Sponsors and Participants

Westwood College is an institution of higher learning dedicated to providing quality, career-focused undergraduate programs that prepare students with the knowledge, skills, and credentials needed to launch, enhance, or change careers. The College offers broad access to education and serves a diverse, multicultural body of students in an environment that promotes pride, respect, and teamwork. The College's programs are designed to empower students to pursue their individual career goals.  Westwood College is leader in career-focused education, meeting workforce needs in high-demand employment fields. Westwood College offers Bachelor’s and Associates degrees in the schools of Business, Design, Healthcare, Justice, and Technology.

Founded in 1970, American InterContinental University offers a wide range of Associate, Bachelor's and Master's degree programs.

Our multi-campus institution of higher learning is focused on helping students acquire industry-current knowledge and skills as they pursue, build and advance their careers in many of today's most in-demand fields.

Quality Technology Services (QualityTech) is one of the nation's largest privately held providers of data center facilities and managed services. We provide unmatched availability, scalability and security through our nationwide footprint of robust data center facilities. With more than 2 million square feet of data center space strategically located throughout the United States, QualityTech delivers industry leading power and cooling density as well as a dynamic network and world-class managed services.

The Evermore Community Improvement District is an association of property owners along U.S. 78 in Gwinnett County that voluntarily tax ourselves in order to make our community a great place to live, work, and shop.
We seek to establish a vibrant, upscale destination area; improve business development opportunities; and enhance property values by developing and promoting coordinated transportation and community character improvements to benefit property owners, business owners, and residents along the Highway 78 corridor.

The videogame development industry is fast becoming a major component of the entertainment mix in Georgia. The Georgia Film, Music & Digital Entertainment Office (GFMD), a division of the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD), is leading the way and becoming a “hot spot” in the thriving and powerful videogame development industry.

The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) is the state's sales and marketing arm, the lead agency for attracting new business investment, encouraging the expansion of existing industry and small businesses, locating new markets for Georgia products, attracting tourists to Georgia, and promoting the state as a location for film, television, videogame and music projects, as well as planning and mobilizing state resources for economic development.

The Computer ArenA is a large 13,000 sq. ft. facility in Roswell, Georgia revolving around the best aspects of computers & technology. Although computers are not new, the concept of combining so many uses for them in one place is a brilliant idea whose time has arrived. The Computer ArenA is made up of four complementary areas--Computer Sales & Service, Computer Gaming ArenA, Computer Classroom, and Good Time Café-- each playing its own unique role in the customer's experience.  The Computer ArenA offers great value & entertainment for the entire family in a beautiful clean setting surrounded by the best technology has to offer! 

Internap is a leading Internet solutions company that provides The Ultimate Online Experience™ by managing, delivering and distributing applications and content with 100% performance and reliability. With a global platform of data centers, managed Internet services and a content delivery network (CDN), Internap frees its customers to innovate their business, improve service levels, and lower the cost of IT operations.

Georgia Power:  More than 80 Years of Generating Prosperity.  Georgia Power is an investor-owned utility with an international reputation for excellence in economic development. Georgia Power has been helping companies locate in our state for more than 80 years. Over the past decade alone, we have helped bring more than 211,000 jobs and $23 billion in capital investment to Georgia. Our experienced professionals take the prospect through every step of the site selection process, providing a comprehensive, one-stop source for business and industrial development in Georgia. In addition to www.selectgeorgia.net, our Web-based tool for finding the best site, building or community, other services include custom research, demographics, civil engineering, and continued care after you locate to Georgia. All services are confidential and without cost or obligation.  Georgia Power is the largest subsidiary of Southern Company, one of the nation’s largest generators of electricity. The company is an investor-owned, tax-paying utility with rates well below the national average. Georgia Power serves 2.3 million customers in all but four of Georgia’s 159 counties.  If you would like additional information, please email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or visit our web site at www.selectgeorgia.net.

Southern Polytechnic State University is a member of the University System of Georgia. Located on 193 acres of naturally wooded landscape in Marietta, we are just 20 minutes from downtown Atlanta. Through its School of Computing and Software Engineering, SPSU offers degrees in Computer Science, Software Engineering, and Information Technology. Additionally, SPSU plans to offer a Bachelors of Science in Game Design and Development beginning in the Fall of 2009. Please visit http://cse.spsu.edu and http://games.spsu.edu for more information.  

GameTap launched in 2005 and was hailed as the first-of-its-kind broadband entertainment network, delivering games and video through a unique 3D desktop client. The client application, revolutionary for its time, was written in C++ using a custom 3D engine developed in house. Nominated for a technical Emmy (Outstanding Innovation and Achievement in Advanced Media Technology for the Best Use of “On Demand” Technology Over the Public (open) Internet) in 2006, GameTap won the Horizon Interactive Award, Best in Category: Video Games in 2007.

GameTap and Metaboli merged forces in September of 2008 to form a new global network dedicated to the digital distribution of games. We are now a partnered company that spans the Atlantic and can provide the best of both companies to all of its members. We are a company of gamers dedicated to the community of gamers to provide the best value in gaming.

Glitch Gaming Apparel is the premier brand for video game t-shirts and apparel. The Glitch brand has been created specifically for the gaming community and is determined to produce the coolest gaming apparel on the planet.  The Glitch company is 100% all about video games and the company plans to produce highly creative and unique apparel products for all gamers around the world.

Blue Heat Games is a highly-qualified development team. We understand the attention to detail and design considerations needed create products that have sold over 1 million units. Our members have over 40 years of professional experience in the electronic entertainment industry with a core competency of console, PC, and mobile development.

Blue Heat maintains a highly competent, specialized game development studio, where the employees are passionate about their games and the unique environment in which they work.

KONSOLE KINGZ (KKZ) has emerged as leaders of the urban video gaming space. We’ve focused on a unique combination of promotions, event planning, gaming tournaments, viral marketing, and editorial pieces to connect with and understand the urban gamer.

KKZ has planned and executed highly successful events, promotional contests and tournaments for major clients, including Microsoft, 2K Sports and Def Jam Interactive, where we connected gaming giants with top hip-hop artists and urban tastemakers nation-wide.

Combining a social network and a virtual world, Kaneva brings profiles and entertainment to the 3D realm in a modern-day, online digital world full of real friends and good times. Kaneva provides a whole new way — a more human way — to connect with friends online.

A center for INNOVATION in teaching, Georgia Gwinnett College offers leading-edge technology, personal attention and hands-on learning experiences for students who want to forge their own paths. It’s a place where CREATIVITY is fostered and rewarded, and students and faculty are encouraged to think big. And it’s a place where students are empowered to put ideas into action, finding INSPIRATION all around them – on campus, in the workplace, in their communities and out in the world. It’s no wonder GGC is known as the Campus of Tomorrow.

The second annual Triangle Game Conference will be held April 6-7, 2010 at the Marriott City Center located in downtown Raleigh, NC. With more than 30 gaming companies located in the Triangle, TGC brings together the best and brightest in the industry for resource sharing and career building through lectures by industry experts, a Career Lounge and Expo Hall. For more information, visit www.trianglegameconference.com.

Zeevex is an open Virtual Currency that comes in the form a Gift Card. The Zeevex Tokens (ZVX) are designed to be used for online video games and other cool virtual content.

Bennett Thrasher is one of the largest Atlanta-based full-service certified public accounting and consulting firms. We create significant value and a unique positive experience through collaboration – with and between clients, shareholders, associates and the community. Founded in 1980 by Rick Bennett and Ken Thrasher, today Bennett Thrasher has a dedicated, experienced team of 18 shareholders and more than 125 professionals. Bennett Thrasher has recently expanded its corporate structure to include BT Capital Partners, LLC investment banking services and BT Wealth Management, LLC investment advisors.

Appsolute Genius is a full service mobile development software firm.

Cartoon Network Digital provides a wealth of interactive content for fans of all ages. In 2004, Cartoon Network Digital formed an internal game development studio devoted entirely to creating online games. With over one billion game plays last year, CartoonNetwork.com now offers more than 100 innovative games, many created by some of the best independent developers in the business. In January, 2009, Cartoon Network launched its biggest game project to date: Cartoon Network Universe: FusionFall, a massively-multiplayer online game set in an anime-inspired universe and populated by everyone’s favorite Cartoon Network characters.

Changyou.com (NASDAQ: CYOU) is one of the top 5 leading developers and operators of online games in China. We began operations in 2003 as Sohu.com’s (NASDAQ: SOHU) massively multi-player online games (“MMORPG”) business unit, before our carve-out as a separate, stand-alone company in December 2007 and subsequent listing on the NASDAQ Global Select Market in April 2009. We now operate one of the most popular MMORPGs in China, and have enjoyed strong growth in user data and revenues for our games. The Peak Concurrent Users of one of our game TLBB is 1Millions users. And our last quarter's revenue is $66M US Dollars.

Clickteam the Development team behind the award winning multimedia creation software "Multimedia Fusion 2" has been helping people all over the world realize their dream of creating their own Games and Applications for PC. Multimedia Fusion 2 with it's amazingly simple but powerful event editor gives anyone the ability to create awesome programs for PC, Java, Cell phones, Mac and soon even more platforms. Visit us at www.Clickteam.com to learn more.  Clickteam rep at show: Chris "Kisguri" Carson - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Established in 2003 by a team of call center, game development and Silicon Valley technology veterans, DME has proven itself as an online game publishing trailblazer for emerging markets. Mobius, DME's online game publishing business unit has licensed and successfully launched 7 MMOG titles in Southeast Asia, using a variety of business models, and has cumulatively registered over 12m players on the www.mobiusgames.net portal with a peak active user base of 1.4m per month across Southeast Asia. In addition to building profitable MMOG publishing business, DME architected and maintains a robust integrated digital media platform that was custom designed for cash based emerging markets. This highly scalable platform enables a variety of essential services to insure a rich online game experience including online payment, community building, and vendor loyalty programs.

As DME continued to gain recognition for its expertise in the digital media publishing industry, in 2006, it expanded its operations and became the first game publisher in the region to offer game services to global publishers and developers looking to manage costs, increase revenue streams and improve game play. Today DME’s game services unit has more than dozen globally recognized game developer clients and support a combined client customer base of over 22m registered users.

GL33k is a game audio company based out of Austin Texas that focuses on content creation, integration, and audio direction for the worlds most exciting industry. We are a group of individuals who are dedicated to the art of game audio and understand the effort and focus it takes to ship a great title. Comprised of gamers, sound nerds, and musicians the GL33k squad are the perfect addition to your teams growing audio needs.

Red Storm Entertainment was founded in 1996. Originally part of Virtus, the company released its first game – Tom Clancy’s Politika, the first in the Power Plays series – in 1997. Based in the RTP area of North Carolina, Red Storm quickly gained a reputation for innovation with games like Dominant Species, one of the first 3D realtime strategy games.

The success of Rogue Spear made Red Storm an attractive candidate for acquisition, and in 2000 the studio was purchased by UbiSoft. At the time of the sale, Red Storm was already hard at work on what would be the studio’s next genre-defining hit, a game that would take the tactical gameplay of Rainbow Six and turn it loose on the wide-open battlefields of the near future: Ghost Recon.

Southern Flow, Inc. is a full-service control systems integrator, with an established reputation for providing reliable, non-proprietary open architecture, cost-effective instrumentation, controls, and telemetry systems. We have over ten years experience providing systems specifically designed to satisfy the needs of our clients in both municipal water treatment and distribution, and wastewater collection and treatment.

As an independent control systems integrator we are able to select hardware and software components that are best suited for the application. We have extensive experience utilizing hardware from such vendors as Allen-Bradley, Bristol-Babcock, Control Microsystems, GE Fanuc, Modicon and Siemens. Our HMI software experience includes projects involving Citect, Intellution, Labview, Lookout, RSView, Trihederal and Wonderware.

Southern Flow, Inc. enjoys an excellent reputation for dependable high quality work, and prompt response throughout the project life cycle. In every contact that we make, whether municipal employee, contractor or engineering professional, we strive to conduct our business in a professional manner so that others will have confidence in our word and our work, and look forward to working with us again. At Southern Flow, Inc. we continually strive to make project start-up not just project completion, but the beginning of a long-term relationship.

TechExcel is a leading provider of collaborative issue management software for various disciplines including software development, customer service, IT service, and help desk management. TechExcel products include DevSuite, for application lifecycle management system (ALM), ServiceWise, help desk software and asset management for internal IT teams, and CustomerWise, a customer support focused Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application. TechExcel unifies the enterprise by bridging the gap between product development and service / support. This end-to-end environment empowers companies to optimize the relationship between these important organizations without sacrificing autonomy or business processes and provides a collaborative environment that significantly saves time and resources. Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Lafayette, California, TechExcel has over 1,500 customers in more than 42 countries and maintains offices in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, London and Beijing.

At Thrust Interactive our enthusiasm for making online games and virtual worlds is driven by our mission to build superior products through the relentless pursuit of technological creative innovation.  As an independent game studio third-party developer, we couple our comprehensive development framework agile processes with a genuine passion for playing creating games. Thrust’s talented team of experienced strategists, architects, designers, and developers collaborates with clients from concept to launch, transforming visions into successful reality.

About the Gwinnett Chamber and Partnership Gwinnett
Named one of the top three large chambers in the United States by ACCE, the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce’s membership varies from FORTUNE 500 companies to innovative startups, and stretches across the Atlanta region, from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport to UGA in Athens. The Gwinnett Chamber, named the third top chamber the nation by ACCE (American Chamber of Commerce Executives), focuses on creating and growing quality job opportunities while enhancing the community’s quality of life.

Partnership Gwinnett is Gwinnett’s economic and community development initiative. Led by the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce and a host of public and private partners, the initiative targets the retention and expansion of existing Gwinnett businesses in addition to the development of new business. Partnership Gwinnett’s five-year goal calls for the creation of 65,000 new jobs and $5.8 billion dollars in new wealth.