About Kyle, and KyleWynen.com
Who is Kyle Wynen and why would anyone care to visit or play a part in this website? Sure, why not cut to the chase? That’s my idea here too, coincidentally. Well, I’m Kyle Wynen, a 20 something guy from London, Ontario, Canada, with a background in media, broadcast journalism, business, and the video game industry. The people most likely to be visiting this corner of the web are the listeners, readers, and users of my latest business venture, Gaming Union Inc.
GU, as I call it, is a video game news and reviews publication situated across a network of websites, as well as a series of podcasts, a web comic, and an expansive online community. On the business side I retained the title of Co-Founder, Co-CEO, Co-President, Managing Editor, Podcast Host, and Podcasts Director, so as you can imagine I co-ran and co-developed the business, but I also managed the North American side of the publication, and hosted and oversaw nearly all of GU’s popular podcasts. The key podcast series in particular that I established, hosted, and developed was Final Fantasy Union, also called The FXN Final Fantasy Podcast prior to 2010.
Through Gaming Union and its podcasts I achieved a fair amount of experience and successes for a young guy like me. In little over a year the network received more than 2.5 million unique vistors, those visitors generating over 6 million page views. The podcasts I directed and mostly hosted saw over 500,000 episode downloads since early 2009. Alongside co-managing a large staff composed of full-time, part-time, and volunteer staff members, I also worked with a vast amount of public and press relations specialists throughout the video games industry in North America, Europe, and Japan, securing admission to all of the world’s most exclusive games industry events, review products from every major publisher, press material and access to industry icons for interview, and partnerships for special contests, competitions, conferences, and coverage support. Best of all, after a top 3 finish in a London, Ontario business plan competition, I also lead negotiations with a Canadian investment group to secure a six-figure investment deal for Gaming Union, and succeeded in securing and signing the deal.
I resigned from the company entirely mid-July 2010, and am now pursuing a new dream. That dream is to over the next few years establish a new video game development studio here in London, Ontario, and to chronicle that journey here on my personal website. Now, you may be thinking, “but Kyle, you have no experience developing games, do you?” Indeed I don’t, but what I do have is business experience, an in-depth background in the industry, and entrepreneurial spirit. Video game studios aren’t just built on programmers, artists, game designers, writers, and directors, but also on strong businessmen. I see myself aspiring to that role, the President of a studio. While the directors, artists, and programmers craft games, I’ll enable them by being their business backbone, their business leader.
Unlike a young kid with a lofty dream, I have the plan, determination, and resources to make this happen, and those that know me, or have listened to the podcasts I’ve hosted and directed, know my drive best. That, however, is all opinion; if you doubt it, I invite you to stop by this site and watch my progress. For everyone else, I hope you enjoy the website as I convey the challenge ahead of me, and write about my progress. I’m actually quite an enthusiastic guy, and aside from this formal speak, I’m sure I’ll also be writing quite a bit about whatever of life’s bits and bobs I run into.
For more on my action plan, the steps, the timelines, where I am in the plan, and what’s next, see the Work Bench page.
Kyle Wynen, July 27, 2010
Website Development Credits
Designed by Colin Tan
Coded by Shawn Collier
