and execution of online games from his time at Wanadoo, Bidaux was a leading member of the team that launched highly successful Dark Age of Camelot franchise. His talents were employed by the fledgling NCsoft Europe in September 2004, as one of the original core members. Over two years later, the Brighton UK office has massively increased from the original four members to a staff of more than 120 peoples. Thomas’ role at NCsoft is to manage the product development teams as well as researching and acquiring new titles.

Steve is and takes a particular interest in the longer term (5-10 year) scenario for the development of IT infrastructure, its evolving role in enabling new business models and the impact of new technologies and consumer market trends.

Steve joined Gartner in 997 from GPT Limited, where he was Director of Marketing with their Payphones group. Prior to GPT he held a variety of marketing oriented roles with both software and hardware vendors, including seven years with Logica Limited, undertaking a wide range of projects in the IT and telecommunications sectors.

Steve holds a B.Sc. Hons. degree in marine biology from the University of Liverpool, a postgraduate diploma in technological economics from the University of Stirling and a postgraduate certificate in business management from Coventry University.

Robert Lai is the Chief Scientist for the Beijing China Recreation District (CRD), the China government’s largest digital media initiative, and the world’s most ambitious Virtual Worlds project.

China is preparing for the future today by reengineering its infrastructure for business operations to include virtual world technologies such as those that we are learning about at this conference.  We envision being able to use virtual world technologies to simulate business operations, environments, communities, as well as social interactions and collaborative education.

The CRD project is looking for partners from all over the world, for infrastructure development, network connection, IDC, billing, settlement, CRM, banking services, and game platforms, as well as offering outsourcing services, e.g. graphic, localization, CRM, etc. CRD also use this infrastructure to offer virtual world products and services from China to the rest of world through the ‘Dotman’ virtual worlds platform.

Assia Grazioli-Venier heads Ministry of Sound TV (MoSTV) that she founded in November 2006. MoSTV is the first digital IPTV content provider for dance music entertainment. In less than two years, Assia established Ministry of Sound TV as an industry leader for content syndication and revenue generation.

As Head of MoSTV, Assia manages business development initiatives, marketing activities and content syndication for MoSTV. Her role also comprises business development activities within Ministry of Sound Digital, comprising Digital Radio, Downloads and Mobile. Assia also researches M&A activities, finding opportunities, and implementing contractual relationships. She is also responsible for content syndication, overseeing multi-platform content aggregation, delivery and syndication. Assia leads the development and implementation of brand and marketing strategy programs for MoSTV, including brand exposure, audience targeting and competitive positioning activities.

MoSTV is syndicated on Joost, babelgum, Azurueus/Vuze, and more. In addition, a weekly packaged show airs on MTV Dance UK, on Sky. Deals with Jalipo, Hulu, Zattoo, and YouTube are also in development. It has reached the No.1 position on UK iTunes music podcast, and is the No.1 global channel on the Joost platform.

Assia began her career as a freelance Editor for independent company Ice Films. She then took on the role of content and strategic partnership consultant for Slice PR, an events and creative consumer PR agency based in London. As Digital Media Consultant, she advised on content and partnership strategy at Inventa, a London-based mobile content distributer with shows including Pete Tong’s Fast Traxx and Jamie Oliver’s ‘Mobile Kitchen’.

Assia actively participates in industry conferences, representing MoS Digital as both a delegate and speaker. Her recent speech topics include how to turn a great idea into a thriving business, key networking tactics, and the future of digital media.

Jason Stoddard is the founder and Managing Partner/Interactive for Centric, Agency of Change. For 13 years, Jason has helped clients stay ahead of accelerating change in marketing strategies and tactics—from the first websites in 1994 to social media and virtual marketing today.

Centric is a new new media agency, specialising in the emerging media forms, from Second Life to MySpace, from YouTube to Digg, and from California around to China, Centric develops your next killer marketing app, creates your next integrated campaign, and builds your virtual worlds.

Jason is a sought-after speaker on leading edge marketing, appearing at Virtual Worlds Spring 2007, The eMarketing Forum, Home Entertainment Summit, Inverge 2007, and The Platform Animation Festival. Jason is also a professional science fiction writer, with publications in Interzone, Sci Fiction, Strange Horizons, and other venues, and is a finalist for the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award and Sidewise Award.

Justin Bovington, CEO of London based virtual world agency Rivers Run Red, has been instrumental in developing some of worlds major virtual launches: adidas, Reebok, Vodafone, Heineken, Sky News, ING Renault F1 and Penguin... to name just a few. His company has been present in Second Life since January 2003, and in that time, they've helped develop and form the virtual world immersion market. He is one of the leading creative directors in the media and virtual creative sector.