James Lee 12:16 (BST)
20/11/2008

gamescom has unveiled the formation of its advisory board, which has come together to begin the planning and organisation of the upcoming event set to take place in Cologne next summer.

The board features Nintendo, Sega, Song, BIU members, and other representatives of the games industry and city of Cologne. The industry is also represented by Tim Jöllenbeck the CEO of Speed Link, Bernd Grannemann of Tivola Publishing and Uwe Semtner of AMD.

"Actively supporting gamescom is a very interesting assignment because the trade fair will undoubtedly be the industry highlight for the European games industry," said Jöllenbeck. "For that reason, we are pleased to be part of the advisory committee."

A member of the GAME association still to be named will also help to organise gamescom, along with Frank Sliwka, Global Games Media, who is also organising the event's developer conference, and Helmut Blömeke from the city of Cologne will round out the new committee.

"I'm very happy that the city is represented on the advisory board for gamescom," Cologne's Lord Mayor, Fritz Schramma, commented. "All of Cologne is excited about the new trade fair, and we want to play a considerable part in presenting Cologne as a cultural and event metropolis to the international exhibitors and visitors beyond the trade fair happenings. Koelnmesse and the city, gamescom and the supporting programme will offer an impressive overall experience."

Oliver P Kuhrt, CEO of Koelnmesse GmbH added: "The advisory committee is made up of people from the industry for the industry. The great deal of interest shown by the industry is yet another positive sign for gamescom 2009."