Chris Kluwe
Chris Kluwe may be best remembered, especially in Minnesota, for playing football with the Vikings (and the Seahawks and Raiders), but that is far from the only game in his life. Known on Bluesky and some predecessor websites as @ChrisWarcraft, he enjoys video games, card games, tabletop games, and soccer games. In addition, he was a founding member of the band Tripping Icarus, and he famously demonstrated the intersection of these skills on Minnesota radio station 93X, playing Guitar Hero.
His football career involved setting records during his college years at UCLA and with the Minnesota Vikings; he holds so many team records with the latter that putting them in a list would take up half the page. His time in the NFL ended not that long after he made his support for marriage equality clear—a remarkably controversial position in 2012—including a viral open letter to a Maryland representative and an amicus brief with fellow NFL player Brendon Ayanbadejo to the United States Supreme Court in the case of Perry v. Hollingsworth (Prop 8 in California).
In addition to the open letter, Chris started writing for media outlets such as Deadspin. In 2013, he published Beautifully Unique Sparkleponies, an essay collection showcasing his humor and breadth of interests, including marriage equality, time travel, and the Pope’s Twitter account.
Since his NFL retirement in 2014, he’s published two other books: Prime: a Genesis Series Event with Andrew Reiner (2015), and Otaku (2020). He’s also released a tabletop game called Twilight of the Gods (2017). A weapon he created, the Poet’s Pen Carved Wand, appeared in the game Path of Exile. In the game XCOM: Enemy Within, there is a Sniper-class character named after him. He also has continued his interest in politics, commenting frequently on current events as well as the intersection of politics and sports.
He lives in California with his family, where he is currently attempting to match John Lewis’s civil-disobedience arrest record. He is frequently found complaining about college and NFL punting on social media.
You can follow Chris Kluwe on Instagram as @chriskluwe and Bluesky as @chriswarcraft.bsky.social.
C. S. E. Cooney
C. S. E. Cooney (she/her) is a two-time World Fantasy Award-winning author for her novel Saint Death’s Daughter, and for her collection Bone Swans, Stories. Her other published work includes Saint Death’s Herald, The Twice-Drowned Saint, Dark Breakers, Desdemona and the Deep, and poetry collection How to Flirt in Faerieland and Other Wild Rhymes, which includes her Rhysling Award-winning poem “The Sea King’s Second Bride.” Forthcoming in 2025 is Saint Death’s Herald, second in the Saint Death series.
As a voice actor, Cooney has narrated over 120 audiobooks, as well as short fiction for podcasts such as Uncanny Magazine, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Tales to Terrify, and Podcastle. As singer/songwriter Brimstone Rhine, she crowdfunded for two EPs: Alecto! Alecto! and The Headless Bride, and produced one album: Corbeau Blanc, Corbeau Noir.
Her plays have been performed in several countries: most recently, March 2023, a collaborative sci-fi musical Ballads from a Distant Star at New York City’s Arts on Site. Her short fiction and poetry can be found in many speculative fiction magazines and anthologies, most recently: “A Minnow or Perhaps a Colossal Squid,” in Paula Guran’s Year’s Best Fantasy Volume 1, “Snowed In,” in Bridge To Elsewhere, and “Megaton Comics Proudly Presents: Cap and Mia, Episode One: Captain Comeback Saves the Day!” in The Sunday Morning Transport—all in collaboration with her husband, writer and game-designer Carlos Hernandez.
With her husband, writer and game-designer Carlos Hernandez, she co-designed the GM-less Tabletop RPG Negocios Infernales (“the Spanish Inquisition… INTERRUPTED by aliens!”), out from Outland Entertainment in 2024.
You can learn more about C. S. E. Cooney on her website, csecooney.com, and follow her on Substack as csecooney, Twitch as csecooney, YouTube as @c.s.e.cooney, Instagram as @csecooney, Bluesky as @csecooney.bsky.social, and on Bandcamp as Brimstone Rhine.
Jules Porter
Jules Porter is an attorney, business law professor, legal analyst, artificial intelligence (AI) developer, and video game developer who enjoys simplifying complex legal issues to make the law more approachable for all. Jules is the CEO of Seraph 7 Studios, a video game development company that makes games for the PlayStation, XBox, and Nintendo, and provides work-study experience for local students. Jules is also an AI developer and trainer who works to improve the analytical capabilities of various large language and natural language models.
A proud U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Jules earned both her JD and MBA from the University of St. Thomas where she currently serves as an adjunct business law and intellectual property law professor. Jules also earned a B.S. in Aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and is a seminary theology degree holder.
Jules frequently lectures at local, national, and international schools where she speaks to students about various legal, government, business, civil rights, and science and technology topics to include: augmented reality, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, blockchain technology, computer programming, game development engines, and design.
Jules also serves on the University of St. Thomas School of Law Outreach and Connections Committee and recently held the positions of Treasurer and Secretary on the Board of the Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers. Most recently, Jules was named one of Minnesota’s Top 20 technopreneurs, was one of the MEDA’s Million Dollar Challenge winners, and was named 2020’s Twin Cities Global Corporate Citizen by the International Leadership Institute.
In her spare time, Jules cheers on the Minnesota Vikings, rocks out to the Pointer Sisters’ music, and enjoys thriller and sci-fi movies.
You can learn more about Jules Porter on the Seraph 7 Studios website, and follow Seraph 7 Studios on their YouTube Channel, their Facebook page, their LinkedIn Page; on Twitter/X as @Seraph7Studios, Instagram as @seraph7studios, or on Pinterest as @seraph7studios.
Prof Brown
Prof Brown has been a game designer for over fifteen years, working in both AAA and indie spaces, and has no intention of stopping anytime soon. They specialize in gameplay design, game feel, and help drive accessibility initiatives on their various projects.
They have worked in gameplay systems design at both Firewalk Studios and at Bungie, designing and implementing character kits, player abilities, weapons and build perks. They made exotic armor and weapons for Destiny 2 between launch and the Beyond Light expansion. Prof also led the initiative for controller remapping for accessibility on Destiny 2 and the entire accessibility initiative at Firewalk. At Heart Machine, they were a level designer on Hyper Light Drifter, designing and building levels for the 2D action RPG using a custom game engine extension in GameMaker. They got their start as designer at Insomniac Games, working on several games including Sunset Overdrive and Resistance 3.
As an indie game creator, Prof has released several experimental personal games, including finished games and loads of game jams. Titles include Imaginal – a game where the player catches fireflies. Imperfection – where you must defeat a possessed version of a childhood boardgame, and Prop Hell – a theater-inspired roguelite dungeon crawler where you have to find props while avoiding prop golems.
When not making games, Prof can be found writing! They published a cozy creature fantasy novel, An Unlikely Flock, in October of 2022. They’d be hard at work writing their second novel if they didn’t keep getting distracted by writing fanfiction.
Prof Brown is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center, and they enjoy mentoring mid-career designers and doing deep-dive design analysis. They continue to speak to college students at their alma mater and other universities, and have extensive experience at conventions and conferences, discussing topics as varied as career choices, why they like roguelikes, and accessibility in gaming.
Prof also loves cosplaying and building masks and you may see them out on the floor at the event!
You can learn more about Prof Brown on on LinkTree, where they collect links to their video game talks and more, and on Bluesky as @wertle.bsky.social.
Tanya DePass
Tanya DePass was the founder and Director of I Need Diverse Games, a not-for-profit organization based in Chicago, which was dedicated to better diversification of all aspects of gaming for ten years. I Need Diverse Games served the community by supporting marginalized developers, including attendance at the Game Developer Conference by participating in the GDC Scholarship program, helping assist attendance at other industry events, and other initiatives.
Tanya is a lifelong Chicagoan who loves everything about gaming and wants to make the industry better and more inclusive for everyone. She was part of the Rivals of Waterdeep actual playstream on Twitch through which June 2023 when it ended. (All VODs are available on the Rivals of Waterdeep YouTube channel.) Tanya is also a partnered Twitch variety broadcaster and often speaks on issues of diversity, feminism, race, intersectionality & other topics online, at conventions, and as a public speaker.
As the creator and creative director of Twitch-supported sci-fi afro-futurist RPG Into the Mother Lands, the game is live-streamed on Tanya’s twitch channel. She’s also contributed to publications at Green Ronin, Paizo, and Monte Cook Games and is the co-developer for the Fifth Season RPG based on N.K. Jemisin’s three-time Hugo award-winning Broken Earth trilogy. Additionally, she is a Senior Annenberg labs Civic Media Fellow at USC.
Tanya was named as one of The Game Awards Future Class of 2020, a diverse group of builders, thinkers, and dreamers whose voices elevate and diversify the art-form. It recognizes individuals around the world who represent the bright, bold, and inclusive future for video games. She was also named as one of Gamers of the Year 2020 by Kotaku along with three of her contemporaries, and was invited to the Xbox MVP program in February 2021.
Her work to make the industry more inclusive has been highlighted in Game Changer. The short documentary premiered at Tribeca 2021, as part of the Queen Collective—an initiative started by Queen Latifah.
Tanya is the programming & diversity coordinator for OrcaCon. She also serves on the Board of Directors for OrcaCon and was named the Chair for Take This in January 2023. Her writing about games and games critique appears in Uncanny Magazine, Polygon, Wiscon Chronicles, Vice Gaming, Paste Games, Mic, and other publications. She’s the editor of Game Devs and Others: Tales from the Margins (2018, CRC Press) and contributed to The Advanced Game Narrative Toolbox (2019, CRC Press).
On May 1, 2023 Tanya joined Monolith Productions as a Senior Writer on the Wonder Woman video game.
You can follow Tanya DePass on Twitch as cypheroftyr, Instagram as @cypheroftyr, Bluesky as @cypheroftyr.bsky.social, Tumblr as cypheroftyr, and TikTok as @cypheroftyr.
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