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Tag Archives: Worcester

Polygamer #112: Kate Olguin of Other Ocean Interactive

Posted on April 14, 2021 by Ken Gagne

Kate Olguin knew that finishing her undergraduate career and searching for a job would be difficult; she did not expect a pandemic to make it even harder. Fortunately, armed with a degree in interactive media and game design from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Kate landed as a game designer at Other Ocean Interactive, where she currently works on Project Winter. From her home in Connecticut, she also continues to volunteer with Boston Post Mortem, whose monthly events have moved to a virtual format.

In this podcast episode, Kate and I talk about how the pandemic affected not only her studies, but also her team’s development of the game The Call of Karen; what it was like to exhibit at WPI’s booth at PAX East; the tradeoffs of specializing in one field versus being a “nightmare jack of all trades”; how her minor in music will play a role in her game industry career; what makes a good guest speaker for Boston Post Mortem; and differences in the 19 years between when we each graduated from WPI.

Stream the audio edition of this interview below or from Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Overcast, Pandora, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, RadioPublic, or the Internet Archive. Click past the jump for a transcript and links to resources mentioned in this episode.

https://media.blubrry.com/polygamer/www.polygamer.net/wp-content/uploads/podcast/pg112-kate_olguin.mp3

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Posted in Podcast | Tags: academia, Call of Karen, IMGD, Kate Olguin, Other Ocean Interactive, Project Winter, Worcester, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, WPI |

Polygamer #33: Francesca Carletto-Leon on Diversity in Gaming at WPI

Posted on November 11, 2015 by Ken Gagne

Francesca Carletto-Leon is the founder of the Diversity in Games club at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Massachusetts. Currently a senior majoring in Interactive Media & Game Design (IMGD) and Professional Writing (PW), Francesca has been an activist and advocate for awareness and understanding of gender and race in games and gaming community among undergraduates. She recently returned from Japan, where she and her team developed the game Chinmoku for academic credit.

In this episode, Francesca and Ken (also a graduate of WPI’s PW program) discuss founding a diversity group among a student population of mostly white men; how to make diversity fun; the outreach and networking opportunities available to undergraduates; cultural differences in box art; and gaming culture in Japan.

Stream the audio edition of this interview below or from Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Overcast, Pandora, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, RadioPublic, or the Internet Archive. Click past the jump for links to resources mentioned in this episode.

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https://media.blubrry.com/polygamer/www.polygamer.net/wp-content/uploads/podcast/pg33-francesca_carletto-leon.mp3

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:07:58 — 32.0MB) | Embed

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Posted in Podcast | Tags: academia, Chinmoku, DIG, Diversity in Gaming, education, Francesca Carletto-Leon, IMGD, Japan, Major Qualifying Project, MQP, student group, Worcester, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, WPI |

Polygamer #20: Sarah Como of Zephyr Workshop

Posted on April 22, 2015 by Ken Gagne

Sarah Como is the Chief Operating Officer of Zephyr Workshop, developer of tabletop game A.E.G.I.S. and computer game Flora Fiora. Zephyr was born amidst Sarah’s recent education in the game design program at Becker College, which landed her on the PAX East panel "Full-Time Student, Part-Time Indie", in which she discussed juggling these dual roles. Since graduation, Sarah has become active in all aspects of Boston’s indie game scene, including working as PR manager for the Boston Festival of Indie Games (BostonFIG) and consultant for Green Door Labs.

In this episode of Polygamer, Sarah and Ken talk about the value of having a formal education in game design; the lasting appeal of board games in a digital age; best practices for Kickstarter crowdfunding; the role of geography and networking in getting your projects off the ground; and the occasional need to "lawyer up" before embarking on a new venture.

Download the audio edition of this interview below or from Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Overcast, Pandora, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, RadioPublic, or the Internet Archive. Click past the jump for links to resources mentioned in this episode.

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https://media.blubrry.com/polygamer/www.polygamer.net/wp-content/uploads/podcast/pg20-sarah_como.mp3

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:12:50 — 34.2MB) | Embed

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Posted in Podcast | Tags: AEGIS, Becker College, Boston, BostonFIG, Flora Fiora, Massachusetts, MassDIGI, Sarah Como, tabletop, Worcester, Zephyr Workshop |

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