Industry Guest

Omega Jones

Omega Jones, with a raised eyebrow stares thoughtfully into the camera - shadows and light play the mischievous game across their body in this beautifully taken photo.

Omega Jones, also known as the Critical Bard, is a professional actor and vocalist from the Midwest. A proud member of Actor's Equity Association, he had a focus on live musical theatre & performance until he switched to being a full time content creator on Twitter & Twitch. As a TTRPG professional, he has worked with many companies including Wizards of the Coast, World of Darkness, and created the theme song for Critter Hug, a signal boosting monthly show produced by Critical Role.

Alara Cameron

Alara smiles into the camera

Alara Cameron has been designing and developing board games for almost a decade. Her design credits include Legend of Korra: Pro-Bending Arena, Batman the Animated Series: Rogues Gallery, Blade Runner 2049: Nexus Protocol, Kingdom Rush: Elemental Uprising, and Clans of Midgard. She has several development credits that are forthcoming and unannounced, and is working on launching Lavender Games Studio - which will focus on publishing content for various TTRPG systems that focuses on queer themes and is designed and produced by queer teams.

Felix Isaacs

Felix looking adorably disheveled standing in front of a flat - his beard, lustrous and thick, his hair, wild like the sea of his games.

Felix Isaacs is an Ennie-winning writer and designer, known for the Wildsea (though 'known' might be too strong a word). Though they're currently working on PICO, a game of tiny bugs that ride cats, most of their last few years has been spent firmly in a haven of treetop seas, chainsaw ships, and arachnid hive-minds.

Shiraz Sheikh

Shiraz wearing a blue collared shirt, with arms folded in front of him, standing in front of a recently cleaned blackboard

Shiraz Sheikh is the co-founder of Akinji Entertainment, the creator of the popular tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG) CATaclysm. With his current focus on developing a board game version of CATaclysm, Shiraz continues to innovate and expand the game's reach. In addition to his gaming endeavors, Shiraz serves as a professor of humanities at a college in Toronto. His academic background enriches his creative work, allowing him to seamlessly blend storytelling, world-building, and game design.

Cody Barr

Logo for Sasquatch

Cody is a Canadian indie designer focusing on solo game experiences. He has been self publishing since 2020, focusing on the emergent storytelling nature of tabletop games.

Ray Chou

Ray Chou stands proudly before a book shelf of diverse games and graphic novels.

Ray Chou is a Los Angeles based writer, educator, and publisher. He is one half of Mythworks, publishers of Original Worlds and Stories including Skies of Fire, Glow, and The Wildsea. When he isn’t creating, he enjoys reading, exploring, dancing, and shepherding the next generation of thinkers and movers.

Emma Wakelin

Emma is standing in front of a white background, dressed smartly with classic black eyeglasses, a silver pendant and pearl earrings.

Emma is a Toronto-based actress, comedian and activist. ​A graduate of The Second City Conservatory, she has appeared in numerous commercials and television shows including a lead role in YTV's Extreme Babysitting. A community organizer, she is an in demand commenter on several media outlets and has given speeches on 2SLGBTQ+ issues in many venues and to audiences ranging from Pride events to Parliament Hill. ​She is a proud life-long gamer, and has been seen on the #QuestfortheCure D&D actual play series benefitting Jesse's Journey and as the Storyteller on Cyberpunk: Independence.

Carter Morash

Inside UP Company Logo

Inside Up Games is a Canadian board game design and publication company with one simple goal, to create exciting and entertaining games, so you can have fun with your family and friends! We believe that everyone deserves a spot at the table, and strive to create gaming experiences that are enjoyable and inclusive.

Derek Chung

Derek crouches behind a table, an emberwind banner at his back, before him lies a map drawn on a piece of rough-hewn leather.

Derek is an easy-going, globe-trotting mental health professional by day and an award-winning game designer by night. He is the mind behind many top-shelf tabletop games, and is frequently found speaking on the importance of accessible mental health all across North America. While he got into game development the usual way—a steady diet of geek media and anime, a hatred of sleep, and way, way too much beer—his background in psychotherapy is what reinforced his love of shared worlds and co-operative storytelling.

Jessie Lo

Jessie Lo holding her head with delicious and ornate nail designs

Jessie "Aki" Lo, Aki, or Akino (she/her), is a queer, 1st generation Asian-Canadian game designer, tabletop performer, artist and all round content creator. Some of her projects include the award-winning all Queer podcast Goblets and Gays as well as the upcoming Curse of Sapphics stream. When she's not producing, you can find her art featured on several TTRPG shows.