What’s up with the new look for the website? Recently, I drove up to Pennsylvania to present the National Science Foundation’s Edugaming workshop. It was my fourth year! This year, we had high school teachers from four states as well as several college professors. My job is to teach them the fundamentals of game design – in order to help them design board games, table games, or card games that they can take back to the students.
This year’s event went so well, that the good folks at Lehigh-Carbon Community College invited me to teach the 2nd year workshop too. So, I prepared new materials, a new card game, and drove back up, for the new presentation. This time, the participants already knew me, so we got straight to work.
About halfway through the day, I had this realization that there were few things in my life more meaningful than teaching teachers about games, so that they could in turn teach their students. That was the moment I realized I wanted more.
I considered everything from additional workshops, changing jobs, and even consulting. Then, recently, I was riding my bike, enjoying some podcasts – lost in thought – when a crazy idea formed in my mind. What if I hosted my own podcast?
Google led me to lots of resources on how to do. There’s Pat Flynn, and my absolute favorite, Cliff Ravenscraft at PodcastAnswerMan! I’m so grateful for all these two did to help me walk through the process. All that was left was to overcome my fear.
So, then, a few days back, I was riding my bike, this time with my wife. I told her what I was thinking – particularly about my fears. I asked her to either tell me that it was a silly waste of time or give me a kick in the pants to get past my fears. And before she could answer, a car approached. I fell back to let it pass. A few minutes later, I was able to pull back beside her so she could respond. That’s when she said, “You know, there’s four months before Christmas. You could have six episodes by then.” And like that, the gauntlet was thrown.
The podcastwill be called “Game Design Zen – the intersection of games, life, and the pursuit of excellence.” I’ve registered the domain, recorded two episodes, and have begun walking through the technical steps. I’ve also hired one of my favorite artists – Peter Simon from the UK. He helped with Block 64.
So, that’s what’s up with the new look, the new title, and all the new posts. I’m excited – and if I’m to rise to my wife’s challenge, I’ve got a lot of work to do. Gotta go!
