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Summary Statement
Professional game designer, speaker, author, and filmmaker connecting people in playful and power ways 

                                                           
Education
Colgate University, Hamilton, NY, May 1987
Bachelor of Science in Biology, minor in Fine Arts

 

Experience
Co-founder, Roo Games, 2016 – Present (Sarasota, Florida)

  • Market and promote our line of games to retailers and consumers

  • Designed nearly the entire line of games for the company, including Feed Fuzzy, You’ve Been Framed, Bull’s Eye, Doggy Bags and more

 

Founder, The Playmakers, 1994 – Present (Rockton, Illinois/Sarasota, Florida)

  • Speak professionally to various organizations on creativity, play, and connection

  • Co-directed and co-produced the documentary film OPERATION: Operation The Power of Play, which won Best Documentary at the Naperville Independent Film Festival in 2017

  • Co-produced and appeared in the documentary film Toyland: Fun in the Making, which won Best Documentary awards at the Naperville Independent Film Festival, Cine-World Independent Film Festival, and the Chagrin Documentary Film Festival in 2010

  • Designed the game Blurt! and multiple brand spinoffs and extensions

  • Marketed and managed the Blurt! brand to sales of over 1.5 million units

  • Designed numerous games and toys including Sphere Factor, Crazy Chins Movie Making Kits, Hands-On Green Screen Kits, Smell-o-rama card games, No Clowns, and others

  • Co-developed Crazy Chins and Hands-On Green Screen iPhone apps

  • Negotiated licensing contracts for games, toys and apps I designed with Patch Products, Fat Brain Toys, Zobmondo!! Entertainment, Winning Moves, Educational Insights, Mattel, Wolfe Brothers, Summus, and other entertainment companies

  • Appeared on numerous national and international TV and radio shows in promotion of various play projects including NPR, Radio New Zealand, BBC and others

 

Co-founder, TriBond Enterprises, 1990 – 2015 (Freeville, New York/ Sarasota, Florida)

  • Co-designed the game TriBond and multiple brand spinoffs and extensions

  • Marketed and managed the brand to sales of over 3 million units in 13 countries

  • Negotiated multiple licensing contracts with game companies including Patch Products, Brio, Mattel, Hasbro Australia, RP Toys, Holdson, Great American Puzzle Company, and others

  • Negotiated licensing contract for the TriBond radio game show with Sony/SW Networks

  • Negotiated licensing contract for the TriBond TV game show with Limestone Televisio

  • Negotiated and closed the sale of TriBond Enterprises and all associated I.P. to Everest Toys in 2015

 

VP of Marketing and Product Development, Patch Products, 1992 – 2001 (Beloit, Wisconsin)

  • Promoted from Marketing Director to part owner and VP of two departments within 3 years

  • Instrumental in increasing company sales from $2.5 million to over $20 million in 7 years

  • Responsible for management of Product Development and Art Departments (8 employees), and the Media and Advertising Department (3 employees)

  • Created or co-created the entire Patch Products game line including N'SYNC Backstage Pass Game (over 1 million copies sold), Mad Gab (over 2 million sold), Malarky, and others

  • Wrote, directed and/or supervised the production of all Patch Products television commercials including Mad Gab (35 mm) TriBond (35 mm and 16 mm), Blurt! (35 mm and 35 mm animation), Three for All (35 mm), Malarky (Digital Video) and Ultimate Tops (35 mm and Digital Video)

  • Made over 100 TV appearances including, National TV appearances on The Family Channel, Fox After Breakfast, CNN, The 700 Club, The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch and others

  • Made over 700 local and national radio appearances including NPR’s Morning Edition, USA Radio Network, ABC Radio Network, WGN, KMOX, and many others.

 

Lecturer/Speaker

  • Closed the 81st Annual Florida Pubic Relations Association Conference as keynote and received a standing ovation for Compelling Connections: How and Why Your Influence Matters, 2019.

  • Presented Right Brain Red: 7 Ideas for Creative Success for the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association Marketplace and Academy, 2017

  • Lectured to the Toy Department students and faculty at Otis College of Art and Design in 2010, 2015, and 2017

  • Hosted and co-produced the annual Toy and Game Inventor (TAGIE) Awards from 2007 to 2015

  • Presented Capstone Keynote on The Power of Connection at the USC Physical Sciences in Oncology Symposium, 2011  

  • Presented on Patents and Copyrights in the Toy Industry at the State Bar of Arizona Intellectual Property Conference, 2010

 


Other Experience
Crowdrise Campaign Organizer and Co-producer, Fall 2014

  • Organized a crowdsourced fundraiser on the website Crowdrise to benefit John Spinello, the designer of the classic game, Operation

  • Co-produced the campaign, which raised $32,422, exceeding our goal of $25,000 by 30%

  • Co-managed media appearances for John Spinello which included Good Morning America, ABC Evening News, The Doctors, Jimmy Kimmel, Inside Edition, Today, NBC News with Lester Holt and many others

  • Appeared on NBC Nightly News and BBC Newshour to tell our story

 

Expert Witness, 2011
Deposed as an expert witness in the Superior Court of the State of California in a case involving a breach of contract claim against a major toy company

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Books

  • Guyer, Reyn and Tim Walsh. Right Brain Red: 7 ideas for Creative Success. Austin: River Grove Books, 2016

  • Walsh, Tim. WHAM-O SUPER BOOK: Celebrating 60 Years Inside the Fun Factory.  San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2008

  • Walsh, Tim. Timeless Toys: Classic Toys and the Playmakers Who Created Them. Kansas City: Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2005

  • Walsh, Tim. The Playmakers: Amazing Origins of Timeless Toys. Sarasota: Keys Publishing, 2004

 

Professional Memberships

  • American Specialty Toy Retailing Association

  • National Toy Hall of Fame’s National Selection Advisory Committee

  • People of Play (Formerly Chicago Toy & Game Group) Advisory Board

  • The Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor

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