DiscoveryBeat 2010: Check out our latest speakers for getting content noticed

We’re pleased to announced some heavy hitters at DiscoveryBeat 2010. The conference addressing the evolving problem of discovery in an era full of app stores and content. Our newest speakers have navigated these stores and managed to get their content noticed in a big way.

DiscoveryBeat 2010 is an event focused on the “secret recipe” for application discovery and monetization. Due to its success in 2009, the conference has expanded to a full day event and will be held on October 18th at The Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco. Get your tickets here.

For publishers or app developers, the promise of the mobile and social revolution is compelling. However, new players like Google’s Android are throwing out the early rules and creating new challenges in the ecosystem. How do you get discovered when there are 250,000 other publishers and applications fighting for users across diverse devices and interfaces, such as the PC, social networks, mobile phones, and tablets?

Here are our latest speakers:

Brian Reynolds will give an afternoon fireside chat on the topic of design and the role that the developer plays in making content easier to discover. A 19-year game design veteran, Reynolds is chief game designer at Zynga, the hot social gaming company that has more than 221 million unique monthly users on Facebook alone. Reynolds is a seasoned video game designer who switched fields and dove into social gaming. His first major project for Zynga is FrontierVille, a Western-themed game with more than 33 million unique monthly users on Facebook. He joined Zynga in June, 2009. Honored by PC Gamer magazine as one of twenty-five “Game Gods,” Reynolds played a key role founding two successful video game studios: Big Huge Games and Firaxis. At Big Huge, he was responsible for real-time strategy games such as Rise of Nations. He also worked as a game designer at Firaxis Games, where he was involved in such titles as Alpha Centauri and Civilization II. And he worked at pioneering computer game developer MicroProse. Reynolds’ videogames have sold over 6 million copies worldwide. He works in the Zynga East studio in Baltimore, Md.

One way to discover content is to get something smart to do the sifting. Norman Winarsky leads SRI’s ventures, licensing and strategic programs. He plays a key role in partnering with the venture capital community in spinning out early stage investment opportunities from Silicon Valley’s renowned research laboratory. Winarsky has helped found more than 20 ventures, has published more than 50 papers, and holds a number of patents. He helped spin off Siri, which created a voice-activated app technology that serves as a virtual assistant for mobile phone users. Siri was based on artificial intelligence technology that was built from years of research on the CALO project, which focused on smart virtual assistants. Siri was sold to Apple earlier this year for an undisclosed price. but SRI has other ventures related to virtual assistance, which is a new avenue for getting content discovered. Winarksy will talk about advances in AI and how it can be used to wade through the sea of content to find what you really need to know.

Tim O’Brien is vice president of business development for Disney Mobile, a division of the Disney Interactive Media Group. He oversees all business development and sales deals with carriers, device manufacturers, and partners including Apple, Samsung, Verizon and Google. He manages worldwide content and licensing partnerships for Disney Mobile with some of the biggest music brands in the world, including Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Linkin Park and Metallica. He was a founding member of the executive team at Tapulous, which Disney purchased. He has played a key role in building Tapulous’ relationship with both Apple and record labels that provide content for Tap Tap Revenge, and he also created innovative marketing programs that reach Tap Tap Revenge’s 35 million players. Now he has the strength of Tapulous’ social mobile game designers and the brands of Disney to make sure that people notice his company’s content. Prior to Tapulous, he held business development roles at Gydget, building the innovative social media app company from the ground up, as well as StubHub, a leading online ticket marketplace.

Arjun Sethi is CEO of social game startup LOLapps, which has quietly amassed more than 100 million users on Facebook. Starting with simple gift and quiz apps, LOLapps has built its way up the food chain. As CEO, Arjun is responsible for setting the overall strategic vision for LoLapps and guiding the development of fresh, high-quality social products. Prior to Lolapps, Arjun was CEO and founder of ROFLplay, a social gaming startup which was acquired by LoLapps in July 2009. Arjun initially served as the Head of Business and Corporate Development for LoLapps and was named CEO in March 2010. Previously, Arjun held various management roles with the Carlyle Group and Saset Healthcare. In 1999, he also co-founded Advanced Tuning Products, a manufacturing company within the automotive industry.

We have previously announced speakers as follows: Sebastien DeHalleux, co-founder of Playfish and vice president business development & strategic partnerships, EA Interactive; Si Shen, chief executive of Papaya Mobile; Marc Gumpinger, chief executive of Scoreloop; Peter Relan, chairman of YouWeb; and Peter Farago, vice president of marketing at Flurry.

Getting content noticed is a challenge for everyone making apps. We’ll cover the topic at DiscoveryBeat 2010. Startups and big companies alike should consider entering our Needle in the Haystack discovery business idea competition. Early bird discounts are available until September 22. VentureBeat would like to thank the industry leaders thank those supporting DiscoveryBeat 2010, including Flurry as co-host and Offermobi as an exhibitor. Unique sponsorships are still available. For more information contact sponsors@venturebeat.com. To buy tickets, click on this link.