Chris Joseph

Exploring “A Million Penguins” - Order and Chaos in a wiki novel
Institute Of Creative Technologies Research Seminar by Bruce Mason
De Montfort University, Leicester, UK
IOCT Lab, Wednesday April 23, 2008 4:30-5:30pm
This seminar is free and open to the public.

In February 2007, DMU and Penguin Publishing collaborated to host the world’s first wiki novel - “A Million Penguins” - using the same software that runs Wikipedia. Over a five week period nearly 1,500 people signed up to edit the novel, over 11,000 edits were made and it was viewed over 500,000 times leading the CEO over Penguin Publishing to muse that it was maybe the “most written novel in history.”

In this seminar, Bruce Mason will outline the results of a research project held at the Institute Of Creative Technologies (IOCT) which investigated the social behaviour that unfolded during the writing of “A Million Penguins.” What kinds of collaboration, conflict and compromise occurred and what did it tell us about future online writing possibilities? Did a sense of community arise or did we see nothing but chaos and vandalism?

The seminar will not require any particular knowledge of wikis or online writing.

About the presenter

Bruce Mason is an IOCT Post-Doctoral Research Fellow specialising in social research and web2.0 activities. He previously worked at DMU with Professor Sue Thomas on an Arts and Humanities Research Council Funded Project (http://www.ioct.dmu.ac.uk/tnn/) that investigated the potential for folksonomy in academic research.

About A Million Penguins

A Million Penguins is a collaborative online novel, a wiki which was open to anyone in the world to write and edit. The project ran from 1st Feb to 7th March 2007, was organised by Kate Pullinger (http://www.katepullinger.com) of De Montfort University and Jeremy Ettinghausen of Penguin, with Sue Thomas, Professor of New Media at De Montfort and an editorial team of students enrolled on De Montfort’s Online MA in Creative Writing and New Media.

Further Information

To find out more about the seminar, please see the IOCT Blog at http://tinyurl.com/3yktnj or the IOCT events page (http://www.ioct.dmu.ac.uk/events.html). Alternately, please contact Bruce Mason directly by email (bmason01 [at] dmu.ac.uk) or phone (07981 090566).

The IOCT lab is situated at 1 The Gateway, Leicester, LE1 9BH. Directions to the IOCT can be found online at http://www.ioct.dmu.ac.uk/contact.html

Registration is now open for the NLab Social Networks Conference, 19-20 June 2008 at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK http://www.nlabnetworks.com

- Explore the benefits of social networks for your business
- What is a social network and how can it generate wealth for your business?
- How can social networks increase creativity and why is that important?
- How will social networks affect the future of your company?
- What can you do right now to benefit your business?

Speakers include Andrea Saveri, Institute for the Future, Palo Alto and Steve Clayton, Microsoft UK
plus
Jim Benson, Modus Cooperandi - Roland Harwood, NESTA - Shani Lee, NLab - Chris Meade, Institute for the Future of the Book - Toby Moores, Sleepydog - Vijay Riyait, iQubed - Sue Thomas, De Montfort University - Ken Thompson, and more to be announced…

Conference Fees
* £125 inc VAT Full Price (2 days + conference dinner on Thursday evening)
* £105 inc VAT (2 days only, no concessions)
* £65 inc VAT (1 day only, no concessions)
* £95 inc VAT Concession* (2 days + conference dinner on Thursday evening)

*Concessionary rates are for students, DMU staff, senior citizens and those in receipt of income-related benefits. Proof of status is required. If you are in any doubt regarding your eligibility, please email dmccc [at] dmu.ac.uk

East Midlands businesses can apply now for a free bursary place.

Find out more and register online at http://www.nlabnetworks.com