Saturday 29 August 2015

Post #eurocall2015 reflections on arriving in Padova.



On Tuesday of this week I arrived in Padova. I got off the airport bus and was pleased to recognise a shopping mall I had noticed when researching the area around my hotel on google street view. I stopped for a drink, connected to the free wifi and set about planning my walk to the hotel on my phone. I was surprised when google maps showed a 5 minute walk in the opposite direction to that which I was expecting but it must be right of course! 10 minutes later a kindly receptionist in a different hotel ordered me a taxi to save my sore feet. 

Post conference, I am better able to understand this mundane experience. My faith in my ubiquitous device use and reliance on internet access had prevented my critical use of technology. I should have realised that my device had not updated a real time, location specific map. I had seen a cached map from my earlier planning and used it to dismiss my instinct and better judgement (blisters were an unforeseen, unwelcome consequence). 

The space in our lives where tech and human intersect is a good space for critical thinking. The "seeing double" described by Sian Bayne. Raising awareness of what goes on "under the hood" of the ubiquitous technology that is now just another everyday tool helps us to think critically. Here's one of the 3 such research activities she described in her keynote. 



Entangled fingers (image taken from art installation opposite my hotel - yes I got there in the end!) illustrates our enmeshed lives. Humans are connected, interdependent beings. We inhabit a world where critical post humanism allows us to explore the boundaries between ourselves and our tools. #eurocall2015 brought challenges, stimulation, answers and more importantly questions.

Thursday 27 August 2015

Shaky Internet connection


In case you are waiting for blog post updates, I would recommend Twitter as the primary source of information. The Internet connections in Italy seem a bit unstable so blogging hasn't been an easy task.

We will tweet and will defintely broadcast the keynotes live and hope to offer you a window into the activities via the blog too. The conference is going super and the weather is almost as hot as the Finnish sauna (well, not quite....).

Wednesday 26 August 2015

We are ready to start!


The plenary sessions will be recorded as usual. You will find the live streaming at: http://www.rcsistemi.it/eurocall2015/eurocall2015.html

 A handy way for two way participation is Twitter as usual:

Twitter: @EUROCALL2015  Use #EUROCALL2015 in your tweets about the conference.

Hook up and enjoy !!

Sunday 23 August 2015

A new year a new conference - Welcome to Padova!




We are happy to welcome you to the historically interesting, weatherwise pleasant and conferencewise exciting Padova!

Like in the past, we are hoping to offer you a flavour of the conference through this blog by posting short blurbs on the presentations, uploading pictures and more importantly streaming live from the plenaries.

Let's enjoy Eurocall 2015 both on site and at a distance!

 --- Eurocall Excutive committee and the local organisers