An ASA Bingo Retrospective
ASA Conference Bingo is on a permanent vacation pending its return around 2030 in a nostalgic comeback that warms the hearts of fans old and new. But as several people have asked me about it, here is a collection of the cards from years past. Not available in stores.
2008
Back in 2008, the groundbreaking first ASA Conference Bingo was so new and radical, it required instructions to play.
Only 100 people saw this Bingo, but every one of them formed a benign gambling addiction.
2009
The difficult Second Bingo was presented with no such concessions but subtly higher production values.
2009 Bingo suffered from rumors that Fabio had paid to be included in a square of his own.
2010
The notorious “lost Bingo” of 2010 was a rougher cut, distributed without a marketing campaign and available only briefly on Twitter before it disappeared to a parish hall in a small town in remote upstate New York to figure things out for a while.
2010 marked the last year of the iconic ‘I didn’t bother to design this’ design.
2011
This year’s Bingo was originally Chicago Bingo, but popular demand prompted a last-minute move to Las Vegas and a corresponding redesign.
Not actually official in any way.
2012
The final Bingo appeared in 2012, with an accompanying essay emphasizing Bingo’s deep roots in social theory, to complement the “Real Utopias” theme of the meeting. I believe this was the year that Bingo was criticized by some Very Serious People for its alleged cynicism about Twitter and QR codes, which was (I promise I am not making this up) explained by the alleged hostility of older faculty to the democratizing power of social media.
The last ASA Bingo. Rumors persist of artisanal cards made in one-off editions from coloring pencils and cereal boxes, however.