Future of Work Panel

Join us on 10/8 for a free panel on how virtual and augmented reality will shape the future of work.  As more and more work moves virtual and remote, how will we adjust training, collaboration, and other activities that normally required people to be on-site?

In this panel we’ll discuss topics like:

• How can extended reality (XR) applications support virtual collaboration?
• How can extended reality (XR) applications support virtual training?
• What might the future of events look like?
• What will networking look like in virtual environments?
• And more

Tickets: Free

Register

Speakers

David Sheldon (moderator), Patent Attorney at Christensen O’Connor Johnson Kindness PLLC

David Sheldon is a patent attorney at COJK, a Seattle-based intellectual property boutique law firm.His strong background in computer science and technical experience in software engineering help him assist his software industry clients with patent drafting, prosecution, and counseling. David’s technical expertise includes technologies such as machine learning, augmented/virtual reality, control systems, encryption, wireless communication, information search and retrieval, and compiler optimization. David also advises his clients on other vital issues relating to software products, including licensing, using open source software,and developing comprehensive strategies for protection of software using copyright, trademarks, design patents, and trade secrets to supplement utility patent protection.

Melissa Chan, Director of Product at The Wild

With a background in design and user experience, Melissa has been building interactive experiences for 14 years. Her interests lie at the intersection of people and products. At The Wild, Melissa leads the product team, and loves the challenge of balancing customer needs, user experience, technical feasibility, and business strategy, and the challenges that come with building products for emerging technology. When she’s not working, she’s spending time outdoors with her husband and son.

Martina Welkhoff, Managing Partner at the WXR Fund

Martina is the Co-founder and Managing Partner at the WXR Fund, an early-stage venture fund investing in women-led spatial computing (AR/VR/AI) companies. Prior to launching the fund, WXR hosted an accelerator from which 26 companies have graduated. Before shifting her full time focus to investing, Martina was an entrepreneur who founded her first company, Zealyst, in 2010. Zealyst was a corporate gaming platform that strategically helped employees to build their professional network and in turn collected data for their employer on culture, morale, and engagement.  After exiting Zealyst in 2016, Martina founded a virtual reality company called ConveneVR that was focused on pushing the boundaries of social VR. She was inspired to transition into the VR industry after recognizing the unique opportunity the creation of a new computing platform provided for women and underrepresented minorities. Martina is a World Economic Forum Global Shaper, a member of the Young Entrepreneurs Council, and an advisor to the Center for Leadership & Strategic Thinking at the Foster School of Business. From 2013-2017, she served as the board president of Seattle Women in Tech before transitioning the nonprofit to a for-profit company that is scaling the model globally.  In 2018, Martina won a Lumiere Award for Distinguished Leadership from the Advanced Imaging Society. She received a BA in English with a minor in Chemistry from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.

Tadhg Kelly

Tadhg Kelly is a highly experienced producer in spatial computing, virtual reality and video games with a deep background in game design and production, partner and developer relationship management. Tadhg has worked at companies such as Magic Leap, Vreal and Lionhead studios. He’s also a sometimes-notable writer and bloggers in the games and XR space, having written columns for TechCrunch, Edge and a variety of others.

Sponsored By

Company Descriptions

The Wild is an immersive collaboration platform that uses virtual and augmented reality to help architecture, design, and enterprise teams save time and make better decisions by experiencing their work together, remotely in a shared virtual space. With native support for SketchUp and Revit, The Wild is shaping the way teams collaborate by connecting people and their ideas across distance into a shared, remote experience. For more information, visit thewild.com.