Zynga's Neil Roseman

One of the biggest stories in Seattle tech in 2011 was the arrival of the Silicon Valley tech titans. It seemed that nearly every other month a new company was establishing an engineering center in rain-soaked Seattle, picking off talented managers and engineers and altering the tech recruiting landscape in the process.

Zynga, the fast-growing social gaming powerhouse, found its man in Neil Roseman. The former Amazon.com vice president of technology and CEO of Seattle startup Evri joined Zynga in March, saying he was attracted by the entrepreneurial freedom that Zynga founder Mark Pincus had injected into the business.

At the time, there wasn’t much to the company’s offices in the old Washington Shoe Building in Pioneer Square.

But Roseman is helping to lead the charge in Seattle, an important outpost in the company’s growth.

And Zynga — the four-year-old maker of FarmVille, CityVille and Words with Friends — certainly has been growing. It now boasts some 54 million daily active users in 175 countries. Awaiting to go public, Zynga now employs more than 2,500 employees.

Asked in April why he joined Zynga instead of jumping to another startup, Roseman noted:  “There just aren’t that many Zyngas.”

Newsmakers at the GeekWire Gala

We’ll be recognizing more than 20 Newsmakers of 2011 during the GeekWire Gala, Dec. 8 at the Great Hall at Seattle’s Union Station. We’ll introduce a new Newsmaker every weekday leading up to the big event.

The night is also a celebration of “Geeks who Give Back,” recognized in a special GeekWire 2012 Calendar that will be given to attendees, with a share of sponsorship proceeds going to the Child’s Play charity.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The event is now sold out. If you’ve already signed up, we’re looking forward to seeing you there! See the registration page for details and logistics.

Thanks to our sponsors Zillow, Bing, Filter, Facebook, thePlatform and Barokas PR for helping to make this special evening possible.

Contact Rebecca Lovell, rebecca@geekwire.com, for sponsorship opportunities.

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