Thursday, September 28, 2006

Some deep hanging out at EPIC 2006

Wireless Internet, how I love you so. I'm writing this from Calgary right now, so my conference notes will have to stay as such rather than become a blog entry for now.
Something akin to what one feels like after getting off Space Mountain at Disneyland, then getting onto another ride... such has been the experience as of late. Just attended EPIC 2006, which stands for the "Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference" in Portland, Oregon. It brought together people who are thinking about the theoretical and methodological development in industry practice.
For me personally, going to a conference like this was a strange experience. Though some of us may have had internal debates and differences with critiques and such, the feeling as 'ethnographers' with a unified purpose and optimism was something else. The message: ethnography is a process, ethnographers are a group of people engaged in this process--and the number of governments, NGOs, and those in industry willing to listen to 'us' in our cultural insights is coming to a critical mass. This conference, only being in it's 2nd iteration, was a clear example of this and as Genevieve Bell from Intel pointed out: the fact that large companies like Intel and Microsoft were willing to be major sponsors for an event that brought ethnographers together, speaks volumes in and of itself. So that was the optimism part. The really really weird part was being amongst so many people who were not necessarily researching the exact same topics, but saw the world through a similar lens and mode of investigation as I did. I dare say that most of us were accustomed to being anomalies in the room at any given point! So that was quite refreshing.
I was able to meet many people I have only been able to know virtually thus far, and that was great--asking candid questions about their experiences and getting a feel for who they were. In many ways, going to what was for me a type of 'mecca' of ethnography... further strengthened my resolve to pursue the goals I had set out for myself almost a decade ago--taking steps (in leaps and bounds) towards the learning and training that I need in order to practice ethnography well in various contexts. I realize it probably sounds like a heady experience, and keep in mind I'm not utterly seduced--but rather my participation in this 'coming home' of sorts gave me peace of mind not only for what I am currently doing (which I am really happy with) but that I am doing the right things in order to get where I am going...eventually.
To those I managed to meet while there--you know who you are--keep in touch.
To those who I did not get to--we'll get in touch.
I'll write more from Calgary/Banff when I can! My Vancouver obligations await.

See the flickr photo set from this conference>>

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Arr. Ye be makin' fun ye scurvy dogs!

September 19th is International talk like a pirate day.

Code like a pirate too. (Thanks MJK)

I'd better get back to work or it's Davy Jones' locker for me. Yo ho ho.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Journal article in Popular Communication

This morning I came into my office and found a nice little airmail package left on my desk. I opened it, and found copies of the latest issue of Popular Communication where I contributed an article.

Here's the information so you may see for yourself:

Popular Communication: Volume 4, Number 3 2006
Special Issue: At Play: Recent Perspectives from Game Studies
Guest Co-Editors: Katherine Isbister and James Watt
ISSN 1540-5702
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers
Mahwah, New Jersey London

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Guest Editors' Introduction
At Play
Katherine Isbister and James Watt

ARTICLES

Video Games and Ideological Frames
Ian Bogost

Toward a Cultural Theory of Gaming: Digital Games and the Co-Evolution of Media, Mind, and Culture
Janet H. Murray

The Culture and Business of Cross-Media Productions
Espen Aarseth

Reality Play: Documentary Computer Games Beyond Fact and Fiction
Joost Raessens

The Games We Play Online and Offline: Making Wang-tta in Korea
Florence Chee

The issue as a whole looks great, with some very admirable scholars and pioneers in the field of games research. Being published with them makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

Friday, September 01, 2006

Happy September!

Some hardcore construction of amusement happening here. Here's a clip from a Japanese game show to help you begin the month in the right frame of mind. Reminds me of what we do to ourselves in grad school... (or, for those closer to academia, the process of weeding out for grants... you know what I'm talking about kiddies!) The cash and prizes are just too persuasive!!

Afk for a bit, perhaps at the happiest place on Earth? We'll see.