2021 SPEAKERS

Kooapps has made over 30 titles with 200MM downloads including Snake.io and Pictoword. Prior to Kooapps, CK was a research engineer at Microsoft Research where he built machine learning systems. CK has a BS in Electrical Engineering, a MS in Computer Science from Stanford University, and has taught several courses at the University of Washington.

•  Keith Waggoner is an innovator and expert in the gaming industry. Former US Navy and private military contractor, Keith has been involved in every aspect of implementation for video games and the business world. Including nonprofits and Consulting for projects such as Luxors' esports arena, Caesars entertainment, Gameworks national, Indy game development, and many more. From practical advising and operation, Keith has been integral for a majority of projects. Sought after for speaking and lending knowledge to multiple conventions, speaker panels, trade shows, masterclasses, and interviews.

•     Keith's most recent blockbuster project is ButtonSmasher LLC. Founder and owner to a revolutionary new platform filling in the gaps between users, industry, developers, and real aggregated results. Button Smasher was recently launched at E3 Los Angeles, and has already been featured in places like Forbes, business.com, yec.co, news, and media outlets as well as landing with all of the heavy hitters in gaming. 

• Dr. Ryan Terao (PsychSensei) is a licensed clinical psychologist and works in the esports industry as an esport psychologist, mental performance coach, and esport program developer. Within the esports industry, Dr. Terao has experience of working in titles such as League of Legends, Rainbow 6 Siege, and Valorant. Dr. Terao is very passionate about esports and believes that esports can be used as a tool to develop well-rounded of gamers and fans alike. As a trained clinical psychologist Dr. Terao, takes a systemic approach in understanding the various factors that affect the performance of esport teams, coaches, and individual players. In his work within the esports industry, Dr. Terao specializes in establishing team dynamics, effective communication systems, and mental self-regulation techniques. While in his work with individual players, Dr. Terao helps players to identify their ideal performance state and remove roadblocks that impede them from playing their best. As an esports psychologist, Dr. Terao brings a systemic and holistic approach and perspective of the mental, physical, and social health of gamers. Dr. Terao continues to pursue his passion for esports while ensuring the safety and further deployment of the esports community as a whole.

• Roderick Alemania is the Co-Founder and CEO of ReadyUp, a B2B SaaS platform enabling content creators and event organizers to activate large communities as content distribution partners through a distributed network of widgets promoting relevant events that appeal to the communities. An accomplished entrepreneur, Roderick has been at the forefront of industry transforming technology throughout his career. After launching Microsoft’s first ever interactive marketing campaign with the launch of Windows95, Roderick helped to grow Infoseek--the creator of search engine marketing--from being a startup to a publicly-traded company, which was then purchased by Disney. As gaming shifted to the mass market, he was a key contributor for driving IGN’s value from $26MM to a $650MM acquisition by News Corp. At Vudu, he moved digital distribution to high definition formats (HD) when the industry was still in its infancy. At Six Apart, he helped to lead the development of the influencer marketing industry during the early days of blogs. And, at Tapjoy, he pioneered mobile advertising strategies for consumer brands.

• Dave is the CEO of Changing Vegas LLC, an indie game development + film studio in Las Vegas, Nevada. His company is merging video games and casino games. Dave has been playing strategy games all of his life. He has 10 years' experience dealing high-limit poker, craps, and blackjack in Las Vegas, and 3 years' experience teaching dozens of new casino dealers. During Covid, he launched www.SuperDealerSchool.com, an online poker dealer course. With the support of the Black Fire Innovation Center, the UNLV Office of Economic Development, and the City of Las Vegas, Changing Vegas is now developing Asteroid Arena! - a 4-person CCG, designed for Las Vegas ESports.