Desert Bus for Hope

It wouldn’t be Desert Bus for Hope without guests. We’ve got an action packed lineup this year. Our call ins this year are:

Teller

Teller will be calling in Saturday November 11th at 3:00 PM PST

Teller is one half of the world-famous American magicians and entertainment duo Penn and Teller. The two have performed together since the late 1970s, and are noted for their ongoing act that combines elements of comedy with magic. More importantly (to us, at least), they are a BIG part of how Desert Bus For Hope came to be. Penn & Teller’s Smoke and Mirrors for the Sega CD contains the Desert Bus mini game, without which Desert Bus literally would not exist!

Steven Dengler of Dracogen Inc (He/Him)
Dracogen.com on web, @Dracogen on most social media.

Photo of Steve Dengler smiling at the camera

Steve will be calling in Sunday November 12 at 10:00 AM PST

Steven Dengler has been a steadfast friend and ally of Desert Bus since 2011. A familiar face to longtime viewers, his allyship has helped enkindle groundbreaking DB innovations such as HighDenglerVision and DBloons, along with heaps of high-spirited historical hijinx. Steven is a Canadian entrepreneur, investor, and mentor. Steven co-founded XE.com in 1993, serving as its CEO from inception until 2016. Through his company Dracogen Inc., he has financed numerous high-tech companies, new media projects, and video games. He appears in myriad shows, games, and movies — sometimes on screen, sometimes in voiceover. Steven is also a record-setting airplane and helicopter pilot. In 2017 Steven and his father flew the first Canadian helicopter circumnavigation of the world, setting several aviation records, including the Guinness World Record for First Father and Son to Circumnavigate the World by Aircraft. Steven is a dual Canadian-Italian citizen and resides in King, Ontario.

Liz Smith (She/Her) @dammit_liz

Photo of Liz Smith smiling looking to the left of the screen

Liz will be calling in Tuesday November 14 at 10:00 AM PST

Liz is a creator of fun. You may have seen her at previous DBFHs, often as part of Dawnguard where she refined the art of The Kraken dance. While she considers this dance as her greatest legacy, she is also known for her work producing stage shows and making fun things for video game fans. Currently, Liz is a producer at Riot Games in Santa Monica, California.

And we have some people joining us live this year as well.

Rachel Weeks (she/her)

Photo of Rachel Weeks looking at the camera

Rachel will be joining us live on nightwatch from November 11-13th.

Rachel Weeks is a Los Angeles-based podcaster, writer and comedian from the western suburbs of Chicago. She is the host of the "The Command Zone" podcast with Josh Lee Kwai and Jimmy Wong, former host of “Commander Sphere” with Dan Sheehan, and is a member of the Commander Advisory Group.
Outside of Magic, Rachel co-stars in “Better than Heroes,” an all-comedian, Spelljammer-inspired D&D livestream. She has performed stand-up comedy since 2014 and appeared on NBC’s First Look, Seeso’s Hidden America with Jonah Ray, and the RISK! podcast.

Angie Kelleher (she/her)

Angie is the Director of Philanthropy and Partner Experience at Child's Play Charity. She will be joining us November 14th and 15th.

Kristen Carlile, MA, CFRE (she/her)

Picture of Kristen Carlile. She is wearing headphones and speaking into a microphone.

Kristen will be joining us November 14th and 15th.

Serving as the Senior Director of Philanthropy and Partner Experiences for Child’s Play Charity, Kirsten Carlile oversees fundraising efforts and partner engagement that supports 190 hospitals worldwide. A proven, fearless fundraising leader she is responsible for leading the fundraising strategy for the organization. She has extensive experience in corporate and foundation fundraising. Working closely with the board of directors, she develops and steers corporate and foundation partners with managing the prospect pipeline securing more than 4.5 million dollars per year.

Kirsten’s professional career has been predominantly in the nonprofit sector with an emphasis on healthcare devoted to fundraising for children's health initiatives, air ambulance programs, and rehabilitation hospitals. Finding her passion early in her career allowed Kirsten to pursue her Master of Arts in Philanthropy and Development from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota.

Most recently Kirsten received the most important promotion and title to date, Lolli. She and her husband Kevin go by Lolli & Pop (Lollipop) to their grandson Jaxon.

Garrett Goody (he/him)

Picture of Garret Goody. He is leaning over facing the camera. His right had is in the air level with his face with his index finger extended and the remaining fingers closed. His left hand is below his face with the thumb, index, and middle finger extended and the remaining fingers closed.

Garret will be joining us November 16th and 17th.

My name is Garrett Goody, and I am the Pediatric Gaming Technology Manager at Child’s Play. I was previously the Therapeutic Gaming and Technology Specialist at Seattle Children’s hospital for 5 years. While at Seattle Children’s I started the now thriving program and helped expand it (with help from Child’s Play) from just myself to two full time FTE positions. I learned a lot about what’s important in the role during this time, coming up with a training, onboard, and hiring system for expanding a solo job into a team. Other than program expansion, during my time I engaged in large scale collaborations with Microsoft, Nintendo, and Bungie. This included on site demonstrations of therapeutic gaming as well as cross company collaborations to help the hospital program. The entirety of my time there I was also commonly the public face of our program, from panels at PAX, presentations at the Pediatric Gaming Symposium, and calls to action at smaller gatherings such as XBOX MVP events. I'm also an avid gamer and would love to challenge anyone at Smash Bros.

Ken “Value Added” Steacy (he/him)

Ken will be joining us live November 15th at 5:00 PM PST

You thought he was gone but he’s back. Ken decided at age eleven to become a professional comic book author/illustrator, a dream he realized in 1974. Since then he has worked in the industry as writer, artist, art director, editor, and publisher, having chronicled the exploits of Astro Boy, Iron Man, Harry Potter, and the Star Wars gang. In addition to creating his own intellectual property, he has collaborated with other authors, including Douglas Coupland, Harlan Ellison, and Trina Robbins. With Margaret Atwood he created the graphic novel WAR BEARS, a bittersweet story of the rise and demise of a fictional Canadian comic-book publisher during WWII, which has been optioned as an animated series. The recipient of an Eisner and an Inkpot award, in 2009 Ken was inducted into the Joe Shuster Canadian Comic Book Hall of Fame, a lifetime achievement award for contributions to the industry. From 2012-2021 he taught Comics & Graphic Novels, a program he co-created with his wife, visual storyteller Joan Steacy, at Camosun College in Victoria, BC. His father was a fighter pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force, and Ken is currently working on a graphic novel that explores the invisible subculture of military brats. For many years Ken has appeared on Desert Bus for Hope, an online fundraiser for Child’s Play, a registered charity dedicated to improving the lives of children in hospitals worldwide. For his contribution of collectibles, commissions, and original artwork, he is very proud to have been dubbed Ken “Value Added” Steacy.

We have both familiar and new faces this year. Come check them out.