As an official employee of the US Play Coalition, I take my duty to play very seriously. I know play builds a happy, healthy brain, thus I endeavor to play as much as possible including while participating in an international conference, something others might consider a rather formal event. For my part, during the 2nd Global Making Sense of: Play Conference (okay, so it wasn’t like I was playing during a gathering of nuclear physicists) I seized a great opportunity to engage in imaginative play and pretend I was an Oxford University student. If for only a few days, I could live out my Rhodes Scholar dream, which is what they most certainly were in looking back, but that’s another matter.
Here is the pictorial version of my life as an Oxford student, and who knows, maybe my dream will come true one day.
If I was an Oxford student, I might be a member of Mansfield College, the Nonconformist college – seems like it would be a good fit.
Two weeks later and I am ready to reflect on the the 2nd Global “Making Sense of: Play” Conference. In Part 1, I will focus on the conference content. Part 2 will be an exploration of Oxford and my temporary, self-granted status as an Oxford student. Business first: Continue reading Play Across the Pond – Part 1→
Oh it is good to be back to writing! I have missed this. Where have I been? Well, mostly at work – or should I say, at play? Allow me to elaborate:
As the Administrator of the US Play Coalition, my primary responsibility has been the planning and execution of the 2013 Conference on the Value of Play, which took place February 17-20 in Clemson, South Carolina. By all accounts, it was a huge success, and it could not have been more fun. We had over 300 people participate, 10 countries represented, 3 keynote speakers, 1 keynote panel, 70+ educational sessions, 1 full hour dedicated hour of play with many more short activities, 2 adult tricycles, 1 giant parachute, 20+ hula hoops, and more smiles than you can imagine. At the closing banquet, we awarded $6,000 in grant funding in the form of one $3,000 research grant and three $1,000 action grants. In conjunction with our conference and official play hour, Clemson Provost Dori Helms declared February 19 as Clemson University’s Official Play Day for the second year in a row. We also were covered by the Anderson Independent, The Tiger, and had three hours of live cut-ins on Fox Channel 4. All in all it was tremendous fun, and I am already looking forward to making the 2014 conference bigger and better! Plan to join us, you can ask me how.
Just a regular “day in the office”
On top of the long hours both before, during, and after the conference. I have been doing my best to stay in touch with numerous friends, read for book club, watch awards season, complete my online coursework, rehab my injured foot, learn big ideas from TED, maintain awareness of current events, find a new place to live, oh and sleep too. There is so much I want to fill you in on all at once, but for now, we will both have to settle for this brief reconnection via the blogosphere. It’s good to be here, and thank you for reading. Be PLAYful!
