On August 4, 2010, a post appeared on a new website, http://www.shaydoran.com, with the apt title, “Where it begins.” In the post, the blogger, Shay Doran, describes his arrival at Vail, a small mountain town in Colorado, and shares his hopes that his latest relocation will turn out better than the last few. The next […]
One LARP, one queen, and lots of steam
or “How I spent my weekend” I spent last weekend producing a LARP experience for the Steampunk Symposium, a steampunk-themed convention held on the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA. My contribution ended up being a lot of narrative work and experience design, plus a minor role as an NPC (David Bainbridge of Sotheby’s). For details […]
Fans, Funds, and Value Co-Creation
Note: you should read Andrea Phillips’ post on this topic before reading my response below, and be sure to check out Carrie Young’s expanded thoughts on the topic! Earlier this year at the StoryWorld Conference, Andrea Phillips approached me and proclaimed, “You know, I really, really, really hate the term, ‘value co-creation!’” It was not […]
UGC Sucks (or, the Winter of My Discontent)
Warning: I’m donning ye olde cranky pants for this post. The culprit for my discontent? An increasing dismissal of audience contributions (i.e., user-generated content) to commercial entertainment as unfit for inclusion in professional entertainment experiences. The most common argument I hear against including UGC in any entertainment property fail is, “UGC is awful,” which reduces […]
Next up: Designing a Steampunk LARP
Although I signed up for this a while back, I’ve been awful about spreading the word: I’m on a team of designers crafting a LARP experience for the upcoming steampunk-themed Her Royal Majesty’s Steampunk Symposium convention in Long Beach, CA January 13-16, 2012. I’m thrilled to be working with some heavy-hitting LARP veterans like Aaron […]