Tony Bartel, Exec VP GameStop, to Keynote Game Supply Academy 2010

Bartel_Tony Q1 2010 is shaping up to be a watershed business period for the interactive entertainment industry. CES offered an early glimpse of the first wave of much anticipated games, which will present one of the most productive release windows in the industry’s history, with the release of Mass Effect 2, BioShock 2, Pokemon HeartGold, Splinter Cell: Conviction, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Final Fantasy XIII and God of War III. Many of these are sequels that should draw heavily of their built-in fan bases. What will this mean to the supply chain executives in the audience and how is Game Stop ramping up for this exciting wave of business activity?

Tony Bartel, Executive Vice President of Merchandising and Marketing at GameStop, will be providing an overview of the game business, recapping his thoughts of 2009 and the future from GameStop’s perspective. He will also be addressing challenges and opportunities for advancing greater efficiencies in the international videogame supply chain.

Forecast to attend this important meeting:

On February 10, 2010 at the Hilton San Jose in Silicon Valley the second annual “GameSupply” conference, will bring together video game retailers, distributors, publishers, and their service providers to share knowledge about new developments and technologies in the interactive entertainment supply chain.

Here’s a first look at what we’re covering and what you’ll learn:

• EMA Operations Committee: Publisher Executives’ Progress Report

• MORNING KEYNOTE: The Business of Video Games

• Facing Forward: The Future of the Video Game Industry

• Manufacturing-Packaging-Distribution: Collaborating For A Lean Supply Chain

• Retailing Business Models: Variations on a Theme

• AFTERNOON KEYNOTE: Synchronizing the Hardware and Software Supply Chains: It Is No Game!

• Digital Supply Chain: Ubiquitous Delivery, Monetization and Content Protection

• Protecting Content in the Video Game Supply Chain

• Waging a War on Stock-Outs

To view the complete program click here

Here’s one viewpoint about the supply chain opportunities ahead:

“Following on 2009’s successful initial GameSupply conference, we’re excited to be part of the 2010 conference,” declared John Quinn, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Operations, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “The games industry is facing some interesting and challenging issues, and GameSupply is a great venue to hear the latest thinking in a number of areas impacting the games supply chain.”

Here’s a review of last year’s accomplishments:

“The 2009 GameSupply provided a unique forum for supply chain executives from various segments of the video game industry to interact,” said Bob MacDougall, Vice President – Logistics, GameStop. “Ideas were shared toward promoting mutual efficiencies, while the proprietary aspects of our businesses were well-respected. Relationships were established that I have maintained throughout the year. I am looking forward to building on and expanding those relationships at the 2010 GameSupply.”

Register now and save!

Major Retail Presence at Next Month’s Event

Video games are sold, rented and traded at retail – both in stores and online. Even kiosks are selling and trading video games. What’s the future for these varied business models? In addition to addressing these topics in the morning Keynote by Tony Bartel, Executive Vice President, Merchandising and Marketing, Gamestop, leading retailers are scheduled to join the discussions at GameSupply on February 10 in San Jose to address the options and opportunities. Scheduled for the Academy, in the afternoon session “Retailing Business Models: Variations on a Theme” are Chris Woodbury, Demand Planning Senior Manager, Video Games Team, Best Buy and Joel Resnik, Director, Games and Consumer Electronics, Redbox. And, we will close the conference with Bob MacDougall, Vice President, Logistics, GameStop and Patricia Vessey, Director, Supply Integration, Best Buy, who are scheduled to talk as part of the panel on the session entitled: “Waging a War on Stock-Outs.”

GameSupply Keynote Quotable: Owen Roberts, General Manager, North American Operations, Microsoft Entertainment and Devices

“We need to be able to offer choice to our customers – where they buy and how they buy. My biggest focus right now is ensuring we have the correct infrastructure to identify and recognize a customer no matter what channel they elect to buy through. At the end of the day they are a Microsoft customer and we need to ensure their buying and consumption experience is best in class, thus ensuring a loyal and valuable long-term relationship.”

For the full interview with Mr. Roberts click here.

Leading Analysts Join GameSupply

Video game console players are taking on an expanded role as the household’s entertainment center. More video games are being distributed online. The new game consumers brought into the industry by the Nintendo Wii are different than the traditional gamer. See how these changes are impacting the industry as top industry research firms provide their latest findings on consumer behavior and trends in video games, along with current and projected sales in hardware and software. Presenting exclusive data in the session entitled “Facing Forward: The Future of the Video Game Industry” include: Jesse Divnich, Vice President, Analyst Services, EEDAR; Colin Sebastian, Senior Vice President, Equity Research, Internet and Interactive Entertainment, Lazard Captial Markets; and Nick Williams, Director, Gaming Insights, OTX.

Game Retailers Go To War Against Stock Outs

Stock outs have proliferated at retail, much to the financial strain of the distribution channel. What are the solutions to this problem that curbs profits and frustrates customers? Multiple perspectives will be brought to bear on collaboratively enhancing execution in the last 100 feet at retail which impacts inventory accuracy, stock-outs, effectiveness of promotions and receivables reconciliation, ultimately determining profitability and customer experience. In addition to GameStop’s Bob MacDougall and Best Buy’s Patricia Vessey, this session will feature: Rocco Cavella, Director, Category Management, Activision Blizzard; John Sullivan, Industry Consultant; and Nick Williams, Director, Gaming Insights, OTX.

Major Replicators Call to Action in Turbulent times

Maximizing customer satisfaction at retail, under conditions of dynamic game development cycle, customer demand uncertainty, capacity constraints, retail information availability, sustainability of the environment, and value-added services, remains a formidable challenge as well as an opportunity for replicators and the industry. An issues and answers session, featuring senior representatives from all major North American disc replicators, will attempt to remove the kinks in the supply chain through a collaborative and proactive approach in a first party manufacturing environment. Participants include: Stephan Corti, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales, Technicolor; Sven Deutschmann, Chief Executive Officer, Arvato Digital Services EMEA; Paul Scott, Executive Vice President, Sony DADC Americas; and Brad Springer, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, JVC America.

Packaging and Distribution: Meeting Retail Demand

In a consumer-centric marketplace with an unpredictable and volatile demand of a plethora of SKUs, best practices for packaging and distribution of video games will be addressed by the panelists. Transformative opportunities of consolidation of shipments, postponement of inventory, optimization of warehousing and transportation, procurement of packaging materials, and enhanced usage of POS data will be some of the strategies to be discussed. This GameSupply session will feature insights by these industry leaders: Mike Davis, Vice President, Purchasing, Ingram Entertainment; David Ginsberg, Vice President, Operations, Navarre Corporation; and Ron Novotny, Executive Vice President, Global Sales and Business Development, Cinram.

Speakers at Game Supply 2010

• Bo Andersen, President and Chief Executive Officer, Entertainment Merchants Association
• Roy Bahat, Chief Executive Officer, IGN
• Tony Bartel, Executive Vice President, Merchandising and Marketing, GameStop
• Rocco Cavella, Director, Category Management, Activision
• Stephan Corti, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales, Technicolor
• Mike Davis, Vice President, Purchasing, Ingram Entertainment
• Sven Deutschmann, Chief Executive Officer, Arvato Digital Services
• Jesse Divnich, Vice President, Analyst Services, EEDAR
• Mark Friedler, Publisher, Industry Gamers
• Ted Garcia, Media & Entertainment Lead, northhighland
• Sarah Garrison, Product Launch Manager, Microsoft
• Bob Geistman, Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Ingram Entertainment and Chairman, EMA
• Tony Gillette, SVP Retail Operations, Play N Trade
• David Ginsberg, Vice President, Operations, Navarre Corporation
• Karen LaBombarda, Director, TMG Associates
• Danny Lax, Clear-Vu
• Bob MacDougall, Vice President, Logistics, GameStop
• Devendra Mishra, Chief Strategist, MESA and Conference Co-Chairman, GameSupply
• Thomas Moran, Senior Director, Media and Entertainment Markets, Savvis
• Spencer Mott, Global Chief Information Security Officer, Electronic Arts
• Ron Novotny, Executive Vice President, Global Sales and Business Development, Cinram
• Russ Pearlman, Principal, Media & Entertainment Group, Capgemini
• David Perry, CEO and Co-Founder of Gaikai.com
• John P. Quinn, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Operations, Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment
• Joel Resnik, Director, Games and Consumer Electronics, Redbox
• Owen Roberts, General Manager, North American Operations, Entertainment and Devices Division, Microsoft
• Paul Scott, Executive Vice President, Sony DADC Americas
• Colin Sebastian, Senior Vice President, Equity Research, Internet and Interactive Entertainment, Lazard Capital Markets
• Matt Sprague, Director of Sales, BayTSP
• Brad Springer, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, JVC America
• John Sullivan, Industry Consultant
• Patricia Vessey, Director, Supplier Integration, Best Buy
• Cheryl Wiebe, Consulting Partner, National Media, Entertainment and eBiz Practice, Teradata
• Nick Williams, Director, Gaming Insights, OTX
• Chris Woodbury, Demand Planning Senior Manager – Video Games Team, Best Buy