Held at Stanford on Friday, 8 May, 2009.
 
The growth of professional computer gaming and what is often dubbed "e-sports" has yet to receive the serious scholarly attention it warrants. Given the ways it asks us to consider what serious and high performance play is, what spectatorship means for computer games, and indeed if this growing genre of entertainment is viable as a new form of sport, we feel it is time to turn an academic eye on the emerging world of pro-gaming.
 
We organized this workshop to bring together members of the community - players, coaches, team managers, broadcasters, website and community organizers - to present their histories within the scene, ideas about where things are headed and current challenges, and generate discussion on the subject of e-sports and pro-gaming. We approached cyberathletics from the general aspects of players, teams & coaching, and communities & spectatorship (one panel each). We collaboratively investigated these related topics by looking at digital game technologies, communities, and cultures.  Topics included team selection, game playing strategies, game hacking & cheating, technology studies, spectatorship and broadcasting, fan culture, and notions of competitive coaching and management. In short, we looked critically and historically at the notions of professional competitive play in digital games in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
 
 AGENDA
9:30-9:40       Welcome                                    TL Taylor
9:40-11:00     Players                                       Amanda Glasser – Moderator
                                                                         Allesandro "Stermy" Avallone
                                                                         Annie "Ecstacy" Leung
                                                                         Bardia "Barmoa" Moayedi
                                                                         David Sirlin
11:00-11:15    Break    
11:15-12:35    Teams & Coaching                    TL Taylor  - Moderator
                                                                         Alex Conroy
                                                                         Alexander Garfield
                                                                         Dave "Moto" Geffen
 12:35-13:40    Lunch
13:40-15:00    Communities & Spectatorship   Henry Lowood – Moderator
                                                                         Marcus "djWheat" Graham
                                                                         Brian Thompson
                                                                         Dennis "Thresh" Fong
15:00-15:15    Break   
15:15-16:35    Unconference+                         Matteo Bittanti
16:35-16:45    Wrap-up                                   TL Taylor