Submitted by Daniel A. Freeman on July 10, 2009 - 9:52pm
Annual kicked off today, and at one of Chicago's swankier hotels I took part in a distinctly non-swanky event: Open Gaming Night. In an elegant ballroom at the downtown Hilton, a group of professionals from around the country gathered to kick back, socialize and have some fun.
There were plenty of attendees from the time the doors opened, as eager gamers of all ages gathered at tables to play board games:
Rock out to the Ramones:
Or, lest you think this was a gathering that encouraged people to become couch potatoes, to Dance:
The event was a great way to kick off a conference that--as anyone who has attended knows--can get a little intense. Librarians from many different types of facilities, from big cities and small towns, wore bright smiles as they played games together. Some old friends caught up, and a lot of people made new ones. As we get ready for a weekend spent hustling around Downtown Chicago for meeting after meeting, it was great to start off with some genuine fun.
Comments (2)
Hi, Steve -- Open Gaming
Hi, Steve --
Open Gaming Night has become a tradition at ALA Annual on the Friday night of the conference, so you can put June 25, 2010, on your calendar now. :) I believe there was an ad in the print program, but the best place to watch for information about this will be the Games and Gaming community on ALA Connect (http://connect.ala.org/gaming). In fact, if you're interested in gaming in libraries, the GGMIG is a great community to join in general.
If you have other questions about gaming activities within ALA, please feel free to contact me anytime at jlevine at ala.org.
Jenny Levine
As an avid gamer, and new ALA
As an avid gamer, and new ALA attendee, I am disappointed I missed this! How do I make sure to be aware of this for next year's conference? Is it in the program? Do I need to get on a mailing list? Will someone look at me strangely if I ask to trade sheep for wood? And, most importantly, how can I get involved/help?