Join this exciting panel event where we'll discuss various aspects of technology in entertainment! Covering gaming to web content to blogging to digital home entertainment, our panel of prestigious speakers will offer insights into the latest and most important technologies that impact not only your personal life but also the business community. Come hear experts from Intel, Microsoft, Lockergnome and Grow Films discuss the innovations are driving their business strategies.

In addition to the panel discussion, WITI Portland will also feature Dress For Success, which provides programs that help economically disadvantaged women acquire jobs, retain their new positions and succeed in the mainstream workplace. Representatives from Dress For Success will be on-hand to collect your donations of clean, ready to wear professional business clothing appropriate for interviewing. Please bring donations of
* Clothing that is up-to-date (within the past 5 years), clean and servicable including pant and dress suits, skirts, blouses, blazers, slacks
* Gently worn shoes
* New, unopened undergarments
* Plus all other essentials for looking the best at a job interview, including accessories, pantyhose, jewelry, handbags etc.

Donations are tax-deductible, and receipts will be provided to those interested.

Bring a friend (male or female!) and meet other professionals who view technology as a central aspect of their business and their lives.

About Our Speaker(s)

John Davis is a member of the Games User Research Group at Microsoft Game
Studios. John has worked in the user research field for about 8 years and has conducted user research with thousands of gamers, and summarized thousands of hours of gameplay. Before coming to the games user testing group, John was a Usability Engineer in the Social Computing Group (SCG) at Microsoft Research, where he conducted research to explore various social dimensions of computer-mediated communication and decision making. Before joining Microsoft, he was an assistant professor of psychology at Seattle University. John earned his B.S. in psychology from Texas A & M University (yes, he is an Aggie) and his Ph.D. in Experimental Social and Personality Psychology from the University of Washington.

Ralph Biesemeyer joined Intel in 2000 and the Digital Home Group in 2005. As Director of Content Services Development and Enabling, he runs a worldwide engineering and enabling team that serves content providers, digital publishers, music, video and game licensors, enabling services to digital home devices. Previous to joining Intel, Ralph was Director of Production Systems Planning & Engineering at NBC Network and held management positions at Panasonic Broadcast, Tektronix and Grass Valley Group. He is a member of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers.

Sarah Marcus is the co-founder of Grow Film Company with fellow filmmaker Reed Harkness. Grow produces video projects for Wieden + Kennedy, Leopold Kettel, PICA and other Portland creative agencies. They are currently completing the feature length documentary "Sam Now!" which has recently received grant awards from the Pacific Pioneer Fund, Washington Council for the Humanities and RACC. Sarah is also an adjunct professor of film and video at Portland State University.

In addition to her professional activities, Sarah is also the director and co-director of several short films that have screened in film festivals worldwide and have received awards and recognition by Matt Groening, Todd Haynes and Christine Vachon.

Latthana "Ponzi" Indharasophang, who is of Thai descent, came to Lockergnome (www.lockergnmore.com) in April of 2004 from the mortgage industry, where she worked as a funding officer (and mobile notary), when she saw the promise of what the Internet could bring her personal and professional life. When she is not tracking attending to Lockergnome business, spiffing up her blog site (www.ponzarelli.com), pod-casting or planning conferences, including the upcoming Gnomedex—an annual pow-wow for tech lovers and entrepreneurs—she’s driving her convertible or eating strawberries in the bathtub. Ponzi says that she changes her hair color almost as often as her outfits, recently lost 100 lbs. and notes that her current favorite shoes are $10 flip-flops from Target. Lockergnome is an online web publishing company featuring writers for various “channels,” or topics including Windows fanatics, OSX, Technobabble, Web developers and more and also features coupons for discounts on everything from software to Tupperware™.

Our moderator is Marcia Hoover, the Director of Research and Strategic Planning at Young & Roehr Group, an integrated marketing communications agency in Portland serving the B2B market. In this role, she is responsible for developing the internal business strategy for the agency while also providing strategic counsel for YRG’s client base.

An accomplished corporate strategist and marketer for over 15 years, Ms. Hoover has broad experience in the technology industry, from networking applications and security systems to Web services and business process management. Prior to joining Young and Roehr, Ms. Hoover was a Director at Gartner, a technology research and consulting firm where she was responsible for building the market and business strategies for technology vendors in the Fortune 500. Ms. Hoover has also held senior level positions at Century Telephone and Pacific Telecom.

Ms. Hoover has two B.A.’s in Political Science and Communications from Washington State University, Edward R. Murrow School of Communications in Pullman, Washington.

Event Date and Venue

This event will be held from 6:00 - 8:00 PM on Thursday, October 6, 2005 at:

Mentor Graphics
8005 SW Boeckman Rd.
Wilsonville, Oregon 97070-7777
Map

Directions to Mentor Graphics via OR-217:

* Take the OR-217 south towards Beaverton/Tigard
* Take the I-5 south exit towards Salem
* Exit 286, Stafford Road/North Wilsonville
* Turn left onto SW Elligsen Road
* Turn right onto Canyon Creek Road
* Turn right onto SW Boeckman Drive
* Turn right into Mentor Graphics

This meeting will be held in the cafeteria of the Commons Building.

Directions to Mentor Graphics via I-84:

* Take I-84 west towards Portland
* Stay left and take the I-5 south exit towards Salem

* Remain on I-5 south towards Wilsonville/Salem
* Exit 286, Stafford Road/North Wilsonville
* Turn left onto SW Elligsen Road
* Turn right onto Canyon Creek Road
* Turn right onto SW Boeckman Drive
* Turn right into Mentor Graphics

Schedule

6:00-6:30: Networking
6:30: Welcome, presentation from Dress For Success
6:45-8:00: Technology In Entertainment presentations
8:00-8:30: Moderated panel discussion, Q&A
8:30: Closing remarks and networking

Pre-registration for this event is closed and on-site registrations will not be accepted.

About Our Sponsor(s)

Mentor Graphics® is a technology leader in electronic design automation (EDA), providing software and hardware design solutions that enable companies to develop better electronic products faster and more cost-effectively. The company offers innovative products and solutions that help engineers overcome the design challenges they face in the increasingly complex worlds of board and chip design. Mentor Graphics has the broadest industry portfolio of best-in-class products and is the only EDA company with an embedded software solution.

Contact Us

For more info regarding registration or event details, please contact Heather Bailey ([email protected]).

For more details about pre-registration, contact Tech Support.