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CFP: New Media and Society special issue on crowdfunding
by Bertha Chin 22 May '13

22 May '13

*Apologies for cross-posting* Call for Papers: New Media & Society special issue on crowd funding. Edited by Lucy Bennett, Bertha Chin and Bethan Jones The concept of crowdfunding, where grassroots creative projects are funded by the masses through websites such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo has been steadily gaining attention in the last few years. The 2013 success of the Veronica Mars movie campaign, along with the successful crowdfunding projects spearheaded by musicians like Amanda Palmer and, most recently, actor Zach Braff, has raised much discussion surrounding the rich and powerful possibilities of this method of funding. However, the practice has also invited much criticism, not just of Kickstarter but also of crowdfunding in general. Among some of the most common accusations levelled at crowdfunding are: it is used by media conglomerates to exploit fans; successful artists using the scheme take money away from genuine independent producers who actually need it; and the time and money spent on delivering perks to donors detracts from the time and money invested in the actual project. However, others have argued that the existence of crowdfunding affords media scholars new ways of examining the role of the audience in television and film production, that fan agency needs to be more widely considered in discussions of fan exploitation, and that ‘fan-ancing’ is leading to a new business model for the financing of artistic projects that is free from studio or network intervention. This special issue seeks to examine and unravel the debates around crowdfunding and thus brings together contributors from a range of academic disciplines. We are seeking papers that offer a wide range of perspectives on the processes of crowdfunding projects, from analyses of the crowdfunded projects themselves, to the interaction between producers and audiences, and to the role that Kickstarter plays in discussions around fan agency and exploitation. Thus, we invite proposals on, but not limited to, the following topics surrounding crowd funding: - Case studies of crowd funding campaigns - Fandom - Unsuccessful crowd funding efforts - The role of the internet and social media in crowd funding - Producer/funder relationships - Crowd funding in the music, film, television and games industries - Anti-fandom - The role of auteurs and cult names/media in attracting backers - Fan exploitation and labour - Rewards and producer accountability Please send 400 word abstracts, along with a short author biography, by 20th June 2013. Please email these to bennettlucyk(a)gmail.com, bertha.chin(a)gmail.com <mbertha.chin(a)gmail.com> and bethanvjones(a)hotmail.com. -- Dr. Bertha Chin Independent Scholar Board Member, Fan Studies Network

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CFP: connexions • international professional communication journal 2(1) issue - February 2004
by connexions journal 22 May '13

22 May '13

Please accept my apologies for cross-postings _______________________________________ Dear Colleague, Following on from its inaugural issue on the field of international professional communication, and the forthcoming issue on international engineering communication, *connexions • international professional communication journal* invites you to continue the conversations on IPC by contributing to Issue 2(1). The journal welcomes *papers that explore* the *practice, research, pedagogy, methodology, and technology* of efficient and effective written, oral, visual, electronic and non-verbal professional communication in academic, business, crisis, development, environmental, health, media, nonprofit, political, research, science, technical and other work and civic activity contexts in local, national, international, and global work and civic activity settings. *Manuscripts *of - original *research articles* of 5,000 to 7,000 words of body text, - *review articles* of 3,000 to 5,000 words of body text, - *focused commentary* and *industry perspectives* articles of 500 to 3,000 words of body text, - *teaching cases* of 3,000 to 5,000 words of body text. *Submission procedures* - Submit - cover page containing your name, institutional affiliation, and email address); - complete research article, review article, focused commentary or industry perspective article, or teaching case. - Prepare the cover page and manuscript on letter or A4 size pages, 1.5 line spacing, and Georgia 12-point font. - Save the cover page and manuscript in doc, docx, or rtf format. - Submit your proposal by email to the Editor at editor(a)connexionsjournal.org *Schedule* - Proposal deadline: September 30, 2013. - Notification of acceptance: November 30, 2013. - Date of publication: February 28, 2014. If you have any questions about your proposal, feel free to contact the Editor at editor(a)connexionsjournal.org Thank you for considering writing a paper for *connexions **• international professional communication journal* Rosário Durão Editor www.connexionsjournal.org connexions • international professional communication journal (ISSN 2325-6044) Department of Communication, Liberal Arts, and Social Sciences New Mexico Tech ****

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IGERT vide/poster: self-disclosure and privacy concerns in Amazon - deadline for voting MAY 23rd
by Federica Fornaciari 21 May '13

21 May '13

Dear all, as some of you already know the annual IGERT video and poster competition sponsored by the National Science Foundation is now on! There are lots of other interesting videos and posters!! Me and my colleagues at UIC have put together a video/poster that investigates self-disclosure and privacy concerns on Amazon reviews. We hope that you will take the time to enjoy our video and will consider sharing it on Facebook or Twitter with your network of friends and followers! You will also have an opportunity to vote for the public choice award if you enjoy our project (deadline May 23rd – 10pm EDT) Here are some instructions: 1) click on this link http://posterhall.org/igert2013/posters/354 2) click on public choice 3) click on “like the presentation on Facebook” 4) and share it on your network! Thank you for your support! Federica -- Federica Fornaciari Ph. D. Candidate, University of Illinois at Chicago ESP-IGERT fellow http://fedefo.wordpress.com/about/ http://www.igert.org/profiles/4709 @fedefo

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CFP - Surveillance, Games and Play
by Jennifer Whitson 21 May '13

21 May '13

Hello, Bart Simon and I are editing a special issue of *Surveillance & Society<http://library.queensu.ca/ojs/index.php/surveillance-and-society/announceme…> *on surveillance, games and play. The deadline for submissions is September 15th, and the issue will be published this spring. We're hoping AOIR members will contribute, so please contact either Bart or I if you have any questions. *CFP Surveillance, Games and Play * The games we play on our computers, iPads, and video game consoles are watching us. They track our every online move and send data on who we are, how we play, and whom we play with back to game and virtual world publishers such as Sony and Microsoft. Two events in the summer of 2011 exemplify the need to study surveillance in games: a hacker attack against Sony's Playstation Network compromised over 77 million user accounts including credit card numbers, while iPhone users discovered hidden code in their devices that tracked their movements and secretly sent this data back to Apple. This form of consumer surveillance that targets players has eluded critical appraisal in both the games studies and surveillance literature. The games we play are not only watching us, but are leveraging surveillance to mold us into better students, workers, and consumers, as evidenced by the growth of gamification applications that combine playful design and feedback mechanisms from games with users' social profiles (e.g. Facebook, twitter, and LinkedIn) in non-game applications explicitly geared to drive behavioural change. Accordingly, traditional surveillance activities are transformed through their combination with playful frames of reference and game-like elements. Yet, as argued by Anders Albrechtslund and Lynsey Dubbeld in volume 3(2/3) of this journal, surveillance is fun. It is an essential component of many games and virtual worlds. It enables family to find each other and play together online, such as when adult children who live thousands of miles away challenge their parents to a *Words with Friends *scrabble match over Facebook. Surveillance allows game companies to match strangers with similar skill sets and play-styles together in multiplayer games, thus increasing the flow of the game and players' mutual enjoyment. Surveillance facilitates coordinated teamwork and sophisticated game economies, exemplified by informational tools such as the damage mods and kill-point monitors created by players for massively-multiplayer online games. Surveillance also makes online games and virtual worlds safe for children and young adults, restricting both the use of inappropriate language and content, as well as prohibiting the entry of potentially dangerous adults. Moreover, surveillance is pleasurable. As game company Valve found when they forayed into biometrics (i.e. measuring galvanic skin response and arousal levels), players are more engaged when they can see how they affect their opponents' own physiological responses. We, as players, like to watch our opponents, anticipating what they will do next. We also use surveillance to improve our prowess and extend our moments of victory by using recording software and game replay functions This theme issue is dedicated to balancing two very different sides of surveillance: surveillance as a technology of corporate governance and surveillance as a technology of pleasure and play. *Possible research areas might include (but are not limited to):* - The role of surveillance in enabling play and games - The role of play and games in normalizing surveillance - Surveillance as gameplay or surveillance as a game mechanic - Playful surveillance applications - Playful representations of surveillance - Playful resistance to surveillance - Issues of identity, anonymity and pseudonymity in online games and virtual worlds - Online visibilities and the relationship between game publishers and user populations - The implications of using data gathered in-game for non-game applications - The use of surveillance and the representation of surveillance in online games, virtual worlds, and/or gamified applications, including topics such as: - Games that educate users about privacy and surveillance - End-User Licensing Agreements, Terms of Service, and awareness of surveillance - Applications of social networking services, locational data, and GPS devices in games and play - Uses of data gathering services, screen-capture tools, and recorded gameplay sessions - The surveillance of children and youth in virtual worlds and games - State and police use of in-game data for surveillance, tracking, behavioral profiling etc. - Surveillance and the competitive, professional e-sports gaming industry - Data mining, game metrics, and targeted advertising in the game industry This is not intended to be an exclusive listing of possibilities for this edition. Other possibilities are welcomed and encouraged and can be discussed in advance with the guest-editors: Jennifer R.Whitson<j.whitson(a)concordia.ca>and Bart Simon <bart.simon(a)concordia.ca>. All papers must be submitted through the online submission system no later than *September 15th 2013*, for publication in *March 2014.* Click here<http://library.queensu.ca/ojs/index.php/surveillance-and-society/announceme…>for further information on submissions. Thanks, Jennifer R. Whitson, PhD Postdoctoral Fellow, Technoculture Arts and Games Research Centre Concordia University Montreal, Canada

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2013 Executive Committee Election: Candidate Statements & Voting Information
by Kelly Boudreau 21 May '13

21 May '13

Candidate statements for the 2013 Executive election are now available. For more information on each candidate, please click here<http://aoir.org/about/executive-committee/aoir-elections-2013-candidates/>. Please be aware that in order to vote in this year’s election you must be an active member of AoIR no later than 23:59 Eastern time (-0400 UTC), Tuesday, May 21st. Voting will open May 22, 2013 at 12:01 am (Eastern time, -0400 UTC) and close June 1st, 2013 at 12:00 pm (NOON Eastern time, -0400 UTC). To vote, please click on the following link<https://www.balloteer.com/bp/nph-bstart?&eid=3181626649827258> and use your AoIR Membership User ID number. (To find this number, please log into your AoIR membership page at http://members.aoir.org/ and select ‘view profile’. It is listed as User ID.) If you have any questions concerning your AoIR membership please contact ac(a)aoir.org. For questions on the election or the voting process, please contact secretary(a)aoir.org. - Association Coordinator, AoIR

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2013 Executive Committee Election: Candidate Statements & Voting Information
by Kelly Boudreau 21 May '13

21 May '13

Candidate statements for the 2013 Executive election are now available. For more information on each candidate, please click here<http://aoir.org/about/executive-committee/aoir-elections-2013-candidates/>. Please be aware that in order to vote in this year’s election you must be an active member of AoIR no later than 23:59 Eastern time (-0400 UTC), Tuesday, May 21st. Voting will open May 22, 2013 at 12:01 am (Eastern time, -0400 UTC) and close June 1st, 2013 at 12:00 pm (NOON Eastern time, -0400 UTC). To vote, please click on the following link<https://www.balloteer.com/bp/nph-bstart?&eid=3181626649827258> and use your AoIR Membership User ID number. (To find this number, please log into your AoIR membership page at http://members.aoir.org/ and select ‘view profile’. It is listed as User ID.) If you have any questions concerning your AoIR membership please contact ac(a)aoir.org. For questions on the election or the voting process, please contact secretary(a)aoir.org. - Association Coordinator, AoIR

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IS1202 Training School on Virtual Work, Malta, Sep 16-20 *travel grant application DL May 24*
by Vili Lehdonvirta 20 May '13

20 May '13

Dear AoIRers, Some months ago, Christian Fuchs introduced a new international research network titled Dynamics of Virtual Work (more formally known as COST Action IS1202) to this list. As the leader of the Early-Stage Researchers Subgroup of this network, I'm happy to introduce a summer school that is now being organised under its auspices. A good amount of funding is available to cover participants' travel expenses. The application deadline is this Friday already, but the application process itself is light. I would encourage applications from all doctoral students and postdocs from eligible countries (see link below) who are interested in topics such as prosumer work, crowdsourcing, microwork, virtual teams and avatar-mediated collaboration. Warm regards, Vili IS1202 TRAINING SCHOOL ON VIRTUAL WORK Theoretical and Methodological Approaches to the Study of Virtual Work University of Malta, 16-20 September 2013 Travel grants available - application deadline *May 24th* http://www.um.edu.mt/events/is1202training2013 Information and communication technologies have given rise to new types of paid and unpaid 'digital' or 'virtual' labour. They range from online prosumer work and service co-creation to game labour and the exploitation of global wage differences through digital microwork. These new forms of labour exemplify shifts in the borderlines between 'play' and 'work', as well as in 'employment' and 'entrepreneurship', and have significant implications to private life, global development and the nature of work in general. Because of the gender division of labour, they also affect women and men differently. The objective of this training school is to prepare doctoral students and postdocs from a variety of disciplines to carry out successful research in the cross-disciplinary field of virtual work studies. Virtual work is a multi-faceted phenomenon: in addition to one's own disciplinary background, successful researchers must also understand key contributions from neighbouring disciplines. In this training school, participants will obtain grounding in the most important theoretical perspectives, as well as receive instruction in cutting-edge methodological approaches. Participants will also present their own work, network with other emerging scholars and some of the preeminent scholars in the field, and discuss publication venues, funding strategies and other building blocks of a successful academic career. The Training School on Virtual Work takes place at the University of Malta and its beautiful Mediterranean surroundings. The school is funded by the IS1202 COST Action on the Dynamics of Virtual Work. Funding for travel and participation is available to eligible doctoral students and postdocs. Major theoretical approaches: • Labour Sociology - Professor Jörg Flecker, University of Vienna, Austria • Social Psychology of Organizations - Dr Marko Hakonen, Aalto University, Finland • Political Economy of Communications - Professor Katharine Sarikakis, University o Vienna, Austria (tbc) • Microeconomics and Behavioral Economics - Assistant Professor John Horton, Stern School of Business, New York University, United States • Gender Studies - tbc Important Dates: 24th May 2013 - Deadline for applications for funding 30th May 2013 - Notification of grant selection results. Each applicant will be contacted personally about the outcome of his/her application. 16th September 2013 - Training school commences Organising committee: Dr Vili Lehdonvirta, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford Dr Mark Micallef, Department of Computer Science, University of Malta Contact: is1202training2013(a)um.edu.mt http://www.um.edu.mt/events/is1202training2013 -- Dr Vili Lehdonvirta Virtual economies and digital work Research Fellow, Oxford Internet Institute http://vili.lehdonvirta.com -- Twitter: ViliLe -- Skype: vlehdonv -- Tel. +44 7456 420012

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Conference programme: ICT and Work
by Mathieu ONeil 20 May '13

20 May '13

*Apologies for multiple posts* Conference programme ICT and Work : The United States at the Origin of the Dissemination of Digital Capitalism Université Paris Sorbonne Histoire et dynamique des espaces anglophones (ED4 - HDEA) - Travail, culture et société (TCS) Date: 29 - 30 May 2013 Venue: Maison de la Recherche, 28 rue Serpente, 75006 Paris Abstracts: http://ictandwork.blogspot.fr/ Registration: inscription.ictwork(a)gmail.com Contribution: 30 euros (students 10 euros) Wednesday 29 May 1:30 pm Registration of participants 2:00 pm Welcome by Barthélémy Jobert, President, Université Paris Sorbonne; Marie-Madeleine Martinet, Director, HDEA, Université Paris Sorbonne; and Alexis Tadié, Director, Doctoral School, Université Paris Sorbonne. 2:30 pm Presentation of European COST Action IS-12-02: Dynamics of Virtual Work by Ursula Huws, University of Hertfordshire Business School 2:55 pm Introductory remarks by Olivier Frayssé, Université Paris Sorbonne, Exporting United States Work Models: Laying Out the Issue Keynote Address 3:15-4:30 pm Eran Fisher, The Open University of Israel, From Ford to Google: The Ideology of Technology Past and Present Respondent: Antonio Casilli, Telecom ParisTech, EHESS Chair: Mathieu O’Neil, Université Paris Sorbonne 4:30 pm Tea Break Session 1 — The Californian Paradigm: Technology and Work Culture 4:50 pm Adam Fish, Lancaster University, Silicon Valley or Hollywood? Place, Politics, and Technology in Cultures of Internet and Television Convergence 5:10 pm Thibault Clément, Université Paris Sorbonne, Whistle While You Work: Disney's Theme Parks as Socio-Technical Devices and the Diffusion of US Work Culture Respondent: Hélène Schmutz, Université Paris Sorbonne 5:30-6:15 pm Discussion Thursday 30 May 9:00 am Coffee, registration. Session 2 — ICT and Labor: New Dynamics in the Era of Globalization 9:30 am Jakob Rigi, Central European University, Intellectual Property and Labor Aristocracy in the USA: the United States as a Knowledge-Based Rentier State 9:50 am Mary L. Gray, Microsoft Research New England, Digital Piecework: Lessons from an Ethnographic Study on Amazon’s MTURK Program Respondent: Élisabeth Koechlin, Université Paris Sorbonne 10:10-10.30 am Discussion 10:30 am Coffee break 10:50 am Angela Martinez Dy, Nottingham University, Unmasking the “Great Equalizer”: Internet Entrepreneurship by Marginalized Actors 11:10 am Eve Bantman Masum, Université Toulouse Le Mirail, Marketing Migration in North America: the Business Model of Brokerage in a Networked Age Respondent: Medina Niang, Université Paris Sorbonne 11:30-12:00 am Discussion Lunch break Session 3 — Reevaluating the Production / Consumption Relationship 2:30 pm Michael Palm, University of North Carolina, Magic Touch: Transaction Apps and the Political Economy of Swiping 2:50 pm Marie-Christine Pauwels, Université Paris-Ouest Nanterre la Défense, Work and Prosumerism: Collaborative Consumption in the US Respondent: Mathieu O'Neil, Université Paris Sorbonne 3:10-3:30 pm Discussion 3:30 pm Tea break Session 4 — Alternative models 3:50 pm Mandy Tröger, University of Illinois, Understanding the Role of Political Economy in US Communication Research 4:10 pm Arwid Lund, University of Uppsala, Peer to Peer Production's Relationship to Capitalism 4:30 pm Johan Söderberg, University of Göteborg: Techno-Utopists and Digital Capitalism 4:50 pm Lela Mosemghvdlishvili & Jeroen Jansz, Erasmus University Rotterdam, What is Free?: Commoditization of Open Source Software Development by Google Respondent: Mathieu O’Neil, Université Paris Sorbonne 5:10-6:00 pm Discussion and conference wrap-up 6:30 pm Closing drinks -- -- **** Dr Mathieu O'Neil Associate Professor, HDEA-TCS, Université Paris Sorbonne 1 rue Victor Cousin 75230 Paris cedex 05, France http://www.paris-sorbonne.fr/l-universite/nos-enseignants-chercheurs/articl… Adjunct Research Fellow, ADSRI, The Australian National University Coombs Building (#9) Canberra ACT 0200, Australia https://researchers.anu.edu.au/researchers/o-neil-m

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Help for literature
by Delwar Hossain 20 May '13

20 May '13

Dear Colleagues, I am going to conduct a study on the uses of social media among the South Asian diaspora in the U.S. Specifically, I will focus on some issues: online community, uses of native languages on social media. I really appreciate your suggestions regarding relevant literature on this area. -- .............................................................................................................................. Delwar Hossain || Ph.D. Candidate || College of Mass Communication and Media Arts Southern Illinois University Carbondale || IL-62901,USA || _________________________________________________________________________ Assistant Professor & Former Chairman || Department of Communication & Journalism|| University of Chittagong || e-mail: delwarif(a)siu.edu || delwarif(a)yahoo.com

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CFP: Union for Democratic Communications/Project Censored 2013 Conference (Deadline June 1)
by Kathleen Kuehn 19 May '13

19 May '13

CFP: The Point is to Change It: Media Democracy and Democratic Media in Action UDC/Project Censored Conference At the University of San Francisco, November 1-3 We invite submissions for the Union for Democratic Communication and Project Censored conference November 1-3, 2013 at the University of San Francisco. Submission deadline is June 1, 2013. Sponsored in part by the Department of Media Studies at the University of San Francisco With increasingly precarious employment, accelerating ecological degradation, gulfs between the 1% and the 99%, as well as dramatic booms and busts, we need a global media responsive to the 99%. We need rigorous critique of corporate media’s commodification of social life. We need critique of all forms of censorship, systematic information exclusion, and propaganda. We need grounded ideas for democratizing media in all formats and genres. We need media justice. To revitalize and retool media democracy in today’s media landscape, the Union for Democratic Communications (UDC) and Project Censored are teaming up for our 2013 conference. UDC, which held its first conference in 1981, has worked to overcome concentrated political-economic power in order to contribute to a world based on economic justice, equality, and peace. Project Censored, founded in 1976, has made its mission to expose and counteract modern-day censorship. Together, UDC and Project Censored hope to contribute to a more democratic society and world by sharing our scholarly and activist projects. We invite research, activist & artistic proposals from critical perspectives interrogating media institutions and technologies, political/economic structures, media practices, cultural practices & audiences; we invite studies in critical pedagogy and research on media activism. Proposals that address pro-democratic media reform or outline efforts to expand citizen access to media are particularly welcome. We welcome the following proposals emailed to udcpc2013(a)gmail.com by June 1, 2013: 1. 500-word abstracts that describe the purpose and significance of your research and/or activist projects, especially those that address the issues outlined in the call. 2. Full papers (up to 25 pages including references) from graduate and undergraduate students. The top student paper will be considered for the Top Student Paper Award. Student papers should be indicated as such and also contain a 500-word abstract. Students may apply for funding to cover some of their travel expenses through the Jeanne Hall Memorial Fund. To be considered for such funding, please include a one-line request for consideration of such funding on the top of your proposal. 3. Presentations of Media Literacy projects, including films and multimedia related to the call. 4. Finally, we welcome proposals for pre-constituted panels. Please include 500-word abstracts for each participant (4-5 participants) and one panel rationale of 200-350 words that articulates the connections between the projects and the overall significance of the panel. Sponsored in part by the Department of Media Studies at the University of San Francisco Thanks -- Kathleen M. Kuehn, PhD Assistant Professor Christopher Newport University Department of Communication kathleen.kuehn(a)cnu.edu

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