Playful Engagement, with Ed Rodley
What if we combined immersion, emotion, storytelling — and games?
We all want “engagement” … but what is engagement? How can our projects create it? What are the elements that go into it? Can game theory and play teach us how to make our experiences better? What is “narrative transportation”? Why are emotions key to memory creation? And what do Renaissance fairs have to do with museums?
We all want “engagement” … but what is engagement? How can our projects create it? What are the elements that go into it? Can game theory and play teach us how to make our experiences better? What is “narrative transportation”? Why are emotions key to memory creation? And what do Renaissance fairs have to do with museums?
Ed Rodley (Co-Founder and Principal, The Experience Alchemists), joins MtM host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “Playful Engagement.”
Along the way: holodecks, Sleep No More, portmanteaus, and Ed’s upcoming book.
Talking Points:
1. What is “Playful Engagement”?
2. The Magic Circle
3. Immersion
4. Emotion
5. Storytelling
6. Games and Play
How to Listen:
Listen on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311
Listen on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G
Listen at Making the Museum, the Website:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/podcast
Links to Every Podcast Service, via Transistor:
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/
Guest Bio:
Ed Rodley, Co-Founder & Principal, The Experience Alchemists (TEA), is an award-winning experience designer with over thirty-five years’ experience in making exhibitions and experiences for cultural organizations large and small. Incorporating emerging technologies into museum practice has been a theme throughout his career. As a thought leader in the digital transformation of the cultural sector, Ed frequently speaks at events around the world like ICOM’s International Symposium 2024 in Dubai and the National Digital Forum 2023 in New Zealand. He was one of Blooloop’s 50 Museum Influencers for 2021. His book “Designing for Playful Engagement in Museums” is due out in Summer 2025 from Routledge.
About Making the Museum:
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture.
Learn more about the creative work of C&G Partners:
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/
Links for This Episode:
Ed Rodley by Email:
ed@theexperiencealchemists.com
The Experience Alchemists
https://www.theexperiencealchemists.com
“Taking the Plunge” in Museum Magazine
https://www.aam-us.org/2022/11/01/taking-the-plunge/
This article discusses the current state of immersive experiences, some of the conversations around these experiences and their “authenticity” and surveys the psychological research into immersion in digital environments to explore what makes them compelling.
"Thinking about Museums" Blog
https://thinkingaboutmuseums.com/
Ed’s personal weblog on museums, content, design, and why they matter.
Museopunks: The Podcast for the Progressive Museum
https://www.aam-us.org/programs/about-museums/museopunks/
Ed had the distinct pleasure of co-hosting with Suse Anderson her AAM-sponsored podcast which investigated the fascinating work and personalities in and around the museum sector, with a focus on emergent, boundary-pushing work and ideas.
Humanizing the Digital: Unproceedings from the MCN 2018 Conference
https://ad-hoc-museum-collective.github.io/humanizing-the-digital/
This book explored how museums can use technology to foster human connection and dialogue, advance accessibility and inclusion, and champion inquiry and knowledge, drawn from the Museum Computer Network conference.
CODE | WORDS - Technology and Theory in the Museum
https://medium.com/code-words-technology-and-theory-in-the-museum
Brought together leading museum thinkers and practitioners to explore emerging issues about the nature of museums in the light of the dramatic and ongoing impact of digital technologies.
Links for Making the Museum, the Podcast:
Contact Making the Museum:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
Host Jonathan Alger, Managing Partner of C&G Partners, on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
Email Jonathan Alger:
alger@cgpartnersllc.com
C&G Partners | Design for Culture:
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/
Making the Museum, the Newsletter:
Liked the show? You might enjoy the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a free weekly professional development email for exhibition practitioners, museum leaders, and visitor experience professionals. (And newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about new episodes of this podcast.)
Join hundreds of your peers with a one-minute read, three times a week. Invest in your career with a diverse, regular feed of planning and design insights, practical tips and tested strategies — including thought-provoking approaches to technology, experience design, audience, budgeting, content, and project management.
Subscribe to the newsletter:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/
How to Listen:
Listen on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-the-museum/id1674901311
Listen on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/6oP4QJR7yxv7Rs7VqIpI1G
Listen at Making the Museum, the Website:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/podcast
Links to Every Podcast Service, via Transistor:
https://makingthemuseum.transistor.fm/
Guest Bio:
Ed Rodley, Co-Founder & Principal, The Experience Alchemists (TEA), is an award-winning experience designer with over thirty-five years’ experience in making exhibitions and experiences for cultural organizations large and small. Incorporating emerging technologies into museum practice has been a theme throughout his career. As a thought leader in the digital transformation of the cultural sector, Ed frequently speaks at events around the world like ICOM’s International Symposium 2024 in Dubai and the National Digital Forum 2023 in New Zealand. He was one of Blooloop’s 50 Museum Influencers for 2021. His book “Designing for Playful Engagement in Museums” is due out in Summer 2025 from Routledge.
About Making the Museum:
Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture.
Learn more about the creative work of C&G Partners:
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/
Links for This Episode:
Ed Rodley by Email:
ed@theexperiencealchemists.com
The Experience Alchemists
https://www.theexperiencealchemists.com
“Taking the Plunge” in Museum Magazine
https://www.aam-us.org/2022/11/01/taking-the-plunge/
This article discusses the current state of immersive experiences, some of the conversations around these experiences and their “authenticity” and surveys the psychological research into immersion in digital environments to explore what makes them compelling.
"Thinking about Museums" Blog
https://thinkingaboutmuseums.com/
Ed’s personal weblog on museums, content, design, and why they matter.
Museopunks: The Podcast for the Progressive Museum
https://www.aam-us.org/programs/about-museums/museopunks/
Ed had the distinct pleasure of co-hosting with Suse Anderson her AAM-sponsored podcast which investigated the fascinating work and personalities in and around the museum sector, with a focus on emergent, boundary-pushing work and ideas.
Humanizing the Digital: Unproceedings from the MCN 2018 Conference
https://ad-hoc-museum-collective.github.io/humanizing-the-digital/
This book explored how museums can use technology to foster human connection and dialogue, advance accessibility and inclusion, and champion inquiry and knowledge, drawn from the Museum Computer Network conference.
CODE | WORDS - Technology and Theory in the Museum
https://medium.com/code-words-technology-and-theory-in-the-museum
Brought together leading museum thinkers and practitioners to explore emerging issues about the nature of museums in the light of the dramatic and ongoing impact of digital technologies.
Links for Making the Museum, the Podcast:
Contact Making the Museum:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
Host Jonathan Alger, Managing Partner of C&G Partners, on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
Email Jonathan Alger:
alger@cgpartnersllc.com
C&G Partners | Design for Culture:
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com/
Making the Museum, the Newsletter:
Liked the show? You might enjoy the newsletter. Making the Museum is also a free weekly professional development email for exhibition practitioners, museum leaders, and visitor experience professionals. (And newsletter subscribers are the first to hear about new episodes of this podcast.)
Join hundreds of your peers with a one-minute read, three times a week. Invest in your career with a diverse, regular feed of planning and design insights, practical tips and tested strategies — including thought-provoking approaches to technology, experience design, audience, budgeting, content, and project management.
Subscribe to the newsletter:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/
