Áine Behan

CEO and Co-Founder

Cortechs Ltd

Áine Behan graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Neuroscience (University College Cork, 2000) and a PhD in Neuropathology (Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, 2004). As a former Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland research lecturer and Neuromuscular Module Coordinator, Áine has 10 years’ postdoctoral experience in preclinicalresearch and proteomic investigation of therapeutic compounds for neurodegenerative disorders....more

Speaking at: DEMO—Brainpowered Play; Drinks and Demos (downstairs in the Trade Room)

Chris Bishop

Senior Creative Director

PBS KIDS

Chris Bishop is the Senior Creative Director of PBS KIDS Digital, where he has designed websites, apps & games for kids ages 2-8 since 2000. He is also an illustrator, painter and an Eagle Scout.

Speaking at: The Great Migration to Mobile

Barbara Chamberlin

Director, Game Development & Research

New Mexico State University, Learning Games Lab

Barbara Chamberlin directs game and media development at New Mexico State University’s Learning Games Lab. The production team works on a variety of content and audiences, most recently completing Math Snacks games for mid school learners (mathsnacks.org). Dr. Chamberlin also conducts research on game-based learning, specializing in formative testing and...more

Speaking at: User Testing Made Easier; IdeaPalooza!

Carla C. Christensen

Director, Product Management for Early Education

Houghton Miffin Harcourt

Carla Christensen is Director of Product Management and Strategy for Early Childhood and Clinical at global education leader Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Working with a cross-functional team, Carla manages HMH’s dedicated line of products for early learners as well as the strategic development of new solutions for this growing market.  Carla’s...more

Speaking at: Hungry Minds: How curiosity drives young learners

Dylan Collins

CEO

SuperAwesome

Dylan Collins (@MrDylanCollins) is one of the most experienced digital media executives in Europe. He is CEO of SuperAwesome, the largest kids advertising platform in the world, reaching over 200M kids every month across US, Europe, Australia and Southeast Asia. SuperAwesome works with the biggest kids entertainment brands in the...more

Speaking at: The Great Migration to Mobile; IdeaPalooza!

Naomi Dare

Director of Digital

Coolabi Group

Naomi Dare is Head of Digital at the Coolabi Group, a UK based company specialising in children's and family intellectual property rights. She oversees digital strategy for all the brands, covering marketing, social media, content and product development and digital distribution. Key brands include Poppy Cat, Beast Quest, Purple Ronnie,...more

Speaking at: Diving into Digital

Jeremy Dickson

Features & Special Projects Editor

Kidscreen

Speaking at: Teen Spirit: Insights from a 14-year-old social media mogul

Nicholas Fortugno

Co-Founder & CCO

Playmatics

Nick Fortugno is a game designer and entrepreneur of digital and real-world games based in New York City, and a founder of Playmatics, a game development company. Playmatics has created a variety of digital and real-world games for organization including the iOS game Red Bull Focus, AMC (such as the...more

Speaking at: KEYNOTE—Leveling Up: Getting maximum brand value out of gamification

Amy Friedman

Founder & President

Senior Advisor, MTV Scratch

Amy Friedman serves as Senior Advisor to MTV Scratch, Viacom’s creative S.W.A.T team. With a focus on millennial culture, the unit’s partners include Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation, General Motors, The Guggenheim Museum and others.  Amy is also President and Founder of Redhead Consulting, a brand creation and content development...more

Speaking at: IdeaPalooza!

Darran Garnham

Chief Commercial Officer & President of Entertainment

Mind Candy

Darran developed Mind Candy's commercial roadmap for retail, licensing, animation, live events and expansion of strategic global partnerships - initiatives helping grow Moshi Monsters into a leading kids entertainment brand. Before Mind Candy Darran worked with major brands and studios including Lego, 20th Century Fox, Sony, Paramount and DreamWorks.

Speaking at: The Great Migration to Mobile

Bethany Gorfine

President & CEO

Federal Hill Communications

Bethany Gorfine is an expert in the world of digital delivery and has over 20 years’ experience championing and vetting distribution opportunities on behalf of a diverse client base. As the Head of Worldwide Content for the top grossing kid’s entertainment platform, PlayKids, Gorfine is responsible for global content planning...more

Speaking at: Move Fast, Break Things and Build Success: Tips and Tricks from hit app PlayKids

Noah Harlan

Founder/Partner

Two Bulls

Noah Harlan is a Founder of Two Bulls, a boutique software development firm specializing in mobile and related infrastructure with offices in New York, Melbourne, and Berlin. He also serves as Managing Director of Digital Strategy for Sullivan, a brand engagement and strategy firm where he guides digital communications strategies...more

Speaking at: DEMO—Amping up your ABC’s with multi-screen AR; Drinks and Demos (downstairs in the Trade Room)

Amy Henry

President

C + R Research Services Inc

Amy serves as chief author and strategist for YouthBeat®, C+R Research’s youth and family research and insight practice. Amy  has worked for over 15 years as a researcher and strategist focused on helping organizations develop products and properties that successfully meet the needs of preschoolers, kids, tweens and teens, and...more

Speaking at: Mythbusting: Five digital assumptions about kids and families that are just plain wrong

Jon Howard

Executive Product Manager

BBC

Jon Howard is the Executive Product Manager for Digital Creativity at the BBC. In this role he has been developing innovative interactive experiences that allow kids to create exciting digital products at close to the speed of thought. The BBC’s Make It Digital season runs throughout 2015 and aims to...more

Speaking at: Drinks and Demos (downstairs in the Trade Room)

Azadeh Jamalian

Co-Founder & Chief Learning Officer

Tiggly

Azadeh (Azi) Jamalian, PhD, is a co-founder and Chief Learning Officer at Tiggly- an exciting new learning company that is on a mission to improve how preschoolers learn on their tablets. Tiggly brings physical play to tablets by designing fun learning toys that interact with the silliest learning apps you...more

Speaking at: Adding it up: A look into the design process behind hit math-based interactive toys from Tiggly

Andrew Kavanagh

CEO & Founder

Kavaleer Productions

Andrewbegan his career in 1998 with the short film From An Evil Cradling. Since founding Kavaleer in 2001 he has directed another five award-winning shorts, the latest of which City of Roses will debut in 2015. He is the creator and executive producer of Garth & Bev and Wildernuts and heads up...more

Speaking at: DEMO—Brainpowered Play; Drinks and Demos (downstairs in the Trade Room)

David Kleeman

SVP, Global Trends

PlayCollective

Strategist, analyst, author and speaker — for a quarter-century, David Kleeman has led the children’s media industry in developing sustainable, kid-friendly solutions. Since May 2013, he has been building unique global thought leadership initiatives as Senior Vice President of Insights Programs and PlayVangelist for PlayCollective, a research, strategy and development company. From 1988-2013, Kleeman was President...more

Speaking at: The Great Migration to Mobile

Trevor Lai

CEO & Creative Director

UP Studios

Trevor Lai is the CEO and Creative Director of UP Studios, one of China's leading studios dedicated to creating and producing original family entertainment. Their BOOMiGram app, books and emoticons reach fans in more than 90 countries, and Lai was the first animation director ever featured by Apple in a cross-country...more

Speaking at: IdeaPalooza!

Jason Loftus

Director/Producer

Mark Media

At the helm of fast-rising Toronto film and television production company and digital studio Mark Media, CEO Jason Loftus leads his entrepreneurial and creative team with over ten years’ experience in media management and business development, with roles spanning digital/gaming, television, and print media.   Under his leadership, Mark Media combines...more

Speaking at: IdeaPalooza!

Zach Marks

Founder, Creator

Grom Social Inc

After being kicked off of Facebook twice by his parents, 10 year old Zach envisioned creating a great social media alternative for kids. Along with his brothers, sister, and friends of the family, Zach developed this safe, educational, fun, and highly interactive digital social platform for kids between the ages...more

Speaking at: Teen Spirit: Insights from a 14-year-old social media mogul

Laurent Mascherpa

Co-Founder & CEO

Floop Technologies

Laurent Mascherpa is the co-founder and CEO of Floop Technologies. Floop is a toolkit for developers of mobile kids apps that helps them grow their business safely on mobile. Floop helps developers engage with their users, and promote and monetize their content. Built from the ground up as a kid-safe...more

Speaking at: IdeaPalooza!

Jon Mason

Founder & Managing Director

Jollywise Media Ltd

Jon Mason is digital content professional who has delivered and managed a wide range of digital media projects at an international level both client and agency side.  Cutting his teeth in a start up in the late 90s, then taking a role as Creative Producer within the Walt Disney Company before...more

Speaking at: The Great Migration to Mobile

Joe Shochet

Co-Founder

codespark

Joe has been building world-class and award winning children’s games for over 20 years. He helped create the first version of Alice3D still in use at over 300 universities for CS 101 and led the creation of ToonTown Online for Disney. He’s a husband, father of three kids, a LEGO Mindstorm coach...more

Speaking at: Drinks and Demos (downstairs in the Trade Room); IdeaPalooza!

Beau Teague

VP, Product Management

Cartoon Network

As senior director of user experience (UX) for Cartoon Network Digital, Beau Teague is responsible for integrating video and gaming products across CartoonNetwork.com, TV-connected consoles, and mobile devices. Beau oversaw the development of the award-winning Watch Cartoon Network tablet app and the industry-leading Cartoon Network Anything, a micro-network marking a new era in...more

Speaking at: CASE STUDY—Cartoon Network Anything: The making-of a micro-net app

Bobby Thandi

Founder and CEO

Dubit

Bobby advises clients on digital strategies around kids entertainment products, and helps to create games and worlds that run across mobile, web and virtual reality devices. Working with Dubit’s researchers, game designers and producers, Bobby helps advise clients on business modelling, commercial partners, marketing strategies and how to raise funding...more

Speaking at: Five Ways VR Will Change Kids Entertainment…Forever; Drinks and Demos (downstairs in the Trade Room)