Pinball has made a major resurgence in the last decade and a half. I have been with Stern Pinball for five years in a few different capacities. My first position was focused on growing pinball in the commercial market. My current position is in the Parts, Accessories and Merchandise department. With the help of a very talented team, we have grown that business over 260% in three years.

Working with Stern Pinball has taken me back to my roots as an arcade operator. We always had a large collection of pinball machines and I learned how to play pinball on Data East’s Batman.

Combine the arcade world with the convenience of the connected world and you get GamerGreen. Play games in thousands of locations across the country, bank your tickets and then order the prizes to be delivered directly to your door. Also, there are no fingertips in this store.

The Amusement Industry is going through one of the biggest growth periods in the history of the business. At Andamiro, I get to work on the marketing and sales initiatives for the company. Getting back to this industry is a homecoming as most of my career and life was spent with these people.

From going to casinos in all corners of the North American continent to trade shows all over the globe, I have been learning many aspects of the gaming industry. Working on products, projects and relationships within one of the largest gaming companies in the world has informed my career greatly.

For nearly five years I have been involved in the burgeoning Video Gaming Industry in Illinois. Illinois is one of a handful of states that have legalized Video Gaming Terminals (video slot machines) in bars, restaurants, truck stops and other liquor license holding establishments. The industry which has been operational for just over two years is on pace to contribute over $160 Million annually to the state of Illinois and help strengthen thousands of small business around the state.

My experience has been on the manufacturer and distributor side as well as operations. I have been involved in marketing and sales, government outreach, education and creating business infrastructures from the ground up.   

One of the most successful video game franchises in the 21st century has been Big Buck Hunter. I cut my marketing teeth on Big Buck Hunter Pro and Big Buck Safari and I lived with these brands for about four years and in that time we helped make it the best selling arcade game in recent memory.

With the help of 47 Communications, we created a nation-wide PR campaign that generated dozens of magazine and newspaper articles, television coverage and several interactive contests with national brands. 

I co-created the Big Buck Hunter National Championships which continues on with the help of Event Joe. I created and maintained the first social network accounts for Big Buck and I was responsible for growing the Big Buck Hunter Online network by over 300%.

My first job was age 13 in our family arcade in Kirkland, WA. From setting people up in Virtual Reality machines in 1991 to managing an online network for people to find games in their area in 2004, the arcade industry was a second education to me. 

After college, I jumped into sales for products by Nolan Bushnell and Incredible Technologies. I managed traditional arcades and next generation facilities called LAN Centers. I joined Betson Enterprises and helped create an online social network for gamers and businesses called Barcade.com.

In 2001 I graduated from the UNLV "Hotel College". Going to college in Las Vegas is a very unique experience and it gave me many opportunities that continue to shape my professional career. Within the college,

My involvement with the Hotel Association student organization was a very important part of my education. I made lifelong friends and worked jointly with school staff as well as the Dean of the college. I served many positions  during my time at the club including President. I was also involved in getting speakers to come to campus that included Terrance J. Lanni, Richard Goeglein and Sheldon Adelson.

I began my college career in Seattle, Washington at the University of Washington. My major was going to be communications, but during that time, the university began to de-emphasize that particular course. 

I joined the social fraternity Delta Chi and held several positions with that organization. The positions of recruiting (rush) chairman, social chairman and Alumni correspondent were huge influences on my personal and professional lives. 

My family and I have been in the Chicago suburbs for nearly 18 years. One kiddo will be a Freshman in college this fall and my youngest will be a Junior in High School.

Games, music, TV/movies, podcasts, comic books and others are my hobby. Not only do I enjoy consuming these things, I like finding the connections between the people behind all of them. Working in an industry that is a part of that world keeps wanting to learn more and then I can say it is research for my job.