O.K.

So things have been a little quiet of late, and this project has been essentially chugging along in a slow and steady manner. Indeed, we’ve had (and still continue to attract) a wonderful outpouring of gracious help such that we already have several hundred cards ready for printing and playing.

But now it’s time to switch gears a little, and step it up a bit. For the past 6 months or so, we’ve been watching all the great comments and discussions going on in the forums, and we’ve been making checklists of things that we think would fit well with the project. In that respect, here is a quick list of immediate goals. Do let us know what you think, and even better: do let us know if you can help.

Immediate (prior to April 2011):
– Start producing pdf’s of various different “decks.” In particular, decks that represent certain locales would be particularly useful.

– Create a few videos that quickly demonstrate how to pick/choose and print cards.

– Tweak the search parameters. Currently, it searches entire entries and inadvertently results in a lot of noise (i.e. hard to search using simple key words).
– Program an extension to the current wordpress template. In this case, we’d like to have a section of the website that allows a user to produce their own cards. In other words, something like this, but built into the website. Better still, if there was a way for the user to save their card data.

– Kick it up a bit with the social media stuff, so as to attract even more participants. Maybe build from this and this for example.

– Host a teacher workshop on the Phylo project, where educators can be introduced to the project, as well as provide an environment to brainstorm potential ideas/activities.

– Attract a team of MBA type students who would be interested in using Phylo as a student project, especially with a light to explore mechanisms of high quality card production that could be “sold” without ignoring the wonderful non-commercial, open philosophy that is such an important part of the game.

– Partner with a local museum or environmental group to pilot the “high quality” deck scenario.

Not a bad “to do” list, even if we do say so ourselves!