Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/11/06/the-college-of-extraordinary-e.html
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I had many extraordinary experiences in college, many of them involving nudity. Alas, I tried to go back, but the paunch detectors went off.
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Over 1,300 words and no information other than where it is, what it isn’t, and how enthusiastic the author is.
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I think we all know where this is headed…
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We had this when I was a youngster, it was called leaving New Jersey, and never returning for a second helping of ass kicking.
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Happiness is a commercial opportunity. This advertorial proves it. Really BB, stop posting these bs ads as articles.
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Yeah, exactly. The “Experience Economy”, eh?
How these new and exciting “Experiences” differ from haunted houses, circuses, Disneyland, the opera, cruise ships, fox-hunting, golf, LARPing, and any number of other variously antiquitous recreational activities is, of course, nowhere mentioned in this mighty pillar of promotional wank.
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I prefer the Economy Experience - just sit on a bench, feed pigeons and watch other people live their lives.
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I’ve got some friends who’ve been there. It’s hell of a LARP experience, apparently!
It sounds like the sort of thing where applicants are screened so ruthlessly that I’d probably have no chance of getting in. Either that, or the sort of thing where just a couple of idiots might get in and completely ruin everything forever, especially as it becomes more publicized.
It’s very easy for an experience to be billed as mind-blowingly transformative if you only invite people ready and willing to be mind-blowingly transformed, innit?
I think any person who’s ever attended CoEE might have different answers to that question, but personally, I feel that my college experience was very different from any other Theme-park, music show, LARP or dinosaur-hunting event That I’ve ever attended (Not that much into killing foxes).
For me, it was such a unique experience, mainly because every day, in every “class” or workshop I’ve been - I felt like they’re putting my self-growth and well-being as their main target; Not only focusing on the fun & exhilarating aspects of things.
I think the CoEE experience is a weird yet-magical combination between a vacation, LARP event and a work conference (so much networking!), which is something I’ve never tried (or imagined) before - And I’ll admit that I’ve never felt so alive, inspired, challenged and embraced in any other work-related event, nor in Disneyland.
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Hey there GulliverFoyle,
I personally found most of the relevant information inside the article, but I can totally understand how someone who’s never been to CoEE might miss that - so I’ll try to provide further details (only from my very limited point of view, as someone who’s been in the last College event but never personally talked with the writer of this article):
The College part:
“While offering hands-on, real-world crash courses on Experience Design. Following three guiding principles — Rapid Prototyping, Co-Creation, and Flexible Focus” - Meaning:
A huge range of different workshops and experiments revolving, demonstrating or testing those 3 principles (and many more different workshops to help inspire the participants and broaden their minds).
The Extraordinary part:
“COEE is itself an Extraordinary Experience, self-reflectively focusing on Extraordinary Experiences. It’s like Hogwarts meets Disneyland, thoroughly spiced with Burning Man ethos and costuming.” - Meaning: For five intense days and nights, you live in a real medieval castle, exploring mysterious rooms with special activities that are just waiting to be found, filled with treasure chests to discover and other special performances (Fire, Magic, and other things that I’m not really sure if I can tell you about because… spoilers ;)).
And I guess the last part, about the global community, is pretty self-explanatory.
Hope you managed to get a better idea of the college experience through my answer 
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I got my masters in TESOL at Lehman college in the Bronx, which is also pretty castle-y. I then taught a Bronx highschool summer school English class, then taught ESL at a Bronx elementary school for two years, trying to build immersive experiences for kids to expand their understanding of the world and provide a safe space to try on their new English-speaking selves in a new country. Seems somehow parallel…
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Here’s another perspective: How about the possibility that someone discovered something so darned beautiful that she genuinely wants to talk about it? I know it’s possible: I did the same when I came back from my first time at the Castle, super excited for my experience, and eager to share it.
Still the best form of free advertisment…also called word-of-mouth.
Welcome to bOINGbOING, comrade!
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