Filament Games Podcast

This week, join our Chief Partnerships Officer, Jennifer Javornik, in an engaging conversation with Susan Jin Davis, who has 30 years of experience in telecom, media, entertainment, and tech. Currently Social Impact Officer at Al Roker Entertainment, Susan crafts impactful storytelling solutions with brands and nonprofits, showcasing the positive ways people give back.

If you're joining us for the first time, this podcast series features interviews conducted by our Chief Partnerships Officer, Jennifer Javornik, at the 2023 Social Innovation Summit. Jennifer engages with a diverse range of professionals who are leveraging technology to bring about positive change in their respective industries. This week’s guest is Amy Dinofrio, the Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), who brings over a decade of executive-level HR and talent management expertise to the table. Listen to this episode to discover how influential figures such as Amy are molding the realm of social impact by employing creative approaches to improving the well-being of humanity.

In this episode of the Filament Games Podcast, Jennifer speaks with Jeffrey Burrell, the Senior Director of Social Impact at Riot Games and the Executive Director of the Riot Games Social Impact Fund. Listen to hear more about Jeffrey's professional journey and the impactful work he spearheads at Riot Games. Jeffrey plays a pivotal role in shaping Riot Games' strategy to make a positive difference in the world. His insights provide a unique perspective on how a major player in the gaming industry is actively contributing to social change!

We're delighted to bring you the third episode of our Social Innovation Summit interview series. Join our Chief Partnerships Officer, Jennifer Javornik, as she hosts conversations with thought leaders in the technology and gaming sectors who are driving significant change through their work. In this episode, Jennifer has a conversation with Fred Tan. Fred serves as the Head of Social Impact at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and holds the position of Deputy Director at the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Foundation. In these roles, he focuses on crafting HPE's social sustainability strategy and reshaping the company's approach to effectively utilize its technology, talent, resources, and brand for positive impact. Fred leads a dedicated team dedicated to implementing HPE's social sustainability, philanthropic, and corporate social responsibility initiatives.

We're thrilled to bring you the second installment of this captivating series where our Chief Partnerships Officer, Jennifer Javornik, takes you with her to conferences on technology and games for impact. Get ready to be inspired as Jennifer engages in conversations with thought leaders who are making big changes through their work! In this episode, Jennifer interviews Holly Copeland. Holly, a visionary leader in corporate social responsibility (CSR), shares her incredible journey and experiences in creating meaningful impacts through Horizon Therapeutics' award-winning CSR portfolio. Listen in to explore the connections between technology, philanthropy, and business.

In this special new season of the Filament Games Podcast, you have a first-class ticket to travel with Jennifer Javornik, our Chief Partnerships Officer. Listen in as she attends influential events and interviews insightful thought leaders who are making an impact through technology and video games! In this episode, Jennifer sat down with Julian Fitzgerald Robinson, a dedicated social impact leader who is committed to utilizing workforce development as a means to address economic disparities in underserved communities. In late 2019, he played a pivotal role in co-founding Gaming Cxmmunity Co., a gaming organization aimed at addressing the increasing digital divide present in the gaming and broader technology sectors. Their mission is to enhance the representation of marginalized groups of people in the fields of esports and gaming. Presently, Julian holds the position of Executive Director at Cxmmunity, overseeing and guiding the initiatives of the organization to bridge these gaps and create positive change

In this episode, Brandon and Dan interview former Filament Games designer Lydia Symchych about the JumpStart series, specifically JumpStart 3rd Grade Mystery Mountain. JumpStart was a learning game franchise that began in 1994 and closed in 2023. To learn more about the ins and outs of these games, and why JumpStart 3rd Grade Mystery Mountain is so significant to Lydia, you’ll have to tune in to the podcast!

In this episode, your hosts Brandon and Dan have a conversation with Carrie Ray-Hill, the Senior Director of Digital Learning at iCivics. If you’ve been keeping up with Filament Games since the beginning, you’ll know our work and friendship with the folks at iCivics goes way back! Listen on to learn how the pandemic and recent trends in civics learning have informed iCivics’ approach, the strategy behind iCivics games, and so much more.

In this episode of the Filament Games podcast, your hosts Brandon and Dan had the pleasure of interviewing Chris Rake, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at FIRST. Brandon, Dan, and Chris discuss Filament’s work with FIRST on RoboCo and RoboCo Sports League, the ethos and values of FIRST, the impact on FIRST participants, and much more.

In this episode, your illustrious hosts Brandon and Dan interview Filament Game Designer Colin Skinner about his experiences working as lead designer on RoboCo Sports League. What is RoboCo Sports League? In short, it’s a RoboCo-inspired experience Filament Games is creating specifically for the Roblox platform. If you’ve been dreaming of a multiplayer version of RoboCo, we’re happy to report that your dreams will be coming true.

In this episode, Brandon and Dan, along with guest Lydia Symchych, a former Filament game designer, tackle pervasive game-based learning myths. Like the revered Mythbusters themselves, Brandon, Dan, and Lydia dive into common misconceptions and destroy them from the inside out!* *Figuratively, of course. No pyrotechnics were used in the making of this episode.

Welcome back to the Filament Games Podcast! To commemorate the November 3rd launch of RoboCo for Steam Early Access, we invited our CEO Dan White onto the podcast to chat with Brandon and Dan all about how RoboCo came to be, our partnership with FIRST, and what launch day was like (spoiler alert, Dan White’s adrenal glands were in peril). From the game’s humble beginnings to its roadblocks to its breakthroughs, we’re so proud to not only share RoboCo with you but the journey with you too, right here on the podcast!

Welcome back to the Filament Games Podcast! If you read our blog, you may know we are working with our friends at the University of Wisconsin - Madison to create an educational cow-handling game. If you didn’t know, now you do! The project is aptly called Mooving Cows, and it is a game-based learning experience that teaches players how to interact properly with cattle in a risk-free virtual environment. One of our key collaborators is Jennifer Van Os, the project’s director as well as Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist of Animal Welfare at UW Madison. In this episode of the Filament Games podcast, Brandon and Dan ask Jennifer about how the project came to be, her career in animal welfare, and why game-based learning is a particularly useful tool for teaching cow-handling best practices. Oh, and Jennifer may also mention that cows can play video games too.

The Filament Games Podcast is back! That’s right, after a, ahem, brief four-year hiatus, season four of your favorite game-based learning podcast is here. The original hosts of the podcast, VP of Marketing Brandon Pittser and CCO Dan Norton, are back with even more game-based learning insights, incredible guest interviews, and enough antics to keep you informed and entertained all at once. Season 4 Episode 1: “Is This Thing On?” features guest and Filament Games producer, Kenny Green. This episode catches listeners up on the past 4 years and what’s been going on behind the scenes at Filament, particularly with our sandbox robotics game, RoboCo.

Abby and Matt make their triumphant return in another head-knocking, blood-pumping Game Design Challenge.

Brandon and Dan are joined by Matt Haselton for another vintage learning game adventure, this time embarking on the inimitable Logical Journey of the Zoombinis.

Brandon and Dan are joined by Ethan for a discussion of practical audio techniques for game development!

In this episode, we’re joined by two incredible educator pioneers who are leading the way towards using VR for learning. Hear from Maria Galanis, Instructional Coach at Shepard Middle School and Andrea Trudeau, Library Information Specialist for Deerfield District 109, as they discuss their best practices for using VR in classrooms.

Get to know the Sun Prairie School District! Nate and Annie stop by for a visit and chat about their district's game-based learning program.

The first Retro Review of the season brings an exciting foray into retro learning game Manhole. Matt Haselton joins us in the studio to talk about a VR version of the game and what students actually learn through gameplay.