Rebecca Barkin, CEO, Co-Founder, Lamina1: Rebecca Barkin is co-founder and CEO of Lamina1, a Layer 1 blockchain optimized for the open metaverse and its makers. The tech and creative leader brings 20+ years of experience leading strategy, design, and development at the intersection of emerging technology and entertainment – with recent positions VP of Content Strategy & Partner Solutions at the groundbreaking immersive venue Madison Square Garden Sphere and as Vice President of Brand Platform & Design at Augmented Reality pioneer Magic Leap. Since starting her career at EMI-Capitol Records, Barkin has helped companies big and small embrace transformative new technologies and bring them to market in partnership with beloved brands and artists. She led GTM strategy for pioneering computer vision & AI company Nod Labs which developed foundational 6Dof tracking technology to enable VR and AR. She's also held leadership roles at Genius Products, Dell Computers, and Silicon Valley startup Lyve. At Magic Leap, she drove the development of a slate of launch applications like the award-winning immersive music experience Tónandi, as well as branded content experiences with premium partners like Alibaba (Tokyo Olympics), Warner Bros (Fantastic Beasts), and HBO (Game of Thrones). Later, as Vice President of Brand & Platform Design, she led the redesign of both the operating system and brand for the enterprise-focused Magic Leap 2 (winner of multiple design awards). As a web3 and metaverse pioneer, Barkin is committed to the art of strong leadership and is a fierce diversity advocate, published author, wife, and mother of two young boys.

Katie Hinsen, Senior Vice President, Post Production, Sphere Entertainment Co.: As Senior Vice President, Post Production at Sphere Entertainment Co., Katie oversees all post production operations for Sphere Studios – the immersive content studio dedicated to developing multi-sensory entertainment experiences exclusively for Sphere. In this role she leads a team of digital artists and technicians specialized in large format and high-resolution production who are delivering first-of-its-kind visual and audio content leveraging Sphere’s next-generation technologies. This includes the venue’s exterior – the "Exosphere" – the world's largest LED screen; the interior display plane – the world's highest-resolution LED screen; and the world's most advanced audio system, Sphere Immersive Sound, powered by HOLOPLOT.  Katie is an international award-winning executive with credits on over 125 major productions, and has spent much of her career focused on the development and implementation of emerging technologies that are transforming the entertainment world. Prior to joining Sphere Entertainment in 2024, Katie served as Director of Technology for Marvel Studios, where she worked to reimagine the content creation process. Her early career experience includes roles as a finishing artist, engineer, editor, VFX artist, and colorist. She is the co-founder of Blue Collar Post Collective, a grassroots initiative supporting emerging talent in post production. She is also a recipient of a Leadership Award from Women in Technology Hollywood, an organization that inspires, empowers and educates to create an equitable and inclusive Media and Entertainment technology community.  Katie is originally from Aotearoa, New Zealand.

Ted Schilowitz, Futurist, Paramount Global: Ted spends his time and pursues his passion in a unique role in the entertainment industry. Ted works across the leadership and the technology teams across Paramount Global, including CBS, CBS Sports, Paramount Pictures, Paramount Plus, MTV, Nickelodeon, BET, PlutoTV and Comedy Central, exploring emerging tech for entertainment with an emphasis on Virtual and Mixed Reality and Web 3.0/ MetaVerse pursuits. Prior to joining Paramount, Ted was the Futurist at 20th Century Fox, where he worked on the evolving art, science and technology of advanced interactive visual storytelling. He was part of the creation team for the Martian VR and Wild VR experiences, which premiered at CES and Sundance as groundbreaking projects that pushed the envelope of Virtual Reality storytelling, Ted was part of the creation teams for the Alien, Planet of the Apes and Predator VR experiences at Fox, and at his current home at Paramount Pictures, he’s been instrumental in bringing the Grease Mixed Reality experience, the Light as a Feather mixed reality experience and the Quiet Place Virtual Reality experience to life. Ted was an integral part of the product development team at Red Digital Cinema as the company’s first employee. The Red One and Epic cameras have made a significant impact on the Motion Picture Industry, winning a Sci-Tech Academy award. Many of the world’s biggest movies are now being shot with these ultra high resolution digital movie cameras. Ted is one of the founders and creators of the G-Tech product line of advanced hard drive storage products. As one of the most recognized brands in that industry, they are implemented worldwide at the highest levels on cinema, episodic television, sports and news production. In his role as Chief Creative Officer at Barco Escape, he spearheaded an experimental immersive cinema project for movie theaters worldwide. Titles include Paramount Pictures Star Trek Beyond and 20th Century Fox Maze Runner & Maze Runner 2. Before being part of the founding teams at Red Digital Cinema and G-Tech, Ted was on the team that developed and launched the Macintosh desktop video division of AJA Video Systems, creating professional video products in tandem with Apple. These products are used on a massive scale worldwide for video production and post at the highest levels, on many of the world’s biggest movies, TV series and sporting events. Ted has presented worldwide at numerous conferences on the advancements in next generation visual experiences for the movie, television and, interactive entertainment industries. He’s been featured in Wired, Variety, NY Times, LA Times, Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, The Hollywood Reporter, NBC, CNET, Studio Daily, Videography, Film and Video, DV Magazine, TV Technology, HD Video Pro, Engadget, Gizmodo, Millimeter, American Cinematographer, MacWorld, Post Magazine, Popular Science, and countless other publications discussing his areas of passion and exploration. In 2019, Ted was honored at the Variety Hall of Fame event with the Variety Innovation Award.

Leila Amirsadeghi, Principal Program Manager, Industry Solutions Engineering, Microsoft: Leila is on the Industry Solutions Engineering team at Microsoft as Principal Program Manager, driving innovation with strategic enterprise customers to solve business problems, create efficiencies, reduce costs, and increase productivity, with future tech (AI/Vision/Robotics/AR/VR). Leila was Principal Product Manager on Microsoft Mesh where she helped birth, build and launch the product to market, and was Product Manager on AltspaceVR, Microsoft’s metaverse and mixed reality platforms. With over 25 years in digital product development, emerging technologies, and production, Leila has created experiences and built products across mobile, web, OTT, AI, AR, VR, and the metaverse, as well as launching award-winning integrated campaigns for brands and startups.


s.Adam Simon, Managing Director, IPG Media Lab: Adam has been developing innovation strategy for over twenty years, starting with producing one of the first branded podcasts for Unilever way back in 2005. For the past nine years, he’s led the IPG Media Lab, part of IPG Mediabrands, tracking the intersection of emerging technologies and changing consumer behavior for IPG’s global brands. Adam is also a published board game designer and industry expert on innovation in theme parks, interactive, and immersive entertainment. This entrepreneur is passionate about over-the-top television, and the potential for new kinds of contextual computing enabled by smartphones, wearables, and the Internet of things. Fresh out of NYU’s cutting-edge Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP), he founded Socialbomb in 2008, and worked with the likes of HBO, Red Bull, Technicolor, and the BBC building breakthrough mobile social software. Adam joins the Lab bringing innovative-driven solutions and a love for exercise. He once rode a bike 500 miles across Alaska, from Fairbanks to Anchorage. No joke.

Aaron Luber, Director, Partnerships, Google: Aaron leads the Business Development and Partnerships team for Google's Labs efforts, the early innovation group within Google that is helping incubate and graduate long term bets Google is making in AR/VR, Blockchain, Future of Work and AI/ML Aaron has been at Google for over 10 years and has helped to launch and commercialize a number of 0 to 1 efforts across YouTube, Daydream, ARCore, Google Lens -- all supported by major partnerships across hardware, content, platform and brand partners.

Charlie Fink, Metaverse Consultant, Forbes Columnist, Author, Adjunct: Charlie Fink writes the weekly Forbes column “This Week in XR" and co-hosts its eponymous companion podcast. He is the author of the upcoming Dissecting the Metaverse (Fall 2022), Remote Collaboration and the Future of Work (2020), and the critically acclaimed AR-enabled books Charlie Fink’s Metaverse (2017), and Convergence, How The World Will Be Painted With Data (2019). He teaches XR at Chapman University Film School in Orange, CA. Fink's forty year career at the convergence of popular culture and technology began at Walt Disney Feature Animation in 1987 where he famously came up with the idea for “The Lion King" and became the studio’s youngest creative Vice-President. Fink's work in technology began in 1992 when he joined Tim Disney’s pioneering location-based VR company, Virtual World Entertainment, as its COO. In 1995, AOL recruited him to be Senior Vice President & Chief Creative Officer of AOL Studios (1995-1999). Fink was President of American Greetings Interactive and Blue Mountain (2000-2004). His other experience includes exits from several startups and running the New York Musical Festival. Fink's consulting clients include both tech giants and start ups trying to find their place in the rapidly evolving metaverse ecosystem.