Humor & Gaming for Social Good Forum
The Humor & Gaming for Social Good Forum is a two-day event and will focus on current trends and the latest developments in social impact influencer spaces, using humor and games, as tools for social causes.
The first day of the Forum will address several issues, in connection to the use of humor to create positive counter-narratives and fight distortions, challenge negative stereotypes, and foster a sense of community.
· What has been the impact of the digital revolution on comedy production and dissemination?
· Can real problems be solved by injecting fun into the equation?
· Influencers’ Impact. Does humor succeed changing hearts and minds?
· What works and what doesn’t work, using humor to combat misinformation and fake news?
The following day, we’ll focus, through a series of workshops, on games and gamification, serving social causes. The event will also include a hackathon, meant to help solve, through gamification, social issues that are relevant to the municipality of Yerevan. And we’ll select a winner, to be announced during a public event and concert the final night!
Journalists, gamers, satirists, entrepreneurs, academic scholars, communication professionals, or just engaged citizens will interact with peers attending from over 30 countries for 2 days of sessions, focusing on digital expressions of playfulness of mind and soul, in support of democracy, tolerance, better governance and community resilience and activism. All discussions will be in English.
Representatives of the U.S. Embassy will deliver remarks.
Other speakers include:
· Mr. Narek Markarian & Mr. Sergei Sargsyan, Armcomedy, Yerevan, Armenia
· Ms. Erin Crouch, Stand-up Comedian, Los Angeles, U.S.
· Mr. Haris Dedovic, Executive Director / Editor in Chief, @Satro.info, Association of Media and Civil Society Development, Sarajevo, Bosnia
· Ms. Emma-Lacey Bordeaux, Senior Director of Standards and Practices, CNN Washington
· Mr. Borna Sor, Chief Executive Officer, Hahar Productions, Zagreb, Croatia
· Mr. Mike Gillis, Head Writer, the Onion, Chicago, U.S.
· Mr. Omri Marcus, Head of Screenz Originals, Tel Aviv, Israel
· Ms. Kamile Kaslyte, Digital Marketer & Entrepreneur, Brussels, Belgium
· Mr. Mykolas Markauskas, Chief Executive Officer, Laisves TV, Vilnius, Lithuania
· Mr. Arman Atoyan, Co-founder and CEO, ARLOOPA, Yerevan, Armenia
· Ms. Elizabeth Newbury, Director of Serious Games Initiative, Wilson Center, Washington DC
· Mr. Ernesto Nunez Chacon, Director, La Doble Traccion, Balen, Costa Rica
· Ms. Larisa Percinlic, Game Designer, Ljubljana, Slovenia
· Mr. Hakan Bilinger, Founder and Editor in Chief, Zaytung.com, Istanbul, Turkey
· Ms. Agierszka Mulak, Writer and Story Designer, MoaCube, Warsaw, Poland
· Mr. Maksym Kyiak, Co-Founder, Global Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine
· Mr. Farai Monro, Creative Director, Magamba Network, Zimbabwe
· Mr. George Maddox Ouzounian, Author, Maddow Productions, Los Angeles, CA
The Forum is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State Office of Citizen Exchanges and coordinated by Digital Communication Network, an international association connecting professionals of the digital age and World Learning, a global NGO, empowering people and strengthening institutions.
For all inquiries regarding media coverage and availability, please contact Lusine Barseghyan at LusineBarseghyan@gmail.com
