The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) has announced that Bing Gordon, currently partner at Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, will be the fifth AIAS Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes contributions of individuals to the interactive entertainment industry outside of game makers. Gordon has been instrumental in shaping the video game business during his long tenure at Electronic Arts, and continues to stay on the forefront of this evolving field through his contributions to the business of social gaming.
The Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented by Don Mattrick, President of Interactive Entertainment Business, Microsoft, at the 14th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, at the 2011 D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit on Thursday, February 10, 2011 at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas where he will also be taking the stage and speaking to the D.I.C.E. 2011 audience. Comedian, actor and proud game enthusiast, Jay Mohr, will be returning for his sixth year as host.
"Whether it is developing a new ground breaking marketing campaign, running one of the largest video game industry publishers or taking a risk and starting over with social gaming, Bing has left a lasting mark on the video game industry," said Martin Rae, president, Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. "He really believed in the video game industry and dedicated his life to nurturing and growing the industry into what it is today. Always ready for a new challenge he saw the same potential in the social gaming category and took on this frontier, an industry that has really erupted and has really changed this industry."
Gordon began his career as an account executive at Ogilvy & Mather. But his passion for gaming drove him to make a dramatic career change, which began at Electronic Arts in the marketing department in 1982. Gordon worked his way up to Chief Creative Officer where he was instrumental in building business analysis processes and product marketing that are still widely used throughout the industry today. At EA he made key contributions to the development of the EA SPORTS brand and developing the marketing campaigns in creating the new sports games genre. His influence extended beyond that, building up marketing teams whose alumnae now lead marketing and product development organizations throughout the industry.
Gordon foresaw that gaming trends were shifting, with major growth on the casual and social fronts so he joined Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers. There he leads investments on the "videogamification of everything" and he has led investments in Zynga and ng:moco, among others. In addition, Gordon serves as a director at Amazon and holds the game industry’s first endowed chair in game design at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. He is also a trustee of the Urban School of San Francisco.
Bing’s favorite games of all time are World of Warcraft, the Sims, Diablo, Pogo, Civilization, Columns, Freecell, Farmville and Mafia Wars.
"From a small group of outliers and contrarians, we have grown to an industry that changed media usage, and proved that interactive really is better," said Bing Gordon, partner, Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers.
"It has been my pleasure to be one of the foremost translators of Binglish," said Richard Hilleman, chief creative director, Electronic Arts. "Bing has had a clear view of our industry, often focusing on the product, marketing and business issues that will define the program before most people even understand the concept. His contributions to business planning live on at Electronic Arts and many other organizations."
"Bing is clearly one of the key visionaries and drivers who helped shape the video game industry," said V. Paul Lee, managing partner, Vanedge Capital. "He has been a mentor, friend, partner and advisor, not just for me, but for a number of the key leaders in the industry. Bing also has more fun than anyone I know – and his zest for life informs an equally impressive intuition for consumer and lifestyle trends. He understands change because he has such a great time living it."
"The scariest thing about Bing is that he’s usually right," said Mark Pincus, CEO, Zynga.