Notes from Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference – EPIC 2007

EPIC is the premier international forum bringing together artists, computer scientists, designers, social scientists, marketers, academics and advertisers to discuss recent developments and future advances around ethnographic praxis in industry. Keynote speakers this year were Intel-Social Anthropologist Genevieve Bell and Brenda Laurel of California College of the Arts.

Jeffrey Bardzell, an assistant professor of HCI/Design and new media at the School of Informatics in Indiana University, reviews some of the topics that were discussed at the conference in Keystone, Colorado, USA. Jeffrey’s blog is OTOinsights.

 

“There was an interesting tension that many of the researchers seemed to be facing. On the one hand, their work was being used to help develop models for complex business practices. On the other hand, as ethnographers, they wanted to focus on concrete situations and contexts and the real, flesh-and-blood people within them. From my perspective, one way that this tension got addressed was to work proactively to improve communication between managers (who want the models) and employees, on whom the models are ideally grounded and in any case who will have to live with them once they are developed. Stated more abstractly, the ethnographers seemed to want to make a distinction between managing complex processes (which is seen as good) and implementing rationalist control schemes (which are seen as inhuman and bad).

 

Another major issue is one of legitimation. How can ethnographers convince managers and marketing leaders to take them seriously? How do they justify their work both intellectually (methods, data, etc.) and also from a business perspective (actually leads to better business processes or products)? Complicating this argument is the perceived conflict between the reductionist, abstract models that managers and marketing professionals want and the rich, individual “thick” and nuanced descriptions that ethnographers value and provide. Another way of saying this is that there is a lot of thinking about how ethnographic research can, should, does, or fails to connect to business cycles, that is, there is a lot of thinking about ways that ethnography can have real business impact.”

 

[Get the full story ¦ OTOinsights]

Notes found via BuzzTracker

Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference, EPIC 2007, to be held in Keystone, Colorado/USA

2008 SXSW Interactive Festival

The South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Festival is a leading event for emerging technologies. Scheduled March 7-11 in Austin, Texas, the 2008 Festival provides practical know-to information as well as unparalleled career inspiration, bringing together some of emerging technology’s most creative thinkers and digital innovators from all walks of life.

The event features five days of keynote speeches, more than 120 panels, the SXSW Web Awards, the iF! Trade Show & Exhibition, the ScreenBurn Arcade, and dozens of exciting evening events. Panels focus on how technology can facilitate new ideas, new communication, and new creativity, in addition to addressing hard-core technical issues.

In August the SXSW 2008 season was kicked off with the launch of the “Panel Picker”. It’s a simple web-based tool that allows the community to review submitted panel ideas, and then rate which panels they would be most interested in attending. Although the voting mechanism has been disabled on September 21, the interface is still fully functional for browsing the submissions and reading the comments. A preliminary schedule of the 2008 panel program will be announced in late October ‘07.

Browse the Panel Picker
iF! Interactive Trade Show + Exhibition
Review last year’s iF Trade Show Exhibitor pages

Other Upcoming Events:

• EPIC 2007 – Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference , October 3-6, Keystone CO

• Virtual Worlds Forum, October 23-26, London

• Future of Mobile, November 14, London

• Future of Web Design, November 7-8, New York

Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference, EPIC 2007, to be held in Keystone, Colorado/USA

EPIC2007, the third international Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference is held in Keystone, Co. USA, October 3-6.

EPIC is the premier international forum bringing together artists, computer scientists, designers, social scientists, marketers, academics and advertisers to discuss recent developments and future advances around ethnographic praxis in industry.

The organizers change the tone of the venue this year – away from the scuttle and bustle of a corporate campus (Intel) to the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains, Colorado. The primary conference program venue is the Keystone Conference Center which is nestled against the forest.

EPIC2007 is all about “Being Heard”. From privileged teenagers to vast populations of oppressed peoples, the last decade has seen a tremendous growth in the promise, and often actuality, of the ability to give voice to oneself, one’s people, one’s issues and one’s ideas. “You” may be Time’s Person of the Year, the “long tail” may be wagging the “You Tube”, “My Space” may be more your space. This year’s theme explores what it means to have voice, to represent, to be represented, to express, to be heard. It explores the ways this happens and what happens when it doesn’t. It also asks after the absence of voice and representation, and all the grey space in between.

Last year’s theme was Transitions, addressing the shifting landscapes of the world at macro and micro levels – global and societal shifts to changes in people’s daily lives. 14 workshops provided hands-on and interactive experiences around key topics in ethnography today.

EPIC2006 Conference Proceeds (pdf 285 pages)

EPIC2006 Slide Show (flickr)

PEZ