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Event Features Nolan Bushnell, CEO of X2 Games, and Kesha Williams, Software Engineering Manager for Chick-fil-A, as Well as Mayo Clinic, Gimlet Media and Others

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Nov. 29, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Alexa Conference, presented by podcast network VoiceFirst.FM, will take place Jan. 15-17, 2019, in Chattanooga, Tenn. This worldwide gathering of the Alexa development community will bring together executives, developers, entrepreneurs, strategists and marketers – all the roles involved in conceiving and creating great voice experiences.

"The tech world is changing, and with it, our expectations as a culture on how we interact with computers," says Bradley Metrock, executive producer of The Alexa Conference and host of This Week In Voice by VoiceFirst.FM. "Increasingly, we want to be able to interact with our voice, first. Voice-first technology is an inevitable destination for computing. This shift impacts every industry, every company, and every person. The Alexa Conference is driving voice innovation forward, along with associated areas like AI, machine learning, smart speakers and more."

The Alexa Conference program features a presentation by Nolan Bushnell, CEO of X2 Games. Bushnell, who previously established Atari, Inc. and the Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre chain, will present on "Alexa and Entertainment: Alexa's Groundbreaking Opportunity," along with Zai Ortiz, president, co-founder and chief creative officer of X2 Games. Kesha Williams, software engineering manager for Chick-fil-A corporate, will present the 2019 Alexa Conference keynote. Williams is an award-winning software engineer who developed several popular Alexa skills and was featured on Amazon's "Alexa Women of Voice" campaign.

Highlights of Topics Include:

• A Voice-First World: How We'll Go from Alexa at Home to Voice Technology Unifying Entire Smart Cities

• Disrupting and Re-defining the American Home with Voice

• What's New with Alexa and Amazon's Voice-First Ecosystem

• How Voice Assistants Are Reshaping Healthcare

• Voice and the Connected Car

• LEGO and Beyond: Using Voice to Capture Consumer Attention

• Alexa Skills and Government: How Mississippi Led the Way

• Using Voice to Re-Write the Rules of Storytelling and Publishing

• Naming Your Alexa Skill, and Designing It to Keep Users Coming Back

• Alexa Presentation Language (APL): Understanding It and Deploying It

• Building Alexa Skills Without Coding

• The Art of Creating Alexa Skills for Brands

In addition, the conference features The Alexa World Fair and The Alexa Awards. The Alexa World Fair is the first exhibit hall dedicated to Alexa-oriented products and services, showcasing best-in-class companies contributing to Alexa development across the world. The Alexa Awards, the largest awards program for Alexa development and businesses, will honor some of the innovators and pioneers within the community.

Amazon is the 2019 Platinum Sponsor (as well as a presenter) of The Alexa Conference. Highlights of other companies sponsoring or presenting include: Magic & Company, Gimlet Media, Mayo Clinic, LEGO, EPB Fiber Optics, Applause, Botmock, SoundHound, Inc., Capstone, Novel Effect, Audioburst, Orbita, Earplay, Lifepod, Tellables, PullString, Voice Metrics, Oaktree Products, Inc. and PrivaKey.

Metrock says, "The Alexa Conference is an opportunity for those just getting interested in voice, alongside those doing work in related fields for decades, to gather together and share best practices and network with one another."

To learn more and to register, visit https://www.voicefirst.fm/alexaconference.

About VoiceFirst.FM
VoiceFirst.FM, which produces The Alexa Conference, is a podcast network devoted to voice-first technology. Shows such as This Week In Voice, The Alexa Podcast, The VoiceFirst Roundtable and more are enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of listeners across 54 countries worldwide. VoiceFirst.FM is owned and operated by Score Publishing, a new media publishing company based in Nashville, Tennessee.

SOURCE The Alexa Conference