Global
Esports Forum

Local government officer, manager, social worker. Regional Marshal of the Silesian Voivodeship for the 6th term. He was professionally associated with the broadly understood community in Tychy for many years. He held managerial functions in the financial sector, including Director of Corporate Governance and Director of Strategic Assets. He was the President of the Vistula Tourist Agency registered in Tychy and the Secretary of the Social Sports Council at the Ministry of Sport and Tourism. He is an expert in the field of projects restructuring in the shipbuilding industry and the activation of post-industrial areas. A member of the National Development Council of the President of the Republic of Poland involved in the work regarding local government and health care.

As a Representative of the President of Innovation Promotion in the city of Katowice, she was initiating identification actions of innovation development in Katowice, defining required forms of support for companies oriented in advanced technologies, especially smaller and medium companies including start-ups. Currently, she holds the position of Director of the Economy Department and International Cooperation and she leads the team working with investors and exporters, cooperating at the interface with local government, science and business and establishing and maintaining international relationships with partner regions of Silesian Voivodship.

A proven champion in his own racing career, Rupert has a wealth of experience and success within the motorsport industry, from both behind the wheel and in management. Transferring his experience and skillset into business, Rupert has been instrumental in shaping a value proposition within esports for some of the world’s biggest and best brands from Logitech to New Balance. Rupert has put significant time and dedication into the day-to-day running of Veloce, enhancing the Company’s commercial credibility with his exceptional drive and instinctive business acumen.

Hicham is the CEO at the legendary esports company Ninjas in Pyjamas (NiP), the first professional esports team to launch their own gaming peripheral line and one of the most well-known and renowned brands in esports. His experience ranges from the global financial industry to entrepreneurship, including nine-year run in managing hedge fund investments at Formuesforvaltning, the largest independent wealth management firm in Scandinavia. Hicham has extensive knowledge of building and growing businesses, having founded Diglife – a company bridging the digital lifestyle gap in Europe and the US – and built it into a global enterprise, where he serves as a Chairman. Diglife has invested in several global esports related companies, and holds a significant investment portfolio in other lifestyle, gaming and technology related companies worldwide, and is one of the most successful investors in the esports space

Aleksander Szlachetko joined ESL, the world’s largest independent esports company, in October 2016, taking the role of Development Director. Then in March 2017, he was promoted to a position of the Managing Director of the Polish branch. Earlier, he worked at Intel for 15 years as a Manager of PC sales in the region of Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Aleksander was responsible for the strategy and sales of high-performance computers targeted at the market of players and enthusiasts as well as new, innovative PCs such as Intel NUC or Intel Compute Stick. He’s also the one who, from the very beginning believed in IEM Katowice and worked with ESL and the city to create the best esports experience in Katowice.

Global Senior HR professional with an outstanding track record of leading change, building practices from the ground up, creating world class initiatives and turning around people related problems. With over 22 years of experience in Operations, HRBP and COE roles, I have a history of working across multiple industries and cultures leveraging each experience. I moved to Germany in 2013 gaining international experience working for DHL. My experience working for Mars Inc, BMO and FedEx helped further my business understanding across industries. Always leading the people strategies for organizations globally and guiding HR teams around the world. I am passionate about HR, hold a “can do” spirit and always think out of the box to remove barriers for people, so they can focus on the business.

Adults Portfolio Marketing Manager in Coca-Cola. Responsible for entering Sprite into the gaming world and E-sport as well as first influencers’ activations in that area.

Simon Cox is a former rowing World Champion and Chief Coach who has led Olympic programs and National teams. His athletes have won numerous World and Olympic medals and titles over the last four Olympic cycles. Working as Performance Director in the Czech Republic he brought together the elements necessary to create a stand-alone performance centre to ensure the long term and sustainable development of athletes. He is now based in the UK where he continues in a consultancy role in the lead up to the Tokyo Olympics. He has also led organisations in Switzerland, Australia and the UK specialising in developing structures and systems that create a culture of high performance and ensuring that world’s best practise is an integral part of the daily life of athletes, coaches and support staff. He is internationally recognised for his success in managing cultural change with a particular expertise in bringing specialists together and building a team ready to think outside the box to find innovative solutions.

David McKenzie McGowan is a former Olympic and World Champion athlete. He is now a high performance coach who has worked through 4 Olympic cycles in Australia, the Netherlands, Sweden and Ireland. He has taken twenty two athletes to top five performances at the Olympic Games and coached athletes to eleven World records in the period between 2013 and 2017. His particular expertise is in athlete motivation, management and peak performance preparation. He is well known for creating high performance environments that ensure the whole organisation is aligned to achieve their stated goals. In addition he has used these unique skills in presenting to companies and universities on a course he devised – “Creating a Culture of Excellence”. He is currently the Head Coach working with four teams in preparation for the Tokyo Olympics including the world number one female athlete. Over the last 18 months Simon and David have been working on the implementation of their successful techniques and methodologies into esports. This crossover can be hugely beneficial to esports but, only when applied correctly.

Maciek is a co-owner and Head of Science in esportsLAB. As an researcher at the Institute of Psychology Polish Academy of Sciences, he works towards understanding the link between cognition, brain structure and professional esports performance. Result of those basic research efforts became a cornerstone for the esportsLAB project. Maciek is also an ex-pro player with passion for esports and sports rivalry.

Michael Heina is working for almost ten years with Nielsen Sports and its predecessor companies like Repucom and Sport+Markt. He served in several positions within the company and is leading Nielsen Esports in Europe and Middle East for more than five years now. His goal is to support teams, brands, media and rights holders in esports to make best decisions by using his experiences in combination with the relevant tools of media evaluation and market research. Also being a leading member of the consulting unit for many years, he gathered vast experience in working on countless projects for global brands, agencies, clubs and other rights holders.

Erik Anderson is the Head of Esports for FaZe Clan, the most popular gaming and esports organization in the world. Since 2016 he has led all esports strategy and operations for the brand, working closely with publishers, tournament organizers, and FaZe Clan’s own content creators to integrate esports into the organization’s massive community. Prior to esports he worked in the music industry as a part of the management team for artist Kid Rock. Erik currently lives in Los Angeles, California and is a graduate of Princeton University.