Vote for 2021 SXSW and SXSW EDU PanelPicker Ideas!

Hi, I apologize for not updating the blog. I have not been feeling well these past months. I did in fact win a 2020 Women in Games Hall of Fame Award. I was completely flabbergasted and very grateful. Thank you so much to the people who voted. I need your help again because the SXSW and SXSW EDU Community Voting period is ending November 20, 11:59 PM, Pacific Time. That's this Friday! Check out our panel offerings.

Both SXSW and SXSW EDU will be online next year.  Anybody with an Internet connection who makes a PanelPicker account can vote during Community Voting.

For SXSW, we have panels about emergent narrative, immersive story worlds, and designing games for social change.

Creating Touchstones in Emergent Narratives

Games have a unique ability to establish empathy between a player and a world and characters, but game players don’t always follow the path the narrative lays out for them. This panel discusses how designers and storytellers can build in empathic elements that can be found and engaged with even when the larger narrative gets delivered out of order.

Vote here for this panel: http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/110179

Playable Story Worlds in Immersive Storytelling

Do you need interaction for immersion? How do you feel about the use and manipulation of VR/AR/MR in the rise of immersive storytelling? Do you think you can tell the difference between art, words, or music in the manipulation of audience interaction? In storytelling, we are seeing the potential of VR/AR/MR to aid storytellers, designers, and artists to enhance audience experiences. How will this enable us to tell more interactive and personalized stories in ways we have yet to imagine? Join Timothy Braun, Sande Chen, and Kimberly Ungeras they discuss the concepts of playable stories, interactive audience design, and the future of immersive worlds building.

Vote here for this panel: https://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/108757

How Not to F**k Up Games For Social Change

Can life really be gamified for the better? Or is that just a gimmick to interest a more tech-savvy generation? Learn how video games and technologies like VR can be used to create truly transformative experiences that promote social change. In this panel, four game design and community professionals discuss the overhaul of design systems to be more diverse, equitable, empathetic, and inclusive - without making them worse.

Vote here for this panel: https://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/110000

For SXSW EDU, our panel focuses on using game-based learning in the classroom.

Using Games For Inclusion in the Classroom 

Students of all ages can benefit from games and game creation in the classroom, especially as a way to promote inclusion, equity, justice, and compassion. In this talk, hear from educators and game developers on how to design your own creative and inclusive activities for the classroom. We will share the latest innovations in using games for good--whether your classroom is in-person, remote, or hybrid. We will help you to create the classroom of the future!

Vote here for this panel: https://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/111484

SXSW EDU will be held on March 9-11, 2021 and SXSW EDU will be on March 16-20, 2021.