Speaking

GDC (2017)
I presented TButt, Turbo Button’s multiplatform VR toolset, at the annual Tech Toolbox session in the Independent Games Summit.

Oculus Connect 3 (2016)
I spoke at the Failure Workshop at Oculus Connect 3 with Brian Allgeier from Insomniac Games and Alex Schwartz from Owlchemy Labs. My portion of the talk was about Turbo Button’s early approach to VR prototyping, and how we learned to capitalize on the things we’re good at.

GDC (2016)
I participated in the first VRDC microtalk session at GDC 2016, with a presentation on how optimizing games for VR is everyone’s job.

Vision Summit (2016)
Turbo Button cofounder Nic Vasconcellos and I did a postmortem on Adventure Time: Magic Man’s Head Games at the first Unity Vision Summit.

Oculus Connect 2 (2015)
I gave a tech talk at Oculus Connect on the development of Turbo Button’s first title, Adventure Time: Magic Man’s Head Games. It covered a little bit of everything: design, workflows, mobile optimization, and even business development.

GDC Independent Games Summit (2015)
I was invited to speak on a panel titled “VR for Indies” by E. McNeil with Vi Hart, Ben Kane, and Max Geiger. We talked about the opportunities and challenges for indie game developers in the growing field of VR.

PAX East (2013)
I was invited to speak on a panel titled “Passion vs. Skill Set: How Studios Consider Candidates” by Benjamin Callavari with John Lindemuth, Cory Johnson, Elliot Mitchell, Ichiro Lambe, and Caroline Murphy. It was the second PAX in a row I have been able to speak on a panel to students and hobbyists about getting a foot in the door with the games industry, and as usual, it was a ton of fun. My leave-behind piece of advice was “make games – if you actually make the things you say you want to make, people will notice and your passion will speak for itself.”

PAX Prime (2012)
A panel I organized on “Breaking Into the Games Industry” was accepted and presented at PAX Prime 2012, and it was livestreamed online via Twitch.TV. It was my first time speaking at a big conference and it was a ton of fun. I acted as a moderator, and the panelists were friends of mine who had expressed interest in doing something similar: Ben Esposito (Giant Sparrow), Cory Johnson (Zynga), Teagan Morrison (Naughty Dog), Blade Olson (EA), and Ashley Zeldin (Indie).

What Would Molydeux? LA Game Jam (2012)
Magic Pixel Games funded and allowed me to organize an LA jam site for the international What Would Molydeux game jam. We had a fantastic turnout for the 48 hour event, and I hosted and livestreamed the whole thing with the help of Andrea Benavides and Mark Tsai. Linked above is a clip from the final presentations, where you can see all the games that were made during the jam.

 

Writing

A Student’s Guide to Getting Into the Games Industry (2011)
I wrote a lengthy post just before graduating from Georgia Tech about my experience as a student, starting off as a clueless freshman and ending up as a relatively successful senior with multiple job offers waiting for me. I talked about my internships, organizing personal projects, networking, and passion. A lot of students have contacted me with additional questions since I made the post, and it was the basis of my panel at PAX Prime 2012, “Breaking Into the Games Industry.”

Game Deconstructions (2009-present)
“Deconstructions” are detailed reviews designed to figure out why games are fun (or not), a concept I was introduced to by friends at Pandemic Studios in 2009. I write them mostly for myself, but I put them up on the blog in hope of starting conversation about the games with friends and co-workers. I’ve written deconstructions for FarmVille, APB, The Saboteur, Robot Unicorn Attack, and more.