Jeremiah Kornspan

Social Media Manager. Asst. Bullpen Manager. Creative Staff.

“I do it for the joy it brings / ‘Cause I’m a joyful girl / ‘Cause the world owes me nothing /And we owe each other the world.” – Ani DiFranco

Mr. Kornspan prides himself in being the archetypal eclectic eccentric, yet endearingly so. He was born in a small suburb of Youngstown, Ohio, a rustbelt city with rich historical roots. His father, a Rabbi, and his mother, a nurse, shaped him in ways that wouldn’t manifest until later in life. This little corner of the world would be his primary residence for some time, venturing a paltry hour west from ages 27 to 33 to Akron. An outsider’s outsider, even by his school’s standards, it’d take some time for him to make friends and find his passions. Boardman High School yielded these treasures, in the form of a social circle, a passion for music, Magic: The Gathering, and cooking. During these years, he would also experience IRC chat, through his father’s work-access at Youngstown State University. Jeremiah earned his early gaming chops on the likes of Doom and Wolfenstein 3D. Despite his many aptitudes, he wouldn’t excel scholastically due to profound disinterest in most subjects. That said, he was admitted into higher level Psychology and Sociology classes earlier than the norm, reserved as they were for upperclassmen. This experience was revelatory on his attentiveness to certain fields. Case in point, his avid involvement in several high school shop classes, welding to his heart’s content. Thus, it became clear that Jeremiah’s would be a more eclectic path of self-determination, rather than standard rote curriculum.

Following his graduation in 2002, Mr. Kornspan found himself in the food service industry, beginning as a lowly dishwasher and climbing the ranks to upper management. As a result, he has long since learned the ins and outs of the entire restaurant from several viewpoints, gaining insight on profits, costs, and other nuances such as food safety. More importantly, he would learn to nurture talent, hold people accountable, and be the leader his parents always suspected he’d be. Jeremiah has helped develop and support many nascent managers in-turn, even store owners; his ability to run both front and back of house has been likened to a general leading his troops. Thus, his ongoing and distinguished run at his current restaurant, for over twenty years.

Jeremiah’s fandom pedigree begins in the early ‘80s with the cartoons of the era, continuing into the edginess of the medium in the ‘90s, the “age of attitude”. Cultivating a fondness for Magic: The Gathering, first person shooters, and MMORPGs, his love of all things geeky crystalized. Like many fans of the Mortal Kombat franchise, he learned of the glory that is the industrial genre through works of Scooter and KMFDM. This appreciation deepened as he listened to more of the latter’s catalog blaring from a friend’s car stereo. These assorted tastes, now varied as they were, would intersect and tangent, yielding rich fodder for further exploration. Frequenting Hot Topic as many of his generation did, he discovered the works of Jhonen Vasquez just before the advent of Invader Zim. A more recent manifestation of these “connections” would be his sudden passion for the band Power Glove, notably their album “Saturday Morning Apocalypse”.

Strangely adept at finding things he was not looking for, some of his “flair” from his 2011 wedding would pave the way for his new interest: Steampunk. Jeremiah and his wife would fall in love with this genre, and through it, discover a passion for loose leaf tea. Once again, our hero fell into a rabbit hole, over years evolved like a Japanese battle-monster from a casual drinker to a certified connoisseur. These two interests would collide yet again, with the very first COGS Expo, frantically assembled in the wake of another event’s collapse. Amidst the aforementioned creative chaos, a tea merchant was in need, and so Jeremiah sponsored them “to attend and make the best of things. “

It was while socializing with vendors as the weekend ended that he first encountered a certain … swarthy miscreant. The two hit it off over several conversations and exchanged data. Like so many others in the firm, this budding friendship with Mr. Gupta quickly gave way to recruitment … but not as quickly as some! (After all, the man is spoken for). No, it was only after wooing Jeremiah with an opportunity to compose “A Soupçon of Sorcery”, his culinary anthropology series, that Savan was able to entice him. The year that passed was worth the wait, and as both parties acknowledged the volume of work, Mr. Kornspan joined Steam-Funk Studios (SFS). An internal member of the social media team, he quickly distinguishing himself. Within a few short months, Jeremiah found himself the assisting management, and eventually leading the entire social media staff. As is often the case in-house, competence is “rewarded” with more responsibilities. As several hats were added, Mr. Kornspan now aids Mr. DeMar as Assistant Manager to the Editorial Bullpen and serves on Operational Staff. To this day, he continues to demonstrate his versatility, both on management for The Unconventional, as well as on creative meetings for The Living Multiverse.

In his free time, Mr. Kornspan enjoys digging deep into the science, history, and flavors of teas and sharing that knowledge and experience with others via the COGS Tea Society group. And getting lost in his favorite video game interests, whether they be the most current generation of Pokémon, Path of Exile’s newest league, or the Borderlands franchise and its spin offs. He can also be found buried under piles of cards, brewing up his next favorite MTG deck for the Commander format. And if you smell something delicious wafting in the air, you’d be correct in guessing he’s working on something delicious whether for “A Soupçon of Sorcery” or just for fun.