Silicon Beach Fest

Apps. Every business wants one, be it a game, mobile or web-based. But with more and more apps available, what role should these apps play? Should an app be for profile, for profit or should it perform an additional function and perform a use for society? A panel of award-winning UK-based mobile, web-based and games app developers debate the changing international role of app developers.

Moderator: Matthew Desmier, Founder of Silicon Beach UK, Wise Old Uncle Ltd

Panelists:
- Mike Hawkyard, Amuzo Games, MD and Founder
- Duncan Cook, 3 Sided Cube, MD and Founder @duncancook
- Kriss Bennett, Createful, MD and Founder
- Marc Biles, Ratio, CEO @marcthebeat
- Jon Ginn, Base, Developer Evangelist @jonginn

Did you know that two of LA’s five $1 billion+ startups are founded by women? As the LA entrepreneur ecosystem continues to strengthen, there is a growing pipeline of women-led companies who could join tomorrow’s billion dollar club. Hear from a panel of women founders breaking new ground in e-commerce, social media music festival production, socially responsible marketplaces and designer dress rental – and the women who are making seed and early stage investments in women-led companies.

Moderator: Julie MacMedan, Women Founders Network, Co-Founder and COO

Speakers:
- Ann Wang, Enrou, Co-Founder and CEO
- Kelsey Doorey, Vow to be Chic, Co-Founder and CEO
- Jamie Kantrowitz, MESA Ventures, Managing Partner
- Katie Warner Johnson, Carbon38, Co-Founder and CEO

Join this panel featuring CEOs and CTOs who will assist in answering the questions related to choosing a CTO for your new venture. Topics may include how to differentiate yourself, motivating talent to join, and keeping interest long-term.

Moderator: Bryan Lemster, Halcyon Innovation LLC, President

Speakers:
- John Shiple, Freelance CTO, CEO/CTO
- Alex​ Capecelatro, Yeti, CEO. Alex is a developer, founder and CEO of Yeti local recommendation mobile app.
- Hank Leber​, Vytmn, CEO
- Jeffrey Chernick, RideAmigos, Owner

Developer Track presented by:

Silicon Beach CTOs from top companies will discuss how they find developers, build their team, work with other teams in their organization, and scale for growth from startup to next stages.

Moderator: Casey Frith-Smith, FOX Network Engineering & Operations, VP Video Solutions

Speakers:
- Lukas Sliwka, Grindr, CTO
- Sunil Bhanot, Demand Media, VP of Software Engineering
- Ethan Kravitz, Curbstand, CTO @CurbStand
- John Coogan, Soylent, CTO / Co-Founder

Developer Track presented by:

Women developers from startups and tech companies will discuss issues including finding the right tech job, working at a startup or large tech company, scalability. We will also discuss issues for women developers such as career advancement, working in a male-dominated industry, and what women, men, and companies can do to help women get into tech, stay in tech and succeed in tech. What are local or national resources or organizations for women developers.

Moderator: Tara Tiger Brown, Co-Founder of KitHub, Connected Camps and LA Makerspace

Speakers:
- Hala Aladwan, Technology Consultant @haladwan
- Justine Bateman, Computer Science and Management Major, UCLA; Intern Blur Studio
- Kate Hollenbach, Oblong Industries, Inc, Director Of Design & Computation @kjhollen
- Rachel Blum, Google, Chrome Site Lead, Los Angeles
- Roni Brunn, Video Ace, CEO @thebandfrom
- Cara Kuei, National Football Leauge, Web Developer

Developer Track presented by:

Women founders, including those who have raised angel or VC capital discuss what it takes to succeed from funding, team building to strategy.

Co-Moderators:
- Justine Lassoff, Co-founder/CEO Tuesdaynights & Co-founder, Love Goodly @JustineLassoff @ShopLoveGoodly
- Melinda Moore, CMO, Crowdfunder, Co-founder Tuesdaynights @Melinda_Moore

Speakers:
- Rebecca Wilson, Saatchi Art, Chief Curator and Director
- Nanxi Liu, Enplug, CEO
- Ariel Kaye, Parachute, Founder and CEO
- Lina Chen, Nix Hydra, Co-founder and CEO
- Shivani Siroya, Inventure, Founder

Growth hacking experts will share tips and techniques in Growth Hacking, where developers create quick code and scripts to capture marketing data from social media and other open sites, to help them target potential customers, generate sales leads, increase product awareness, and build customer and client databases. These techniques are useful for startups, sales, growth and more. Growth hacking is a unique combination of skill sets of developers and marketers; we’ll discuss how they can work together for successful growth hacking results.

Moderator: Javon Frazier, Maestro Media Ventures, Principal. Formerly Marvel Entertainment, VP Games Marketing @JavonFrazier

Speakers:
- Justin Wu, Vytmn, Co-Founder / Growth Engineer
- Peter Chen, Vytmn, CTO
- Marieme Haynes, JKH Naturals, Managing Director, previously at Microsoft

Presented by:

This panel will examine how the latest in mobile technology is revolutionizing various industries.  Topics will include beacons, ACR (Audio Content Recognition), geofencing, augmented reality, and the way they are being applied to solve real business needs.

Moderator: Lori Schwartz, StoryTech, Founder @worldofschwartz

Speakers:
- Allen Vartazarian, Instantly, VP of Product
- Nick Desai, Heal, Co–Founder/CEO
- Laurent Grill, Zeel, LA General Manager @laurentgrill
- Heena Rastogi, eHarmony, Senior iOS Developer

Developer Track presented by:

Experts in product development for software to Internet of Things will discuss strategies and tools for product development including systems for decreased product cycle time, user input and feedback for improvements and updates, lean development, new product features, rollout strategies, software tools to help with product management, and more.

Moderator: Cauri Jaye, rhubarb studios, CEO

Speakers:
- Mark Thomas, Google, Product Manager
- Chris Chandler, Fandango, Senior Director Product and UX
- Mary Baldwin, Pivotal Labs, Product Management
- Brian Kuhn, Media Temple, VP of Product
- Ben Handzo, NationBuilder, Head of Product

Developer Track presented by:

Join us for this discussion on girls in tech, from Girls Who Code, who are visiting LA this summer, so we thought we’d invite them to Silicon Beach Fest as a great way to see what is happening in tech.  This workshop provides a forum for open discussion with girls in tech,  teens age 12-14.  Adults are always talking about how to increase girls in tech, so here’s the opportunity to ask girls questions about technology, phone and app social media use, etc.  The audience is invited to ask questions like: “What inspired you to learn to code”, “Who are your role models,”  ”What do you wish there were more of in the world to help increase girls in tech”, “Do you feel there is bias to girls in tech, and what can be done about it” “What apps do you use?” “Do you really use Snapchat all the time and not Facebook, etc”

Moderator: Lori Schwartz, Managing Partner, StoryTech

Developers sound off on what they wish Business Dev, Product Managers, CTOs, CEOs, and their clients knew or understood, to help increase business efficiency.

Moderator: Espree Devora, WeAreLATech, Founder

Speakers:
- Kevin Goslar, Originate, Director of Engineering
- Gregorio Rojas, Sabio,LA, Co-Founder
- Brady Tsurutani, DIRECTV, Senior Director of Mobile Software Engineering
- Christian Harden, NFL Digital Media, Application Development Manager
- Matthew Montanez, LIVESTRONG.COM, iOS Engineer @MattMontanez
- Suzzee Uy, Bridg, Senior Software Engineer

Developer Track presented by: