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Funding provided by:
BostonTalks Series

BostonTalks: Game On

In partnership with:
WGBH
With support from: Lowell Institute
Date and time
Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Did you know that games can not only entertain, but also motivate and even map the human brain? Green Door Labs Mastermind **Kellian Adams Pletcher** talks about her work building games for world famous museums, the US Army, and even the Girl Scouts. Designer **Amy Robinson** discusses the Eyewire game she helped create that combines science, social good, and a good time. Video game music composer **Jason Margaca** shares how music enhances your in-game experience. Critic, writer, and geek culture expert **Ethan Gilsdorf** explains how the renaissance of board games, role-playing games, and reality games is a necessary antidote to digital culture. WGBH's **Edgar Herwick** hosts Pletcher, Robinson, Margaca, Gilsdorf, and others to talk games. (Photo: [Flickr/Rachael Moore](https://www.flickr.com/photos/lierne/51121281/in/photolist-5w1zp-5HZdaY-p5Gpoc-61dg1F-95KYF2-4n9UDX-5rdL9h-911P2B-azE3nX-azE3en-4bqWqf-ayYRjC-oJWvug-azE3pT-6mnTWb-azE39z-2vbcrW-dqPCUz-qFjWJk-dqtYQX-dqu7M1-dqu7JN-rRKPsk-qFjWxt-rzPrcN-5SXD6B-4YYWop-iX25vE-61htpN-rkwLcS-5Apoc8-a9s6ge-7fhLeA-aaVY1a-aXVZTV-4TvkLo-61HbGy-61htqU-6XH2tK-61dg42-b8zbeZ-61htg3-h1uSj-61dfXB-coT3hG-qF7m6s-61dg2n-61htuu-q8H1sz-qFjQie "Gaming Cover"), image cropped)

Kellian_Adams_Pletcher_Headshot.jpg
Kellian Adams Pletcher
Kellian Adams Pletcher loves green doors. She loves doors of any sort, in fact, because they often lead to something interesting. As the CEO and Mastermind of Green Door Labs, Kellian works with some of the most interesting doors in the world: those that lead into museums, libraries and informal education spaces. Previously Institutional Mastermind at SCVNGR, Kellian’s background is in location-based gaming and education technology. She has worked as a senior producer on a number of education games with great organizations including the Met, the Smithsonian, and the Marshmallow Fluff Festival, and she is a mentor at [LearnLaunch](http://learnlaunch.com/accelerator/mentors/kellian-adams-pletcher/ "LearnLaunch Kellian Adams Pletcher"), a Boston-based organization dedicated to expanding education technology.
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Amy Robinson Sterling
Amy Robinson Sterling is the Executive Director of EyeWire, a brain-mapping game that began at MIT. EyeWire crowdsources neuroscience, challenging hundreds of thousands of players around the world to solve 3D puzzles which actually map out neurons. Sterling has advised the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the US Senate on crowdsourcing and open innovation. Under her leadership, EyeWire's neuroscience visualizations have appeared at TED and in Times Square in NYC. She helped to create the world's first neuroscience virtual reality experience. Sterling curates the NIH 3D Print Exchange Neuroscience collection, which features several 3D printable neurons discovered by Eyesore gamers. She has written for Vice, the BBC, Nature, and Forbes and writes the Neurotech series for Scientific American in partnership with MIT. Amy Robinson Sterling also founded the TEDx Music Project, a collection of the best live music from TEDx events around the world. She was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2015.
Jason Margaca
Jason Margaca is a music producer and composer. He started in music and sound design and now composes music for artists around Boston, specializing in film and video game sound production.
Ethan_Gilsdorf.jpg
Ethan Gilsdorf
Ethan Gilsdorf has contributed travel, art, and pop culture stories to *The New York Times* and *The Washington Post*. He currently teaches creative writing at Boston’s Grub Street and Emerson College and serves as a film critic for *The Boston Globe*. His book *Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms* is an examination of role-playing and online gaming culture.
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