Traci Lawson
traci (dot) lawson @ gmail (dot) com

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CHILDREN’S VIDEO GAME & DIGITAL MEDIA PRODUCER

Self-Produced 2 iPhone Games ... Designed Content for Emmy & Peabody Award Winning Websites

Creative, entrepreneurial producer with 9+ years experience in children’s media industry.  Designer of games that challenge kids and spark them to want to play again and again.  Effective team and project leader, with a knack for concise and clear communication.  Strong knowledge of preschool & K-12 cognitive and developmental psychology.

Areas of Expertise

  • Game Design
  • Curriculum Integration in Games
  • iPhone App Production
  • Web Game Production
  • Dialogue Script Writing
  • Spec Sheet Writing
  • Child-Friendly UI
  • Team Management
  • Project Documentation
  • Video Post Production
  • Website Management
  • Blogging & Other Social Media

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Children's Game Designer, Producer & Researcher
March 2009 – present
Self-Employed; New York, New York

  • Designed and performed usability testing on an in-classroom preschool iPad game for a startup company.
  • Designed games for an upcoming Scholastic in-classroom software product that spans 3 grade levels.
  • Produced two self-designed iPhone games for ages 5 and up on a budget of less than $2,000.  Led a team of independent contractors. These games, Frogs and Fireflies, and Move Like Me, are now available on the App Store.
  • Wrote two game design documents & functional spec sheets for a client. Platform: PC, Target Age: 3 to 6.
  • Clients include Scholastic, Sesame Workshop, Eve Hall Consulting (subcontracting on projects for LEGO Universe & Nickelodeon), World Wide Workshop, preschool mathematics expert Dr. Herb Ginsburg, and author Marc Prensky.


Manager of Education and Research for Digital Media
June 2007 – March 2009
Sesame Workshop; New York, New York

  • Aligned designs of 24 separate game titles with established curriculum standards for Sesame Street, The Electric Company, and Pinky Dinky Doo brands.  Led design of 4 game titles.  
  • Tested video game prototypes with children to ensure the games’ success before release to the public.  
  • Communicated usability research findings to production staff in a clear, timely, and useful manner, and suggested design improvements.
  • http://sesamestreet.org won an Emmy Award in 2009, a Peabody Award in 2010, and was listed at #15 in Time Magazine’s Top 50 websites of 2010.


Technical Operations Supervisor
August 2003 – June 2007
Sesame Workshop; New York, New York

  • Found the most cost-effective ways to complete production projects for departments all over the company.
  • Managed and prioritized the editing, duplicating and digitizing workload for a staff of 3. 
  • Was responsible for in-house library of 15,000 tapes and storage library of 300,000 master recordings.


Production Assistant
June 2001 – August 2003
Sesame Workshop; New York, New York

  • Identified appropriate Sesame Street library segments for use in series, home videos, and specials.
  • Researched topics for titles in development; scheduled payments; coordinated production and post-production (everything from arranging crew and catering to editing and closed captioning); maintained databases, checked rights and clearances for all material; coordinated awards submissions.


EDUCATION:

Master of Arts in Cognitive Studies in Education, completed May 2007
Teachers College, Columbia University; New York, New York

  • Completed curriculum design research project with 6th graders that had students making stop motion animation movies to illustrate mathematical operations with fractions.
  • Assisted Dr. Herb Ginsburg with formative research for a Palm application that facilitates assessment of preschool children’s mathematical knowledge.

Bachelor of Arts in Telecommunication, completed May 2001
Purdue University; West Lafayette, Indiana

  • Double majored in Elementary Education
  • Member of the Purdue “All-American” Marching Band
  • Worked at Walt Disney World for one semester in the WDW College Program. I was a Deep Water Lifeguard at Typhoon Lagoon and River Country

 

OTHER EXPERIENCE:

Volunteer Girl Scout Troop Leader, 2008 to present

Member of IGDA & Women in Children’s Media

2010 & 2011 Game Developers Conference Associate

Logistics Assistant at 2010 Dust or Magic Children's Media Design Institute

2009, 2010 & 2011 Global Game Jam participant.  Teams gather to conceive and build a video game in just 48 hours.  My team won first prize for best game at the Columbia University site in 2009.