Swarm CES 2007 call for participants The annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is one of the focal points in the landscape of contemporary consumer culture, but one which as of yet has been mostly overlooked by scholars of technology, society, and popular culture. Its massive sprawl—both conceptually and physically—far outweighs the abilities and resources of any single scholar, so we propose a different approach: this January 2007, we invite academics from across the humanities and qualitative social sciences to join us at in Las Vegas for 3 days of collaborative, on-site research. No predetermined topics, no disciplinary approach preferred – the only requirements are that you study some aspect of technology in a social/cultural context, and that you be willing to try a new approach to research and collaboration. The premise underlying this "swarm scholarship" is straightforward: if we each take a crack at CES, but in a coordinated way, the result will be more interesting, more inclusive, and potentially more insightful than otherwise possible. We hope to demonstrate that such scholarship can be fast, agile, and responsive to contemporary events. Costs should be little more than a plane ticket and in some cases a car rental; housing will be available with UNLV faculty members, some of whom will be participating in the project, and free Press/Analyst credentials can be arranged for the trade show itself. Here's the plan: CES runs from Monday, January 8th through Thursday, January 11th, 2007. We will gather for an introductory dinner Sunday evening (the 7th), in order to meet each other and discuss ideas. Monday and Tuesday are relatively unstructured in the daytime; participants are encouraged to attend the show, inductively developing and fine-tuning research questions and gathering material. In addition, the resources and Special Collections of the UNLV research library located about one mile from the convention site will be available. Both evenings, we'll reconvene for dinner and debriefing, exchanging materials, and discussing ideas and suggestions for the following day. Finally, on Wednesday morning we'll gather on the UNLV campus for a more structured activity: 10-minute "idea-in-progress" talks, each followed by discussion. After we all head home and decompress from this intense (and hopefully fun) few days, we'll each write something sooner rather than later, aiming for generally accessible 20-30 page articles. We'll collectively decide how to publish the results (potential options include a journal special issue or an edited volume, as well as more unconventional new media options), but the goal is to produce a finished work by July 1 (within six months of the show itself). Interested? Contact us by December 1 to sign up (so that we can plan appropriately)... We currently have plans for about eight participants. Julian Kilker, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (kilker@nevada.edu) Josh Greenberg, George Mason University (jgreenb2@gmu.edu) Schedule summary: January 7th-10th, 2007 - Sun: Participants arrive in Las Vegas throughout the day, gathering for dinner and planning that evening. - Mon: First day of CES, possible early evening introduction to UNLV Special Collections - Tues: Second day of CES, evening discussion of publishing genres and modes - Wed: Presentations with feedback time, leave evening