How Rick Tamlyn and Chuck Lioi Found Their Bigger Game. And Why They’re Bringing it Home to Silver Bay.

Rick Tamlyn and Chuck Lioi live a quiet life in Hague, enjoying the company of their friends, neighbors and family and appreciating their privileged access to small town life.

Their other life is in Los Angeles, where they built successful careers in the entertainment industry.

It was while Rick was working as an actor and Chuck as a producer that the couple found their “bigger game.”

What’s the Bigger Game?

“Bigger does not mean larger,” Tamlyn explains.  “Most of us get caught up in making a living; once we’ve achieved that, many of us  find we’re bored.  The Bigger Game asks, ‘how do we make a life that’s worth living?’ We’re here to express something, to put  something into the world that matters. We want to be able to reach the end of life and say, ‘that was great,’ not, ‘I wish I had done more.’  That’s playing the Bigger Game.”

The Bigger Game has produced books and videos,  coaching sessions and motivational retreats, as well as workshops for corporations, churches and not-for-profit organizations.  Tamlyn has even pitched it as a television series, with promising results.

But, Tamlyn says,  “it wanted to be an event.”

And so,  from June 11 through June 14,  the Bigger Game will be the focus of  a four-day series of  talks and workshops at Silver Bay called The Bigger Game Expo.

“Our speakers are all Big Game players themselves:  Elizabeth Gilbert, Lee Woodruff and the Beekman Boys, among many others, not all of them  famous, but all equally inspiring,”  said Tamlyn.

If the first expo, produced in 2013, is any indication, scores of people from around the world will travel to Lake George to learn how they can play their bigger game.

And have fun, Chuck Lioi emphasizes. The weekend includes cocktail and dessert receptions, dinners and a cruise aboard the Mohican.

“It’s TED  talk meets the Ellen Show,  especially the opening session. That will be an entertaining as well as a learning experience. Remember, we’re Hollywood,” said Lioi.

Anyone who lives within the Lake George basin is invited to attend the opening session at no charge, the two organizers have announced.

According to Tamlyn, “We live here, we love it here, and we wanted to engage the community. So we thought we’d create something free for the entire area.”

“Expect the unexpected,” said Lioi.

As Tamlyn explains, bringing the Bigger Game Expo is  itself  an effort to support the community.

“There’s so much going on at Silver Bay and on northern Lake George, and we want to keep the conversation and the energy going,” said Tamlyn.

“We’re a new Silver Bay player, but we want to be a part of it,” Tamlyn continued.  “We want the world to see Silver Bay, to showcase it and, if possible, to raise its profile.”

Tamlyn first fell in love with Silver Bay when he was 11 years old and had travelled to the conference center with his family to visit his older brother Bruce, who was working as an Emp at the time.

Chuck Lioi and Rick Tamlyn

(Bruce Tamlyn is now Silver Bay’s chaplain, a post he’s held since 1995.)

Early in their relationship, Rick invited Chuck to Silver Bay.

“I didn’t know it was a test,” said Chuck. “But I passed it, because my reaction was ‘Wow! Where am I? This is breathtaking.’”

Creating the Bigger Game has been Tamlyn’s own Bigger Game, he explains.

“Life is always guiding us,  if we listen. I felt called to something grand and the Game found me,” he said. “Of course I didn’t know how you created something like this and I was scared.  But the truth is,  if you’re doing something that you already know how to do, then you’re not playing your bigger game.”