S3E2 - Pushing Boundaries Safely: Johanna Koljonen & Nordic Larp

In Season 3, episode 2, we chat with Johanna Koljonen, the co-founder of Participation Design Agency. She is an experience designer specializing in Nordic larp and an expert in designing for safe and enthusiastic participation. Johanna has helped create some incredibly compelling and intense Nordic larps, including Vampire the Masquerade, Inside Hamlet, and House of Craving.   Johanna puts careful thought into every aspect of her experiences, encapsulated in her concept that “everything is a designable surface.” Nordic larp encourages consent-based play, and Johanna discusses how to introduce systems that will allow participants to push boundaries safely. She gives concrete examples of how to encourage participation in very emotionally intense events, noting that “you have to feel safe to be brave.”   The way Johanna discusses immersive experiences was eye-opening and illuminating. If you design immersive theater, escape rooms, larps or immersive experiences of any kind, you will find this episode absolutely invaluable. David notes that meeting Johanna completely changed the way he thinks about experience design, and I think you’ll agree after listening to this episode.   Show Notes   The Mailbag: Please give us some feedback?   We're doing a Mailbag episode where we answer your questions, share your stories, and learn from you fine folks. There are a few ways to take part:   Take our survey Leave a voicemail Send an email Send us some snail mail   Here's how to do each:   Take A Short Survey   Share your feedback anonymously through this survey.    Leave A Voicemail   If you’d like to be on the podcast, please submit a voice recording by calling the Room Escape Artist not-so-hotline that always goes straight to voicemail (551-227-7273), and record your thoughts and feels about REPOD straight into the voicemail.   Your message should be:   Short, no longer than 30 seconds - it will help to jot down your ideas before recording Recorded with as little background noise as possible (recording in a closet, or under a comforter could help) Start with your name and where you are from   Send an Email   Hit us up at: [email protected]   Send a Letter   Room Escape Artist PO Box 683 Nutley, NJ 07110   Episode Sponsors Thank you to our sponsors:  Morty - A free app for discovering, planning, tracking, and reviewing your escape rooms and other immersive social outings. Virtual Escape Games - Specializes in virtual team building adventures for teams anywhere around the globe, 24/7. Reality Escape Convention - RECON Our escape room and immersive gaming convention, will be an incredible event for creators and consumers of the games we love. We hope to see you in Boston. Learn More about RECON.   Production Credits Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law Produced by Lisa Spira Edited by Steve Ewing of Stand Inside Media Music by Ryan Elder Logo by Janine Pracht