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Officers

  • Jerry Byrum – President
  • Julie Barwick – Treasurer

Directors

 

 

  • David Bishop – Board Director, (Bio Coming Soon)

 

 

  • Brian Cady – Board Director, (Bio Coming Soon)

 

  • Todd Friedman – Board Director – is heavily involved in the video game community. He is currently writing for Old School Gamer Magazine, Retro Gaming Times and The Walter Day Collection. He has Co-Promoted the Video Game Summit in Illinois for the past 12 Years.  He has recently been assigned to help run the Video Game Retro Console area at the Pinball Expo in the suburbs of Illinois. Todd holds multiple records on the Nintendo Wii game “DJ Hero” as well as some other NES titles. Todd’s first book, Walter Day’s Superstars of Gaming, Volume 1, was released in February of 2020, with the 2nd volume coming out in Fall of 2021. Todd is also the Chairman of the Nomination Committee for the International Video Game Hall of Fame. Todd is based out of Gurnee, IL and has 3 children, Clinton, Aiden, Hannah with his wife Erin.

 

  • Mary Gaskill, Board Director, is a member of the Iowa House of Representatives, serving her fifth term.  Over the years, Mary has been extremely active in her community.  In 2001, she received a Volunteer Award from Governor Vilsak for her work on the Foster Care Review Board.  She is currently a member of the Ottumwa Area Chamber of Commerce, previously serving on the Convention and Visitors Bureau. She also belongs to the League of Women voters, Toastmasters International, and St. Mary of the Visitation Church.  “I believe that  the International Video Game Hall of Fame and Museum will increase tourism and jobs in the Ottumwa area.  My four children and seven grandchildren are video game enthusiasts and are excited about the IVGHOF&M being in Ottumwa.  It brings back some good memories to my two oldest children as they enjoyed Twin Galaxies when it was in downtown Ottumwa.  As a family we look forward to the success of the International Video Game Hall of Fame and Museum.”‘

 

  • Bill Hoffman Board Director, (Bio Coming Soon)

 

  • Roger Jones – Board Director,  is a retired attorney.”I have been an avid video gamer since the 1970’s . While never particularly skilled at any that I played, from the beginning I appreciated the excellent entertainment that video gaming, in all of its aspects, provides.  This fascination prompted me to obtain my first computer, an Apple 1 in 1972. From there I graduated to a Commodore 64, then a Commodore 128, then a Commodore Amiga. In 1981, I bought my first IBM Compatible machine. Since then I have constantly upgraded, and currently own two desktops and three laptops.  The point I am trying to make here has nothing to do with my computer acquisition habits, but rather to stress that my interest in video gaming in fact fomented my introduction into the world of computers as indispensable tools for everyday use, both for business use and in personal matters. I am certain that  this has been the case with a great number of other individuals. In short, a lot of people bought computers because of access to home video gaming, but learned the other benefits of computer use as a result.  I am also particularly invested in the International Video Game Hall of Fame, and the need for it to be located in Ottumwa, where competitive arcade video gaming began.

 

  • Billy Mitchell – Board Director, is history’s most famous video game player. Proclaimed the Video Game Player of the Century at the 1999 Tokyo Game Show, Billy has enjoyed a remarkable career that included history’s first perfect score on Pac-Man (3,333,360 points on July 3, 1999) and appearing in the 1982 LIFE magazine photograph that featured the video game superstars of the Golden Age of video games. Famous the world over as the iconic creator of Rickey’s World Famous Sauce, Billy is based in Hollywood, Florida and is the co-creator of the annual Kong Off (the official Donkey Kong World Championship).

 

 

  • Walter Day – Board Director, as the founder of Twin Galaxies, the oldest video game scorekeeping and adjudication service in history, Walter Day is known as the creator of e-sports and has often been called The Patron Saint of Video Games.  His remarkable efforts to find, verify and catalog video game world records has led to a decades-long partnership with The Guinness Book of World Records.

 

 

 

At the request of the Board of Directors

 

  • Lonnie McDonald – Director – Inductee Relations/Governance – is a business owner and a technical expert in the cleaning and restoration industry. He has served at executive levels at the Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification- as Treasurer guiding them to buy a World HeadQuarters in Las Vegas. Served on numerous Standards and Technical Courses. He also served as Treasurer of IICRC’s Association of Shareholders.  He is a Co-Founder of the Low Moisture Carpet Cleaners Association, an International Cleaning Organization and a Shareholder in the IICRC. He serves as LMCCA’s current President and its Shareholder Representative to IICRC. He also served as LMCCA’s Board Member to Connection Trade Show, the industry’s largest cleaning and restoration trade show. Serves as the Vice President of Marriott Vacations Clubs- Branson and has held several executive positions including Treasurer and Secretary. Lonnie volunteers to the International Video Game Hall of Fame as the Director- Inductee Relations and Governance. He also serves on its Vetting and Voting Committees.International Video Game Hall of Fame Inductee 2016

    Current U.S. National VideoGame Team ® Member

    USNVGT Joust Cut- Throat Tournament Winner

    Award Winning Arcade Restorer

    International Flipper Pinball Association- Achieved Top 1 % World Ranking

    Classic Arcade Player- Most notable for accomplishments regarding Joust:

    Proclaimed by William Electronics: Joust World Champion after playing Joust 24 hours in 1982

    First person to place 9999999 on an Arcade Machine in all 50 states

    Over 250 Joust Machines played to 9999999

    Multiple Guinness World Record Holder

    Multiple Twin Galaxies World Record Holder

    Highest 1st Man ever record on Joust 935,050

    Twin Galaxies MAME World Record at “TG” Building on Joust 30th Anniversary

    Twin Galaxies JROK multiple World Records

    On 11 Twin Galaxies/ Walter Day Trading Cards:

     127# Joust Doubles Marathon Record with Steve Sanders

     249# 50th Machine to 9999999 at NW Pinball

     589# 100 Machines to 9999999 in 100 weeks- 1 Billion Points at the Williams Bldg.

     695# ICON 2014- No one Beats Lonnie McDonald at Pin-Bot

     905# Joust MAME WR – Gaming returns to Twin Galaxies Home

     1442# ICON 2014 Appearance Card

     1446# 50/50 1st-only person over 50 to play a 50 plus hours marathon- 52yrs 5m

     2723# 50 states played to 9999999 / Dan Tearle Collection

     2762# 150th machine 9999999 National VideoGame Museum Frisco TX

    2796# Hall of Fame Induction

    3136# 200th Joust Machine to 99999999- playing the Creators Machine

 

  • Jeff PetersDirector – Strategic Planning/Marketing – is one of the co-founders of the Utah Digital Entertainment Network (UDEN), whose mission is to connect, inform and grow the local communities of Utah’s growing digital entertainment industry. In his 30+ year career in entertainment, he has also spent almost 10 years as an executive with Electronic Arts, founded EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly), worked with SNK in Japan, started multiple businesses in the independent development space (three of which were grown to successful acquisitions), was also part owner and CCO of the digital publishing group TapStar/iEntertainment, CEO of The Bluff Street, an executive consultancy which he also founded and currently COO/Founder of Spark XR, Inc. a forward-looking VR and VR LBE think-tank. He has also worked on such notable properties and franchises such as “Mortal Kombat”, “NBA Jam”, Madden”, “Tetris”, “Monopoly”, “Metro 2033” and “Tiger Woods” and developed top selling products with Viacom, Disney, The Void, Amblin, Warner Bros., DC and Hasbro.  Throughout his career, Jeff has generated billions in revenue through product development and business acumen and is even a founder of the modern era US National Video Game Team, as well as competing on its behalf.