How is this similar, or different , from what you have been doing, i.e. flying around, doing business, eating food? I wonder if "road warriors" is really a "phenomenon," or, rather, just another way to appropriate chic language for mundane activities. -Robert On Thu, 23 May 2002, Barry Wellman wrote:

I am posting this query to both the Community list and the AOIR list, because of its relevance to both.

I've been flying around a lot recently giving lectures and attending conferences: to scholarly, governmental and corporate dot.com groups.

In so doing, I frequently encounter what _PC Magazine_ calls "road warriors", albeit the opposite of Mad Max.

These are managers, professionals and technicians who spend a good deal of time traveling, either between organizational offices, or to other organizations or conferences. Modally, 2-4 days per week. They live by computer-supported and 800-number contact back to their home base. If you get into business lounges, you can see them pounding their laptops, checking their emails, and talking via 800 numbers to their colleagues elsewhere. They spend a lot of time in corporate hotels (e.g., the misnamed Holiday Inn), bars, medium-priced restaurants, and airport lounges.

Has anyone seriously studied such folks? How do they sustain this mobile life? What is their community, with work colleagues and friends -- and household members? Etc.

Barry ___________________________________________________________________

Barry Wellman Professor of Sociology NetLab Director wellman@chass.utoronto.ca http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman

Centre for Urban & Community Studies University of Toronto 455 Spadina Avenue Toronto Canada M5S 2G8 fax:+1-416-978-7162 ___________________________________________________________________

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Hi, While I am not studying the phenomenon of 'road warriors' as such I am completing my PhD ( or rather, trying to!) which examines the use of mobile communication technology by media professionals, in particular journalists and public relations practitioners - who share some of the professional work practices of 'road warriors'. There is a fairly limited amount of research completed at present in this field, although not surprisingly researchers in the Nordic countries have paid far more attention to issues related to mobile communication than most others. However, the Digital World Research Centre at the University of Surrey seems to be leading the way in bringing together researchers from outside of the technical disciplines through its annual conferences. I was able to get to the Second one last year but sadly can't make it this year , for those who are interested in this area the Third Wireless World Conference on the Social Shaping of Mobile Futures is being held there on July 18 and 19 with the theme Location! Location! Location! For more details go to the conference web site http://www.surrey.ac.uk/dwrc/wireless3.html A complete set of conference papers from the first two conferences can probably be obtained from the DWRC. Some excellent papers have been presented but relevant papers from last year include: Mobility and Participatory Status by Patrick G.T. Healey & Ahmad J. Reeves, Lecturer in Media and Communication & Ph.D. Student from the Information, Media, and Communication Research Group, Dept of Computer Science, Queen Mary & Westfield College,University of London, E1 4NS ph@dcs.qmw.ac.uk & ahmad@dcs.qmw.ac.uk Work Anywhere or Go Somewhere? The Career Dynamics of Mobile Working by Andrea Whittle of CRICT , Brunel University ( sorry no contact details provided). And my own contribution (if anyone is interested!) What�s happening? And other moving questions. Implications for the production and delivery of news via mobile communication devices Collette Snowden Donald Dyer Research Scholar The University of South Australia Department of Communication, Information and New Media. Magill South Australia. Barry Wellman <wellman@chass.utoronto.ca> wrote: I am posting this query to both the Community list and the AOIR list, because of its relevance to both. I've been flying around a lot recently giving lectures and attending conferences: to scholarly, governmental and corporate dot.com groups. In so doing, I frequently encounter what _PC Magazine_ calls "road warriors", albeit the opposite of Mad Max. These are managers, professionals and technicians who spend a good deal of time traveling, either between organizational offices, or to other organizations or conferences. Modally, 2-4 days per week. They live by computer-supported and 800-number contact back to their home base. If you get into business lounges, you can see them pounding their laptops, checking their emails, and talking via 800 numbers to their colleagues elsewhere. They spend a lot of time in corporate hotels (e.g., the misnamed Holiday Inn), bars, medium-priced restaurants, and airport lounges. Has anyone seriously studied such folks? How do they sustain this mobile life? What is their community, with work colleagues and friends -- and household members? Etc. Barry ___________________________________________________________________ Barry Wellman Professor of Sociology NetLab Director wellman@chass.utoronto.ca http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman Centre for Urban & Community Studies University of Toronto 455 Spadina Avenue Toronto Canada M5S 2G8 fax:+1-416-978-7162 ___________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________ Air-l mailing list Air-l@aoir.org http://www.aoir.org/mailman/listinfo/air-l --------------------------------- Do You Yahoo!? LAUNCH - Your Yahoo! Music Experience