The Virtue of Timely Decisions (and how to save $500)
A friend of mine was once motoring west on the historic Route 66, and as he drove his convertible into the desert, he passed a sign indicating there was fifty miles to the next gas station. He checked his gas tank: "a third of a tank and not a problem in the world," he thought. "I can make it there with what I have in the tank."
As chance would have it, his vintage Cadillac sputtered to a stop outside a small town which was just a few miles ahead. No gas, no food, no water to assuage the heat, nothing. The one amenity he did have, a cell phone, allowed him to call in a service truck. $100 dollars and $10 of gas later he was on his way to town to refill his tank, eat a burger, and down a cold one.
The moral of the story? Waiting too long can be expensive.
As you may have noticed, there are only three days left to register online for the LOGIN conference (at the rate of $895). After May 8th, online registration closes and your only chance to attend LOGIN will be by registering at the onsite rate of $1,195 (an increase of $300). But here's the kicker: if you register today with discount code LOGINBEAT, you'll save $200 of the online registration price, and be able to attend LOGIN for the low rate of $695. That's an amazing price for three full days of unparallel sessions and networking opportunities.
This is just some of what your $695 will give you access to:
- Over sixty lectures, panels, roundtables, mini-lectures packed into three days. Business, Community, Design, Globalization, Legal, and Programming & Technology tracks are packed with insightful, unique content delivered by road-tested game industry representatives – all focused on illuminating the complex business and development of online games.
- Over one hundred speakers from all corners of the globe will gather to share their information about the online game development business, hailing from well-known companies like Turbine, Microsoft, NCsoft, Pop Cap, and dozens of other game industry-leading companies. These are the folks worth listening to and connecting with.
- If networking with speakers from these companies and many others are what you’re into, LOGIN has numerous opportunities to link people together. From the morning breakfast receptions to the evening parties designed to bring people together rather than scatter them out across Seattle, LOGIN makes it possible for you to meet your future associate or business partner within a relaxing environment.
- Superb lunches and snacks are one of the highlights attendees raved about last year. No boxed lunches, no meal tokens, only a business-class meal you’d be proud to take a significant other or boss out to lunch for.
Weigh the positives and negatives about attending the 2009 LOGIN Conference, but remember that time is quickly running out to claim your place at one of the most acclaimed events in the games industry. No matter what your role in the online games industry, I'm confident you'll find the content at LOGIN to be educational, thought-provoking, and enlightening.
See you next week!
Online Registration Ends Friday
 Friday, May 8, is the last day to register online and guarantee your place at the historic third annual LOGIN Conference May 11-14, 2009 in Seattle, Washington, where you'll have access to some of the best minds in the industry, face-to-face, at one exclusive event. LOGIN will host over 100 speakers from leading online game development companies in keynote presentations, technical sessions, panel discussions, and interactive roundtables.
 Register online now
LOGIN sessions deliver the in-depth knowledge you need to take your games to new markets, new platforms, and new levels of profitability. At LOGIN, you'll have quality time with speakers and other industry leaders in an intimate environment, without being surrounded by posers and wannabe's. Check out some of the highlights from this year's session line-up:
For a complete list of sessions, visit http://www.2009.loginconference.com/sessions.php
In additional to great sessions LOGIN features networking activities like no other conference. Join us for our speed networking executive breakfasts, where you'll enjoy fine food and conversation with other leaders in the online games industry. But don't delay, space is limited, and we're already selling out quickly.
Presented by Evergreen Events, the 2009 LOGIN Conference is the only annual game industry event with a laser-sharp focus on the rapidly evolving business of online game development on all its platforms. LOGIN will bring online game developers and business leaders from around the world together to celebrate and further the online game ecosystem.
New Speakers Announced
We are very pleased to announce we have some amazing additions to speaker lineup.
 See the complete list of speakers
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Scott Dodson
Chief Operating Officer, Divide by Zero Games, Inc.
A serial entrepreneur, Scott founded and funded Flying Rhino Studios in 1994 and ran the company until its sale in 2005. Flying Rhino produced award winning work for clients including: T-Mobile, Microsoft, The Experience Music Project, Costco, and Wizards of the Coast. In May 2008, Scott joined the founding team of Divide by Zero Games and led its first two tranches of funding before stepping aside as CEO and taking on operations as COO. He has a passion for entrepreneurism, deal structure, and the capitalization of companies. |
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David Marcus
Founder and CEO, Zong
David Marcus is the Founder and CEO of Echovox, which he founded in 2000. In his role as CEO, David drives the overall direction and product strategy for the company to keep Echovox at the forefront of mobile monetization for Web and Media companies.
In March 2008, David moved with his family to the Silicon Valley to lead the effort in establishing the company's flagship service, Zong, as the leading mobile payment system. Zong is now quickly becoming the preferred payment method for millions of users of online games, social networks and applications. |
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Erin Hoffman
Lead Designer, HumaNature Studios
Erin Hoffman has been designing video games for over nine years in an assortment of genres including MMOs, action-RPGs, and children's games.
In 2007 she joined Erik Bethke as co-editor of Settlers of the New Virtual Worlds and the BetterEULA project, an initiative to examine the legal, ethical, and economical issues associated with software EULAs as applied in massive online environments and online games. The BetterEULA project seeks to analyze the needs of online world creators and participants to ultimately generate a legally sound next-generation user agreement broadly applicable and customizable to a range of online products. |
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Robin Walker
Software Developer, Valve Software
Robin Walker co-wrote the Quake mod Team Fortress, before being assimilated when Valve acquired Team Fortress Software. Since that time, he has been responsible for design, code, and management on various Valve products. |
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David Edery
Independent Consultant
David Edery is an independent consultant focused on the video game industry, and a research affiliate of the MIT Comparative Media Studies Program (CMS). Prior to this, David was the Worldwide Games Portfolio Manager for Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade service. Prior to Microsoft, David is also the co-author of Changing the Game: How Video Games are Transforming the Future of Business - a review of the ways that games are helping companies to connect with customers, to attract, train, and motivate employees, and to boost their productivity. |
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Chris Dyl
Chief Technology Officer, Turbine
Chris Dyl joined Turbine in April 1995 as its first employee and having served for the past 14 years is considered a de facto founder of Turbine. Considered a pioneer of the MMO industry, Chris's vision of massively multiplayer online role-playing games and the technology behind them has propelled him to the most senior ranks of the game development community.
Today, Chris serves as Chief Technology Officer and is the primary architect of Turbine's technology platform, including the state-of-the-art graphics, console, network, and large-scale world creation technologies as well as the back-end systems required to operate Turbine's online game services. |
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PAUL PHILLEO: Sébastien, we appreciate your willingness to contribute your time and expertise to this issue of LOGIN Beat. What influences brought you into the game industry, and what did they do to motivate you to found Allegorithmic?
Read the full interview and comment
