CFP: Approaching 'Amateur', Group 2009 Workshop

We are organizing a workshop on supporting the collaborative
activities of amateur participants at GROUP 2009
(http://www.group2009conference.org/), which will take place on May
10-13th in Sanibel Island, FL.

Please consider submitting a 1-2 page position paper by Mar 27th,
2009. Early submissions are highly encouraged.

Approaching 'Amateur': Workshop at Group 2009
Saturday, May 10th

Organizers:
Jennifer Thom-Santelli, Cornell University
Eric Cook, University of Michigan
Kurt Luther, Georgia Institute of Technology
Jeffrey Bardzell, Indiana University
Amy Bruckman, Georgia Institute of Technology

OVERVIEW
What do a birdwatcher, photographer, tennis player, video gamer and
Wikipedia editor have in common? Each might be characterized as an
amateur in his or her respective area of participation. While
discussion of the amateur participant emerges in a number of groupware
& collaborative contexts, the meaning of amateur and its implications
for CSCW remain unclear, and few theoretical and practical guidelines
exist for guiding the design of systems to support amateur activities.

The purpose of this workshop is as follows: 1) to unpack the concept
of the amateur, particular in relation to technology design and
analysis, 2) to develop a more critical stance on the concept, in
order to bring precision to our use of the term and the particular
factors and characteristics that it implies, and 3) to build a cohort
of researchers interested in advancing this topic in the realm of
CSCW.

Topics for discussion include:
* Designing for voluntary involvement and variable commitment

* The acquisition of expertise by amateur participants

* The relationship between amateurs and professionals in collaborative activity

* The construction of the audience by amateur participants

* Critical or historical perspectives regarding amateur participation
and its relationship with technology

* Addressing methodological challenges in studying amateur participants

Important dates:
Mar 27th, 2009: Position papers due
Mar 29th, 2009: Notification of acceptance
Apr 5th, 2009: Early registration deadline for GROUP 2009
May 10th, 2009: Workshop

SUBMISSION INFORMATION
We invite 1-2 page position papers in ACM proceedings format
(http://www.acm.org/sigs/publications/proceedings-templates)
addressing an aspect of the proposed topics of discussion or an
extended abstract of relevant research.

Please email .pdf or .doc versions to jt17@cornell.edu by 5:00pm PST
on Mar 27th, 2009.

For further information about the workshop, including the proposed
agenda, see the workshop website at
http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/amateursworkshop.

Please pass on this CFP to colleagues who might be interested.

--
Jenn Thom-Santelli
PhD Candidate
HCI Group & CEmCom
Cornell University
http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/jt17/