Draft:Shari Spiro

• Comment: This draft needs a complete rewrite. It's highly promotional, an unreferenced biography of a living person, and contains many inline WP:External links. Wikishovel (talk) 18:19, 29 July 2024 (UTC)

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Shari Spiro (born November 3, 1958) is an American board game developer and manufacturer. She is founder and CEO of Ad Magic, a U.S.-based custom-made games and promotional products company that fills a unique niche among gaming manufacturers. Through strategic partnerships, acquisitions, and investments in talent and technology, Spiro's vision has helped redefine what a custom “game manufacturer” should look like. Traditionally the game industry model has been to use several companies to produce a game — concept development and design, manufacturing, freight and shipping. Ad Magic has redefined the term “game manufacturer,” providing services from the inception of a game to its manufacturing to the delivery of comprehensive supply chain services.

In addition to the founding division Ad Magic, which remains the game design and manufacturing division, the company now includes Breaking Games, which promotes and publishes large-scale games to retail and online venues; Print and Play Games, which prints smaller-run projects; and Blackbox Logistics Systems, which provides supply chain management.

Ad Magic is known for its work for large-scale and high-profile clients, due in part to its innovative client support through ground-breaking publicity campaigns and promotional products. Among the games are Cards Against Humanity, Exploding Kittens, Secret Hitler, Joking Hazard, Doomlings, Odd 1’s Out, Air BNB, DoorDash and psychotherapist and podcaster Esther Perel’s “Where Do We Begin?,” a human relationships game.

Early Life and Education

Spiro was born Shari Beth Leitzes. She was born in Dover, New Jersey, USA. She attended Dover High School from 1972-76 and became the school's American Field Service Exchange Student to Argentina in 1975. She graduated with honors in 1976.  

She enrolled in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media with a minor in mathematics. She was an honors student, making the dean’s list every semester while there. She worked in the television station and served as the News Director for WXYC, UNC-Chapel Hill’s student-run radio station. At the same time, she ran a campus open-mic night.

While a sophomore at UNC-Chapel Hill, she and three other female students formed a rock group who left school to perform on a USO-type tour of Hawaii, Guam, the Philippines, Okinawa, Korea, and Japan with the Pacific Air  Command Air Force (PACAF). After the tour, the group — consisting of Spiro; bass player Cindy Symington; lead guitarist Rayn Wilhelm, and Debi Shirley continued to play together until the early ‘80s when Spiro left to get married.

In New Jersey, where daughter Jenni was born, Spiro continued to perform with then-husband Michael Spiro in bands including Risky Business, a Madonna cover band; Dangerous Age, and Full Moon Boogie.

Divorced in 1997, she continued to play with her group Hounds of Blues. In 2020, she married drummer Brian Yelinko with whom she has a daughter Rayne, born in 2002.

Sidelined by family, and still involved in playing and recording, Spiro’s career took a dramatic turn in the late 1990s with the emergence of desk-top publishing and desk-top graphic design. Always an innovator and promoter within her musical career, Spiro found a new outlet for her creativity and entrepreneurship, a decision that would ultimately influence and define her career choice.

Career

Business Origins

In 1987, Spiro joined the now-defunct New Jersey printer Secur-Image as head of the customer service team and more importantly, the holographic division. Secur-Image was a sheet fed vinyl printer specializing in the manufacturing of credit cards such as Mastercard, Visa and American Express. That was the basis of Spiro’s education in the field of printing.

After the dissolution of Secur-Image, Spiro continued to consult with companies in the sheet fed vinyl industry until she founded her own company, Imagics, Inc., in 1989.  With Spiro working out of her garage, Imagics the desktop publishing studio created customized promotional products and provided design and printing for local firms that needed everything from menus to newspaper ads. Imagics also designed and printed small local newspapers.

Spiro rebranded the company as Ad Magic in 1997 with product lines that now included custom-designed playing cards, board games, puzzles, plush items, and retail displays.

Expansions

Breaking Games

In 2015, Shari Spiro founded the publishing and distribution company Breaking Games, which incorporated a game development and distribution team into Ad Magic. The creation of Breaking Games brought together complementary expertise in printing and game design, enabling the combined company to offer comprehensive solutions for game creators and publishers. The collaboration between Ad Magic and Breaking Games with dozens of up-and-coming designers further solidified Spiro's influence in the gaming industry

Breaking Games LLC has gained recognition for titles like “Cards Against Humanity,” “Dwellings of Eldervale,” “Mixtape,” ”We're Doomed!,”  “Keep Calm,” “Rise of Tribes,” “Game of 49,” and “Letter Tycoon.”  Several Breaking Games titles have been awarded Mensa Select awards, a title given to the top five tabletop games of the year.

Print and Play

In 2016, Spiro, acquired Print and Play Games, a well-established player in the print-on-demand gaming market. Founded by Andrew Tullsen and a group of passionate gamers, Print and Play had carved out a niche by offering a wide range of print on demand games catering to game designers and game enthusiasts. Their business model centered around providing small runs and prototypes for game designers to use to play test up-and-coming games.

Recognizing the synergy between Print and Play Games and her existing ventures, Spiro initiated discussions for the acquisition which brought together expertise in printing technologies, game development and print on demand, positioning the merged entity as a powerhouse in the growing board game market. The acquisition of Print and Play Games enabled Ad Magic and Breaking Games to enhance their offerings and reach a broader audience of gamers and designers.

Blackbox Systems

In 2020 Spiro incorporated a logistics element into the company’s operations with the acquisition of Blackbox Systems from the Cards Against Humanity team. Blackbox specializes in International freight, customs clearance,  Shopify fulfillment, Kickstarter and other crowd-funding campaign fulfillment, Kitting, and fulfillment into mass market.

Mass market retailers include Amazon Retail, Target, Walmart, Barnes and Noble, Calendar Club, Meijer, Best Buy, Cracker Barrel, CVS, Indigo, Go Games and shipping into distributors worldwide.  Shipping more than a million packages a year,  Spiro’s expertise in printing technologies and business management has been instrumental in guiding Blackbox Systems toward success.  A 100,000 square-foot warehouse facility in the NJ International Free Trade Zone has enabled Blackbox to take on larger business to business and business to consumer packaging and shipping.

Crowd-Funding Successes

Crowd-funding platforms, which emerged in the 2000s, and the simultaneous growth of AdMagic produced a perfect marriage. As game after game became popular and sold, Admagic’s popularity as the perfect manufacturer for the games grew.

Cards Against Humanity

Among the first and largest was Cards Against Humanity. Conceived by a group of friends in Chicago, Cards Against Humanity emerged from a Kickstarter campaign in 2011. Designed as a party game for adults, Cards against Humanity invited players to fill in the blanks of sentence cards with outrageous, politically incorrect, or absurd phrases from their hand of cards. Begun as a small $4,000-goal Kickstarter in 2011 (raising $15,000), Cards Against Humanity has become a worldwide leader in card games.  

The growth of the game over the first year and a half was pivotal for the creators of CAH and for Ad Magic. Their partnership has allowed Ad Magic to grow its printing capabilities and helped to establish the company as a go to for kickstarters and game designers worldwide. Cards Against Humanity continues to be an industry leader, publishing new versions. It is still in a partnership with AdMagic after 13 years.

Exploding Kittens

In early 2015, game designers Elan Lee, Matthew Inman, and Shane Small launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund their creation, Exploding Kittens. The game's premise was simple yet entertaining: players draw cards from a deck, hoping to avoid the titular "Exploding Kitten" card while using other cards to defuse the threat or sabotage opponents.

Before the Kickstarter campaign gained traction, the creators turned to Ad Magic whose reputation for high-quality printing and their track record in producing custom games made them the ideal choice for bringing Exploding Kittens to life.   The success of the Kickstarter campaign exceeded all expectations, raising more than $8 million from nearly 220,000 backers.

With such a staggering demand, Spiro and her team at Ad Magic, with the assistance of Blackbox, were able to print and ship to hundreds of thousands of backers worldwide to fulfill the kickstarter.

In the years following the release of Cards Against Humanity and Exploding Kittens, Spiro’s collaboration with the game’s creators continued to bear fruit. Ad Magic’s expertise in printing and fulfillment contributed to the success of subsequent expansions and spin-off products, further cementing Spiro’s legacy as a driving force behind some of the most beloved games of the modern era.

As the Kickstarter campaign movement gained traction and game creators faced the challenge of fulfilling the orders for thousands of game copies. Spiro’s reputation for quality printing and her company’s expertise in custom games made them the ideal choice for games that would follow.

Secret Hitler

Secret Hitler, a social deduction game created by Max Temkin, Mike Boxleiter, and Tommy Maranges, gained significant attention upon its release in 2016.

The game is set in 1930s Germany and simulates the rise of fascism in the Weimar Republic. Players are secretly divided into two teams: the Liberals and the Fascists. The Liberals aim to enact liberal policies and identify and eliminate the Fascists, while the Fascists seek to pass fascist policies or elect Hitler as Chancellor. One player is secretly designated as Hitler, and their identity must be concealed by the Fascist team.

Spiro played a crucial role in the game’s success by overseeing its production and ensuring its availability to a wide audience. Her efforts helped Secret Hitler become a staple in the board game community, with its unique take on social deduction captivating players worldwide. Despite its controversial theme, Secret Hitler received praise for its mechanics and design, sparking intense and engaging gameplay sessions among friends and gaming groups. The game’s success also led to various expansions and adaptations, further solidifying its status in the board gaming world.

Doomlings

In 2019, Justus and Andrew Meyer, who say Doomlings was never meant to be a real game, described it as “a delightful card game for the end of the world.”

When the pandemic hit and the world shut down, the game became a way for the brothers to stay connected across 1700 miles. With Justus on one side of the country and Andrew on the other, they reached out to Eric McCoy and Chris Svehla to help out. Chris worked on the game; Eric researched the Kickstarter platform. He found three experienced gamers who knew Kickstarter — Jim Freeman, Patrick Jones, and Christine Petrovich — to work with.  

The game was funded with more than a million dollars in 49 minutes, finishing in the top tenth of one percent of Kickstarters. To date, Doomlings has earned more than $5 million dollars.

Success meant the games needed to be manufactured with a quality that matches what the Doomling crew had promised. And they needed to be distributed as quickly and successfully as possible. Ad Magic had done it for major games before. They were a perfect fit.

Where Should We Begin?

One of the more recent Ad Magic releases is Where Should We Begin? — A Game of Stories by renowned therapist, relationship expert, and podcaster Esther Perel.

In a new genre of “games” that focus more on personal dynamics than “winning,” Where Should We Begin? is primarily a thought-provoking exercise for couples, friends, or coworkers to navigate through various scenarios. They are required to make decisions and discuss their perspectives on topics such as trust, intimacy, and conflict resolution. It has become a best selling game, enjoyed as a tool for promoting meaningful conversations and deeper connections among the players.

Personal Aspirations

Ad Magic is among the few women-owned game businesses. Spiro ensures that employees receive equal pay and advancement opportunities within the company, regardless of gender, age, or ethnicity. In her 30-year career, it is a policy that has served her and her long-time staff well. Her motto was, “Simply employ the best.” And for Ad Magic, most often they have been highly-qualified women.

Spiro is recognized for her personal mentoring to budding game developers, her private philanthropic activities and her advocacy for comprehensive employee health care and benefits.  She is a firm believer in giving back to the people in the community in which Ad Magic’s home offices reside, and actively supports sustainability efforts in her industry.

Spiro is a supporter of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the Tunnels to Towers Foundation, founded in tribute to New York Fire Department firefighter Stephen Siller, killed on 9/11/2001. As a mother and grandmother, Spiro is committed to helping those who will follow. She is a game design mentor for several programs on Boardgame Space. Last year she donated to Toys for Tots, Picatinny Arsenal, NJ; to the Finger Lakes Toy Library,  and to other small non-profit organizations who frequently reach out to Ad Magic and to whom free games and puzzles are sent.

Media and Other Appearances

Throughout her career, Shari Spiro has received recognition for her contributions to the gaming and printing industries. She has been featured in various media outlets and industry publications, sharing insights and expertise on entrepreneurship, creativity, and business leadership.   In 2016 Spiro received the EY Entrepreneur of the Year New Jersey Award from Ernst and Young for “...making a significant mark on innovation and the economy.” In the announcement of the winners, it was noted that the national aggregate of 2016 winners “employ more than 406,000 people, and are a major source of economic stability, adding 81,000 jobs in the past two years.”

In 2015, Spiro was honored by the Association for Corporate Growth, an award given by ACG to premier middle market professionals who invest in, own and advise growing companies.

That same year the Women Presidents Organization ranked AdMagic as the “Fourth Fastest Growing Women Owned or Led Business.”

Spiro was interviewed by Growth Igniters’ Radio in 2015 where she discussed her own journey from new entrepreneur to building her company into a world leader in its segment and strategies other entrepreneurs might use.

She was guest lectured at classes for the Center for Media Arts, at Gen’s Con’s First Exhibit Playlets Hall, at Northeastern University, and at NYU Game Center, among them.

Ad Magic has appeared on the television show “Extra” with Mario Lopez. Spiro has appeared as “The Game Lady" on numerous shows including “Good Morning Alabama” and  “Good Morning Arkansas.”