There are loads of different innovation games and gamestorming techniques out there but not enough opportunities to evaluate their effectiveness outside of the context of a "live" project. To address this problem, I've started a new meetup to provide the chance for anybody who fancies trying out different games as part of a group.
Similar to a bookclub format, we would discuss the games afterwards and showcase examples any examples anyone has from using games on their own projects. Some further thought about how the format might evolve include:
Prototyping new games with a receptive audience
Multiple games per meet up - opening, exploring and closing
Single or multiple groups depending on levels of interest and games chosen
Design facilitation is another big area of interest for a lot of people and I also see this as an opportunity to develop their facilitation skills if they would like to practice running an activity.
Hopefully this is something that will be of interest to a lot of people. I've already had quite a few people sign up and had offers of support from Dave Gray, author of Gamestorming and Luke Hohman, author if Innovation Games. Clearly there is a gap here to be filled and I think there is a great opportunity to build on the interest there is in learning more about techniques for innovation and collaborative working.
I've scheduled the first meet up for the Wednesday 10th July. Please let me know if you have any ideas for how this might work or if you are willing to help me organise things.