Critical Role Hires Former Hallmark Channel Executive Alyssa Zeisler to Run Beacon Platform

Critical Role has announced that they've hired former Hallmark Channel Vice President of Product Alyssa Zeisler as their General Manager for Beacon. The hire is meant to, in Critical Role's words, "level up and evolve" Beacon for its next era. According to the press release, Zeisler will oversee Beacon’s product roadmap, business performance, content and platform strategy, as well as the continued evolution of Beacon as a community hub, creator-led ecosystem, and a central destination for all things Critical Role and TTRPGs.

Zeisler comes from outside of the TTRPG sphere, having most recently been Vice President of Product at Hallmark Media, where she helped relaunch the Hallmark+ streaming and commerce platform. She also worked at Dow Jones, where she was Vice President of Subscription and Strategic Products and Research & Development Chief at The Wall Street Journal, and Barron, where she was Audience Managing Editor.

“Beacon is central to how we think about the future of Critical Role, and it’s time for it to level up and evolve,” said Travis Willingham, CEO and Co-founder of Critical Role, in the press release. “Alyssa brings exactly the kind of leadership this next phase requires. She understands how to build lasting, audience-first platforms at scale, and her experience leading subscription and direct-to-consumer businesses makes her a perfect fit to help Beacon grow while staying true to the unique authenticity that makes Critical Role what it is.”

 

[Dire Bare]

Explain to me how Beacon isn't Gleemax please

Beacon is a streaming platform. Gleemax was a social media site. Completely different animals.

It's like comparing YouTube and Facebook. There is overlap, of course, but different purpose and functionality.

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

Isn’t Beacon a streaming platform? I can’t really remember what it was supposed to do/be but Gleemax predated streaming by quite some time. I don’t think they’re the same thing?

Beacon is a streaming platform. Gleemax was a social media site. Completely different animals.

It's like comparing YouTube and Facebook. There is overlap, of course, but different purpose and functionality.

As someone who's not a major Crit Role fan (I didn't know they weren't still on Geek and Sundry until a few months ago), this press release doesn't tell me an iota what Beacon is. So it's Dropout for Crit Role?

 

[doctorhook]

Isn’t Beacon a streaming platform? I can’t really remember what it was supposed to do/be but Gleemax predated streaming by quite some time. I don’t think they’re the same thing?

I remember a lot of talk about what Gleemax was supposed to be: a platform for geek engagement (social media before the label was used so widely?), but IIRC eventually it would also host games and content directly.

It’s been like 18 years now though, my memory is fuzzy on what was promised vs what was speculated. I’m pretty sure the only thing delivered was the WotC forums migrated to the Gleemax brand.

RIP Gleemax, we hardly knew ye

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

I remember a lot of talk about what Gleemax was supposed to be: a platform for geek engagement (social media before the label was used so widely?), but IIRC eventually it would also host games and content directly.

It’s been like 18 years now though, my memory is fuzzy on what was promised vs what was speculated. I’m pretty sure the only thing delivered was the WotC forums migrated to the Gleemax brand.

RIP Gleemax, we hardly knew ye

Yeah, my point isn't what Gleemax "was" but what it promised to be- this seems to be making a lot of the unrealized promises of Gleemax past.

 

[Retreater]

I misread that as "bacon." I must be hungry.
I could use a bacon platform right now.

 

[kenmarable]

Yeah, my point isn't what Gleemax "was" but what it promised to be- this seems to be making a lot of the unrealized promises of Gleemax past.

Where do you get the impression that Beacon is a lot of unrealized promises like Gleemax???

I'm pretty sure they have delivered every thing they have said they would and has been run absolutely nothing like Gleemax.

Why are you so invested in making this weird Gleemax comparison that makes no sense whatsoever???

Edit to add: More specifically, what unrealized promises are you claiming it is making that are so similar to Gleemax?

 

[Dire Bare]

As someone who's not a major Crit Role fan (I didn't know they weren't still on Geek and Sundry until a few months ago), this press release doesn't tell me an iota what Beacon is. So it's Dropout for Crit Role?

We'll see when it launches, but that's my impression, a streaming platform similar to Dropout.

And you went to a Gleemax comparison?

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

Edit to add: More specifically, what unrealized promises are you claiming it is making that are so similar to Gleemax?

"community hub, creator-led ecosystem, and a central destination for all things Critical Role and TTRPGs."

Seems a lot to me more like some sort of one-stop-shop TTRPG social network, which is what Gleemax was supposed to be, rather than a streaming service.

 

[nyvinter]

We'll see when it launches, but that's my impression, a streaming platform similar to Dropout.

It launched two years ago? And yes, it's a streaming platform with some additional things as well — the social aspect is currently outsourced to a discord.

For me, hiring someone from Hallmark makes a lot of sense. Sure, they could have hired a friend who likes ttrpgs but what do they know about managing a streaming service? Instead they got someone who seem to have gotten the assignment of these things: expand while maintaining the audience you have.

(CR stopped being "just some friends who play dungeons & dragons" when they did D&Diesel and spent 10 minutes of merch hype. So all the way back in campaign one.)

 

[Artamo]

Beacon is just a streaming platform for their shows. No different from Dropout.