Game Hugs

Joshua Boggs is one of the founding members of Loveshack Entertainment, the indie developer behind the award winning game Framed. He is a skilled business manager, designer, programmer, and game director.

He previously worked at Firemint, across titles such as Flight Control, Real Racing, and SPYmouse.

Tony Reed is the CEO of the Game Developers' Association of

Tony was the PR and Marketing Manager for Virgin

He has worked tirelessly to create opportunities for the

Jessica Citizen is the editrix of independent games website and TV show Player Attack.

She was previously a senior content editor at Games On Net, and columnist for Tecca. Her articles have been published by Time, USA Today, Mashable, Yahoo, NBC News, The Saturday Evening Post, WoW Insider, Joystiq, Gametraders LIVE and VG247, among others. She is also one of the founders of ARGGGH: Adelaide's Really Good Gathering of Game Developers.

Tony Albrecht is a Senior Software Engineer at RIOT Games, and is an Aussie game development veteran. He's worked as Engine Lead at Ratbag Games (followed by Midway Studios Australia), Senior Programmer at Pandemic Studios, and as a Technical Consultant at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.

Through his company Overbyte, he specialised in programming and optimization for a wide variety of companies, including THQ, 2K Games, Insomniac Games, Wargaming, and more.

Ben Williams is the Sales Manager at Spiral Media, mostly handling the Twitch account in Australia.

He was previously the Account Manager for ReedPOP Australia, specifically working on PAX Aus, but also across the Oz Comic-Con shows as well. He was an Account Manager for DMSBT (Google Maps), Operations Manager at Tuff Kat Entertainment, and worked for EB Games Australia for over 11 years, starting as Store Sales and eventually Senior Preowned Manager.

Rae Johnston is a Journalist for Gizmodo Australia, and was previously the Commercial Editor for Gizmodo, Kotaku, and Lifehacker.

She has done PR work for Surprise Attack and Flat Earth Games, Co-ordination and hosting for EB Games Expo, co-created and presented for Tech Space, was the Lifestyle Editor for TechLife Magazine, was an original presenter/reviewer for Save Point TV, and has been working professionally as an actor/voice actor for over a decade.

She is a high profile advocate for the games industry, regularly appearing on morning TV shows, is heavily involved with the cosplay community, and regularly MC's at events from Oz Comic-Con to Haven.

Jess 'Jiggsy' Hodgson is the Community Manager for EA in the APAC region, supporting and maintaining the community around franchises such as Battlefield, Need for Speed, Star Wars Battlefront, Mirrors Edge, and Titanfall.

Joel Van Daal is the Publisher & Commercial Lead for MCV Pacific, and as the Director of Trade Media has facilitated industry initiatives such as the 30 under 30, MCV Pacific Awards, and the Women in Games Awards and Luncheon.

He worked previously as the Business Development & Commercial Manager for One2another, was the National Advertising Sales Manager for PC PowerPlay and Hyper Magazine, and was the Assistant Sales & Event Manager for Auto Salon, which included consumer gaming event GAME1.

Jennifer Hazel is a Doctor specialising in psychiatry who has created the mental health and gaming initiative Prescription Pixel.

She is a regular speaker at conventions and is also part of the Take This AFK Room at PAX Aus. Previously she was a prominent YouTuber focusing on let's plays of indie games.

Liam Esler is the Co-Director of the recently held GX Australia event, and is also the Event Manager at the GDAA for Game Connect Asia Pacific.

He was previously an associate producer at Beamdog, a Production Co-ordinator for Surprise Attack, was a contributor to Player Attack, and a Designer for Obsidian Entertainment.