People on the Move

Alasdhair Macgregor Hastie will be joining agency BETC as VP, executive creative director for international clients.

In the recent past he was CCO of Being/TBWA, based in Paris, notably working on the launch of the Datsun brand for Nissan in Asia, especially India and Japan, Russia and South Africa, and in Doha growing the reputation of The Qatar Foundation.

He has worked in several countries on clients such as P&G, Nestlé, Unilever, Coca-Cola, Nissan, Jeep, Fiat, and Chrysler. In the past two years his work has been rewarded at Cannes Lions, including Gold, Eurobest, including Grand Prix, Epica, The One Show, Cristal Festival, and Club des AD.

His film for Come4 was among the most awarded globally as rated by the Gunn Report in 2014. 

Editor Carl Schumacher has joined Optimus. A veteran of the Chicago post community, Schumacher brings experience with brands as diverse as the Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Disney, Indiana University Health, Miller Lite, Oscar Mayer and State Farm for agencies including DDB, Digitas, Leo Burnett, mcgarrybowen and Schafer Condon Carter.

Most recently, Schumacher was an editor and partner at Conspiracy. Before that, he worked at Cutters in Chicago from 2007 until early this year. At Cutters, Schumacher worked his way up from intern to assistant and then made his way to the editor’s chair in 2010. He earned this relatively quick promotion to editor by working to cut anything and everything he could get his hands on, from commercial client work to videos and short films he did in his own time.

Optimus EP/managing director Gretchen Praeger said of Schumacher, “He is a great fit for Optimus, especially during this exciting time as we expand our roster and anticipate our move to the Wrigley Building.”

Production and post house Optimus maintains offices in Chicago, Santa Monica, Calif., and New York.

The Open Gaming Alliance (OGA), a non-profit trade association focused on building business opportunities for the games industry, has named Wanda Meloni as its executive director effective. She has been serving on the organization’s board since January of this year as VP. In her new role, Meloni will spearhead the OGA’s efforts to build and expand business opportunities and innovation within the games ecosystem.

As executive director, Meloni will be dedicated to strategic planning, positioning and implementation of the OGA’s initiatives while creating valuable membership programs and aligning with key industry partners. In addition to her work with the OGA, Meloni is the founder and CEO of M2 Advisory Group (formerly M2 Research), and the editor-in-chief of Games Business Review.

“Wanda’s industry knowledge, energy and hard work has helped revitalize the OGA’s efforts as we evolve to better reflect all platforms, sectors and business models that make up the game industry today,” said Drew Johnston, OGA president. “Her insight and guidance will help the organization respond to emerging trends and issues important to our members, and shape the OGA’s growth.”

The Open Gaming Alliance provides an array of resources to its industry members, ranging from research and best-practice guidance to marketing support and networking with some of the industry’s premier technology vendors, hardware providers, and publishers. Founded in 2008, the organization has evolved. Now focused on supporting all gaming platforms, the OGA’s mission is to support business opportunities for developers, create expansion and promote innovation in gaming.

2015 has been an explosive year of growth and activity for the Open Gaming Alliance, which has added several high profile corporate members including Lenovo, Unity3D and Webroot.

Several new initiatives were announced at this year’s E3, including new membership levels, and new Special Interest Groups focused on VR/AR, Tools and Middleware, and Cloud Gaming. Additionally, the OGA unveiled a significant expansion of its indie developer support through its new Indie Collective Program and partnerships with top accelerators through the OGA Incubator Program including MassDigi, Washington Interactive Network and Execution Labs.

Alain Groenendaal, president and CEO of Grey Latin America, announced the promotion of Diego Medvedocky to VP, regional creative director. Medvedocky will continue his creative leadership of Grey Argentina, splitting his time between the agency and Grey’s 13 offices throughout the region.

Medvedocky joined Grey Latin America in 2013 as general creative director of Grey Argentina. In 2014, under his creative leadership, the agency won several distinguished awards, such as a Grand Prix and the title of “Agency of the Year” at the Argentina Creative Circle Diente festival, one of the most prestigious local advertising awards. In addition, the agency took home four Lions in 2014 and six more at the 2015 Cannes Festival. Diego is also a valued figure in the global network for his contributions to the Grey Global Creative Council, and last year was named Chairman of the Latin America version of the Council.