Call for Submissions

Shared Encounters: Content Sharing as Social Glue in Public Space :: Workshop at ACM SIGCHI 2007, San Jose, California :: Sunday April 29th 2007

Our everyday lives are characterized 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 types of encounters, and the characteristics which make an encounter a rich experience * understand the qualities of situations which sustain shared encounters * investigate how sharing through mass media and personal media provide ways for people to communicate and engage with others * differentiate the relationship between the types of social groups in networked communities * determine the components 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 a structured perspective reflecting 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:
Jan. 12th 2007: Position papers due.
Feb. 1st, 2007: Notification of acceptance.
Apr. 29th 2007: Workshop.

SUBMISSIONS AND QUESTIONS: shared-encounters[at]mediacityproject.com

WEB: http://www.mediacity-project.org/shared-encounters

ORGANIZERS
Katharine S. Willis, Bauhaus University of Weimar
Konstantinos Chorianopoulos, Bauhaus University of Weimar
Mirjam Struppek, Interactionfield - Urban Media Research, Berlin
George Roussos, Birkbeck College, University of London