Imoto Harney,
Filmmaker & Pinball Personality

From working at Marco, to diving deep into documenting the Homebrew pinball community, to independent film making, Imoto has left her mark in a number of areas of the pinball world. Imoto and her Marco crew will be busy in the PinDevCon Homebrew section filming, chatting and interviewing.

Elliot Eisman, Pinball Designer, Stern Pinball

Elliot is a mechanical engineer and pinball designer at Stern Pinball, where he has been a key contributor since joining the company. He has worked on notable titles including Star Trek, Ghostbusters, and Jurassic Park, building a reputation for technical excellence in the industry. He was inducted into the Pinball Expo Hall of Fame — a remarkable achievement recognizing his impact on the craft. He earned his first lead design credit on the John Wick pinball machine, and Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye serves as his second game as lead designer, further cementing his place as one of pinball's rising creative voices.

Roger Sharpe,
The Man Who Saved Pinball

Author, editor, professional pinball player, game designer, and activist.

Sharpe gained notoriety following a 1976 New York City hearing where he provided a demonstration to members of the Manhattan City Council, that pinball was a game of skill rather than a game of chance, and therefore not subject to legal prohibitions on gambling. This was the basis for the movie “Pinball: The Man Who Saved The Game”.

Sharpe has written about pinball most his life, designed the pinball machines Sharpshooter and Cyclopes, was co-founder of PAPA (Professional Amateur Pinball Association), and serves as co-chair of IFPA (International Flipper Pinball Association).

Ed Logg,
Arcade Game Designer

Ed was a game designer for Atari and Atari Games. He co-developed Super Breakout, Asteroids, Centipede, Millipede and Gauntlet early in his career.

He later co-developed games like Tetris, Steel Talons, Gauntlet IV, Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey, and the Rush racing games (San Francisco Rush, Rush 2: Extreme Racing, San Francisco Rush 2049).

Victor Tan,
Pinball Wizard

Victor Tan is a local collector, hobbyist, and board developer. Known on Pinside as “Dumbass,” Victor has worked with the pinball community to recreate modern versions of Williams System 9, 11, WPC-89, WPC, and other custom boards and testing equipment. He’s extremely knowledgeable with 80s and 90s Williams boards and games and shares his insight through tech seminars at the show.

Jerry Thompson, Lead Sound Designer, Stern Pinball

Jerry has been the lead sound designer at Stern since 2016. Thompson built his foundation in audio through a career in radio broadcasting — most notably as a DJ for Houston's classic rock station Arrow 93.7 — and voiceover work, before channeling that expertise into the world of pinball. He has become essentially the face of Stern Pinball's sound design, known for his deep understanding of how to hook players with sounds that make them feel like they're progressing through the game regardless of skill level. His credits span some of Stern's most celebrated modern titles, including Godzilla, Deadpool, Ghostbusters, Elvira's House of Horrors, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the new Transformers! With a background that bridges broadcasting, voiceover, and music curation, Thompson has helped define the sonic identity of contemporary pinball.

Tom Kyzivat, Artist and Animator, Stern Pinball

Tom is a Chicago-born artist and animator who has been a creative force at Stern Pinball since 2008. Working covertly from the suburbs of Chicago — just like pinball itself — Tom keeps busy doing animations and illustration work for Stern, where his roles have spanned callouts and animation across a wide range of titles. His early contributions include original dot matrix display art on games like Shrek, and his work has evolved alongside the technology — most recently serving as Lead LCD Artist on the 2026 Transformers machine! He actually also handled animation and DMD work on the 2011 version of the same title. A multi-talented contributor, Tom has also lent his voice to Stern games, most notably providing the voice of Krang in the TMNT pinball machine — a performance that reportedly floored his colleagues. Part of the well-known "Kyzivat Brothers" duo at Stern alongside programmer Mike Kyzivat, Tom is a beloved fixture of the pinball world.

Elizabeth Gieske, Game Software Developer, Stern Pinball

Elizabeth joined Stern June 2023. She is the lead programmer and software designer on Stern Pinball's Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye

Gieske took on a large portion of the rules herself to make the gameplay as fun as possible, working alongside the design team and subject matter experts. She also brought over some innovations from her previous well-received project, Jaws, such as in-game currency mechanics. Transformers notably features a competitive two-player mode where one player takes on the role of Optimus Prime and the other Megatron.

Prior to leading Transformers, Gieske had contributed to code design on Jaws and Dungeons & Dragons: The Tyrant's Eye. With Jaws she designed and coded the fan-favorite Broken Shark topper mode. Beyond her work behind the scenes, Elizabeth is also an accomplished competitive pinball player.

Butch Peel, Pinball Manual Rockstar

Butch Peel has been collecting, repairing and restoring pinball machines since 1987. An electrical engineer, he worked in civil service 32+ years for the US Army Research Laboratory at White Sands Missile Range. He has worked in the pinball industry, writing manuals, since 2012.

He wrote operating manuals for The Wizard of Oz, The Hobbit, Dialed In, Pirates of the Caribbean and Willy Wonka for Jersey Jack Pinball, Pulp Fiction for Chicago Gaming Company and Labyrinth and Dune for Barrels of Fun.

Chase Nunes
& the GeekGamerTV Crew

Chase is host of Youtube & Twitch’s GeekGamerTV! Chase his crew host of our GeekGamerTV live stage where our seminars, panels, and repair talks take place!

SPEAKER SCHEDULE

Friday, June 5th:

2pm-3pm

Victor Tan “Pinball Electronics Primer” tech seminar

3:30pm-4:30pm

Christa Lee “Extreme Caution in the Presence of High Voltage” CRT tech seminar

5pm-6pm

“Making Pinball, Making Friends” with FAST Pinball and Homebrew Pinball Makers

7pm-9pm

Movie: “Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game” followed by a Q&A with Roger Sharpe

Saturday, June 6th:

11:00am-12:00pm

Imoto Harney & Butch Peel “Pinball Restoration 101”

12:30 - 1:30pm

“Pinball for All: Accessibility Solutions for Disabled Players” hosted by Ted Brown, MD & Dave Beecher (FAST Pinball) with guests Erik Voogd & Angie Hulsebus

2pm-3pm

Roger Sharpe “More than The Man Who Saved The Game... My Life in Pinball”

3:30pm-4:30pm

Ed Logg “Designing Asteroids, Centipede and more!”

5pm-6pm

“The Transformers Pinball - Designing Stern Pinball's newest game!” with the Elliot Eismin, Elizabeth Gieske, Jerry Thompson, Mike Kyzivat, & Tom Kyzivat

Mike Vinikour, Associate Game Developer, Stern Pinball

Mike has a career in the gaming industry stretching back to 1993, when he got his start at the legendary Williams/Bally/Midway. He has designed rules for titles such as James Bond 007 and Stranger Things, and contributed to rule design on a wide range of other Stern games including Batman, KISS, The Mandalorian, Deadpool, The Beatles, and many more. He also created all the Expression Lights lightshows for Foo Fighters, Rush, and Led Zeppelin. His contributions have helped shape pinball's rule structures and introduce new technological features, and he co-holds at least one patent related to multi-mode amusement device technology. Beyond pinball, Mike also brings an impressive résumé from the arcade world, including work on fan-favorite titles like Mortal Kombat. A passionate ambassador for the hobby, he is a familiar and welcoming presence at pinball events and festivals across the country.

Mike Kyzivat, Pinball Software Programmer, Stern Pinball

Mike has contributed his programming skills to numerous other Stern releases over the years, including the new Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye pinball. His amazing knowledge of the theme and the excitement he brought to the project made him a very valuable member of the Transformers team! Mike’s voice has been featured in a few Stern pinball games, most notably as Shredder in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He’s also known for his collaborative work alongside his brother Tom Kyzivat, with the two often teaming up on audio, visual, and programming elements that bring Stern's machines to life.