Past Play Conferences
2024 Conference on the Value of Play:
The FUTURE of Play!
“The Future of Play: HEALTH People. Place. Space”
- Michael Suk, MD, Chief Physician Officer, Geisinger System Services
- Brooke Buckley, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital
- Sandy Goodman, President, CRGA Design
“The Past, Present, and Future of Games, Screens, and Public Play"
- TreAndrea Russworm, PhD, Microsoft Endowed Chair & Professor, Interactive Media & Games, University of Southern California
- Eric Zimmerman, Game Designer + Professor, Game Design, New York University
- Maura White, Senior Director, AARP Gaming & Community
- Raiford Guins, PhD, Professor & Cahir of Cinema & Media Studies, Indiana University
"PLAYtalk: Play, Fun & Taxes"
- Bob Grennes - Commissioner, Indiana Department of Revenue
& the Libraries, Learning, & Play Forum!
- an all day, play-in-libraries-centered forum, featuring exemplars, best practices, lesons learned, and big PLAY ideas in public, school, and university libraries!
2022 Conference on the Value of Play:
THE NATURE OF PLAY
“Passion as Playtime — Why Loving What We Do Can Save Us”
- J. Drew Lanham, PhD
“Health & PLAY” Institute —
- Michael Suk, MD
- Brooke Buckley, MD
- Deborah A. Cohen, MD
- Meghan Talarowski, PLA, ASLA, CPSI
- Matthew Browning, PhD
Power PLAYer Panel:
- Fran Mainella
- Debora Wisneski, PhD
- Deepti Adlakha, PhD
- Sarah Milligan-Toffler
2021 Virtual Conference on the Value of Play:
PLAY IS SURVIVAL
“Health & PLAY” Institute —
- Michael Suk, MD, Chief Physician Officer
Geisinger System Services - Stuart Brown, MD
- Jessica M. Black, PhD
- Jenny Radesky, MD
- Anthony T. DeBenedet, MD
- Marie Brown, MD, MACP
- Brooke Buckley, MD, FACS
- Caroline P. Cárdenas, MSN, MA, RN, CBCN
- Erwin Tan, MD
- Sarah Griffin, PhD
- Amy Babington
- Brittne Nelson-Kakulla, PhD
- Meaghan Praznik
- Garth Graham, MD, MPH
- Nancy Katz
- Alex Maiersperger
- Peter Gray, PhD
Power PLAYer Panel: PLAY IS SURVIVAL
- Laura Huerta Migus
- Lysa Ratliff, CEO of KABOOM!
- Dr. Christine Sims
#BlackGirlMagic Mondays
- “Empowerment, Play & Black Girlhood through History”
Corliss Outley, PhD, Professor, Parks, Recreation & Tourism Mgmt
with Anitra Alexander, MS, Clemson University - “Black Girlhood, Agency & Play in the Outdoors”
Aby Sene-Harper, PhD, Assistant Professor, Parks, Recreation & Tourism Mgmt, Clemson University - “Raising Strong Daughters: The Impact of Daughter-Father Relationships in Play”
Daphne Harris, PhD, Senior Lecturer, Educational Psychology, University of North Texas - “Afro-centric Dance & Intergenerational Play”
Sharon McKenzie, PhD, Asst. Professor, Recreation Therapy & Gerontology, Kean University - “Black Girlhood and Play: Where do we go from here?”
Aishia Brown, PhD, Asst Professor, School of Public Health & Information Sciences, University of Louisville
2020 Online Conference on the Value of Play:
PLAY IS SURVIVAL
“Promoting the Power of Play.”
- Lise Aangeenbrug
“Creating a School Vision of Play and Wellness: The Importance of a Balanced Approach to Education.”
- Michael J. Hynes, Ed.D.
10th Anniversary (2019) Conference on the Value of Play:
PLAY FOR LIFE
“PLAY FOR LIFE.”
- Stuart Brown, MD
- Peter Gray, PhD
Power PLAYer Panel
“The FUTURE of Play.”
- Moderator: Fran Mainella
- Michael Suk, MD JD MPH MBA FACS
- Erwin Tan, MD
- Debora Wisneski, Ph.D.
- Meghan Talarowski, MLA, CPSI
2018 Conference on the Value of Play:
The Many Faces of Play
Power PLAYer Panel
“The Many Faces of Play”
- Moderator: Fran Mainella
- Sherrill York
- Laura Huerta Migus
- Erwin Tan, MD
“Spreading the Power of Optimism through Play.”
- Steve Gross
The Implications of Race on Play for Youth of Color
- Myron Floyd, Ph.D.
- Corliss Outley, Ph.D.
- Rasul Mowatt, Ph.D.
- Panel Moderator: Harrison Pinckney, Ph.D.
2017 Conference on the Value of Play:
Where Design Meets Play
“Designing for Fun: Making Play Spaces that City Kids (and Parents) Love”
- Matthew Urbanski
Power PLAYer Panel
“Where Design Meets Play”
- Moderator: Fran Mainella
- Stuart Brown, MD
- Michael Suk, MD
- Kim Moore Bailey