GLLS2007: The Payoff - Up Close and Personal

Eli Neiburger, Ann Arbor District Library

presentation

• average gamer isn't "smelly boy in the basement" - average gamer is 33 years old and female
• our kids will be appalled at our lack of gaming skills
• many lib services for teens are pedantic
• "why does everything have to have dave eggers involved in it?"
• eli's sons first camping trip was outside an electronics store the day wii was released!
• seniors wii bowling! activity for seniors is good
• ddr event: had a 78-year old man who got lost on his way to VA ("polock dick") who danced
• gaming is same sort of social interaction in libs that has been going on before - taking personal thing like gaming and making it social
• snork=smurf spinoff
• game tournaments show that "there is still life left in the library"
• big payoff=positive interactions with library staff - have presuppositions about lib staff when they come in, you don't wanna prove them right
• gaming can bring people together across all sorts of groups, including language
• Tournaments not about haves and have nots, breaks across socioeconomic demographics
• library as source of cred
• aadl gaming video rough cut: " i expect the library to have books, a poor selection of cds...", there are kids coming from kalamazoo to ann arbor for gaming {that's 98.6 miles}
• payoff=proving relevance to audience that would never have thought of library in that way
• gtsystem - opening up the AADL online scoring/ blogs/ registration etc for libraries nationwide, in future there will be national and regional tournaments, possibility of synchronized tournament days w/ finals taking place online over the net - potential marketing opportunity nationwide {this will potentially be HUGE!}, will start in july 2008

{aadl is doing some AWESOME stuff. and eli is a great speaker}