If you are going to NRPA (National Recreation and Park Association) in Dallas this October, consider a pre-conference event with some fun and a great venue.
Eppley’s third U.S. Play Coalition “Play Date” of 2023, PLAY People in Your Neighborhood, will take place October 9 at the Ft. Worth Botanic Garden in Ft. Worth, TX.
Play Dates are day-long “mini conferences” with content that draws inspiration from the location and the play experts in that area. After successful Play Dates at Smith Playground in Philadelphia and Bernheim Forest near Louisville, KY, the Eppley Institute and US Play Coalition are partnering with the LiiNK Center for Health Play with valuable support from sponsors Landscape Structures, Nickelodeon, Playworld, Vortex, Berliner, and SPEC Play at Texas Christian University to hold the Ft. Worth Date.
The 2023 Play Date Tour brings PLAY to novel places and provide opportunities to engage with the broader play community, connect play advocates, educate our national and global community, and truly fulfill our mission to promote the VALUE of play throughout life.
Indiana University’s Eppley Institute for Parks and Public Lands is the new home for the U.S. Play Coalition and Conference on the Value of Play. This nationally recognized program is relocating from the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management at Clemson University to Eppley. After a pause in 2023 for the transition of the Coalition to its new home, the annual Conference on the Value of Play will return April 16-18, 2024, on the Indiana University- Bloomington campus.