Do Italian citizens of Second Life stand physically closer than Canadians? Are Portuguese more prone to blog than French? Why was a game with ugly 'bad guys" a commercial failure in Korea and a success in the US? As a programmer/computer game designer/web 2.0 guru working with or for international communities and markets, you must have wondered about the cultural models you use and how dangerously close to stereotypes they sometimes feel. If you have read thru this, we assume you belong to the group of those for whom this is a concern. In other words, for you culture does matter. Whether you work with markets to target, video games to market, developing countries to help or academic communities to engage, you must have thought about that thin line between cultural models and stereotypes. Can you design/develop environments and spaces, whether they are virtual or real, that are global without being amorphous? Whether you are interested in designing the web presence for such-and-such company introducing products in international markets or whether you are interested in understanding what makes collaboration thrive or die in international communities, this is the panel where you should be.
http://2008.sxsw.com/interactive/programming/panels_schedule/?action=show&id=IAP060462
