Speakers

Darren Kwan

Darren Kwan is the founding President of the Australian Esports Association and a Director of the Australian Esports League.

He has a deep passion for esports and through over 18 years of experience in the industry has developed a deep understanding of every facet of esports. He is actively engaged in the industry and advocacy for Australian esports and its participants.

In his role as the President of the Australian Esports Association he seeks to enable and improve the sustainability of esports in Australia through the development of sound governance and transparent industry policy and practice. As Director of the Australian Esports League he oversees all elements of event production, business development and strategy. With a strong focus on enabling grassroots participation and building a strong esports ecosystem for Australians of all skill levels.

Synopsis:

Join us as we take a look at the business of esports in Australia with our esteemed panellists providing perspectives that include what it’s like to operate events and commercialize in this landscape, working with brands looking to market to gamers through esports and to the inner workings for professionals participating in the industry.

Listeners can expect to get an insight into the business of esports, where opportunities are to participate, how brands can activate in the space and what it takes for esports to come to life.

Speakers

Ryan Cunningham

With 14 years experience in gaming, Ryan is the founder of You Know Media (YKM), the leader in brand partnerships, strategy and advertising, getting brands in the game, so audience can find them wherever they play. Ryan has lead multiple global first partnerships for clients like McDonalds and Amazon, and is known for the innovation and ROI insights that has helped put YKM as the leading gaming agency/media publisher in ANZ.

Jon Satterley

Jon has been part of the entertainment industry for 30+ years, managing bands, building record companies, creating strategies for theme parks and advising cinemas and distribution companies at the most senior level. Jon established Roadrunner Records in Australia (the world’s biggest metal record company) in the nineties and was subsequently promoted to Senior VP of Digital and moved to NYC for 5 years as part of the Warner Music Group.

In 2018 Jon decided that gaming – his life passion (well….that and metal) –  was the place he wanted to be. Jon partnered with Adrian Giles, a renowned tech entrepreneur, to found Fortress Australia…with the aim to create the ultimate “Home of Games”. Fortress is now Australia’s #1 games culture company.

Jon holds a BA/LLB (Hons) from Uni of Melb and an MBA from MBS.

Jake Truman

Jake has worked in games for over a decade across publishing, journalism and retail. Currently an Associate Producer for Wargaming’s flagship title World of Tanks, Jake has run a number of community-focused initiatives including raising over $100,000 for charitable causes and creating pathways for gamers to develop tangible industry skills with paid experience. Over the past two years he has led the creation of the World of Tanks ‘Premier League’ esports ecosystem from concept to one of the most popular locally-driven esports leagues in Australia and New Zealand. Following the success of ANZPL and its relatively unconventional structure, the World of Tanks Premier League network now includes a second grassroots division for both ANZ and the recently launched Japan Premier League (JPL).

Synopsis:

We reflect on the grassroots movement for students demanding opportunities to participate in esports at School. Esports has a well established elite scene with a need for development pathways that Australians can find there start in. We take a look at the rise of esports at Schools across Australia, an important space for well structured and governed esports participation.

Listeners can expect to get an insight into the place esports has in school, what are some of the benefits and challenges, how schools can get involved and what the future holds for students.

Speakers

Dr. Matthew Harrison

Dr. Matthew Harrison is an experienced teacher, researcher and digital creator with a keen passion for utilizing technology to enhance social capacity building, belonging and inclusion in education. He has taught in Australia, South Korea and the United Kingdom at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. Matthew is currently coordinating Autism Intervention within the Master of Learning Intervention, and is the Co-Director of Student Experience at the University of Melbourne Graduate School of Education. His research primarily focuses on neurodiversity, inclusive education and the effective use of digital technologies as teaching and learning tools. As a gamer, he has a particular interest in digital games-based learning and intervention.

Matthew’s PhD thesis examined how cooperative video games can be used as spaces for developing social capabilities for students with disabilities and neurological differences. Building from this innovative research he co-founded the social enterprise Next Level Collaboration, an inclusive community for neurodivergent children that uses cooperative video games to build confidence and social capabilities. He also serves as the Vice President of Digital Learning and Teaching Victoria.

Luke Dela Cruz

Luke Dela Cruz is a keen and passionate educator that has worked in a number of different High Schools around Western Sydney, and currently is as an Education Technology Partner with the Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta. Luke recently held the Leader of Learning – Technologies role at CathWest Innovation College, establishing an esports program at the school; using a game based learning approach in applying gaming principles and linking them to real life learning experiences. As well as using esports as a way for young people to learn IT skills, cognitive skills, communication skills, team building and forge new friendships through the simple enjoyment of just playing.

A keen gamer Luke recognises the importance in schools becoming involved and integral in the process in developing and building esports in Australia at the grassroots level. Demonstrating positively how esports creates opportunities on learner agency of students creating student led workshops, wellbeing initiatives, as well as working closely with OCE teams and industry in debunking the often negative media perception of gaming reported by media outlets.

Lokesh Suji

Lokesh is an avid gamer and his gaming nickname is dAwesomeNinja

Business owner by day and esports fanatic by night, Lokesh is literally living his dream! He is Director at Esports Federation of India — the Indian esports federation & Vice President at Asian Esports Federation.

With over 20 years of experience, he is an esports Evangelist, Hustler and a Telecom Veteran.

Over the years been part of esports, and across different formats and categories of games, he found that the vertical in India is unstructured & Unexplored, which needed to be developed along professional lines – much in the same way that other forms of sports are being developed in the country (be it Cricket, Football or now Kabaddi).

As one of the country’s leading evangelists of esports, Lokesh continues to play an influential role in actively shaping the future of competitive esports in India. He was the man behind India winning the Bronze medal in Asian Games 2018 where esports was a demonstration title.

His aspiration is to ensure that the category of esports in India is created and managed in much the same way as it is in countries like the United States, European Union, South Korea and China.

He is the Chief Architect in India who is trying to structure and revolutionize the sport through ESFI, which is the non-profit organization orchestrating esports functioning in India which is still at a nascent state. India is one of the key market for esports as Indian Online Gaming Community is pegged at around “300 Mn”.

Amy Lau

Amy Lau is a passionate gamer and educator who started her esports journey with Dignitas as a journalist, generating content in the form of articles and interviews of professional players across America, Europe and Oceania. She would go on to work for Team Immunity as their Lead News Writer and eventually Riot Games Oceania as a freelance journalist.

Her previous industry experience in esports includes the formation of The Chiefs Esports Club as Team Manager. Having helped establish The Chiefs from the ground up, she coordinated projects and dealt with whatever came across the desk of a then-fledgling esports organisation – creating and coordinating merchandise, collaborating with sponsors, and managing the team’s social media platforms. This organisation is now one of the most well-known esports clubs in Oceania.

Amy also worked with META High Schools Esports as a School Engagement Manager to organise live events and talks to educate schools on the benefits of esports in education. During her time as a VCE English teacher at Marcellin College, Amy piloted a program involving Minecraft in the Year 7 English classroom to explore how digital mediums can be used to construct, convey and challenge conventional narrative. As a teacher, she also collaborated with various external organisations (XP Esports and ACER) to host esports tournaments for students, acting as their manager to facilitate a healthy, inclusive and competitive environment. This decision was done to ensure that students had a healthy outlet when traditional school sports were cancelled during the lockdowns in Melbourne, as well as helping the school develop their esports initiative.

Amy is now working at the Australian Catholic University in the Professional and Community Placement team. She continues to advocate that video games and esports can be introduced to school curriculums or after-school programs – “I believe if it’s part of students’ world already, we need to understand it and make it meaningful and beneficial for them”.

Speakers

Morgan Medlyn

Morgan is a Gaming and Streaming Community Executive (in the not-for-profit space)  at Cure Cancer and serves as Captain of the Australian Women’s Rocket League team at the Commonwealth Esports Championships (QueenMorgie) for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

Morgan holds a double degree (majors in finance and Japanese) with strong experience in gaming as both a content creator/streamer and competitive player (Rocket League mainly). She is passionate about encouraging women in esports.

Synopsis:

The journey of esports has been a multi-decade grassroots movement with gamers seeking to compete against one another in a formal sporting structure. Rising from the early days on arcade machines to the World Cyber Games and now Esports with global tournaments every month of the year viewed by millions.

Recently Esports has featured in the Hangzhou Asian Games and as a demonstration event at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games. Esports is also a recognised sport in New Zealand, however the journey still has a ways to go here in Australia.

We take stock and talk to leading experts on where esports is going. We also take a look at the possibility of esports at Victorian Commonwealth Games and Brisbane Olympic Games.

Speakers

Lokesh Suji

Lokesh is an avid gamer and his gaming nickname is dAwesomeNinja

Business owner by day and esports fanatic by night, Lokesh is literally living his dream! He is Director at Esports Federation of India — the Indian esports federation & Vice President at Asian Esports Federation.

With over 20 years of experience, he is an esports Evangelist, Hustler and a Telecom Veteran.

Over the years been part of esports, and across different formats and categories of games, he found that the vertical in India is unstructured & Unexplored, which needed to be developed along professional lines – much in the same way that other forms of sports are being developed in the country (be it Cricket, Football or now Kabaddi).

As one of the country’s leading evangelists of esports, Lokesh continues to play an influential role in actively shaping the future of competitive esports in India. He was the man behind India winning the Bronze medal in Asian Games 2018 where esports was a demonstration title.

His aspiration is to ensure that the category of esports in India is created and managed in much the same way as it is in countries like the United States, European Union, South Korea and China.

He is the Chief Architect in India who is trying to structure and revolutionize the sport through ESFI, which is the non-profit organization orchestrating esports functioning in India which is still at a nascent state. India is one of the key market for esports as Indian Online Gaming Community is pegged at around “300 Mn”.

Mark Chay

Mark Chay is a Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) and is the Executive Director, Community and Administration, at the Global Esports Federation.

Mark is the President of Singapore Swimming Association; member of the Olympic Council of Asia’s Athlete Committee; Honorary Secretary of Olympian’s Singapore; Member of the spexBusiness Network Committee; and Sport Advisory Committee Member of the Singapore Sports School.  Mark is Chairman of the International Management and Sports College’s Academic Board and currently holds directorships with the International Sports Academy, Baking Industry Training College and AceTek College.

Mark represented Singapore at the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games in Swimming.  He also represented Singapore at the Asian Games, and Commonwealth Games, and is a multiple gold medallist and record holder at the Southeast Asian Games.  For his swimming achievements, he was awarded the Sportsman of the Year Award in 2002.  Mark is currently coach of multiple World and Paralympic gold medallist Yip Pinxiu.  He was awarded Coach of the Year (High Performance) in 2021 and 2022.

In 2021, Mark was appointed Executive Director of the inaugural Global Esports Games.  He was a member of the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) from 2017 to 2022, and Chairman of the SNOC’s Athletes’ Commission.  Mark was Singapore’s Chef de Mission at the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympic Games and 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.  He was also Assistant Chef de Mission for the 2017 Kuala Lumpur Southeast Asian Games

Mark was awarded both academic and athletic scholarships at Brigham Young University (BA).  He is also an alumnus of the University of Northampton (MBA), University of Liverpool (MSc), United States Sports Academy, and Anglo-Chinese School.  He is a member of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators (MSIArb) and the European Sponsorship Association (DIPESA).

Morgan Medlyn

Morgan is a Gaming and Streaming Community Executive (in the not-for-profit space)  at Cure Cancer and serves as Captain of the Australian Women’s Rocket League team at the Commonwealth Esports Championships (QueenMorgie) for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

Morgan holds a double degree (majors in finance and Japanese) with strong experience in gaming as both a content creator/streamer and competitive player (Rocket League mainly). She is passionate about encouraging women in esports.