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