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Net researchers descend upon Chicago for "Internet Generations" conference

By Chris Karr in Miscellaneous on Oct 10, 2005 12:09PM

Last week, over three hundred researchers from over twenty-five countries gathered at the Chicago Downtown Marriott hotel on north Michigan Avenue for the annual conference of the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR), "Intenet Researchers 6.0: Internet Generations". Founded in 1998, the AoIR is an organization for the purpose of "bringing together people who study the social, economic, aesthetic, and political aspects of the Internet". From last Thursday through Sunday, the researchers met to discuss topics such as the mobile Internet, ethics in Internet research, theories of identity in online gaming communities, and the rhetoric of the modern copyright conflict between the media and technology industries.

chidt_phototour03.jpg Over four days, the researchers chose between nine topic tracks, with over seventy-five choices between the four days. After these presentations and three keynote speakers, the conference attendees spent their free time exploring the city, touring the El, and on Friday, got together at a swanky banquet featuring the hometown jazz group, the Eric Hochberg Quartet.

Chicagoist sat in on a couple of presentations on Saturday, and we were dazzled (and a bit intimidated) by the sheer amount of intellect being bandied about in such a casual manner. Is cyberspace a utopian or isotopian space? Gee, we never thought about it in that way. Are children really much more sophisticated about using the Internet than their parents? It turns out that's true, but not to the extent popularly believed.

Unfortunately for 'Net-curious Chicagoans, next year's AoIR conference will be held in Brisbane, Australia. While we don't know if this has anything to do with a preference for Fosters over Goose Island among Internet researchers, we do hope that they enjoyed their time in the city and bring the conference back here before too long.