Rovio, Zynga, Backflip and OpenFeint all on board for GDC Smartphone Summit
Two days, 25 sessions
![Rovio, Zynga, Backflip and OpenFeint all on board for GDC Smartphone Summit](https://media.pocketgamer.com/artwork/na-uuhsn/gdc_smartphone_biz.jpg)
It might represent the conference's first ever dedicated look at the mobile industry, but organisers behind GDC's Smartphone Summit haven't shied away from attracting the biggest names possible to the two day event.
Having previously announced the likes of IUGO Entertainment's Sarah Thomson and Donald Mustard – creative director at Epic Games subsidiary ChAIR Entertainment – as speakers, luminaries from the likes of Rovio, Qualcomm, Glu and Zynga have also been added to the roster.
Raving Rovio
Organisers are billing the 25 session strong program as a detailed look at the various components of game design for smartphones, focusing on how studios can mirror the success others have already achieved.
As a result, having Rovio's Peter Vesterbacka on board to discuss Angry Birds' rise as a major entertainment franchise is a huge plus.
Backflip founder and CEO Julian Farrior is also set to host a session on the growing importance of advertising in mobile games, while PapayaMobile's Si Shen is scheduled to discuss optimising mechanics in mobile games for monetisation.
Other notable speakers include Jay Wright from Qualcomm, Polarbit's Mitri Bautista Wiberg, Glu Mobile VP of marketing Mike Breslin, Vijay Thakkar from Zynga, OpenFeint VP of monetisation Keith Katz and Booyah CEO and co-founder Keith Lee.
Taking place between February 28 and March 1 in San Francisco, the full line up of speakers can be found over on the official GDC website.