This year started off with a goal in mind. Build up player driven. At that time I’ve been out of a job for 3 months but the podcast was going strong and it was time to build that into something. The question was what is it….what was I good at? At that time that mattered less. The goal was to keep learning and talking to people.

Learning from Anyone and Everyone

I got to have amazing conversations, I got to talk to Amir and learn about his passion about community and his love of games and how we can do whatever we put our minds to if we’re passionate about something. I got to talk to Shawn not once but twice, the first time over a couple of drinks and the second time over a couple less! I got to learn how major conferences are formed and built out from not one, but three different people, big thanks to Ben, Jason, and soon to come Chris. These are built from the passion and love of the gaming industry and by bringing together like minded people. The ability to go out there and do that is amazing on the amount of lives that are touched. Thank you for what you do. 

That's just the tip of the iceberg. Alex was a founder of Bungie, creators of one of the core pillars of my childhood, Halo. The reason I'm probably sitting here today is because of that game. Getting online for the first time, being master chief, having my friends bring their xbox over and setting the house for LAN parties were unlike anything. 

Adam was a huge part of Midway and going back to my arcade days from blitz to jam and him sharing some of the greatest stories from amazing game companies in the midwest. These stories are what drive me to share, they are building blocks and they will forever be a core part of what I do, help tell these stories and the learnings from them.

The Two-Hour Pitch to Myself

We all run on different timeframes but at some point it really hit me that I need to figure out how to make some money here. The amount of people that would tell me I should monetize the podcast, I appreciate the feedback, I know, but I don’t know how! It’s one of those things you know but you don't know. You look back in hindsight and say wtf was I thinking no duh. 

One of my old bosses Ed J introduced me to Mark F who was once in a similar situation and happened to live not too far from me. We met for coffee and he said something that really stuck with me. He said I need to think of what I’m offering people. Not the podcast and that amplifier, but the actual thing I tell people I can offer them. That got me thinking. I didn't know.

I got invited to speak at MDEV this year and I was pumped. Ben has always been a supporter and I can’t thank him or midwest games (throwback to midway and the arcade days, this is all connected i feel like) enough. I did have to leave my family at disney world for a day which was a bummer and I can’t thank diana enough for dealing with me and supporting the family through all of this, the real heroes don’t wear capes. 

I flew into Chicago and drove 2 hours at midnight to Madison in my rental (a Jeep fucking Wrangler, what a terrible car) in pouring rain. What a miserable experience, but I decided to start talking out loud and pitching myself to myself. I wanted to hear what it sounded like. And for two hours I just spoke to myself. It was one of the most powerful exercises I’ve done, until you hear it come from your mouth you won’t know how to shape it.

Yada Yada Yada, the conference went great, got to catch up with old friends while meeting new ones. MDEV is a great experience with great  people in a great location (just ignore the snow).

What is 2026 looking like.

When I looked at 2025 a few core themes came up.

1. I love the podcast, hearing stories gives me energy and excitement that nothing can stop you.

2. Education is something that I’m passionate about. A college professor in my senior year came to me and gave me my final which was a C and said C’s get degrees too. I say that not because you need to know I suck at classes, but learning can happen in many different ways, not just behind books. I often ask myself the question: how do we continue to learn when we’re getting older and find ourselves having less available time.

3. Learning how people consume content is fascinating to me. How do we create content that resonates with you? Text, Images, Voice, Video. Who knows.

Game Design Logic

I’ve learned more about game design this year and it really comes back to human philosophy. It’s become fascinating to hear people like Mark Otero talk about the hierarchy of fun or the 3C’s or Pillars or so many others. The one that always stood out to me was the concept of Pillars. So I want to break Player Driven into three pillars for now (or maybe its one broken into 3, idk how it works)

Media

The "Scrollable" layer

• Podcasts, Live, and shorts. From a wide net cast to engaging and informative content. This is meant to be the scrollable stuff which hopefully comes back to quick insights. Lets share best practices in 15 to 60 second short bursts. How are people consuming content, what's working and what's not and so much more.

Education

The "Deep Dive" layer

• Live and On demand workshops that will have best practices slides, worksheets, etc. From how to be a more productive Community Manager or best practices in the player experiences to things as far as how game design works. 101 and 102 level courses on topics that are essential to helping you learn the best practices in what you do. How else do you figure out how the industry is evolving?

• Julie Banta used a term that became my favorite of the year, connect the dots. It all clicked when I heard that, speaking and hearing studio directors who were product managers and community managers who were teachers. Skills overlap industries but skill names might differ. How do we learn where the skills we have today can help take us tomorrow?

Community

The "Connection" layer

• How do we share best practices as a community and help each other out? I want to work towards a space where we can learn easily from one another and get some tips and tricks. This has been a new one for me to learn how to navigate this space.

Ending this elegantly

I’m feeling a burst of confidence as I type this up at the end of 2025 and look forward to next year. There is still a long way to go but I love all of you that have taken this ride with me and I can't thank you enough. I see the process becoming whole and the product evolving into something real. 

A special few thanks to Colan and Lewis. You guys have both been on multiple episodes and/or live streams. Colan does an amazing job at bringing relevant content to Player Driven Live (probably should get a more catchy name?) which I can’t wait to keep building out. His perspective and terrible bias against Microsoft (Just a joke!) helps build a great rapport and I can’t wait to hopefully do some live stuff next year at events! 

Lewis has been on a few podcasts and helps with guests and does an amazing job on the Player Driven substack (which will soon be more represented on the website!). His style of writing and perspective and questions are second to none. I've learned so much from watching his process and craft and can't wait to keep working with him at 26!

Finally I want to shout out and thank some of my close friends who have been supportive from the beginning, Tim Ron Ross CJ, thank you so much for just being my first 4 fans. We’re up to 6 now so at this pace you all can take a break soon, but honestly, the little things you help with when asked and the support is the boost I needed at times and thank you so much for being there for the past too many years!

I hope everyone has the best year in 2026, I’m really excited to be able to keep putting out content and hopefully building this up to become a platform you can learn and trust.