Fishing In The Idea Pond

Great ideas come by accident. The trick is to be ready when they come. What helps is a generous dose of rebellious spirit and the ability to think two steps ahead. When Jan von Meppen was first consulted by schools about their server setups and computer infrastructure, he didn’t know it would lead him to creating the concept of the Real World Game. After all, school was an unlikely place for him to start afresh.

“I’ve always disliked school”, Jan laughs. “I became a master at avoiding classes with the exception of those attended by girls I liked and subjects I enjoyed. In any case, I received spectacularly bad grades.” Several years down the road, new doors opened up when his admission to the renowned University of Oxford rekindled Jan’s academic spirits. “Basically, at Oxford, I got to do something I was really interested in.” Between studying philosophy and a finance position at Harley-Davidson, Jan has always been keen to try out new things.

Jan, together with some fierce Harley-Davidson colleagues in 2003:

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He knew when to jump at a good chance. His first steps into the world of digital media led him to film production and score composition and paved the way for Jan to further explore the field.

“I had become fascinated with the concept of transmedia and alternate reality games”, he recalls. “I enjoyed this novel approach to audience engagement. I absorbed everything I could find on the subject.”

The key moment took place at Berlin-based Mark Twain Primary School in 2009. The principal, Verena Thamm, asked Jan to produce a short image film for the school. “I just replied ‘I could do that but I might have something better for you’”, says Jan and chuckles. “My proposition to Mrs. Thamm was that playing an alternate reality game as part of regular class activities would create more buzz than an image film.” Were these the magic words that led to the creation of LudInc? Whatever the case may be, the two agreed that it was worth a try and Jan went to the drawing board.

Frieder Klapp, then teacher of a fourth grade class at Mark Twain, saw the potential in Jan’s idea. Having been given a thorough overview of lesson plans by Frieder, Jan went all in and dove into writing and the production of the first batch of episodes for Professor S.

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The scene was set for an unsuspecting school class to experience the first real world learning game.

Naturally, not everything went smoothly during testing. One time, the whole class started crying because they thought Professor S. had been eaten by dinosaurs. “We had to reassure them that he was still alive”, Jan remembers, “and that he had in fact just sent a new message through the Time Portal. It was the fastest I have ever seen kids run back into the classroom.”  Believe me, the first months with Professor S. produced boxes and boxes of these funny anecdotes. Stay tuned for more.

David Lütke, Editor

Remembering The Work Bench

Jan von Meppen has rolled up his sleeves and is typing away on his laptop. Warm air mixed with street noise is coming in through the open window. Jan doesn’t seem to notice. He is in the zone. It’s 11.45 on a Friday. The weekend is almost here. Not that a weekend would mean much to Jan anymore.

It’s been a busy week. LudInc has launched a crowdfunding campaign to ensure funds for further development of Professor S., LudInc’s first interactive learning adventure and Jan’s brainchild.

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Over the past six years, he has watched his idea grow from a seed into a thing. Jan is a modern-day Gepetto. He is helping his creation on its legs and watching it take its first steps.

The LudInc offices in Berlin-Wedding are bright and sunny on a day like this, spacious rooms with a warm feel and wooden herringbone floors. The shelves are filled with remnants from the past, bits and bobs from over the years. Musical instruments, books of sketches and ideas, early technical models. They showcase Jan’s path and the long way his initial idea has come. Between strategy meetings with his team and an increasing number of press appointments, Jan rarely gets to sit back and take it all in these days. New storylines and episode scripts are being developed so that Professor S. will soon be able to played by kids all over the world, at home and on the go.

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Jan remembers the early days of Professor S. He started exploring the possibilities of story-infused learning models for the classroom back in 2009. At first, he was on his own but with resilience, patience and a bit of luck, the pieces started falling into place.

This is the story of Jan and Professor S., a diary of our work at LudInc over the past six years. We will meet early contributors and loyal companions from along the way, hear funny anecdotes from what it means to bring together a team of maverick thinkers and visionary lunatics and uncover some of the secrets around Professor S. Where did the Time Portal come from? Was Professor S. initially Japanese? Can skeletons talk?

David Lütke, Editor