Montréal, Canada • October 22-25
HEC Montréal

Powered by PechaKucha presentations are rapid-fire performances of 20 image-rich slides that show for 20 seconds each. For a taste of these stirring presentations, check out Paul Ratliff’s “Collateral Revelation”.


Igniting Action

Tuesday, 24 October, 10:30–11:30, Amphitheâtre
Curator: Arvind Venkataramani (Sonic Rim)

Perspectives challenge our assumptions, provoking reflection and discussion about our values and pushing us to refine our practices. They don’t just inform—they ignite action.

Time for a Digital Detox: Burnout, Addiction, and Desperation in Silicon Valley
Shaheen Amirebrahimi • University of California, Davis

The Big “I Don’t Wanna”
Enrico Cullen • Related Parts

Using Your Feet: Subverting the Structure of Meetings to Help Teams Go Further Faster
Tom Rowley • Stripe Partners

The Challenged Role of Ethnography in Startup Centric Innovation
Heinrich Schwarz • Schwarz Innovation


Through the Looking Glass

Tuesday, 24 October, 10:30–11:30, Banque de dév. du Canada
Curator: Nora Morales (Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, Cuajimalpa)

This session highlights material agency—and the power of the ordinary and the small in guiding human interaction. In paying attention to prosaic details we can challenge the framing of our current perspectives.

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Daniela Cuaron and Nik Jarvie-Waldron • Empathy 

What Is the Value of a Perspective?
Taylor Ferrari • General Assembly

Shopping as Modern Quest
Alexandra Mack • Pitney Bowes

Instax as Objects of Record
David Peter Simon • Atlassian


Ways of Seeing

Tuesday, 24 October, 3:30–4:15, Amphitheâtre
Curator: Carrie Yury (Beyond Curious)

Observation is central to ethnographic practice. But what shapes our vision, how we see and are seen by the world? In this session we will look at a range of these ways of seeing—including through art, identity, and changing technology—and how they have shaped our speakers’ approaches to ethnography.

Ghostly Spectres: On Ethnography and Identity
Es Braziel • Greenberg Strategy

Emotional Landscapes
Bridget Monahan • Vellichor Design

Indian Classical Dance: The Foundational Element in my Practice of Ethnography
Vyjayanthi Vadrevu • Rasa.nyc


Transgressions & Truth

Tuesday, 24 October, 3:30–4:05, Banque de dév. du Canada
Curator: Evan Hanover (Conifer Research)

How people violate or circumvent norms often reveal much about the way groups or (sub)cultures construct systems of value or “truth.” In this session we explore what we can learn from accepted boundaries and their transgression.

A Dirty Perspective on a too-Clean World
Line Groes and Emilie Stuhr Andersen • Is It a Bird

Can Cheaters Prosper in Cambodia?
Lauren Markofsky • Ultimate Software

Should User Research Be Funny?
Meghan McGrath • IBM