I’m in Washington DC for the second annual International Lindy Hop Championships, one of my favorite swing dance events of the year. A few hundred of the best lindy hoppers from around the United States and from countries from around the world are gathered for a fun competition and dance weekend at the Crystal City…
Category: Travel
Clearing my head in Clearlake State Park
Today I returned from a wonderful weekend camping trip with my family in Clearlake State Park in Northern California. For three days, I've been completely offline — with no internet, no Twitter, and no cell phone service. It has been a nice break honestly. I was invited by my cousin Ryan to join a group…
Games in Education Conference: Warcraft in the Classroom, Hungarian Revolution and Elmo!
Thanks so much to the organizers of the Games in Education Conference for inviting me to their symposium this week. It was a really fun and thought-provoking experience for me. My presentation on Global Kids' Playing 4 Keeps program went quite well, I think, with many educators at the conference complimenting me and asking for…
Learning with the Lich King: Using World of Warcraft for Education!
Learning Lich King View more presentations from Lucas Gillispie. The first day of the Games in Education was really sweet. One of the coolest sessions was called "Learning with the Lich King: Using World of Warcraft in School" by Lucas Gillispie, an instructional tech coordinator in North Carolina. I love the idea of finding an…
Speaking at Games in Education Conference this Wed at HVCC
This Wednesday, August 5, I will be heading upstate to speak at the Games in Education Conference at the Hudson Valley Community College about Global Kids' innovative digital games program "Playing 4 Keeps." Specifically I'll be speaking on the panel "Relating Social Issues & Historical Events through Games" with Andrea Lauer Rice, CEO & Founder…
I Dig Zambia starts today!
More details soon…
Why the “Awesome Philippines” Island in Second Life is not so awesome
Earlier this month, I did a little machinima tour of the new "Awesome Philippines" island in Second Life, an effort of the Philippines Department of Tourism to spur youth travel to la Perla del Mar. The Secretary of Tourism Joseph ''Ace'' Durano does seem to get the value of virtual worlds as participatory media. From…
Tour of “Awesome Philippines” virtual island in Second Life (video)
Here is a quick video tour of the "Awesome Philippines" island in Second Life, a joint project of the Philippine Department of Tourism and MTV. Sorry about the low volume on some of my audio, and all of my "ums". All of the ambient sounds you hear come from Second Life. You can also check…
“SOS Slaves” digital game challenges youth to help end sex trafficking
One of the other amazing projects I am helping with at the BAVC Producers Institute is "SOS Slaves," a web-based game that will educate and activate young people on the issue of sex trafficking around the world. Building upon "Sands of Silence" a powerful documentary about sex trafficking by filmmaker Chelo Alvarez-Stehle, "SOS Slaves" will…
Shooting machinima at the BAVC Producer’s Institute
Today we started shooting machinima for the presentation for the "Virtual Mine" project, being pitched at the conclusion of the BAVC Producer's Institute on Friday. Yes, it was a lot of work for the team to create the assets, write the shooting script, and arrange the sets for the machinima shoot. But it was also…