esportsactivate journal 20180228 .pdf

March 6, 2018
Sony PlayStation Theater

Presented by

In partnership with

#esportsactivate

“311A7370” by SteelSeries, used under CC BY 4.0/ Cropped and tinted from original

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WELCOME
Hello!
Bond & Play in collaboration with Triggerfish Partnerships are
excited to welcome you to Esports Activate. A premier showcase
for esports and video game organizations, companies and
executives to preview their digital, experiential, media, content
and sponsorship inventory and capabilities across esports.
Esports and video games represents an opportunity to engage
and connect with Millennial and Gen Z audiences around their
passion of watching and experiencing digital competitive
entertainment. The event is designed specifically for brands,
marketers, media buyers and advertisers to experience the
breadth of opportunities in an industry that is becoming “the”
entertainment choice for current and future generations.
The ongoing investment into esports to build infrastructure and
platforms, the introduction of new esports leagues by traditional
sports franchises and 2.2 billion people around the world playing
video games, are all trends pointing to an industry that has
shifted from rapidly emerging to rapidly maturing.
Whether you’re currently activating in esports or new to the space,
Esports Activate will give brands and marketers the confidence
and knowledge to design brand integration strategies that
authentically reach a passionate audience and drive measurable
engagement and results.
At the end of Esports Activate, attendees will leave with a better
understanding why esports and video games are unparalleled in
reaching high-value audiences who are increasingly difficult to
reach through traditional channels. They will better understand
the tools available to design layered activations that integrate
content, conversation, commerce and culture, the 4C’s that drives
scale, interaction and purposeful engagement.
Thank you,
Imari Oliver
Founder & CEO, Bond & Play

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SCHEDULE
8:30AM

Breakfast & Registration

9:30AM

WELCOME

9:35AM

WHAT IS ESPORTS? WHY IS IT HOT?

PANEL DISCUSISON
PRESENTATION

10:00AM

CLANCY TECH CO., John Lee, Founder & CEO

About Bond & Play

10:25AM

ESTARZ, Marco Mereu, Founder & CEO

Bond and Play is a media, technology and
entertainment company that focuses on designing
consumer engagement strategies, creating new
sales and business models and building digital IP that
advances and shapes the esports, competitive video
gaming and entertainment industries value chain.

10:45AM

NETWORKING BREAK

11:00AM

OPTIC GAMING, Ryan Musselman, President

11:30AM

VICE, Joel Fowler, Group Publisher

11:50PM

WOMEN IN ESPORTS AND THE VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY

12:20PM

LUNCH

About Triggerfish
Triggerfish Partnerships is a leading agency
representing teams and players in the esports
industry. Founded by executives from both traditional
sports and esports, the agency has decades of
experience in sponsorship, partnership, and sales.
Leveraging their properties, they help endemic and
non-endemic brands deliver authentic and effective
messaging to a variety of esports audiences.

1:05PM

KEYNOTE

1:40PM

THE POWER OF DATA

2:05PM

FANAI, Johannes Waldstein, Founder & CEO

2:25PM

UMV, Nate Eckman Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer

2:45PM

NETWORKING BREAK

3:05PM

ESL, Paul Brewer, VP, Global Sponsorships

3:25PM

CAVS LEGION, Matt O’Brien, VP, Global Partnership Development

3:45PM

EXPLORING THE ESPORTS BRAND, MEDIA & SPONSORSHIP MODEL

4:10PM

NETWORKING BREAK

4:25PM

MAESTRO, Ari Evans, Founder & CEO

4:45PM

VIDEO GAMES AND THE PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE

5:05PM

CLOSING REMARKS

PRESENTATIONS

with
About Clancy Tech Co.

Brand

ACTIVATIONS

Publisher
EVENTS

Based in New York + Toronto, Clancy Tech Company invents, designs, builds and
maintains cool, smart, elegant mobile technology products and platforms. All Clancy
Tech product reflects the same premise: WATCH VIDEO + BUY STUFF, WHEN +
WHERE YOU WANT.
The Clancy Tech Immersive Video Commerce App, both communications tool
and sales channel, has been designed specifically for mobile devices. Providing
immersive rich video aggregation with immediate, direct, measurable, frictionless
commerce opportunity, there is nothing like it.

THE PRESENTER
John Lee
Founder & CEO

at Thunder Gaming

150+ HOURS MONTHLY LIVE TOURNAMENT GAME PLAY
20434 S. Sante Fe Ave - LONG BEACH, CA
310.762.1630

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THUNDERSTUDIOS.com

John Lee has over 25 years of Advertising, Digital, and
Design agency experience, specializing in companies known
for consistently superior creative product.
Considered a strong strategist, agencies he led have been
nominated ten times for Agency of the Year. As Founder +
CEO of Clancy Tech Company, Mr. Lee leads the team in
creation, development and varied application of the Clancy
Tech Immersive Video Commerce App, where video view
leads direct to immediate, frictionless commerce, providing
incomparable ROI.

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PRESENTATIONS

PRESENTATIONS

About Estarz

About OpTic Gaming

Estarz is a cross-platform digital media company delivering original esports
branded content and entertainment to millions of people around the world.

OpTic Gaming is an industry-defining esports, media, and entertainment
organization. With an audience built up over a decade, they are widely recognized
for our extensive impact, passionately engaged global audience, and astounding
rate of competitive success. Their reach now includes teams in every major esports
scene, including both League of Legends and Overwatch League franchises.

THE PRESENTER

THE PRESENTER

Marco Mereu

Ryan Musselman

Founder & CEO

President

Prior to Estarz, Mereu founded and built Roostr, the first
performance based sponsored content marketplace for
gaming influencers. Roostr was acquired by Chartboost in
January 2016. Prior to Roostr, Mereu founded Gameblyr, one
of the first independent publishing platforms for indie mobile
gaming.

OpTic Gaming President, Ryan Musselman, is an early
pioneer in the convergence of digital media and esports.
As one of the original founders of OpTic gaming, he was
instrumental in the development and scaling of Machinima’s
10,000-strong network of gaming influencers, prior to
Google recruiting him to develop YouTube’s gaming and
esports vertical. He leverages his expertise as Senior Vice
President of Revenue for Infinite Esports & Entertainment,
while continuing his role as President of OpTic Gaming.

As Co-Founder and CEO of Estarz, Mereu oversees all
day-to-day operations of the company, including licensing,
syndication, acquisitions, programming and production.
The company publishes video and live esports content
across digital platforms in partnership with esports teams,
professional gamers, entertainment networks, publishers,
brands and platforms throughout the world.

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PRESENTATIONS

PRESENTATIONS

About VICE (Waypoint)

About FanAI

Waypoint is VICE’s home for gaming culture, built to explore how and why we play.
Through original video, editorial, podcasts, and streams, Waypoint looks beyond the
press and product cycles, with a focus on the people and community. Whether a
game was a commercial success or lost relic, Waypoint uses multiple mediums to
cover the culture, passion, and politics of gaming.

FanAI is the leading esports audience monetization platform. The platform increases
franchise and sponsorship revenues by making their audience data actionable.
FanAI collects fan data, both first level data owned by the rights holders, and data
on the wider digital fan audience, as available on various social and streaming
platforms as well as data repository services and payment data. The process
enriches data, analyzes, segments, builds brand-specific personas/archetypes,
derives meaning and predicts behavior.

THE PRESENTER

THE PRESENTER

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Joel Fowler

Johannes Waldstein

Group Publisher

Founder & CEO

Joel Fowler is the Publisher of Waypoint, VICE’s gaming and
culture channel. Joel has managed the site since its launch,
overseeing its operations and building Waypoint into one
of the most unique voices in the gaming landscape. Since
starting at VICE in 2013, Joel has overseen the launch of
THUMP, VICE’s electronic music and culture channel and led
award-winning programs and content franchises spanning
gaming, music, and entertainment.

FanAI is the culmination of many years of Johannes working
in Analytics and a love of competitive sports and esports.
Johannes has co founded 5 startups, having worked in data,
mobile payments and pro sports tech. Johannes was also
Product Manager at dunnhumby the world’s largest Loyalty
Data Sciences company working with many of the top
retailers, brands and agencies.

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PRESENTATIONS

PRESENTATIONS

About Ultimate Media Ventures

About ESL

Ultimate Media Ventures (UMV) is an esports content and product development
company. UMV has a 22,000 square foot esports studio in SoCal where they create
original IP around esports lifestyle, broadcast live events, host sponsored tournaments,
curate pro player training and bootcamps, create branded content, design lifestyle
apparel and custom products, as well as strategize campaigns for clients across
the industry. UMV founders and leadership have a deep background and experience
at the highest level of gaming and esports events, production, apparel design and
content development for publishers, brands, leagues and team organizations.

ESL, a part of the international digital entertainment group MTG, is the world’s
largest esports company, leading the industry across the most popular video games
with numerous online and offline competitions. It operates high profile, branded
international and national leagues and tournaments such as the Intel® Extreme
Masters, ESL One, ESL National Championships and other top tier stadium-size
events, as well as grassroots amateur cups, leagues and matchmaking systems.

THE PRESENTER

THE PRESENTER

With offices in North America, Germany, Russia, France, Poland, Spain, China, and
partners in many other countries, it has a truly global footprint.

Nate Eckman

Paul Brewer

Founder & CEO

Vice President, Global Sponsorships

Nate is the co-founder and CCO of UMV, an esports media
and product company with a 22,000 square foot content
studio in SoCal. Having spent over a decade as a marketer
and creative strategist for major gaming publishers like Riot
and MSFT Xbox, Nate has a community-first philosophy
to building brands in culture. Nate has had the pleasure
of working on major arena events for publishers, creating
experiences, broadcast creative and branded integrations.

Paul Brewer is Vice President, Global Sponsorships at ESL,
the world’s largest esports company. In this role, Brewer is
responsible for driving sponsorships of ESL’s global assets
with both endemic and non-endemic brands and properties.
Prior to ESL, Brewer served as Turner’s Director of Sales
Development and Marketing, where he worked with brands
across Turner Broadcasting’s digital properties including,
Bleacher Report, NBA, NCAA, PGA and NASCAR.
Brewer joined Turner in 2010 from Samsung Electronics,
where he served as Senior Marketing and Operations
Manager for Samsung’s World Cyber Games. Brewer holds a
Master’s Degree in Sports Business from New York University.

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PRESENTATIONS

PRESENTATIONS

About Cavs Legion GC

About Maestro

Cavs Legion GC (Gaming Club) is the Cleveland Cavaliers’ official esports team
participating in the inaugural NBA 2K League season set to tip-off in May 2018.
The Cavs Legion GC official team colors are wine and gold, consistent with the
look and feel of the Cavaliers NBA team franchise. The official team logo features
a contemporary adaptation of the Cavalier profile, set above the team name in a
sharp typeface that’s inspired by the edges of a sword.

Maestro provides a platform for enterprise live streamers to own, engage, and
monetize their audiences. They help customers create engaging experiences
fans love while capturing valuable data to maximize metrics and build stronger
relationships. Customers in esports/gaming include PlayStation, Microsoft, EA,
Capcom, ELEAGUE (Turner), E3, ESL, Warner Bros., Square-Enix, Wargaming,
and more.

THE PRESENTER

THE PRESENTER

Matt O’Brien

Ari Evans

Vice President, Global Partnership Development
Cavaliers Operating Co.

Founder & CEO

Matt O’Brien is a veteran of creating, marketing and selling
professional sports and entertainment partnerships. After
a twenty-year career developing baseball brands, he
joined the Cavaliers Operating Company in 2013. Today,
Matt’s team develops fully integrated partnerships across
the Cleveland Cavaliers/NBA, Cleveland Monsters/AHL,
Cleveland Gladiators/AFL, Canton Charge/NBA-G, Pro
Football HOF and Esports.
In 2017, he joined the Cavalier’s due diligence within the
esports space. This led to the acquisition of a franchise
in the new NBA2K League, the Cavs Legion Gaming
Club. Along with Detroit Ventures, Courtside Ventures,
and gaming legend Matt “Nadeshot” Haag’s 100 Thieves
brand, Matt represented the Cavaliers in efforts to secure
a franchises within Riot Games North American League
Championship Series.
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At Maestro, Ari guides the company’s vision enabling
enterprise At Maestro, Ari guides the company’s vision
enabling enterprise live streamers own, engage, and
monetize their audiences. He is leading the industry to
create new gold standards in engaging live broadcasts
and developing metrics to help customers build stronger
relationships with their fans. Ari led Maestro’s win in the
2017 Manatt Digital eSports Startup Launchpad and
finalist recognition at the 2017 Digital Entertainment
World, 2016 SXSW Accelerator, and 2016 TechCrunch
Disrupt hosted by the NFL.
Prior to Maestro, Ari served as a product manager at
Zynga, where he designed features, managed revenue
pipelines, and integrated Fortune 100 brands into CityVille,
the most popular game on Facebook during his tenure.
Ari holds an M.S. in Management Science from Stanford
and a B.S. in Information Science from Cornell.
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MODERATOR

THE PANEL
What is Esports?
Why is it Hot?

Glenn Minerley
Presented by

The Esports industry is moving at a speed and
intensity that is unparalleled in entertainment and in
reaching Millennials and GenZ audiences globally. This
panels discussed the story of esports and a look a the
future of the industry.

Craig Levine
CSO at ESL North America
Craig Levine is the Chief Strategy Officer, ESL North. In this
role, Levine leads the global strategy of ESL, the world’s largest
esports company.
Levine has helped pioneer the esports industry for over 15
years. As a longtime gamer, Levine founded Team 3D, the
first truly professional and successful video game team in
North America. In addition, Levine co-founded ESS Agency,
an event marketing and technology company specializing
in video game entertainment. ESS Agency was acquired by
Turtle Entertainment to expand ESL’s global footprint to North
America.

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VP, Group Account Director: Music, Entertainment & Esports
at Momentum Worldwide
When Momentum decided to enter the Esports landscape, it
was a natural choice to tap Glenn to lead the practice. Glenn is
a 20 year veteran of the entertainment industry. At Momentum,
Glenn helps create and drive entertainment marketing
strategies for some of the biggest brands in the world. Glenn’s
business relationships in entertainment helped brands like
Verizon, American Express, SAP and the US Army consistently
deliver award winning entertainment based activations.
In gaming, Glenn bridges the gap between the traditional
entertainment world and the burgeoning Esports vertical. Glenn
regularly works with gaming giants ESL, Twitch, CLG, Dignitas
and and is currently working with brands to develop winning
Esports strategies.

Ryan Musselman
President OpTic Gaming

Levine holds a B.S. in Information Systems and Management
and Organizational Behavior from the Stern Business School at
New York University.

OpTic Gaming President, Ryan Musselman, is an early pioneer
in the convergence of digital media and esports. As one of the
original founders of OpTic gaming, he was instrumental in the
development and scaling of Machinima’s 10,000-strong network
of gaming influencers, prior to Google recruiting him to develop
YouTube’s gaming and esports vertical. He now leverages
his expertise as Senior Vice President of Revenue for Infinite
Esports & Entertainment, while continuing his role as President
of OpTic Gaming.

Todd Harris

Guy Costantini

COO, Hi-Rez Studios

VP, Global Interactive Marketing, Skydance Media

Todd is the Chief Operating Officer of Hi-Rez Studios, one of
the largest video game studios in the Southeast United States
and a leading developer of competitive online games. Todd
began his career as a software engineer at NCR before taking
on product development leadership roles at Radiant Systems
and BlueCube Software.

Guy Costantini is Vice President of Global Interactive
Marketing for Skydance, known for high-profile blockbusters on
franchises like Terminator, Star Trek and others. As marketing
leader for the Interactive group, he is working on multiple VR
titles like the recently released Archangel and a VR title in The
Walking Dead world.

In 2005, he left FinTech for the games industry when he cofounded Hi-Rez Studios. Hi-Rez’ titles includes action game
SMITE and the fantasy team-based shooter Paladins. Both are
top free to play games on the PC, Xbox One, and Playstation
4. In 2018 more than $4,000,000 in will be earned by the best
Smite and Paladins players as Hi-Rez continues to work with
partners to advance the development and production of esports
titles and competitions.

While diving head first into virtual reality is his current focus, Guy
also serves as an advisor to select companies out to change the
games space. In his career, he has worked on several industry
shaping games like The Witcher 3, League of Legends, Marvel:
Contest of Champions, and Arena of Valor. Before getting into
gaming, Guy worked several years in the high-growth tech
startup and music industries in New York.

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