Hello everyone! We are back for 2014 and looking forward to a pretty amazing year.
For the first time, we are officially partnering with two international organisations to bring you this event: the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), which is the ALA analogue Down Under, and Nordic Game Day, who have been successfully running game days in Scandinavian libraries alongside IGD for the past few years. Thanks to both groups for throwing their support behind International Games Day @ your library! We’re still pretty much a volunteer-run event, but being able to call on the networks and some of the resources of other bodies is a huge help in expanding the reach of the day.
Our Press Kit materials are up on the Press Kit page. ALIA donated some time from their graphic designer to help create the new IGD@yl posters, which I invite you to take a look at – not only has she done a beautiful job, but this year, the date and the blank line below it are actually form fields, making it super-easy to customise the date (if you’re celebrating on a different day), add your local details, or even blank out both lines to make space for you to overprint whatever you like in that area.
The loss of Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros (with the demise of the Nintendo Wii’s multiplayer network) could have been a major obstacle for the videogame tournament that has been part of our history for so long, thanks to Ann Arbor District Library. But the irrepressible folks at AADL have come up with something pretty special to replace it: a worldwide Minecraft Hunger Games. Talk about a meeting of the monster memes! It’s going to be spectacular, so stay tuned for more information.
The Global Gossip Game will be on again, and we are already scheming about ways to top last year’s trip through all seven continents. Of course, even without that it’s still a pretty special event, as the comments from last year make clear! Lovers of the surreal and silly should make sure to sign up.
And of course there is the incredible value that comes from your own events. We’re very interested to hear about people’s plans for their events, and (if you’re willing) to share those ideas with your colleagues around the world. Be in touch if there’s something you’d like to contribute to the blog, whether specific ideas for IGD, a general piece on games and play in libraries, or anything else you think is relevant to IGD. (You can use the comments field to contact us – we moderate them, so such offers will only be visible as comments if you want them to be!)
Lastly, the registration form for this year’s event is being finalised as we speak now live at http://bit.ly/igd14, so expect another post shortly with the link. And don’t forget to subscribe to this blog to make sure you see every update!
Thanks everyone! We’re really looking forward to this coming year, and we hope you are too.
Welcome to 2014’s International Games Day @ your library!