returning home from gls

Lane and I are on our way back from Madison, where we just attended the Games, Learning & Society conference. Lane spoke on two panels, I spoke on one, and we both had a great time.

Thursday night, my guild had a RL meetup and WoW-playing session in a lab on the UW campus. We crammed about 20 not entirely sober people into the room, and much hilarity ensued. Lane was with us, and when Gerald called to see what we were doing Lane hesitated and said "Well, it's not exactly a conference activity." Indeed. :)

Lane did amazingly well on both of his panels...he's a natural, and enjoyed it enough that he wants to go back next year and speak again. (So, if you're looking for an articulate and technically-savvy teen to speak at your conference, let me know..) I didn't get photos of him, alas (poor planning on my part, but the folks from Global Kids got at least one.

I had a good time on our "Families Who Game Together" panel, and an even better time taking part in a mock trial (of World of Warcraft, for being "bad" to a teenager) that Ted Castronova ran during his fireside chat session on Friday.

My biggest takeaway from the conference was the strong sense that there is not yet a reliable and authoritative source of good information on video games and gaming for parents--especially parents who aren't gamers themselves. That's something I want to try to address this fall. The Lab was already planning to start running educational seminars on social networking software (like Facebook and MySpace) for the Rochester community this year; we can easily add gaming to those plans, and also work on creating an online resource (along with the other faculty in our game design & development program). Seems like a promising direction for looking for funding, as well. :)

For now, Lane and I are resting comfortably in the Northwest WorldClubs lounge at MSP. Well worth the $85 for a two-month membership. Free wifi for both our computers saves us $20 right away. Free wine and snacks saves us another $20. And having a comfortable place to sit where it's quiet and there are ample power outlets during our three hour layover? Well, that's priceless.