Yoshito Abe is the managing director of GignoSystem Japan, Inc., an operations officer of the content distribution department, and a content business producer. In college, Abe studied engineering management. After graduating, through the careers of TV program planner, magazine editor etc., in 2003 he joined an internet content provider, where he planned and produced various types of content, including content related to TV stars, musicians, music, comics, cartoons, fortune-telling, games, and wallpapers. In 2013, he joined GignoSystem Japan, Inc. and launched a digital sticker distribution business. In 2016, he started a licensing business for social media characters, which was a spin-off from the digital sticker distribution business. Currently, this licensing business helps 15 top creators manage their characters, and distributes content created by more than 200 social media creators.

Daniel Amos is Head of Esports at Difuzed, specialists in bringing entertainment, gaming and global brands to life for more than 20 years, in more than 50 countries. With 12 years of experience managing global consumer products programs across a diverse set of world-renowned brands, Daniel utilises his extensive knowledge of video games to further develop Difuzed’s already strong reputation as a leading video game apparel licensee. Daniel has been an advocate for the videogame industry’s entrance into the world of licensing having spoken on the subject at Licensing Expos in Las Vegas, Hong Kong, Shanghai and London. Daniel has published videogame licensing opinion pieces in such publications as Wired, HuffPost and Brandchannel. Prior to joining Difuzed, Daniel founded and was appointed Head of Tinderbox, Beanstalk’s digital division where he was instrumental in growing the Tinderbox client portfolio to include some of the world’s fastest growing and iconic gaming brands, including Microsoft’s Xbox, Activision’s Call of Duty and the world’s biggest eSports company ESL. At Difuzed Daniel continues to champion the world of videogames and esports through the development of apparel collections at key retailers, in collaboration with some of the world’s leading esports brands.

Tien Yue is a fourth-generation member of this 135-year old family business. After graduating with a degree in Engineering, Economics and Management from Oxford University, he joined McKinsey & Company’s Kuala Lumpur office as a Business Analyst.

His career in Royal Selangor started in production planning. Tien Yue then led the Corporate Sales department before becoming GM of Sales and eventually Executive Director for Royal Selangor Marketing, his current role.

This role encompasses Royal Selangor’s Asian markets, from own offices in Singapore, China, Australia and Hong Kong, to distributors in Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, The Philippines and the Middle East. His role here has been to grow the Royal Selangor business through the right mix of products, channels and marketing programmes relevant to each of these markets.

Tien Yue is also a Board member of Royal Selangor’s design and manufacturing company, Royal Selangor International, which is led by his cousin and Executive Director Yong Yoon Li. Royal Selangor’s licensing relationships are primarily managed by both Executive Directors, with Yoon Li dealing with the British Museum and the V&A, while Tien Yue focuses on Disney and Warner Bros. Royal Selangor has also been commissioned by brands such as Leica, Dom Perignon, Starbucks and Medicom Toy to produce bespoke pieces for them.

Wilson heads PwC’s global technology, media and entertainment and telecommunications (TMT) industry practice. He is also the TMT industry leader for the firm’s China practice. Wilson is based in PwC China’s Shenzhen office.

Emerging technologies and digital deployment are redefining all industries and businesses. They also lead to rapid growth and developments of companies in the TMT industry. Wilson has been leading and supporting the PwC global network across all lines of service - Assurance, Taxation and Advisory - to provide one-stop professional solutions and services to companies in the TMT industry, as well as to clients looking to reinvent themselves through digital transformation.

Wilson has been working in the public accounting practice in Mainland China and Hong Kong for more than 28 years. He has extensive experience in providing assurance and advisory services to companies in the TMT industry, ranging from start-ups to global tech giants, for capital market transactions, assurance engagements, systems and controls advisory, and deals.

He is a practicing member of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Accountants, China Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. Wilson is also an adviser to the Internet Advertising Board of Hong Kong.

Following a 15-year retail career with the Coles/Myer group in Australia, Mark joined the Walt Disney Company Australia in 1994.

Relocating to New Zealand in 1997 he undertook the role of General Manager of Disney Consumer Products New Zealand, before returning to Australia in 1999.

In 2000 he was promoted to Disney’s Asia Pacific headquarters in Hong Kong to manage Disney’s Toy and Hardline licensing operations for the Asia Pacific region.

Moving to The Walt Disney Companies Corporate office in Burbank, California in 2002, Mark assumed the role of Vice President, Global Hardlines.

In 2003, he took the role of, Senior Vice President, Global Hardlines. He had encouraged a cohesive and creative culture across the globe, and aggressively grew the business.

Mark assumed a new role in October 2010, of Senior Vice President, Emerging Markets; comprising Russia, India, South Korea and the ASEAN markets (Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam). Relocating to Singapore in 2012, Mark assumed the role of GM Disney Consumer Products South East Asia. Mark joined National Geographic in Hong Kong in 2018. In his current role he is Vice President, Consumer Products and Location Based Entertainment, Asia Pacific and the Middle East.

Ms Margaret Fong is the Executive Director of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) since 1 October 2014. With a global network of 50 offices, Ms Fong heads this international team whose mission is to create and facilitate opportunities in global trade for Hong Kong-based companies. She joined the HKTDC in 2010 as Deputy Executive Director, responsible for the international promotion of Hong Kong’s product and service industries and the Council’s office network worldwide.

Ms Fong has worked in a variety of public service posts, beginning her career as an Administrative Officer with the Hong Kong Government. From 1997 to 1999, she served as Deputy Director-General in the Washington Economic and Trade Office of the Hong Kong SAR Government.

She was Deputy Secretary for Transport from 1999 to 2004, Director-General of the Washington Economic and Trade Office from 2004 to 2006, and Commissioner for Economic and Trade Affairs, USA, from 2006 to 2008, representing the Hong Kong SAR Government in the United States. Before joining the HKTDC, Ms Fong was the Commissioner for Tourism from November 2008 to December 2009. She is a graduate of the University of Hong Kong.

Ms Fong is a member of the Aviation Development and Three-runway System Advisory Committee, the Film Development Council, the Hong Kong Maritime and Port Board, the Hong Kong Logistics Development Council and the Hong Kong Tourism Board.

Claire is responsible for Hasbro’s Consumer Products business across Asia Pacific. Claire works with Hasbro’s global and regional business leaders coordinating and overseeing growth opportunities for Hasbro’s brand portfolio across the region.

Prior to Hasbro, Claire worked for Mattel in several roles most recently as Vice President of Mattel Consumer Products for Asia Pacific.

Prior to Mattel, Claire worked for The Walt Disney Company, holding roles in both Europe and North America for The Disney Stores and Disney Consumer Products.

Claire was educated in West Africa and England.

Claire currently resides in in Hong Kong.

Robert Goodchild is the Head of Licensing at Aardman, having been with the company for more than 10 years. Responsible for the global merchandise programmes for major Aardman brands ‘Shaun the Sheep’, ‘Wallace and Gromit’, ‘Timmy Time’ and ‘Morph’ with over 180 licensees across 30 territories. Over 25 years’ experience in kids consumer product roles across toy and video games industries, including founding and running publishing and retail businesses.

In art school, Mr Kobori studied Japanese painting before joining an advertising agency as a web marketer. After working for the OCN department of NTT Communications Corporation, he joined the predecessor of ARTEFACTORY Inc., where he took the initiative in developing a digital archiving business for museums and a digital image distribution business for photos and paintings.

Lai Yu Chen (born December 25th, 1971), a Taiwanese music producer and the General Manager and Co-founder of Fine Entertainment and Choose Music. Born in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Lai began devoting himself to the music industry as a sound assistant at Winly Co in 1988. He then worked for Platinum Studio in next year. Lai later became a production assistant at Elite Music Co. in 1992. In 1995, he worked for Stars Ferry Music as Wakin Chau’s music producer.

Lai established Fine Entertainment with KY Yuen, Alex San and David Sum in 2002, mainly engaged in music records production, performance management, music publishing, music performance etc. In 2009, Lai established Rough Studio in Taipei, for advertising, recording and audio mixing.

In 2008, Lai participated in the production of “Echoes Of Eight Centuries”, the album was later nominated for the Best World Traditional Album of the Independent Music Awards, and was also nominated for the Best Music Arranger (Alex San) and the Best Crossover Music Album of Taiwan’s 20th Golden Melody Awards in the following year.

Miss Lee joined the Administrative Service in August 1988 and rose to the rank of Administrative Officer Staff Grade A in April 2012. She has served in a diverse range of bureaux and departments, including the former Royal Hong Kong Police Force, the former Chief Secretary’s Office, the Correctional Services Department, the former Recreation and Culture Branch, the former Transport Branch, the former Trade Department, the Chief Secretary for Administration’s Office, the former Health, Welfare and Food Bureau and the Labour and Welfare Bureau. She was Director-General of Telecommunications from May 2010 to March 2012 and Director-General of Communications from April 2012 to August 2017, and served as Permanent Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (Communications and Creative Industries) from August 2017.

Miss Lee assumed the post of Permanent Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (Commerce, Industry and Tourism) on 12 June 2018. Her responsibilities include the policies relating to Hong Kong’s external commercial relations and commercial relations with the Mainland, tourism, investment promotion, intellectual property protection, industry support, trade facilitation, competition, consumer protection, wine-related business, postal services and meteorological services, as well as promoting Hong Kong’s participation in the Belt and Road Initiative.

Heading the Leasing Marketing and Promotions team of Sino Group, Andrea oversees all strategy formulation and business promotions of the leasing portfolio. Andrea has extensive experience and knowledge in marketing, from strategic planning to digital marketing, licensing, event management and communications.

As a visionary, she proactively champions changes and innovation, bringing in new technologies and world-class art projects to enhance the consumer experience. She is the mastermind behind the pioneering OC STEM Lab at Olympian City and a number of award-winning art campaigns including “Museum of the Moon”, “The Spirit of Christmas” and “GAIA – the earth exhibition” at Lee Tung Avenue. Under her leadership, Sino Malls recently launched the S⁺ Rewards app, a pioneering socialized interactive rewards programme to enhance the shopping experience.

Andrea is especially skilled in identifying the marketing trends and bringing in new ideas to create immersive experience with licensed brands in shopping malls, from licensed characters to FMCG brands. Sino Malls have engineered a number of successful campaigns incorporating technology and creativity, such as “Tomica Christmas Journey”, “LEGO Batman Movie” and “Doraemon Secret Gadget Laboratory” in which AI and AR-based technologies, STEM workshops & interactive experience were brought to the community. In recognition of its high level of publicity, effectiveness and creativity, “Olympian City x Chibi Maruko Chan Christmas Party” was awarded “Best Promotion Campaign” in Asian Licensing Awards 2018.

Prior to joining Sino Group, Andrea worked as a marketing professional at MGM Macau, Miramar Group, MegaBox and Marco Polo Hotels.

Patrick Mahoney is the CEO and Co-founder of the We Are Nations Group, a leader in esports merchandise design, sales and distribution worldwide. We Are Nations clients include G2 Esports, Optic Gaming, Method Gaming, OG, Faceit/ECS, Blast Series, Origen and many other leading global esports brands.

We Are Nations was founded by Patrick and Chris Cornell in 2016, and is a sister company to Manhead Merchandising, a recognizable name in the music and entertainment merchandise space, with clients that include Panic At The Disco, Fall Out Boy and Weezer.

In September of 2019, Patrick formed Fast Circles, LLC with Ian Jackson, Patrick Walle and Brendan Housler to both manage EVOQ.BIKE Elite Cycling Team and provide digital marketing content for the recreation, health and wellness industry.

Douglas McCarthy AKA @CultureDoug holds an MA in Art History and has worked internationally in museums and archives for almost two decades. He is an active member of the global Open GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives and museums) community that promotes culturally appropriate open access to heritage for everyone, everywhere.

Douglas leads an international survey of open access policy and practice in the GLAM sector with Dr Andrea Wallace of the University of Exeter. Last May in Lisbon, he and Andrea shared their insights and talked copyright over cake with Jane and Chris on the Copyright Waffle podcast. Douglas has written extensively about Open GLAM on Medium and shared insights at international conferences including GLAM-WIKI (Tel Aviv, 2018), Open GLAM México (Mexico City, 2018), re;publica (Berlin, 2019), and NDF2019 (Wellington, 2019). He is the founder and co-editor of the Medium publication Open GLAM. It presents global and multilingual perspectives on open access to cultural heritage, written by leading voices in the field.

In his current role as Collections Manager at Europeana, Douglas strives to fulfil its mission to ‘transform the world with culture’ by creating compelling editorial using digital collections to be freely shared, reused and remixed. He also writes regularly on open access for Europeana Pro and has interviewed leading professionals from institutions like the Musée de Bretagne, Pinakotheken, Wellcome Collection, Slovak National Gallery and the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Ms Stefania Perletto, Licensing Manager at AS Roma, with over 15 years industry experience.

An Italian native, Stefania graduated in Asian Studies in Torino and specialized in China, been appointed as lecturer at Nanjing University in 1998 by Beijing’s Italian Cultural Office. She returned to Italy in 2000 and began her career in Fiat and then in Ferrero Group, where she worked on marketing, brand development and market analysis and then as licensing and rights acquisition manager till 2005.

She enriched her licensing experience joining Warner Bros. Consumer Products Italy in 2005, as senior licensing manager. After an experience as Licensing Director in Backstage Intl. Licensing Agency in Italy, and as senior consultant at Lima Representative Office in Italy, in 2014 she joined Nike sports marketing Business United dedicated to AS Roma Football Club, managing Brand’s merchandising and licensing rights on behalf of the Club.

Since AS Roma retained back the commercial rights in October 2018, she leads Brand merchandising and licensing initiatives, with the aim of maximising licensing revenues and promoting AS Roma Brand on an international scale through international partnerships and life-style collaborations.

Bringing more than 20 years of global licensing and media experience, Maura joined Licensing International , in December 2016 and assumed the role of President in July 2018. Licensing International is the premier association for the global licensing industry, and Maura is responsible for leading the organization in defining and shaping its future focus. This has and will continue to include fostering the growth and expansion of licensing around the world and creating greater awareness of the benefits of licensing to the business community at large.

As the former head of global consumer products at Sesame Workshop, the home of Sesame Street, Maura drove the non-profit organization’s strategic commercial initiatives with a focus on delivering significant unrestricted revenue to support the overarching philanthropic goals for the organization.

Prior to Sesame Workshop, where she enjoyed an exhilarating 17-year tenure, Maura held executive positions with MTV Networks, Scholastic Entertainment and The Jim Henson Company.

Maura is a standing fellow of the US-Japan Foundation Leadership Program and on the advisory board of One Animation, The Toy Foundation and Women in Toys. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Recognized as a top leader in business by Irish-America magazine, Maura was also a recipient of the K.I.D.S. (now Delivering Good) Women of Achievement Award. Maura resides in NYC with her husband Jim and their daughter Fiona.

Lisa Reiner is the Managing Director, Europe & Asia-Pacific for Beanstalk, a leading global Brand Extension agency and part of Omnicom Group. Beanstalk helps leading brands, celebrities, media properties, manufacturers and retailers strengthen their relationships with consumers by creating breakthrough products via the licensing model. Since joining Beanstalk in 2001, Lisa has worked across a wide and diverse range of agency client teams including, Ford, Diageo, Chupa Chups, Jack-Daniel’s, Microsoft, and was instrumental in launching the ground-breaking ‘tween brand, Mary-Kate and Ashley, across four continents. Most recently, Lisa has served as global lead on Beanstalk’s P&G client team, with oversight of licensing activities for 20+ brands. Under Lisa’s direction, P&G licensing has continued to excel and in 2018, surpassed $3.B in retail sales and rose to #22 of the Top 150 Licensors.

Through her extensive experience at Beanstalk, Lisa has a keen understanding of the differences between corporate brand licensing, a strategic arm of marketing vs other types of more traditional licensing. For over 25 years, Beanstalk has been a pioneer in the Licensing industry and is currently focused on growing corporate brand licensing in Asia, a segment of licensing which is still in its early stages in the region. Lisa believes that by seeking more connections and sharing more information about corporate brand licensing with Asian-based licensees, brand owners and retailers, the overall licensing industry in the region will evolve and over time, can achieve the same levels of long-term success enjoyed in other parts of the world.

Mr. William Shum is the Founder and CEO of Memorigin Watch Company Limited. He graduated from Cornell University attaining his Masters degree, majoring in applied economics and management. He completed the Financial Risk Management (FRM) exams after coming back to Hong Kong and worked in investment banking for a year. He then started his entrepreneurship by utilizing his in-house watch factory to create the first Hong Kong tourbillon brand - Memorigin. The brand has only started for several years, but is now selling in more than 20 countries and regions including Taiwan, Japan, USA, UAE, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Australia, etc..., and 50 points of sales in Hong Kong such as Prince Jewellery & Watch, Oriental Watch Group and ISA. He has led Memorigin to attain numbers of awards and recognitions from the society such as 2011 Hong Kong Emerging Brand by CMAHK & HKBDC and champion of 2012 HSBC Youth Business Award. In particular, he was nominated and got the Young Industrialist Awards of Hong Kong in 2015 and Chinese Outstanding Youth in 2016. His brand Memorigin won the Hong Kong Top Brand 2019.

Ms Anna Charisse Sumulong is the Head for Channels and Kids Marketing for Jollibee, the largest fast food chain in the Philippines. She is a professional brand marketer who creates and promotes revenue and shared objectives through the development and execution of a comprehensive marketing plan based on keen understanding of the consumer, the market and the business. In her role, she oversees the brand strategy and marketing plans of the various business channels, Jollibee Delivery, Drive-Thru and Take-out, as well as the different segments of Kids marketing, Jollibee Kids Party, Kiddie Meals and Kids Club. Under her leadership, these categories have seen a steady growth for the past years in terms of Sales, Value and Market Shares.

Charisse leads all merchandise and licensing initiatives for Jollibee which included partnerships with Warner Bros., Universal Studios, DreamWorks, Sanrio, among others. These initiatives helped further drove leadership of Jollibee in the Kids category.

Ms Esther Wong, Founder and CEO of Acestar Concept Limited since 2009, own various international brand licenses: Tonino Lamborghini mobile, watches from Italy; MINI watches from BMW Group Germany; and Van Gogh watches license from Holland, the last two having acquired worldwide territories. With Ms Wong’s 30 years of licensing, branding and marketing experience in a number of international companies, year-to-date businesses of Acestar Company has embraced many countries and markets worldwide; not limit to Asia and China, Middle East, Europe and North American markets.

Over the recent decade, she also contributed significantly to the watch industry, being the only Chairwoman of the Federation of Hong Kong Watch Trades and Industries in 2016, since 1947. Through the Federation, she has served a chain of community, education and commercial projects, and her dedicated and professional participations are recognized by many, both within and outside the watch industry. More prominent are; ‘Partnership Program between schools and corporation’, and ‘Watch and Clock Training program with VTC (namely Earn and Learn Program)’, and over her reign, she also spearheaded and obtained millions of government promotion funding to assist Hong Kong watch industries and brands, that benefited great number of SME Hong Kong watch operations. Since 2010, she has had successfully been awarded numerous professional and entrepreneurship awards, and most recently, APEA, the most renowned, Asia Pacific Entrepreneur Award from Enterprise Asia in 2018.

Ms Wong is presently the Chairman of the Charity Foundation of the Federation of Hong Kong Watch Trades and Industries, and is Advisor since 2017.

Tani is a veteran in the licensing business with in-depth knowledge about licensors, licensees and various aspects of licensing. She has been working in the industry for over 20 years and is completely dedicated to grow the licensing community in the region. She heads up Licensing International Greater China offices in Hong Kong and Guangzhou since 2009.

She joined Warner Bros. in 2002. She managed all aspects of licensing business including merchandise, publishing, promotions and events for Asia and successfully led the licensing team to maximize the revenue potential via participation in blockbuster movies, and to strengthen evergreen properties through implementation of new business initiatives. She also focused her time on coaching licensing agents and ensuring that best practices were shared within the region to have a win-win business situation.

Prior to that, Tani worked at Consumer Products of The Walt Disney Company where she concreted her experience and expertise in the capacity of marketing and category sales. The working years in Disney Consumer Products had cultivated her enthusiasm of licensing in later years.

Cindy is a veteran in marketing and brand management. She is the Senior Marketing Director for Xtep Group where she is responsible for developing strategic marketing plans, program activations and implementing the brand’s Go-to-Market approach and process for international brands. She spent more than 20 years in the sporting goods industry working with the NBA, adidas and Li-Ning in Hong Kong, Taipei, Beijing and Shanghai. Cindy holds a B.A. degree from the University of Hong Kong and an MBA degree from the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology.

Yang Huazhen is a native of Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture. She was born to a family of Tibetan embroiders in 1957. As a successor of this National Intangible Cultural Heritage and a Sichuan arts and crafts master, she is also a member of the Standing Committee of Chengdu City of the 15th CPPCC, and UNESCO folk art. With a number of international and domestic awards under her belt, the founder of Huazhen Yang Studio at Sichuan’s Vocational School of Art was widely admired for her outstanding artwork. Some were even added to the collection of Lee Hsien Loong, the Prime Minister of Singapore, Jakaya Kikwete, the former president of Tanzania and many other presidents and museums such as Boston Children’s Museum.

After Sichuan Earthquake in 2008, Huazhen Yang has provided training on embroidery to over 3000 women in affected areas, in light to protect and preserve this Tibetan and Qiang tradition by making embroidery a useful skill to live on.

In 2011, she established the Museum of Chengdu Huazhen Tibetan and Qiang Culture and has promoted crossover designs together with many designers, artists and embroidery successors. The traditional craftsmanship was again revitalized and brought back to light in the consumer market.

In 2014, the Company has been selected as the protected productive demonstration base of National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Ministry of Culture. On top of its dedication to introduce high-school education combining learning and production, it has also joined hands with international brands and celebrities and reinterpreted tradition with a contemporary touch. To name a few, Starbucks, L'Oréal, Shu Uemura, Ashin, the lead singer from Taiwanese Band Mayday, No2good the Taiwanese artist, Hair Corner and the list goes on. The collaborations offer young people a brand new perspective on the Tibetan and Qiang culture, while highlighting the fashionable vibe of this historical tradition.

In 2018, Yang Huazhen Embroidery Workshop was set up across villages and towns in Sichuan, with an aim to develop talents with proficient knowledge and skills in product design, craftsmanship and operation management. Incorporating Tibetan and Qiang cultures into commercial products will, to a certain extent, generate profits and increase employment rate. This serves as a mean to protect the culture and achieve heritage, and as a result, maintain a mutual growth between the protection of Tibetan and Qiang cultures and social economic development.

Stanley Yeung, JP, is the Chief Executive Officer of Brands United Limited and Justice of Peace (JP) appointed by the Hong Kong SAR government. Ever since graduation from York University in Toronto, Canada, Stanley started his career in traditional gift and premium business with his family in OEM manufacturing. After years of experience and accumulated knowledge in the licensing field, Stanley established Brands United Limited in 2014. Stanley is especially known in combining creativity into business strategy, and has gained wide recognition and attracted numerous interview and media attention from locals and around the world.

Stanley served for HKTDC Toys Advisory Committee and Design, Marketing and Licensing Services Advisory Committee respectively. He is a current member of Service Promotion Programme Committee.

Aside from his success in the business sector, Stanley is also dedicated to serve the community. In 2008, Stanley granted Chief Executive’s Commendation for Community Service. In 2013, Stanley is appointed by the Hong Kong SAR government as Justice of Peace.

Tony Zhu is the Founder of VIPO GLOBAL LIMITED, he became the think-tank lecturer of China Licensing Academy in July 2018, and a judge of the 2019 Global Licensing Award. VIPO focuses on the design, manufacture and marketing of genuine branded products. The cooperated licensed brands include DISNEY, MOOMIN, PEPPA PIG, MY LITTLE PONY, PAW PATROL, PJ Masks, etc.

VIPO’s main categories cover lifestyle gifts, home decoration, electronic devices, novelties, etc. The MOOMIN night light designed by VIPO has been successfully launched in KAKAO, a national software of South Korea, and more than 3000 products have been sold in one day, breaking the single products sales record of the platform.