Ami Baio [She/Her]

Ami Baio is the creator of Pink Tiger Games in Portland, Oregon, a game design studio dedicated to making sweet, kind games to connect people.

Her game portfolio includes You Think You Know Me (2018), Flatter Me (2020), Rabbit Rabbit (2021), Lost for Words (2022), and Cloud Nine (2023). Each game is inspired by different aspects of life, from social media and language to love, health, and happiness.

Ami’s games are built on a foundation of kindness and engagement, enriched by her personal studies in neuroscience, the science of emotions and trauma, personal growth, and self-care. Her creations can be found in stores in the United States and around the world, including in Barnes & Noble nationally.

In April 2020, Ami founded Pink Tiger Games, LLC. Her game, You Think You Know Me, was named Game of the Month at Barnes & Noble in February 2023. She has been featured in Portland Monthly Magazine, the Board Design Game Lab podcast, and Hello, Rose City!

A lover of reading, working out, and traveling, Ami is an avid collector of clothing and appreciates all things cute and colorful. She cherishes conversation and learning the magical and quirky aspects of everyone she encounters. Ami resides in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, Andy, their child, Eliot, and a tiny dog named Sofie.

Joseph Z Chen [He/Him]

Joseph Z Chen is a local board game designer most known for co-designing and self-publishing Fantastic Factories. He also did game development for Verdant and is active in the game design community helping playtest up and coming games. He was also a past LUCI Award game design judge and has been attending OrcaCon since 2018.

Amanda Panda [She/Her]

 Amanda, also known as Amanda Panda, started in the board game industry streaming on Twitch under Panda8ngel (“Panda Angel”). She is an omni gamer that loves connecting a diverse group of people together and will often interview designers and publishers on her streams so the community can get to know the people behind their favorite games. She contributes to Our Family Plays Games Voices, is a part of the Tabletop Live Network, streams for Tabletop After Dark and Tabletop Gaymers, and is also the social media manager for Violet Daisy games.

Joe Senese [He/Him]

Originally from Staten Island, NY, Joe is a variety streamer on Twitch streaming both video game and tabletop content for not only his channel, but on staff for GeekGirlCon!  He first ventured into tabletop gaming in 2013 when he played his first game of Pandemic.

Joe enjoys all kinds of board and video games but has an affinity for medium to heavy weight board games like 18xx, anything by Vital Lacerda, and Hansa Teutonica but definitely not opposed to trying and playing all kinds of games! As far as video games; JRPGs, Puzzle Games, Platformers, and retro games are where it’s at!

When not streaming Joe loves watching hockey and anime, cooking all kinds of food, hanging out with his fiancée, occasional co-host and fellow GeekGirlCon staffer Abby, our kid, and enjoys having (a rather large) knowledge and love of game shows! 

Joe is a big proponent of maintaining and curating a welcoming, inclusive, safe space and community that folks can be comfortable being a part of and being in. You can find Joe everywhere on social media and Twitch @PhantomMeeple.

AnnaMaria Phelps [She/Her]

AnnaMaria Phelps is a TTRPG writer and board game designer. She is the creator of Violet Daisy Games, a Washington based studio focused on storytelling games.

          ‘
?

Fertessa Allyse

Fertessa Allyse is a game designer with several titles she worked on as lead designer and/or game producer. Such titles are: Book of Villainy, Wicked& Wise, Mansplaining, Goofy Movie Game, and Star Trek Cryptic. She is co-chair of the Seattle chapter of Women in Toys. She is also a contributor to the newly published book, What Board Games Mean to Me.

Banana Chan

Banana Chan is a Chinese Canadian game designer, writer and publisher living in the US. They are the owner of a small board game and RPG publishing company called Game and a Curry. Their most notable work has been on Forgery, The Revenant Society, Exquisite Crime, Jiangshi: Blood in the Banquet Hall, Betrayal at House on the Hill 3E and Dungeons & Dragons: Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft.

Suzanne Sheldon

Suzanne has loved board and card games since childhood. Discovering the wonder of hobby games in the 90s, she’s played a number of roles in the community including being a podcaster and video producer for The Dice Tower, cultural consultant and advocate for diversity, inclusion, and safety in the industry, and a marketer for Restoration Games. Today you can find Suzanne on the Salt and Sass gaming podcast and on season 3 of The Toys That Built America.

DeAngelo Murillo

DeAngelo Murillo is an award-nominated writer, Game Master, Game Designer. He started DMing in 2008 and throughout his career he has been recognized by Wizards of the Coast, Renegade Games, and many other companies! All while bringing what he loves about his Mexican-American culture into the work he creates.

Connor Alexander

Connor Alexander is a proud citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. Born in California, he currently lives in Seattle. A nerd since he was old enough to watch classic Star Trek reruns, and a punk since he was able to buy his first pair of Doc Martens, Connor spent years wandering around Turtle Island through a myriad of careers, finally settling into a degree and career in film and television. In 2014, he took his first steps into working in the hobby game industry and hasn’t looked back. He’s worked for a game store, in game distribution, and since starting Coyote & Crow has been awarded multiple awards for Coyote & Crow, including the Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming.

Makenzie De Armas

Makenzie De Armas is a Game Designer for the Dungeons & Dragons Imaginative Play Team, the Senior Education and Advocacy Lead for the Disability Community of Wizards, and a proudly disabled and actually autistic creator. Makenzie is credited on numerous D&D products, including The Book of Many Things, Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel, and Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants. She also served as one of the worldbuilders for the continent of Marquet as it appears in Critical Role: Campaign 3 and Call of the Netherdeep, working alongside Matthew Mercer and Basheer Ghouse to build the city of Ank’Harel.

Eric Yurko

Eric Yurko is a writer and photographer for his board game review website, What’s Eric Playing?. Additionally, he serves as a committee member on the American Tabletop Awards Committee, a yearly board game award. When he’s not doing that, he’s getting used to the Seattle weather or playing more games!