I just wanted to take a sec to plug a really excellent event that is going into its third year of existence. The Games+Learning+Society event focuses the lens down on a very specific area of gaming. Everything I’ve read coming out of the event raises the tone of the discussion on gaming to a new level. Jane mentioned it today on Game Girl Advance, and I’ll snip from her press release:

For two years the GLS Conference has been the space for academics, industry leaders, educators, and policy makers to meet and to engage, not just in industry building, but in serious discussion about the current state of the field: where we ought to be headed, and what impact games can and ought to have on culture and society. We are planning the biggest and best year ever for this very important gathering, and we hope you will join us. Confirmed presenters at GLS 3.0 include: Henry Jenkins, Jim Gee, Doug Church, Julian Dibbell, Elonka Dunin, Bob Gehorsam, Justin Hall, Yasmin Kafai, Eric Klopfer, Thomas Malaby, Andrew Phelps, Katie Salen, Lisa Galarneau, Ian Bogost, Ted Castronova, Kurt Squire and Constance Steinkuehler.

Yay Constance!

Embarrassingly … really, really embarrassingly … even though I live in the city this is being held in I’ve never been able to go. This year (sigh) looks like I’m out again, because there’s this other thing happening that weekend. Either I’ll be in Santa Monica directly, or writing about it from my nerdhole. Either way I probably won’t be able to make it down to Madison’s beautiful Hilton convention space, which everyone should go to this July the 12th and 13th to participate in an intellectually stimulating event.

By the by, if you do make it here for the event, I have a few recommendations: The Great Dane Pub is relatively near the hotel. For great food a little further away, I love Dotty’s Dumpling Dowry (burger joint) and Ian’s Pizza. For greater Madison area dining, I highly recommend the Eating in Madison A to Z blog, which is possibly one of the finest web projects based in this city.