Professional History
Adveractive, Inc./Playtonium, Executive VP, Chapel Hill, NC
2000-Present
Adveractive has led the way in creation of Web games, advergaming, and, most recently, casual games and mobile entertainment technologies.
Instrumental in all areas including management, design, development, budgeting and producing for the casual game market (12 games), Fortune 500 clients (over 50 games) and for our own popular Playtonium.com entertainment site (35 games). Award winning products include: casual game Atomic Pongling, 3D Web game Pinball Escape, Web creativity application The Playtonium E-Card Creator and Web site Playtonium.com. Spearheaded entry into the mobile phone business, including development of new technologies for production of quality media for mobile phones.
Atomic Pongling, 2003
Lead designer, producer and developer of Atomic Pongling, a combination of bowling and Pong with a retro-future style. Atomic Pongling is a winner in the 2003 RealArcade Developer's Showdown.
- Wrote design documentation
- Maintained creative vision and continuous attention to detail
- Programmed all core game functionality
- Implemented custom collision-detection and particle systems
- Directed internal team of 6 artists and programmers
- Managed external music production team
- Met hard deadline for entry into contest
Wordsense Challenge, 2002
Wordsense Challenge is solitaire-speed-Scrabble-with-explosions and was Adveractive's entry into the field of casual games. Wordsense Challenge was the best-selling game on Playtonium.com for 8 months.
- Conceived game and its distinctive look
- Led team as designer, producer and developer
- Wrote design documentation
- Built entire game engine
Pinball Escape, 2001
Pinball Escape is a true 3D Web game in which players try to guide a pinball safely through a dangerous world. Reminiscent of the classic game Marble Madness. For it's effective use of 3D use of the Havok physics engine and overall fun gameplay, it was awarded Macromedia Site of the Day.
- Designed, developed and produced game
- One of the earliest uses of Shockwave 3D and Havok on the Web
- Built entire game in less than 4 weeks to meet deadline
Playtonium.com, 2004
Redesigned Playtonium.com over a 3 month period improving usability and management of Web site. Playtonium has won numerous awards and been recognized as one of the best destinations on the Web.
- Managed and led design and development stages
- Programmed custom PHP templating system
- Created XHTML and CSS designs for the final version of the site
- Involved in every aspect of the design and production of this site
- Built site traffic up to 2 million users per month
Playtonium E-Card Creator, 2001
A complex creativity application that allows users to make a custom E-Card from thousands of animations, sounds, music, and images. Utilized thorough understanding of Shockwave, Flash, Javascript, VBScript, PHP, Perl, MySQL, database design, XML, HTML, and network protocols. The E-Card Creator has been featured on TechTV, BBC, and dozens of Web sites.
- Designed, developed and produced product
- Designed and built utilities for the creation and management of the thousands of assets used by the E-Card Creator
- Created XML-based file format for describing the complex animations which can be built with the E-Card Creator
ESPN Shelfball, 2003
An advergame created for ESPN.com based on a series of commercials about an office game called Shelfball. The comedic game contained an environment full of fun interactive elements. The development cycle for the game was an incredibly short two weeks.
- Designed and implemented a custom 3D engine
- Wrote proposal and design documents based on established brands
- Managed relationships with ESPN.com/Disney
- Met short deadline of two weeks
Kit & Kaboodle, LLC, Chief Technologist, Atlanta, GA
1998-2002
An educational startup funded by the National Science Foundation and NASA. Intended as a textbook replacement, this primary science curriculum was used by classrooms in 1400 schools. Curriculum included games, creative activities and distance collaboration.
- Designed, developed and managed production of Internet-smart application
- Implemented core multiuser functionality
- Created Web publishing system used by students
- Developed innovative application self-repair system
Virtual University International, CTO, Atlanta, GA
1997-1998
Established by a former president of Georgia Tech, VUI was intended to be the world's first 100% online accredited university.
- Co-designed and prototyped virtual classroom application
- Developed presentation recording system used to record lectures
- Researched relevant technologies
- Pitched concept to investors
Zapgun Interactive, Founder and President, Atlanta, GA
1997-2001
Software development company with clients including Frito-Lay, ESPN, TBS, and IBM.
Star Wars Games for Frito-Lay, 1999
Part of the release of Star Wars: Episode 1, a series of games that players had to complete successfully in order to enter a sweepstakes.
- Designed and built games based on major licensed properties
- Met very aggressive deadline imposed by the release date of the movie
Coca-Cola Nascar Game for ESPN, 1999
Part of a cross-promotion for Nascar, Coca-Cola, and ESPN.
- Designed, developed and produced game
- Required careful planning and implementation due to complicated cross-promotion
- Success of project led to ongoing client relationships
Intellimedia, Inc., Software Development Manager, Atlanta, GA
1993-1997
Intellimedia created games and sports education products for 3DO, Windows, Macintosh, OS/2, and laser disk. Additionally, was an early leader in software development for the Web.
- Involved in all aspects of design and development for 19 Consumer CD-ROMs and dozens of Web sites
- New Media Invision award finalist for Intellimedia.com Web site
- Primary designer of the Metadome, a large-scale 3D virtual world containing 3D chat rooms, FPS games and exploratory RPG-style areas
- Pioneered early Web multimedia techniques:
- Designed and developed the first real-time multiplayer Web game (lobotomy.com)
- Invented first technique for detecting Shockwave and Java
- Devised method for targeting browser frames from Shockwave
- Formulated method of video processing for quality playback on first-generation CD-ROM drives
- Designed and developed live Internet auction system
IBM, Inc., Programmer and Audio Engineer, Atlanta, GA
1993
Developed The Book of Shadowboxes, a children's game for the Macintosh Classic and the first CD-ROM to use true CD quality audio.