Chris Bergman is the CEO of Gylee Games, a games studio based in Cincinnati, OH. He's also a General Partner at The Fund Midwest, a venture fund he co-founded in 2020. Chris is also the co-owner of Cosmic Gorilla, a comic shop bar in Cincinnati, and the founder of ChoreMonster, which sold to Verizon in 2018. In his spare time, Chris DJs as an EDM artist under the name "Bergs." He says, “It's kinda cringe”, but he enjoys it.
Read MoreTom Caprel is a marketer for games, tech enthusiast, and trained opera singer. In 2013, Tom and his co-founder started a big-data website to analyze virtual markets with the goal helping players get the most out of their time in-game. In 2015, Tom started a dedicated marketing company, Hyperion Marketing, to help small game/software developers show their success to the world. Tom is on the board of IGDA Chicago, and has been the Communications Director and Expo Director at the Video Game Art (VGA) Gallery since February 2016. Tom has been in marketing for 9+ years, and regularly works with Chicago startup incubators.
Read MoreRoss is the Founder of Loading Law, a Chicago-based law practice, and provides legal counsel to video game developers and entrepreneurs in the tech sector. Ross is also the Organizer of the Chicago Video Game Law Summit and an Adjunct Professor of Video Game Law at DePaul University. He speaks frequently on hot topics in law and technology. Ross also serves as the Chair of IGDA Chicago, Chair of the CBA YLS Creative Arts Committee, and Vice Chair of the ABA Digital Games and New Media Committee.
Read MoreMatthew is the Founder & CEO of eFuse, a professional hub for Esports & Video Games. In the form of a mobile & web application that validates gamer information and incentivizes professional collaboration in the Esports and Video Game community. eFuse connects gamers, creators, & business professionals with limitless opportunities.
Read MoreZac Pierce is an independent game developer who specializes in programming, UI/UX, and product management. He's the lead developer on BOMBFEST, a party game set for release in January 2019.
Read MoreTroy has twenty + years of experience in the gaming, learning and design industries and is an entrepreneur at heart. His work experience roles have grown from an animator, to lead application engineer, head of project management, director of global production and C-Level Leaderships. His experience began in the seminal days of virtual reality in the mid ‘’90s. Troy helped to spin out a company from the Virtus Corporation that focused on creating business applications using gaming engine platforms and Virtual Reality applications. In 2001 he became founder and CEO of a creative and digital agency, Bluemoon Design, which created interactive media, e-learning applications, simulations and serious game platforms. After Bluemoon’s main client expanded their operations, they acquired Bluemoon to run the global productions division. Through the years, Troy saw a gap in the marketplace for experts needed in the industries of learning, design, and gaming. To meet the demand, Troy built a consultative practice for a national consulting firm Vaco that supported those industries in building strategies and team structures with that core expertise. As the practice accelerated, more clients were tapping into the expertise that Troy provided to strategize and create solutions. Troy spun out the division and launched BLDG-25, Inc. in 2015 as a Software and User Experience company creating leading-edge digital strategies leveraging their gaming, learning and design expertise.
Troy has led and served on several boards such as the American Marketing Association, the North Carolina Advanced Learning Technologies Association, North Carolina Contemporary Art Foundation and has served as the industry cluster lead for Wake County Economic Development in gaming. As an advocate for the gaming and immersive learning industries, Troy co-founded the Triangle Gaming Initiative and the annual international East Coast Game Conference, held in Raleigh and now in its tenth year. This influential conference now reaches audiences on a global scale.
In 2011, Troy won the Triangle Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 elite class for up-and-coming entrepreneurial leaders under the age of 40.
Read MoreChris Volpe is the co-founder of Multivarious Games, the leading game development company in Columbus, Ohio. The President and Co-Founder of the Ohio Game Developer Association, leading a dynamic team of dedicated individuals to create novel gaming experiences and further the game development industry within Ohio. He is also the Director of Operations for Game-U, an educational company where industry professionals teach kids how to develop video games using industry software, STEM learning techniques, and soft skill development. Lastly, Chris is a co-founder of GDEX, the Midwest’s largest gaming expo that brings together people from across the country, to learn, connect, and share, at a Weekend Celebration of Games!
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