Icebreaker game: “not no-one, not everyone”
What: It’s never all-or-none, quite the opposite! The goal of this game is to get to know each other by finding things we have in common.
When: Monday, 17 August, approx. 4:30pm UK / 11:30 am Eastern / 8:30am Pacific, for about an hour and a half.
Where: Join a Zoom call and a Discord channel; specifics will be provided after registration.
How: We’ll each take turns introducing a website that we have visited and that we think that at least one other person in attendance has also visited, but not everyone. Sticklers will aim for a very small number of others to know of the website, rather than most. If no one else has visited that website other than you, oops - you will be deducted some points (just kidding, there’s no score, just good fun!)
Feel free to think about this in advance, or if you’re feeling brave, come up with one on the spot!
Telephone game
What: A multimedia asynchonous game run from a spreadsheet!
When: Asynchronously throughout the conference
Where: In a spreadsheet, specifics will be provided after registration.
How: This is a virtual, asynchronous and multimedia version of the telephone game. In this game, a player contributes a sentence, a second player tries to find an image that best describes that sentence, a third player finds a video that describes the image, and a final fourth player writes a short sentence describing the video. You can start your own thread as the author of an original sentence, or participate in someone else’s thread. When play has ended, the umpires will reveal the original sentences and compare them to the final ones.
StreetView Tour
What: An online tour of parts of Toronto, and/or other places, led by Colin Clark and Philip Tchernavskij
When: Tuesday, 18 August, 6pm UK / 1 pm Eastern / 10am Pacific, for about an hour.
Where: Join a Zoom call and a Discord channel; specifics will be provided after registration.
How: Colin and Philip will share their screen in the Zoom call, and use StreetView to show us whatever they think we’ll enjoy, giving us a running narration. Participants will also be in one of the available Discord channels, where they can chat among themselves during the tour. Note: It’s possible to use voice chat in Discord, as well as text; if you want to do that, you’ll need a headset to prevent crossover between audio on Zoom and Discord.
Why: One of the pleasures of a face to face PPIG is to visit a new venue, and soak up the atmosphere, while walking from the venue to the pub or restaurant. Along the way you can catch up with old friends, or meet new ones, as you walk. This online tour is our attempt to provide those benefits, when we can’t meet physically in Toronto.
Musical Soirée / Matinée
What: An online musical soiree where we write verses and play/sing (some great, most of us necessarily badly, but that’s half the fun!).
When: Wednesday, 19 August, 6pm UK / 1 pm Eastern / 10am Pacific, for about an hour.
Where: Join a Zoom call; specifics will be provided after registration.
How: We’ll be collaboratively rewriting the verses to the song Clementine to make them PPIG-inspired (here’s a link if you’d like to listen to the original tune). We’ll then sing it a few times, and if you have any instruments on hand, feel free to play them along. Between August and November participants will submit a recording of themselves, which will be mixed together into a single audio/video to be played at the start of the November session.
Why: Musical evenings have often been a feature at PPIG workshops. Most recently, the Programmers’ Chanty and How much is that doggie in the window? were big hits (for participants, not audiences!).
Home potluck reception
What: A conference reception experience like no other: you make the food, others guess it, and you eat it (optional).
When: Thursday, 20 August, 6pm UK / 1 pm Eastern / 10am Pacific, for about an hour.
Where: Join a Zoom call; specifics will be provided after registration.
How: Participants prepare a dish. It can be as simple as a crumpet with butter, or as complicated as an indian curry on an open fire. In color progression, each participant will introduce their dish by its opposite, the other participants will attempt to guess what it might be, after which the current participant will show it on the camera and tell a story about it. You can challenge yourself by linking your dish to a programming story!
Why: Dinner conversations and storytelling are a very enjoyable part of PPIG. In this context we combine them with a game element, just to make things more interesting.