Professor Game Podcast

Mai P. Trinh is an Assistant Professor in Leadership and Interdisciplinary Studies at Arizona State University. Her scholarly works empower people to become the best leaders they can be so that we can build a more equitable and equal world together. From the top down, she combines complex adaptive systems science with agent-based modeling to reveal systemic patterns of inequalities, examine the effectiveness of plausible solutions, and recommend leadership actions to alleviate equity and equality. From the bottom up, she uses experiential learning theory to help leaders develop key competencies and improve leadership training and education. Her works serve to advance two of the United Nations' sustainable development goals, #10 "Reduced inequalities" and #5 "Gender equality." Professor Trinh has long been using game-based learning and gamification to help her students learn effectively. She has published innovative experiential methods to develop leadership competencies such as using mobile app games to improve learning flexibility and using gamification to foster quantitative literacy skills. Her latest workshop on applying gamification in management education was a finalist for the Best Professional Development Workshop Award at the 2022 Academy of Management annual conference.

Andrew is co-founder at Rollama - a new gaming website for English language practice. Andrew was an English and Primary class teacher for 15 years in the UK, Malaysia and China. Now he's running Rollama full-time to help make English grammar practice fun for kids.

Brit Morenus has a goal to MAKE LEARNING FUN! When she isn't online supporting Microsoft Contact Centers with gamified learning, she can be found homeschooling her daughter and volunteering with local youth. She truly feels gamification can be a successful approach for all ages for every day life tasks, work tasks, education tasks or even your routine tasks. Brit has served Microsoft for almost 10 years! She is currently the lead of a self formed Gamification Advisory Board and running gamification efforts for Microsoft Store and Microsoft Advertising contact center employees. She has more than 5 years experience using gamification for continuous on-the-job training. During that time, she has produced award-winning game-based learning experiences and obtained several certifications. Among those, are her Sententia Master Craftsman Gamification title, as well as Microlearning and Gamification certifications from Centrical. Brit is currently working on a book called An Organizational Guide for Gamified Learning with her partner-in-game, Karl Kapp.

Jed's mission is to bring more trust, connection and playfulness into the world. Why? Because for him that's what makes life fun, meaningful - and worth putting up with the necessary bullshit. He's a coach and co-creator of Cozy Juicy Real - a board game that gamifies human connection and builds stronger relationships for friends, families and complete strangers. It's been described as "deeper connections disguised as a board game". He comes from the US and now lives in Valencia Spain - today he's looking forward to buying two tiny dogs and living a relatively simple life.

Jon Spike started his career as an English Teacher and later as a Technology Integrator. He now serves as Coordinator of Instructional Technology Integration Services at UW-Whitewater's College of Education. Jon has presented all over the United States to districts, organizations, and conferences, including the International Society of Technology in Education (ISTE) Conference, the Future of Educational Technology Conference (FETC), and the Midwest Google Summit. Jon has a Master's in Educational Technology from Marian University and is working on his Ph.D. dissertation on virtual reality in education at Northern Illinois University. Jon just released his first commercial board game, Gamestormers, in 2023.

Today's guest is Jim Samartino, lead Game designer for Secrets of the Lost Station, co-creator of Secrets of the Lost Tomb, conceptual writer for the Big Trouble in Little China "Legacy of Lo Pan" expansion game, and most recently the author of the interactive children's book Crow the Courageous. He is a father of two, has a degree in psychology, and is a creative spirit who enjoys entrepreneurial endeavors. He is the owner of Samartino Stories, his newest and third privately owned company. He has participated in publishing over 125 short stories for board games. He loves Movies, gaming, storytelling, and creating positive experiences.

Special episode with more professional updates for me! It will undoubtedly benefit this Engagers community, so listen to this short, 10-minute episode and get up to speed!

Christen is, and always has been, a storyteller. She started with singing and musical theatre at the age of five and went on to earn two music degrees. Fictional books (mostly fantasy, some sci-fi) were her best friends growing up and continue to be a huge part of her life. The earliest books she remembers reading are the Jewel Kingdom books and the Jedi Apprentice Star Wars books. By day she teaches singing to both advanced and beginners (including people who think they can't sing). By night she's either hanging out with her family or happily chronicling the events of her first fantasy novels.

Charlotte Cheng is the Senior Education Manager at CodeCombat. With over 20 years of curriculum design experience, she has developed curriculum content for CodeCombat, Wonder Workshop, the Walt Disney Company, LeapFrog, and several EdTech startups. Her expertise is creating effective and engaging content for kids at the intersection of education, media, and technology As part of her work at CodeCombat, Charlotte hosts and produces the EdTech Adventures podcast, which explores the role of technology, STEM, and creative play in education with expert guests. Charlotte has also taught in a variety of K-12 classroom settings and one of her workshops was featured on ABC News. She received her BS in cognitive science and MA in elementary education at Stanford University.

Chris Hood is a digital strategist and technology entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience in online entertainment and marketing for TV, Film, Music, and Video Games. As the Head of Business Innovation and Strategy for Google, Chris engages with some of the top companies in the world to develop digital transformation strategies that grow business value. At Google, He also hosts the weekly business podcast That Digital Show. Previously, Chris Hood worked as a Director for Fox Broadcasting where he developed storytelling technologies and innovated new mechanisms for viewers to engage with television content for shows like Glee, Gotham, Sleepy Hollow, The X-Factor, and American Idol. His work included the development of TV Everywhere products and interactive media platforms for streaming services. Chris also teaches in the Information Technology department for Southern New Hampshire University and Colorado Technical University.