GAMES MINISTER MARGARET HODGE TO SPEAK AT ELSPA AGM
Minister of State for Culture, Media & Sport, Margaret Hodge, has been invited to give a speech at this year's ELSPA AGM - to be held on 22nd October at the London games Festival
Thursday 4th October/... Margaret Hodge, the Minister of State for Culture, Media & Sport has been invited to give a speech at this year's ELSPA (the Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Association) AGM.
The AGM will be held at The Royal Society of Medicine in London on 22nd October and will be held in conjunction with the second London Games Festival, which is running between 22nd and 26th October 2007 in various locations within the Capital.
Before the AGM, ELSPA will host a members' forum to present and discuss the recently announced government review that will look at the topic of how to help children and parents get the best from new technologies, while protecting them from harmful images - making this a must attend event for CEOs and marketing and communications experts.
The Forum will also address the burning issue of the rise of negative publicity in the games industry over the last year. Several political and social studies on societal breakdown and violence have cited computer games as having a potentially negative influence on young gamers such as addiction, obesity, truancy and crime.
With the 'Byron Review' getting underway, the aim of the forum is to inform all members as to the political pressures faced by the industry and discuss the work currently undertaken in this area, its impact and what more might be achieved.
At the AGM itself it is expected that Hodge will outline the government's position in relation to the video and computer games industry which will be followed by a Q&A session, where attending delegates will be invited to question the minister on a range of important issues. This, coming shortly after the morning's discussion and debate at the ELSPA members' forum, will be particularly beneficial.
"We are thrilled that Margaret Hodge will be attending this year's ELSPA AGM," said Paul Jackson, Director General of ELSPA. "Her attendance lends further weight to the opinion that the government is continuing to recognise the huge cultural and financial impact video and computer games enjoy."
Anyone may attend the ELSPA AGM, but voting on formal resolutions is only open to paid up full members.
EDITORS NOTES:
About ELSPA - http://www.elspa.com
ELSPA (The Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Association) was founded in 1989 to establish a specific and collective identity for the computer and video games industry. Membership includes almost all companies concerned with the publishing and distribution of interactive leisure software in the UK.
For further information, please contact:
Laura West
BARRINGTON HARVEY
T: 01462 456780
F: 01462 456781
E: laura.west@bhpr.co.uk