Seminarzentrum Rückersbach, Germany

Transformation has become a permanent state, not a project with an end date. Teams, organisations and the people who work with them are navigating more uncertainty than ever. The ones who thrive are not those who found a way to make it stop. They are the ones who learned to move well within ambiguity and uncertainty: playfully, purposefully and with real impact.
That is what p4a is for.

What is p4a?

play4agile (p4a) is an open-space unconference where practitioners from around the world gather every year to engage, experiment, and evolve together. If you work with people, change and complexity, and believe that playful and serious are not opposites, this is your UnConference. From friction to flow.

The event starts on Thursday at 2 pm with an optional pre-event where participants develop co-design skills together, a deliberate and playful preparation for an unconference where participants share or collectively design new approaches. p4a is not just a place to learn about co-design. It is a place to practice, prototype, and take it home. The official opening of the event is on Thursday evening.

The programme of the UnConference is built fresh from the real questions and challenges participants bring each morning. There is no fixed agenda, no keynotes, no passive consumption. Three intensive days focused on turning ideas into actions. With 30–50 peer-driven sessions daily, participants dive deep into topics such as collaboration, co-design, agile practices, facilitation, team dynamics, and organisational resilience. The core method is playful experimentation, with concrete, applicable outcomes as the goal. Expect a lot of inspiration and even more action.

Who comes to p4a?

p4a attracts anyone working at the intersection of people, performance and change. p4a participants take their work seriously while maintaining a playful approach, cultivating a collaborative environment for mutual growth and learning.

The annual event brings together an international crowd. Participants travel from across Europe, the Americas, and beyond. There is a strong 50/50 mix of new and returning participants. This blend of familiar faces and fresh perspectives ensures dense learning, high energy and honest conversations.

Originating in Germany in 2011, play4agile has been held every year since and has now expanded to the Americas.

The p4a Flow

p4a is a 24-hour experience. Mornings often begin with self-organised yoga, meditation or a run through the surrounding forest. After dinner, the venue comes alive again with self-organised evening sessions, because the best conversations rarely stop at 6 pm.

Thursday, September 10: Arrive and dive in. The optional pre-event runs from 2 pm to 6 pm, offering a playful hands-on introduction to co-design for those who want to hit the ground running. Dinner together at 6:30 pm, followed by the official opening of p4a at 8 pm.

Friday, September 11 and Saturday, September 12: Full days of Open Space. Each morning starts at 9 am with the marketplace, where participants pitch and build the day's agenda together. Sessions run until 6 pm, closing with an evening reflection and sharing circles, followed by dinner.

Sunday, September 13: A final morning of Open Space starting at 9 am, closing together at noon with a retrospective and the official closing of p4a. Lunch together, then safe travels home.
Check out the p4a flow visualization.

What Your Ticket Includes

Along with event participation, your ticket covers three nights’ accommodation, and all meals and coffee breaks from Thursday dinner through Sunday lunch at Seminarzentrum Rückersbach. This is a dedicated seminar retreat where the informal conversations between sessions are as valuable as the sessions themselves. No hidden costs, no paid speakers, no agency behind the scenes. play4agile is organised entirely by volunteers, and every euro goes directly into making the experience possible.

Registration

Tickets are released in phases. Event Sponsor tickets are available first: the more sponsors we have, the more we can keep ticket prices accessible for the wider community. A limited number of Early Bird tickets will be available, followed by Regular tickets. All phases are first-come, first-served. Once all tickets are sold out, you join the waitlist.

In addition, community support is available at any time through p4a Community Sponsoring contributions. (Please note that this is not a ticket and does not include event participation.)

A ticket is non-refundable. A transfer of a ticket to another person requires the play4agile orga team's approval, so they can manage room arrangements. Organise the ticket transfer with the other person and notify the play4agile orga team via email through orgteam at play4agile.org in a timely manner so they can review and approve the transfer. Please note that they will only transfer the right to participate. They do not issue a new invoice.

Room sharing: Eventbrides

Single rooms and shared double rooms are available. However, single rooms at the venue are limited. To make p4a accessible to as many participants as possible, we ask people to share where possible. Your roommate is your Eventbride. You can name a preferred person or indicate a gender preference; we confirm before pairing.

By registering, you agree to our privacy policy, terms and conditions and the p4a Code of Conduct. play4agile is proudly hosted by Hoffmann Consulting GmbH.

Questions? Join the p4a Online Community for more information and community spirit, and check our FAQ or get in touch directly.

The p4a OrgTeam — Bruce, Dörte, Katrin & Veit