Please circulate to interested colleagues. -- Mobile Entertainment: User Centred Perspectives A conference organised by CRIC, University of Manchester Supported by the European Commission: mGain (IST-2001-38846) 25th - 27th March 2004 Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester Liverpool Road Manchester, England. www.mobile-ent.org The international conference Mobile Entertainment: User Centred Perspectives is being organised by the ESRC Centre for Research on Innovation & Competition (CRIC) in Manchester as part of the European Commission funded mGain project. It aims to bring together research on technologies, services, content, policy and consumption in relation to mobile entertainment. Papers are invited on all areas of mobile entertainment and user needs from researchers in academia, industry and policy areas. The conference organisers particularly welcome empirically-driven, case-study based and practitioner-motivated research. Papers will be invited on, but not restricted to the following: User Perspectives Consumer Behaviour User Ethnographies Usability Comparative Studies Mobile Communities Mobile-mediated communication Content Delivery Location-based Services Cross media provision Peer to Peer service Location-Base services Mobile Entertainment Business New Markets & business models Work and labour Marketing 3G Policy & Legal Aspects IPR, copyright & DRM Access Content Regulation & certification Health, Effects & Protection Security, Trust & Credibility Innovative Entertainment Services: User-centred technologies Pervasive and ubiquitous entertainment Wearable entertainment devices Foresight & Futurology Users beyond 3G Abstracts for both standard paper presentations and poster sessions are welcome. Paper presentations should be planned to take 20 minutes followed by 10 minutes of questions and discussion. Posters will be displayed throughout the event but time will also be dedicated for authors to answer questions of the work presented. The submission process is the same for all type of presentations. Abstracts providing an overview of the work to be presented and details of data or models used should be no more than 4000 characters long (approx 650 words) long and must be submitted via the conference web site at www.mobile-ent.org. The conference language is English. The Student Paper Competition Registered students will have the opportunity to win a free place at the conference and contribution towards travel and accommodation expenses. Papers for consideration for this competition can be on any theme relevant to the conference and must be submitted by 12th Jan 2004. Full details will be made available on the conference web site. In addition to paper and poster presentations a varied programme of events will take place during the conference: Workshops: A workshop exclusively for students and researchers at the beginning of their careers will take place prior to the conference on Wed 24th March. This is free to registered delegates and support with accommodation costs for the night of 24th March may be available. A number of thematic/birds of a feather workshops and a session exploring industry/academia links will take place at the conference. Further details of these will be made available on the conference web site as they are confirmed. Social & Networking Events: 24th March: Pre-registration welcome and showcase. This event will involve short presentations from developers and solution providers and informal networking. This event will be organised in conjunction with the International Games Developers Association (IGDA). 25th March: A wine reception in the newly opened Money Gallery of the Manchester Museum with key speakers and buffet. 26th March: The conference dinner followed by night at a top Manchester club for the younger (or young at heart) delegates. Key Dates: Registration begins 25th Aug 2003 Deadline for abstracts: 22nd Sept 2003 Feedback on acceptance: 31st Oct 2003 Preliminary programme published: 21st Nov 2003 Deadline student paper competition 12th Jan 2004 Early-bird registrations ends: 23rd Jan 2004 Deadline for Camera Ready Copy: 26th Jan 2004 Jason Rutter Karenza Moore ESRC Centre for Research on Innovation and Competition, The University of Manchester, Harold Hankins Building, Booth Street West, Manchester, M13 9QH www.cric.ac.uk