Vision & Strategy.
Building community and creating spaces to play, think and explore together.
A lot of people have an idea, a dream they want to pursue. We all need more time to relax, and enjoy life with family and friends. We just don't have the time. A lot of people struggle. A lot of people feel lost, or alone.
Our goal is to create more community spaces where people can play, think and explore together. Places we can re/learn how to be visionaries, builders, explorers, and problem solvers together.
THE CHALLENGE
Wicked problems stand in our way, and we just don't have the time, money, answers or help we need to solve them alone.
Wicked (or complex) problems have no common definition, cause, or solution. There are thousands of books on how to start a business. Most businesses will fail. People have created millions of books, programs, jobs and medications to help other people be healthier, happier. It's a growth industry.
Below are the three complex problems we created SpaceToPlay to address.
Outdated Education Systems
There is a deep mismatch between the skills people learn in our current education systems and the reality of a fast-changing economy and society.
Lack Of Community
As we bombard each other with pictures and comments online, more people feel alone, with no place to explore the difficult things we are all dealing with.
Future Of "Work"
We suffer personally and collectively when we don't care about our work. We need to all be engaged to deal with economic and environmental challenges.
OUR APPROACH IS PRETTY SIMPLE:
If we make it easier for people to make good money running programs they care about in their community...
...then a lot of people could have more fun, engaging and affordable ways to play & learn right in their community.
It doesn’t take a Ph.D to teach and explore fundamental principles of innovation, creativity, entrepreneurship. People are incredibly smart and capable when working collectively. We need to work and learn collectively much more than we need a book or an expert to tell us what to do.
It costs a LOT less to work and run programs locally. It's not just about affordable community spaces. It's the cost of travel, of being away from family for 8+ hours, doing work you don't enjoy, and the long-term effects of being disconnected and disengaged.
It creates so much MORE value. It's not just earning twice as much for our time while reducing costs. It's the network effect, the emergent properties of being engaged with our kids, our friends and other community members.
HOW WE WORK:
A Community of Designers
From PhDs and business owners to teachers and stay at home mom's and dad's, our community works together to create engaging programs that anyone could organize and run in a local community space like a school classroom, gymnasium or sports field.
Program Curriculum
Programs are designed so people - adults and children - can have fun learning and experiencing through play fundamental skills – like innovative, creative and collective thinking – to develop our the ability to adapt to new and complex problems.
Easy To Facilitate
Programs, with the help of supporting technology, are designed to be easy to setup and run with the same positive results for participants. Experts and the community of designers work to create a guided experience for facilitators and participants.
Community Spaces
There are hundreds of spaces available in every community - like school gyms and fields, parks, parks, community gardens, coffee shops, etc. One little game or activity can transform an empty place into a space that people come to play, think and learn together.
More Fun/Time Together
From after school programs and family-friendly sports to more immersive social/business projects, we are designing new ways to turn spaces, ideas, skills, even questions into ways to play, think and explore together.
Three ways to help!
Programs are self-sustaining, profitable "ventures" once they are up and running. We rely on fundraising and grants to (a) create and pilot new programs, (b) to buy equipment for people who want to setup new programs in their community, and (c) to subsidize registration fees for participants who need the help.
There are four ways to get involved: