Good, well-run teams are hard to come by. Perhaps because they are built rather than stumbled upon. A functional team needs a leader who is confident, kind, and firm, and team members who can take initiative while still following guidance. Everyone involved needs to know how to actively listen. When that team is constructing part of an interdimensional travel station, these requirements remain largely the same.

In this post-mortem, researcher, designer, game developer, and artist F. Ria Khan explores how they managed a team as they built the Galactic Autoquarium for Meow Wolf’s Convergence Station in Denver, CO. They talk about what kind of attitudes make for the best collaboration and how sometimes having the most experience doesn’t necessarily mean you are the best person for the job. They also reflect on other projects they’ve done that prepared them to lead this team and the things they would’ve done differently.

This is part of Killscreen’s Theory programming (see below)

About Your Speaker

My name is F. Ria Khan (they/them) and I am a researcher, game developer, and designer for tech equity. My interests revolve around Human-Computer Interaction where I express my passion for exploring the intersections between fine art, critical design, science, and gamified interaction for social reflection. These explorations involve developing alternative technologies, games, and applications that enable better intersectional engagement and comfort within tech, academia, and game communities through analyzing, mitigating, and provocatively exposing discrimination. Intersectional discrimination, for me, means the nuanced and politically entwined issues of race, gender, ableism, and sexuality in tech, and how these issues stunt creative diversity and inclusivity in both technological advancements and in academia. I want to focus on using play and expression specifically as a vehicle for these alt-tech and games because I find a unique persuasion in the abstract concept of play. Especially when designed as a core component of interaction within a technology, play is unique in its power to engage a wide range of a community and evoke participation and experiences that elicit thinking about different perspectives and lessons. I aim to develop technologies and playful interactions that tap into that persuasion, as I believe there’s a real potential for it to enable social change and better and safer intersectional engagement in tech communities.

What to Expect

Killscreen divides its events into two categories Theory and Method. Theory courses are lectures, talks, and other one-to-many events. Method events are workshops, immersive, and other smaller hands-on programming.

Once you’re registered you can access this experience through your confirmation email or Eventbrite account. Killscreen online experiences are recommended for attendees age 13+.

This online experience will be recorded. A link to the recording will be made available to all ticket holders roughly a week following the event. This link can be accessed by completing the post-event survey, which is emailed to all ticket-holders after the event.

Killscreen is an arts and culture organization committed to advancing the dialogue and practice of games and play. Founded in 2010, we seek to drive the intersection of games, play, and culture through cross-disciplinary collaboration to show the world why play matters. We want to break down the barriers that have traditionally segregated play and games from other creative disciplines and highlight creators with ambassadorial relationships to the world around us.

We encourage you to follow and share the hashtag #KSonline for more incredible online experiences. And check out other material on Killscreen.com, including honest and thought-provoking interviews with some of the best creators at the intersection of play and culture.