About Us
Seasoned team of business, technology, interactive marketing and gaming executives
GameLogic is led by a seasoned team of business, technology, interactive marketing, and gaming executives who blend their expertise to develop innovative and compliant player loyalty solutions.
Steven N. Kane
Founder
CEO, 2002 to 2007
Steven Kane is a technology investor and entrepreneur. Most recently he was Founder, , of GameLogic, where he served as Chairman and CEO from 2002-2007.
Previously, Steven was Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of pioneering Internet casual games, technology and database marketing concern Gamesville, from its 1994 inception until its November 1999 acquisition by Lycos, Inc. for $232 million. Gamesville was regularly amongst the largest circulation web sites of any kind of its time, and was by far the largest, most popular and successful Internet games site of the initial Internet era, well known for its unique, massively-multiplayer, real-time technologies and games. In addition, Gamesville was widely heralded for its groundbreaking, non-game technology and product innovations — for creating entirely new media platforms, products and business models which, in real-time, deployed massive-scale, closed-loop, target marketing, data mining and advertising engines, as well as groundbreaking permission-based systems for consumer profiling, lead generation and media insertion.
Prior to Gamesville, Steven was CEO of Elkay Products, the global developer of precision life-science laboratory consumables and liquid handling systems. One of the largest private-label suppliers of laboratory products to global healthcare concerns such as Baxter International and Fisher Scientific, Elkay was acquired by CIT Group in April 1995, and is now part of the Kendall division of Tyco International.
Steven is currently a Director of new-media content and marketing platform developer Pangea Media of Watertown, Massachusetts, and next-generation casino gaming systems developer Acres-Fiore Gaming of Las Vegas, Nevada. Previously he was a founding Director of Leader Bank, N.A. of Arlington, Massachusetts as well as several other firms. Steven is also currently a Trustee of the Joslin Diabetes Center, and an Overseer of the Institute for Contemporary Art and Huntington Theater Company, all of Boston, Massachusetts. He holds a B.F.A., from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.
John F. Acres
Chairman of the Board
An inventor, entrepreneur and serial casino technology start-up CEO, John Acres' numerous contributions to the gaming industry include the modern progressive jackpot system and player tracking technologies. Mr. Acres is the founder and chairman of Acres Concepts, which develops intellectual property for the casino industry.
In 1990, Mr. Acres founded Acres Gaming, where he developed and patented concepts and technologies related to bonusing and player tracking, implemented by Anchor Gaming, IGT, Bally and Aristocrat, as well as at leading casino properties worldwide. IGT purchased Acres Gaming in 2003. Prior to that, Mr. Acres co-founded Mikohn Inc., now called Progressive Gaming International Corporation (NASDAQ: PGIC), where he developed the progressive slot machine jackpot system that has become a core fixture in casinos worldwide. Earlier, as president and founder of Electronic Data Technology (EDT), Mr. Acres invented the modern slot player tracking system, which he sold to casinos worldwide.
Mr. Acres also founded the Gaming Standards Association (GSA), an industry standards organization. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.
John E. Taylor, Jr.
President, CEO & Director
John Taylor is a gaming industry veteran with deep executive-level experience and a focus on strategy development and public policy matters. Prior to joining GameLogic, Mr. Taylor was managing partner of SnowMark Corporation, an early stage venture capital firm, where he was the principal liaison with SnowMark's portfolio companies.
Before SnowMark, Mr. Taylor spent nearly 10 years at GTECH Corporation, the leading provider of lottery services to governments around the world. During his tenure, he founded and was CEO of its gaming and entertainment subsidiary, which developed non-lottery racinos, Native American casinos and government-sponsored video gaming operations. He simultaneously served as a Vice President and member of the executive management committee of GTECH Holdings Corporation.
Mr. Taylor graduated from Rhode Island College with a Bachelor of Science degree, while maintaining the post of Special Assistant to the Governor of Rhode Island.
Mark Herrmann
Chief Operating Officer
Prior to joining GameLogic in October 2001, Mark Herrmann was the Vice President, Direct Marketing and General Manager of Games at TerraLycos, SA, a global Internet company operating in 41 countries in 20 languages.
Previously, Mr. Herrmann was the Vice President, Product & Operations of Gamesville. While at Gamesville, he directed marketing and awareness campaigns that established Gamesville as the most popular games site on the Internet.
Before joining Gamesville, Mr. Herrmann was the Director of Interactive Marketing at The Phoenix Media/Communication Group, a multimedia company with interests in newspaper publishing, broadcasting, and audio-text services.
Mr. Herrmann holds an MBA and an MS in Communication from Boston University, and a BA in Economics from the University of Vermont.
Dow Hardy
Senior Vice President, Technology
Prior to joining GameLogic, Dow Hardy was the Vice President, US Operations for TerraLycos, SA, a global Internet company operating in 41 countries in 20 languages. In this role, he directed online operations and Quality Assurance for all Lycos Network properties.
Previously, Mr. Hardy was the Director of Engineering Operations of Gamesville, managing the design, integration and operation of the website and corporate infrastructures.
Earlier, Mr. Hardy was a Product Line Manager at M/A-Com and Program Manager at Draper Laboratory.
Mr. Hardy holds a BS in Aeronautical Engineering from The Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Michael Lightman
Vice President, Sales
Michael Lightman has more than 15 years in gaming and managed IT services, as well as broad experience in sales, corporate development and product marketing.
Before joining GameLogic, Mr. Lightman was Senior Vice President, Corporate Development at CRC, Inc., a managed IT services holding company focusing on messaging and supply chain solutions. In this role, he served as General Manager of CRC's hosted messaging business unit, and led the sales and corporate development efforts for three of CRC's portfolio businesses.
Prior to CRC, Mr. Lightman was Vice President, Marketing at Transcentive, Inc., a leading provider of equity compensation technology and solutions.
Mr. Lightman has also spent more than nine years at GTECH Corporation, a worldwide provider of gaming systems and services to the Lottery and Casino industries. He co-founded GTECH's gaming and entertainment subsidiary, and served as its Vice President, Operations.
Mr. Lightman holds an MBA in Marketing and Finance from Columbia University and a BS in Computer Science from Union College.
Matthew S. Ross
Vice President, Corporate Development & General Manager, PlayAway
Matthew Ross has 10 years of experience in gaming and interactive entertainment with a focus on corporate and product development, client relationship management and online marketing.
Before joining GameLogic, Mr. Ross was CEO of Sweepstakes.com. He also held marketing and product development positions with Gamesville.com and later Terra Lycos, which acquired the innovative online games company. Earlier in his career, Mr. Ross held account executive positions for political communications and public relations agencies in Boston, Massachusetts and Washington, DC.
Mr. Ross holds an MBA from the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College; and a BA in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania.
Sam Ziba
Vice President, Finance
Sam Ziba is an experienced senior leader with extensive financial and operations experience. Prior to joining GameLogic in July 2001, Mr. Ziba was the Senior Director of Operational Planning at TerraLycos, SA, a Global Internet Company operating in 41 countries.
Previously, Mr. Ziba was the Director of Finance at Gamesville, where he was responsible for directing the company's financial plans and programs.
Before joining Gamesville, Mr. Ziba was an Accounting Officer and Assistant Vice President at Grove Bank, which was sold to Citizens Bank. He also held Controller positions at Adesa, a large auto auction company and Professional Development Group, a start-up company. He began his career at BDO Seidman as an Auditor, and received his license to practice as a CPA in 1991.
Mr. Ziba holds a BS in Accounting from Northeastern University.
©2008 GameLogic Inc. Patents pending. All rights reserved.