IFIP WG 9.5 International Working Conference on Virtuality and Society:
Massive Virtual Communities
1st and 2nd of July, 2008
Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany
Computing Center
Scharnhorststr. 1, House 7, Room 215
D- 21335 Lüneburg, Germany
http://www.leuphana.de/ifip_mass_virt_comm/
WG Virtuality and Society in TC 9
International Federation for Information Processing
Scope and theme
Prominent initially within the gaming community, but also increasing in many other social and organizational communities, very large virtual communities are transforming how we experience and conceptualize social and business life. In internet gaming, for example, the average number of people simultaneously online is comparable to a small city, and its characteristics reflect many emerging and surprising characteristics. In addition to sharing text, pictures and videos, and for meeting and dating, these virtual communities are now starting to transform the nature of social and organizational life itself, through its sheer size and ability to cross traditional social boundaries. This has broad implications for business organizations, and is becoming increasingly relevant for research and practice on organizational, societal, and administrative and political movements. And through this, it has and will continue to have a substantial impact on sociology, psychology, economics, art, and — last but not least — technology. For example, as Second Life has grown into an enduring phenomenon, even big companies are starting to develop virtual branches in order to experiment with, among other things, customer relations.
Registration and fee
A registration form is obtainable from the conference web site. The conference fee is 100 Euro including an evening program at the first day of the conference and coffee breaks.
Program committee
Mike Chiasson (Lancaster University, GB)
Wolfgang Coy (Humboldt University Berlin, D)
Kevin Crowston (Syracuse University, USA)
Ken Eustace (Charles Sturt University, AUS)
Velvet Landingham (Kent State University Geauga, USA)
Niki Panteli (University of Bath, UK)
Anthony Papargyris (Athens University of Economics and Business, GR)
Claus Pias (University of Vienna, A)
Bryan K. Temple (Glasgow Caledonian University, UK)
Martin Warnke (Leuphana University Lüneburg, D)
Organisation
Niki Panteli
Martin Warnke
Tuesday July 1rst 2008
09:00 Registration and Coffee
10:30 Welcome
Chrisanthi Avgerou IFIP TC9 Chair
11:00 The social meaning of online games in Germany. Findings from a representative study
Jeffrey Wimmer (invited speaker)
12:15 Lunch
PAPER SESSION 1 (full papers): MASSIVE VIRTUAL WORLDS
Chair: Wolfang Coy
13:30 The Motivational Arc of Massive Virtual Collaboration
Kevin Crowston and Isabelle Fagnot, Discussant: TBC
14:15 The Construction of Collective Memory in Massively Multiplayer Online Game Communities
Anthony Papargyris and Angeliki Poulymenakou, Discussant: Claus Pias
15:00 Community as Commodity
David Kreps and Erika Pearson,Discussant: TBC
15:45 Break
PAPER SESSION 2 (short papers): VIRTUAL NETWORKS
Chair: Martin Warnke
16:00 The Role of Communication Media in Virtual Networks
Joyce Lee and Niki Panteli
16:30 Online Social Networks and Arising Marketing Opportunities
Petros Chamakiotis and Vasiliki Georgopoulou
17:00 Adventures of an Academic on Facebook
Kim De Vries
20:00 SOCIAL EVENT
ELAY – A SL Avatar Study
Christian Wittenburg
Wednesday July 2nd 2008
PAPER SESSION 3 (short papers): SECOND LIFE IN EDUCATION
Chair: Niki Panteli
09:30 VU@Second Life 1: a report on experiences with the development of a (virtual) community of learners
Frans Feldberg, Anton Eliens, Elly Konjin and Marleen Huysman
10:00 The Pedagogical Potential of Second Life: Black Hole or a Baby Universe?
Simran K Grewal
10:30 Break
10:45 Digital Medicine as a Tool for u-Health and u-Learning
Dr Georgi Craschew (invited speaker)
12:15 Lunch
PAPER SESSION 4 (full papers): ONLINE SOCIAL INTERACTION
Chair: Simran K Grewal
13:30 The Presentation of Self and Social Identities through Blogging
Patchareeporn Pluempavarn and Niki Panteli, Discussant: TBC
14:15 What 45,000 seniors value about online social interaction
Oliver Burmeiser, Discussant:TBC
15:00 Break
15:15 PANEL: Massively Multiplayer Online Games and the Virtualization of Collective Memory
Chair: Angeliki Poulymenakou, Panelists: Anthony Papargyris, Paul C. van Fenema, Angeliki Poulymenakou
16:45 CONFERENCE EPILOGUE/NEW RESEARCH AGENDAS
Martin Warnke, Niki Panteli
17:30 IFIP WG 9.5 BUSINESS MEETING
Venue
Lüneburg is a smaller and very beautiful city in northern Germany, near Hamburg. It has a lively university and a medieval city centre. The famous Lüneburg heath (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luneburg_Heath) is not far away.
There will be a limited number of hotel rooms at special rates when booked early. Details on
http://www.leuphana.de/ifip_mass_virt_comm/accomodation.html
How to get there
Lüneburg University (53°13’48.36"N 10°24’6.45"E) is situated in northern Germany. The nearest airports are Hamburg Airport Fuhlsbuettel (the closest), Hannover Airport, and Luebeck Airport Blankensee. It is easy to reach Lüneburg by train from all of these airports. You can reach Luneburg from Berlin via Hamburg or Hannover by train. The distance from Hamburg is appr. half an hour by train or car, from Hannover appr. one hour. Visit Deutsche Bahn (http://www.bahn.co.uk/db_uk/view/index.shtml) for travel information. From the Luneburg train station (ZOB) you can reach the University Campus ("Uni" or "Scharnhorststr. Uni") by bus (lines 5011 or 5012) or taxi.
Sponsored by IFIP 9.5 Working Group "Virtuality and Society"
Co-sponsored by the Gesellschaft fuer Informatik e. V., Section Computers and Society, Working Group "Computers as Media"