Reinventing Public Diplomacy Through Games Awards Ceremony

PeaceMaker took First Place in the First Games and Public Diplomacy Contest! All four finalists demonstrated their games for the esteemed panelists and in house audience at the awards ceremony. The event was simulcast in Second Life, where the attendance on Annenberg Island exceeded that at USC's Davidson Center.

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The Winners: The finalists ranged from virtual cultural exchange programs to strategy games about the Israel and Palestinian conflict or international water rights.

First Place - $5,000: Peacemaker -- A cross-cultural political video game simulation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which can be used to promote a peaceful resolution among Israelis, Palestinians and young adults worldwide. More information, please visit their website: LINK.

Second Place - $2,500: Hydro Hijinks -- A class project designed to promote discussion about international water issues and to educate players from around the world about sources of international conflict over water rights. Watch the video tour of the game at: LINK.

Third Place - $1,000: Exchanging Cultures -- A diplomatic game built inside "Second Life," was created to facilitate the creating virtual communities and relationships based on the exchange of cultural items like: dances, art crafts, food receipts, architectural models, clothing, cultural routes and images of real original places for travelers and explorers. LINK.

Honorary Mention - $500: Global Kids Island: Fostering Public Diplomacy Through Second Life -- Global Kids, Inc. envisioned a Public Diplomacy program within Second Life where the youth in the after-school program will spend the month learning about a global issue, experience an interactive and experiential workshop designed to educate about the issue. Their demonstration will be shown at the awards ceremony. For more information on the organization: LINK.

We would like to extend our appreciation and thanks to all those that submitted to the contest!
For more information please visit: http://games.uscpublicdiplomacy.com

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Press Coverage of the Event
Future Tense May 8, 2006: Video games as cultural exchange (3:30 audio)

New York Times May 8, 2006: "Contest Held for Peaceful Video Games"

The PeaceMaker Team

The 'Hydro Hijinks' Team

The 'Exchanging Cultures' Team

The 'GlobalKids' Team

The panelists (l-r): Cory Ondrejka, T.L. Taylor, Bing Gordon, Lauren Bon

USC Annenberg School for Communication Dean Geoffrey Cowan

USC Center on Public Diplomacy's Nicholas Cull and former U.S. Ambassador Derek Shearer discuss the impact of games on public diplomacy.

John Seely Brown, Bing Gordon

The Center on Public Diplomacy's Jean Miller at the awards ceremony as seen on Annenberg Island in Second Life.

Screenshot of the awards ceremony in Second Life