Sound Arts, 9:30 am – 11:30 am

East End

Sound Arts – Guest Speaker
James McKinneyProducer/Songwriter

James is an accomplished pianist/keyboardist, vocalist, musical director, songwriter, arranger, producer, educator, businessman and philanthropist who has been playing piano and performing music since he was 3 years old. Since moving to Washington, DC in 1988, James has performed for 3 U.S. Presidents, and performed with the likes of Stevie Wonder, Rachell Ferrell, Kenny Lattimore, Raheem Devaugn, Kenny Burrell, James Moody, and up-and-comers Eric Roberson, Wayna, NDambi, Sy Smith, W. Ellington Felton, Kalyn, Kev O., YahZarah and Adia. Most recently James has gained widespread acclaim for his underground remix of Omarion’s “Icebox” and official remix of Mariah Carey’s “Touch my body.” During James’ tenure as a keyboardist, vocalist and musical director, James has traveled and performed extensively throughout the U.S. and to Europe, Japan and Africa. While improving his skills as a performer, James has also been honing his skills as a producer, concurrently performing and producing on several albums including, Will E. Smith’s Listen, Jali D’s Rappercussion, Julie Dexter’s Dexterity, Ayanna Gregory’s Beautiful Flower, David Hinds’ Mantra Cascade, Wayna’s Moments of Clarity, Vol.1 and Higher Ground, and Black Notes’ Insights. James has also penned several international commercial scores and industrial scores, as well as scores for short films, documentaries, digital media and corporate IDs for companies like The Discovery Channel and Johnson & Johnson.

Now, James has combined his executive skills with his love for music to take on the music industry as co-owner/executive of independent label New Moon Recordings, LLC. Additionally, James owns and operates Infinite Icon Enterprises, LLC which primarily provides production services but also provides educational services for music and music business, business consulting as well as music & entertainment consulting services. His goal with both of these businesses is to build them into companies that will partner with and compete with major labels and entertainment companies.

James is also using his skills to enhance the human condition through philanthropy and education. He currently serves as Vice President of the Board of the DC Chapter National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences’ Board of Governors, (NARAS also know as The Grammy Association), as well as a Co-Chair of the Producers and Engineers Wing of this chapter. Additionally, he sits on the Producers and Engineers Wing’s National Steering Committee and Advisory Committee for NARAS. Furthermore, he performs educational and technical workshops in nationwide, and seeks out opportunities to help worldwide communities through his musical abilities and other talents.

James counts his musical talents and business savvy and experience as a blessing, and looks forward to continuing to use these gifts for the betterment and empowerment of people needing and seeking positive inspiration around the world, as he continues to share his and other’s music globally through live performance and recorded music.

MGD, 9 am – 10:00am / 10am – 11:30am

Meyer Hall / South Wing 506B

Motion Graphic Design – Guest Speaker
Brad SoderlundDesigner/Creative Director, OneSixEight Design Group

Brad Soderlund has been a veteran of Entertainment Marketing and Design for over 14 years. He is a multi-award winning designer and creative director for on-air branding, motion graphics, and promotion campaigns. After rising through the ranks at Novocom, Brad moved in 1999 to San Francisco where he co-founded OneSixEight Design Group. Throughout the last 10 years, OneSixEight has become a nationally recognized studio in the arena. Their work has been seen on outlets such as:

• ABC: Network Rebrand
• National Geographic Channnel: Launch and Rebrand
• Buena Vista television: 6+ years of promotion packaging for flagship Live! with Regis and Kelly
• NBC News: redesign of ratings powerhouses Today Show and Dateline
• PBS: Rebrand of signature NewsHour with Jim Lehrer show.
• ABC: Promo Packaging for major shows such as LOST, Boston Legal, Wifeswap and others.
• National Geographic Channel: over 20 different Opening Titles and Show Packages as well as scores of other projects in the commercial, network, cable, and corporate arenas.

As Creative Director, Brad maintained ultimate responsibility for all creative solutions leaving the shop. He led all design direction; challenged and grew the design team members; developed and nurtured client relationships through presentation and dialogue; and helped select and plan team members and production techniques.

GAD, 1 pm – 3 pm

Meyer Hall

Game Art & Design – Guest Speaker
John Bates Entropia Universe

John K. Bates is in charge of Business Development & Strategic Marketing in the Americas for Entropia Universe.  Mr. Bates graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Honors Colleguim of the University of California at Los Angeles where he received a B.S. in Sociology/Social Psychology. John is a professional public speaker and has been part of the computer game, virtual world, Internet, marketing & communication industry for over 20 years.

John gained fame as the Director of Online Services for Virtual Vegas, the first entertainment site (no real gambling) in the dot com domain. Virtual Vegas participated in many groundbreaking beta tests: the release of VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language - VR for the Web), RealAudio, Worlds Away, the Palace and many more. John also co-founded RadioNet, the first radio show with a home page. He was one of the original 4 co-founders of BIGWORDS.com where he was instrumental in raising over $68M and helped create and execute extremely successful youth marketing campaigns. Mr. Bates also created and implemented the very successful High School & Jr. College outreach program for the Ex’pression Center for New Media.

Entropia Universe was launched in January 2003 and has grown to over 800,000 registered accounts from over 200 countries. Its business model is unique. The client software is free to download from the internet and there are no monthly subscription fees. As the only virtual universe with a real cash economy whose currency, the PED, has a fixed exchange rate of 10:1 with the US Dollar, Entropia Universe provides a means for new players to immediately start exploring and earning real cash without having to deposit money. A key feature is that the funds acquired in Entropia Universe can easily be withdrawn into real-life cash.

AVE, 4 pm – 6 pm

Meyer Hall

Animation & Visual Effects – Guest Speaker
Ben GrossmannVisual Effects Supervisor, Director,The Syndicate

Visual Effects Supervisor, Director Visual effects supervisor and director Ben Grossmann’s range of talents is as diverse as his background. Born in Washington, D.C., he grew up in Alaska, where he attended the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He put himself through college as a photojournalist, stringing for the Associated Press, where he worked in large and small format film and traditional hand-processing and printing. Grossman left college in his senior year, three credits short of a bachelor’s degree in international politics, to start a television production company. In his role there as videographer, then editor and producer, he ushered in the transition from linear to non-linear editing workflows.

Moving to Los Angeles in 2001 to seek out what he considered to be the future of filmmaking, Grossmann began his career in feature film visual effects with paint and roto positions on films like Spiderman and Hart’s War. He was visual effects supervisor on Hollow Man II, sequence supervisor on Sin City and compositing supervisor on The Day After Tomorrow. He was also a digital compositor on Master and Commander and The Italian Job. In addition to serving as supervising compositor on more than 650 shots for Coronado, Grossmann designed the main titles for the film.

In 2006, Grossmann won an Emmy for Outstanding Visual Effects for his work as a digital compositor on the 2005 mini-series The Triangle.