Tara M. Clapper

Storyteller | SEO Blogger | Analog Game Designer | Editor

United States

Tara M. Clapper (she/her) is a storyteller: from social media to serial fiction, guided meditation, and character-driven self-discovery experiences, she's been writing and editing for decades. Her career includes the publication of a dozen analog games (live action games / larps), larp and tabletop role playing game (TTRPG)-related content, and high-performing SEO blogs.

Tara's broad experience consists of staff work at a content agency, blog editor at a major SEO marketing tool company, small business website creation, and more. She is the former senior editor and owner of The Geek Initiative, a blog about inclusive geek culture which she monetized successfully for a decade before deciding to focus on gaming and downloadable product creation.

Tara lives outside of Washington, D.C. with her pug, Dougal MacKenzie.

Portfolio

Press Releases & News Stories

Riversideresearch
04/27/2022
Dr. Christine Wang Joins Riverside Research as Director of Optics and Photonics

Riverside Research welcomes Dr. Christine Wang as the new Director of Optics and Photonics. Dr. Wang has a PhD in physics from Harvard University and a strong background in technical innovation and Research and Development (R&D). Her previous accomplishments include significant post-doctoral work in nonlinear optics, and professional roles involving optical micro-resonator study, laser technology, and atomic physics.

Marketing

ContentWriters Blog
10/12/2022
How to Measure Content Marketing ROI

Measuring the return on investment (ROI) of content marketing has been a central topic of discussion in the digital marketing space for decades. Content marketing ROI feels hard to pin down, which is why smart brands monitor ROI with tools and continue to invest in content marketing.

ContentWriters Blog
03/01/2023
What Is Internal Marketing?

Internal marketing is an integral part of a successful internal communications strategy within an organization. Many organizations also refer to it as internal engagement, internal brand advocacy, or employee engagement. Internal marketing involves the way you communicate information, brand, tone, voice, and objectives to your employees - and it's a valuable source of feedback from them.

Small Business & Startups

Riverside Research
Riverside Research Helps Interns Grow Careers - Riverside Research

Riverside Research is a not-for-profit chartered to advance research for the benefit of the US government. Through our open innovation concept, we invest in multi-disciplinary research and development and encourage collaboration to accelerate innovation and advance science in machine learning, trusted systems, optics and photonics, electromagnetics, plasma physics, radio frequency systems, and biomedical engineering.

Riverside Research
Riverside Research Secure & Resilient Systems Team Develops Spectre Implementation - Riverside...

The Riverside Research Secure & Resilient Systems team has accomplished a major development in the world of Spectre speculative execution vulnerabilities: a new implementation that enables the vulnerability to work across computer processes. Spectre is a hardware vulnerability that hackers can use to steal private information from your computer by tricking it into revealing secrets that it is not supposed to.

Medium
05/15/2022
How to Discuss Freelancing in an Interview for a Full-Time Job: 5 Tips

Full-time decisionmakers and managers don't always understand the freelance life. If you're a freelancer and want to transition to a full-time job, you might be met with skepticism when you encounter an interviewer who isn't all about that freelance life. Sometimes an interviewer will not treat your freelance work as "real work," even though...

Medium
04/30/2018
How to Merge Your Personal and Professional Brands in 7 Steps

If you're fortunate enough, there will come a time in your career when the things you like to do and the things you do for a living have more in common than not. If you're approaching that point, you may consider merging the personal brand you've built for yourself and the professional image you've curated over the years for a brand.

Medium
07/02/2018
Financing for Small Business: A 6 Step Guide

You've got the best business concept or existing successful company: don't lose the momentum. Whether you're starting or expanding, you've likely come to a point where you know it takes money to make money-and it's time to consider a small business loan.

Email Marketing

Real Estate

Medium
04/19/2019
Home Inspections: 5 Frequently Asked Questions for Buyers and Sellers

When it comes to buying and selling homes, home inspections are among the most nerve-wracking and essential processes. The purpose of the home inspection is to ensure the sound condition of the home and to identify any additional repairs (and related expenses) that must occur.

Entertainment & Reviews

Gamer Journalist
02/23/2023
Atomic Heart and Data Collection: Is This Game Dangerous?

Atomic Heart is one of the most controversial games released in recent history. This week, a member of the Ukrainian government officially asked for the halt of Atomic Heart game sales and asked the general public to refrain from buying or playing the game.

The Geek Initiative
11/30/2020
Heaven's Vault Review: This Video Game Brought Me To Tears

Heaven's Vault is a breathtaking, emotional video game driven by memorable characters, sandbox play, precise responsiveness, and the gamification of language learning. Part archaeology adventure, part sci-fi point-and-click, no Heaven's Vault review could be comprehensive after a single playthrough. After an exploratory eighteen hour game, though, I'll do my best.

The Geek Initiative
11/22/2020
A Dog Lover's Review of Amazon's New Series 'The Pack'

Being a dog lover stuck at home during the pandemic, I watched Amazon's "The Pack" as soon as it was available this November. "The Pack" is like "The Amazing Race," except instead of individual competitors, participants bring their dogs on a worldwide adventure.

Nordiclarp
08/09/2017
Dragon Thrones - High Immersion in a Larp MegaGame -

Entertainment. Escape room. Larp. Map-based MegaGame. Boasting so many features, Dragon Thrones was an ambitious and collaborative production. Produced by The Game Theatre and fully funded on Kickstarter in January of 2017, this game came onto the U.S. larp scene as ambiguous and expensive, and its presence and success were not necessarily anticipated by members of the larp community.

The Geek Initiative
05/10/2021
Disability, Recovery, and Deanna Troi's Experience in "The Loss"

"The Loss" (Season 4, Episode 10) is one of the most poignant, overlooked, and emotionally touching episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. In this episode, Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) undergoes the loss of her ability to sense emotions.

GIANT FREAKIN ROBOT
10/06/2023
Scientists Are Now Able To Bend Lightning

Scientists unlocked a major achievement: they can now bend lightning. They accomplished this with the use of a high-intensity laser ... Continue reading "Scientists Are Now Able To Bend Lightning"

The Geek Initiative
09/05/2014
Review: Pearl's Peril, A Hidden Object Game

When I first started receiving game invites to Pearl's Peril on Facebook, I wasn't too into the idea of the game. It sounded like another damsel in distress scenario, and as a female gamer, I've played through more than enough of those games.

DEI & Safety

The Geek Initiative
08/26/2017
TGI Larp Safety, Consent, & Inclusion Policies

Most larps by The Geek Initiative are light on rules and driven by characters, events, and settings. The rules we do include focus heavily on safety (physical and emotional), consent and communication, inclusion, and immersion. Rules vary for each game: some LARPs, for example, deal directly with potentially triggering experiences and require more structure surrounding communication.

The Geek Initiative
04/08/2021
Larp, COVID-19, and Post-Isolation Emotional Safety

As vaccinations roll out in the United States, larp (live action role play) participants and organizers heavily debate the role of COVID-19 safety, including whether proof of vaccine and negative COVID tests are reasonable requirements.

Gaming & Storytelling

Gamer Journalist
12/28/2022
Civ VI Abraham Lincoln Strategy Guide - Best Tips for Playing as Honest Abe

Abraham Lincoln is one of the most exciting recent additions to Sid Meier's Civilization VI Leader Pass. As part of the Great Negotiators Pack, Lincoln's own era, morals, and philosophies are adequately represented in the advantages and disadvantages you experience when you play as this popular American president of the past.

Nights At The Game Table
02/14/2022
Why are Warhammer 40k 9th Edition prices increasing in 2022? - Nights At The Game Table

With rising costs on many goods and services, it should come as little surprise that Games Workshop announced price increases on many of their products via their Warhammer Community Blog. According to the 9 February post, increases will begin on 7 March. That gives us just a couple weeks to buy at current prices.

Larped
01/28/2020
What is Collaborative-Competitive Larp?

When most people start exploring live action role playing games (larps), they have no idea about how many types of larps there are throughout the world. I certainly didn't. From full-contact boffer combat to 360 immersion wizard school events, larp encompasses a wide variety of forms, genres, locations, and physical and financial accessibility levels.

Gamer Journalist
02/06/2023
How to Unlock Secret Societies in Civilization 6

Secret societies are a feature that dropped in the Civilization 6 Ethiopia Pack update. They're a really fun element to add to your Civ 6 game, and using them properly can turn the tides of victory in your favor, especially if you pick the right secret society for the civ you are playing.

Nordiclarp
12/21/2021
The Magic of the Silicon Screen

The digital world is a place of magic. It is a liminal space that can connect your home with other realms, gives you the power to summon things, grants you access to vast stores of knowledge and ideas, and allows you to be anyone and anything you choose.

Nordiclarp
07/01/2016
An American Fantasy Larper at Wizard School -

In June of 2016, I went to wizard school. I'm a larper, so that's kind of an expected thing. But this wasn't just any larp experience: this was New World Magischola , a Nordic-inspired game on American soil. Like many Americans who participated in the game, I was equal parts excited and intimidated.

Crit Academy
06/03/2021
5 Collaborative Storytelling Tips for D&D DMs

As a Dungeons and Dragons Dungeon Master (DM), you can memorize your Player Handbook and Monster Manual and run a technically proficient session or campaign--but if your story doesn't engage players on a collaborative level, you're going to lose them, especially in a multi-session campaign.

Keep on the Heathlands
07/30/2017
How LARP Made Me a Badass at Work - Keep on the Heathlands

Guest Post from Tara Clapper of The Geek Initiative and Mythbuilders Few professionals emerge from high school, trade school, or college with the badassery required to act fully confident in their respective field. In any job, you grow as you learn - but you can enhance your confidence and other work-related skills through the magic of LARPing.

The Geek Initiative
09/05/2020
Text-Based Roleplay Tips for Larpers

For many people like me, the foray into the world of role playing as a young adult began with text-based adventures on platforms like AOL, or MUDs or MUSHes-even BBS (bulletin boards). For young adults today, the story-based role play journey often starts on places like Twitter or Tumblr.

Workshops, Guides, & Courses

ClearanceJobs
09/06/2022
Riverside Research: How to Transition From the Military to a Government Contracting Career

If your time in the military is coming to an end, but you still feel called to serve the nation, you may want to consider transitioning into a role in national security. The federal government, corporate defense contractors, other private entities, and research-oriented nonprofits offer outstanding opportunities to service members transitioning to a career outside of the military.

Business Meeting for Executives
09/30/2022
SEO For Business

Business Meeting for Executives

Published Games & Gaming Workbooks

The Geek Initiative Larps
2020
Sanctuary Avalon Workbook

Workbook for women and femme participants of character-driven self-exploration and empowerment experience.

Lifestyle

The Agenda Period
11/05/2022
How To Ground Yourself During the Menstrual Phases

When I got my period at age 13, I was fortunate to have a mom who supported me, answered my questions, and explained everything. Even though I knew all about it, it was pretty horrifying as a kid.

Storyteller Supply
11/17/2022
I Went to a Séance at Bloody Mary's in New Orleans - Storyteller Supply

"I can't just leave you here," said my Mercedes-driving, smooth-talking Uber driver. There were smashing bottles, and a small crowd comprised of nervous tourists and locals hoping to offer them something more illicit than their fears. I was there earlier than my friends. My driver walked me to the door.

Pets

Cuteness.com
Will Bleach Hurt My Dog? | Cuteness

If you use bleach to sanitize your dog's sleeping area or toys, you might want to think twice. Exposure to bleach through ingestion, breathing or touching, is extremely dangerous for dogs. Symptoms range from mild irritations to internal corrosion, depending on how diluted the bleach is and the size of your dog.

Cuteness.com
10/16/2022
How To Set Your Pet Sitter up for Success | Cuteness

When you have to be away from your pet, it's natural to worry about them. In this veterinarian-reviewed article, find out about pet sitter meet and greets. Learn about what emergency information to leave them and how to educate them about your home.

Cuteness.com
06/16/2022
How to Give Lactulose to Your Dog | Cuteness

Lactulose is a prescription medication given to dogs to treat constipation and liver disease by softening the stool. In this vet-reviewed article, read what you should expect when your veterinarian prescribes lactulose for your dog, and what lactulose dosage you may expect to administer.

Cuteness.com
08/27/2022
Where Are a Dog's Pressure Points? | Cuteness

In this veterinarian-reviewed article, learn about using acupressure on a dog. Discover where their pressure points are and when to head directly to the veterinarian instead. From sinus pressure to pain reduction, acupressure on dogs can complement other pain reduction methods.

Cuteness.com
10/17/2022
How Cold Is Too Cold for a Dog To Go Outside? | Cuteness

In This Article When low temperatures arrive, it's time to think about winter pet safety. How cold is too cold for a dog to go outside? While the thermometer can provide you with some definitive answers, it depends largely on the dog.

Etsy & Product Descriptions

Guest Appearances & Press

Brand24 Blog
06/05/2017
PODCAST: The Power of Storytelling with Tara Clapper | Brand24 Blog

Tara is a prolific content creator and an accomplished editor, having written and edited thousands of blog posts, small business websites, and other inbound marketing content. Tara enjoys blogging about quality copywriting, content management, corporate culture, personal branding, and networking.

Apple Podcasts
03/16/2021
‎Our Turn! Women on Gaming on Apple Podcasts

Our Turn Podcast is made up of a group of women who are pulling out the chairs around the table and inviting everyone to sit down and join the game and the conversation. Gaming is a fun social hobby that invites conversation, interaction, and connection between people of diverse backgrounds and poin...

SoundCloud
09/26/2016
Social Trends Show Brandanew Talking With Tara Clapper by Brandanew

Many small businesses and startups are out there to solve the content puzzle. How do they create a remarkable industry blog that positions them as thought leaders? It's neither easy, nor coincidental how some blogs take off and carve in niche in their industry.

Accessible Games
Videos

A collection of videos relating to Accessible Games.

CoSchedule Blog
11/22/2016
How To Improve Your Editorial Strategy With Tara Clapper From SEMrush [ACM 009]

Creating an That's the topic of today's show: maintaining consistency and a high level of quality while editorial calendar can be a challenge. How can you decide how often to post to your blog without wasting time and energy-or leaving your readers wanting for either more content or more quality?

Gaming & Storytelling CV

Editorial CV - Coming Soon

Academic