EPIC2016 at the University of Minnesota was wonderful for all sorts of reasons—in particular, the hard work of our fabulous organizing team and the fact that our community is more diverse than ever. EPIC People are practitioners in technology, consumer product, work process and healthcare, working in industry as well as consulting. With backgrounds ranging from…
Last week at EPIC2016, award-winning business journalist Lee Schafer of the Star-Tribune joined EPIC Members and distinguished guest panelists in pre-conference sessions to tackle core strategic issues in our field: How do we convince corporate executives that ethnographic insight is valuable to business strategy? How do we do rigorous work in an environment that constantly demands “better-cheaper-now”? One challenge, Schafer observes, is that ethnographers do “the kind of…
This week we lost a pioneer of ethnography in business and a treasured member of our community. Brigitte “Gitti” Jordan’s professional contributions were tremendous and she was a tireless advocate for ethnographic practice and anthropological insights in the workplace, in organizations, and beyond. In honor of Gitti’s exceptional life and legacy, we invite you to share your memories on this page in Comments…
Friday, April 29, 2016, 5:30–8:30 PM Loop Project Space & Bar, 23 Meyers Place, Melbourne, Australia RSVP Here! We’re excited to partner with Melbourne Professional Design Anthropology to offer a screening and discussion of selected videos from our annual conference—the premier international gathering on ethnography and design in business. Two hours of highlights will include keynote,…
JOIN HERE! EPIC, Ethnography Matters and Anthrodesign have teamed up to create a Slack channel to build community in applied ethnography. At Ethnography Hangout, we are an interdisciplinary group wearing many hats across all industries and academia, so you don’t need to have any specific background or experience to participate—just a strong interest in ethnography and an…
On the eve of our conference in São Paulo, Brazil, we are proud to announce the launch of EPIC’s Job Board and Business Directory, both designed to cater to the professional interests of our community. The Job Board provides practitioners with the ability to track new career opportunities, from freelance positions to full-time positions and…
Maria Bezaitis, EPIC Board President I entered the field of applied ethnography in the mid-90s. For me the point was never about practicing my academic training, or having a career that academia couldn’t provide. The point was always about who I got to work with and the dynamism we experienced doing the work because we…
Earlier this year, we launched www.epicpeople.org as our first effort to expand the charter of EPIC. For ten years, EPIC has focused on hosting an annual conference that has brought together hundreds of practitioners of ethnography from around the world. While our annual conference gives people the chance to spend a few days with industry…
By Maria Bezaitis, Alex Mack, and ken anderson The EPIC Proceedings are a history of people, ideas, arguments, and conversations. While the proceedings are not an exhaustive representation of who we are, what we work on, how we think, they provide an important view into precisely these facets of the EPIC community. At the NYC conference…
Intelligences As EPIC people around the world gear up for another incredible conference, we are excited to launch a new initiative on www.epicpeople.org to advance the unparalleled expertise of the EPIC community. Intelligences immerses you in a decade of essential work in our field, establishing EPIC as the best source of ethnographic expertise on a…
It’s time for EPIC to expand its charter and role. Since our first annual conference in 2005, EPIC has brought practitioners together on annual basis to share insights about people, to discuss challenges associated with practicing ethnography, and simply to meet up with colleagues from around the world. While the annual conference will remain central…
