Community, Or Where I Hang Out
I prefer small groups to large groups, and I structure my community events to honor that preference (i.e., keep me less tense). Here are the groups that I currently frequent the most.
When I go to the Academy of Management, I hang out with the Organizational Communication and Information Systems division. This group draws from b-schools, comm schools, and other domains. I consider this group my primary community, a stimulating and friendly enclave within the enormity of the AOM.
The Consortium for the Science of Sociotechnical Systems draws from a wide swath of disciplines. I led their summer research institute in 2015 and help in an advisory position. The summer institute is a small and intimate gathering of people concerned with the social and the technical.
The iConference is the annual meeting of the iSchools. I served as technical program co-chair in 2015. It is a good place to see what iSchoolers are up to, and small enough to navigate easily and meet people.
I attend the meeting of the Society for Social Studies of Science about once a decade. I like the eclectic mix and how it takes my head to another place. It is not my intellectual home, but an intriguing waystation.
Me leading a CSST session in 2015 at The Nature Place in the Colorado Rockies.
There are other communities that I have been to only once, including EGOS, ASA, and IFIP WG9.1 (Computers and Work), and some I used to attend frequently but no longer do (Industry Studies Association, INFORMS), I intend to get my act together and check out CHI, CSCW, HICSS, and ASIST someday soon because people tell me good things about them.