Christopher Hamilton

I am passionate about games and community development. Games entertain,

educate, challenge us, change how we think, and empower us to change our lives.
Communities provide opportunities to connect, learn and serve. IGDA is a meeting
place of these passions.

I am a US citizen who has lived extensively in the US, Russia and Finland with
more than 10 years experience in both the games industry and NGO development.
I offer unique experiences and skill sets to the IGDA. As a board member, my
mission would be to improve capacity building between chapters, outreach to game
development communities in Europe interested in joining IGDA, and work with the
organization to provide more value to our members, particularly our international
ones.

I have assumed leadership roles in IGDA Finland since I moved to the country in
2014. I am serving as seminar coordinator for our Helsinki Hub with attendance
typically exceeding 500 people. I also recently completed a two-year term on the
board, where as Membership Lead I ran an outreach campaign resulting in 18 new Christopher Hamilton
companies joining as studio affiliates.

IGDA Finland is a unique chapter in the IGDA family. It is one chapter comprised of 12 hubs working in 12 different cities in Finland.
Much of the board’s work is developing new ideas and programs, and building capacity in the areas outside of Helsinki by facilitating
and empowering volunteers in those cities. I work collaboratively with these volunteers, fostering the community and supporting them
to learn from one another in an iterative process.

My game development background is in localization/culturalization, product and project management, marketing and publishing. I am
currently a producer at Rovio Entertainment.

Please vote for me and give me the opportunity to fulfill my mission.

Relevant IGDA or Other Volunteer Experience:

IGDA Finland Helsinki Hub Seminar Coordinator 2014-present; IGDA Finland board member 2015-2017; Finnish Game Jam
evangelist/volunteer 2015-present, board member 2017-present; CGA/Casual Connect volunteer/indie prize judge/adviser 2014-
present; Oulu Game Lab mentor/judge 2015-present; GameFounders mentor 2013-present; Garage48 mentor 2014-present
Tim Cullings

I have spent the past four years as a community organizer and leader for the game
development community in Seattle and would like to take that experience to a
larger scale and be able to advocate for a stronger community on a larger scale. I
believe that the work that IGDA does is important as a central point of focus to
helps maintain quality of life and a sense of community for people in the industry
during this period of expansive worldwide growth.

Relevant IGDA or Other Volunteer Experience:

2 years as a board member for IGDA Seattle, 1 year as a board member for Seattle
Indies +2 years prior as a volunteer event organizer

Tim Cullings
Paul Marzagalli

The “Democratization of Games” is real, and with it our community has diversified
both globally and creatively. If the IGDA wants to pursue increased worldwide
engagement, that means empowering developers to pursue their visions and
supporting them in that endeavor. My focus as a member of the Board of Directors
would be to further develop these possibilities. My game industry career began in
2005 and for many years ran concurrently with a recently wrapped seventeen-year
career in higher education. My longest-standing gig (and the capacity in which I
met many of you) has been as a member of the Board of Advisors for the National
Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers. The organization was founded to
promote recognition for the individuals who make the industry what it is. In fact,
NAVGTR’s President, Tom Allen, is currently Chair of the IGDA’s Credentials SIG.
That ideal has been at the core of my industry journey since its inception. Working
on empowering voices across the world means giving them a platform as well as
providing them access to peers and opportunities that are not always readily
available. Much of my time in the industry has been opening those kinds of doors,
whether through my NAVGTR work, my role as an advisor for the Boston Festival
of Indie Games, or myriad smaller roles like working with the Gerontoludic Society Paul Marzagalli
on the dialogue regarding gaming experiences for older citizens. Sometimes, it is
just a matter of knowing the right people, other times it is creating opportunities because there is a need. These are lessons that I apply
in my current position as Public Relations & Community Manager for inXile Entertainment. In my current capacities, I already work with
a broad spectrum of the industry and those voices and connections are what I would bring to the IGDA Board of Directors. When I think
about this role, it is in the context of the future conversations that I will have with you, hearing your hopes and concerns, and bringing
those perspectives to IGDA meetings. A diversity of voices and gameplay means walking a tightrope of working toward solutions for
general industry issues without resorting to groupthink (be it regional or ideological). It is imperative that we continue to develop a
camaraderie as an industry while always working to celebrate and defend all the different ways we express ourselves as artists and
creators in our many communities.

Relevant IGDA or Other Volunteer Experience:

Advisory Board - National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers, Advisory Board - Boston Festival of Indie Games, Advisory
Board - Gerontoludic Society
Dr. Matthew M. White

In the last ten years, the IGDA has been a holistic and integral part of my game
development career. By both launching me into this industry and acting as a central
source for resources and connections, the IGDA has provided me with both the
opportunities and resources necessary to further my career. The IGDA scholarship
to attend GDC that I received as a student in 2009 was the catalyst to a now ten-
year career in game development, spanning AAA, indie, education, and everything
in between. In the years since, I've tried to give back as much as possible,
volunteering with the IGDA scholars, GURSIG, mentorship programs, and more.
The IGDA is uniquely positioned to act as a single voice for the extremely broad
community that it serves, which is of course an ongoing challenge. I can think of no
better way to thank this organization for all it has done for me than to assist in its
direction. During my career, I have developed and led a game development
program for a major university, developed an analytics pipeline for a large studio,
developed and launched a handful of indie games, and founded a company or
three. I also had the great opportunity to work at Playstation in a central group,
learning about the challenges faced by game developers of all sizes and budgets.
Today, I work for Keywords Studios as a remote data scientist, where I lend Dr. Matthew M. White
statistical and technical expertise to a variety of big data challenges. In my free
time, I am working to set up a game development coworking space and ecosystem for the blossoming game development community
in Northwestern Pennsylvania, centered on the city of Erie. In my various roles, I have always aspired to bring energy, grit, and
accuracy to the tasks assigned of me. Penn State's game development program grew 300% under my leadership, Volition built and
deployed a full stack analytics pipeline, my personal businesses have flourished, and I continue to add value for Keywords. It would be
an honor to bring some of my skills to bear on an organization that has been a major part of my career, and will continue to be well into
my retirement.

Relevant IGDA or Other Volunteer Experience:

IGDA Scholar 2008-2009; GURSIG member, content curator, conference host, and more for last 5 years; IGDA scholars volunteer;
IGDA scholar mentor; GUR mentorship program; Extra Life host 4 years running; Extra Life fundraiser 6 years running; Pro bono
speaker, mentor at Penn State Game Development; Local (City of Erie) volutneer work, various.