Heineken doesn't do conference speaker announcements, but if it did, they'd likely be a bit like this.
For our second round of confirmed speakers for Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2017 (September 19th to 20th) we've lined up a mighty range of voices to cover what is going to be our broadest conference agenda yet.
Check them out:
Miikka J. Lehtonen, Aalto University
Ari Pulkkinen, AriTunes
James Cramer, Armada Interactive
Filipp Karmanov, Black Snowflake Games
Ludovic Bodin, Cmune
Juri Juskevits, Critical Force
Anette Staloy, Dirtybit
Jure Sustersic, Electronic Arts
Dominic Gelineau, Gameloft
Christopher Cataldi, Genvid
Keith Stuart, Guardian
Kim Soares, Kukouri Mobile Entertainment
Pascal Clarysse, Marketing & Growth Strategy Consultant
Nicolaj Broby Petersen, Megacool
Petri Kero, Ministry of Games
Adam Telfer, MobileFreeToPlay.com
Diana Platonova, MyTona
Saara Bergström, Next Games
Henri Lindgren & Jussi Tähtinen, Nitro Games
Elina Arponen, Quicksave
Jukka Hilvonen, Seepia Games
Petri Jarvilehto, Seriously
Samuli Syvähuoko, Sisu Game Ventures
Simon Hade, Space Ape Games
Andy Brammall, Spirit AI
Hussam Hammo, Tamatem Inc.
Mariusz Szypura, Telehorse
Veera Rouvinen, Traplight
Antti Stén, Wargaming Finland
From established industry heavyweights and veterans of the scene through to 'newomers' with just as fresh and exciting insight to share, our schedule will focus on indie development, monetisation, eSports, influencers, game narrative, characterisation, UX, audio, funding & investment, UA, social platforms, global market opportunities, HTML5, pitching & networking techniques, marketing, live ops, creativity, success management… and plenty more.
And that's before we get to the other 'new stuff' (you can get a preview below).
We're not saying this is Probably The Best Mobile Games Industry Event In The World (we're British, an active sense of self-modesty is mandatory) but, you know, fourth time around PGC Helsinki should be a pretty decent affair.
Anyway, sales pitch over. Well, almost: Early Bird tickets are still live, though note that rate will end soon.
What we can promise:
- Eight core tracks with 100+ speakers sharing their expertise & insight
- Over 1,000 delegates, with visitors from Asia, US and Europe
- The Very Big Indie Pitch – developers meet media, platforms and more
- SpeedMatch to connect developers and publishers
- A Game Jam taking place throughout the two days
- Totally free Pitch & Match meeting system for all
- A true cross-section of the industry (from student devs to sector titans)
- A lively expo area filled with the latest development talent
- Evening fun – PechaKucha sessions, networking party + VIP Reception
What we’re adding this year:
- Bigger focus on the game creation/production process (specifically game narrative, sound design, character design, UX and live ops)
- Dedicated agenda space for latest trends, including social media influencers and eSports
- The arrival of fully formed VR/AR/MR sister-event XR Connects
- The introduction of PC Connects, with a set of 'taster sessions' focused on the PC gaming market
- And, yes, even a game music concert