Postdoctoral researcher Geoff recently represented Tiltfactor at the International Academic Conference on Meaningful Play, held at Michigan State University. The conference brought together over 250 attendees representing more than 10 countries, all joined in the quest of designing and studying games that aim to enlighten, educate, inform, or persuade players in significant ways. During the three-day event, Geoff attended a number of inspiring keynote talks from the likes of Kurt Squire, Constance Steinkuehler, John Ferrara, Donald Brinkman, and Michael John, and panel discussions on topics ranging from “games for health” to “games and gender.” In addition, Geoff presented the Tiltfactor games Awkward Moment, buffalo, and POX for iPad at the conference reception and game exhibition, and delivered two well-received talks: one highlighting the completed games and initial research findings from the lab’s National Science Foundation-funded project to design games to reduce gender stereotypes in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), and the second presenting the lab’s Metadata Games project as part of a panel exploring the interface between games and data. Special thanks to Carrie Heeter, Brian Winn, and the conference co-chairs, as well as Carrie Cole and the Michigan State graduate students, for organizing such a fantastic and inspiring conference!
