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The tourism industry is a capitalist activity concerned with the production, accumulation and distribution of wealth. Power is an important arena for research in this respect as diverse outcomes for the local economy in general, and its players specifically, provide important aspects to study when considering the lives of rural entrepreneurs. However, it may be argued that while Marxist theorists using critical approaches on power have tended to focus on issues around the equality of power relations between actors or stakeholders, the inherently spatial nature of power has received less emphasis. This article focuses on an exploration of the spatiality of power which surrounds entrepreneurship and tourism industry development.

Key companies and commentators on the new economy have identified playas a crucial aspect of entrepreneurship and commercial innovation. We will argue that play and place are inseparable in these discourses: from places such as Google’s headquaters (HQ) – the Googleplex, with its ball pits and slides – to schemes and practices such as LEGO Serious Play, children’s play and sites of play are taken as the model for, and wellspring of, imagination and creativity, modes and spaces of thinking and experimentation that can invigorate and innovate the adult worlds of cultural and technological production. Taking as case studies Google’s reimagining of cultural practices of play, and LEGO Serious Play’s deployment of playful experimentation for corporate/therapeutic ends, this article argues that to understand the possibilities of playful workingplaces, it is necessary to question the generally uncritical assumptions about the character and potential of play itself that underpin these initiatives.

There is inadequate literature examining, and illustrating, the integration of play and business events and how this facilitates entrepreneurial opportunities. Business events are distinct from the patterns of ordinary life and increasingly offer participants an ‘invitation to play’, encouraging socialization and trust. This article examines the role of play in the design of business events and how this can enable entrepreneurial outcomes. Through examination of diverse, but related, literature and three contrasting, empirically based, case studies, this article illustrates how event creators take an increasingly entrepreneurial approach. These cases range from a charity event with participants sleeping with the homeless on a city’s streets, a major flooring manufacturer designing events to outsource innovation and an imaginative event activity termed ‘coffee and papers’. Designing events that fuse, rather than polarize, play and work enables business event settings, and activities, which trigger entrepreneurial outcomes. This article adds to the embryonic literature and concludes by identifying four principles that underlie the effectual facilitation of play in a business event setting.

Becoming more entrepreneurial in their government approaches is a concept aimed at supporting today’s cities in dealing with complex challenges. However, to date, knowledge about how cities can apply such approaches still remains a puzzle. This article presents the case study of the Neubad Lucerne initiative in order to contribute to the generation of a comprehensive picture and of instructive knowledge for city municipalities on their way toward an entrepreneurial city. It asks particularly how city governments and municipalities can stimulate grassroots initiatives toward an entrepreneurial city in a play way instead of a managerial way. The focus is therefore on playful rather than managerial city government processes that stimulate the emergence and activities of grassroots initiatives, the role and organizing mechanisms of networks that develop, and the role of temporary spaces in enabling activity and the construction of social identity.

‘Establishing a retro-marketing rental company: VW Kamper’ is a teaching case study primarily targeted for postgraduate and advanced undergraduate entrepreneurship, marketing and management students who are seeking to learn a range of small business start-up business planning and evaluation methods. The case draws theoretically on the brand revival characteristic framework of Brown, Kozinets and Sherry to consider the allure of renting a nostalgic Volkswagen (VW) campervan for a glamorous camping experience while relating some of the growing literature pertaining to the challenges faced by female entrepreneurs. The case provides financial and marketing contextual information to practically engage students with an intriguing and authentic motorhome rental service concept to help develop financial reasoning skills related to new ventures and risk.

This conceptual article explores the notion of ‘values added’ in the emerging context of speciality coffee. Previous studies have not considered the impact of shared values across the sector, through the supply chain to coffee shops. It is proposed that shared values contribute to differentiation in speciality coffee, resulting in distinctive coffee products and coffee shop experiences. ‘Values added’ are explored through the Aboriginal meaning system of songlines. This represents a playful approach to contextual theorizing, providing a new way of identifying and understanding the transfer of shared values across the sector. Four categories of shared values are identified relating to: ‘ecology’, ‘journey’, ‘integration’ and ‘attention to detail’, which are used to inform a values-added conceptual framework. Finally, the study makes recommendations for further research within the context of speciality coffee, emphasizing the importance using and aligning theory to enhance the understanding of differentiation.