[game_edu] Special Events at Meaningful Play 2012

[Brian Winn]

We are excited to announce several special events to take place at Meaningful Play 2012 (http://meaningfulplay.msu.edu/ ), taking place October 18-20, 2012 in East Lansing, MI.  Special events include:

* Special Presentation, Wednesday, Oct. 17 - Pre-conference Quello Center Lecture Series presentation by Dr. Constance Steinkuehler, faculty member in the Games, Learning and Society program at University of  Wisconsin, who is currently serving as Senior Policy Analyst at the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the U.S. President. Her speech will take place Wednesday evening before the first day of Meaningful Play and is open to all conference attendees.
 
* Conference Party, Thursday, Oct. 18 - Chance to mix and mingle with conference goers at the Opening Reception, view late breaking research at the Poster Session, and play "meaningful" games at the Game Exhibition (appetizers and drinks provided).

* Popcorn and a Movie, Friday, Oct. 19 - Get a snapshot into the trials and tribulations of an indie game developer in the screening of the Sundance Award Winning documentary, "Indie Game: the Movie". A Q&A session with the directors of the movie will follow the screening.

* Conference Wrap Up, Saturday, Oct. 20 - Enjoy the provided lunch during the closing keynote with Michael John, General Manager of the "GLASS Lab," an unprecedented cooperative effort between the Gates Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and EA to create educational games.

* Game Room, Throughout Conference - Build meaningful connections with your fellow conference goers while playing a digital or board game in the Meaningful Play Game Room.

Serious games, including games for learning, are among the core strands of Meaningful Play 2012, a conference about theory, research, and game design innovations, principles and practices. Meaningful Play brings scholars and industry professionals together to understand and improve upon games to entertain, inform, educate, and persuade in meaningful ways.

The conference will include thought-provoking keynotes from leaders in academia and industry, peer-reviewed paper presentations, panel sessions (including academic and industry panels), innovative workshops, roundtable discussions, and exhibitions of games and prototypes.

Presentation AND game submissions are due July 29, 2012.  Complete details on the conference are available at: http://meaningfulplay.msu.edu/

Details on the conference, including the call for submissions, are available at: http://meaningfulplay.msu.edu and be sure to LIKE us on Facebook for the latest Meaningful Play program announcements (http://www.facebook.com/GamesAndMeaningfulPlay )

And visit http://seriousgames.msu.edu/ for information on our fully online serious games graduate certificate, undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degree programs in games and meaningful play.