Director of Activities

My name is William Gary Verburg-Cunningham. I am 38 years old and my pronouns are He/Him/His. I was born in Coon Rapids and grew up in both South Minneapolis and East Saint Paul. I live in Bloomington with my wife of 8.5 years Becky, my two dogs Luke & Leia, and two adorable black cats Augie and Linnie. I am a gamer, both console and PC, and I love tabletop games as well. I have been playing Dungeons & Dragons for almost 30 years. I love paintings and music. I have a black belt in traditional Taekwondo. I also have a lower back injury that has limited my mobility. I am an aspiring writer and musician or atleast I am trying to aspire to be. I am a great lover of humor and while I do not yet have any children I have been known to deal in puns and make some great dad jokes.

Professional Experience Summary

I am a dedicated and caring professional with a significant amount of leadership and theatrical production experience.

I have been in stage and live theater since the age of three including singing, improv acting, scripted stage and live interactive theater acting. I have over 25 years theater experience working with various community theater and professional companies, historical reenactments, and live theater entertainment venues such the Macalester College Scottish Fair and the Minnesota Renaissance FestivalI. In this experience I have both acted and taken various production roles from troupe or team lead to stage director and events director.

I started my professional business career in retail and then moved to home adult healthcare while pursuing a degree in Business Administration with a minor focus in Computer Science.  I have over 12 years of personnel management experience across my leadership roles such as: Healthcare Facility management for REM Minnesota, Event Production Management for RPM entertainment, Technical Support Management for Paradigm Education Solutions/EMC Education, and my current position as the Manager of Configuration Services at Bailiwick Services in Chaska MN. My training includes conflict resolution best practices, professional growth and coaching techniques, active listening and communication, finance and annual budgeting in excess of one million dollars, inventory best practices, Cisco CCNA, A+, First Aid & CPR for both infants and adults.

I have been attending CONvergence since its first year and I was on the ConCom for that first year in the Art Show department. I have run a room party for 12 years of the convention prior to the Pandemic as well as a Boffing Tournament for 14 years. I have been on the ConCom more recently for the last several years as a member of the Hotel Relations Department serving the convention at both the current Hotel and the previous one. I have always felt that CONvergence was my home and as it has grown so have I. I am committed to the success of the convention for the enjoyment of its attendees and growth of the geek community. With honesty, integrity, and open communication I hope to continue to give my effort to help CONvergence continue to grow, learn, and evolve with our community to deliver a healthy and fun community experience for everyone.