July 2011 Newsletter

Greetings,

Our summer has been filled with great experiences and lots of travel.

Conference and Appearances

In early June, Chris Farina and I enjoyed the Art of Peace Conference in Ottawa Canada, sponsored by Brown University, where the “World Peace and Other 4th Grade Achievements” was screened as the opening event.

A week later we found ourselves in the company of luminaries such as Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan and Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Stephen Breyer at the Aspen Ideas Fest in Colorado. I spoke on a panel with our new friend Sal Khan of the Khan Academy, and Katie Salem of NYC.  While on site NBC’s “Education Nation” videotaped an interview with me, available here.  Later, GENConnect.com also sat down with John  and recorded this video.

TEDx

At the end of June, I squeezed in another TEDx Talk in Philadelphia,  at the Wharton Business School of UPenn.  My  presentation included a film screening and the video of the presentation will be posted soon.

IDEO Design

In early July, Will May and I, an old friend of the Rosalia Film Company & a new associate of the World Peace Game Foundation, were invited to a premiere Silicon Valley design firm, IDEO, to screen the film World Peace and Other 4th Grade Achievements for IDEO employees and their families. After the presentation,  Will and I participated in several brainstorming session exploring future applications of the Game.

World Peace Game Summer Academy

The World Peace Game Academy just completed its 4^th annual session! This summer was hosted by the Darden Business School, (where I’m a Fellow) on the campus of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Two single week sessions of the Game were played by 9-17 year-olds and observed by a number of teachers, business professionals and Darden Faculty.  The Academy resulted in the world being saved twice more! A special thank you to Robert Noell for his gracious support during the Academy.

StoryCorp Recording

StoryCorp Recordist, Brian Reed brought his recording team from Washington DC to Charlottesville twice this summer to record university student Irene Newman (a former student World Peace Game player from 12 years ago!) and myself. The StoryCorp team also returned during the Academy summer session and audio-recorded John with several outstanding players during breaks in the game. Final recordings will be placed in the US Library of Congress and may appear on air.

Literary Agency

The Cynthia Cannell Agency in New York, has just signed me to produce the story of the World Peace Game, its history, pedagogy, and philosophical underpinnings, as well as a number of astonishing and heart-warming anecdotes.

Speakers Bureau

Subsequently, the Leigh Bureau, a speaker agency whose clients include David Brooks and Malcolm Gladwell has just signed to represent me in support of his efforts to share the principles of the game worldwide.

Bergen, Norway

The first International session of the World Peace Game will be played in Bergen, Norway this week. Youth from Bergen, Afghanistan, sub-Saharan Africa and Finland, will play the game for a week with several professors and adult teachers. It’s a poignant time, and John asks that the game be dedicated to the Norwegian people in the wake of their recent tragedy.

Upcoming Events

On August 19th John will be the featured speaker at the University of Houston’s College of Education inaugural First Lecture, an event intended to celebrate the beginning of a new academic year for teachers-in-training (750) and College faculty (75). World Peace and Other 4th Grade Achievements will also be screened prior to John’s presentation.  Approximately 100 leaders from the Greater Houston education community will also be in attendance. The inaugural First Lecture will be videotaped and be available soon after the event.

On August 30^th, John will travel to Atlanta, GA to be the featured speaker for Newell Rubbermaid’s first global marketing conference entitled Curiosity.  The conference hosts 500 marketers from around the globe with a number of them attending virtually through an online portal.

September features a TEDx event in Antwerp, Belguim and a closing keynote at the EMG eLearning Conference in Anaheim, California.

Check the blog for real time updates from John’s travels.

Best,

John + The World Peace Game Foundation