This past week was quite a busy one.  In just seven days, GameTime 24x7:

• officially partnered with Mary Couzin, Caren Ex and Danny Lewis to secure sponsors for the Loteria Mix game
• engaged with Gamers of Chicago and the Chicago LAN Party Meetup to collaborate on a casual game design competition - site and rules forthcoming
• further streamlined the vision of the GameTime 24x7 physical club concept - a haven for game lovers to meet, play and explore all variety of games

Of course, with our vision of improvisational entrepreneurship, we're always looking for passionate folks who would like to be a part of any of our initiatives, including the three mentioned above.  If you are eager to engage on business or game-related projects, email your interests and past experience to gamesmaster@gametime24x7.com - operators are standing by.

Always have fun,
Jacob

I'm sure everyone has heard that quote before: "Does the left hand know what the right hand is doing?"  Especially if you have ever worked on a dysfunctional team or in an organization where communication was not operating at its best, you are familiar with the idea of different individuals or teams performing independently at best, or in direct opposition at its worst.  Well, this week's game is taking the quote a bit more literally.  Take one or more activities that you typically do with your dominant hand.  Over the course of this week, use only your non-dominant hand to complete the activity.  This could be as simple as brushing your teeth, talking on the phone or using your remote control.  As you begin to engage your non-dominant half, you will not only begin to appreciate the complex motor skills required from your dominant hand, but also reflect on how the rest of your body responds.

As an example, I almost always hold my phone up to my left ear with my left hand.  My right hand, being dominant, is sometimes restless and wants to check email or otherwise engage itself.  When I switch and have my right hand holding the phone to my right ear, I engage my listening skills more intently.  Perhaps it's because my right hand is no longer free to be distracted - I'm not sure.  What I do know is that it completely changes my perception of the phone call.

Play the game of switching hands this week with non-critical activities (i.e. no switching up for surgery, driving, handling flammables, etc.) and see how your body and mind respond to the difference.  When you've had your fill, come back here and share what the experience was, how it felt and how, if at all, it changed your outlook or behavior.

[This exercise is inspired by a suggestion from Hope Bertram.  Thank you, Hope, for providing the great idea!]

Thanks to the wonderful folks at CafePress.com, the artful stylings of Kalin and the computer graphics skills of Roberto, we have an official merchandise store.  We've currently got four designs stocked, two pertaining to the racial implications of chess, one to tout your skills as a poker master and one whimsical design that makes light of developing in the game Settlers of Catan.  You can check out all of the designs at the official GameTime 24x7, Ltd. Merchandise Shop.

Today my schedule took me, and with me GameTime 24x7, all over the city to meet with a variety of game-loving people.  First thing this morning, I had the privilege of sharing breakfast with Mary Couzin, founder of the Chicago Toy and Game Fair, Carina of Casa De Carina, and Carina's cousin Danny Lewis of the DLRP Marketing Company.  We are developing a collaborative effort to market an incredible game system to the Latino community - LOTERIA MIX™.  You'll be hearing more about this over the next few days.

I also had the opportunity to speak with Michael Harper of TalentGenesis.  We're going to meet in a couple weeks, when he returns to Chicago, to discuss games and professional development.  In the mean time, he suggested that I get a copy of The Kids are Alright: How the Gamer Generation is Changing the Workplace.  I found a copy on sale cheap at Amazon.com, so I should have it shortly to review.  I'll share what I learn about the gamer culture and its impact on the business world via this blog.

At lunch, my friend and business associate Brian Blankstein met up with me and we got together with Yan Pritzker, CEO of Planypus, a website designed to support impromptu get-togethers among friends.  We may find ourselves collaborating soon on a special project - stay tuned.

In the evening, I returned to my favorite Argo Tea over at 16 W. Randolph for this Wednesday's GameTime Afterhours.  Brian and I helped introduce a few newbies to Settlers of Catan and then we settled in for some team-based party games, beginning with a rousing game of Cranium and wrapping up with a marathon session of Taboo.  We almost ran through every single one of the pink-colored cards.  My most intriguing observation of the experience was how radically differently every player approached the challenge of providing clues without using the restricted words.  Players provided hints ranging from very literal word associations to vague implications and from terse terms or expressions to very verbose, rapid-fire commentary.  From this observation, I discovered that there is a value to collaborating with someone who has a complementary communication style OR one who has a style that can adapt to complement yours.  When you discount the challenge of avoiding the restriction words, performance between pairs or teams varied wildly from -2 points at the minimum to 7 points at the maximum in a single round.  I'm very eager to learn more about how Taboo could be used to evaluate communications styles and enable teams to more effectively communicate.