Thursday, September 16, 2010

Day of Play... or Something Like That

All I ask, when I hear about a day for something, is that people agree on what that day is and what it should be called.  KaBOOM! calls it 2010 Play Day, but is sort of vague on when it is (it would appear to be this weekend through next weekend, Sept, 25th).  It's basically a day (held in conjunction with National Public Lands Day) designed to encourage people to play outside and maybe help spruce up a playground or park.

Nickelodeon and its sibling channels and websites, on the other hand, have a similiar in concept (but apparently unrelated) day called the Worldwide Day of Play, which is scheduled for Sept. 25th.  On that Saturday, the channel will, in PR terms, "empower kids to get up and get active when its TV channels and websites go off the air and offline."  (From noon 'til 3 PM, screens will go dark, with a message encouraging folks to go outside and play.)

I get the purpose of the days, although the idea that Nick would be promoting turning off the TV set and computer makes about as much sense to me as REI telling people to stay at home and watch Two and a Half Men.  And I'm not going to make the argument that "every day should be a day of play," because that's not the point here -- they want a single day to raise visibility.

The problem is that it's probably still not visible enough.  National Public Lands Day is a (relatively) big deal 'round these parts, but there doesn't appear to be a single Play Day event in the Phoenix area.  Maybe it's more visible elsewhere, and if it is, good on them.  But there's room for improvement, no doubt.

As for me, I think I'm going to a playground on Saturday.  And it has nothing to do with this.  Perhaps I'll ask if others are aware what day it is...

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