Had a team meeting the other day… was around some internal news around the New Xbox Experience but seeing as it’s now October, we had an added bit of news around the annual Giving Campaign.

I’m not sure how many people outside of the company know it, but every October there’s a huge organized effort to get involved with all sorts of charity organizations. Not that there aren’t people here that give time and money during the other 11 months of the year – as an example, Sara Ford spent a whole slew of time working with Katrina relief. Also, there’s Bill and Melinda – no further explanation required. So, when there are sizable meetings in October, there’s usually a “reminder” about the Giving Campaign and a highlighted charity that the team is “sponsoring.” For Xbox LIVE, the highlighted charity is Child’s Play, which was started by Gabe and Tycho at Penny Arcade. Who just happened to be in our cafeteria, to talk about the org and how Child’s Play works – they both hung around after the meeting for some quality time around the ping-pong table…

Nice guys the both of them – not only are they now responsible for the largest player-event of the year but they use their web comic to continuously battle the “Jack Thompson-esque” attacks that our industry and players have to live with… on top of that, they are actively working to help kids in hospitals around the world… good times.

What can I say? Xbox LIVE rules. *g*