James Richards (BBC Learning Development) and Myles Runham (BBC Learning) co-hosted the event with Clare Reddington (Ished); I designed and facilitated it with help from Jack Martin Leith. There were approximately 65 attendees, made up of 15 BBC folk and 50 creative (and) technology types from around the country.

This report is split into the following:

• Event purpose
• Event outcomes
• Event design
• Event report
• Event documents for download

Event purpose:

• To profile the work and properties of BBC Learning to a community of pervasive media practitioners
• To communicate BBC Learning’s thoughts and ambitions in the area of creating new pervasive media projects with the BBC’s properties
• To work collaboratively over the day to create a range of high concept propositions
• To provide a networking opportunity for attendees to meet and interact

For the attendees it was a chance to:

• Meet and interact with others working in this field
• Gain unique access to BBC Learning commissioners
• Surface and discuss proposition ideas with BBC Learning staff as a group in an innovation lab format

Event outcomes:

At the end of the event, out of as many ideas as surfaced during the day, the three most suitable ideas (for BBC Learning) were identified by the BBC crew. These ‘idea holders’ would then work them over a bit more after the event, negotiate and discuss with BBC Learning and iShed, before one final idea will be chosen. This idea will then receive financial and organisational support by BBC Learning and iShed in order to put together a formal pitch to the Beeb.

In line with iShed’s keen dedication to brokering relevant and constructive relationships between different actors in the world of creative technology, an important underlying theme for the event design was to afford as many productive conversations between the different groups in the room. This was primarily to get the BBC folk to meet and work with non-BBC folk;  so a lot of attention was paid to ensuring that happened.

Event design:

I was very keen to introduce some (apparently) more informal, emotional stuff into this event. Our previous events for Media Sandbox have had a rather rational ‘knowledge’ edge to them – quite cerebral and purposeful – these have been sucessful, but after working with some of the Transition facilitators I wanted to explore some of the more unknown elements of human networking and decision making, and encourage the attendees to explore their responses to ‘ideas’ at different levels (head, heart and gut).

(event designing sheet)

Hence the event was structured to be relatively loose and informal in the morning, with a lot of movement and activity, no tables, lots of networking, some role play, different teams forming and discussing stuff. After lunch we got down to the serious business of brainstorming at tables, introducing a more formal, cerebral atmosphere.

Event report:

Welcome and Introduction

Clare Reddington and James Richards and Myles Runham introduced themselves as hosts of the event to set the context. James gave everyone an overview of BBC Learning Development and the types of project they are keen on.

Mapping and conversations:

Now we know why the event is happening, who the hosts are and what the outcomes will be, it is time to see who is in the room. All of the BBC folk came to the front and introduced themselves – enabling the non-BBC folk to work out who they wanted to speak to.

Then everyone jumped to their feet and we did some fast and furious networking based on a couple of parameters:

• Mac vs PC: human Venn diagram and conversations with one of the others
• How geeky am I?: line up from luddite to uber-geek and conversations with someone similar

(networking in action)

We were going to do a couple of others, but the event had started late so I had to make time, so we had to lose some of the networking. This is a shame, but the rest of the event was designed to make sure that as many relationships were brokered as possible (ie the networking is built into the interventions as well as being a session in itself).

The networking was very popular – always is – but I was surprised at how well everyone took to it and responded constructively.

BBC Learning-ness:

Being that we were aiming to encourage conversation around the department’s interests and commissioning process, and give everyone an idea of what is and what isn’t a suitable idea, we ran a session of ‘what is BBC-Learning-ness?’. As well as helping the group build a shared mental model and set the context for later decisions, it was also a great opportunity for everyone to see the BBC folk pitching in, and reacting to ideas in a short time under a lot of pressure (their gut instinct should come out here). Here’s how it worked:

1. James posed a question to the group: ‘In the app store in heaven, what are the two dream learning apps?’
2. Everyone broke out in groups of 6-ish and brainstormed 2 ideas
3. James and Myles stood by a board marked up with ‘Yes’, ‘No’, ‘Maybe’
4. A group rep came to the board, read out their apps
5. James and Richard classified it Y/N/maybe

(Myles and James and BBC Learning-ness board)

James and Richard had 1 minute to classify each app in front of everyone. Naturally this isn’t a formal process, but it does illustrate their gut reactions to things, immediate questions which pop into their heads, and, interestingly (for me) the things they said while thinking out loud (‘hmm not neccesarily a learning app, but knowledge might like that’). It was also a good excercise to get people working together (the BBC folk were spread out across the room) and further embedding the BBC-ness of things.

It was great fun and had a serious point. As well as this, it revealed something of them to us in a way that was open and human – large organisations can seem all wall from the outside, so good work to them for being game I say.

Although this was meant to be a very light-hearted idea generation quickie, some of the ideas produced definitely sparked off interest from the BBC folk. These ideas weren’t carried forward during the day; it was intended to get everyone in the mood around ideas. I think I could have integrated them better into later work (lesson learnt).

(BBC Learning-ness app ideas categorised)

Ideas preparation, analysis and discussion:

At this point, we needed to see who had an idea to work on in the afternoon. The idea holders identified themselves and how mature the idea was, and whether they wanted collaborators to help (in this age of collaboration-mania, I think it is totally fair to say ‘No, it’s my idea, I know what it is, I don’t need collaborators’).

This is a risky point in the event – no ideas means a radical and instant on the floor re-design of the event, too many ideas means a swift inclusion of a voting intervention… quite a lot of event facilitation relies on doing the sums on the fly; how many tables will we need for later? How much time do we give the idea holders to present their idea? etc. But I diverge into event design-ery pokery.

10 idea holders emerged. The perfect number. Uncanny.

The idea holders had 15 minutes to lay their ideas out on a flip chart sheet (we supplied templates). During this time, the ‘here to helpers’ broke out and did some more BBC-non-BBC networking.

We then brought the idea sheets back into the room, laid them out and everyone had 15 minutes to walk around, discuss, analyse the ideas without knowing whose they were from. Idea holders were not invited to comment or otherwise indicate it was theirs – for them it was a chance to see people reacting to an anonymous idea in an objective way.

Following this, each idea holder then had 3 minutes to present their ideas to the group, answer any questions they may have overheard during the earlier session, do a quick Q & A – whatever they fancied. They brought the ideas to life – which had been anonymous and objective earlier – giving them a face and language.

(presenting an idea in 3 minutes)

In the afternoon, attendees were going to work on the ideas with the idea holders at specific tables, so the ‘here to help-ers’ were also making some decisions as to which idea they were going to work on later. It’s also good practice for presenting to a group etc. etc.

Then we had lunch. Woohoo. During lunch, we brought 10 tables into the room and allocated one idea per table. Having been moving around all morning, everyone was going to sit down, work on one idea, get all cerebral and focused in the afternoon.

(the 10 ideas with names)

Case study:

In order to get everyone in the mood, a case study of actual projects from someone who had been commissioned was in order. Dominic Tinley has done exactly this and gave us an insightful and warts and all overview of some of the work he has been doing.

By now, everyone is at the table they will be at all afternoon, so Dominic’s case study was an excellent topic to get them talking about that in the context of the idea they will be working on.

Workshop working:

All the idea holders had a second template to complete for their idea. We used templates so the BBC folk could assess them from similar angles. There was much thought, scribbling with pens, scratching of chins etc.

(workshop working in session)

Top Three:

Now the crunch time. Which idea is suitable in this context, and why? This is another layer of learning for everyone. I have run events where attendees voted for their favourite idea etc. but, being that that would not reflect the real commissioning process for the BBC, the BBC folk were asked to select their top three.

This is not an easy task for the BBC folk – they rarely get a chance to be together from different departments, and don’t have to make such quick decisions.

They had 15 minutes to assess each idea as a group. One BBC person had been on each table so they could represent it. I scribed while they discussed. It was a fast moving conversation.

(BBC folk rapid decision-making for top three)

There was a clear top three – based on suitability for BBC Learning. Interestingly, almost all the other ideas had great merit and interest factor and the BBC folk felt that they could find other homes for the ideas. Hence it was agreed for each idea to have a ‘champion’ who would help the idea holder connect with someone suitable and interested in the BBC.

Good work all – dishing out tough love is a hard thing to do.

Then James and Myles ran through the decision, firstly looking at the top three and then discussing the others – why they weren’t suitable, why they might be more suitable elsewhere etc.

Closing, and a few jars of ale:

And that was it. Following a few rounds of applause, thank yous, questions etc., we retired to the Watershed bar for a few ales after a productive day. I was delighted to see the groups mixed up and chatting happily, swapping contact details and generally making the most of eachother.

(well earned pint of ale)

Event documents for download:

• Event design document
• Briefing sheets for idea holders

This is a brief personal reflection on igfest, the three day games festival which took place in Central Bristol from 19th to 21st September.

I was a voluntary member on the organising team, mentored some of the games, ran a game on the day, and generally helped out. I was immediately drawn to igfest as it combined festivals, games and things that anyone can do for free, and take home with them and play there too.

We will see a lot of ‘Game’ theory entering into the facilitator’s toolkit as well, so I wanted to get some hands on experience of all this stuff.

Also, I have been very impressed by Simon and Simon (the organisers along with Clare Reddington, Duncan Speakman and Helen Stephens) who have been running iglab since they met at the Media Sandbox launch event; the event was designed for people to meet eachother in a collaborative context so I feel broody when I see them together.

Iglab has been gradually building a community around games in Bristol all this year, so igfest is a fantastic example of what you can achieve if you nurture your community carefully and keenly.

This is not an all round review of all the games as I didn’t see or play many of them as I was working the gig. Like I say, a personal reflection, with a scarey picture at the end of the deranged and hilarious Welshmen who I shared a police station with during ‘Journey to the night’.

(Rainbow rain being played)

My favourite game was Holla Lu Lu. It’s easy, simple, quick, engaging, funny, age-less, and encourages everyone to enjoy their immediate environment while making funny noises. It’s very easy to facilitate and everyone enjoyed it.

I was very sorry to miss Bad Taste Party. This sounded brilliant and made everyone think about how very badly us Brits are dressed. I approached someone and asked if they were playing it, as I thought they might have got lost. They weren’t, I was mortified. Good game.

(Mercury began with an arm wrestle)

I was also a big fan of Mercury. As well as having Tom and Mike staying with me, and mentoring the game, I fully bought into Tom’s logic about how team sports have become focused solely on one movement with one goal (to win), hence breeding a bunch of people who can do only one thing. So when Mercury opened with an arm wrestle, moved through chicken noises, into backward football, past a haiku writing session and out with handball played with a huge silver exercise ball, I was hooked.

It was a shame to miss Harp Beat, I heard great things about it from 4 year olds and 40 year olds alike.

Congestion Zone made everyone very happy – essentially a series of mazes, some simple rules and a bunch of noise-making objects…

(Players piece the clue together in Holla Lu Lu)

I was very sorry to miss Sneaks and Blaggers. I hadn’t realised that it would book out so quickly, and it’s not really a viewing game, so I gave it a miss and had some pizza with the moose instead.

The Moose hunt game was brilliant – some technical issues with the mobile carrier aside, it got people outdoors, blending virtual with physical worlds.

(Simon Katan briefs the Congestion Zone players)

Rainbow rain looked hilarious. A barely concealed paint fight; brilliant spectator sport!

And Binocular football – currently doing the festival rounds at the moment – delayed due to traffic, but played later on Cathedral Green – another superb spectator sport with some brilliant comedy commentary.

I was sorry to miss Journey to the middle of the night. It sounded great. But I was acting in it.

As a delirious policeman in front of the old police station in Bridewell, waving my hoover extension around, ranting at the punters before letting them in to be ferried down to the cells by sergeants sledge and hammer (thanks to Joe and Lucy for gamely volunteering at the last minute) to be greeted by Jo and Simon the deranged prisoners to give them a clue to help them on their journey.

(Joe and Lucy as Sergeants Sledge and Hammer)

Given all the happiness around, and the superb location of a proper police station at nightime with real cells down a scarey corridor, and everyone being over 18 and all, we decided to go *dark* on everyone, and there was much shouting and screaming and banging of doors, honking of the bicycle horn, and so forth…

If anyone felt it was over the top, we’re kind of sorry and kind of not. We thought it was worth pushing the boat out for that special touch!

(Simon and Jo, the deranged prisoners)

All in all, a fantastic weekend, brilliantly organised, excellently and generously executed, great people and lots of games to enjoy and take home and play again.

One of the participants said that she couldn’t see why schools couldn’t run a lot of the games we ran as they needed no paid for equipment, instantly engaged children, encouraged them to imagine, collaborate and share their experiences while framing ‘competition’ in a less aggressive manner than ‘traditional’ sports… Well said!

Well done all!

• Igfest website
• igfest flickr group
• iglab website
• PM Studio website
• Moose hunt website
• Simon games

If you are wondering what to do on 19-21 September, and can make it to Bristol, come along to igfest. With Simon games and iglab at the core and a group of us volunteers around it, the ‘Interesting Games Festival’ looks like it is going to be fantastic.

Igfest website

Since meeting at The Media Sandbox launch event and then being commissioned to invent a game (Comfort of Strangers), Simon and Simon have been building a community around interesting games in the region for some time.

The festival features a range of different games from different creators – some technical, some lofi, some sporty, some geeky. I’m mentoring a couple of them and those alone will be worth the effort. All of them will be fun, inclusive and good for you. So I can’t say it enough:

Come to igfest! Even better, volunteer for us and get access to Bristol Festival and a cool tee-shirt

I’ll be there. Here’s the blurb:

Open Studio Fridays

iShed have recently taken over the top floor of the Leadworks building in Anchor Square and opened the Pervasive Media Studio.

Inspired by Jelly in New York, we’re opening the studio each Friday to anyone interested in casual co-working. From 9.30am to 5pm our doors will be open to people of any profession/discipline/sector to come and work in our space. We offer chairs, tables, wireless, a change of scenery and interesting people to bounce ideas off.

So, from Friday 2 May, bring what you need to need to work (laptop/mobile) and head down to the Pervasive Media Studio, directions here: http://tinyurl.com/28pcg4

Please email admin@pmstudio.co.uk if you are planning on turning up so we have a vague idea of numbers.

The Pervasive Media Studio, opened in February 2008, brings together the computing, communications and creative industries to research and develop new forms of digital media using wireless, mobile, display or sensor technologies. With collaboration across industry, research, academia and community groups, the Studio is an initiative led by HP Labs and Watershed.

http://www.ished.net/2008/04/24/open-studio-fridays-at-the-pervasive-media-studio

We are planning for the final event to wrap up this year’s Media Sandbox commissions and give the community another boost with a physical gathering.

For background, you can read about the launch event, and the high level case study about the blended facilitation approach we took to the project as a whole.

Suffice to say, we want to wave farewell to this phase with a satisfying ‘whoosh’, and welcome in the new phase with an open and inquisitive ‘oooh ain’t that cool’ noise. And I’m keen for the event to afford as much open learning as possible while we’re at it.

It’s going to be a mix of serious workshop (knowledge transfer stuff about the actual business of the projects doing R&D), judging panel on the projects (for more support), exhibiting the projects’ work, playing some games, and an open opportunity for anyone to pitch their idea for cash and a Pervasive Media Studio residency.

And a village fayre. With bunting. And tea. And I have bought a new horn specially to honk at twitterers.

As always, it’s free and anyone can come. Official blurb here:

From public fountains to bluetooth fountains, street games to shop windows, over the last three months the six groups of Media Sandbox participants have been working on new applications in pervasive media.

This final Media Sandbox event is your chance to play with the prototypes, discuss the challenges and watch the final project pitches as the Sandbox participants present their work to a team of industry judges. And, at the end of the night, one project will be presented with a further £8,000 production grant.

Plus your chance to win £1,000

The event will also feature a pervasive media pitching session with a chance to win a £1,000 development grant and residency at the Pervasive Media Studio. Enter your idea here.
(Event link and booking here)

Come along. It will be fun. And we will learn.

Event link for more information