PromaxBDA Announces 2012 Game Marketing Summit Keynotes and Speaker Roster

Marketing Keynote David Shing from AOL and Innovation Keynote Kristian Segerstrale from Electronic Arts Join Line Up of Speakers Including John Coyne of Activision and Neil Howe from LifeCourse Associates

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- PromaxBDA, the association dedicated to the success of marketing, promotion and design professionals in entertainment and the interactive community, announced the Game Marketing Summit Keynotes and featured speakers for the event being held on April 17 in San Francisco, CA at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. AOL's Digital Prophet David Shing will be the Marketing Keynote speaker and Electronic Arts Digital EVP Kristian Segerstrale will be the Innovation Keynote speaker. Additionally, Activision Publishing, Inc. Vice President John Coyne and LifeCourse Associates Founding Partner and President Neil Howe will be among a number of highlight speakers at the Game Marketing Summit, a full day event that brings together the leading companies and industry brand and marketing executives for discussion, deliberation and debate around the issues and opportunities in the video game entertainment industry.

"We are extremely proud to welcome this dynamic group of visionaries to this year's Game Marketing Summit," said PromaxBDA International President and CEO Jonathan Block-Verk. "This year's gathering will offer a different creative and timely perspective to help motivate and inspire the game marketing community as the industry continues to drive forward business innovation and anticipate emerging trends. People like David, Kristian, John and Neil will bring with them key messages important to what's next in this industry and we're happy to have them on our stage."  

Marketing Keynote David Shing is AOL's Digital Prophet. In this role, David works in North America and internationally to identify new opportunities for the business and assist in building the company's external profile. He addresses audiences across the globe to discuss the latest trends and the future of the web, providing insight on the evolving digital landscape. He was the VP Media & Marketing for AOL Europe and was also the lead for creative design and key experiences innovation. He joined AOL in 2007 as the European Marketing Director and prior to that he spent over 12 years helping to build successful web technology start-ups and multimedia businesses in the United States and Australia.

Innovation Keynote Speaker Kristian Segerstrale is EVP of digital at Electronic Arts. Prior to this, Segerstrale served as VP of the Playfish team at Electronic Arts. Segerstrale founded Playfish Limited and was the CEO leading up to the company's acquisition by Electronic Arts. Before founding Playfish, Segerstrale was a co-founder of Macrospace Ltd (now Glu Mobile) and managing director of Europe, the Middle East and Asia for Glu Mobile.

John Coyne, Vice President, Consumer Marketing, Activision, has worked in the toy and entertainment industry for over 15 years launching and managing leading brands for girls, boys and pre-school properties in both international and domestic markets. He worked for Mattel for 11 years, cumulatively working on numerous brands, including Scrabble, Fisher Price, Hot Wheels, Pixar Cars and Barbie. He left and opened the U.S. office of Spin Master with a small team in Los Angeles. His venture proved to be successful with the launch of Bakugan and the re-launch of Tech Deck among others. In 2009, John joined Activision as VP of Marketing, working on the Call of Duty and Tony Hawk brands and the recently launched Skylanders Spyro's Adventure, the genre-busting video game and toy initiative. Skylanders Spyro's Adventure is demonstrating how the virtual and physical worlds can come together to make a compelling, entertaining and successful franchise.

Best-selling author, historian, economist and demographer, Neil Howe is a Founding Partner and President of the consulting firm LifeCourse Associates. His national speaking engagements and books offer powerful insights into today's generation and what motivates them as consumers and workers and how they will shape our national future.  Howe has co-authored with William Strauss the best-selling books Generations, 13th Gen, The Fourth Turning, and Millennials Rising. Together, Howe and Strauss coined the term "Millennial Generation." LifeCourse Associates has since released several application books on Millennials. Previously, with Peter G. Peterson, Howe co-authored On Borrowed Time a pioneering call for budgetary reform. His books have been widely used by businesses, colleges and government agencies and political leaders of all parties, and his articles have appeared in several national publications.

Whether it is new technologies, the latest communication methods or the hottest in creative executions, keeping up is critical to staying relevant and to driving success. Executives in the video game marketing industry gather once a year for a not-to-miss event providing key insight for staying ahead. The one-day essential event explores what's trending in marketing, what's important to the audience and what's happening in creative innovation.

About The Game Marketing Summit and Awards
The Game Marketing Summit and Awards celebrate marketing excellence overall, while providing an all-inclusive forum for common thought, bond and community. For additional speaker information and details about the event, please visit Gamemarketingsummit.com, follow @PROMAXBDAGMS on Twitter or "like" Game Marketing on Facebook. This event is part of the PromaxBDA (promaxbda.org), which is a global, non-profit association dedicated to being the leading resource for education, community, creative inspiration and career development for marketing, promotion and design professionals within the entertainment/information industry.

SOURCE PromaxBDA