Cheryl Platz

Cheryl Platz is Toastmaster of the 58th Annual Nebula Awards and an acclaimed designer, author, actress, game developer, and speaker based in the Los Angeles area. Her first book, Design Beyond Devices: Creating Multimodal, Cross-Device Experiences (Rosenfeld Media, 2020) released as an Amazon bestseller and has provided technologists around the world a vision for how to create experiences that adapt to us as humans and not the other way around – a manual for designing the bridge of the starship of their dreams. Cheryl is Director of User Experience for the Player Platform at Riot Games (home of League of Legends, VALORANT, and Arcane) and owner of design education company Ideaplatz, LLC. Her professional acting career has included multiple internet TV series, voice acting for video games, on-camera and theme park puppetry, musicals, and 13 years as a pro performer and teacher at the longest-running improv company in Seattle, Unexpected Productions.

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Cheryl Platz

Related Events

Authors Growing through Gaming

May 12, 2023 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm

Please note: all times are displayed in the Pacific timezone. Timezone calculator

Panelists: Jennifer Gale, Stephen Granade, Cheryl Platz, Travis Baldree and Jonathan Cassie (moderator)
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Video and tabletop games offer their audiences the unique opportunity to engage in the character development, worldbuilding, and direction of a narrative. Game writers and enthusiasts discuss how designing, writing for, and even playing games can improve an author’s skills and imagination.

If you do not see the stream window, be sure to login at the top of this page. Registered attendees of the 2023 Nebula Conference will be able to participate upon logging in. If you still need to register, visit the home page!

Feeling Optimistic? Imagining Brighter SFF Futures

May 13, 2023 10:30 am to 11:30 am

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Panelists: K. Tempest Bradford, Rebecca Gomez Farrell, April White, Cheryl Platz and Erich Werner (moderator)
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Are you feeling the call to write more optimistic science fiction? You’re not alone. Join this panel to discuss stories that envision a brighter world and how we can build it.

If you do not see the stream window, be sure to login at the top of this page. Registered attendees of the 2023 Nebula Conference will be able to participate upon logging in. If you still need to register, visit the home page!

Rethinking Conflict in Gaming Narratives

June 8, 2024 9:00 am to 10:00 am

Please note: all times are displayed in the Pacific timezone. Timezone calculator

Panelists: Cheryl Platz, Jennifer Gale, RM Ambrose, Alex Kingsley and Phoebe Barton (moderator)
Track:
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Video games may have a reputation for graphic violence, but what if we as game writers want to create a narrative that’s not driven by combat? From casual and cozy games, life sims, dating sims, to visual novels and text-based, interactive fiction, there’s an increasing array of options for players seeking games that go beyond fighting or forgo it altogether. This panel will focus on how to create urgency and propel the plot forward using an intentional lack of violence. In this way we use games a tool for teaching “non-violent communication” in an increasingly violent real world.
If you do not see the stream window, be sure to login at the top of this page. Registered attendees of the 2024 Nebula Conference will be able to participate upon logging in. If you still need to register, visit the home page!