EPIC2008: Being Seen: Paradoxes and Practices of (In)Visibility

Papers: Abstract submission deadline April 18, 2008

Workshops: Proposal submission deadline June 6, 2008

Artifacts: Submission deadline June 30, 2008

The EPIC theme for 2008 is Being Seen: Paradoxes and Practices of (In)Visibility.

On the streets of Copenhagen you see bicycles everywhere. Neighborhoods of the world's impoverished are as painfully visible to those who pass by or through them as they are invisible in the halls of Wall Street. Businesses attempt to make performance of their firm visible through numbers and spreadsheets, while creativity is frequently referred to as “thinking outside the box.” Composers bring their music to light through notations and scores, chefs bring their art into view only to have it disappear, and voters attempt to have their opinions represented through the choices they make at the polls.

A conference is a chance to come together and show each other what we think and the things we do. At EPIC2008 we invite you to explore the paradoxes and practices of (In)Visibility and bring to light the concepts, theories, plans, worries, approaches and ideas that can expand and advance the practices of ethnographic work in and of industry.

Some questions that we hope to explore include:

• What important issues can ethnography in industry shed light on?
• Are some ideas and things better left invisible?
• How do we work with things which are themselves essentially invisible?
• In what ways are we (in)visible as ethnographic practitioners in industry? In sites of scholarly production? What are ways of making the value of ethnographic work more visible to organizations, participants and stakeholders, and academic and other intellectual communities?
• Is the invisibility of theory in much ethnographic work in industry a problem, a virtue, or both?
• What invisible traces do we leave in industry?
• What do different representational practices make visible, what do they obscure, and how do other senses come into play?
• Does, and how does, ethnography's bias for observation work to balance other forms of understanding in the context of industry?

EPIC aims to promote the integration of social and cultural perspectives, theories and method into business practice. We invite submissions that probe on the many aspects of “(In)Visibility”

We want you and your work to be seen! Come show your stuff – submit your paper, workshop or artifact now!

Papers:
Extended Abstract Submission Deadline April 18, 2008

EPIC2008 seeks original, high-quality papers that reflect the full breadth and scope of ethnographic praxis in industry, including: conceptual development, research investigations, methodological & theoretical advances, design ideas, development experiences, discussion of what client constituencies do with findings, what constitutes successful results, considerations of representational practices and more. Submissions should report original research, reflections on theoretical concerns, methodological advances, or other insights that contribute to our understanding of ethnographic praxis in industry and help advance the state of knowledge for the community. We encourage perspectives from diverse disciplinary backgrounds.

Submissions

Submissions should draw upon work from one of these areas to highlight ethnographic praxis in a business context.

Abstracts should be submitted in .doc or .txt or .rtf format. Paper submissions must include:

1. Title
2. Author(s)’s email address, affiliation and other contact information
3. Proposed length of paper, if accepted (5 – 15 pages)
4. Extended Abstract (< 750 words)
5. Outline of full paper
6. References to relevant literature or other types of previous work, if appropriate to your submission.

Contributions submitted should not have been previously published or be under simultaneous review for any other conference, journal, workshop or other publication. Accepted papers will be included in the conference proceedings published by Wiley-Blackwell in conjunction with the American Anthropological Association (AAA) and the National Association for the Practice of Anthropology (NAPA). Authors are required to attend the conference to present their work.

Please send extended abstracts by April 18^th, 2008 to: papers@epic2008.com . In the email subject please write “EPIC2008 Papers.”

The Review Process

Abstract submissions will be put through a double blind review process; reviewers will not know who the authors are. Authors are encouraged to take care throughout the entire document to minimize references that may reveal their identities and their companies or institutions. Relevant references to an author's previous research, the corporate products or services should not be suppressed but instead referenced in a neutral way. Authors, of selected abstracts for the conference, will be expected to submit full papers for publication in the proceedings. Papers of differing length will be accepted into the conference.

The extended abstracts will be evaluated on the following criteria:

• implications for practice and theory of ethnography in business contexts;
• significance to the community;
• advancements of methods, theories, applications and representations;
• addressing the theme of (in)visibility;
• originality, insight and creativity of the contribution.

Important Dates:

Workshops:
Proposals Submission Deadline June 6, 2008

You are invited to submit workshop proposals for EPIC2008. Workshops will take place on Thursday afternoon October 16, 2008, and will form part of the main program. This year we are only accepting proposals for half-day (3 hour) workshops.

Workshops are a key part of EPIC. They are intended to provide a forum for exchanging ideas, sharing experiences, fostering conversation and research communities, learning from each other, exploring controversies, engaging in debate, envisioning future directions and elaborating new methods and perspectives.

We are flexible as to structure and focus, however workshop submissions are expected to clearly address their relationship and contribution to (In)Visibility, the theme of EPIC2008.

Workshop activities can range from open forum discussion, to demonstrations or presentations with discussion, to collaborative activities such as structured brainstorming, illustrative games or role-plays. Whatever the focus or format, organizers will be required to schedule time for conversation, reflection, discussion, and debate. Although we envision most workshop activities to take place in one setting, let us know if your workshop will venture out into old Copenhagen.

Your workshop proposal should include:

1. a summary of 500 words describing the theme(s) of the workshop
2. a longer detailed description of the workshop structure, activities and goals
3. the names, contact information and background of the organizer(s)
4. the maximum number of participants you'd like to attend the workshop
5. anticipated A/V requirements.

Please be as specific as possible as it helps us in selection, and in helping you plan the workshop. Please also contact us if you have an idea and would like help outlining your proposal.

Workshop participants will be registered on a first come first served basis by the conference committee, so the workshop organizers will not be able to select their participants.

Accepted workshops will be publicized via the EPIC2008 website within a month after organizers are notified. Workshop organizers will also be encouraged to promote EPIC2008 and their workshops to potential attendees. Abstracts of accepted Workshop proposals will be published in the EPIC 2008 Proceedings.

Please send proposals by June 6, 2008 to: workshops@epic2008.com . In the email subject please write “EPIC2008 Workshop Proposal”. Additionally, please include the email address of the main contact for the workshop, and any other contact details that will help us get in touch with you. Notification of acceptance notification will be by June 20, 2008.

Artifacts:
Submission Deadline June 30, 2008

The artifacts category, formerly known as posters, seeks to provide participants with an opportunity to present work in a forum that facilitates open discussion and enables direct interaction with conference attendees. The form of the materials is open. Artifacts ca be anything from traditional posters about projects, to design sketchbooks, to reformed organizational processes, to ads you’ve produced, to products you’ve made to demos to other things you’d like to have seen and discussed. We encourage submissions that are thought provoking and visually engaging, and which cover exploratory work, smaller projects, unusual representations of ethnographic work, and any other research, practices or representations that authors wish to present in an interactive, open forum. A special session will occur during the morning of the second day.

Submissions should include a single page describing or illustrating the proposed submission with any and all figures and references, if appropriate. This page should convey to reviewers what the artifact being submitted is and is about (including a key graphic might be helpful). Submitters are encouraged to contact the Artifacts Co-Chairs for size, format, and presentation recommendations specific to your medium.

Please send submissions by June 30, 2008 to: artifacts@epic2008.com . In the email “Subject” please write “EPIC2008 Artifacts”. Additionally, please include your email address and other contact details.

Notification of acceptance will happen by August 27, 2008. If the submission is a poster and it is accepted, a graphic of the posters will be posted on the EPIC2008 website. The poster graphic will need to be submitted by September 22, 2008. Other content than posters will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

Important Dates for Artifacts
Deadline for submission: June 30, 2008
Acceptance Notification: August 8, 2008
Final Version Due: September 22, 2008