News, Strategy, Insight And Analysis. Updated - Engage Digital

Sean KaneAttorneyDrakeford & Kane LLCSean F. Kane is a member of Drakeford & Kane LLC and Managerof the fi rm’s Intellectual Property Practice Group. He counselsclients in the interactive entertainment, video game, virtual world,publishing, licensing and merchandising, and sweepstakes andgaming industries. His clients are engaged in all aspects of theseindustries and he regularly counsels his clients on various aspectsof their business enterprises, including negotiation and completionof business agreements, counseling on the management and protectionof intellectual property rights and other matters relating totheir business operations, mergers and acquisitions, and representationin resolution of disputes. Moreover, he is regularly involved intransactions ranging from development, fi nancing, publication anddistribution of interactive entertainment properties and related technologylicensing; licensing and merchandising of brands, character,entertainment and sports properties.Taku KamataCTO Vice President3Di, Inc.Taku Kamata is the CTO and Vice President of 3Di, Inc., (3di.jp/en),a founding committee member of the Metaverse Association (metaverse-association.jp),and a strong advocate for the Interverse, anopen virtual world. In 2001, he established the technology strategyfi rm, ADN Group. Taku was also an affi liate consultant with McKinseyand Company. In 2000, Taku was the CTO of the NetyearGroup, Inc., which was lead by Satoshi Koike (current CEO of ngigroup, inc. and 3Di, Inc.), one of the leading advocates of Japan’s“Bit Valley” in the Shibuya Area of Tokyo. While at Netyear, Takuhelped establish Uniqlo.com, the web presence for Uniqlo, oneof Japan’s largest apparel retailer (similar to the Gap). Even as abrand new site, Uniqlo.com was one of the top aggregators of e-commerce customers and recorded an astounding 47% conversionrate for visitors entering the transaction process.Jeff KleiserVisual Effects SupervisorCEO and Cofounder Synthespian StudiosJeff Kleiser’s pioneering work in computer animation has spannedthe history of the medium. He has contributed to fi lms with groundbreakingvisual effects including “Tron,” “Stargate,” “Judge Dredd,”“Clear and Present Danger,” “Mortal Kombat Annihilation,” “X-Men,”“X-Men United” and “X-Men: The Last Stand.” He served as seniorvisual effects supervisor on “The One”—a fi lm starring martial artsmaster Jet Li that required the development of innovative digitalface replacement techniques. More recently, Kleiser supervisedvisual effects for “Son of the Mask,” “Fantastic Four” and “ScaryMovie 4.” In addition to supervising visual effects projects, Kleiserhas directed numerous commercials.Raph KosterPresidentMetaplaceRaph got started in virtual worlds back in the days of the text MUDsin the early 90s, working on LegendMUD. He was creative lead onthe original Ultima Online and lead designer for UO Live and UltimaOnline: The Second Age while working for ORIGIN and ElectronicArts. He then went on to be creative director on Star Wars Galaxies:An Empire Divided for Sony Online Entertainment. From 2003to 2006 he served as Chief Creative Offi cer at Sony Online. He’salso the author of the acclaimed book A Theory of Fun for GameDesign, and somehow fi nds the time to write constantly on his popularblog.News, Strategy, Insight and Analysis. Updated Daily. www.VirtualWorldsNews.comPage 29