Paul Bulencea and the College of Extraordinary Experiences

Designer and entrepreneur Paul Bulencea, who is the co-creator of the college of extraordinary experiences, visits the Experience by Design studios. Paul’s personal journey started with a Masters degree in recreation while in Salzburg. Blending gamification and experience design, Paul and his advisor created new ground in the space of tourism experiences in the book Gamification in Tourism. A chance encounter with a Nordic LARPing leader resulted in them exploring how to rent places to create immersive experiences, influenced by the work of Punch Drunk and Meow Wolf. The idea was to take LARPing, mix it with game design, and run a professional conference. Where those things intersect, you will find the College of Extraordinary Experiences.

The College is not just there to have an extraordinary experience while attending, but through your experiences while taking part you will begin to find the extraordinary in everyday life. Doing so comes with some potential costs as these experiences and the journey you take with others can expose old wounds that have yet healed. But the point is to become transformed not only professionally, but personally and hopefully spiritually. The college is based on the Hero’s Journey, where you come through the abyss to be renewed at the end. A feature of this transformation is that you see how everything is extraordinary if you can see it’s extraordinary nature. 

The goal is to provide participants with a pathway to rediscover through an intense multiple day journey that combines education and LARPing in a Polish castle. The challenge becomes, especially in modern society, how can we get back in touch with the extraordinary experiences of everyday life