Team

OpenIDEO

17:07, May 31, 2017

Hi Jon and Team!

We’re excited to share with you feedback and questions from the BridgeBuilder team and an external set of experts. We encourage you to think about this feedback as you continue to improve and refine your idea. You are welcome to respond in the comments section and/or to incorporate feedback into the text of your idea. Your idea and all associated comments will all be reviewed during the final review process.

One expert shared: “This is a really interesting model, which has clearly already built considerable scale. Well done! Impressive both for numbers involved and their global spread. I haven’t seen anything at this scale before quite like this!”

When thinking about desirability, feasibility and viability here’s what experts shared:
• One expert shared: “Yes it would be desirable if it encourages more people to get involved with acts of compassion. From your record it appears to be feasible and for a greater scale what additional resources would be needed? What would your plan for this look like.”

Human-centered design starts with the people you’re designing for and ends with new solutions that are tailor-made to suit their real needs. How does this idea consider user needs?
• Yes!

Outstanding comments and questions:
• The challenge is to scale it beyond those who already are involved in this work and how might you encourage more people to participate?
• How do you ensure that the main focus is on the needs of the recipient and not the person practicing compassion? I would like to know how the recipient of these compassionate acts is brought into the process and has a say on the compassion 'being done' to them. Otherwise my concern is that it might give the impression of an unequal power dynamic rather than the intended empowerment and collaboration.

Thank you so much for sharing the important work you are doing!

In case you missed it, check out this Storytelling Toolkit for inspiration for crafting strong and compelling stories: http://ideo.to/DXld5g Storytelling is an incredibly useful tool to articulate an idea and make it come to life for those reading it. Don’t forget - June 16 at 11:59PM PST is your last day to make changes to your idea on the OpenIDEO platform.

Have questions? Email us at bridgebuilder@ideo.com.

Looking forward to reading more!

Team

Joey Crotty

16:21, May 31, 2017

For the past 3+ years I have worked with the Compassion Games as a storyteller with a personal commitment to heal the core of our modern culture. I’d like to explain what that means, and why I believe Compassion Games has story worth telling in these pivotal times.

To be human is to live within a world of stories. Just as our ancestors did before us, we humans tell stories to make sense of the world that birthed us into existence, and these stories in turn weave us into - or away from - the living rhythms of the world. They tell us about the nature of who we are, what the world is like, why we are here, what is worth living for, where we have been, and where we are going.

Stories are indeed powerful. But… what happens to a society that gets its story wrong?

I believe the modern world today is intoxicated by such a wrong story, and the consequences have been disastrous. It is a story that depicts human nature in its most distorted, hurt, and misunderstood form. Human nature, this story tells us, is greedy and selfish, violent and domineering. The world is a “harsh, unforgiving place” that must be civilized, just like our savage nature. There are “good people,” and “bad people,” and we must compete with them in a free-for-all “survival of the fittest” to either “eat or be eaten.” According to this story, this is just “the way things are.”

It’s convincing to believe this story is true; from a thousand directions we receive its message. It inundates us in a tireless stream of bad news and disorienting political divisions. It goes on to justify ceaseless wars, the destruction of our Earth in the name of economic development, and the dehumanization and exploitation of our fellow human beings.

Yet, through the malaise of this nightmare scenario exists a nagging sense that this is not how the world should be. The human species did not survive for 200,000+ years on this planet by violently outcompeting every person in sight. We know this because stored within us, as real and natural as the lungs we inherited to breathe with, are the tender emotions so counter to the violence we witness unfurling around us. Within us is the strength to feel compassion for others, the need for intimacy to be truly well, the inclination to be cooperative, kind, and helpful to others.

Scientific research is beginning to validate what we have always felt: that we thrive when we have a mutual sense of being “seen,” “heard,” and “loved.” On the other hand, anger, hatred, and fear deteriorate the very physiology of a person. Such stress is the exact recipe for biological illness. We are simply not made to exist in such a perpetual state of trauma.

So, if this is true, why is the world so full of conflict, violence, division? This is where I believe healing the core of our modern culture is so essential, and why what the Compassion Games has to offer is so radically regenerative in this effort. The solution for the crises of the world are perhaps not to “be more loving/generous/peaceful,” but rather to *present the conditions from which love and compassion naturally can arise.* In other words, the problem is not human nature… it is the nature of a wrong story and its resulting infrastructure which denies human nature its fullest, most healthful expression.

Mayor Greg Fischer of Louisville, Kentucky once said that “compassion is a contact sport.” If this is true, then our modern culture does not currently have a field vast enough to let the human family play on it. As a result, we cannot fully know what is possible should we try. The Compassion Games cleverly uses the existing “social scaffolding” of the world today - that of sport, competition, the Olympics, and a world bound by interconnectivity - and “reframes” them toward catalyzing a culture that is rich enough in its vision to hold the wondrous totality of human nature within it.

Such is, I believe, the real challenge of our time. We can only get there if isolation is thawed by the warmth of renewed community, despair relieved by the hands of joyfulness, abundance, and play. Compassion Games offers us an extraordinarily compelling way to get us onto that field. I hope to meet you there.

Team

Sadie Green

00:53, May 25, 2017

Very cool ideas and designs! I love the win-win mindset, and it's great to see from your website that you already have teams playing Compassion Games in Nepal. Himalayan Children's Charities is also an Atlanta based organization working in Nepal, and I can definitely see the youth that we work with getting their game on! I look forward to exploring the possibilities and working together toward peace, prosperity, and planet. Love from Nepal, Sadie and the HCC family

Team

An Old Friend

01:32, May 31, 2017

Hi Jon

I love this idea, and just wanted to say thank you for contributing :)
I'm looking forward to keep an eye on this and see how it evolves!

Team

Kate Rushton

12:14, May 29, 2017

Hi Jon,

It is great to see all the comments and feedback on your idea from the OpenIDEO Chapters.

For your proposed project (see below), what would you focus on/expect to have achieved by year 1, 2 and 3?

'What is the timeline for your project idea? What are the key steps for implementation in the next 1-3 years?

Design and launch Compassionate Cities League and Global Unity Compassion Games: Building Bridges in June. Play in September. Scale annual Coopetitions. Over next 3 years - grow the League's: Compassionate Cities, Youth & Schools, Indigenous Peoples; advance the platform (integrated report maps, sign-up process, multilingual website, app development); stabilize core funding; establish customized Games for businesses and organizations; cultivate media partnerships.'

Are there connections with certain types of organisations that you would need/desire for the growth of Compassion Games?

I recall that you are keen to connect to organisations in China and Russia. Have you reached out to our Shanghai Chapter?

Team

Yan Golding

Edited on 15:15, May 14, 2017

I must first confess that I have never played or organised a Compassion Game! But now, after getting a deeper impression of the evolution and scope of Compassion Games and the Compassionate Cities Movement, the inspiring network of changemakers you are bringing together, and the spectacular feedback that have read in the comments here, I feel deeply inspired to both experience a game AND to explore how I and the United Earth community and network can help bring Compassion Games to the global scale.
Like you say, compassion is the bridge that connects and unifies humanity. United Earth is rapidly becoming a global platform that is committed to serving, supporting, synthesizing and showcasing the most innovative models, practices, experiments and solutions for a peaceful, just and healthy planet.
The Compassion Games seem to usher in our evolutionary leap into a culture of peace, compassion and cooperation in truly playful, accessible and practical ways. The world needs this now more than ever.
Jon and Team, I am really excited to see how I and our teams can support and possibly co~create with the Compassion Games community in future events.
I look forward to learning and experiencing more from your field.
I am / We are at (y)our service.
www.united-earth.vision

Team

Rebecca

Edited on 13:05, May 28, 2017

The Compassion Games provide a platform to highlight what’s already working best, grow networks for good, and maximize capacity for goal sharing, communications, and collective impact in community.
The Other is My Brother: Societal cooperation is about relationships. Come to any relationship with an open heart and rolled up sleeves and the best that resides within us manifests itself. The Compassion Games exemplifies this by focusing on the positive and the possible. Conceived to enliven the core tenets of the Charter for Compassion, the CG’s mindfully and creatively invite us to realize tangible ways to live in right relationship with one another and Mother Earth. Undeniably, the foundational human experience of each person born into this world is that of cooperation. Reciprocally, caregivers and new humans listen and learn one another’s rhythms without language, communicating through actions and sounds which feel safe and familiar for both. Through this process, connections are made, bonds strengthened and established. We become ‘hardwired’ to love. Not to only love, but also to trust--and trust is the dearest currency which we can trade in. Since 2012 I have seen a multitude of ways in which the CG’s have catalyzed a growing movement. We team up and turn out to uplift neighbors who are not yet friends. Our ethnicity, culture, social standing, and language may be different but each one of us holds a deep and abiding respect for the “other,” and all of us share an Esperanto of the heart.
Plug and Play: Civic groups, schools, houses of worship, and businesses presently engaged in community service have the ability to “plug-in and play” the CG’s to fit the structure and style of their organizational culture. Individuals and teams choose the level of participation which suits them best. Share what you’ve discovered on the Compassion Map. Another team or org may adopt your strategy. Open source peer-to-peer communication is an integral part of the Compassion Games continued growth and development. Helping Hands: During the 2016 Global Unity Games hosted in partnership with, ‘Tomorrow Together’ on the U.S. National Day of Service, 15th anniversary of those lost on 9/11 were remembered. 2,000 volunteers from 40 diverse faith and social justice organizations packed and delivered more than 500,000+ meals for NYC area residents at risk of hunger, in an effort to demonstrate the importance of religious tolerance and inclusion. This was the largest attended charitable activity recorded in NYC. It’s sister event in Washington DC prepared 1.5 million meals on the day!
Honoring the Sacred: In the spirit of intercultural understanding, and in support of Water Protectors at Standing Rock, the Compassion Torch was lifted on Dec. 10th, UN Human Rights Day, in a ceremony of Global “Wopida” a Dakota expression of Gratitude. CG International Chairman Chief Phil Lane Jr. Inhanktowan Dakota, sought to share its, “profound, infinite, eternal meaning and transforming spiritual energy. The purpose of this spiritual understanding of Wopida requires each of us to live with honor, compassion, love, respect and harmony with all life… it recognizes that the Hurt of One is the Hurt of All and the Honor of One is the Honor of All and that we are intimately related as an integral part of all Life. We are all relatives!” #WaterIsLife CG’s successfully partnered w/multiple orgs sharing interactive media platforms to offer perspectives in gratitude from many indigenous, environmental and faith leaders located at several sacred spaces worldwide. Participants were encouraged to turn inward in personal reflection, and also offered--in equal measure--the opportunity to ask questions of those whose culture and heritage were different from their own. Upwards of 50,000+ listeners, FB livestream viewers (and learners) took part. Wielded wisely social media serves to unify and empower: “Imagine a platform that brings you together locally and globally. Combine the reach of the cloud with the power of the crowd. Connect leaders, experts, companies, organizations and citizens. Share your tools data, designs, successes and ideas. Turn them into action.” TED City 2.0 Looking Ahead: There was a time when a handful of committed people joined together in community meetings seeking to identify local needs and meet them, today there is a vast network of thousands. This unfolding is the result of the CGs’ design which has evolved to involve the many voices and people(s) from all walks of life who take part.
Presently the CG’s are primarily played in English. If afforded the resources, the CG’s could offer capacity building training in its mission and methodology in several languages, enabling the CG's to be culturally attuned and regionally focused.Through engagement in the CG's, unique talents, skills and life experiences find their place in the sun. In each of us glows a divine spark, and those who wish to live in a culture of peace longs to share it.

Team

Katherine

14:17, May 25, 2017

I look forward to seeing the Compassion Games supported, expanded, and sustained as an excellent starting point for collective engagement in compassionate action. Game on!
Katherine Van Uum

Team

Holly Glogau-Morgan

17:25, May 23, 2017

Compassion Games was the answer to our needs when it comes to a school wide community service program. I work for Bridgeway Homeschool Academy. While we are based out of Catasaqua, PA, we have students all over the globe. Bringing them together in service was a challenge. The past couple of years I ran an event just for the high school where they would donate to a select organization and learn about the country and specific needs those funds would be addressing - via weekly emails. While it was good, it didn't really bring anyone together and wasn't something all of Bridgeway could participate. I heard about Compassion Games from a player in the UAE and looked into it.

Well, it has been PERFECT for us! We just finished up the Water is Life event, and I've never seen such participation levels before! I kept the journal component in, using the provided questions from the daily mission emails. We currently have 1,600 full time students and a few hundred part time ones. A very high percentage of families participated in Water is Life. The students started posting about it on their forum right away and the conversation is still going! They really enjoyed the daily missions, even the younger students had fun and learned a lot. So many of the journal entries brought tears to my eyes. These children and teens didn't realize the damage being done to our Earth. They also didn't realize such simple steps could help the entire planet. I am so proud of them for taking this new event and running with it! In the end, we had over 900 students who indicated in a survey that they participated. We tallied the hours and money raised and it was amazing! The middle and high school students were encouraged to turn in journals (required for the high school students to get service credit) and I spent days reading them. I'm still putting them up on the map, three weeks later!

Compassion Games is EXCELLENT for organizations like homeschool co-ops, fully accredited programs like Bridgeway Homeschool Academy, private schools and more. The missions are engaging. The map is awesome and a great way for them to see what is going on around them and participate. I love what the students are learning about, as we all must be more aware of the people around us and planet we have been given to take care of. We are looking forward to the Global Unity Games. While we are a "Christian" organization, many of our students are not. I'm looking forward to having those with different belief systems interacting in a positive manner. We have most major ones represented and it will be good to see them come together and form a common bond.

Team

Pradeep Mohapatra

22:04, May 24, 2017

very good reflection

Team

Amanda Cook

18:35, May 24, 2017

Participating in the Compassion Games for the last year and a half, has been an incredible experience. The Play for Peace community has come to love and look forward to participating in the Compassion Games events. I love that there is no wrong way to play the Compassion Games, it allows for the compassionate creativity to flow.
Jon and Sommer, you have been amazing supports through this process and wonderful people to get to know.
Looking forward to the next round of the Compassion Games. Thanks for everything!

Team

Brioné LaThrop

10:45, May 09, 2017

The Compassion Games, Survival of the Kindest have become global change agents to inspire and engage millions of people globally to promote peace through play and giving. It's an incredible concept and we have been honoured to foster this coopetition in the most compassionate country on planet earth, the United Arab Emirates.

Team

Alison Carmel

04:04, May 22, 2017

The Compassion Games and the over 500,000 people that have volunteered are changing the world and giving hope to others. It is amazing to see how the games are growing and to consider what benefit this could have for humanity. It truly takes us all being engaged and learning to stretch ourselves and go beyond the level of compassion we thought was possible. The Compassion Games gives us this opportunity and a chance to make a better world. There's no doubt, people all across the world can benefit.

Team

Anu Jain

08:18, May 23, 2017

Dear Compassionate Games Team

Congratulations on your wonderful initiative to bring change into the world. Wanted to bring to your attention a group called Service Space: https://www.servicespace.org. It seems like both the teams are fully dedicated to serving others and growing compassion.

Best wishes
Anu

Team

Sande Hart

21:03, May 18, 2017

How do we change the story? How do change the narrative from fear to compassion? How do we evolve to a society of kindness, generosity, partnership and health and well-being? How do we move a critical mass of everyday citizens to a culture of peace and harmony, and transform competition into collaboration and fear of the other into collaboration that has generational impact? I have organized Compassion Games in my community for the past several years and I am constantly surprised by the new stories and new relationships that reverberate long after the coopetitions of the annual Compassion Games. When you "play" with others, fear is replaced with wonder, scarcity is replaced with hope and abundance, power-over is replaced with power-with, and competition is replaced with coopetition. The Games make us take stock of our community, and realize that it's easy and fun to bring along one more volunteer, volunteer 1 more hour, raise 1 more dollar, and serve 1 more person suffering. We realize that we can stretch our compassion just a little bit further than we ever thought possible, and it was in us all along, just invited by the whimsical and playful challenges. Just play in the Compassion Games one time and you will have expanded your own understanding of what is possible. Isn't that what is necessary to create a culture of peace and one that works for everyone? Does it not come down to our own personal capacity for compassion and love?

Team

Lesa R. Walker MD, MPH

14:03, May 18, 2017

This OpenIDEO Challenge is a perfect fit for the “Compassion Games”!
I have listened to the entire TED talk of His Holiness Pope Francis that was shared in the May 16th OpenIDEO Bridgebuilder Challenge Newsletter and that speaks to the original inspiration for the Challenge: https://www.ted.com/talks/pope_francis_why_the_only_future_worth_building_includes_everyone?language=en . What a profound and inspiring message and so important for our time! Pope Francis speaks about the importance of each of us and our need for solidarity, compassion, inclusivity, tenderness, humility, and concrete action to care for others. He speaks of hope. Each one of us can make a difference. He speaks to the need for compassion in the development of technology and scientific advances.

As I see it, compassion is the hallmark expression of Design Thinking.
Compassion = Empathy + Action to address needs. It is the core, driving power-source for social innovation. It is the compelling motivation that brings us to the table to address personal and social challenges. Research supports that the practice of “3D” Compassion (caring for others, self, and the Earth) is essential for personal well-being and social and planetary good.
As a global society, we need to recognize and value the importance of cultivating compassion skills.
Only when we have a critical mass of individuals taking steps in their own lives for peace, prosperity, and the planet will we be able to achieve those goals.
How do we engage people on a regular and repeated basis to practice, strengthen, and celebrate compassionate action in their own lives, their communities, and globally?
How do energize people everywhere and make the practice of compassion our society’s expectation, our social norm?
We need to marshal our ingenuity to achieve a radical shift in focus!
We need to give the practice of compassion a creative presence and visible, recognizable identity. We need to motivate people to experience compassion action so that it ignites the spark and fans the flame within them. Practice of any kind needs support to develop lifelong habits. We need to make the practice of compassion a supported and celebrated priority in our social structure. Compassionate action needs to be fed and nurtured so it can grow. If compassion is the fuel for social innovation, we must design methods to replenish, fortify, and expand the fuel supply. These efforts are essential to the success of all social impact endeavors.
The Compassion Games brings this radical shift to the world!
The Games compel us to join together to make compassion a living, breathing, ever-evolving and expanding force for good.
I am currently reading the book “Brainstorm” by Daniel J. Siegel, MD. His research and recommendations support the worth of the Compassion Games. In this book, he is exploring the changes in the adolescent mind. He states, “…the power of the adolescent mind has just the spark of emotion and social drive, just that push to explore new solutions to old ways of doing things, that may save life on our planet.” He continues, “And if adults can gain insight into these same fundamental aspects of the adolescent mind, they, too, will have healthier and happier lives.”… “The mind is truly ‘plastic’ – changeable through experience—and it is possible at any age to move it toward greater health and harmony.” “Mindsight practices” he recommends to help the brain continue “to grow in integrative ways throughout [a person’s] life” include “playtime” and “connecting time.” Play is the “basis of creativity and innovation” and generates “the pleasure of presence and connection.” Connecting time is “when we connect to other people and the planet.” The qualities of connecting time involve gratitude, generosity, and giving back to other people and the planet.” “When we connect with other people in positive ways, when we wish others to be happy, to be successful at what they do, to have joy and health in their lives, we bring a compassionate stance that supports something called ‘empathic joy’—getting joy from another’s well-being. I know it sounds quite different from the usual competitive environment that modern society cultivates. But just try it out and I think you’ll see that it’s a win-win situation again. Studies of how we function as people reveal that we are built to collaborate with one another. When we work together in these supportive ways, the collective intelligence created is much more powerful than the solo person trying to beat out others.” “Connecting with the planet can also mean doing more than simply being in nature, it can mean taking care of our environment… The Earth is our common home, other people our tribe, and all living beings our relatives.”

I hope we can all come together through this OpenIDEO opportunity to support and enhance the Compassion Games to ignite a revolution of compassion worldwide for positive personal and social impact!

Team

Monica Willard

05:49, May 17, 2017

The Compassion Games add joy and creativity as they engage people of all ages in doing acts of kindness and compassion in their daily life. They offer a platform that connects cities, schools, organizations and individuals to the impact of individual acts of compassion and to collective goodwill. This planet needs all the compassion we can encourage!! The Compassion Games brings kindness and inclusiveness into daily conversation and actions. What positive nutrition this adds to our public and private conversations!

I encourage friends to check out the games and add your comments. Make your first contribution to The Compassion Games be your message of support!

Team

carole null

07:36, May 11, 2017

This is so innovative and the first of its kind I have heard of. Compassion encompasses all that is desired for a peaceful prosperous world and is needed now more than ever. Compassion for the planet and all other living beings can be universally understood.
I would agree on the need to involve schools either through clubs or in their curriculum as this ensures a wider cover for students. Students are key as perceptions, behaviors and habits are formed early in life. For adults that like to game or can be inspired to do so, some rural areas have minimal internet access. Setting up of off line gaming methods like community computer labs that require little power usage with provision of SD cards could help.
In Kenya, the government is in stages providing free laptops to all primary school children. Collaboration with this kind of programme would ensure installation of the game APP into the laptops that will be used both at school and at home to increase outreach.
This is something that can be adopted even by the disabled to eliminate social isolation and build their confidence.
All the best! I would love to play.

Team

Marie Roker-Jones

07:23, May 15, 2017

The Global Compassion Games have been the foundation for creating Compassionate New York. Through the Compassion Games, we have been able to connect with others who are committed to bringing compassion in every day living. We have explored difficult conversations and emcouraged youth to take compassionate action in their communities through the Compassion Games. Because of the Compassion Games, we were able to connect youth with resources to address gun violence, race, religion, mental health, and other issues impacting their communities. We admire and appreciate Jon and Sommer's enthusiasm and commitment to helping others use the Games to build awareness around compassion. We are excited to continue working with them to build pur network of compassionate leaders in New York and worldwide.

Team

Fe Love

15:30, May 11, 2017

Compassion Games is a wonderful and engaging experience. I have had the fortunate opportunity to participate in the last 2 years and organized several events, inviting a variety of people to play. We introduced audiences from various diverse and socio-economic backgrounds. The Zorthian family located in Altadena, for the environmental restoration project at Zorthian Ranch to the Compassionate Conversations about "Redefining Public Safety" in Watts and the Youth Summit in LA with Black Lives, Migrant Youth and LAPD, and all across the board, everyone was so excited to know that they contributing to a higher collective consciousness. This is exactly why the Compassion Games are so important right now, it connects to a higher collective consciousness of compassion, and as result is changing the planetary vibration! One thing that would make this experience more accessible, is if there was an integration or an app, that allowed you to post from Facebook, to the Compassion Map, Twitter, Instagram... and so on. Another thing that would be beneficial is if the Compassion Games were included in the curriculum at our schools and universities. I would love to see Facebook partner with the Compassion Games or other social media, so during Earth week and International Peace week, etc... more people would know and can participate.

Team

John Albertsen

10:34, May 12, 2017

"We need more kindness, more compassion, more joy, more laughter. I definitely want to to contribute to that." Ellen DeGeneres
"Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of Nature and its beauty." Albert Einstein
The Compassion Games gives us a platform to be able to feed our need to be compassionate and to widen our circle of influence. What better goal could there be?

Team

Bettina Fliegel

Edited on 08:40, May 12, 2017

Hi Team Compassion Games.
Thanks for sharing your work on OpenIDEO! Interesting concept! I saw a post on the NYC OpenIDEO Chapter asking us to check out your idea. Thanks for reaching out!
How is the experience of participating in the compassion games different from that of volunteering in a community or a regular basis, or participating in a service day with an employer? Do you have insights into whether participation in the games jumpstarts continued community engagement/service for participants?

I like the example you shared in your experience map! I looked at the map and listened to some of the audio from Lia. I love that aspects of the games within the high school in Pico, LA were student driven. Seems that that would be empowering for youth. The scope of the high school project was broad. Was the project longer than a week? Are "the games" a basic idea applied by communities to create projects focused on unique needs?

It would be nice to learn how the games impact individuals such as the high school students from your user experience map. How did participation effect relationships between peers, between administration and students, between students and their family members? After the games ended what was next? Did the games jumpstart further engagement around violence prevention in the school? Where there continued opportunities for community service, etc. etc?

Good luck developing Compassion Games!

Team

Pearl Gottschalk

06:05, May 10, 2017

Dear Compassion Games, these games are definitely the most impactful way to impact peace, prosperity and the planet in a radical new way. It combines service, technology, compassion and inspiration to reach millions in a new simple way. It is the best idea I have seen on the planet thus far and has the potential to grow to affect billions.
My contribution in terms of suggestions to increase the impact of this idea would be the following:
1. For those wanting to play in countries that lack access to technology, wifi, electricty and computers, what options are available for them? Often, this segment gets "left behind" in the new technologically accessible world. What ideas could be sparked to include them more and thus increase the numbers by millions.
2. Target the department heads, bosses, principles of schools etc so that all teachers in Sarah's school would be playing instead of just Sarah. THis would increase the impact a thousandfold and make it more locally relevant and fun. This could include encouraging Sarah to take it to her organization to have all classes play or sending the information out via email to all principles of all schools across North America
3. Target businesses and maybe have an information packet or email sent to many large businesses to encourage their departments to play "against" one another. Distill it into a simple form that businesses can do in one day of compassionate action per year to and commit to that day every year. Businesses would love this if it was simple. Have a staff member available to mentor them through the process the first year as they set it into their corporate culture.
4. Make the reporting more than online. Make relationships with local press and encourage the organizers to report it to press and other media to increase the awareness and inspiration. Perhaps provide simple tools like a press release template or ideas on how to spread this via their social media/marketing channels.

Good luck on continuing to spread this message far and wide and changing our world to a planet that thrives on coopetition!

Team

Marilyn Turkovich

13:02, May 12, 2017

When it comes to partnership development, I am reminded of the Fifth City Concept that was tried in Chicago as a community organizing strategy. You map out a geographic area, a triangle, within the city and you work to make certain that you have direct contact with all organizations, people and religious groups within that area and you do massive organizing and action planning at the grass roots level. When you feel you have a sustainable model you flip the triangle on the map and repeat your organizing.

Consider that the Compassion Games works with the Charter to institute this as a change model. We could start with some of our hub areas: UK, Netherlands, Canada or work with some global campaigning cities and proceed to establish pilots. I would love to see this model used in a challenging area, i.e., Amman where there is a mixed neighborhood of Jordanians and Syria refugees--where refugees by law are not allowed to work and there is intense tension. Can the Games be an impetus to work together to help with sustainability--taking vacant land and organizing community gardens? The residents of the neighborhood would know the need and could determine the Game.

This is a long term venture, but I did see it work successfully, but I believe the reason it didn't continue is that it didn't have at the heart of the fifth city concept neighborhood people at the start and the ownership of the project was not extensive. The Games allow for more community engagement from the start. However, I think there would be a need for a concentrated effort to create a communication, assessment and evaluation system that was devised by the core group of community people.

Team

Joshua Tanner

13:47, May 12, 2017

To tackle the significant problems of our time, we rely on the connected mesh of our global society. It is only together that we can make positive changes for future generations. This forward momentum starts with compassion, the way we treat one another, which ultimately connects our societies regardless of geographic boundaries or cultural differences. The compassion games is both directly and indirectly a catalyst for significant positive change. Game on!

Team

Kelly Danielsen

18:48, May 11, 2017

Compassion Games is an awesome organization supported by amazing generous people! The concept of coopetition rather than competition is what our world needs more of. Love truly wins! Jon and Sommer truly embody this, and we are all lucky to be blessed to know them.

Team

jeffrey stone

13:42, May 11, 2017

The Compassion Games is truly unique and extremely positive. Performing and capturing all types of compassionate activities is one of the most all inclusive and unique ways I can think of to help drive global peace and prosperity. Compassionate acts cross all boundaries such as heritage, race, religion, economic standing, or any other identifier you could choose. Compassionate acts don't need be in any categorical grouping. Literally any act of kindness or support can be included whether it involves individuals or groups, places or peoples. Whether they address natural ecosystems or communities within heavily populated areas of our world, compassionate behaviors can only have positive effects. The uniqueness of The Compassion Games concept is that it utilizes fun, team building, coopetitions, and challenges, without boundaries, to engage people across the globe and capture their compassion towards our world.

Team

Barb Stone

12:40, May 11, 2017

I am 100% for The Compassion Games. These people are the real deal for making the world a better place...

Team

Franca

10:48, May 11, 2017

Thank you dear Sommer and Jon for the brilliant contribution of the Compassion Games, it is the energy of play that connects us at deeper level and beyond our differences, awakening us to a higher expression of who we are. You project is an effective, tangible and powerful tool of collective change and deserving to be launched at an even larger scale. You have touched millions and may many more be changed by these games. The time is now! Wishing you only the very best.

Team

Arch Magar

22:59, May 09, 2017

As being part of Compassion Games survival of the kindness, we are grateful and this has been given us opportunity to connect with other clubs from our own county which wasn't possible without Compassion Games and its initiatives. We are very encouraged and happy to organise events with the help of Play for Peace global Community and Compassion Games. On behalf of Indian club I would like to thank CG team and special thanks to Jon and Sommer for all your hard work and immediate actions, responses and updates of all upcoming events. It's all feel lively!
We had an opportunities to connect and work with the groups who are mostly neglected from society. With this initiatives we could reach to them and it's a great pleasure to work with these bunch of enthusiastic young people. Definitely all credit goes to Compassion Games and Play for Peace for creating such a wonderful and meaningful events where everybody can parcipate and find meanings in lives. Thanks for you constant support! ����

Team

Heidi Sebastion

15:36, May 09, 2017

Love Sommers enthusiasm and everything she does with Compassion games is a powerful thing...Jon and Sommer are both inspirational people I'm proud to know.

Team

Greg Acuna

00:07, May 08, 2017

Hey Jon, Sommer and the Compassion Games team. I'm such a huge fan and in some ways expanding the project might need to address some of the reasons I haven't been able to actively participate. One of the biggest challenges is modern life is super busy. Finding the time to do anything "big" is often overwhelming especially when it comes to trying to organize groups. (More on that later.) So I think one key might be making mini-challenges which could be done on just one day/any day of the bigger event. I can't help feeling that the events seem a bit overwhelming to people. You're dealing in an area of big changes in how people are currently socializing (or not) and to introduce them to the joy of being compassionate it might need simpler activities. Perhaps this could be something which could be introduced for the time between the big games. By creating a small actions which people can do at any time they can get involved without the overwhelming sensation of joining something spread out over several days.

As you know I ran into challenges when I tried to organize teams here so I think organizational tools are very helpful. Honestly, I found signing up and creating teams a little confusing. That may be my ignorance, but figuring out a way to allow people to join teams locally without knowing the organizer could be helpful. This will of course become easier as the games get more followers worldwide and people understand the joy and excitement of participating. Getting organizations, schools, businesses involved in different cities will also be a big part of spreading awareness and making team formation and action easier.

I recently completed a course in Gamification from the Wharton School of Economics on Coursera.org. I highly recommend it as I think there are quite a few things which you can do to drive excitement and engagement in terms of using game tools and being aware of some of the pitfalls of social impact gamification. For example breaking down leaderboards in many ways could help people get excited...giving them more opportunity to "leaders," and have views where you can see those around you both in terms of "points" and geography/type of project gives people more sense of the game...and opportunity to excel rather than just comparing themselves to top leaders or the big picture of the project.

There are real concerns about these types of projects (mine own included) and for me the two most important ones are: safety and competition.

On safety my own feeling is the world is facing real problems which are putting us all at risk. If we don't take the chance to show compassion and turn the social structure around our societies and planet could face dire consequences. I believe the answer is educating people, especially the young, on how to interact socially, especially with strangers and how to take steps to stay safe. We need to be honest there is no such thing as being 100% safe. We take risks all the time. One of the biggest...getting into motor vehicles...we do with little thought that our chances of death or disability are much higher than doing most other activities in the world. We need to take some risks if we're going to change the world...and the joy of helping others is truly worth it.

When I first heard about the compassion games I really liked the idea of Coopetitions, but I'm very interested in how that idea can be used in a way which reduces the competitive spirit the most. This might seem like a radical, or even insane idea, especially to those who feel our competitive spirits are primeval, natural, key to our survival, but I'm convinced it is the sense that we need to prove to others we are somehow "better" which is causing most of the world's problems. It may be that coopetition is a necessary stepping stone to a totally cooperative society, but I hope to be highly aware of this and see how to err on the side of cooperation. This is a real difficult issue and I've been struggling with it for the work we've been doing.

I wish you all the best. I really hope to find the time and energy to participate. If there's anything I can do to help please let me know. Go Compassion Games!!!

Team

eldy wullur

08:04, May 08, 2017

Thank you Jon, you are a loving person. Of course we in Indonesia are eager to join and form a team. Let me know how we can join. I have many groups here that can be invited.

Team

Phil Lane

12:42, May 09, 2017

This growing global movement is unifying and uplifting the Human Family everywhere on Mother Earth with compassionate action and measurable results!

Team

David

12:06, May 09, 2017

The Compassion Games exemplifies what it takes to create a more compassionate world. Rather than talk the talk, the games challenges individuals/groups to walk the walk with its messages of suggested acts of kindness, contemplating compassion, and living compassionately. The Compassion Report Map shows the positive taking place where other media outlets usually choose to report stories and images of hatred, anger, opposition, violence, and bloodshed. Participating in the Compassion Games helped me reflect on the little things that can be done toward the larger collective consciousness of peace and love. It has helped millions of people who are hungry, thirsty, in need of food/shelter, or a peaceful mind. It creates the opportunity for people to come together for the good, alleviating suffering worldwide. It amplifies love, unites humanity, and promotes life. Indeed, the Compassion Games is a blessing.

Team

Bibusa Washington Wißemann

11:52, May 09, 2017

As an African Social Entrepreneur passionate about Africa of course.My focus is mainly on empowering the youth but also has been working on a cool solar project electrifying the most rural areas in Mali..Getting to know about the games of compassion makes me excited if only more Africans get to know and can play the game!We all know what the world thinks of us(Africa) but i kmow theres so much love to shown and shared, i belive within ourselves and playing such games can only review our true selves that can contribute to our communities.Give for example street kids who have not experienced love at all and turn to dealing and staying on the streets because thats the love they understand. If this game can be played i know for sure the amount of positive empact would be mind blowing!Thank You Brioné.Well done and keep holding the light up!

Team

Brioné LaThrop

12:24, May 09, 2017

Game On! Bring it Australia.

Team

eldy wullur

20:40, May 07, 2017

Hello Jon,
The game is synonymous with fun. But sometimes the game leads to things that are dangerous and fatal. The idea and about The Compassion Games, very interesting and amazing.
Of all the postings I read, all want improvement, prosperity, peace, expulsion of poverty and ignorance and many beautiful and good things. Compassion is not rejected everywhere in the world. And if almost all the inhabitants of the earth want a good and beautiful, then why we let our government produce horrible objects like missiles, tools of war in large quantities, does not make sense.
The one earth we inhabit together is filled with such things.
As taxpayers, we should unite to resist the misuse of our tax money. And suggested that our tax dollars be used to produce tools such as compassion games and so on including their development to the real world.

Team

Marilyn Turkovich

Edited on 10:38, May 07, 2017

The Compassion Games have flipped the reason for playing games upside down. Think about games where you make up the rules, declare that your opponent is your partner and at the end everyone is a winner in the service of the other.

The Charter for Compassion's Compassionate cities movement, now present in 52 countries and in over 400 international communities, from small villages in Botswana and hamlets in Scotland, townships in the upper peninsula of Michigan to mega-cities of Karachi and New York, have relied on the Games to introduce the power of collaboration and bring about monumental change to righting the wrongs of society.

For nearly a decade the Games have been breaking new ground for individuals and teams to respond to big problems from infighting among those who are incarcerated, packing meals for the hungry, cleaning up water ways and being exemplar models of kindness. The Games are all about how we treat each other and how we care for each other. While collecting donations to help with a local cause may be present in some games, they are not paramount to the bottom line—getting to know and serve others—to experience that even the smallest acts form the structure for the possibility for a a peace-filled coexistence.

Team

Lisa Berkley

Edited on 19:00, May 04, 2017

Hi Jon and Compassion Games Team!

Once again, thank you for the important work you are doing! As I am continuing my research on compassion as part of my PhD dissertation, I came across this ebook: Einstein Never Used Flashcards" that I thought you all (and your followers!) might be interested in... Indeed, if we want to create a more compassionate world, it needs to begin with the children...playing compassionately!

From the book's description:

"In Einstein Never Used Flashcards highly credentialed child psychologists, Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Ph.D., and Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, Ph.D., with Diane Eyer, Ph.D., offer a compelling indictment of the growing trend toward accelerated learning. It's a message that stressed-out parents are craving to hear: Letting tots learn through play is not only okay-it's better than drilling academics!

Drawing on overwhelming scientific evidence from their own studies and the collective research results of child development experts, and addressing the key areas of development-math, reading, verbal communication, science, self-awareness, and social skills-the authors explain the process of learning from a child's point of view. They then offer parents 40 age-appropriate games for creative play. These simple, fun--yet powerful exercises work as well or better than expensive high-tech gadgets to teach a child what his ever-active, playful mind is craving to learn."


https://books.google.com/books?id=9kP1XjUEa-IC&dq=the+need+for+play+and+compassion&lr=&source=gbs_navlinks_s

Team

Lisa Berkley

12:08, Apr 20, 2017

I love this idea! Having spent more than 20 years in international mediation and peace making, Compassion Games strikes me as a tool to help end conflict--why compete to build arms and weapons when most people on the ground want to live peacefully? Coopetitions just might be a significant player in shifting consciousness from fear and heart to care and compassion.

Team

Lesa R. Walker MD, MPH

21:10, May 01, 2017

The following comment is written and submitted by:
Angelica Volterra, MD
Palo Alto, California
(She has given permission and requested me to post the following comment on her behalf.)

“The Compassion Games seamlessly ally science and practice by engaging, inspiring, and empowering individuals and groups of individuals of all ages, cultures, and nations to have immediate, positive, creative, and profound impacts through acts of kindness, compassion, collaboration, and service while providing a platform for the cultivation, strengthening, and integration of capacities for peacefulness, happiness, resilience, and tranquility, and a framework for measuring and validating project impacts and outcomes. Congratulations on a very, very worthy, timely, and visionary project!"

Team

Patricia

06:47, Apr 29, 2017

This made me think of the Olympic Games. The global community rallies around the Olympics every 4 years so why not rally around the Compassion Games every year?

Team

Linda Jones

15:33, Apr 28, 2017

What a wonderful concept in this time of uncertainty!! Please figure out a way to explain it more simply and in fewer words!!! So more people will support and join in!

Team

Kate Rushton

11:25, Apr 16, 2017

Hi Jon!

Interesting work! Is this your website - http://compassiongames.org/?

When were you established and registered (month and year)?

Over the next 3 years which specific games bridge two or more of peace, planet, and prosperity? How much in funding are you requesting?

Team

Jon Ramer

Edited on 08:01, Apr 27, 2017

You can see the Compassion Report Map in action by watching this short video intended to help players understand and use the Map. All our results are based upon what is shared on the Compassion Report Map. Game on! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YJT5yu6vri8
You can access the map here http://reports.compassiongames.org

Team

Mayra Ivelisse Rodriguez

07:16, Apr 25, 2017

My mother is a therapist and what she has found most effective with her clients is teaching through games is best. Kids usually excercise and practice their skills and coping skills without paying attention to them that then they can transffer to real life scenarions!

Team

Charles Barker

Edited on 17:30, Apr 20, 2017

Compassionate DFW is a grassroots organization that promotes compassion and compassionate action by encouraging individuals and community organizations from all sectors (arts, business, education, environment, healthcare, interfaith/religion/and spiritual, peace, restorative justice, science and technology, social justice, social service, and women and girls) to affirm the Charter for Compassion and commit to intentional compassionate action using the Golden Rule as guiding principle. The various annual Compassion Games provide practical, tangible, intentional ways to express this core value, bringing people of all ethnic, cultural, and religious traditions together for common community purposes, fostering respective, responsible, cooperative, and engaging relationships, which are enduring. The games truly provide themes and avenues for action making the "noun" compassion into a "verb." GAME ON!! :)

Team

Sande Hart

Edited on 15:49, Apr 17, 2017

Thanks to the Compassion Games, our community building organization was finally able to reach a segment of our county to engage in an expression of interfaith understanding and reconciliation we otherwise were not reaching with dialogue and other assorted events for nearly 10 years. Through community service we were able to melt barriers and bring people across different faith traditions together in the same room (or park/beach) to find their common value of compassion and altruism. Through the added dynamic of "coopetition" they had a great time challenging one another in a new and productive way that ultimately engaged more volunteers, more hours spent serving, more dollars raised, and more people served. It was that creative tension that created a way to play together, which replaced fear and distrust. By reporting and reflecting to the Compassion Map, we could then see the depth of the impact we were having.

Team

Joey Crotty

13:29, Apr 17, 2017

What a fascinating idea... I could 100% see this scaling into an event that takes a more prominent spotlight nationally and internationally. The tools you're working with (such as the mapping) would no doubt be useful for numerous social/cultural/environmental transformation efforts. Would be amazing to see more people using that mapping to see intersectionality between movements, and to help unify them in some way!

Team

An Old Friend

17:49, Apr 16, 2017

Awesome! I love your work and it becomes more interesting because it works to all ages.

Team

Jon Ramer

Edited on 09:14, Apr 16, 2017

Thanks, Lesa. I'm glad you liked the video. It does show specific examples of players and teams building bridges to Peace (e.g. Play for Peace teaching peace building in conflict zones), Prosperity (Mayor's around the world embracing "Compassion as Effective Public Policy"), and the Planet (Team Decarbonize synthesizing 100,000 youth recommendations on climate change and the impact on Indigenous communities). Yes, Sommer! Many of the other solutions proposed would naturally fit as Teams in the Compassion Games: Survival of the Kindest! Great idea!

Team

Sommer Albertsen

Edited on 17:30, Apr 15, 2017

The world needs this! So many of the contestants for this challenge have incredible ideas. I can see many of them growing and being prosperous through Compassion Games. This is such an incredible bridge to so many needs globally. Compassion is core to all new solutions. This is really for everyone.