Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle 2019 will take place on May 13th to 14th. To give you a taste of what to expect, we'll regularly be publishing interviews with the speakers at the show.

For more details on PGC Seattle and to book a ticket, head to the website here.

Today we're speaking with Quorum Control CMO Stephanie Mello, ahead of her talk entitled 'The Golden Cohort: How to create and engage your super user'.

Quorum Control is the maker of the Tupelo platform; a permissionless proof-of-stake DLT platform purpose-built for NFTs. A product marketer and gaming veteran, Stephanie specialises in end-to-end marketing strategies (including authoring US Patent: #8,439,759).

Her strategic vision and tenacious execution have driven massive increases in audience adoption, channel subscriptions in the millions and more than $160 million in bottom-line revenue lifts (at scale). Building teams, systems and solutions from scratch, she’s trained in the fine art of scrappy and agile success.

PocketGamer.biz: Could you tell us a bit about the company?

Stephanie Mello: Quorum Control makes Tupelo; a permissionless proof-of-stake DLT platform purpose-built for NFTs. Our mission is to be the first truly useable DLT platform for real-world applications.

Tupelo is fundamentally different from any other existing blockchain platform because it models individual asset ownership and provenance as the base layer (rather than token exchange). Add to it our innovative data structure and faster, more lightweight consensus algorithm and you have a better overall developer experience.

As builders ourselves, we have high expectations for the technology we use and the humans who help power it and we hold ourselves to those same standards.

We aren’t just building another DLT platform; we’re building a community of innovators and builders and we’re excited about the future.

What does your role entail?

I run strategy and operations for all things marketing, partnerships, and overall brand experience. From the ground-up, I'm building a brand identity and then fostering the relationship with the builders who interact with it.

I'm responsible for engaging, inspiring and collaborating with developers to #buildthefuture on the Tupelo platform.

Why did you want to work in the games industry?

My background is in game publishing (first on the web-side and then into mobile). Building games on emerging platforms has always been a challenge I've loved and blockchain and DLT for games was the next natural step.

The games community is one of the most vibrant, collaborative, competitive and welcoming groups of people I've ever been part of. And not just on the player-side, there's remarkable support and camaraderie amongst builders as well.

I love building engaging in-game experiences that not only surprise and delight players but also provide a meaningful benefit to someone's life.

What advice would you give to anyone looking to get into it?

Don't put up with 'burn and churn'. This industry is filled with passionate people who pour their heart and soul into the games they make.

Some organisations will use that passion against you to squeeze out long stretches of late nights or unsympathetic deadlines and feedback. Don't let them. They need that passion in order to make great games. Know your value, practice self-care and never lost that passion.

What are your thoughts on the industry in the last 12 months?

There's an impressive groundswell of indies striking out to make their passion projects. For the last few years, traditional gaming has been dominated by huge acquisitions and massive IPs all competing for the crown... making a lot of people a lot of money.

As a result, we're seeing a pretty big influx of well-resourced smaller studios striking out to do their own thing. I think we're at the start of a lot of really creative storytelling through games.

What major trends do you predict in the next 12 months?

Blockchain and DLT adoption are gaining a lot of momentum. The ecosystem is primed for mass adoption if the builders can demystify the concepts for players.

How has the games industry changed since you first started?

We're thinking bigger. We're no longer saying "this won't work" and saying "let's go make this work". You see it all over the place with esports growing in popularity, the merging of Eastern and Western gameplay/development, DLT adoption. Innovation is happening at a much faster clip in the last five-to-sevent years.

Gaming isn't some sub-genre of a fringe group anymore, it's mainstream. Gaming is the new tastemaker. What we do here sets the pace for other industries to follow suit.

Which part of the Connects event are you most looking forward to and why?

Meeting indie developers. I loved connecting with the builders. You can't buy that kind of enthusiasm and passion. It's contagious. I'm excited to be part of that.

Find out more about Pocket Gamer Connects Seattle 2019 on the website.