Unpub Leadership Team
Ben Begeal
2020 has changed many things in the world and Unpub is no different. Beyond creating and hosting the new Nonepub conventions, we have built a leadership group consisting of both the Unpub Board and an Advisory Committee.
The goal of our new Unpub Board and Advisory Committee is to help Unpub continue growing from primarily an East Coast playtesting convention to a worldwide resource for game designers. The Unpub Board is responsible for the big picture vision as well as day to day operations while the Advisory Committee is there to offer suggestions and provide a wide variety of perspectives.
Unpub Board
Benjamin Begeal (he/him)
Mayor
Benjamin is no one of consequence who grew up in a small town that is 100 miles from everything but 25 miles from anything. Aside from being a 20+ year member of the Candy Mafia, he strives to help others be the mayor of their community. Living outside Philadelphia, he has a 5 year old German Shepherd who is snoring as he types this. He can be found on Twitter as @sumfatkid.
Heather O’Neill (she/her)
Managing Director
Heather is a Philadelphia based board game designer and freelance consultant focusing on the business of games. She is also the CEO of 9th Level Games, a small tabletop publisher of board game and roleplaying games. Heather is a lead member of the Game Maker’s Guild of Philadelphia. Heather is an avid game player, tennis player and cat lover! Who you can find on Twitter @catphysicist and 9th Level Games @9thlevelgames on Twitter, Instagram, Twitch and TikTok.
Rachael Badell (e/she)
Keeper of Tomes
Rachael Tuesday Badell is a maelstrom of kindness and snark. All of her games are currently unpublished, with no plans to pitch or self-publish at this time. She can usually be found at any convention demoing games, running a register, or delivering coffee and snacks to those too indentured to feed themselves. She is in her most natural element when working on a spreadsheet while binge-watching 90s tv with a cat or three in her lap.
Beneeta Kaur (she/her)
Councillor of Coin
Beneeta Kaur is Maryland-based tabletop games industry content creator and freelancer. She loves Animal Crossing, tear-inducingly spicy food, and talking about the importance of good sunscreen. You can find Beneeta on Twitch, Twitter & Tik Tok at @beneeta_k.
Tam Myaing (he/him)
Technomancer
TAM’s passion for creating games started at the age of 10 when he created board games to play with family and friends. He eventually moved onto developing digital games, which led to a career in software development. An engineer, artist, and entrepreneur, he founded Neuronic Games with the goal of creating playful and engaging educational technologies. In addition to making board games, he dabbles in photography, and dances the Argentine tango. Tam can be found on Twitter @tamatplay
Suzanne Zinsli (she/her)
The Guide
Suzanne Kabrt-Zinsli is a game designer, developer, publisher, blogger, and podcaster. She's the co-founder of Cardboard Edison, which offers resources and tools for board game designers. Among her many projects, she runs the annual Cardboard Edison Award, which recognizes great unpublished games. She also co-hosts the Immersed podcast exploring the stories behind board games, and she's the co-designer of several games including Ceylon and Cobras. Suzanne has helped develop dozens of titles and leads the publishing arm of her company. Her passion lies in helping designers achieve their goals.
Advisory Committee
Fertessa Alysse (she/her)
Fertessa Allyse is an Atlanta native now doing her game designing in Seattle. She is the recipient of the 2020 New Heroes Scholarship. She has three games signed: Book of Villainy (with Goldseal Games), Wicked & Wise (with Weird Giraffe Games) and Mansplaining (co-designed with Mondo Davis and signed with Breaking Games). She currently works as a game producer with Funko Games, and is excited to be surrounded by people who love games as much as she does.
Dave Chalker (he/him)
Dave Chalker is the award-winning game designer of Get Bit! and the Sentinel Comics RPG, as well as Unpub alumni Heat and Thief's Market. He has nearly 20 years of game industry experience, during which time he's playtested for dozens of companies, and has a master's degree in publications. He lives in Maryland with his partner and three cocker spaniels.
Jessica Creane (she/they)
Jessica designs surprising games for curious people. She is the founder of IKantKoan Games and Immersive Experiences, a studio that grounds complex, heady subject matter in play. Jessica is a Professor of Game Design at Drexel University, a climate change game designer with The National Parks Service, and she recently gave a TEDx talk about embracing uncertainty through play. Her work has been presented at The World Economic Forum, IndieCade, Bandwi/d/th International, Tanween Creativity Festival in Ithra, Saudi Arabia, HERE Arts, BostonFIG, and on KQED San Francisco. Her New York Times recommended playable theater show, CHAOS THEORY, recently won the Best Social Immersion Award from Immersion Nation. More can be found at https://www.ikantkoan.com/
Raven McKenzie (she/her)
Raven McKenzie is a game designer based in Michigan. She draws on her love of food and passion for travel in most realms of her life, from her game designs to her career in international education and her ever-growing reading list.
Brian Quinones (he/him)
Dr. Brian Quinones is the co-founder of GATE (Gaming Approaches Towards Education) and is a registered play therapist and certified Autplay therapist. Dr. Brian has been working with youth ages 4 to 21 in the Autism community for over 15 years. He is focused on studying game theory and design as well as how play affects the therapeutic process through socially emotional learning and skill development. https://therapyinplay.com/
Danielle Reynolds (she/her)
Danielle Reynolds has loved tabletop games since she was little playing board games with neighbors and classmates. She graduated with a Graphic Design/Psychology double major and works full-time as a Project Coordinator at GPI Game Manufacturing. In 2018 she designed her first game and couldn't stop after that. Danielle has one game signed, credits as a layout artist for a few RPGs and will have illustrator credits on a game coming out in 2021. Danielle is a Moderator for the Board Game Broads Facebook group, lead host on the podcast Game Design Unboxed: Inspiration to Publication on the Know Direction Network and now an Advisory Board member for Unpub! She will be using her skills of graphic design, marketing, social media and layout to help Unpub in the future. Previous to moving to the east coast Danielle was also a guest host for the Board Game Kaptian Youtube channel. Outside of work and gaming, Danielle can be found hiking, kickboxing, traveling, drawing, streaming tv, volunteering with charities and hanging out with family, friends and her cats.
Jay Treat (he/him)
Jay Treat designs games to bring people together and broaden perspectives. He's worked with WizKids, Wizards of the Coast, Mayday, Bully Pulpit, Daily Magic, and Button Shy. He supports diverse creators, teaches improv, and knows God loves all without exception.
Ian Zang (he/him)
Ian Zang has worked in the board game industry in design and development for nearly 10 years. He recently formed the company Gravitation Games, focusing on creating games that bring people into our hobby.
