Submission Deadline extended: 13 November 2006


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IADIS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE WEB
BASED COMMUNITIES 2007
February 18-20, 2007 -
SALAMANCA, SPAIN

http://www.webcommunities-conf.org/

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* Conference background and goals

The mission of this conference is to publish and integrate
scientific results and act catalytically to the fast developing
culture of web communities. The conference invites original papers,
review papers, technical reports and case studies on WWW in
particular the emerging role of so-called WWW-based Communities.

Domain: It is increasingly important for our culture to bring people
together and to promote dynamics in professional organizations,
mutual understanding, learning and harmony. Creating "virtual
communities" is one major way to do this. The Web Based Communities
2007 conference aims at sharing and aggregating scientifically
proven methods on how to organize and moderate WWW-based
communities. These communities do not limit participants to
particular locations - the international and multicultural dimension
is a most challenging one. Good WWW communities undergo a continuous
evolution and adapt to the changing world. The nature of these
communities can be corporate, scientific, social or educational.
Pragmatic questions which need to be addressed include: What
software tools are the most adequate and how to use them? How to
promote your community so that new members can find it? How to
protect the members' privacy? How to moderate discussions and how to
provide information that people can use? How to create and maintain
a sense of trust and commitment among the members? In addition,
sociology, education, communication and philosophy issues are
addressed as the main disciplines reflected in building WWW-based
communities, although critical theories on societies and post-
modernism are also relevant starting points. New and imminent
technologies will be discussed.

Objectives: The Web Based Communities 2007 Conference aims at
bringing together new vital understanding of WWW communities and
what new initiatives mean. Each new perspective is potentially a
catalyst for finding new architectures. National and regional-
oriented communities may soon be relegated to a subordinate position
compared to interest-oriented communities. Multiculturalism,
critical thinking, expressing aesthetic aspects of our identity, and
finding sparring partners for sharpening our ideologies, are all
processes that need the new communication infrastructures.

The targeted audience is scientists and members and moderators of
WWW communities who feel responsible for optimizing its quality and
effect.

* Format of the Conference
The conference will comprise invited talks and oral presentations.
The proceedings of the conference will be published in the form of a
book. The better papers will be candidate for the "International
Journal of Web Based Communities" (IJWBC); ISSN: 1477 - 8394 [4
issues per year]

* Types of submissions
Full and Short Papers, Reflection Papers, Posters/Demonstrations,
Tutorials, Panels and Doctoral Consortium. All submissions are
subject to a blind refereeing process.

* Subject indications (but not limited to)
The history, architecture and future of virtual communities
1. From mobility to connectivity
2. Identity and augmented ideologies
3. Visionary web architectures, implanted computers
4. Network revolutions, post-colonial and post-modern societies
5. Escaping from reality, virtual reality and multi-user games
6. Towards alternative ways of presence

Group processes and self-organization
1. Tele-democracy, morality, netiquette
2. Social networks, tribal- and open communities, peace education
3. Computer mediated-, hyper- and narrative communication, woven
stories
4. MUDs, MOOs and avatars
5. Hosting web-based communities
6. Nationalities, ethnicities and gender effects

Cyborgs, teleworking, telemedicine, art games and learning
communities
1. Fading hierarchies and epistemic dictatorship
2. Distributed cognition, the electronic cortex and constructivism
3. Community directories
4. Mechanic world, organic computer
5. Agents and the vectorized self
6. Beyond metaphors: imagining and representation
7. Communizing as a marketing approach

Expanding markets through virtual communities
1. The WWW as digital market place
2. The enterprise as a learning community
3. The learning as a road map for business
4. Universities as online communities
5. Business-to-business communication in profit- and non profit
sectors

Virtual communities for people with special needs
1. Access to public spaces
2. Accessibility and long-term disabilities
3. Virtual communities in health care

* Important Dates:
- Submission extended: 13 November 2006
- Notification to Authors: 15 December 2006
- Final Camera-Ready Submission and Early Registration: Until 8
January 2007
- Late Registration: After 8 January 2007
- Conference: Salamanca, Spain, 18 to 20 February 2007

* Conference Location: The conference will be held in Salamanca,
Spain.

* Secretariat
IADIS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE WEB BASED COMMUNITIES 2007
Rua Sao Sebastiao da Pedreira, 100, 3, 1050-209 Lisbon, Portugal
E-mail: wbc-sec@... Web site: http://www.webcommunities-
conf.org/

* Program Committee

Conference and Program Co-Chairs
Piet Kommers, University of Twente, The Netherlands
Pedro Isaías, Universidade Aberta (Portuguese Open University),
Portugal

Committee Members:

for the full Committee Members list please access
http://www.webcommunities-conf.org/committees.asp

* Co-located event
Please also check the co-located event Applied Computing 2007
http://www.computing-conf.org/ - 17-20 February 2007

* Registered participants in the Web Based Communities conference
may attend the Applied Computing conference sessions free of charge.