ECSCW 07 blog

ECSCW'07...artifacts

2007-10-07T13:56:00.000-07:00

A Flickr photo pool has been created. If you took pictures at the conference, and want to share them with the others, please add them to this pool.

Several people have blogged the event. Have a look at:

Communixx (25-28 September 2007- starting here and finishing here) - Michael Koch
ECO Space CWE-News blog (27-28 Sept - from here to this one) - Wolfgang Prinz
Native.dk -Christian Dindler
Mathemagenic -on the "What's missing in Social Software?" Workshop - Lilia Efimova
beamtenherrschaft - on the "What's missing in Social Software?" Workshop - Ralf Klamma
Beyond and around - on the e-Research workshop, main conference - Oscar Ardaiz
Words of (My) Life - poster, conference dinner - You Yu
Neubiberblog - Alex Richter (in German)
rb - Richard Banks
Hatena Diary - あblog (in Japanese)
Bread&Tech - Luigina Ciolfi
coniecto - Gabriela Avram

The Jaiku ECSCW'07 channel didn't look appealing to the participants. But a few Jaikus...

Post conference, a ECSCW'07 Facebook group was created. You're all invited to join if you want to keep in touch!

Slan Abhaile!

2007-09-29T03:57:00.001-07:00

ECSCW 2007 is now closed. Thanks to everybody who took part: speakers, session chairs, programme committee and organising committee, and particularly to the Student Volunteers!

The full photo album of the conference is online here, and please join the ECSCW 2007 group on Facebook to keep in touch!

Day 5

2007-09-29T03:41:00.000-07:00

The final day of the conference!
The last three paper sessions included -among other topics- digital housekeeping, triage systems and teaching ethnography.

A "Conference Madness" session gave the audience an opportunity to hear about upcoming conferences.

The second panel of ECSCW 2007 discussed the role of technology in CSCW research, with interventions from Carl Gutwin, Mike Fraser, Carla Simone and Volker Wulf.

The final session featured the closing keynote by Prof. Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin.
First of all, the stage had to be "fitted for the occasion"

Liam introduced Mícheál and his colleagues Niall Keegan and Sandra Joyce, who joined him on stage to discuss - and demonstrate - "What Makes an Irish Music Session Work"

Day 4

2007-09-29T03:24:00.000-07:00

The programme on day 4 has been very full with paper presentations: topics were very diverse, ranging from conflict detection to collaborative video analysis tools, mobile music sharing and school work collaboration tools.

The demo exhibition was also opened today during a "Demo Madness" section, where demo presenters had one minute to pitch their project

The evening featured the Conference Banquet, held in the Brian Boru hall of Dromoland Castle, Co. Clare

Musicians from the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick entertained the crowd with some traditional Irish music

The banquet was also the occasion for the launch of ECSCW 2009, to be held in Vienna and chaired by Prof. Ina Wagner, with Carla Simone and Ellen Balka as programme co-chairs.

ECSCW 2007 Conference Chair Liam Bannon also presented a gift to Kjeld Schmidt in recognition of his work of many years on the ECSCW enterprise and of his recently awarded dr.scient.soc. degree

ECSCW07 Group on Flickr!

2007-09-26T15:34:00.000-07:00

Join the ECSCW07 public group on Flickr and share your pics of the conference!

Day 3

2007-09-26T15:13:00.000-07:00

The plenary session has started today. Professor Stephen Ackroyd delivered his opening address "Conviviality as a system requirement"

Several papers were also presented, and panel discussion chaired by Liam Bannon took place on the state and future of CSCW. Discussants included Kjeld Schimdt, Geraldine Fitzpatrick, Wolfgang Prinz and Ina Wagner.

The social programme featured the civic reception hosted a city hall by the Mayor of Limerick, Cllr. Ger Fahy

Click here for a full photo album of the conference so far!

Jaiku channel for the conference

2007-09-26T03:50:00.000-07:00

Some of you might be on Twitter... Here in Europe we also have Jaiku, a similar micro-blogging tool, but with some nice additional features. One of them is having channels... Local channels, conference channels, course channels, and so on...

We thought you might want to give Jaiku a try for the next few days. It's very simple to join, and you can start posting to the #ECSCW07 channel right away via the web, via your favourite IM application, or via your phone.

Day 2

2007-09-25T23:34:00.000-07:00

The workshops and Doctoral Colloquium are now concluded. All conference delegates were treated to a reception in the Georgian House last night. Even the weather seems to behaving...fingers crossed.

Today, the conference plenary session will start, featuring the opening keynote presentation by Professor Stephen Ackroyd.

Day 1

2007-09-25T04:09:00.000-07:00

ECSCW07 is underway! Day 1 and 2 feature workshops, masterclasses and the Doctoral Colloquium.

Delegates have started arriving in Limerick since Sunday and the Hilton has been taken over by blue-rimmed badges.
The social programme will also get underway today with the Opening Reception at the Georgian House in Pery Square at 6.00.
Volunteers will be leaving the Hilton at 5.30 if delegates would like to be guided to the venue. Otherwise, you can find a map in your programme booklet to help you make your own way.

Finishing touches and full programme

2007-09-18T01:52:00.000-07:00

The conference programme booklet has now gone to print, all of you coming to Limerick next week will find a copy of it in your conference pack. However, for those of you who cannot join us or who are simply curious to see what's in store fore the week, it can be downloaded in pdf here.
We are putting the finishing touches on the practical arrangements for the conference: posters and banners will be printed in the next few hours, and so will the student volunteers' t-shirts. The conference bags will be packed thie Thursday and will be ready for the first delegates registering on Monday morning. A full plan of assignments is ready for the Student Volunteers group meeting on Sunday evening at the Hilton.The menus have been selected and the wines ordered. The banquet in beautiful Dromolan Castle will be accompanied by Irish traditional music.
Please join us in crossing your fingers and hoping that the temperamental Irish weather will behave for all of next week!

Only a week away!

2007-09-16T08:34:00.001-07:00

ECSCW 2007 is just about a week away. Preparations here in Limerick are in full swing and we are all looking forward to the conference immensely!
You can still register online if you would like to join us.
For those of you travelling to Limerick in the next few days, you can find some useful information on line: weather updates, local attractions and events.

Poster abstracts can now be downloaded!

2007-08-23T08:11:00.000-07:00

The ECSCW07 Programme is now full, and a little anticipation of what is coming can now be found on the website.
All the poster abstracts are now available for download in pdf format: take a look and get a sense of the great range of topics that will feature in the poster exhibition!

The IDC squad...taking over the Hilton!

2007-08-17T15:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning we went to see the Hilton again - the first time after it was officially opened to the public!

Eight of us, armed with laptops, went in to check the wi fi, bandwidth, sockets, screens, rooms and so on... Our techies needed to see the theater of operation so that we can assign roles and responsibilities!

Olivia O'Connell, the hotel's Sales Manager, graciously listened to all our requests and promised to work with us to ensure that everything will go well.

Early registration ended yesterday...

2007-08-07T14:28:00.000-07:00

It's summer and most of the people are on holidays... but the numbers are looking pretty well: 100 early registrations for the main conference, and a few more who registered for workshops or master classes only!

We're happy to see that some of our guests plan to stay a few days more or arrive earlier!

September can be very nice here in the West of Ireland - unless... you know... good old Irish weather decides to go bad;-) But let's hope for the best!

Detailed conference timetable now available

2007-07-25T03:04:00.000-07:00

The ECSCW07 Programme Page now provides a detailed timetable of the conference. Take a look!

Registration now open!

2007-07-05T08:11:00.001-07:00

Registration to the conference is now open. You can register securely on line here. Take a look at the great list of interesting workshops and masterclasses taking place on the 24th and 25th of September if you would like to attend one before the main conference begins!

Registration to open soon!

2007-06-30T17:16:00.000-07:00

We know many of you are keeping an eye on the conference website, waiting for the registration to open. While we are still waiting for an answer from one of our most important potential sponsors, we decided we can't postpone the opening of registration much longer.

Limerick Travel, who will handle registration on our behalf, received the necessary information on Friday, and will open the registration process once the web page is ready (probably on July 5th!).

The fees for attending the conference are:

- early registration 500 eur (350 eur for students) - from July 5 till August 6;
- late registration 600 eur (500 eur for students) - from August 7 till September 20;
- on-site registration 660 eur (560 eur for students).

The fees include one copy of the proceedings, lunches on the 3 days, a welcome reception on Tuesday night, a civic reception on Wednesday night, and the conference banquet on Thursday night (including transport to Dromoland castle).

The registration fees for attending workshops/master classes is 70 eur per workshop (no meals included!).

For the participants who want to bring their partner along, the cost for attending the two receptions and the banquet is 110 eur.

The registration page will allow participants to book accommodation either at the Hilton(4 stars) or at the Pery Glentworth Hotel(3 stars). For those who prefer other solutions, we prepared a list of alternatives.

In order to benefit from the reduced rate, students will have to fax us either a copy of their student ID, or a letter signed by their supervisor.

List of Accepted Papers

2007-06-11T14:25:00.000-07:00

The ECSCW 07 Programme is taking shape. Take a look at the workshops on offer, and at the list of accepted papers on the main conference website.

Student Volunteers Needed!

2007-05-16T01:33:00.000-07:00

The call for student volunteers is now available. We are looking for a number of enthusiastic students to come and help us making the conference run smoothly in September. In exchange for your assistance, you will be able to attend the conference free of charge and will have the opportunity to link with colleagues and fellow students.
Deadline for applications is June 30th.

Advance programme to appear soon

2007-05-13T06:35:00.000-07:00

The ECSCW07 Programme Committee, led by the programme chairs, Richard Harper and Carl Gutwin, has met during the last two days in Cambridge, discussing the 124 paper submissions to the conference. This means that the advance programme for ECSCW07 will appear soon on the website and that registration will be open in the next few weeks!
A call for Student Volunteers will also appear in the next few days.

The Venue: Update

2007-04-28T13:26:00.000-07:00

ECSCW07's venue, the Hilton Limerick, is about to open to the public. We visited the hotel only a few days ago to check that everything looks and feels according to plan, and so that the practical preparations for the conference can start in earnest.
The hotel looks great, spacious common areas and bright and comfortable meeting rooms

Whoever decides to book accommodation here will not be disappointed either. It includes the use of the leisure centre (gym, pool and sauna)

The restaurant, cafe and bar will be where lunches will be served during the conference

The ballroom will be the main conference venue, with an adjacent room for the posters exhibition

However, the most stunning feature is the fabulous view of the city that can be enjoyed from more or less everywhere in the hotel.

Deadline approaching for workshops, demos and DC!

2007-04-18T03:18:00.000-07:00

The submission deadline for workshops, demos and doctoral colloquium is fastly approaching!
Make sure you email your submission to the workshops, demos and doctoral colloquium chairs by April 20th.

The deadline for submission of posters will be May 29th.

Papers submission

2007-04-16T15:41:00.000-07:00

The full papers submission is now closed.

124 papers were submitted.

They are under review right now, and the list of selected papers will be announced on May 18, after the PC members meeting that will take place in Cambridge, UK.

Keep your fingers crossed, and...let the best ones win!

The deadline is approaching...

2007-03-20T11:21:00.000-07:00

Several people asked us about submissions closing time.
The deadline for full paper submissions is 23:59 GMT on March 23!

The conference chairs decided there will be no extensions granted.

And thanks to our colleagues in Trinity, Bridget and Saturnino, we were able to make LaTeX templates as well available on the website! Thanks a million for your help!

Don't forget that the submission has to be in PDF format! We advise you to register on the submission website in advance, and become aware of the requirements.

Electronic Submissions Now Open!

2007-03-12T07:43:00.000-07:00

ECSCW07 now accepts electronic submissions of full papers, through a secure online system.
The deadline for submitting full papers is Friday March 23rd. For more information on submitting for other categories, check out the conference website.

Website updated

2007-03-09T08:12:00.000-08:00

We finally managed to compile all the information received from the workshop, poster, doctoral colloquium and demo&videos chairs, and we updated the:

Here's how the timeline looks like now:

Important Dates
Full papers
* 23 March 2007 Paper submissions due (electronic submission)
* 18th May 2007 Accept/reject notification
* 8th June 2007 Finished papers (camera-ready electronic submission)

Workshops and masterclasses
* Workshop proposals: 20 April 2007
* Accept/reject notification: 18 May 2007
* Camera-ready copy of workshop description due: 8 June 2007

Doctoral Colloquium
* Submission deadline: 20 April 2007
* Accept/reject notification: 18 May 2007

Posters
* Submission deadline: 29 May 2007
* Accept/reject notification: 26 June 2007
* Camera-ready copy due: 17 July 2007

Demos and videos
* Submission deadline: 20 April 2007
* Accept/reject notification: 18 May 2007
* Final submission due: 8 June 2007

Working on the details

2007-03-02T08:11:00.000-08:00

We just had a new meeting with Louise from Limerick Travel, who will take care of the conference logistics on our behalf. They will be in charge with the registration and will help us organise both the conference and the social events. We went through the current scenario and examined costs, the timeline and responsibilities; I guess we spoke about almost everything: conference bags, student volunteers, both budget and posh accommodation, Limerick city and area attractions..

Everything sounds great - we even joked about some magic boat to bring the guests from the Hilton to the City Hall crossing the Shannon;-) Canoes are available, but I assume there aren't many guests who would like to get wet...

We would be happy if you'd drop a line here about what went wrong in the previous editions - and we'll do our best to perform!

The social events...

2007-03-01T07:29:00.000-08:00

We have now a better idea about what will happen in the evenings.

For Tuesday, September 25, there will be a welcome reception at the Georgian House, one of the tourist attractions in Limerick. Our guests will get the chance to visit the house and the garden and meet other participants, in the charming atmosphere of that venue. There is no big room in the house that could accommodate all the guests at one time, but there's an audio installation that will allow everyone to hear the welcome speech while wandering around with a glass of wine!

On Wednesday, September 26, we will be welcomed by the Mayor of Limerick at the City Hall for a civic reception. If the weather is nice, it will be a delight to have a stroll by the Shannon and admire the Hilton from the opposite side!

On Thursday, September 26, we're out to the Dromoland Castle, for a walk on the domain and the official conference dinner. This is likely to be an unforgettable event for our guests, as the place is pretty unique...

And of course, for those who come early, there's always something happening in the city - we'll prepare a list of recommendations for Monday evening closer to the time.

For those who want to stay over for the following week-end, Limerick Travel promised to put together a list of half-day or one-day trips to fit every budget and every interests!

The conference website has a new skin;-)

2007-02-13T05:56:00.001-08:00

Finally, the conference website has a new look!
There aren't many changes in the content yet, but at least we got it to look acceptable...

Being involved in Global Software Development and having myself ties to Romania, the task was outsourced to a Romanian student.

There are still a few things to do:
- add contact data to the website ( didn't realise it was missing until a reader left a comment on the blog!)
- add RSS feeds to the website, so that people can monitor the changes much easier.

Any suggestions/comments from our readers are more than welcome!

Richard Harper visiting UL

2007-01-17T23:50:00.000-08:00

Richard Harper came to UL today, invited for a talk:
" The Importance of Place in the Mobile Age"

Of course we took this opportunity to have a ECSCW'07 conference preparation meeting in the afternoon - together with Carl Gutwin, he's going to be Programme Chair for ECSCW'07. It was good to have him here: a lot of things needed clarification. The track chairs were appointed and they accepted already. There's more to do for completing the list of Programme Committee members, but we hope to have it ready and posted to the website in the next week or so!

Visit at Dromoland Castle

2007-01-10T21:50:00.000-08:00

Another thing we had to think about was a place for the banquet. As our guests will be in the city for the duration of the conference, we thought of taking them to the country side, to get a taste of magic Ireland.

After examining the pro's and con's of several other places, Dromoland Castle appeared as the perfect choice. Situated in a breathtaking scenery, it is a world class hotel with excellent service and facilities ranging from conference rooms and restaurants through to golf course, spa, shooting, fishing, boating and horse riding.

On Wednesday, we went to talk to the sales manager and discuss the arrangements. We had tea by a fireplace while discussing the details and I must confess the place made quite an impression on us! Some of the participants might want to choose it as accommodation, as an alternative to the Hilton - the place is fantastic and those who have the intention to stay over for the following week-end might be tempted by the activities Dromoland can host! Shannon airport is only a few miles away, and there're lots of nice places to visit in the surroundings...

Exploring the organisation of a civic reception

2007-01-10T21:45:00.000-08:00

Few days after the start of the New Year, we had a meeting at the Limerick City Council with Kieran Lehane, Director of Service. Having a world-class conference taking place just across the river Shannon from the City Hall, organising a civic reception was an option worth it to explore.

Our guests would be welcomed by the Mayor of Limerick, would have a glass of wine and the chance to wander by the Shannon and admire the view, surrounded by King John's Castle, Saint Mary's Cathedral, and the Hilton on the other side of the river...

Limerick's Mayor gets elected every year, so we don't know yet who will hold the position in September 2007. But we believe it will be a good opportunity for our guests to find out more about the city of Limerick!

The message of the current Mayor, Councillor Joe Leddin, on the City Council's website highlights some of Limerick's best achievements, and there's also a good collection of visitor information available.

Although there are still details to be arranged(including good weather;-), Mr. Lehane agreed, on behalf of the City Council, to host the civic reception for the ECSCW'07 conference participants on Wednesday, September 26th.

The new Hilton - more comments

2006-11-21T06:40:00.000-08:00

As mentioned in the previous post, we arranged a visit at the-Limerick-Hilton-to-be.

Here's an excerpt from Lui's notes, edited by Gabriela :

The main restaurant, bistro and bar on the ground floor:
Here's where we'll have lunch during the conference. We're planning a buffet bar, because this would give people a wide choice of food, and avoid long waiting times. We're probably going to have a long queue to the buffet bar but there is really nothing to do about that. If the weather is nice, the terraces could be nice gathering spots around lunchtime. People will have to be seated throughout the 3 spaces of the bar, restaurant and bistro to eat, but this will give them the chance to form smaller groups scattered around.

During the first two days(workshop days), we can reserve one of the spaces for the lunch, as there will be less people. Another option would be to arrange lunch on the 7th floor during the first two days.

The 7th floor:
There are 10 meeting rooms of different sizes on this floor, and four other on the 6th floor.
All the rooms have TV plasma screens that can be connected to laptops for both video and sound.
This floor has a separate common area/lobby. I think that the coffee breaks during the workshop days should take place there. The roof terrace will also be a nice feature if the weather is good and might encourage some of the groups to work outdoors for a little while. Overall I was very impressed with this floor. I particularly liked the fact that the meeting rooms have plenty of natural light. The potential risk is that the view will be a distraction!

The Lower level
The main conference room is very big. I think the plan of using 2/3 or it and having 1/3 sectioned off for posters would probably use the space in a good way. Of course we could decide to have the posters just outside in the dedicated lobby, where coffee will be served during breaks, but it might get crowded. The dedicated lobby could also host the registration desk during the main conference. This area has a separate outdoors courtyard - a quiet and close by place for getting some fresh air (probably a blessing for the smokers too!)

The main room will need one projector with good resolution as the projection surface will be quite large, and microphones. We should also get a platform/stage set up for speakers, panelists, etc. as the room is so large it might get difficult to see the speakers otherwise.

Visit at the construction site

2006-11-21T01:26:00.000-08:00

Last night, we were given the chance to go inside the new Hilton and see the spaces we reserved for the conference. It's far from being finished, but the walls and the windows are there, and so are the stairs (we had to climb to the 7th level - quite a challenge;-)

More on this a bit later, for the moment I'd like to show you how we looked like:

You can't see the size 8 boots we had to put on - it's been raining for the last two days and the courtyard was extremely muddy!

another possible venue for the reception

2006-11-08T02:51:00.000-08:00

Another possible venue for the ecscw07 opening reception is the Georgian House in Limerick City, a period mansion which has been preserved with all the original furniture and fittings.
Moreover, it overlooks another lovely city spot, the People's Park.

ecscw07 on Flickr!

2006-11-08T02:26:00.000-08:00

To give a sense of what Limerick is like to all our readers and hopefully participants in the conference, we have set up a flickr ecscw07 page, where you can admire some nice photographs of Limerick and its surroundings.
Here's a view of the River Shannon which flows through the city. The conference venue, the Hilton Hotel, is located just on the riverside.

The Call for Papers is out!

2006-11-08T01:46:00.000-08:00

The Call for Papers was published today, just in time for the announcement to be made at the end of the CSCW Conference in Banff, Canada today! Our colleague Anders is attending the conference, I wish he could take a picture for our blog when the announcement will be made;-)

The important dates are:
* 23 March 2007 Paper submissions due (electronic submission)
* 18th May 2007 Accept/reject notification
* 8th June 2007 Finished papers (camera-ready electronic submission)

Conference logo - draft

2006-10-31T16:39:00.000-08:00

This is the version of the logo we liked the most:

It still needs some work... we were thinking of a bit more green...

A venue for the welcome reception

2006-10-31T16:16:00.000-08:00

I went to an Electronic Music performance at the Daghdha space tonight. The place is an old church that was given by the municipality to Daghdha Dance to transform it in a space for cultural events. We were thinking of organising the welcome reception for ECSCW '07 there. The space is beautiful, big and welcoming. We could fit in a few demos, think of a live performance...

These pictures were taken at a dance performance back in May and could give you a fair idea of how the place looks like. The only problem is that the municipality might decide to take it back from Daghdha - we'll know by the end of November!

The conference venue

2006-10-30T15:45:00.001-08:00

Bank Holiday here... After working all week-end, I went out for a walk this afternoon. We've been making all kind of bad jokes in the office: what if the famous Hilton (chosen as venue for ECSCW'07) won't be ready by September next year?! This September there was nothing but a big hole there.

Last night, it was getting dark and I saw light and heard noises, so I went closer to the place to see what was going on. Well, the hotel is up, and they were still working at the site at 6:30pm on a Bank Holiday, which is pretty rare!

This is how I found out that the hotel had a web site: you can get an idea how it will look like when it'll be ready! The big advertisement in the corner reads:

"Discover the secret of LivingWell at the new Hilton Limerick"
Ain't that promising?:-)

Why a conference blog?

2006-10-28T15:45:00.000-07:00

The preparation actually started a few months ago, but it is only now that we thought of starting this conference blog, 11 months before the actual conference.

Why a conference blog?!
1. It might be interesting for the potential participants to get a few glimpses of the preparations.
2. It will be definitely useful for the organisers of the next editions for duplicating what went well, and avoiding what went wrong.
3. It is a good way to get feedback from the people who attended the previous editions and would like to make suggestions.
4. It could be a consolation for the ones who won't make it to Limerick, but would like to know what happened.

You'll have the chance to read about the venue, the social events, about how to get here, about places to go while in Limerick and, of course, about the famous Irish weather!

And to end this first post, an Irish blessing for all our readers:

May the leprechauns be near you
To spread luck along your way!