Games Gateway

Games for Health & Games for Change Conferences

Games for Health is holding its conference in Baltimore from May 8-9, 2008.  The agenda covers everything from games for doctor training, to casual games for explaining health issues to those who are ill. 

Games for Change will also be holding its conference soon, June 2-4, 2008, at Parsons, New School of Design in NYC.  Full details can be found here.

Making Media Matter Conference on Feb 7 Eve Features Games For Change

American University's Center for Social Media's annual  Making Your Media Matter conference kicks off on Thursday, February 7 at 5:30 pm in the Katzen Arts Center at American University. The opening panel on Thursday is on games for social change, and features games like World Without Oil, A Force More Powerful, PeaceMaker and ICED! This panel, moderated by Suzanne Seggerman, co-founder of Games for Change, promises an overview of the emerging gaming field and the opportunities available to filmmakers, non-profits and other activists interested in using new media to address social issues, and will give us all a first-hand look at some of the best new social issue games. After the gaming panel, please join us for  reception from 7 - 9, co-sponsored by our friends at See3 Communications.

Friday starts at 9am with the Plight Entertainment panel, and there are panels on media that crosses cultural boundaries, what's new in online platforms and distribution, and what promises to be a phenomenal keynote address by Byron Hurt and Sonya Childress of Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes. You can view the full agenda here.

Games Event by Web Managers Roundtable - Feb 7

To register for this event go HERE.

               

With the support of our corporate sponsor The Web Managers Roundtable presents

PLaYinG  aRoUNd: Web Games 101 We're not talking kidstuff anymore! As the media landscape evolves, savvy organizations are harnessing the incredible power of online games to drive brand awareness, site traffic, and consumer response. The new frontier of advergaming, serious games, games for change, virtual worlds and simulations are all being used to generate a lot more than fun. It’s generating income, shifting public opionion and being used very successfully in all levels of education and internal training. Clearly something powerful is happening. But while it’s easy to understand why games are popular, figuring out how to make it work for your organization is another matter. Our expert panel will demystify games, demonstrate their mainstream appeal for internal and external communications, and explain: * What do games cost to create versus other online content?| * How do you measure the results of online games?  What criteria do you use? * What demographic or other considerations are required to create games as content? * What due diligence is recommended for those considering games for their sites? Moderator: Gary Arlen, President of Arlen Communications Panelists: Sharon Sloane, President & CEO of Will Interactive, Inc. Scott Randall, President & Founder of BrandGames Carlson Bull, Principal & Director of Animation, Bully! Entertainment For spectacular effect, this event will be held in the state-of-the-art high-definition theater at the National Cable & Telecommunications Association.  So, put on your game face, and B there

                                                                                                                

When	Thursday, February 7, 2008  8:30 AM -  11:00 AM Eastern Time Zone	Add to Calendar

                                              

Where

National Cable & Telecommunications Assoc. 25 Massachusetts Avenue, NW  Suite 100 (2 blocks West of Union Station) Washington, District of Columbia 20001

Games Gateway - 3D Worlds as Work Collaboration Tools

Announcing a new event for Games Gateway - U.S. Mid Atlantic Region!

What: Games Gateway - 3D Worlds as Work Collaboration Tools

When: Thursday, January 24, 8:00 AM

Where: Northrop Grumman, 1101 Wilson Blvd, Suite 1600, Arlington VA 22209

 Click here and join the Meetup to Register: http://gamedev.meetup.com/175/

Who should come: This event is open to everyone interested in serious games, in any way, on any level.

Why Join Us: Because I have never seen a group of such eclectic minds coming together to share information. It makes for fascinating conversation and exchange of brain power!

Event Description:

We had a fantastic meeting at the Holocaust Museum with David Klevan showing the work he and a group of summer interns did on Second Life, curating and creating a virtual exhibit of Kristallnacht. Thank you, David!

The discussion was so involved, interesting and interested that I decided we should hold an event delving deeper into the use of virtual 3D worlds for education and training. For this gathering, we will look at Second Life. As many of you know, SL is being used not just for buying and selling and earning Linden Dollars, but also for "serious" play. Corporations have turned to SL as a tool to be used in leadership training, recruiting, branding, retail, collaboration, performances, presentations, sales training, and the list goes on.

To lead the discussion of our next event we have Julia Loughran and Ralph Sklarew taking a look at virtual worlds and team collaboration. Julia and Ralph have participated in a worldwide group of researchers which has met over the last year to explore the use of 3D virtual technologies to support the development of a collaborative environment for distributed teams to work together.

The research team has identified requirements for an online environment that can bring context to collaboration with computer visualization of participants in settings with shared applications. One of the platforms they have been testing is Second Life ? and this happens to be the place where they hold their weekly virtual meetings.

Julia and Ralph will share their knowledge and discuss their vision for the future of online 3D distributed work settings. Like last time, this will be an interactive session with lots, we hope, of open discussion.


Speakers:
Julia Loughran - President of ThoughtLink, Inc., a research and consulting firm helping organizations improve team performance with training and technologies.

Ralph Sklarew - Ralph has over 35 years experience in developing and applying innovative technologies and managing teams to solve problems in a variety of fields.

Time:
8:00am-10:00am (I am starting this a bit earlier since our conversation at the last meeting could have gone on for much longer and I want to afford us more time.)

Sponsor:
We thank Northrop Grumman in advance for hosting and sponsoring this event.

Vittles:
Light breakfast pastries and coffee will be served.

How to get to NGC:
By Metro, use the Rosslyn stop and walk 2 blocks down hill on Wilson Boulevard. Building is the Freedom Forum/Old Newseum building.

Parking is available in the building with entry directly off of Wilson Boulevard.

Learn more here:
http://gamedev.meetup.com/175/calendar/6947811/

And feel free to share this information with friends and colleagues!!

Happy New Year and see you in 2008!

Games Gateway 1st event - December 6, 2007 8:15am

                        Welcome to the Games Gateway!

We have a great opportunity to develop a serious games community here in the Mid-Atlantic region, so I thought I would kick things off. 

My hope is that this and subsequent monthly events will bring  together game designers, developers, graphic artists, storytellers, educators, marketers, organizations,  agencies, companies...just about everyone who is interested in the serious games sector.  I have included mobile and entertainment games as well because we have a small community here and much to learn and share across genres so I prefer to be as inclusive as possible.

We have the good fortune to have our first event hosted and sponsored by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. 

 Date:  December 6, 2007

Our topic:

What happens when teenagers curate museum content in the virtual world of Second Life?  What possibilities does this technology offer for educational outreach and project development?

David Klevan, Education Manager for Technology and Distance Learning at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, will discuss these and other issues as we tour an in-world exhibition designed by teenagers working with the Holocaust Museum.  David will explain the process through which he and his partners at Global Kids in New York City prepared a group of Washington, DC teens to select a topic, identify assets in the museum's collections, and curate their virtual exhibition.

Agenda:
8:15am    Registration & Networking with light breakfast
8:45am    David Klevan's presentation, and Q&A
9:30am    Discussion about future steps for the Games Gateway: what you want it to be, timing, locations, and etc.
10:00am  Wrap-up

The Museum is kindly also providing  coffee/tea, and muffins/pastries.

Please RSVP to Limor at Limor@keystonetechgroup.com or 703.907.4043.

Location:
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW
Washington, DC 20024-2126
Main telephone: (202) 488-0400

Metro:
Smithsonian (Orange/Blue).  Exit at Independence Avenue.  Walk on block West to 14^th Street.  Cross 14^th Street and turn left (South). 

Parking:
There is a paid parking lot at 12th and C St., SW ( two blocks east of the Museum) which costs approximately $4 per hour, and hourly metered parking along Independence Ave [though no parking during rush hour]. There is also metered parking on some of the side streets (ie, C Street SW, etc.) which may not be restricted during rush hour.  Finally, three-hour free parking is available on Madison (north of the Mall) and Jefferson (south of the Mall) drives, Expect competition for those spaces.

 
We look forward to seeing you!

                            Please pass this invitation on to anyone you think may be interested.