E3 Business Conference Schedule Announced

Though the most prominent outgrowth of the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo is the mountain of game debuts and press coverage that comes out of the three-day event, E3 also hosts a lesser-known series of conferences and panels geared more toward industry workers than the media. The ESA has announced the lineup for the 2005 expo's conferences, which total 34 sessions in all. The conferences are divided into three tracks: Creativity and Technology, Business Strategy, and Marketing Analysis. On the Creativity and Technology track, the topics include "Developing Better Characters, Better Stories: How a Game Character's Emotion, Passion, and Intelligence Makes the Game Experience Real," "Think Different and (Still) Succeed: Finding Success with Games that Fall Outside the Familiar," "Game Content Spreads Its Wings: A Conversation with the Leaders Behind Multi-Platform, Cross-Media Game Creation," "Closing the Gap in Wireless: Lessons from the Front Lines of Mobile Game Innovation in Europe and Asia," and "Genre Blending: Careening Beyond the Status Quo Toward New Levels of Innovation." Topics in the Business Strategy track are "Game Plan for the Next Gen Consoles: The Risks, the Costs, the Opportunities;" "How to Structure a Successful Independent Development or Publishing Enterprise;" " The Upcoming Forecast for Online Games: How Visionaries and Pragmatists are Betting on the Future;" "Behind the Negotiations: How the Modern-day Game Deal Gets Done;" "New Trends in Funding: How to Locate and Participate in Current Financing Opportunities;" "How to Keep Growing: Ways to Determine the Right Strategy for your Company's Next Step;" and "Digital Distribution Update: How the Direct-to-Consumer Pipeline Works, Why it is Relevant Today, and How to Profit from its Expanding Reach." Finally, in the Marketing Analysis track, the conferences are "Is My Game Fun? The Process Behind Answering the Most Important Question of All;" "Identify and Understand the New Consumer of Digital Entertainment: Adapt to the Latest Rules of Fun or Get Left Behind;" "Smart Marketing: How an Intelligent Approach to Research can Boost your Bottom Line;" "Global Market Briefing: Stories from the Front Lines of the Hot Markets in Asia and Europe;" "New Practices in Licensing and Ancillary Rights: Understand the Twists and Turns in a New Game Development Value Chain;" " In-game Advertising Takes Off: Preparing for the Rush Ahead and How to Make it Work for Everyone, Including the Gamer;" and "The Mobile Marketplace: How the Traditional Game Industry is Moving into Uncharted Territory and What it Means for your Business." The full list of topics, including speakers and panelist for each conference as well as the twelve workshop sessions, is available at the E3 website.