Invited Lectures/Discussions

Meaningful Inefficiencies Book Tour. Talks at Emerson College, Stanford, UC Davis, IDEO, Microsoft Research (Feb 2020). Rest of tour cancelled. 

Invited Speaker. “Play and Public Space.” Tanween Cultural Center. Dammam, Saudi Arabia. (October 2019).

Invited Speaker. “Meeting People Where They Are.” Knight Forum on Public Spaces. Philadelphia, PA (June 2019).

Plenary panelist. “Civic Design in an Age of Mistrust,” People Powered Publishing, Columbia College, Chicago, IL (November 2018).

Invited Speaker, “Meaningful Inefficiencies: Designing Democracy in the Smart City,” Smart Cities – Beyond the Standard Model. Colegium Helveticum, ETH Zurich (May 2018).

Invited Speaker, "Using Games to Engage the Public," White House Innovation Office, Washington, DC (September 2016)

Invited Speaker, “Games and International Development,” Games for Change 2016, New York, NY (June 2016).

Key Participant, “Community IRB in Boston,” Workshop on Ethical Review Processes for Community Data, Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, Palo Alto, CA (May 2016).

Keynote, “Civic Media and the Liberal Arts,” Media Education Summit, Boston, MA (November 2015).

Keynote, “Meaningful Inefficiencies.” Play, Perform, Participate, University of Utrecht, Netherlands (April 2015).

Lecture, “’Keeping Up’ and ‘Keeping it Real’: An Analysis of the Social Life of Civic Media.” Center for Civic Media, MIT (November 6, 2014).

Lecture, “Games and Development,” United Nations Development Program, Thimpu, Bhutan (September 2014).

Lecture, “Games and Development,” United Nations Development Program, Cairo, Egypt (September 2014).

Lecture, “Games and Development,” University of Lugano, Lugano Switzerland (June 2014).

Lecture, “The Work of Games” Free University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NL (June 2014).

Invited Moderator, “Research Participation and Engagement” Digitally Connected, UNESCO and Berkman Center Conference on Youth, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (April 2014).

Plenary Panelist, “Playing for Keeps: Games and Real World Action” Digital Media and Learning Conference, Boston, MA (March 2014).

Invited Speaker, “Developing Games / Gaming Development” United Nations Development Program, United Nations, New York, NY (October 2013).

Invited Speaker, “Future of Civic Technologies,” Best Minds Conference, Raleigh, NC (September 2013).

Keynote Speaker, “Games and Civic Life.” Salzburg Global Seminar on Media Literacy, Salzburg, Austria (August 2013).

Invited Speaker, “Play, Games and Policy.” Workshop on Behaviorial Economics and Gamification for Development. United Nations Development Program. Bratislava, Slovakia (June 2013).

Invited Speaker, “Transforming Local Civic Engagement Through an Online Game,” Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (March 2013).

Invited Panelist, "New Tools for Democratic Participation," National League of Cities Conference, Boston, MA (November 2012)

Invited Speaker, “Games and Public Participation,” World Town Planning Day Online Conference (November 2012)

Invited Speaker, Social Media for Teaching and Learning (http://plsevents.pearsonlearningsolutions.com/plsevents/social-media/index.jsp), Boston, MA (October 2012).

Invited Speaker, Mayor’s Innovation Project, Eugene, OR (June 2012)

Invited Discussant, OPCity: Figuring the Urban Future, University of Toronto, Toronto, CANADA (April 2012).

Invited Speaker, “Designing Play That Matters: Community PlanIt and the Boston Public Schools,” Rappaport Institute of Greater Boston at the Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge, MA (March 2012).

Invited Panelist, “Avatars of the Urban: New Metro Media,” Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Conference, Boston, MA (March 2012).

Invited Speaker, “3 Technologies for Democracy” TED Master Class, TED Conference, Long Beach, CA (March 2012).

Keynote Speaker, “The Place of Technology in the Liberal Arts: Designing Attention and Learning in the Modern Classroom,” Holy Cross, Worcester, MA (January 2012).

Invited Panelist, “Learning, Assessment and Serious Games, Challenges, Assumptions and Charting Directions,” New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Boston, MA (December 2011)

Invited Lecture, “Community PlanIt: How Can a Planning Process Based on an Online Game Encourage Different Interest Groups to Influence School Policy and Improvement Strategies?” Media Literacy 2011, MIT, Cambridge, MA (October 2011).

Moderated Lunch, “How to Design Interactive Media That Improve Place-Based Experiences and Encourage Local Civic Engagement” Reimagining the City – University Connection: Integrating Research, Policy, and Practice,” Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge MA (October 2011).

Invited Lecture, “Beyond Participation: Designing Local Engagement for a Mobile Culture,” Mobility Shifts: An International Future of Learning Summit, New York, NY (October 2011).

Keynote Panelist, “Net Locality and the Aesthetics of Community Engagement,” LOOK BETTER / Interdisciplinary Visual Research Symposium, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH (October 2011).

Invited Lecture, “Enhancing Community Meetings Through Interactive Games,” Digital Communications Workshop, Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge MA (September 2011).

Keynote Lecture, “The Challenge of Designing Local Engagement for Networked Communities,” Community and Technologies 2011, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia (June 2011).

Keynote Lecture (with David Bogen), “Intimacy, Expertise, and the ‘Problem’ of Attention: Designs for Post-Industrial Education,” eTeaching Conference, Boston College (May 2011).

Invited Panelist, “Immersive Planning Engagement Strategies,” American Planning Association, Boston, MA (April 2011).

Keynote Lecture, “Engaging Community Online and Off, California Redevelopment Association, San Jose, CA (March 2011).

Invited Panelist, “Engaging Communities With Games and Social Media,” Digital Media and Learning Conference, Long Beach, CA (March 2011).

Invited Lecture, “Why Location Matters in a Networked World,” Trendy Topics T2, http://www.trendytopics.info/schedule.htm (February 2011).

Keynote Lecture, “Designing Attention & Learning in the Modern Classroom: Emerging Social Rituals and Their Influence on Classroom Learning” 2011 Academic Technology Institute, Lesley University, Cambridge, MA (January 2011).

Peer-reviewed Conference Presentations

Democratizing Manifestation of Technology in the Public Realm. Frontiers of Democracy. Boston, MA (June 2019).

Beta Blocks: Participatory Design of the Smart City. Media in Transition. Cambridge, MA (May 2019). 

“The Practice of Civic Tech: Tensions in the Adoption and Use of New Technologies in Community-Based Organizations,” International Communication Association, Prague, CZ (May 2018).

“@Stake: A Game to Facilitate the Process of Deliberative Democracy,” Computer Supported Cooperative Work, San Francisco, CA (March 2016), pp. 269-272

“The Urban as an Emergent Key Concept for Media Theory,” International Communication Association, Fukuoka, Japan (June 2016).

“Building Civic Participation Through Mobile Reporting Apps: Efficient, Engaging or Both?,” International Communication Association, San Juan, Puerto Rico (May 2015).

“Building Civic Participation Through Mobile Reporting Apps,” International Communication Association, Seattle, WA (June 2014).

“Beyond Participation: How an Online Game Transformed Urban Planning in Detroit,” International Communication Association, London, UK (June 2013).

“Play to Plan: How Games Can Change Public Participation in Urban Planning,” Games for Change X. New York, NY (June 2013).

“Mapping as a Strategy for Youth Engagement: Contributing Data to Real City Problems as Civic Learning,” Digital Media and Learning 2013, Chicago, IL (March 2013).

“Building Civic Cities: The New Urban Mechanics Collaborative as a Model for Scaling Civic Engagement

Across Cities, “Digital Media and Learning 2013, Chicago, IL (March 2013)

“Exploring a Tablet Application for the Seminar Classroom,” New Media Consortium, Cambridge, MA (June 2012).

“Net Localities and the Design of Local Community Engagement,” Critical Geography Conference, Worcester, MA (November 2011).