[Air-l] REMINDER: AoIR 2006 conference and workshop registrations

[Axel Bruns]

Dear AoIRers,

we're very much looking forward to seeing you all in Brisbane at the end of
September. This email is a gentle reminder to those of you who haven't
registered yet - please do so soon as this significantly assists us in
organising the conference.

You can find the online conference registration at
http://conferences.aoir.org/. To ensure that you and your paper are listed
in the conference programme, please make sure you complete your registration
by the end of August at the very latest. Should you need more time to
complete your registration, or wish to withdraw from the conference, we'd
appreciate it if you could let us know via email so we can adjust the
programme accordingly.


We also want to remind you that we offer a number of pre-conference
workshops, as well as a conference dinner, which you might also like to
register for. Places in the workshops are filling up fast, so be quick!

If you'd like to make additional workshop or dinner registrations, please
simply go back to the registration form and tick only those options which
you'd like to add to your existing registration. Then, enter your first
name, last name, and title in the boxes provided, and 'X' in all other boxes
- this will indicate to us that you're adding to an existing registration.

You can also book additional seats for the conference dinner in this way.


Given the calibre of your papers, and the fabulous keynote speakers, panels,
roundtables, and workshops which will be part of the conference, we think
we've got a very exciting event to look forward to. We hope you'll enjoy the
conference, and we look forward to welcoming you in Brisbane.

Below are some of the highlights of the conference programme, for your
information.


=== Pre-Conference Workshops ===

== Doctoral Colloquium, sponsored by the Creative Industries Faculty at
Queensland University of Technology. The colloquium offers PhD students
working in Internet research or a related field a special forum where they
will have a chance to present their research plans and discuss them with
peers and established senior researchers.

== Internationalizing Internet Studies, sponsored by the Cultural
Technologies node in the Australian Research Network (ARC) Cultural Research
Network. This workshop will seek to uncover how non-Anglophone uses of the
Internet might challenge certain preconceived notions about the technology
and its social impacts as well as the manner in which Internet studies is
taken up, valued and taught outside the circuits of understanding prevalent
in Anglophone academia.

== Open Access to Knowledge and the Creative Commons, organised by Creative
Commons Australia and the Law School at Queensland University of Technology.
This workshop is designed to introduce the concept and theory of open access
licensing in general, and Creative Commons in particular.

== Mobile and Wireless Devices in Learning and Teaching, organised by the
Creative Industries Faculty at Queensland University of Technology. This
workshop invites those already using mobile and wireless devices in learning
and teaching, and those interested in doing so, to share their experiences
and work towards building a stronger and more consistent pedagogical
framework for mobile learning.

== Humanities Online Research Resources: Infrastructure Not Content!,
organised by the Australian Academy of the Humanities. In Australia, work is
being done towards the development of a national digitised cultural
resource. This workshop aims to solicit contributions of ideas, strategies,
and new leads by brainstorming the model with as many different perspectives
as it is possible to garner, including those of people working in research
sectors in other countries where these ideas have been successfully
progressed further.

== Excursion to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary This is an alternative to the
morning workshops on 27 September - it includes transport and entry to the
Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in suburban Brisbane, where you'll be able to
cuddle a koala, handfeed kangaroos, and encounter a large variety of
Australian wildlife, all in beautiful, natural settings. You'll be able to
return in time to attend the afternoon workshop sessions and the conference
reception.


=== Conference Dinner

The conference dinner takes place in the evening of Friday 29 September,
following the AoIR Annual General Meeting. It will be held in the Queen's
Ballroom at the Brisbane Hilton, and features excellent modern Australian
cuisine and a selection of famous Australian wines and beers, as well as
non-alcoholic refreshments.


=== Keynote Speakers ===

== Professor Guo Liang: "Online Public Opinion in China"

Guo Liang is a deputy director of the Center for Social Development in the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). He is also working as an
Associate Professor for the Institute of Philosophy of CASS. He wrote
columns introducing the Internet to Chinese people from 1996 to 2000 for
South Weekend, a leading weekly newspaper in China. In 1997, he edited seven
books the Internet Culture Series, including one book, The Creation of the
Internet, written by himself. This led to his recognition as one of the top
10 Chinese Netizens in 1998.

== Professor John Hartley: "Creative Content and the Creative Citizen"

Originally from London, John Hartley completed a BA (Hons) at the University
of Wales (Cardiff) in 1972 and published his first book, Reading Television,
in 1978. The best-selling book, co-authored with John Fiske, was the first
to analyse television from a cultural perspective, and is considered a
defining publication in the field. This work also established Hartley as a
pioneer and international leader in contemporary television and cultural
studies. Currently he is an Australia Research Council Federation Fellow and
Research Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Creative Industries and
Innovation at Queensland University of Technology. 



We look forward to seeing you in Brisbane in September!

Axel Bruns    === Conference Chair
Fay Sudweeks  === Programme Chair
Matthew Allen === AoIR President

Gold sponsors: 

 === Cisco Systems (www.cisco.com)
 === Institute for Creative Industries and Innovation (www.ici.qut.edu.au)
 === Creative Industries Faculty (www.creativeindustries.qut.edu.au)

Major sponsors:

 === Australasian CRC for Interaction Design - ACID (www.acid.net.au) 
 === Peter Lang Publishing USA (www.peterlangusa.com)


-- 
Dr Axel Bruns                 a.bruns at qut.edu.au - http://snurb.info/
Media & Communication    Musk Ave, Kelvin Grove, Qld. 4059, Australia
Creative Industries Faculty              Z2-202, CIP - (07) 3864 5548
Queensland University of Technology                CRICOS No.: 00213J