Bing Gordon
Encyclopedia
William "Bing" Gordon is an executive in the video game industry. He served ten years as Chief Creative Officer of video game publisher and developer Electronic Arts
(EA) prior to his current partnership with Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB). He was a founding director of Audible.com
and is currently a board member of Amazon
, Ngmoco
, and Zynga
.
Gordon graduated from Cranbrook School in 1968. He studied drama and literature and earned a BA
from Yale University
. He waited tables at Max's Kansas City
and acted off-Broadway
in New York City
. He turned down an offer from NYU's drama department and moved to the Bay Area
where he received an MBA from Stanford in 1978.
After working as an account executive at the advertising firm Ogilvy and Mather, Gordon joined EA in 1982 working as the marketing department. In 2005, he took a faculty chair position at the University of Southern California's Interactive Media Division
after EA invested in the fledgling program. On April 28, 2008 Gordon announced plans to leave EA to join the venture capital KPCB starting June 2008.
Gordon was the recipient of the 2011 Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
Lifetime Achievement Award..
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
(EA) prior to his current partnership with Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB). He was a founding director of Audible.com
Audible.com
Audible.com is an Internet provider of spoken audio entertainment, information, and educational programming.Audible sells digital audiobooks, radio and TV programs, and audio versions of magazines and newspapers....
and is currently a board member of Amazon
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
, Ngmoco
Ngmoco
ngmoco, Inc. is an American-based publisher of video games for the iOS and Android platforms, and a subsidiary of DeNA. The company was founded by former Electronic Arts executive Neil Young in July 2008. Since its founding, ngmoco has had more than seven million combined game installs...
, and Zynga
Zynga
Zynga is a social network game developer located in San Francisco, United States. The company develops browser-based games that work both stand-alone and as application widgets on social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace....
.
Gordon graduated from Cranbrook School in 1968. He studied drama and literature and earned a BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. He waited tables at Max's Kansas City
Max's Kansas City
Max's Kansas City was a nightclub and restaurant at 213 Park Avenue South, in New York City, which was a gathering spot for musicians, poets, artists and politicians in the 1960s and 1970s.-Origin of name:...
and acted off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. He turned down an offer from NYU's drama department and moved to the Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
where he received an MBA from Stanford in 1978.
After working as an account executive at the advertising firm Ogilvy and Mather, Gordon joined EA in 1982 working as the marketing department. In 2005, he took a faculty chair position at the University of Southern California's Interactive Media Division
USC Interactive Media Division
The University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts's Interactive Media Division first accepted students in 2002. In addition to coursework in film production, screenwriting, and animation, students in the division study across three disciplines within interactive media: immersive...
after EA invested in the fledgling program. On April 28, 2008 Gordon announced plans to leave EA to join the venture capital KPCB starting June 2008.
Gordon was the recipient of the 2011 Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences , founded in 1996, is a non-profit organization that promotes computer and video game entertainment with the annual D.I.C.E. Summit event, where its Interactive Achievement Awards ceremony has been held annually since 1998...
Lifetime Achievement Award..
External links
- MobyGames' Rap Sheet on Bing Gordon
- "He's Got Games", a Bing Gordon profile from The Washington Post