Author: Christy

SPACE TIME PLAY. COMPUTER GAMES, ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM: THE NEXT LEVEL
Edited by Friedrich von Borries, Steffen P. Walz and Matthias Böttger In cooperation with Drew Davidson, Heather Kelley, Julian Kücklich“Space Time Play” is a journey through the past, present and potential spaces of computer and video games.

Have you ever wondered what’s behind a perfect Tetris-wall?
Have you ever freed a 3D world from terrorists?
Have you ever made polygon friends in networked fantasy realms?
And do you know what happens when these games never end?

The richly illustrated texts in “Space Time Play” cover a wide range of gamespaces: from milestone video and computer games to virtual metropolises to digitally-overlaid physical spaces. As a comprehensive and interdisciplinary compendium, “Space Time Play” explores the architectural history of computer games and the future of ludic space. More than 140 experts from game studies and the game industry, from architecture and urban planning, have contributed essays, game reviews and interviews. The games examined range from commercial products to artistic projects and from scientific experiments to spatial design and planning tools.

“Space Time Play” is not just meant for architects, designers and gamers, but for all those who take an interest in the culture of digital games and the spaces within and modeled after them. Let’s play!

With contributions by Espen Aarseth, Ernest Adams, Richard A. Bartle, Ian Bogost, Iain Borden, Gerhard M. Buurman, Edward Castranova, Kees Christiaanse, James Der Derian, Stephen Graham, Ludger Hovestadt, Henry Jenkins, Jesper Juul, Frank Lantz, Bart Lootsma, Winy Maas, Lev Manovich, Jane McGonigal, Kas Oosterhuis, William J. Mitchell, Howard Rheingold, Katie Salen, Hans-Peter Schwarz, McKenzie Wark, Mark Wigley and many more.

And me!! I feel quite chuffed to be amongst such luminaries! I was asked to give a brief overview of Alternate Reality Games inline with the book’s theme, for the general reader. I wrote it a while ago, when Perplex City was…well…perpetual. On top of the names listed, the book also includes ARG designers Sean Stewart, Steve Peters and Dave Szulborski and tons more people you and I know. The book is out 17th Sept in Europe and in November in the USA. You can preorder at Amazon and check out the table of contents on the site: www.spacetimeplay.org

The Boston Interactive Media Association (BIMA) is holding it’s 3rd Annual Cross Media Forum on September 18th 2007 in Boston. It is described on the site as follows:

In the ever-changing and increasingly fragmented media environment, marketers must develop multi-platform advertising strategies to effectively reach their target markets.  The BIMA Cross Media Forum was created to bring together leading agencies, marketers and publishers to have an open dialogue on the challenges, successes and realities of executing across multi-media platforms. Now in its third year, this half day forum includes case studies and panel discussions offering actionable, solutions-oriented recommendations for both planning and implementing successful cross media programs.

Keynote Speaker: Peter Hirshberg, Chairman, Technorati

Session 1: Overcoming the Obstacles to Cross Channel Integration     
Moderator: Kate Kaye, Editor, News and Special Projects, ClickZ
Panelists: Erin Matts, Group Director of Strategy, Digital, OMD; John Moore, SVP, Director of Ideas and Innovation, Mullen; Kristen O’Hara, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Time Warner Global Marketing; Traci Topham, Vice President, Interactive Ad Sales Marketing, Scripps Networks; Lisa Valentino, Senior Director Digital Sales, ESPN

A cross channel campaign that uses multiple touch points to convey brand position and key marketing messages is the ideal way for advertisers to overcome fragmentation and clutter. The reality is that buyers and sellers alike face numerous obstacles as they strive to develop truly integrated media programs. As a marketer, how do you contend with the fact that most companies are not structured to reward integration? How do publishers manage and balance the needs of multiple participants from the agency side? What does it take to get representatives from different channels to work together to come up with an integrated solution that supports the “big idea?”
 
Join a distinguished group of panelists from leading agencies and publishers as they share their insights on how to overcome these and other challenges and successfully shape cross channel campaigns.
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Session 2: Breakout Sessions – B2B & B2C Case Studies

Planning an integrated campaign is difficult but there are many agencies & marketers who have pulled it off successfully.  Hear their secrets of success.
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Session 3: What to Do, What to Look For, and What to Avoid When Executing Cross Media
Moderator: Ken Dec, Chief Measurement Officer, Director of Strategic Planning, PARTNERS+simons
Panelists to Date: Kerry Benson, SVP/Account Director for Liberty Mutual, Hill Holliday; Erica Crossen, Senior Manager Operations, Brightcove; Mike Lacorazza, VP/Director of Marketing, Digitas; Erin McSheffrey, Director of Program Management, Carat

Once you have successfully planned, sold and gained approval to implement a cross channel campaign, the work doesn’t end there. Even an expertly integrated plan can falter in execution if you do not take a number of additional factors into consideration. Have you secured the T&R rights to run the creative across all recommended platforms?  Does your creative messaging translate across all channels?  How do you compare and measure the success of each medium and its overall impact on the campaign?  Join our panel of implementers – creative, traffic, messaging, production and measurement team members – to receive essential tips for executing successful cross media
programs.

Through Adam Crowe’s delicious I found this great ppt from Brand Zeal about their ‘solar system’ approach to ‘brand mapping’:

I loved seeing this because the solar system or astronomical approach is exactly how I visual storyworlds and brands. I’ve been working on a model for this for a few years now, have been developing (in my head) the software for it, and have called my upcoming podcast Universe Creation 101. I wouldn’t categorise the systems like Brand Zeal does, but I have different intentions. Yay World Creation!