Call for participation:

Shared Encounters

Content Sharing as Social Glue in Everyday Places

Workshop at CHI 2007, San Jose, California

Sunday April 29th 2007


Call for Participation
Our everyday lives are characterised by encounters, some are fleeting and
ephemeral and others are more enduring and meaningful exchanges. Shared
encounters are the glue of social networks, although our everyday
encounters are increasingly mediated by communications technologies that
free up our social interaction from fixed spatial settings. We propose
that content sharing through mobile and ubiquitous technologies,
consciously situated in public space is a valuable new social practice. It
can contribute towards redefining boundaries of access between
communities, and create more fulfilling sustained encounters in spatial
settings.

In this context we aim to:
. identify the different types of encounters, and the characteristics
which make an encounter a rich experience.
. understand the qualities of situations which can sustain shared
encounters.
. investigate how sharing through personal media and mass media provide
ways for people to communicate and engage with others.
. differentiate the relationships between the types of social groups in
networked communities.
. determine the components and affordances of situated computing which
enable them to act as key enabling platforms.

We welcome contributions from researchers from a diverse range of fields,
such as HCI, architecture, media, psychology and urban studies. Authors
are invited to submit a four-page position statement in the ACM SIGCHI
workshop publication format.

Position statements are particularly invited which identify and discuss
qualitative and quantitative methodologies, present specific case studies
or that take an innovative perspective on the workshop themes. Selection
of workshop participants will be based on refereed submissions and
selected participants will be invited to participate actively in the
workshop sessions. It is our aim to publish and document the outcomes
of the workshop. At least one author of accepted papers needs to register
for the workshop and for one day of the conference itself.

Important Dates:
12th January 2007: Position papers due.
1st February 2007: Acceptance notifications.

Submissions and questions: [log in to unmask]

Website: http://www.mediacity-project.com/shared-encounters


Organizers:
Katharine S. Willis, Bauhaus University of Weimar
Konstantinos Chorianopoulos, Bauhaus University of Weimar
Mirjam Struppek, Interactionfield
George Roussos, Birkbeck College, University of London

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