2024 Session Description

Time for Recess!
Tricks, tools and improv games to set you apart and make you and your work more memorable

4 x 75 minutes  •  8:30am daily

People typically don’t want to listen to a speaker drone on for 30 minutes; let alone 300! But what if those 300 minutes were filled with Play? What if that play offered personal insights, messages, ahas, and moments of leadership, collaboration, ideation, teamwork, creativity, belly aching laughter, program and process development, and more!

Let's take a recess from all the graphs, charts, statistics, policies, theories, and buzzwords and join us at the PlayGround for 300 minutes of Play Grounded in purpose!

Oh……and Pee beforehand, cuz it’s gonna be THAT fun!

The Skinny: 3 things you will do in this session

  • Experiment with the mindset of play in your personal and professional life
  • Learn how to be a better employee, employer, spouse, family member and friend by incorporating a playful approach to your life
  • Discover tools and ideas to make your work more fun for you and the people around you
Rich DiGirolamo
Hollywood, FL
Rich DiGirolamo invented Inline Skates as well as the backpack cooler. He just never acted on those two ideas and someone else made gazillions of dollars. After those two catastrophes he chose never to let another idea slip away.

He is the creator/founder Recess At Work Day; a fun employee morale, happiness and performance initiative, a co-author of a naughty Christmas Book, an avid cyclist, a caffeine snob, and a lover of pancakes! The CPA Review Course that hired him years ago never was able to figure out how the words accounting and fun ended up in the same sentence on Rich’s evaluations; only Rich’s…Nationwide!

Rich works with organizations to create happier work environments, design new programs and products, and create better relationships with customers and peers. He lives by the rule “if you’re not having fun it’s your own fault!” You can learn more about Rich at http://recessatwork.com


http://richdigirolamo.com

Rich is a returning presenter.

Beth Slazak
Buffalo, NY
Beth has spent time at every level of the education world, from Elementary to college, instructing minds in the tools and techniques of creativity. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Buffalo in History and Dance, a Social Studies Certification in Education from Buffalo State University, and a Master of Science in Creative Studies from Buffalo State University, an MBA from D’Youville University, and a three-year Certified Humor Professional Certification from the Association of Applied and Therapeutic Humor.

Beth has a passion for improv and has enjoyed studying and performing it at Buffalo ComedySportz and Toronto Second City. She is also a member of the Applied Improvisers Network, a group devoted to bringing improv off the stage into the world to help everyone work and learn better together, and has been able to work with groups in Italy, Mexico, and here in the US doing just that.

Beth has used her knowledge of deliberate creativity to help other’s recognize their value and tap into their knowledge and preferences to leave the world a better place.


Beth is a returning presenter.

All Sessions
Subject to change. What isn't?
Click on a session to learn more about it.
Mind U Sessions
NOTE: This is a partial list, more to come...
  • Liquid Thinking Do you really need a box to think outside it?
     (Edouard Le Maréchal, Sophie Harvey)
  • Reclaim the Toys in Your Attic Unlock the creative power of play (Clara Kluk, Sylvain Rouillard)
  • Time for Recess! Tricks, tools and improv games to set you apart and make you and your work more memorable (Rich DiGirolamo, Beth Slazak)
  • The Well-Being Playground Support your health and wellness through play (Ginny Santos, Dan Bigonesse)
  • TBD
  • TBD
40+ Open Space Sessions
These sessions are not pre-programmed... they will develop through the Open Space methodology. There will be dozens! But we don't know what they will be yet.
Never been to an Open Space conference? You're in for a treat!
Other Scheduled Sessions