Apologies for cross-posting. Please disseminate widely. This is a call for papers, posters, and expressions of interest in attending a two-day conference at the University of Essex, UK: *************************************************************************** Cultures of eBay: making sense of social and economic aspects of the eBay 'phenomenon' August 24th-25th 2005, Colchester, University of Essex http://www.essex.ac.uk/chimera/culturesofebay.html *************************************************************************** Conference background This is the first independent UK conference which aims to look at the cultural, social and economic aspects of eBay. As such, this e-mail asks for early expressions of interest in attending, as well as being a call for papers and posters, in order to gauge the demand for this one-off conference. The idea for this conference originated from an ongoing ESRC project (RES-000-23-0433) at Chimera, a department of the University of Essex, which began in February 2004 and is due to end in January 2006. Results of this research project will be disseminated at the conference. The overall aim of this conference is to bring together academics, and practitioner groups from both business and the voluntary sector, to explore and 'make sense' of the cultural, social and economic aspects and implications of eBay, the Internet auction site. Who should attend Academics in the fields of (but not exclusively): new media, e-commerce, cultural studies, sociology, human geography, HCI Practitioners in relevant fields Research students Industry consultants Conference themes The conference themes have been written in order to accommodate the interests of both academics and practitioner groups. See the conference website (Conference themes and scope section) for a full and detailed outline of potential research questions that could be addressed under each theme. Meta themes: eBay and identity: the presentation of self/ others and knowledge performance eBay and social capital eBay, consumption and consumer lifestyles Collecting in an e-society eBay and employment effects eBay, competition and the 'perfect market' eBay and the 'real' economy eBay and website design eBay and the consumer Representations of eBay Guidance for authors of papers It is not intended for authors to submit full papers for the conference. Presenters will be chosen by a panel on the basis of their submitted abstracts. Abstracts should be no more than 400 words. If you are interested in participating, please email your abstract to the conference administrator by 31st March, 2005. Please e-mail Mr Martin Hicks (hicksm and add @essex.ac.uk to create full e-mail address) using the title 'eBay Conference.' The submission must include: . A title and abstract (400 words) outlining the work to be presented . Name(s) & contact details for each of the author(s) . Whether work is completed or on-going . Whether partly or wholly a student project . If work is subject to external constraints, (e.g. commercial sensitivity) Authors of accepted submissions will be notified by 22nd April 2005. PowerPoint presentations will be required by 29th July 2005. Guidance for poster submission Poster submissions addressing any of the areas identified in the conference topics are invited. If you would like to present a poster, please send details to Mr Martin Hicks (hicksm and add @essex.ac.uk to create full e-mail address) using the title 'eBay Conference poster.' The deadline for poster submission is 31st March, 2005. The submission must include: . A title and brief abstract (250 words) describing the contents of the poster . Name(s) & address(es) of author(s) . Name of presenter of the poster, address, email, telephone and fax number (if available) . Whether work is completed or on-going . Whether partly or wholly a student project . If work is subject to external constraints, (e.g. commercial sensitivity) . A brief note indicating how the space afforded for display of the poster will be used, including any innovative suggestions for display or observer involvement. Authors of accepted submissions will be notified by 22nd April 2005. There is no predefined layout and content format for poster presentations. A standard A1 poster board (approx 23 x 33 inches or 61 x 45.7cm) will be provided to display your work. For additional information on poster presentations, please refer to the conference website. Important dates Expressions of interest in attending (for non-presenters only), no later than: 21st March 2005 Abstracts and posters no later than: 31st March 2005 Acceptance notification: 22nd April 2005 PowerPoint presentations no later than: 29th July 2005 Formal registration for all no later than: 16th May 2005 Conference dates: 24th and 25th August, 2005. More information For more information on any aspects of the conference, please see the conference website: http://www.essex.ac.uk/chimera/culturesofebay.html Additionally, please e-mail Mr Martin Hicks (hicksm and add @essex.ac.uk to create full e-mail address) using the title 'eBay Conference' for early expressions of interest, or any queries you may have. To go to this e- mail address automatically, please go to the conference website. ____________________________________________ Rebecca Ellis Chimera http://www.essex.ac.uk/chimera/index.html Institute for Socio-Technical Research & Innovation University of Essex ________________________________________