Arkadium

Company: Arkadium, New York, NY
Company Description: Arkadium creates game solutions for consumer brands, ad agencies and media destinations to expand their online presence with multi-platform campaigns. Our products enhance a brand’s reach through interactive applications and custom branded advergames that reach millions of people across all demographics.
Nomination Category: Management Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Executive of the Year - Media & Entertainment

Nomination Title: Jessica Rovello, President and Co-Founder, Arkadium

Tell the story about what this nominee achieved since January 1 2008 (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

Founded in 2001, as the result of a fruitless search for an online version of
Ms.Pacman, Arkadium is a privately-held, family-run game development company
with its fearless Co-Founder and President, Jessica Rovello at the helm.
Jessica is proud that her company has never taken money from venture
capitalists, private equity firms or really rich people, yet has managed to be
profitable for the last five years. Starting as a small development firm with
only three people into now employing nearly 80 people with offices in New York
and the Ukraine, today Arkadium represents leading brands including Hearst
Magazines Digital Media, Scholastic, AARP, National Geographic Channel, Mattel,
Sony, Lifetime, ABC and many more.

As a successful woman in an industry dominated by men, Jessica’s leadership
skills transcend gender barriers and have even earned her a recent Stevie
Award. In November 2008, Jessica was also selected as one of only twelve people
for MIN’s Digital Hot List, spotlighting her work transforming and making an
impact with magazine brands.

Jessica runs her company as though every employee is part of her family and
ensures that everyone enjoys their work. With a one-year-old son and a newborn,
Jessica likes to keep things personal with regular team dinners, beach days
with the “extended family” and amusement park trips for game design
inspiration. Jessica also implemented a “pipeline day” each Friday for
employees to work on individual, non-client related, game projects to encourage
creativity and freedom in game development.

Interestingly, women aged 35 years and older are the largest demographic of
people playing casual games online. And although that demographic is not
equally represented on the development side of gaming, Jessica continues to
push the game innovation envelope to show that a company with more women than
the norm can make an impact in the industry by building award-winning games.

Notable recent projects include:
- Virtual environments, online games and new microtransactions for Mattel’s
digitally interactive toy, U.B. Funkeys
- Online game communities for Lifetime, Publishers Clearing House, Hearst
Digital Magazines, myYearbook.com, Hi5, Sony and AARP.org
- Award winning, custom advergames for National Geographic Channel and History
Channel’s recent television specials
- Arkadium’s first downloadable game based on historical events and
individuals, The Pini Society: The Remarkable Truth

With a smart business model and continual planning, Jessica and her company are
one of few businesses thriving during these tough economic times. For the past
year, the company has seen double digit revenue growth, and a staff increase of
nearly 30%.

List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

http://www.arkadium.com/index.html
http://www.insidesocialgames.com/2009/02/05/hi5-launching-integrated-social-flash-games-today/
http://www.edge-online.com/features/the-growing-role-women-gaming?page=0,0
http://womenforhire.tv/jessica-rovello-founder-arkadium/
http://www.arkadium.com/docs/hybrid_mom_jess2008.pdf
http://www.arkadium.com/docs/Min%20Magazine%202008-%20Digital%20Hot%20List.pdf   
http://www.arkadium.com/docs/creativity_awards_release.pdf
http://www.arkadium.com/case-studies-national-geographic.html
http://www.arkadium.com/case-studies-myyearbook.html
http://www.arkadium.com/docs/natgeo_expedition_release_103108.pdf

Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the nominee:

As the President and Co-Founder of Arkadium, Jessica Rovello is responsible for
overseeing the strategy and development of online games that help to engage
consumers, drive interaction times and improve results. With her expertise in
consumer marketing and her love of games she has broken into a field that,
until now, has been run, owned and operated exclusively by men.
 
Before founding Arkadium, Jessica was VP of Marketing and Creative Services at
On2 Technology, a broadband technology company. Prior to joining On2, she was
Director of Online Services for Artisan Entertainment, an independent film
company.