Here we are, then.
Two weeks to go. Massively sold out. A full speaker list of brilliant people. Badges somewhere on the way to our studio. A pub with money behind the bar (thanks, Sheridans). A bunch of nice volunteers signed up to help everyone have a good day.
We just need to find somewhere to lay our heads and decide which biscuits to spend Ogilvy’s dime on this year. Currently thinking about a mixture of under-rated classics, a sturdy old reliable and maybe one or two lavish ones from the new school. TBC.
Let’s get to know our latest additions that round out the day.
Simon is an artist, poet and all-round fascinating man who has been working in creative publishing since the ’60s. I recently saw a lot of his work, and works published by him under the Coracle banner, at a recent exhibition at Site Gallery (also, our new home). I was enthralled by his playful deconstruction of what a book is, and the processes that created new interpretations of the form. Simon will be talking about playing with form, which will be fantastic and illuminating.
Siobhan is the studio director for MediaMolecule, creators of two of the finest, most creative games ever made — LittleBigPlanet and LittleBigPlanet2. You may have noticed that MM recently announced Tearaway, a brand new game that pushes the PSVita to its absolute edges and makes handheld gaming creative, essential and bloody mindblowing again. Siobhan will be telling us a bit about Tearaway, but also the creative processes that go into making MediaMolecule amazing.
A few years ago, we did a bad thing. We let the word gamification become a thing that people said. It was said, and it is now said A Lot. It’s short-hand for lazy tossers to try and get people to do things with the promise of a badge at the end of it. It’s the ugly sister of behavioural economics.
So, we’ve invited Tom Ewing from brilliant market research agency, Brainjuicer, to come and talk about Actual Decision Making. From coaxing people to confess cleaning shame with a boardgame, through surveys designed to stress you out, to playing Chinese whispers about new laundry products, Tom will showcase some of Brainjuicer’s game experiments, and put them in the wider context of human decision making and what games do to it.
Our friends at Mint Digital have run a project for the last couple of years giving recent graduates an opportunity to spend three months working on a creative brief to make a real thing. Last year’s intake created Olly — the web connected smelly robot. This year, the brief has been to Make A Toy With Purpose. To make it even more appealing, they’re making a sourdough-based toy. Seriously. So, we’re getting them up on stage to talk about the process and things that they’ve learnt.
We’ve also pulled in the wonderful Alice Taylor from Makie Labs to act as the Letterman to their collective Ollie Reed. Alice is currently doing exceptional things in the toy-space by helping people design their own 3D-printed dolls that are then actually made in the UK. Marvellous.
Tiny bit exciting, eh?
We are totally sold out, but there will be a late flurry of “oh-I-double-booked-myself-anyone-want-my-ticket?” activity, so follow us on Twitter as we will post any ticket opportunities up there.
