CHI PLAY 2025 Kicks Off With A Keynote Address At The ETC
On October 13th, 2025, the 2025 CHI PLAY conference began with a keynote address and reception hosted at Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center (ETC). The evening combined scholarly insight and social connection, setting the stage for the multi-day international conference on play, games, and human-computer interaction.
The evening began with a keynote address by Katie Salen, Professor and Vice Chair of Graduate Affairs in the Department of Informatics at the University of California, Irvine. In her talk, titled “Care(full) Play: Rethinking What Makes Play Meaningful,” Salen presented a framework for designing online play communities that center care, agency, and inclusivity — particularly for youth and marginalized groups. She highlighted examples from her work in education, game design, and community development to examine how play can serve as a foundation for wellbeing and social connection.
Immediately following the keynote, attendees convened for the welcome reception. The informal gathering provided an opportunity for participants to meet new colleagues, reconnect with peers, and discuss themes introduced in the keynote. They also had the opportunity to take student-led tours of the building, where they were shown the program’s unique facilities and to learn more about the projects students are working on this semester.
