BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//SFBig - ECPv6.15.20//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-CALNAME:SFBig X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://sfbig.org X-WR-CALDESC:Events for SFBig REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Los_Angeles BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20190310T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20191103T090000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20200308T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20201101T090000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20210314T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20211107T090000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20200521T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20200522T130000 DTSTAMP:20260429T192946 CREATED:20200513T030423Z LAST-MODIFIED:20200522T003609Z UID:15697-1590062400-1590152400@sfbig.org SUMMARY:Lunch & Learn: Esports May 21st DESCRIPTION:Lunch & Learn:\nHelping Brands Understand Gaming Entertainment and Esports\nJoin us for another amazing Lunch & Learn on Thursday\, May 21st from 12 – 1 pm PST. Gaming has overtaken the entertainment world and yet very little is understood about how gaming and entertainment interact. Programs like esports and gaming entertainment are in their infancy\, but the audience is massive. In this panel\, learn exactly how gaming intersects with entertainment; how esports fits into the mix; how brands can get involved in meaningful ways; and learn what’s coming next. \nMeet the well-rounded team that is taking the lead during this discussion and get excited about next week’s event! \nMeet The Panel For The Event\nBrandon Byrne | CEO\, Opera Event\n \nBrandon Byrne is the CEO for the startup Opera Event\, a platform for social media content creators. \nBefore Opera Event\, Brandon was the CFO for Team Liquid and helped them raise money through the investment group that included Magic Johnson\, Ted Leonsis and Peter Guber. \nHe also served as an executive at Curse\, a PC technology and media company that was bought by Twitch.tv. He led several rounds of fundraising at Curse and transitioned the organization from a small startup into a fast-growing company that doubled the size of the staff in eight months. He led the initiative to open international offices in Dublin\, the U.K.\, Germany and Australia and secured several debt facilities for Curse to fund their growth. \nAn avid gamer\, Brandon still plays World of Warcraft\, League of Legends\, Civilization\, Xcom\, Ark and Diablo III. He has also served as an advisor on the UCSC board for three years now. \nBrandon has a bachelor’s degree from Pepperdine University in Business Management. \n  \nMarco Mereu | Senior Vice President of Content Distribution & GM of Framerate at Super League Gaming\n \nSuper League Gaming\, Inc. (NasdaqCM: SLGG) is a leading esports community and content platform for amateur esports players\, fans and friends of all ages and skill levels. With a focus on positive and inclusive gameplay\, Super League enables players to experience their sport like the pros while also developing sportsmanship\, communication\, and team-building skills. Powered by a proprietary technology platform\, Super League operates physical and digital experiences in partnership with publishers of top-tier games. Local movie theatres\, PC cafes\, restaurants\, and entertainment venues are transformed into esports arenas where gamers compete\, socialize\, spectate and celebrate the amateur esports lifestyle. Super League’s platform offers unique amateur esports experiences that not only ratchet up the competition for avid gamers\, but also attract audiences with elite amateur broadcasts that transform physical venues as well as fuel SuperLeagueTV’s Twitch and YouTube channels. \nFramerate is a cross-platform esports network delivering news\, highlights and entertainment to the next generation of viewers.  Framerate was acquired by Super League Gaming in June 2019. Prior to Framerate\, Mereu founded and built Roostr\, the first performance based sponsored content marketplace for YouTube gaming influencers and mobile games. Roostr was acquired by Chartboost in January 2016. \nPrior to Roostr\, Mereu founded Gameblyr\, one of the first independent publishing platforms for mobile gaming. Gameblyr published 8 titles in two years with 7 being featured by Apple and 2 Editors Choice Awards. \nMereu also served as General Counsel and VP US Business Development for Evony Online\, one of the largest browser based MMO’s in history with over 30 million players worldwide. \n  \nDarin Kwilinski| Senior Editor of Esports at ESPN\n \nHi! My name is Darin\, and I love video games. I also love writing and editing. I’m now at ESPN covering esports on a global scale. Every day there are new challenges to tackle\, and every project I learn something new. In short\, it’s pretty awesome. \nFeel free to connect with me and let’s chat about esports\, video games\, nerd culture\, or whatever else you think is neat! \n  \nDr. Chris “Doc” Haskell | Clinical Associate Professor\, Head Coach of Esports at Boise State University\n \nDr. Chris Haskell plays video games for a living\, or at least that’s what his friends think. “Doc” is the director and Headcoach of the Varsity Esports At Boise State (350 wins and climbing). As a professor and researcher\, Doc also focuses on the impact of videogames\, virtual worlds\, on learning and culture.  He even has retro 80s arcade games in his office\,…for research of course. When it comes to work\, Dr. Haskell is serious about play. It’s no wonder his friends think he needs a real job. \n  \nWil Wheaton | Host\, Commissioner\n \nIn 2020\, Wil Wheaton will star as the host/commissioner of GAMEMASTER\, a new\, nine-episode esports reality show featuring 12 amateur contestants from across the U.S. Ripped from their gaming chairs and plunged into our world\, these gamers will live together in a house under the inescapable spotlight of a competition broadcast on platforms around the globe. Over the course of nine episodes (with more than two dozen video games)\, the contestants will be on a quest to discover the one\, true “GameMaster.” Twelve amateur gamers start out\, someone goes home each week\, and two will battle it out in the finale to grab the $100K cash prize and claim the title. \nAn accomplished actor\, Wheaton was already a veteran of cinema and television when\, at the age of 15\, he was cast as boy genius Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation. His most prominent early role was that of Gordie LaChance\, the central character in the film Stand By Me. Through the years\, he has appeared in dozens of films and TV shows\, including recurring roles on TNT’s Leverage\, SyFy’s Eureka\, and the hit\, gamer-oriented web series\, “The Guild.” He is the co-creator\, producer and host of the wildly successful web series\, “Tabletop\,” credited with reigniting national interest in tabletop gaming. Most recently\, he played a fictionalized version of himself on CBS’s The Big Bang Theory\, one of the most highly-rated and watched sitcoms of the last decade. Wheaton has become a strong voice for the “nerd” community thanks to his books\, convention appearances\, podcasts and involvement in the video game community.  \nAn accomplished voice talent\, Wheaton has been featured in animated series including\, TeenTitans\, Guardians of the Galaxy\, and Batman: The Brave and the Bold. His video game credits include four installments each of the “Grand Theft Auto” and “Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon” series\, as well as “Fallout: New Vegas\,” “DC Universe Online\,” and ”Broken Age.” \nWheaton’s audiobook narration of Ernest Cline’s “Ready Player One” debuted at number one on The New York Times bestseller list and was one of Goodreads’ 10 Best Narrator and Audiobook Pairings of All Time. He has also lent his voice to titles by John Scalzi\, Randall Monroe and Joe Hill. \nAs an author\, he has written “Just A Geek\,” “Dancing Barefoot\,” “The Happiest Days of Our Lives\,” “Hunter\,” and “Dead Trees Give No Shelter\,” plus a forthcoming novel\, “All We Ever Wanted Was Everything.” He has contributed columns to salon.com\, The A.V. Club\, LA Weekly\, Playboy\, The Washington Post\, and the Suicide Girls Newswire. \nIn recent years\, Wheaton has earned recognition as an outspoken mental health advocate. He chronicled his own journey in his blog and as a public speaker for the National Alliance on Mental Illness. His powerful\, candid essay about his struggle with chronic depression and anxiety garnered national attention. \n  \nOur Wonderful Moderator\nMike Parker | Global President at iCrossing\n \nAs Global President\, Mikes leads iCrossing where he oversees the agency’s international network of 13 offices and a team of 1000 and is responsible for the full-service digital agency’s mission of being the Marketing Agency for the Modern World. With nearly twenty years of experience in digital marketing and agency leadership\, he has consistently partnered with brands like Nestlé\, Microsoft\, Bridgestone\, Intel and Clorox to inspire digital transformation\, build deep engagements with customers and drive business performance through strategic marketing programs. Mike joined iCrossing in 2015 and previously oversaw its west coast and US territories before taking over responsibilities for the global operations in 2017. \nBased in Silicon Valley\, Mike is passionate about bringing innovation to clients\, he launched “The Collaboratory” innovation practice at iCrossing and was Past President of the Bay Area Innovation Group. Prior to joining the Heart-owned marketing agency\, he served as Global Digital Officer at McCann WorldGroup\, where he led the integration of digital thinking and services across the world’s largest ad agency. Before McCann\, he was co-president for Tribal DDB’s U.S. network. Mike was recognized by Campaign Magazine as a ’40 over 40′ leader of digital marketing\, he has won Digital Agency of the Year honors and was a member of the inaugural Cannes Innovation Lions jury. \n  \nZoom Invite!\nWe are so excited! This will be another timely event on a trending topic in the market. Be sure to RSVP and join us for a special occasion. \nPlease click the link below to join the webinar:\nJOIN HERE\nPassword: LunchLearn \nOr iPhone one-tap :\nUS: +16699009128\,\,85144928754#\,\,1#\,640466# or +12532158782\,\,85144928754#\,\,1#\,640466# \nOr Telephone:\nDial(for higher quality\, dial a number based on your current location):\nUS: +1 669 900 9128 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1 301 715 8592 or +1 312 626 6799 or +1 646 558 8656 \nWebinar ID: 851 4492 8754 \nPassword: 640466 \nInternational numbers available: \nhttps://us02web.zoom.us/u/kbbpFiRyqJ \n  \nPlease fill out this quick poll \n\n\n \n \n Esports Poll\n \n \n Name*\n \n \n \n First\n \n \n \n \n Last\n \n \n Have you run a campaign targeting a gaming audience?*YesNoHave you ran a campaign within esports?*YesNoOn a scale from 1 - 10 how well do you what Esports is?*Please enter a number from 1 to 10.Have a questions or topic you want to discuss? Let us know!\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Δ URL:https://sfbig.org/event/lunch-learn-esports-may-21st/ ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://sfbig.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Lunch-and-Learn-Series-22.png ORGANIZER;CN="sfBIG":MAILTO:info@sfbig.org END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR