PLENARY PANEL NOV. 8

Let the (video) games begin! State industry status, hands-on demos to open Early Stage Symposium

Video game enthusiasts often cite creation hubs such as Seattle, Orlando and Austin, but a state that pops up on chat screens these days is Wisconsin. Learn more about state gaming companies and even play with some of their products Wednesday, Nov. 8, to kick off the Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium at Madison’s Monona Terrace Convention Center.

Registration is open by clicking here. You can register for just this session for $50 by selecting the Nov. 8 breakfast under individual session registration. 

Panelists for the 8:30 a.m. roundtable are Tim Gerritsen, chief operations officer of Lost Boys Interactive and formerly of Irrational Games and Bioshock Infinite; Ben Kvalo, founder and chief executive officer of Midwest Games and formerly an executive with Netflix, where he helped to build Netflix Games from the ground up; and Brian Raffel, co-founder and vice president of Raven Software, which is among one of the oldest gaming companies in Wisconsin.

Conference attendees will be able to play video games provided by the panelists throughout the day in the exhibit area.

“The video game industry is valued at $214 billion overall and global revenue is projected a $365 billion this year,” said Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council, which produces the conference. “Zippia.com recently reported Wisconsin is fifth among the 50 states for game designer opportunities. We look forward to hearing about trends and incentives that can help bring more gaming companies and designers to the state.”