Join us as we kick-off the Richmond Chapter of the VR/AR Association!

We'll be hosting a panel discussing the state of VR and AR in the Richmond area, as well as introducing the VR/AR Association and reporting on the VRX conference 2017 in San Francisco.

Admission is free, so grab a friend and come learn about the state of VR and AR in RVA!

A special thank you to Shockoe for sponsoring the event and hosting it at their office in Scott's Addition!









ABOUT THE PANELISTS

MODERATOR:

Edwin Huertas - President, VR/AR Association Richmond Chapter; CEO, Shockoe

Edwin currently serves as CEO of Shockoe.com, LLC, a Mobile Development & Consulting firm in Richmond, VA.

Edwin is a hands-on executive officer known for strategic and focused approach, with extensive accolades for limiting risk, creating lean teams, and establishing creative strategies for optimizing internal operations, financial returns and external customer service. With a solid software engineering background and over 20 years of experience, Edwin has applied his extensive knowledge to a wide variety of industries, earning Shockoe the 499th position in the Inc 5000 list in 2017, as well as Top Work Places in Virginia.





PANELISTS:

Dan Cotting - Vice President, VR/AR Association Richmond Chapter; Immersive Media Lead, Shockoe

With over a decade of customer and user experience strategy under his belt, Dan Cotting is Shockoe’s Immersive Media Lead and resident “future-tech-crazy-person”. Dan fully believes that virtual and augmented reality will pave the way for an entirely new approach to business operations: improving the lives of both employees and consumers, while simultaneously increasing business efficiency and productivity. When he isn’t dreaming about this “Ready Player One” future, Dan spends his free time playing bass guitar, practicing 18th-century photographic techniques, brewing beer, and enjoying time with his wife Kelly and their five rescue pets.





Doug Nunn - Founder, CreativeMornings Richmond; Experience Designer, Capital One

Doug Nunn is an experience designer at Capital One, founder or CreativeMornings Richmond, and mentor at StartUp Virginia. Throughout his career he has helped both small and large organizations navigate the landscape of new technologies. Doug sees augmented reality as a paradigm shift in the way that people will interact with digital content in the future. He believes that the time is now for organizations to begin considering, or reconsidering how they will create differentiated customer experiences in a world that will be more immersive than ever before.





Rob Newton - Founder, River City VR; Founder, VRVA

Rob is not only the owner but a major virtual reality enthusiast. Founder of the local VR meetup, VRVA, Rob is also active in the local VR community and can often be found brainstorming ideas that push the boundaries of what VR is today.





David Waltenbaugh - Founder and Creative Director, Media Plural

Musician, audio engineer, and entrepreneur, David has spent much of the last decade actively working with studios and clients in Richmond on everything from recording and audio post production to business strategy and development. Most recently David has applied his interest, knowledge, and expertise in audio and media production to the worlds of Virtual and Augmented Reality through the creation of Media Plural, a digital media production and strategy company focusing on the capture, production, and implementation of spatial audio, 360 video, and other new forms of immersive media. Outside of the media industry, he has worked in investments for more than a decade. A (nearly) lifelong Richmonder, David holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Economics from Virginia Commonwealth University.





Robby Ciszek - VR Developer

Robert Ciszek is a game developer specializing in virtual reality and is the author of The Undead Dev, a blog that offers free game development tutorials. He studied computer science at VCU and has ten years of experience in software development. A member of RVA Game Jams, he has participated in multiple jams, including Ludum Dare and Global Game Jam. His current project is called UFO Rodeo - a vertically scrolling shooter built for virtual reality. He debuted UFO Rodeo at RVA Makerfest in October, and was accepted into the MAGFest Indie Videogame Showcase for 2018.









ABOUT THE VR/AR ASSOCIATION

Founded in 2015, the VR/AR Association is a global member community of the best minds in virtual reality and augmented reality with Chapters in major cities across the world designed to foster research, develop standards, and promote and connect members.

Members of the VR/AR Association include media and entertainment companies, advertising agencies, retailers, brands, professional sports teams, hardware developers of components, chipsets, accessories and head mounted displays (HMDs), software developers of gaming, entertainment, and productivity tools, content creators, universities and academic and entrepreneurship institutions.

The VR/AR Association promotes and supports VR/AR Chapters in cities throughout the world. Chapters are run by a Chapter President who aims to support the VR/AR Association mission. Responsibilities include hosting meetups with speakers, industry panel discussions and presentations on a bi-monthly schedule, supporting local chapter research and case studies, and assisting in connecting and promoting member companies and individuals interested in growing every aspect of the virtual reality and augmented reality ecosystem.









ABOUT THE RICHMOND CHAPTER

With its ideal mid-atlantic location, close proximity to some of the greatest colleges and universities in the world, and a thriving business and tech scene, Richmond, VA is poised to continue rapidly growing and innovating with immersive tech over the coming years. The Richmond Chapter of the VR/AR Association is your RVA connection to the top global organization for thought leadership and industry access in the immersive space.



Educators, content creators, engineers, companies, and consumers are all welcome to join and participate in this professional organization, with the goals of fostering and promoting the growth of immersive technology in the greater Richmond area. The Richmond chapter will achieve this through research, written synthesis, and regularly scheduled chapter events that highlight speakers from the Richmond area and beyond.





Chapter President: Edwin Huertas

Chapter Vice President: Dan Cotting















