Our values
Values are very important to us. They are what make #play14 what it is. Please, make sure you take a look at our manifesto and our code of conduct before you register to one of our events.
Many thanks to Nina Neef for the wonderful images.
Everything at #play14 grows from these six. They shape how we run events, how we treat each other, and what it feels like to be in the room.
The values we play by
Openness
We show up without armour — no hierarchy, no hidden agenda, no 'that's not how we do it here'. The best moments happen when you say yes to something you'd normally walk straight past. So we keep the door, and our minds, wide open.
Inclusion
Different jobs, different countries, different reasons for turning up — everyone belongs, and nobody has to earn their seat. We build events where no one sits on the sidelines and every voice gets to play.
Connection
Playing together skips the small talk and gets you to something real, fast. The people you meet here have a habit of turning up again — at the next event, in another city, years down the line. That's not networking; it's the start of friendships.
Curiosity
We're all here because we never quite stopped asking 'what if?'. Curiosity is what gets a session proposed, a game reinvented, a stuck problem looked at sideways. Bring yours — the more you poke at things, the more you'll take home.
Sharing
Nobody hoards here. You hand over the game, the technique, the half-formed idea — and you get back ten you'd never have found on your own. It isn't a transaction; it's how the whole movement grows, person to person, event to event.
Courage
It takes a little nerve to facilitate in front of strangers, to play full-out, to be silly on purpose. #play14 is the safe place to find that nerve — and once you've used it here, you'll notice it's still there on Monday morning.
Those values took shape, years ago, in a short manifesto — our north star for what #play14 is, and what it will always be.
Manifesto
#play14 is and always will be
- a place to share knowledge & practices more than a place to sell services & goods
- open to all people or communities with an interest on learning with fun
- focused on games & activities in the physical world more than in the virtual world
- an unconference based on the Open Space Technology
- non profit, which means that when we do make a profit on a given event, we reinvest everything into the next
And this is what we ask of everyone who shows up. Nothing heavy — just the handful of things that keep the room open, kind, and fun.
Code of conduct
- You shall be open minded and ready to listen and learn from others
- You shall feel free to propose, experiment and explain what you have in mind
- You shall not high-jack, sabotage or ruin the learning experience of others
- You shall manage your own timebox when facilitating so that other sessions can start on time
- You shall behave appropriately and be a decent human being
- You shall always leave the playground clean (boy scout rule), avoid waste and try to reduce your carbon footprint
- You shall be ready to get serious fun and good laughs and should try not be shy about that
To summarize: “You shall not be an a**hole”.
One of those lines deserves a closer look: the one about leaving the playground clean.
Boy/Girl scout rule
Always leave the campground cleaner than you found it.
Be mindful of other people well being by cleaning after yourself when you leave a space. That goes for the space you played on, the space you ate on, the space you rested on, etc.
Remember that the hosting team is not there to clean after you, but are also participants of the event. They also want to facilitate and attend sessions, as much as you do.