![InterPlay: Vanessa In Bed With Mashable [Video]](https://helios-i.mashable.com/imagery/archives/04Bxnqz9MtbOcTN1kARGSIk/hero-image.fill.size_1248x702.v1647017106.gif)
Thursday's InterPlay conference at the Hotel Kabuki in San Francisco saw notables from RockYou, Meebo, Kongregate, Zynga, Electronic Arts, Mochi Media, MySpace, Bunchball and more come together to discuss the intersection of gaming and the social web.
The afterparty, held in a tented courtyard at the nearby Hotel Tomo, offered a peek into this anime-adorned geek retreat, with the two open rooms sporting LCD TVs, iPod docking stations, free Wi-Fi and seven-foot high manga murals. I reclined with theMIX agency's Vanessa Camones to ponder the future of social gaming on the web.
Engagement is the holy grail, it seems, for all social networks, applications and games: a transition from the pageview factories of yore (hi, MySpace) to Facebook's meaningful interactions and enviable session times. Keep them engaged, the theory goes, and the money will follow.
In the second half of this series, more pillow talk reveals where that business model might reside.
Vanessa Camones is a founding member of theMix agency, a San Francisco and North Oakland-based social web strategy, consulting and public relations firm. Clients include SGN and RockYou.
Pete Cashmore is the founder and CEO of Mashable.