SGC18 Post Card

SwedenGame Conference (SGC18) in Skövde was packed with interesting talks - overall great conference. What to me stood out most was the sense of community, warmth and inclusion. This feeling struck me hard on the final official party when we were doing Marioke - singing rewritten texts to well-known songs. Standing there together, singing with one voice,  - students, alumni, speakers, faculty, old friends - it dawned upon me how far we have come. There is a context for people coming into the industry that already *exists*, and it is a good one. I also that this doesn't come for free. The faculty at Skövde University, especially my old friend and colleague Jenny Brusk, has been working actively and relentlessly to create this, by their daily practice and the work with DONNA.

I was so busy during the conference that I couldn't make my usual watercolour notes, but I made a little dabble as a thank-you postcard the other morning. It is just a quick sketch from a photo I took at the party, and a some lines I remember we sang (David Bowie's Life on Mars). Here:  
What I did at the conference was mostly to talk about HEVGA (Higher Education in Video Games Alliance) work we can work on in Europe with anyone who was interested.  Interested to engage in the HEVGA Europe work? Become member :). We posted a write-up of the conversations in the the Hevga Europe FB-group! .  

 I also gave a talk about my work in how to frame board game play situations as safe-spaces for personal problem-solving. The  talk is up here.