We believe in playfulness !
A community
of like minded people
Gather regularly
Around Europe
To play
Serious games
To share
Food & Drinks
And have
Fun together
Around a
Colorful Marketplace
What is #play14 ?
#play14 is a worldwide gathering of like-minded people who believe that playing is the best way to learn, share and be creative!
Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn - Benjamin Franklin
For two and a half days, people with many different profiles and experiences are invited to share serious games & fun activities, experiences & tips, knowledge & insights, laughs & smiles. Everyone is welcome to join.
A proposed activity could be a lot of things:
- A serious game that you use as a metaphor in order to understand a new concept
- An ice breaker game where people learn more about one another
- A warm up or an energizer that you can use to raise the level of awareness and energy
- A facilitation technique that you can use in your daily work
- A team building exercise that fosters collaboration and self organization
- A game design session where you invent a new game to teach something new
- A soul searching, deep-dive introspection session where you learn about yourself
- A one-on-one coaching session where you will find some answers with the help of a friend
- A brainstorming session on a question or problem that wakes you up at night
- A creative session where you sketch, doodle, or build something together
- A fun and energetic time with dancing, singing or being silly together
- An improv theater session where you can work on your confidence and ability to speak publicly
- A more esoteric session on a practice/hobby you want to share like yoga, laughter yoga, Tai Chi, Qigong, meditation, mindfulness, aikido, ...
Join us in order to develop your facilitation skills, increase your ability to accompany change in your organization, foster your creativity and improve your capacity to innovate.
You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than a year of conversation - Plato
#play14 is an unconference, where all attendees are also contributors. All you need to do is show up, and you will be given the opportunity to propose some games, or play the games proposed by the others.
However, #play14 is first and foremost a community of people, a family, and an incredible human adventure.
Watch what happens / View more
Our manifesto
#play14 is and always will be
- a place to share knowledge & practices more than a place to sell services & goods
- open to all people or communities with an interest on learning with fun
- focused on games & activities in the physical world more than in the virtual world
- an unconference based on the Open Space Technology
- non profit, which means that when we do make a profit on a given event, we reinvest everything into the next
Our code of conduct
- You shall be open minded and ready to listen and learn from others
- You shall feel free to propose, experiment and explain what you have in mind
- You shall not high-jack, sabotage or ruin the learning experience of others
- You shall manage your own timebox when facilitating so that other sessions can start on time
- You shall behave appropriately and be a decent human being
- You shall always leave the playground clean (boy scout rule), avoid waste and try to reduce your carbon footprint
- You shall be ready to get serious fun and good laughs and should try not be shy about that
To summarize : "You shall not be an a**hole".
What can you expect when attending an event ?
Games
Any real world activity used as a metaphor for learning, sharing and understanding. Because we want to focus on the face to face nature of play and we believe it to be most relevant in the context of this event, we will not use nor create any digital or video games during the event.
New ideas
Get new ideas for games and activities that you will be able to try out right away with your teams when you go back home. Play games that you already know and learn about variations, or discover completely new activities and learn how to facilitate them.
Conversations
You get to meet new interesting people from multiple backgrounds and with different experiences : serial gamers, learning-by-doing practitioners, games designers, facilitators, agile coaches, teachers, product or service designer, actors, improvisers, therapists, brainstormers, HR.
Experiments
It's a safe place where you can experiment new games or any idea that you have, with open minded people, who will be happy to provide feedback. You can come with an idea of something you want to teach, and find people to help you design a game that will reach your particular educational objective.
What will you learn ?
What players say
I am proud of what #play14 has become. Players are happy to join our events and curious to learn new things. They go back home with tons of new ideas and games to try out with their teams. More than an event, we have created a community.
CTO | Software architect | Agile coach | EventStormer | Sketchnoter | Happy Salmon guru
Agile Partner
Low tech is fun and impactful
Customer Experience and Co-innovation specialist with 10+ years experience leading and working among international teams globally.
cx-first.com
Find answers to my problems
See the learning happening
Wonderful, fabulous, amazing, inspirational, Fun!
Try it, try it, try it
I thought it was fantastic. Loads of really great sessions, learned TONS, great people. I'm not sure how it could be any better than it already is.
I think #play14 is a great event with an open and friendly atmosphere which invided participants to share games and experiences with each other. A big thanks to the facilitators for creating a playful space.
First agile event
Come to #play14
Energising, Inspiring, Networking, Serendipity, Playful
I was surprised by the great atmosphere and at the same time the usefulness of the material. I was a bit sceptical coming in but I ended up recommending the 'conference' to lots of other people. Thank you for your effort!
Everybody is a star
It was all about each one of the conversations we had with each other. Each one of the honest hugs we gave each other when saying 'thank you' in an invented language. The connection. It is all about the strength of the connection you can create with another human being despite the background, age, gender, race, language, social status or the time you have known each other. And how universal human communication drivers, like playing, can connect people deeply.
Thanks for organizing a really friendly and playful event. I found the people that attended to be welcoming and the activities engaging.
I support executives to awaken to their true potential. So they can stay calm and connected in complex situtations
Mindfulness out of the box
Do you want to know more about what to expect when you join an event ?
Our recent games / View more
Our recent posts / View more
May 10, 2020
First online event ever
On May 9th 2020, we had our very first online #play14 ever. It's been in the pipe for quite some time, and now it's done....
October 20, 2017
What Happens at a #play14 Conference ?
People look at me funny when I say that spent a weekend at a Play conference. Yes, we do laugh a lot, it is fun...
July 26, 2017
London is ready for its third edition
After meeting a great success in 2015 and 2016, London is ready to receive its third #play14
