Tech Moves: Wizards of the Coast VP departs; Seeq hires CFO; nLight adds board member; and more

— Magical minds from the Renton, Wash., tabletop gaming company Wizards of the Coast are casting new career paths.

Jess Lanzillo, who was promoted last year to vice president of the D&D franchise, shared news this week that she was resigning in a perfectly on-brand post.

“Wizards turns imaginary worlds into real communities, which sounds fake but is actually the most satisfying work in the world. To everyone who let me champion this mission while constantly asking “can you add more glowies?” — you are perfect and I love you,” Lanzillo wrote on LinkedIn. She did not indicate the nature of her next campaign.

Todd Kenreck, a senior marketing strategist for the company’s video content on social media channels, was laid off after more than four years. In a post on X, Kenreck thanked “the entire D&D team for being some of the kindest, most talented and passionate people I’ve ever known. This was my dream job. The tabletop community has given me everything.”

Former Dungeons & Dragons directors Christopher Perkins, who left the company this spring after nearly three decades, and Jeremy Crawford, who marked an 18-year tenure, have joined Darrington Press, the publishing arm of the gaming company Critical Role. Perkins is creative director, and Crawford is game director.

“I’ve always believed that great games invite everyone to the table, and that’s exactly what excites me about joining Darrington Press,” Crawford said in a statement. “This team is passionate, wildly creative, and committed to building welcoming, connected, amazing story-driven experiences — I can’t wait to expand on what Critical Role has already created to develop some really fun and unique games.”

— Seeq, an industrial analytics startup, named Ray Scheppach as its chief financial officer. Sheppach joins the Seattle company from iManage, where he was CFO for a decade. He is based in Chicago.

Seeq CEO Lisa Graham said Sheppach’s “deep experience in scaling SaaS businesses and leading through high-growth phases will be instrumental.”

Last August Seeq announced $50 million to support its development of analytics, artificial intelligence and monitoring technology that aids industrial businesses in optimizing their operations.

— Vancouver, Wash.,-based nLight announced that Mark Hartman is joining its board of directors. The publicly traded company manufacturers high-powered lasers used in aerospace, defense and manufacturing. Hartman was previously chief financial officer for Woodward.

Hartman is taking the place of Menlo Ventures managing director Doug Carlisle, who resigned after 24 years on the nLight board.

— Joanna Lord, a former marketing leader at Moz, BigDoor and Porch Group, is resigning from Spring Health. She has not taken a new full-time role and in the meantime will offer consulting and advising services.

— Jon Gettinger, former chief marketer for Seattle-area’s Spoken Communications, left his role as CMO at e-commerce operations startup Pipe17 and is now an exec of a stealth AI startup.

— Political PR firm Monument Advocacy named Maddie Heyman as its vice president. Heyman will join the company’s public affairs team at its Seattle office. Heyman was previously at Microsoft for more than a decade, leaving the role of senior manager of external relations for the tech giant’s president, Brad Smith.

— Seattle marketing tech company Banzai International announced Michael Kurtzman as chief revenue officer. He was previously CEO of Violett, a startup that developed high-tech air purification devices. Prior to that role, he was CRO at at Zype, which was acquired by Backlight.

News broke this week that Banzai’s $53.2 million acquisition of Portland’s Act-On Software fell through after Banzai was unable to secure funding.

— Former Tableau CFO Damon Fletcher is the first venture partner with Paper Crane Factory, a Seattle-based creative branding agency that works exclusively with startups. Fletcher is also CEO and founder of Caliper, a data infrastructure and analytics startup. Other past employers include DataRobot and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Paper Crane Factory offers reduced fees for its services in exchange for equity and is run by former leaders of the ad agency Wexley School for Girls.

“What initially attracted me to Paper Crane Factory was their distinctive approach to incubating and collaborating with early-stage startups, guiding them to solve critical business challenges and build sustainable growth,” Fletcher said in a statement.

— Andrew Johnson joined Seattle’s Allen Institute for Cell Science as an associate scientific program manager. Past roles include positions at The Access to Advanced Health Institute and Fred Hutch Cancer Center.

— Healthcare tech company MacroHealth named B.J. Boyle as its chief product officer. The Kirkland, Wash., business recently announced the acquisition of Foundational Pharmacy Solutions. Boyle will oversee the product integration of the company as well as future commercialization efforts. He was previously at PointClickCare for nearly a decade.

— The former head of communications for clean tech startup Tidal Vision is stepping down from her role. Meghna Rao said on LinkedIn that she is now co-leading a networking group for sustainability professionals, volunteering with Ecology Project International, and taking yoga and dance teacher trainings.

— The Fred Hutch Cancer Center celebrated award-winning researchers.

• The nonprofit announced nine recipients of the Dr. Eddie Méndez Scholar Award, which was created to recognize the Fred Hutch physician-scientist who died in 2018 and each year honors exceptional postdoctoral researchers in health and science. A list of the national honorees is here.
• Nine Fred Hutch researchers will receive grants totaling nearly $1.2 million for projects with commercial partnership potential. The internal Evergreen Fund supports efforts to bring research innovations into broader use and foster industry collaborations. Recipients are listed here.  
• And Dr. Rainer Storb, age 90, is retiring from Fred Hutch with a lifetime achievement award from the American Society of Hematology — the leading medical society in his field. He will receive the recognition at a national event in December.