I apologize for any cross-posting. I really enjoyed this conference in the past. If anyone is interested, I'd love to do a panel or presentatoin with other AIMS faculty.  

Meaningful Play 2010 Conference, October 21-23 East Lansing, Michigan
http://meaningfulplay.msu.edu/

Meaningful Play 2010 brings scholars and industry professionals together to
understand and improve upon games to entertain, inform, educate, and
persuade in meaningful ways. The two primary themes of the conference are
"exploring meaningful applications of games" and "issues in designing
meaningful play". The first theme includes an examination of games (of all
types) from primarily an academic research perspective. The second theme
focuses on much  more practical knowledge from the front-line of actual
design, development, and use of games for meaningful purposes.

This international conference includes thought-provoking presentations from
leaders in academia and industry, peer-reviewed paper presentations, panel
sessions, roundtable discussions, a poster session, and exhibitions of
games.

Call for Papers (due June 28), Panels, and Individual Speakers
http://meaningfulplay.msu.edu/submissions.php

While any topic related to games for entertainment and learning is
appropriate to submit to Meaningful Play 2010, topics of particular interest
include:

Exploring meaningful applications of games

o Games to change attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors (including social impact
games and personal health games)
o Games to stimulate creativity or innovation
o Games to build social skills o Games to advertise and persuade
o Games to exercise specific cognitive functions
o Games to explore personal beliefs and help make decisions
o Games to build knowledge and skills (games for learning) o Serious games
for history and cultural heritage learning
o Games to promote civic, social, and humanitarian organization and
participation

Issues in designing meaningful play

o Game design for specific audience segments
o Player types and play styles o Story and storytelling in games
o Competitive and cooperative play (single player, multiplayer and massively
multiplayer)
o Balancing entertainment and serious goals
o Repurposing entertainment games for serious purposes (and vice versa)
o Unintended and unexpected effects of games o Using psychology and
neuroscience to design and understand games
o Emerging design research methods to help create better games o Measuring
game impacts
o Innovative techniques and technologies for the design of meaningful play
(e.g. game mechanics, reward systems, and user interfaces)

(Please excuse cross-posting)




Lindsay D. Grace

School of Fine Arts
Armstrong Institute for Interactive Media Studies at Miami University

206 Hiestand Hall
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio, 45056