2022 Special Guests

Button Masher

Jake Silverman is a GRAMMY-winning arranger, jazz pianist, jazz organist, electronic musician, composer and educator. Jake performs a live multi-media project called Button Masher that brings together video game music, jazz, and other genres. Button Masher has received widespread recognition on social media from general audiences, as well as from notable musicians. For Button Masher, Jake uses Ableton Live to recreate and utilize the sound design of retro video games. Just as jazz builds on early popular music, Button Masher extends retro video game music. As in jazz, each tune includes both structured parts and improvisation. Many of the tunes cover popular video game melodies. Other tunes are originals that utilize the sound design of well-known retro video games.

Seersha

Seersha is a songwriter, recording artist, and producer hailing from ATL. Her name comes from the phonetic spelling of Saoirse, an Irish or Scottish name meaning “freedom.” Writing alone and producing herself in Ableton for complete creative control, Seersha blends retro-future synths, textural vocals, electronic elements, and trap-influenced drums to create a lush bed for her earnest melodies.

Her 2017 self-produced debut EP earned her the name “synth-pop crooner” by her hometown’s Immersive Atlanta webzine and comparisons to Susanne Sundfør and Robyn by AnalogueTrash. Her music soon caught the attention of underground tastemakers such as yvynyl, Wonky Sensitive, Ultimate Music, Music & Other Drugs and more. Citing influences as broad as Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith to Phil Collins to Grimes, her distinct sound is uncompromising and rebellious.

With a diverse musical background spanning from classical piano to time spent writing primarily country music in Nashville, as well a business degree from Emory University and experience in the corporate world, Seersha has had a hand in a broad range of creative projects, including remixes, short film scoring, video game audio, music video production, and PR. She is currently the composer and sound designer for indie game LightBreak, which won the 2020 Georgia Game Developer’s Association Best in Georgia award and launched a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2021. She is also a contributor to the Twitch music community, live streaming her production process and live performance.

Vampire Step-Dad

Some say it’s best to be fashionably late. Vampire Step-Dad took that to heart and arrived about 25 years after the party ended.

Listening to a Vampire Step-Dad release is like sneaking into a movie theater in 1986, and finding a John Hughes film that never made it to VHS. Spanning the emotional gamut, whether a candlelit love scene, a taut suspense thriller, or an action packed crime drama, Vampire Step-Dad’s sound is rooted firmly in 1980’s sensibilities.

After a continuous stream of releases since mid 2015, Vampire Step-Dad is now focusing on bringing his music to the stage. He’s recently opened for Carpenter Brut, Timecop1983, and TWRP. His stage show brings with it not only musical performances, but also a bit of step-fatherly advice, and plenty of dad-jokes that will leave you rolling your eyes while shaking your butt.

Bloody Disgusting says Vampire Step-Dad “oozes nostalgia”. When reviewing Vampire Step-Dad’s Love Bites, Echosynthetic characterized it this way: “You can almost smell the pizza, old carpet, and hear the arcade games off to the side while the DJ calls out for couples-only slow skate.”

Watch Out For Snakes

Watch Out For Snakes is 8-bit chipwave from Atlanta geek Matt Baum. Layering NES chip sounds, Watch Out For Snakes creates darkly energetic tracks that pay homage to old video games and 80s films without taking things too seriously.

In 2021, on the heels of his latest single, “Fight Those Invisible Ninjas,” Baum restored his pre-quarantine performance momentum, touring extensively and supporting acts such as Com Truise, Arcade High, Robots with Rayguns, Tim Cappello, and Street Cleaner with his high-energy, keytar-fueled stage show. With planned appearances at MAGFest’s Main Stage, VGM Con, and a full US tour, 2022 promises to be just as action-packed.

BRINGING THE GEEK TO SYNTHWAVE

Since the early 2000s, Baum has been experimenting with minimal synth and throwing down with a keytar in various Florida and Atlanta outfits, but it wasn’t until 2012 that Watch Out For Snakes was born.

Unable to choose between playing music or playing video games, Baum split the difference, sampling the old NES and Atari systems of his youth and synthesizing these samples to build a unique sound –part chiptune, part synthwave, all retro. As WOFS, Baum crafts original “chipwave” material that draws influence from artists such as Vangelis, Depeche Mode, Sparks, SURVIVE, and College, while also channeling the soundtracks of old Nintendo games like Castlevania and Ninja Gaiden.

With a head-banging stage performance that draws from his hardcore/punk upbringing, WOFS has won even more fans over to the chipwave camp with appearances at MAGFest, BitGen Gamer Fest, Outrun the Sun Fest, Echosynthetic Fest, Neon Rose Fest, and supporting slots for artists such as The Protomen, Com Truise, Makeup and Vanity Set, The Megas, Master Sword, Arcade high, Betamaxx, NINA, and Tim Capello.

1UP Comedy

Producing Atlanta’s best comedy shows at alternative venues throughout the city since 2012, 1UP Comedy is happy to bring the laughs to the Southern-Fried Gaming Expo with 2 1-hour stand-up sets featuring some of the city’s best comedians.

This year, Friday night will feature a roast of Mario with local comics portraying video game characters from the popular franchise. Saturday night will be a traditional 1-hour stand up set from some of the region’s best comedians! Comedian lineups will be announced much closer to the event. Stay tuned!

This event is intended for mature audiences. Viewer discretion is advised.

Atlanta Wrestling Entertainment

Founded in 2014, Atlanta Wrestling Entertainment has grown into the wildest night in Atlanta nightlife. Featuring monthly events, an online community, and philanthropic projects, AWE is the greatest entertainment community in the South.

Atlanta Wrestling Entertainment matches will be both Friday and Saturday (8/20 & 8/21)

Can’t Hardly Wait

Can’t Hardly Wait is a high-energy 90’s tribute band based in Atlanta, GA. You’ll love dancing and singing along to the super fun retro show from Atlanta’s top party band.

Can’t Hardly Wait will perform live Saturday 7/16 at our ’90s Homecoming Event

Warren Davis

Warren Davis is a classic videogame creator best known as the designer and programmer of the original Q*bert arcade game. He also co-designed and programmed Us. Vs. Them, an innovative laserdisc title featuring scenes with live actors interspersed with sci-fi combat gameplay composited over actual flying footage. His other titles in the arcade industry include Joust 2 (for Williams), Lotto Fun (for HAR Management), Exterminator (for Premier Technologies), and T2:Judgement Day and Revolution X (for Williams/Bally/Midway). He was a pioneer in the use of digitized video. His WTARG system was used in many of Williams/Bally/Midway’s most successful games, including NARC, Hi Impact Football, the Mortal Kombat and NBA Jam series, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Revolution X featuring Aerosmith, and more.

In 1995, Warren moved to Los Angeles to work for Disney Interactive on a variety of home titles. For a short time, he was an Imagineer with Walt Disney Imagineering. He then worked as a senior programmer on the console game Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly, and programmed an edutainment title, The Lunar Explorer, which allows users to interactively explore any part of the moon either from space or on the ground using actual topographic data. He spent some time as an R&D Engineer at Industrial Light and Magic working on previsualization software for movies, and is currently a software consultant.

Paul E. Niemeyer

Paul E. Niemeyer’s game art career began at Bally/Midway in 1982, working for pinball legend, Paul Farris. Paul did art on “Tapper”, “PacMan Plus”, “Super PacMan”, “Professor PacMan”, “TRON”, “Satan’s Hollow”, “Spy Hunter”, “WACKO”, and “Midnight Marauders”, as well as dozens of prototype games. In 1984, he went freelance and worked on games like “Time Killers”, “Aeroboto”, “Star Guards”, an endless list of prototype games, and the huge success, the Original “Mortal Kombat”. Paul had simultaneous careers as a designer/illustrator in the Chicago ad agencies, a nature artist for the DNR, and a game art designer/illustrator for the video/pinball game community. Movie properties like “Little Mermaid”, “Jurassic Park II”, “Men in Black”, “Star Trek 5”, “Star Wars: Phantom Menace”, “Pirates of the Caribbean” are among the many projects in his years in the ad agencies. It was during this time Paul also worked on “Demolition Man” Pinball as a graphic designer. In 2000, Paul helped start Eagle Games, where he was a partner, the creative director, and designed & illustrated art for the games. In 2006, he opened a top 10 rated haunted attraction known as ABYSS Haunted House in Chicago and ran it successfully until 2014. In 2021, Paul’s sculptures appeared in his first published pinball game, American Pinball’s “Legends of Valhalla”. Paul is now working on numerous game projects of all kinds, plus designing & building props for theme parks, haunted attractions, escape rooms, and fests all over the world.

Tim Kitzrow

TIM KITZROW is the iconic voice of your favorite sports franchises — NBA Jam, NFL Blitz, NHL Hitz and MLB Slugfest — and over a dozen classic pinball games. With NBA JAM, which grossed over $2 BILLION to date, Kitzrow introduced BOOMSHAKALAKA to the NBA lexicon and earned pop culture immortality.

A Chicago based Voice Artist and NBA pop culture personality, Kitzrow is beloved by fans for his unforgettable catchphrases and one-of-a-kind humor and entertainment. He has appeared on television and radio with ESPN and FoxSports; worked with marquee NBA franchises such as the back-to-back 2017 and 2018 NBA Champion Golden State Warriors, the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers, Washington Wizards, Chicago Bulls, Charlotte Hornets and Milwaukee Bucks; and launched games with EA Sports, Acclaim, Bally and Midway. Kitzrow’s in-game highlights with the Houston Rockets received a 2016 industry award for all four major sports leagues. His latest game, Mutant Football League, released in 2018, is garnering acclaim as a fan and industry favorite.

For 25 years, Kitzrow has enjoyed a legendary run as the signature voice of classic games like NBA Jam, NFL Blitz, NHL Hitz and Wayne Gretzky Hockey, MLB Slugfest and Big Hurt Baseball, and NCAA College Slam. Unique in the industry for his ability to write and produce commentary and voice talent, Kitzrow is the only talent in gaming to voice all four major sports leagues, the NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL, as well as the NCAA. He is currently working on number of gaming, book and creative projects. He enjoys engaging with fans through Twitter @Tim_Kitzrow and through his custom voice message service, Who Said What Now?!
Classically trained as an actor at Purchase College Acting Conservatory as well as The Second City in Chicago, Kitzrow has performed theater in NYC, LA, and Chicago, in addition to his work in gaming, television, and radio.

Bob Carter

Bob Carter is an internationally recognized Voice Actor, Audio Director, and Voice Coach known for voicing characters in the Street Fighter series, Mortal Kombat 9, Dragonball Z, Smite, Lifeless Planet, and many other popular characters in a wide range of video games! Carter also has voiced many anime projects such as Fairy Tail, My Hero Academia, Dragonball Z, Full Metal Alchemist, Samurai 7, Blassreiter, and many other cartoons, anime series, audio books, and audio dramas. He also owns the Neighborhood Studio, a Teaching & Production Studio in Atlanta where he helps Aspiring Creatives become Working Creatives.

Bob is mostly known for his Video Games and Animation projects but is also a successful Voice Talent, Director, & Coach who teaches people how to actually become working Voice Talents.

He is also a Celebrity D&D Gamer with decades of experience playing in & Running various D&D, Pathfinder, Heroes Unlimited, and Star Wars Campaigns if people or other Creatives want to get together for fun Celebrity Panels as well.

Mr. Wright Way

Mr. Wright Way is a Retired United States Navy Veteran who has always had a passion for Video Games, Collectibles and Photography. He has photographed for All the Major Pro wresting companies like WWE, AEW, NJPW, and more. You can catch his bi-weekly videos as he shows you his tips and tricks on how to Game Hunt , Video Game Collection Videos , and how to get Wright deals, The Wright Way.
www.youtube.com/mrwrightway

ZapCristal

Cristal better known as Zap is a YouTube content creator whose content focuses in gaming, both retro & modern.

Known for her Arcade Room project, Resident Evil game hunt videos and gamer discussions surrounding the topics such as collecting, physical & digital media, game coverage and more.

Was raised in a family of gamers and has always had a passion for gaming in general. Her first introduction into retro was Ms. Pac-Man, Gradius, Super Mario Bros. and has carried on ever since. She also streams retro and modern gaming at Twitch.tv/ZapCristal as well as at her YouTube channel. If one phrase were to describe her, it would be to stay rad and game on!

Stern Pinball - Associate Game Developer

Mike Vinikour

Mike Vinikour is an Associate Game Developer at Stern with over 27 years of experience and has been with Stern for over 5 years. He started at Williams Bally/Midway in 1994 and was there until 2001 when Midway exited the coin-op business. From there he did console video game design for 9 years and then returned to pinball. At Stern, his role involves helping with rule design on many of the games, he’s also designed the Expression Lights Lightshows in Rush and Led Zeppelin, oversees Stern’s software testing and releases, and appears at pinball shows as a face of Stern, answering questions, teaching people rules to games, playing people in games of pinball in their booth where they can win prizes, and sometimes speaking on panels at the showface

Retro Ralph

Retro Ralph is a Retro gaming Youtuber best known for his love and passion for Arcade Gaming.  Ralph started his YouTube career in 2018 focused on driving awareness to home arcade products and the potential that could be unlocked by modding them.

Brett Weiss

A frequent guest at video game and pop culture conventions around the country, Weiss appeared in the 2021 documentary “Playing With Power: The Nintendo Story,” and he was in The History Channel’s Nintendo episode of “The Toys That Built America: Snack Sized.” He’s written for countless publications, including Game Informer, Fangoria, Filmfax, Robot Magazine, The Writer, Mystery Scene, The Comics Buyer’s Guide, Alter Ego, Back Issue, AntiqueWeek, Video Game Collector, Video Game Trader, Classic Gamer Magazine, Game Room, The Pingame Journal, and Old School Gamer Magazine. He’s also worked for AtGames and Opcode Games as a consultant, editor, and writer, and he’s the host of the quickly growing YouTube show, Tales from a Retro Gamer.

AbbyADOS

AbbyADOS Cosplay is an Atlanta-area veteran cosplayer with 16 years of experience creating a variety of costumes, as well as competing in and judging costume contests. You can follow her on Facebook or Instagram at @AbbyADOSCosplay, or listen to her adventures playing and DMing Dungeons and Dragons with the Crits and Grits podcast on Spotify and other podcasting platforms.

AnEternalEnigma

AnEternalEnigma is a full-time Twitch streamer and Twitch Partner. His original rise to notoriety came through speedrunning but he has now evolved into an all-around entertainer on Twitch. Even though he is now decked out in gaudy outfits and comes off as a game show host from another dimension, Enigma always pays tribute and returns to his speedrunning roots!

Fernando Aragon

Fernando is a lifelong gamer with a passion of game development, computer programming, instructional design, and teaching. He has been teaching at Gwinnett Tech for over two years and is currently the Program Director for Gwinnett Tech’s Video Game Development program. In 2016, Fernando started Hungry For More Games and launched a successful Kickstarter campaign for “Steal The Show!” Theatrical Party Card Game and its stand alone expansion. Fernando always seeks opportunities to learn and share what he has learned over the years!

Faydra_Black

Atlanta Native, Cosplayer, Mommy, Twitch Streamer and Mental Health Advocate. I stream mostly World of Warcraft and LEGO Builds. Staff for the Stream Atlanta meetup community. You can find me at conventions all over the South East!!

Bobby Blackwolf

Bobby Blackwolf has been a video game podcaster since 2005, recording his show live on internet radio until 2018, when he moved to Twitch. In 2012, he co-founded the Voice of Geeks Network, a podcast network and streaming channel all about geek culture. He streams his video game talk show, The Bobby Blackwolf Show, every Sunday night at 8PM ET/5PM PT on the VOGNetwork Twitch channel, covering the gaming industry and including live chat interaction.

CaptNRetro

CaptNRetro is a doer… a doer of all kinds of stuff, mainly involving pinball and arcade repair, restoration and live streaming. He is loud and silly, his YouTube channel is an outlet for that! This is his 3rd year in a row as a panelist for SFGE and is an Atlanta fixture in the pinball and arcade restoration scene!

CoffeeCat

CoffeeCat is an Atlanta based Cosplayer who has been sewing and crafting since 2008. She has been a lifelong fan of anime, comics, video games, and other aspects of pop culture. She loves to create intricately designed costumes; sometimes the more complex the better! In the real world CoffeeCat works in healthcare and in her downtime she enjoys watching anime, movies, and tv and playing video games.

Elijah Claude

A self-professed ‘TechnoWizard in training’, Elijah is obsessed with changing the world for the better with empowering, inclusive, and magical technology. He has operated one of the highest-rated VR arcades in the world and is transferring that customer experience to develop exceptional UX for XR as a design strategist at Futurus, a future technologies company. He also works with groups like the Open Metaverse Interoperability group to help create and protect the freedom of virtual worlds.

Marty Connell

Marty Connell is 1/2 of the amazing podcast Rolling Dice & Taking Names. He and co-host Tony McRee produce Rolling Dice & Taking Names, dedicated to exploring the board gaming hobby where they review the latest games, interview designers and discuss popular topics. Have a listen and they’ll show y’all a good time.

Jonah Dew

Jonah and Shantelle Dew might be the newest members of Tantrum House but they are not new to tabletop gaming. They’ve been playing the classic board and card games and many more for as long as they can remember and are always eager to learn something new. At home, they have 2 small children whose own board games shelves may or may not already need to be upgraded! Jonah prefers a competitive, take-that game that has a clear and decisive winner, while Shantelle is more interested in a puzzle mechanic or a tile laying adventure. If you want to follow along as they discover new games and share them with the world make sure you subscribe on Youtube and TikTok to Tantrum House!

Kevin Delp

Kevin Delp has been playing board games since he can remember – Parcheesi with Dad, Skip Bo with Grandmom and he even met his wife Melissa while playing a card game. Kevin Delp co-designed the fan expansion for T.I.M.E Stories, Submerged Atlantis with his wife Melissa and both are part of Tantrum House. Tantrum House is a board game media group intent on pursuing ever improving video, audio, and visual quality standards in the passionate promotion of our hobby because we believe that games have incredible power ​to connect people and bring them joy.

Melissa Delp

Melissa Delp grew up playing games like Clue, Mastermind, Pay Day, and Rook and her fondness for board games never ended. Her favorite games involve solving mysteries and puzzling out the best strategy. She also has a secret passion for Pinball. So watch out for her around those machines during the Expo! Melissa co-designed the fan expansion for T.I.M.E Stories, Submerged Atlantis with her husband Kevin and both are part of Tantrum House. Tantrum House is a board game media group intent on pursuing ever improving video, audio, and visual quality standards in the passionate promotion of our hobby because we believe that games have incredible power ​to connect people and bring them joy.

Chad Elkins

Emceemur

Gamer since 1985 and collector since 1991, Emceemur is a preservationist of vintage games and a YouTube content creator on the rise. Mur has acquired some of the rarest pieces in existence and has extensive knowledge on the subjects of both gaming and its history as well as the state of the market and its current trends. The Emceemur Show features showcasing of vintage to modern gaming items scavenged in the wild as well as day one reviews of new releases on all platforms.

Bug Emery

Bug is the host of the long-running Spooky Pinball Podcast and game designer for Spooky Pinball LLC.

Chan Grant

In 2014, Chan Grant was first introduced to virtual reality when a friend brought an Oculus Quest Dev Kit 1 to the game lab of Southern Polytechnic State University. Little did Chan know, he’d be working in the XR space from that moment on. From games to simulations and even medical assistance, Chan has been developing VR products for various industries and purposes. Despite this, Chan feels that the VR space is still growing and needs to develop into several key spheres to continue to thrive. As the lead developer at Futurus, he is actively working towards expanding upon the possibilities of XR.

Paisley Greer

Paisley Greer is XR production manager at Futurus.

With a diverse background in video game production, motion capture, film/television production, theme parks, and audio-visual integration, she has leveraged her experiences to gain a deeper understanding of what teams in creative technical fields require to succeed. Futurus has given her the opportunity to experiment and observe effective and unique ways of managing VR/AR projects from start to finish. Working her way from an opera singer, a Walt Disney Imagineer, a Marvel motion capture manager, and many more along her journey – she is thrilled to find a place where she can indulge in this exciting technology.

Coincidingly, Paisley is the founder of Dream Factory LLC, currently in the research phase of developing proprietary technology that would have a positive impact on our society. She believes that if each day consists of “working for smiles,” – it is a day well spent.

Ryan Gutowski

Ryan and his family started One Board Family, a website dedicated to multi-generational gaming for the past 6 years. He’s passionate about building community around the game table. Ryan loves the theme of city building and worker-placement and set collection games are his favorite mechanics.

Evan James

Evan James is one of the organizers of ATLRPG – a Dungeons and Dragons meetup in Atlanta that’s returned to activity after the COVID-19 pandemic. He’s been running tabletop games, both for home groups and public games, for more than 3 years.

Raymond Jett

Raymond Jett is the owner of Arcadecomponents selling components for vintage systems and doing component level repairs. Since starting the business in 2005 he has become very well known in the arcade and vintage computer community. Raymonds passion for computers started in middle school when he became the proud owner of a TRS-80 and he went on to work at Radio Shack in the late 80’s. Afterwards he managed the repair center and handled the small business networks for a computer store / gray market Apple Repair Depot in the mid 90’s before entering into consulting. From consulting, he moved to a 20 year long career at Cisco Systems. His passion for and knowledge of vintage computers led him to become a volunteer in the Computer Reset Liquidation. Since 2019 Raymond has been a key volunteer and has been essential to getting Richard Byron’s vintage computer collection into the hands of existing and new computer collectors.

Paul Juray

Paul has been fixing monitors for almost 2 decades. He currently does this full time and is here to share his monitor repair secrets with all of SFGE.

Christopher Kao

Chris has been playing video games since the days of the Apple 2e. Having grown up in the height of the 8 bit era, he is an avid fighting game player, a lover of all things retro, and a GBA collector. He is an expert in the gaming industry and gaming history with over a decade of experience as a designer, producer, and product manager for companies such as Warner Bros, Zynga, and Adult Swim. He loves talking about games and pop culture and has spoken at Digital Hollywood, the Pomona Idea Summit, and San Diego Comic Con.

Will Lassalle

Will “AKay” Lassalle is the patriarch of the JLS Gaming Family. He is well known as a friend of the gaming community, always lending a helping hand and bringing awareness to social issues in Gaming, such as DEI, Representation & Cyber bullying. Their channel brings you gaming content and gaming news with a business executive twist. Allowing viewers to delve into the mindset of Gaming executives and the decisions they make that directly impact games & gamers.

Sara Meadows

Sara Meadows has been video/board gaming since she was knee-high to a grasshopper (popular Nebraskan slang for “the year Centipede came out”). Her love for retro video gaming is only surpassed by her love of board gaming (…and chocolate, and her kids, and…). Sara “let” Will start Tantrum House in 2014 after they had been hosting regular Game Nights in their home every Monday night since they first got married in 2005. Together, by teaming up with some good friends, they have built a popular board game channel where they produce daily Kickstarter preview videos, Playthrus, and Top10 lists. Sarah’s favorite board game is Endeavor: Age of Sail, and we are also big fans. Tantrum House is a board game media group intent on pursuing ever improving video, audio, and visual quality standards in the passionate promotion of our hobby because we believe that games have incredible power ​to connect people and bring them joy.

Will Meadows

Will, and his wife Sara, are board gamers to the core! They’ve been hosting weekly game nights out of their home since their teenagers were rugrats—hence the name “Tantrum House”—and they’ve managed to pull in a number of good friends along the way! TantrumHouse.com is now a media powerhouse of board gaming content run by 4 couples (all with very different gaming tastes). From weekly live Playthrus and Podcasts to their very own gaming convention in NC, TantrumCon, they are a constant source of high-quality, family-friendly, hobby-focused fun.

Ian O’Donnell

Ian O’Donnell is a Voice Actor based in Atlanta, Georgia. Ian has done a variety of Voiceover, from commercial to audiobook to telephony, but his heart is in VO that involves characters & accents!

Ian grew up doing lots of voices for fun & entertainment. Rolling that inclination and experience into the voiceover profession was a pivotal turning point. Recent industry recognition includes receiving the ‘Best Voice Acting’ award in the 2020 VO / Animation battle, hosted by ASIFA, the International Animated Film Association. He was also honored to represent the Voiceover industry as a Guest Speaker for the International Creativity Conference in 2021. Speaking & presentation engagements also include VO Atlanta, DragonCon, GGDA (Georgia Game Developers Assn) and more.

Mr. O’Donnell has voiced characters for video games, as well as full-length animation and audio drama, including portraying characters in the latest game in the Jurassic World franchise. He has also done voice matching for feature film. In addition to character voices, Ian’s known for versatility and believability with a wide range of regional and language-based accents and dialects.

Ian has a theater background, acting & performing in stage productions, like: Pirates of Penzance, Oklahoma, Hello Dolly, Cabaret and more. He is a musician and singer, with decades of live performance and studio recording experience, and is also a Game Show Host & Emcee.

Rick Pecot

Rick Pecot is a master pinball tech with over 40 years of experience. As a kid, he played pinball and was fascinated with how they worked. At 15, he bought his first machine at a garage sale, a dead Gottlieb Outer Space. With guidance from a local operator, he got it running. He began working at that operator’s shop after school and weekends shopping out and repairing pins, quickly learning the trade. Rick soon began servicing pinballs as a full time service technician in the early 80’s. He is an expert on EM and early SS pinballs, and is still actively performing repairs, restorations and board repair in his spare time. An electronics technician and instructor by trade, these days he is a National Tech Support Specialist for high speed digital inkjet presses. Pinball is still his passion and hobby. This is his first seminar at SFGE, but Rick has been on our trooper staff since our second year!

Jon Reddick

Jon Reddick is a well-credentialed nerd of the 80s, classic game fan, and technology geek and he merged those interests into the creation of GenXGrownUp.

Rocket City Pinball

Aerospace engineer. Accomplished photographer. Enthusiastic pinballer.

Andy’s career and creativity converge in the world of the silverball, where he utilizes his engineering side to refurbish pinball machines, his artistic side to photograph them, and both sides to add a personal touch with tasteful modifications and creative repairs.

www.rocketcitypinball.com

Stewart Russell

Stewart Russell is a professional Dungeon Master who has been playing Dungeons and Dragons since 1976. One of his current campaigns has 14 players. Stewart has spoken at Magic City Con, Annicon, Farley Con, and many other conventions. He is also the owner of BoxTerrain which specializes in tabletop terrain. From tiles, scatter terrain, battle mats, dice towers, and other assorted items to take your game to the next level. Whether you play D&D, Pathfinder, Warhammer or any other tabletop RPG, they have something for everyone!

Sarah Shortcake

Sarah Shortcake is a self-taught seamstress and cosplayer from Georgia. She began sewing in 2009, and since then has created over 100 costumes for herself and others. She has won various awards for her work including Best Group, Masters, and Best in Show. She loves to share her enthusiasm for sewing and crafting with her friends and peers. Sarah is constantly inspired to take on new creative challenges from her favorite video games, books, and anime. She strives to add positivity to her local community by always offering advice and a helping hand. When she’s not sewing, she can be found reading, playing games, watching horror movies, or spoiling her cats.

Photo by Solita DelaCruz Photography

Mo Smith

As someone who barely manages to squeeze in as a GenXer Mo’s memories include more of the 70’s than those younger GenXers. Reading and movies are his passions with some video gaming thrown in there for good measure!

Jonathan Soon

Jonathan started playing games with the NES and 80s era arcade games. A renaissance gamer, Jonathan has played many games across varied genres on consoles as well on the PC. He helped cofound TheKBLife YouTube channel which has to date raised over $2,000 for CHOC (Children’s Hospital of Orange County) via Extra Life. Recently, he’s gotten into pinball and co-founded Slamdown Pinball which has run over 50 events in Southern California. He is currently on a quest to climb the World Pinball Player Rankings.

Amy Stout

Amy Stout is the creative director at Amebous Labs, a virtual reality game studio that specializes in wholesome content. She also served as producer on the studio’s flagship game, Loam Sandbox, a gardening and outdoor decorating game that takes place in the peaceful land of Loam. Her background is in marketing and PR, having worked at agencies, in-house marketing, and most recently at Futurus. Amy is a founding member of the Women in XR Atlanta organization, where she uplifts women working in the tech field and volunteers her time mentoring young women who are interested in the XR industry.

George Sumpter

George Sumpter is a lifetime lover of all things geek. Born in 1971 (best year ever) most of George’s childhood was spent playing baseball or Atari 2600 with a smattering of school and social life in between. A huge pop culture trivia nerd, George is always ready with an insightful quip or story to entertain.

Alan Tupper

With over 15 years of experience in the game, comics, and animation industries, Alan is a creative professional with a diverse set of skills. As CEO of Moving Ink Media, he’s helped create original award-winning properties and run a series of crowdfunding campaigns covered by outlets like Bleeding Cool and The Hollywood Reporter. He’s also contributed to projects for PBS, Cartoon Network, IFC, Hulu, and a wide range of independent projects.

Ignacy Trzewiczek

Ignacy Trzewiczek is a Polish game designer and long-time role-playing game writer. Author of award-winning titles like Detective, Robinson Crusoe, and more. His games were released in 12 languages, sold more than half a million copies, and won or were nominated to all major industry awards.

PB Undesirables

A self described pinball evangelist PB_Undesirables streams real life pinball on Twitch looking to indoctrinate more people into the Cult of the Silverball. Additionally they stream tarot readings, retro games, retro-inspired games or occasionally IRL walking around with a selfie stick streams.

Ur Average Gamer

UAG is a Retro/Modern gaming Youtuber who approaches gaming from the causal player perspective. UAG is best known for his edgy views and his love for all things nerdy from Marvel films all the way to the steam decks. UAG with YouTube channel has had his hand on the pulse of the home arcade community since 2020 and has been focused on providing the home arcade community with the news and entertainment with his unique flare.

Jasper van der Meer

Jasper has organized Atlanta Intown RPG Day at Manuel’s Tavern for the past eight years, where playing oddball one-shots is encouraged. This monthly event seeks to introduce local gamers to one another, recruit new players to our hobby, give new game runners low-pressure experience, screen players for home campaigns, or just beg people to play an RPG other than the biggest dragon in the dungeon. Jasper is a native Atlantan, living with his partner and black Labradors in their Edgewood Neighborhood home for the past twenty years.

Ric White

By day, Ric is a math teacher at a girls’ school in Atlanta. By night, he is a dad. In between, he plays board games and talks about them from time to time.

Noelle Yingling

Noelle Yingling is the daughter of Computer Reset founder Richard Byron. Once he fell ill and could no longer run the business she was tasked with handling the liquidation of a vast used computer business in Dallas, Texas. Without any knowledge of what any of the equipment was or how to handle what was in the building she was put in contact with a team of retro computer lovers. Noelle worked diligently alongside the volunteers to make sure that her fathers wishes for his collection were fulfilled and that the equipment was preserved for future generations.

Irene Zielinski

Irene Zielinski is a TikTok creator and TTRPG designer in Atlanta. She founded the #BeggarTok community on TikTok, a hub for independent and small-press roleplaying games which has amassed over 29 million aggregate views and connects TTRPG enthusiasts, content creators, and designers from all over the world. She also runs gaming events locally at Giga-Bites Café, where she has worked for just over a year. Irene’s first RPG, a solo game called Lighthouse Keeper, is available for download on her itch.io page.

Marc Tessier

Founder of S&T GeoTronics LLC and Columbus Makes IT. An experienced Wireless Network Engineer with a proven track record as Systems Analyst; specific expertise in System & Network Integration. Specialization in Wireless Data & Voice networks and bar coding. Performed various process improvement projects as a Certified Six Sigma Black Belt. Known for excellent analytical and project management skills. Flexible and effective leader who manages personalities and juggles priorities. Highly effective in user training and support. Fluent speaker and writer in French and English, some Spanish. Creative and detail-oriented individual with passion for hi-tech solutions. Engineer by trade, maker by choice. Loves to tinker with Arduinos and build various goofy electronic devices for Geocaching, Escape Rooms or just for fun!