The tabletop industry's biggest trade body has a new president. GAMA's board of directors voted Meredith Placko into the top role this week, replacing Nicole Brady after a two-year tenure that reshaped the organisation's ambitions.
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See how it worksPlacko co-founded Turbo Dork, the metallic miniature paint company that started as an Etsy shop in 2018 and grew into a globally distributed line of 80 colours. She also served as CEO of Steve Jackson Games, the publisher behind Munchkin, GURPS, and Car Wars, before returning to Turbo Dork in 2025.
She inherits an organisation mid-pivot. Brady spearheaded GAMA Vision 2035, a 10-year plan unveiled in October 2025 that aims to make the trade body "the epicentre of global tabletop gaming." The plan set targets like growing Origins Game Fair to 35,000 attendees over five years, expanding internationally, and cutting the organisation's reliance on its annual shows for revenue.
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Set up your group for freeBrady described her tenure as having built "a strong foundation." Placko was diplomatic but direct. "The next step is to turn it into a strategic plan," she said. In other words: the big ideas are in place, and now somebody needs to make them happen.
Placko's track record suggests she can. She scaled Turbo Dork from a kitchen-table side project to a global brand, and her time running Steve Jackson Games gave her a publisher's-eye view of the industry GAMA serves. The 35,000-attendee Origins target and the push to take GAMA global give her plenty to get on with.
Sources: Board Game Wire | GAMA
