Global Business Forum, BA 545

Panel of Seattle video game companies discussing business and youth culture and market  in China and East Asia.

Moderator

Kristina Erickson Hudson – Kristina Erickson Hudson joined in early 2006 as Business Development Manager specializing in Interactive and Digital Media Technology enterpriseSeattle. In early 2004, Kristina founded the Washington Interactive Media Program, and brought this program with her to enterpriseSeattle. This was the first economic development program in the United States to be targeted solely at the video game industry. In September 2007, Kristina received the distinction of winning the Technology-Based Economic Development Award from the International Economic Development Association.

Panelists

Karl da Gama Campos works for Washington State Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development (CTED), and is responsible for helping SMEs (small and medium enterprises) in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector develop their business internationally. Karl has more than 15 years experience in international channel, OEM and direct sales, primarily in the technology space, having worked the spectrum of hardware, software and services. He has lived, worked and studied on four different continents and feels particularly at home with doing business in Europe and Asia. He is a trilingual graduate of the University of London and holds a pan-European MBA from the ESCP-EAP European School of Management (Paris-Oxford-Berlin). Karl can be reached at 206.256.6142 or karld@cted.wa.gov

Chris Kenji Beer, President & Co-Founder. As President of Media Lead, Chris oversees all aspects of sales and business development, and built the games, ringtones, and wallpapers businesses, having successfully managed the porting and launch of premium games titles for key partners such as NEC, EXCITE Japan, Tokyo FM, Mobile Media, Telus Mobility, Ericsson, and Mobilestreams. Past positions include head of Media Barcode Portal in the U.S., a Toshiba-Softbank mobile phone barcode solutions JV subsidiary; General Manager/ International Director, Freei Networks, Ltd.; co-founder, Freei- Asia; co-Publisher, Asia Pacific Economic Review for ten years; over 17 years experience in print and online advertising. He generated over $10 million in revenue and funding for these businesses. Chris authored “Japanese Health Care for the Elderly”, a book published by NCSL, and is a volunteer at ACRS, the region’s leading Asian community organization. Chris received his B.A. with honors from Xavier University, studied at Sophia University, Tokyo.

Jason Robar, Founder, AristoDigital Jason Robar was born and raised in the Seattle area. Jason had a background in the U.S. Air Force as a Russian linguist and in military intelligence. With experience at Microsoft’s game publishing division, he started an independent game industry consulting group working on outsourcing in Asia, game design, technology, and business in 2001. In 2004, he led the development of a major training game for the U.S. government’s Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) called DARWARS AMBUSH! to help in the training of convoy personnel deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2005, he founded Secret Lair Studios/Studio Ch’in, an independent development group with teams in Issaquah, Washington, and Shanghai, China, working towards a new model of “in sourcing.” In 2006, Vivendi Games/Sierra Online acquired the group to form their internal development team. In 2007, Jason and his business partner Jay Minn founded AristoDigital, an online game development company in Issaquah, Washington to once again pursue global game development opportunities.

Yale Wong, CEO, Chair and Co-founder of General Biodiesel, a two-year-old company that is now providing millions of dollars worth of clean energy to China. Website: www.generalbiodiesel.com

Yale Wong is a serial entrepreneur who made his first fortune when he sold his first company, Compass Communications, in 2004. Retired at the age of 37, he grew bored with his sports cars and charity work…so when he saw a demonstration of how used cooking oil could power a car, he saw an opportunity both to begin a new business and contribute to a better world. He now has a Beijing as well as a Seattle office and is beginning four major projects in China. More info:

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2008-01/09/content_6381635.htm

Joe Borich – Executive Director, Washington State China Relations Council and former Consul General, Shanghai for the U.S. State Dept.

Prior to his current position, Mr. Borich was a Foreign Service Officer. He entered the Foreign Service in 1972 Prior to his current position, Mr. Borich was a Foreign Service Officer. He entered the Foreign Service in 1972 and was closely associated with the China field throughout most of his career, serving under every president from Nixon to Clinton in a China-related capacity. His last assignment was as Consul General in Shanghai from October 1994 through June 1997; he previously helped open this Consulate General in 1980. He also served as Director of the Taiwan Coordination staff in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs in the Department of State, and prior to that as the last Deputy Chief of Mission in the former U.S. Embassy in Mogadishu.

Website:  www.wscrb.org

Joel Chusid – North American General Manager, Hainan Airlines, largest non-govt. airline in China.

Joel Chusid is an experienced, well respected, travel and tourism professional who has led US domestic and international air carriers in their strategic positioning in sales and business development, marketing and branding. In addition to the US, specific geographic expertise includes China, the Caribbean, the Bahamas, and Latin America.

Conversant in four languages, Mr. Chusid has traveled to over 100 countries and served as Vice President or Managing Director of Sales and Marketing for one of the worlds largest airlines and a prestigious Chinese carrier.

Mr. Chusid is equally at home on the airline side, the travel agency side or the related industry side such as travel and tourism associations or convention and company meeting groups. Mr. Chusid holds an MBA in International management from the University of Dallas.

Websites:  http://www.joelchusid.com;

http://www.hnair.com/hnairweben/FrameMain/wfmMainHnaWorld.aspx

Linda Cheever – President, Asia Pacific, Danaher Corp (parent company of Fluke).  Vice Chair, Water 1st International

Linda Cheever is President of the Danaher China Management Board and has oversight of Danaher sales and manufacturing operations including for Fluke and other Danaher operations. Responsible for driving strategic growth initiatives across Danaher companies in China, developing leadership talent and organizational capability to support that growth, providing “incubation” for Danaher companies new to China, and supporting sourcing and manufacturing strategies for domestic and export markets.

She holds the following positions on the Washington State China Relations Board.
•    Board Chair
•    Member of the Executive Committee
•    Member of the Program Committee

Websites:  www.Danaher.com or www.Fluke.com; also www.wscrb.org and http://www.water1st.org/

David Tang – Managing Partner, KL Gates, heading the law firm’s Asia practice and three China offices; Chair, SF Federal Reserve Bank Board

David Tang is Managing Partner, Asia for the U.S. law firm K&L Gates.  He leads the Asia practice and four China offices and is on the Firm Executive Committee. He was Managing Partner of the Firm from 1995-2000.  His practice focuses on foreign investment and international business transactions and financings. Among other activities, he serves as Chairman of the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, President of the American Bar Foundation, past Chair of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce and on the boards of National Bureau of Asian Research, the Pacific Council on International Policy, National Committee on US-China Relations, and Anglo-American Real Property Institute. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Visiting Committee of Columbia University School of Law and several groups within the American Bar Association.  He holds an AB (magna) from Harvard University; a JD from Columbia University; and a certificate from The Hague Academy of International Law. He was born in Hong Kong and speaks Chinese.

Website:  http://www.klgates.com/Home.aspx

Seattle Times business reporter Kristi Heim has spent much of her career focused on China, following an interest passed from her Shanghai-born grandmother and great-grandmother. She has a master’s degree in international studies from the University of Washington and a bachelor’s degree in journalism. She learned Chinese in Beijing, worked for the Asian Wall Street Journal in Hong Kong and has returned to China regularly since 1990, most recently to cover the Beijing Olympics.

Links to some of Kristi Heim’s articles on business in China

Intellectual Property Issues
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/chinainfocus/2002782434_chinapiracy12.html
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/chinainfocus/2002801984_chinapiracy13.html

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?slug=fancher20&date=20051120

Boeing in China

http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20050606&slug=boeingchina06
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20050605&slug=boeingchina05
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/boeingaerospace/2002307265_boeingchina05.html

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002307261_fancher05.html

Environment – Business Solutions

http://www.pacificenvironment.org/article.php?id=2629

Michael Burnap, Vice President and Manager, International Trade, United Commercial Bank , which focuses on Chinese communities and American companies doing business in Greater China.

Questions, stories, comments?–Click on the “comment” link below the title.

Speaker team, please lead the discussion.

The Global Business Forum is an MBA class and speaker series focused on international business issues.  The forum invites regional executives from private sector companies and non-profit organizations to share their perspective on working in a global business environment.  Sponsored by the Global Business Center at the University of Washington,  the forum welcomes MBAs, graduate students from other departments, faculty, and staff to participate.

In Autumn 2008, the forum meets Mondays from 12:30 p.m. to 1:20 p.m. in Balmer Hall room 413. Participants are encouraged to bring a brown-bag lunch and join us for an informative and interesting discussion.