[Air-L] Playful Experiences Seminar: CFP deadline closing soon!

[Olli Sotamaa]

Dear all,

I just wanted to remind you that you still have a few days to submit an 
abstract to the fifth annual game studies working paper seminar 
organised by the Games Research Lab in the University of Tampere, this 
time co-organised with Nokia Research Center. The exact abstract 
deadline for Playful Experiences Seminar is Thursday, January 15, 2009. 
Please consider submitting an abstract to the seminar!

Best,

Olli

Olli Sotamaa // Senior Assistant
Department of Information Studies and Interactive Media
University of Tampere, Finland
olli.sotamaa at uta.fi // www.uta.fi/~olli.sotamaa/

>> Call for Papers: Playful Experiences Seminar, Tampere 2.-3. April, 2009
>>
>> * Update: the seminar commentators will be Aki Järvinen (ITU 
>> Copenhagen) and Oskar Juhlin (Interactive Institute).
>>
>> What does it involve to enter the state of play? How games and other 
>> playful phenomena stand out among other everyday experiences, and can 
>> playful experiences be designed? Is there a way we can learn to 
>> understand games better by looking at phenomena that are not games, 
>> but where playful behaviours are common? How are play and function 
>> intertwined in Facebook, iPhone, Habbo Hotel and the other topical 
>> interactive products and services?
>>
>> As, on the one hand, so-called gamer generations are spreading 
>> understanding of play and games literacy into society, and, on the 
>> other, digital information and communication technologies are having 
>> an impact on various use contexts and in different social processes, 
>> there will be increasing needs for understanding playfulness that is 
>> not restricted to games in the classic sense. Play as an attitude and 
>> mode of engagement is appearing in social Internet services, and also 
>> working life is becoming increasingly open towards playful and 
>> creative modes of thought and activity.
>>
>> ‘Playful Experiences’ seminar invites presentations from multiple 
>> points of view, promoting wider interdisciplinary dialogue around 
>> player studies and games research, and in related fields. The 
>> co-organisers, University of Tampere Games Research Lab and Nokia 
>> Research Center invite both theoretical as well as empirically based 
>> studies into ‘playfulness’. Particular fields of study include, but 
>> are not limited to:
>>
>> - theories and methods for understanding play experiences;
>> - the social and cultural construction of play experiences;
>> - the nature of playful phenomena and playful attitude;
>> - the social character of games and playful experiences;
>> - the role of technology for playful experiences, e.g. play in mobile 
>> user contexts;
>> - user interface and usability issues related to playful interaction;
>> - play experiences beyond games.
>>
>> The seminar is fifth in the annual series of game studies working 
>> paper seminars organised by the Games Research Lab in the University 
>> of Tampere, this time co-organised with Nokia Research Center. Due to 
>> the work-in-progress emphasis, we strongly encourage submitting late 
>> breaking results, working papers and/or submissions from graduate 
>> students. Early considerations from projects currently in progress 
>> are most welcome, as the purpose of the seminar is to have 
>> peer-to-peer discussions and thereby provide support in refining and 
>> improving research work in this area. After the seminar, separate 
>> consideration will be given to various options of publishing the 
>> seminar papers.
>>
>> The papers to be presented will be chosen based on extended abstract 
>> review. Full papers are distributed prior the event to all 
>> participants, in order to facilitate discussion.
>>
>> The two-day event consists of themed sessions that aim to introduce 
>> current research projects and discuss ongoing work in studies of 
>> games, play and their relation to surrounding phenomena. The seminar 
>> will be chaired by professor Frans Mäyrä (Hypermedia Laboratory, 
>> University of Tampere). There will be two invited paper commentators: 
>> assistant professor Aki Järvinen (ITU Copenhagen) and studio director 
>> Oskar Juhlin (Mobility Studio, Interactive Institute).
>>
>> The seminar will be held in Tampere, Finland and will be free of 
>> charge; the number of participants will be restricted.
>>
>> Important Dates
>>
>> - Abstract Deadline: January 15, 2009
>> - Notification of Acceptance: January 30, 2009
>> - Full Paper deadline: March 6, 2009
>> - Seminar dates: April 2-3, 2009
>>
>> Submission Guidelines
>>
>> The extended abstract submissions should be between 500-1000 words 
>> (excluding references). Abstracts should be sent to 
>> <playfulexp{at}gmail.com> as plain text only (no attachments). 
>> Guidelines for submitting a full seminar paper will be provided with 
>> the notification of acceptance.
>>
>> Our aim is that everyone participating has been able to read 
>> materials submitted to the seminar, therefore the maximum length for 
>> a full paper is set to 6000 words (excluding references). Note also 
>> that the presentations held at the seminar should also encourage 
>> discussion, instead of only repeating the information presented in 
>> the papers. Tentatively, every paper will be presented for 10 minutes 
>> and discussed for 20 minutes.
>>
>> Seminar web site: http://playfulexperiences.wordpress.com/
>>
>> Co-organised by: http://gamelab.uta.fi & http://research.nokia.com/
>>
>> University of Tampere / Hypermedia Laboratory / Games Research Lab
>> Nokia Research Center / Media Laboratory / Human Practices and Design
>>
>>   
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