Check out our videos of Urban Reversi

This video was shot at the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival this past Saturday… click on the photo below to launch a YouTube page with the video:

Two other videos were made of our trip to New York City with the Conflux Festival 2006:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MiZmC0kw2g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJP0-HgqJDk

Playing games today…

The Urban Reversi games are underway right now at the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival in downtown Birmingham. See HERE for the game as it progresses and for a post-game recap with all the pictures once the game is complete.

Register for this Saturday’s Urban Reversi game

Want to play Urban Reversi this Saturday at the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival and not already associated with the Catalyst organization??

It’s simple, sign up HERE. Be *sure* to click the Urban Reversi “interests” tab so we know you’re playing. Ask other members of your team, if applicable, to also sign up. If you are already part of the Catalyst faithful, drop an email to info@catalyst4birmingham.org.

Need to better understand the games of Othello and Reversi? Click here to play online. Don’t worry, though, because the game is more about having fun and the web pages will ALWAYS show you the available moves… just not the most strategic.

See you all on Saturday morning at The Harbert Center!

Urban Reversi returns to Birmingham this Saturday

Join Catalyst and TechBirmingham as we “play in the streets” of downtown Birmingham. Event #3 of the 3 consecutive weekends is upon us. Come out and play in downtown Birmingham during the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival!

• THIS WEEKEND’S LOCATION // smack in the middle of SideWalk in the historic theatre district of downtown Birmingham, Alabama
• THE GAME BOARD // a six by six city-block area surrounding the Sidewalk festival
• THE GEAR // you, your (new) friends, and a few Verizon Motorola Q phone/devices
• THE REASON // to have fun and meet other fellow young professionals
• WHAT TO WEAR // something comfortable and good walking/running shoes… costumes are encouraged!!!
• THE REWARD // see your city in a new way

Gather at the Catalyst/Sidewalk table at 2019 4th Ave North in downtown Birmingham (the “Harbert Center” conference facilitiy, not the skyscraper)… registration and team assignments begin at 9:30am with gameplay kicking off at 10:00am.

If you have a Verizon Motorola Q (or other smartphone that can wirelessly browse the internet, has a built-in cameraphone and SMS capability), please bring it along… otherwise, we’ll provide the devices for gameplay.

Can’t make it? Watch the game as it progresses online via the web. Check back on the UrbanReversi.com website to view the gameplay!

Play today in Brooklyn for another game of Urban Reversi

We’re in NYC today, playing Urban Reversi at Noon as part of the CONFLUX Festival.

If you can’t make it, then watch it on the web at 12n ET (11am CT) at UrbanReversi.com.

Brooklyn’s Streets Become Digital Playground

Brooklyn, NY (PRWEB) September 15, 2006 — Inspired by New York and birthed in Birmingham, the game of Urban Reversi returns to its roots in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood at Noon on Saturday, Sep. 16. Tomorrow, the city’s streets will be transformed into a large-scale urban game like those previously staged in other major cities worldwide. A team of young professionals will descend upon New York City for the weekend, flying in from Birmingham, Ala. to stage the game of “Urban Reversi” at the 2006 Conflux Festival.

Urban Reversi is a location-based game blending a wireless broadband internet network, the coolest Internet-phones on the market, strategy, and performance art. Teams will traverse the urban grid of Williamsburg, improvising scenes suggested by an online random phrase generator. Digital images of the staged scenes will be uploaded to a server to win street intersections in a game modeled after the popular board game Othello.

“Birmingham’s tech-savvy workforce caught the bug last year when we turned our downtown into a digital playground, inspired by past urban games in New York City,” said Curtis Palmer, president/CEO of non-profit TechBirmingham. “It’s exciting to bring our game north out of the Deep South and share the game of Urban Reversi with the city that originally inspired it.”

The Urban Reversi game will take place within a six-by-six-block area adjacent to several of the Conflux festival venues. A map of the zone is available for viewing on the project website. Teams of 4 to 40 people are encouraged to play this free event at the Conflux Festival headquarters. Individuals showing up to play the game will be placed into teams. All the technology necessary to play the game will be provided, but individuals are encouraged to bring their own Motorola Q phones to expand the number of potential participants. There is no limit on the number of simultaneous players or matches.

Members of the Birmingham civic group, Catalyst, will help stage Urban Reversi. “This is a natural fit for us,” said Alan Hunter, founder of Catalyst and former MTV VJ. “We are interested in linking Birmingham’s civic-minded young professionals with opportunities to influence the world around them. This game and the effort in New York City takes our tag-line, ‘hip to be civic’, to a whole new level. With Urban Reversi, it’s now ‘hip to be tech.” The game will be staged again, next week, at the renowned Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival, in Birmingham’s historic theater district.

About CONFLUX Festival:
Conflux is a hub for contemporary psychogeography, the exploration of the physical and psychological landscape of cities. Conflux 2006 will feature a full program of events from Thursday through Sunday, with projects from over 75 artists from across the US and countries including Canada, UK, Spain, Germany, Finland, Sweden, and Australia. Events will take place at multiple locations in Williamsburg, with festival headquarters at McCaig-Welles Gallery, 129 Roebling Street between N. 4th and N. 5th Streets, where maps and a schedule will be available. All Conflux events will be free and open to the public. A complete schedule with event details and additional information is available online at http://confluxfestival.org.

About Urban Reversi:
Urban Reversi is a project of TechBirmingham, a not-for-profit entity focused on growing the Birmingham, Ala. region’s technology economy. Partners in the game include University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Game Development Club, developers of the game, and Catalyst, a young-professionals group making it “hip to be civic.”

TechBirmingham was formed in 2002 by the community to lead, support, and coordinate the start-up, attraction, growth, retention, and expansion of technology-based businesses, investments, and jobs for the entire Birmingham metropolitan region. For more information on TechBirmingham and its other activities, please visit www.TechBirmingham.com. For more information on Urban Reversi, please visit UrbanReversi.wordpress.com. A newsreader XML feed is available for the effort.

Next Stop… New York City

We’re taking the Urban Reversi game on the road! We’ll be in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York City this coming Saturday at noon. Details of the full event at www.confluxfestival.org.

Game On!

The games are underway and if you’re reading this in the morning on Saturday 9/9, it means that you’re missing out on the fun. That’s OK, since YOU can see how things are going live on the web…

CLICK HERE
to see the LIVE game progress of
the Urban Reversi games
@ Sidewalk art festival

Put our next Birmingham-based event on your calendar for Saturday, September 23rd, during the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival. If you’re in New York City next Saturday, join us at the CONFLUX 2006 festival.

Play Today @ Artwalk festival

We’ll be kicking today’s game off at 9:30am with an orientation about the game and formatoin of the team matches. Gameplay should start at 10am. If you are so inclined, feel free to come in matching costumes and BRING YOUR OWN DIGITAL CAMERAS to capture the action. Of course, we’ll want you to upload them to the flickr Urban Reversi photo pool.

Find your way to the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival offices at 2312 1st Ave N. Click HERE for a Google map, which lets you get driving directions from wherever you’re embarking on your visit downtown.

Play Urban Reversi this weekend in Birmingham

Urban Reversi: 50% photo scavenger hunt, 50% peformance art, 100% fun (yes, it all adds up to 200% more fun than staying home on a Saturday)

Come play with us and recapture the magic of childhood playtime with a modern twist. The game of “Urban Reversi” turns the downtown city streets of Birmingham into a large-scale urban game loosely based on the board game of Othello. Challenges will be in the form of performance art using a combination of noun, verb, and adjective randomly assigned to the team when they arrive at an intersection. Contestants must think quickly on their feet, using wireless technology and their wit to win their match against another team.

Join Catalyst and TechBirmingham as we “play in the streets” of downtown Birmingham. Event #1 of the 3 consecutive weekends is upon us. Come out and play in downtown Birmingham during the ArtWalk 2006 festival!

• THIS WEEKEND’S LOCATION // smack in the middle of Artwalk in the loft district of downtown Birmingham, Alabama
• THE GAME BOARD // a six by six city-block area surrounding the Artwalk festival
• THE GEAR // you, your (new) friends, and a few Verizon Motorola Q phone/devices
• THE REASON // to have fun and meet other fellow young professionals
• WHAT TO WEAR // something comfortable and good walking/running shoes… costumes are encouraged!!!
• THE REWARD // see your city in a new way

Gather at the Catalyst/Sidewalk table at 2312 1st Ave North in downtown Birmingham (Sidewalk offices)… registration and team assignments begin at 9:30am with gameplay kicking off at 10:00am.

If you have a Verizon Motorola Q (or other smartphone that can wirelessly browse the internet, has a built-in cameraphone and SMS capability), please bring it along… otherwise, we’ll provide the devices for gameplay.

Can’t make it? Watch the game as it progresses online via the web. A link will be posted here on the website to view the gameplay!