[Air-l] AoIR Conference 2006: 1st announcement and call for papers

[Matthew Allen]

CALL FOR PAPERS

IR 7.0: INTERNET CONVERGENCES
International and Interdisciplinary Conference of the Association of
Internet Researchers

Brisbane, Australia
28-30 September 2006

Pre-Conference Workshops: 27 September 2006

INTERNET CONVERGENCES

The Internet works as an arena of convergence. Physically dispersed and
marginalized people (re)find themselves online for the sake of
sustaining and extending community. International and interdisciplinary
teams now collaborate in new ways. Diverse cultures engage one another
via CMC. These technologies relocate and refocus capital, labor and
immigration, and they open up new possibilities for political,
potentially democratizing, forms of discourse. Moreover, these
technologies themselves converge in multiple ways, e.g. in
Internet-enabled mobile phones, in Internet-based telephony, and in
computers themselves as "digital appliances" that conjoin communication
and multiple media forms. These technologies also facilitate
fragmentations with greater disparities between the information-haves
and have-nots, between winners and losers in the shifting labor and
capital markets, and between individuals and communities. Additionally
these technologies facilitate information filtering that reinforces,
rather than dialogically challenges, narrow and extreme views.

CALL FOR PAPERS

Our conference theme invites papers and presentations based on empirical
research, theoretical analysis and everything in between that explore
the multiple ways the Internet acts in both converging and fragmenting
ways - physical, cultural, technological, political, social - on local,
regional, and global scales.

Without limiting possible proposals, topics of interest include:

- Theoretical and practical models of the Internet
- Internet convergence, divergence and fragmentation
- Networked flows of information, capital, labor, etc.
- Migrations and diasporas online
- Identity, community and global communication
- Regulation and control (national and global)
- Internet-based development and other economic issues
- Digital art and aesthetics
- Games and gaming on the Internet
- The Net generation
- E-Sectors, e.g. e-health, e-education, e-business

We call for papers, panel proposals, and presentations from any
discipline, methodology, and community that address the theme of
Internet Convergence. We particularly call for innovative, exciting, and
unexpected takes on and interrogations of the conference theme. However,
we always welcome submissions on any topics that address social,
cultural, political, economic, and/or aesthetic aspects of the Internet
and related Internet technologies. We are equally interested in
interdisciplinary proposals as well as proposals from within specific
disciplines.

SUBMISSIONS

We seek proposals for several different kinds of contributions. We
welcome proposals for traditional academic conference papers, but we
also encourage proposals for creative or aesthetic presentations that
are distinct from a traditional written 'paper'. We welcome proposals
for roundtable sessions that will focus on discussion and interaction
among conference delegates, and we also welcome organized panel
proposals that present a coherent group of papers on a single theme. 

This year AoIR will also be using an alternative presentation format in
which a dozen or so participants who wish to present a short overview of
their work to stimulate debate will gather together in a plenary session
involving short presentations (no more than 5 minutes) and extended
discussion. All papers and presentations in this session will be
reviewed in the normal manner. Further information will be available via
the conference submission website.

- PAPERS (individual or multi-author) - submit abstract of 500-750 words

- SHORT PRESENTATIONS - submit abstract of 500-750 words

- CREATIVE OR AESTHETIC PRESENTATIONS - submit abstract of 500-750 words

- PANELS - submit a 250-500 word description of the panel theme (and
abstracts of the distinct papers or presentations)

- ROUNDTABLE PROPOSALS - submit a 250-500 word statement indicating the
nature of the roundtable discussion and interaction. 

Papers, presentations and panels will be selected from the submitted
proposals on the basis of multiple blind peer review, coordinated and
overseen by the Program Chair. Each person is invited to submit a
proposal for 1 paper or 1 presentation. People may also propose a panel
of papers or presentations, of which their personal paper or
presentation must be a part. You may submit an additional
paper/presentation of which you are the co-author as long as you are not
presenting twice. You may submit a roundtable proposal as well.

Detailed information about submission and review is available at the
conference submission website http://conferences.aoir.org. All proposals
must be submitted electronically through this site.

PUBLICATION OF PAPERS

All papers presented at the conference are eligible for publication in
the Internet Research Annual, on the basis of competitive selection and
review of full papers. Additionally, several publishing opportunities
are expected to be available through journals, again based on
peer-review of full papers. Details on the website.

GRADUATE STUDENTS

Graduate students are strongly encouraged to submit proposals. Any
student paper is eligible for consideration for the AoIR graduate
student award. Students wishing to be a candidate for the Student Award
must also send a final paper by 31 July 2006.

PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS

Prior to the conference, there will be a limited number of
pre-conference workshops which will provide participants with in-depth,
hands-on and/or creative opportunities. We invite proposals for these
pre-conference workshops. Local presenters are encouraged to propose
workshops that will invite visiting researchers into their labs or
studios or locales. Proposals should be no more than 1000 words, and
should clearly outline the purpose, methodology, structure, costs,
equipment and minimal attendance required, as well as explaining its
relevance to the conference as a whole. Proposals will be accepted if
they demonstrate that the workshop will add significantly to the overall
program in terms of thematic depth, hands on experience, or local
opportunities for scholarly or artistic connections. These proposals and
all inquires regarding pre-conference proposals should be submitted as
soon as possible to the Conference Chair and no later than 31 March
2006.

DEADLINES

Submission site available: 1 December 2005

Final date for proposal submission: 7 February 2006

Presenter notification: 21 March 2006

Final workshop submission deadline: 31 March 2006

Submission of paper for publication/student award: 31 July 2006

Submission of paper for conference archive: 30 September 2006

CONTACT INFORMATION

Program Chair: Dr Fay Sudweeks, Murdoch University, Australia,
sudweeks at murdoch.edu.au

Conference Chair: Dr Axel Bruns, Queensland University of Technology,
Australia, a.bruns at qut.edu.au

President of AoIR: Dr Matthew Allen, Curtin University of Technology,
Australia m.allen at curtin.edu.au

Association Website: http://www.aoir.org

Conference Website: http://conferences.aoir.org (from 1 December)