I'm beyond excited to share that my TEDx Talk, How Gaming Can Unlock Your Better Self, is now live on the TEDx YouTube channel! You can find it in the show notes or directly at professorgame.com/tedx2023 I'd love to know your thoughts!

Jason Friedman, a former theater enthusiast who is now a serial entrepreneur and coach, is dedicated to helping entrepreneurs and small business owners grow and scale their businesses. With a flair for dramatics and a master of storytelling, Jason has founded and exited five successful companies. As CEO of CXFormula, he's now teaching businesses how to captivate their audiences using his proprietary Kinetic Customer Formula·. He's also at the helm of Spotlight Brand Services, guiding e-commerce brands to success on Amazon and beyond. Join us as we dive into the insights of a leader whose strategies have earned him accolades like Ernst and Young·s Entrepreneur of the Year, and propelled multiple companies to the top of the Inc. 5000 list.

As the Chief Learning Officer at StoryIQ, Diedre combines her love of data and strategic thinking with creating engaging learning experiences. With close to 20 years of teaching and facilitating experience, Diedre brings enthusiasm and a unique ability to make complex concepts accessible and relatable to all. Diedre's expertise allows her to call upon a deep knowledge of communicating data and data-driven strategy to senior leaders and key stakeholders across industries and verticals.

Moe Ash is a learning architect dedicated to the notion of designing learning experiences. He holds a BSC degree in Human Resources Management and a minor in Economics from Sadat Academy for Management Sciences, a Master's degree in International Development from the American University in Cairo. A CIPD-HR associate (level 5), Certified Instructional Designer HRCI, Certified Competency Matrix Developer, Certified Assessment Center Analyst from Middle Earth HR, and a diploma in Community Psychology from the American University in Cairo. A brand ambassador to the Genially authoring tool. Moe is currently looking into acquiring his degree in business psychology aiming to blend gamification and performance management in a tight cohesive mold. Moe is the founder of The Catalyst, an instructional design consultancy focused on the sole purpose of creating impeccable learning experiences.

Dr. Timo Lainema is the developer of RealGame, a unique real-time operated business simulation game for learning business and supply chain management, and many other business topics. Timo is an adjunct professor of educational sciences and game-based learning in Finnish universities, and an experienced trainer in executive education. His present research of game-based teaching and learning focuses on conceptual change and correcting students· false perceptions through simulation gaming. In addition, he has studied the management of time in simulation games, immersion and flow, business process understanding, and decision-making and leadership in game-based learning. Presently, Timo works as the CEO of RealGame Business Simulations, a company providing active learning solutions for higher education and company training internationally.

Javier is Co-founder of Azahar Juegos and Free to Play, companies that focus on the design and research around the use of playful paradigms in serious contexts. He has 11 years of experience working on gamification projects and has collaborated on educational projects with institutions in Colombia such as Universidad de los Andes, Sergio Arboleda, Rosario, Uniminuto, and with companies such as Bancolombia, Compensar, Grupo Bolivar, among others. He is the designer of the BEM Framework for systemic and meaningful gamification and the recipient of two awards from Tech Magazine / Gamicon 2019 for gamification projects in virtual learning.

Meet Chris, founder of Gaming@Work. His company integrates Game Derived Skills·· and Game-based Learning for a dynamic workplace. With a background in International Hospitality and experience as a Partner Manager at Dell Technologies, specializing in Cloud and Gaming-as-a-Service, Chris brings expertise in various graphics/gaming workloads. He provides a unique tech perspective on employee growth. Chris aims to help organizations achieve digital transformation goals, keeping employees skilled and motivated without investing in expensive software. Regularly sharing insights on gaming culture, esports, and tech trends, connect with Chris to explore the future at GamingAt.Work and his blog, TeamLocktree.com

Engagers free resource out! In this episode, we explore a free mini-course we have just released that will allow you to either take your first steps in this Game Inspired world of Gamification, if you are a seasoned veteran you can add something different to your belt or anything in between, including curiosity, register for free at professorgame.com/freegamificationcourse. I'm looking forward to seeing you there and read any feedback you have!

The founder and director of Checkpoint, Tamer is dedicated to changing our perception of learning and the technology we use to enable learning. Advocate of gaming cultural wealth and the benefits gaming has, Tamer has spent years developing pedagogy through Checkpoint to help us benefit from our digital fluency. Driven by the failure of governments and education systems globally during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the hypocrisy around "screentime", Tamer focused on showcasing the benefits of gaming on well-being, education and as a social platform for children. This led to a partnership and study on the impact of gaming in education with Brunel University which proved incredibly successful. Tamer is also an award-winning producer and journalist who has worked across print, broadcast (TV and radio) and online.

Based in Salt Lake City, Utah, Bret is a seasoned Game/Software professional with over 15 years of experience in crafting immersive games, innovative software, and user-friendly apps. His passion lies in bridging the realms of design psychology in both gaming and software landscapes. He's dedicated to uncovering the intriguing parallels between professional e-sport players and software power users, as well as exploring the social dynamics ignited by elements like "hi-scores" in e-commerce platforms. Bret delights in translating these insights into tangible enhancements, creating products and experiences that resonate deeply with users. Don't miss his enlightening 2022 TEDx Talk, "Can a 90s video game be a standard for experience design?", available online for a captivating dive into his perspective on the fusion of gaming and design.