As Far As I Can Tell

Last weekend I attended the Digital Genres Conference at the University of Chicago. The theme was broad: How are we as humans using digital technologies? I only went for the second of the two days, and enjoyed nearly all of the presentations I saw. Of particular note was Robert Moore on branding, Molly Wright Steenson on the concept of Imaginary Architects [PDF], and Edward Castronova doing an economic analysis of EverQuest.

For more detailed reviews and information see Anne Galloway, Betsy Devine, Kiplog, and AKMA.

I’d never been to a conference with a wireless connection and people live-blogging. It was convienient I suppose, but I imagine it really took away from the presentation for the speaker. A full half of the people in the room never looked up, and my from vantage point I could see that plenty of web surfing was being done behind the shield of the laptop.

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This was my first time at the University of Chicago, and the first I’d spent any considerable amount of time in Hyde Park. The university is beautiful, having a vine covered quad with tons of quiet and half hidden areas. I liked Hyde Park, but it felt like being in a different city. The train isn’t close, you can’t see the skyline, and it’s more open and green. It’s extremely economically enclosed too, with poverty and desolation boxing it in to the lake. I felt weird driving by such abandonment on my way to this prestigious college.

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While I was in Chicago I met up with Ivo and checked out his new apartment in the heart of Wicker Park. It’s a real step up from where he was, mainly in the quality and safety of the neighborhood. The apartment is great — here are two photos: