Games for Change (G4C) -- home

Festival Program May 24 - 27

May 24th - Youth Game Design Workshop

May 24th - G4C 101.5 Workshop

May 25th - Festival

May 26th - Festival

May 27th - Games for Learning: Research and Design Innovation at NYU

The Power of Design: Youth Making Social Issue Games

Monday, May 24th, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00pm, followed by a reception, Theresa Lang Student Center, 2nd Floor, 55 West 13th St.

8:30am - Registration and Continental breakfast

9:00am - Welcome

9:10am - Why is designing games good for learning?
Alan Gershenfeld, Founder, E-Line Media; Leah Gilliam, Director of Projects, Institute of Play/Quest to Learn; Elisabeth Hayes, Arizona State University, TechSavvy Girls

10:00am - Empowering Youth and Accelerating Learning through Game Creation with Globaloria
Idit Caperton, President and Founder, World Wide Workshop; David Lowenstein, Globaloria State Director, West Virginia Public Schools; Shannon Sullivan, Globaloria Program Director and Executive Producer; Laura Minnigerode, Globaloria Research Manager; East Austin College Prep Academy, Texas.
In this panel, members of the management team of the World Wide Workshop present Globaloria, the first-of-its-kind social network for game-making where participants learn complex concepts and school subjects by creating web-games about social issues and educational topics; they work independently and in small teams to develop their original games from an idea to a finished product. Launched in 2006, Globaloria pilots have reached over 1500 participants (youth and adults) in various public schools and universities, corporate education programs, summer camps and youth groups worldwide.

10:45am - Break

11:00am - Review of Game Creation Platforms
Eric Nunez, Parsons The New School and Mike Edwards, Parsons The New School

11:45am - Activate!
Colleen Macklin, Parsons The New School; John Sharp, Savannah College of Art and Design

12:00pm - Game Creation Software Demos

1:00pm - Game Design and STEM Learning
Rafael Fajardo, P4 Games; Scott Leutenegger, P4 Games; Karen Michaelson, Founder and Director, Tincan

2:00pm - Evaluating Game Design Programs
Alex Games, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Michigan State University; Principal Investigator, Games for Entertainment and Learning Lab, and Jim Diamond, Research Associate, EDC/Center for Children and Technology

2:30pm - Break

2:45pm - Spreading Serious Game Design: Global Kids' Playing For Keeps Capacity Building Program
This panel will explore how Global Kids' successful serious game design program, originally created as for an afterschool context, was redesigned to scale and spread to libraries, public housing computer labs, in-school tech clubs, and public school classrooms. Representatives from each site will report on their experiences and details will be shared about the professional development program developed to support their implementations. Results from an independent evaluation will be shared and the final work produced by participating youth will be shown. Thaddeus Miles, Director of Public Safety, MassHousing, H. Jack Martin, Assistant Director for Public Programs and Lifelong Learning, The New York Public Library, Marc Lesser, Education Director, MOUSE, Selen Turkay, graduate student, Teacher's College, Otis H., Global Kids Youth Leader. Moderated by Barry Joseph, Online Leadership Director, Global Kids.

3:45pm - A Closer Look at Game Design Programs for Youth
Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Club Tech; Cindy Rondeau, Director, MIRACLES Technology Program, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Colleen Macklin, Director of PETLab and Associate Professor, CDT Parsons, The New School for Design
Quest to Learn - an overview of how to teach game design to middle school students using Gamestar Mechanic and Atmosphir, Al Doyle, teacher, and Quest to Learn student game makers.

4:45pm - Wrap up

5:00pm - Reception

Overview

Games for Change is excited to premiere this day-long workshop on game design programs for youth. Young people are intensely curious about how games are made, and now with the availability of several game creation tools, they are becoming not just consumers, but game makers. Game making incorporates a wide range of technical and artistic skills, and is an exceptional way to engage learners in complex systems thinking. We created this workshop especially for teachers, after school program leaders, and mentors who want to leverage the enthusiasm for games to create an innovative learning experience that incorporates many of the skills youth need to thrive in today's world. Some of the key questions we will tackle include: Why is game creation good for learning? How do you structure a successful program that optimally uses game design for learning? What works for what age groups? What kind of teacher/staff prep is required? Can youth game development help improve skills in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)? How can social issues be integrated into the game design program? The workshop will feature creators of exemplary game design programs, a close look at some of the amazing game design software now available, and indispensable advice for setting up your own youth game design program.

"...game design is an activity that allows learners to build technical, technological, artistic, cognitive, social, and linguistic skills suitable for our current and future world. Beyond their value as entertainment media, digital games and game modification are currently key entry points for many young people into digital literacy, social communities, and tech-savvy identities." Gamestar Mechanic Learning Guide

The Power of Design: Youth Making Social Issue Games is made possible by generous support of the AMD Foundation.

Games for Change 101.5: A Workshop for Making Social Issue Games

Monday, May 24, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., followed by a reception, Wollman Hall, 5th Floor, 65 W. 11th St.

8:15am Registration and Continental breakfast

8:45am Welcome — Asi Burak, Executive Producer, Games for Change, Co-founder Impact Games

9:00am Values at Play Grow-A-Game Workshop — Mary Flanagan, Director, Tilfactor Lab

9:45am Games 101.5: Top Trends in Gaming — Nick Fortugno, Charles Pratt, Jesper Juul, Kati London, Naomi Clark

10:45am Break

11:15am Publishing Paradigm — Alan Gershenfeld, Managing Partner E-Line Ventures, G4C Board Chair

12:00pm Business Models — Gobion Rowlands, Chairman and CIO Red-Redemption

12:30pm Lunch

1:30pm Minitalks — Top 10 Mistakes People Make In…

Funding — Ben Stokes, Co-Founder G4C, PhD student, USC Annenberg

Design — Eric Zimmerman, author and award-winning game designer

Production — Scott Price, Producer E-Line Ventures

Press/Visibility — Jamin Brophy-Warren, Editor-in-chief Kill Screen Magazine

Assessment — Constance Steinkuehler, University of Wisconsin-Madison

2:30pm Case Study: Peacemaker — Asi Burak, Executive Producer, Games for Change, Co-founder Impact Games

3:00pm Break

3:45pm Case Studies from the Field: Pitches and Critiques
Expert Panel: Asi Burak, Alan Gershenfeld, Gobion Rowlands, Eric Zimmerman, Scott Price, Constance Steinkuehler, Ben Stokes, Frank Lantz, Charles Pratt, Nick Fortugno, Jesper Juul

4:45pm Voting/Award: Most Likely To Succeed
Prize = 2 hours free consulting from Asi Burak

5:00pm Reception (at Lang Auditorium)

Overview

Building on our ultra-successful 101 workshops in the past two years, Games for Change presents our one-of-a-kind 101.5 Workshop for non-profits seeking to publish social issue games. Based on feedback from past workshops, we’re adapting the101.5 Workshop to serve both newbies and organizations that have already started making games. We’re bringing fresh content and voices to provide orientation, knowledge of latest trends, and engagement in games that are further along. Leading experts will offer practical advice on essential topics such as publishing paradigms, game design, business models, fundraising, assessment, and press strategies, and case studies from the field will provide insight into real-world implementation.

The workshop is open to ANY and ALL interested parties, and will require a registration fee separate from or in combination with the core festival registration.

Main Festival - Day 1

Tuesday, May 25, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. at Tishman Auditorium - 66 W. 12th St.

8am – Registration opens

9am – Opening Remarks, Alan Gershenfeld, Chairman of the Board, G4C

9:15am – Opening Keynote – Aneesh Chopra, U.S. Chief Technology Officer

10am – From NPR to NPG: National Public Games
The public sector is increasingly embracing computer and video games to further key administration priorities; especially in the areas of learning, health and civic participation. Despite the fact that hundred of games are being funded across multiple government agencies, there is no central repository of resources and best practices on designing, developing and publishing impact-focused games. We have a Corporation for Public Broadcasting and National Public Radio - is there now a need for a National Public Games initiative? This panel will explore the need, challenges and potential structure for such an initiative. Panelists include Kumar Garg, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Bill Siemering, President of Developing Radio Partners; Founding member of National Public Radio Board of DIrectors, Sara DeWitt, Senior Director, PBS KIDS Interactive, and Laird Malamed, SVP of Production, Guitar Hero. Moderated by Alan Gershenfeld; Chairman, Games for Change; Founder and President E-Line Media and former SVP, Activision Studios.

11:10am – Break

11:30 – Future of Digital Media Talks – Clay Shirky, Katie Salen, Nick Bilton

12:45pm - Lunch - On your own
Or optional The Frank Lantz & Karen Sideman Show
Frank Lantz, Area/Code and Karen Sideman, Games for Change will reprise their open discussion with the community. Always one of our most popular sessions!

2:30pm – Reaching The Hardest-To-Reach: Mobile Games in The Developing World
Mobile technology is one of the most promising and fast-growing new platforms for enacting social change in both developed and developing countries. Mobile phone games about HIV AIDS are being played by more than 16M people across Asia and Africa and are found on more than 42M devices around the world. This panel will explore the latest work and ideas in this cutting edge field through the lenses of social entrepreneurs and developers in India, leading researchers, and NGOs that utilize mobile platforms on the ground. Panelists include Prabhas Pokharel, Mobile Active, Dr. Subhi Quraishi, CEO of ZMQ Software Systems, and Matthew Kam, Assistant Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, moderated by Asi Burak, Executive Producer, Games for Change, Co-founder Impact Games (Creator of Peacemaker.)

3:15pm – Future of Digital Media Talks – Micah Sifry, James Paul Gee, Clive Thompson

4:30pm – Break

5:00 – Surprise! Make Meaning AND Money with Social Impact Games
The growth of the games for change movement has been exponential over the past five years, but very few games thus far have transitioned from free-to-play to commercially-viable products. Red Redemption and E Line Media are two leading double bottom-line firms making games for both financial return and social impact. Michael Angst of E Line, Gobion Rowlands of Red Redemption, and Dr. James M. Bower Ph.D, CEO of Numedeon Inc. will will discuss potential modes, pitfalls, and strategies for funding, marketing, distribution and revenue generation. This is an important panel for both the commercial sector and non-profits looking to make their impact sustainable.

5:45pm – Ze Frank

6-8pm – Expo Night (at Lang Auditorium)
A lively and media-friendly reception where festival-goers get to play the latest games firsthand, meet and chat, and enjoy food and drink in a fun and informal atmosphere.

Main Festival - Day 2

Wednesday, May 26, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. at Tishman Auditorium - 66 W. 12th St.

9am – Registration opens

10am – Opening Keynote – The Honorable Justice Sandra Day O’Connor

10:45am – Future of Digital Media Talks: M.D., Kurt Squire, Ken Perlin, Army Brig. Gen. Loree K. Sutton

12:00pm – Funding Perspectives
New challenges are arising from the philanthropic sector as foundations explore how to fund the emerging use of games in the public interest. What are their current initiatives, goals and constraints? What can the community do to assist their work? Hear from the primary foundations taking the lead in supporting our community’s efforts. Panelists include Julia Stasch, Vice President, MacArthur Foundation, Robert Torres, Senior Program Officer, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Tessie Topol, Senior Director, Strategic Philanthropy & Community Affairs, Time Warner Cable, and Christine Adamczyk, Senior Technical Adviser USAID, moderated by Michael Levine, Executive Director, The Cooney Center

12:45pm - Lunch - On your own
Or optional G4C Meets the Games Industry: A Demo of the Playable Cinema of Uncharted 2 (At Lang Auditorium)
Richard Lemarchand, Lead Game Designer, Naughty Dog, and Asi Burak, Executive Director, Games for Change will demo groundbreaking, blockbuster game Uncharted 2

Or optional Games and Assessment Discussion - Join researchers, game designers, and practitioners for a series of brief presentations and informal discussion on the latest assessment practices for digital games.

2:30pm – Direct Action Games: Games Meet The Real World
What happens when we assign points to real-world civic actions? This controversial panel will explore the realities and theories of extending games into “real” actions like donating, giving voice, and volunteering - we might call them Direct Action Games. Featuring a designer of new game genres, several working games, technical and “spectacle” experts, this panel will challenge us to reconsider the bridge between civic learning and direct action. PANELISTS: Stephen Duncombe, author of Dream: Re-imagining Progressive Politics in an Age of Fantasy; Alex Eberts, co-founder of Akoha; Tracy Fullerton, Game Designer & Director, USC’s EA Innovation Lab; moderated by Benjamin Stokes, Co-Founder G4C, PhD student, USC Annenberg

3:15pm – Minitalks curated by Omar Wasow including:

Ty Ahmad-Taylor, CEO and founder of FanFeedr

Rodney Gibbs, co-founder of Fizz Factor and Ricochet Labs

Richard Lemarchand, Lead Game Designer, Naughty Dog

Jessica Hammer, Mellon Interdisciplinary Graduate Research Fellow, Columbia University

Suzanna Samstag, Global Contents Forum and G4C Seoul Regional leader

Patrick Meier, Director of Crisis Mapping at Ushahidi and the co-founder of the International Network of Crisis Mappers.

Jane Pinkard, Business Development, Foundation 9 Entertainment

4:15pm - Break

4:30 – Power of Design: Youth-Created Games
Game design is emerging as an important new tool to engage and empower young people in 21st Century skill-building. This panel will feature highlighted discussions from the AMD workshop from the first day of the festival featuring leading thinkers and projects in this area. Panelists include Barry Joseph, Director, Global Kids, Co-founder, Games for Change, Colleen Macklin, Director of PETLab and Associate Professor, CDT Parsons, The New School for Design, and Elisabeth Hayes, Professor in the Division of Learning, Technology, and Psychology at Arizona State University’s Mary Lou Fulton Institute and Graduate School of Education. Moderated by Alex Quinn, Executive Director of Games for Change

5pm: Featured Conversation: Neal Baer, Executive Director, Law and Order, SVU

5:30pm – Closing Comments – Alex Quinn, Executive Director, G4C

5:45pm – PETLab Hosts An Indie Game Slam Evening (at Lang Auditorium)
An exciting evening session and reception featuring a series of brief but provocative game design presentations from the field’s leading game designers. Hear how game designers of indie and mainstream games create transformative experiences for their players across all platforms. Curated by Richard Lemarchand, Lead Game Designer, Naughty Dog; and Colleen Macklin, Director, PETLab

Games for Learning: Research and Design Innovation at NYU

Thurdsay, May 27, 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. at Warren Weaver Hall, Room 109, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences - 251 Mercer Street.

8:30 am - Registration and Continental breakfast

9:00 am - Welcome Address: Games For Change Executive Director Alex Quinn introduces the Games for Learning Institute, Ken Perlin, New York University/Games for Learning Institute; Remarks by James H. Shelton III, Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement

9:15 am - Research Innovation
Moderator: Jan Plass, New York University/Games for Learning Institute

Relationship Between the Motivational Characteristics of Games and Learning Outcomes. Richard Wainess, UCLA/CRESST/CATS -DC

Research on the Instructional Effectiveness of Computer Games. Sigmund Tobias, University at Albany, SUNY, J. Dexter Fletcher, Institute for Defense Analyses

Action Video Game Playing as a Learning Tool. Daphne Bavelier, University of Rochester

Respondents: Marc Prensky, Games2Train and Kurt Squire, University of Wisconsin-Madison

- Break -

11:30 am - Minitalks: Research Innovation

Katherine Isbister, NYU-POLY

Katie Culp, CCT/EDC

Greg Chung, UCLA/CRESST/CATS

Jan Plass, NYU/G4LI

12:30 pm - Keynote: Jaron Lanier, Microsoft Research, author, You Are Not A Gadget

1:00pm - Lunch 13th floor Commons, Warren Weaver Hall

1:45pm - Keynote: Alan Kay, Viewpoints Research Institute

2:15 pm - Design Innovation
Moderator: Ken Perlin, New York University/Games for Learning Institute

Translating Instructional Ideas into Good Game Designs. Cornelia Brunner, CCT/EDC – DC

Toward a Theory of Game-based Assessment. Kurt Squire, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Sources of Evidence for Embedded Assessment in Immersive Game Worlds. Brian Nelson, ASU

Respondents: Tracy Fullerton, USC & Eric Zimmerman

- Ice Cream Break - Provided by our friends at Ben & Jerry's!

4:35 pm - Minitalks: Design Innovation

Miguel Nussbaum, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

Marjee Chmiel, The JASON Project & Nina Walia, PBS

Doug Clark, Vanderbilt, SURGE

Tobi Saulnier, First Playable

Victoria Van Voorhis, Second Avenue Software

5:30 pm - Closing Keynote – E-Line Ventures Managing Partner and Games for Change Board Chair Alan Gershenfeld introduces Michael H. Levine, Executive Director, Joan Ganz Cooney Center

6:00 pm - GamesFest and Reception
13th floor Commons, Warren Weaver Hall

Games for Learning: Research and Design Innovation is made possible in collaboration with the NYU Games for Learning Institute.