Futureplay and Toronto

Just got back from the Futureplay 2006 conference in London, Ontario yesterday, where I got to give my first ever keynote. That was pretty exciting. The other keynote speakers were Justin Roche, Sheri Graner Ray, Don Daglow, and Ken Perlin, so very flattering to be among that roster.

I gave the same presentation the following night to the Toronto IGDA chapter, who quickly managed to get up a summary, here (thanks to Jason MacIsaac and Josh Druckman for all their hard work) Some cool folks there I got to chat with over beers after.

It was also good to give a quick plug to Ubi's currently running National Game Design Challenge. I missed a chance to blog about it during my recent trip to Vancouver when we launched the contest and associated promotion and recruiting campaign, but yeah getting to bounce around Canada with Fred made for a fun (though busy) fall.

Comments

[Francois Messier]

It was a good presentation you gave the academy! J'espere que vous avez eu du fun!

[Don Daglow]

Just wanted to comment that I found your FuturePlay keynote very interesting and that I really enjoyed it. I did an interview with Gamasutra after I got back and quoted you there -- hopefully I did so accurately from memory! Thanks for bringing a great presentation that got everyone thinking.

[Clint]

And thanks for dropping by Don. Unfortunately, I missed your keynote as I was spastically assembling my slides and presentation materials in my hotel that day. Lame. I'm usually finished these things weeks or even months in advance, but it's been a pretty crazy couple months and I was wrestling hard with the topic. Anyway, glad you liked it, and I look forward to reading the interview on Gama.

[Paul Warne]

Thanks for posting the keynote– I appreciate your practical approach to really grounding somewhat existential ideas.

I just read “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl. It recounts his life as an inmate in Nazi concentration camps where he found the inspiration for developing “Logotherapy”- a psychotherapeutic method based on “meaning”. Perhaps you might find it a good reference for analytically dealing with concepts related to meaning?