“Cheryl gave the opening presentation at our inaugural conference on Consumer Culture and the Ethical Treatment of Children. Her engaging combination of data, humor, and implications for practice — combined with a dose of controversy — inspired the audience and set the right note for the rest of the conference. “

—Elizabeth Taylor Quilliam, Ph.D.
Associate Director, Children’s Central
Department of Advertising, Public Relations, & Retailing
Michigan State University

Cheryl custom-tailors and delivers speeches and workshops to professionals, educators, parents, and industry.

Sample topics:

Using mass media to promote health: A practical workshop for researchers and health professionals

Planning a results-oriented behavior change campaign

Improving patient response to media messages on health

Bang for the buck: Demonstrating your program’s value through strategic evaluation

Mental health and the media: from stigma to suicide (and ways to turn things around)

Violent video games and youth: What we know, what we can do

The potential of video games to promote healthy youth development

“Moral panic”:  The politics of media violence

Video game “addiction”

“The first PEGI Congress (Malta, November 2010) discussed the present and future of age ratings for videogames and the protection of minors in general. The reactions to the event have been overwhelmingly positive, and part of that is thanks to Dr. Olson’s input and presentations in the two sessions dedicated to the potential for both harm and learning in videogames.”

—Dirk Bosmans
Communication Manager
Interactive Software Federation of Europe
PEGI (Pan European Game Information)

Dr. Olson keynote in S. Korea