Towards CounterPlay '14

As we’re rapidly approaching early April and the first edition of CounterPlay (too rapidly, one might think), lots of exciting things are happening.

Here’s a few of the most important recent developments.

Deadline for registration

First of all, I’ve decided to create a deadline for registration.

So – make sure to sign up before March 10!

I generally like to keep things open & inclusive, and until now, people have been allowed to register at their own pace.

That’s been fine so far, but I simply need to know a bit more about who & how many is coming in order to plan the best possible festival for you.

This might cause some people to miss the event, but I guess that’s inevitable anyway.

Did I mention, that maybe you should just head over and register right now?

New speakers

Receiving all kinds of messages from amazing people, who want to be a part of CounterPlay has been – to put it mildly – an overwhelmingly positive experience.

It tells me, among other things, that many people want to share the passion of playing. This makes me happy and hopeful for the future of work, life, play.

Harald Warmelink (@hjgw)from Delft University of Technology has done extensive research on how “gaming communities can function as a useful analogue for work organizations”. Harald will give a talk, that shares the title with his new book, “Online Gaming and Playful Organization“.

Jean-Baptiste Huynh is the CEO of WeWantToKnow, who developed the popular math (algebra) game, DragonBox. Jean-Baptiste will talk about “The biggest math class ever- experience from the Norway Algebra Challenge“, which has just taken place in Norway.

I’m also really happy to announce another local speaker in Morten Fryland from Playground Marketing. Morten will share experiences from their work with “Branding through playful interaction”.

What’s next?

If you are planning to come to the festival, and want to pitch something, maybe you should participate in the pecha kucha sessions?

I continue to look for sponsors, and while I’m having some promising conversations, any suggestions are welcome.

I’m also working hard to make sure as many relevant groups as possible are acquainted with CounterPlay, as the idea of conversations across domains is central to the festival.

If you want to help in this endeavour, you can simply share a link to this website (or the programme) with your network. I also very much appreciate any mention on your blog, in your newsletter etc. If you need something from me, just let me know.

Currenly, a playful graphic designer is performing drastic changes to the visual style of CounterPlay, and we’ll have an updated version of the programme out next week.

Pay attention to this site & #CounterPlay14 for upcoming updates.

Oh, and…