Gaming to this point has been a profoundly positive experience that has helped shape my life and who I am today. Providing me community, challenges, identity, entertainment and more, I can safely say I would not be the person I am today without gaming and its continued evolution. Currently, I work with some of the largest video game companies in the world, offer consulting to top brands for securing and protecting their online presence and work with kids that need assistance in mathematics for school. As a father of two budding gamer daughters, I truly see the value gaming can bring to the next generation as it did for me as well. This is why I have taken an advisory role with MetArena, and assist with business development strategy and more to enable young people to further connect through gaming and eSports. It all began with my Nintendo that I received just before my 3rd birthday…

My parents definitely thought that gaming would be a passing phase which would teach perseverance, hand-eye coordination and more. What they didn’t know is that gaming would teach me leadership, coordination, problem-solving, interpersonal communication skills, tactical and strategic thinking to name a few more. It is because of this that I sought to further apply my experience in gaming to a professional atmosphere. How could I make a career out of this? My options at the time were, become a developer, or move to South Korea and be a pro gamer! Both were not for me, so I stayed tangential to the business and enjoyed its outputs.

Over the years, I got into sales and eventually consulting, won numerous awards for new business development, including top new business globally, and many industry connections. Through my referral network, I’ve been given the opportunity to have gaming companies reach out to me! DREAM COME TRUE! Gaming companies need to be protected online now more than ever, and I love helping the companies I grew up with solve some of their biggest problems. In that time, I fully developed a referral-based tutoring business for high school math. I found that I was able to use gaming to relate to the younger generation in many circumstances, and it shortened the perceived age gap between my students and me. It was here where I saw a glaring need to have gaming be effectively deployed for education on a larger scale.

Why gaming companies love to work with me is because of a phrase I have heard in many meetings. “You get it, Gianni. You just…get it.” I grew up a gamer, and this comes across in all my conversations because I absolutely care about the company, the integrity of the industry and the security of the experience from millions of people worldwide. In doing this, I continue to be a professional that people can turn to for perspective, understanding and experience. The gaming world is where I belong, and I will continue to push for a better experience and engage with the community and businesses for a safe and better world for as long as I am able.

Gaming and eSports is already one of the largest industries in the world for entertainment, and I still find that it is in its infancy as far as being universally adopted as a force for good. My goal is to show the world that gaming is going to be one of the major mediums for exchanges of value, ideas, education and more. That when gaming is done well and for good, it will have a profound impact on people’s lives across the globe, and connecting in ways that we still have not yet realized. MetArena will be the next step for companies, colleges and universities to augment the human experience by adding a community and casually competitive environment to foster many skills and relationships.