2011
Thanks for the Support
by Kevin Makice
Although the Wisdom of Play projects fell short of the original vision, we did manage to produce some interesting experiences for Bloomington. A number of these projects wouldn’t have been possible without some financial backing, even in small amounts.
I’d like to extend a personal thanks to the following donors who pledged money to our projects:
- Chris Borland
- Gabriel Recchia
- Mike Trotzke
- Maarten Bout
- Gail Hale
- Craig Harvey
- Allison Cooke
- Bob Molnar
The money raised directly paid for materials to build the Serious Games Arcade facades and the Our Infinite Canvas materials, as well as reimbursing a significant chunk of the expenses incurred by our Human Puzzle coordinators. We had a number of other people step up in our initial Kickstarter campaign, too, who would have contributed money if that effort had been successful.
A special thanks to Mike Trotzke and Sproutbox for hosting our Playing With Wisdom unconference last week. Mike also bought pizza for the participants that day.
We had two volunteers help with our events. Michelle Smith was instrumental in moving the Our Infinite Canvas project around Bloomington, snapping pictures of new panels for Ben Serrette to include in the online version of the project (http://ourinfinitecanvas.com). Betsy Head assisted with the Ignite Bloomington event at the end of Taming the Butterfly and registration—including handing out Human Puzzle shirts—at the unconference. Their help was greatly appreciated.
Our coordinators were the ones responsible for getting the projects off the ground: Ben Serrette (Our Infinite Canvas), Larry Buchanan and Erin Wright (Human Puzzle), Christian Briggs (Taming the Butterfly), and Will Emigh (Serious Games Arcade). I also want to thank Bloominglabs for giving the Toy Boxes project a go. I wish we had the resources to have made that a success during the first half of May.
Sally Meyer did a wonderful job lining up the locations for both the Our Infinite Canvas project and the training sessions for Taming the Butterfly. Having that off of my plate was a huge help.
Thanks to the artists who participated in Human Puzzle: Kurtis Beavers, Barba Bonchek, Larry Buchanan, Zach Rozycki, Raf Cronin and Jack Brubaker. We wish we could have properly funded stipends for your work.
Similarly, thank you to our four game developers: Pete Grogg of WisdomTools’ Health Games (Campus Craft), Sonny Kirkley of WisdomTools, Inc. (AstroEngineer: Moon Rover™), Nathan Mishler of Studio Cypher (San*Go Seasons), and Gabriel Recchia of the Indiana University Cognitive Computing Laboratory and Transformative Gaming & Simulation (Wordbots). The quality of your work got lost in the execution and coordination of the Serious Games Arcade, but I hope the experience at least got you a few users.
Other thank-yous go out to CFC Properties for allowing us to shoot daily videos in a swanky downtown office overlooking the courthouse. They also hosted the Serious Games Arcade and Our Infinite Canvas for the final weekend, at Fountain Square Mall.
