We’re very excited to host the Serious Games Workshop with Robert Becker of Becker Multimedia. In a previous blog post, we shared some benefits of gamification. We thought our readers would like to get to know the man who will be leading the Serious Games Workshop here at the Ranch on 10/23:
Catalyst Ranch: What makes Becker Multimedia unique?
Robert Becker: Since 1994 I’ve done business as Becker Multimedia, Inc., a consulting, design and production company that creates custom online education and training – along with building corporate and employer brands. The only thing that makes Becker Multimedia “unique” is me – Robert Becker. Not necessarily better – that always depends on what others think – but certainly different. My quest for quality brought me to serious games and simulation. These learning modalities have always had enormous potential – now more than ever!
CR: What sparked the idea for Becker Multimedia?
RB: The sparks were a) the microprocessor, and b) the Internet. I was a tweedy professor of English who became extremely excited about new media and emerging technology. At the time there were few opportunities to develop these interests in a college English department, so I left to create interactive training for corporations. Now several years later, I’m making my way back to higher education, planning to devote a portion of my career to the design of interactive academic and professional courses.
CR: What fuels your creativity? How do you keep the ideas coming?
RB: My creativity springs largely from opposition. I was once classified by a leadership consultant as a “rebel producer” – meaning that I’m fired up by the need to overcome or break through. This emotional tinder may also account for my love of adventure and exploration. I’m active with the Explorers Club. Reading history and science also fuels my creativity – in the sense of building confidence and courage needed to innovate. Right now I’m reading Edmund Morris’s biography of Theodore Roosevelt. A sense of personal renewal comes with every turn of the page.
CR: Give us an example of a creative output that you’re particularly proud of.
RB: I am particularly proud of two very recent projects. In one project, I created three hours of immersive continuing medical education PLUS a full-fledged learning management system to serve the licensing requirements of doctors throughout the United States. In another project, I ideated a new brand for an eco-adventure travel company based in South America and created their website, secure e-commerce site, along with a complement of marketing collateral and advertising.
CR: What recently piqued your curiosity and how did you satisfy it?
RB: My curiosity is continuously piqued by the 2012 presidential contest, which seems to presage the decline of American civilization. If HG Wells were writing today, he might hold up a mirror and remind us of who we are as a culture, as a country. I satisfy my curiosity by reading the New York Times and the New Yorker Magazine – assiduously. They satisfy my curiosity just before bedtime and then the next morning it starts all over again!
For more wonderful insight on gamifcation from Robert Becker, check out his Serious Games Workshop here at Catalyst Ranch on 10/23 from 6P-8P! Don’t forget to register and message us if you have any questions!
