title: Sports Fans' Evaluations of Sporting Code Innovations

authors: Musgrave, Christopher Rex

subjects: Professional Sport

abstract: Today's professional sports are frequently evolving and changing their design, structure and format. Many such innovations have been spurred on by the opportunity to capitalise financially on new markets and increase profit. This study used both quantitative (survey) and qualitative (depth interviews) methods in order to examine fans' attitudes towards the current state of Rugby Union, Rugby League, Netball, Soccer and Cricket. The findings for Rugby Union concluded that the recent experimental law variations have succeeded in what they were introduced to do. Fans believe that Rugby is more exciting to watch than ever before and that it is now a faster and more attack-focused contest. Fans believe that Rugby League has improved following the introduction of the video referee and in particular by the use of two on-field referees. They believe that it is now a more exciting and faster game. Fans also believe that salary caps are good for Rugby League and help to increase competition and spread the wealth of talent among the teams. Netball fans are excited by possible new innovations and show support for the inclusion of power plays, two point goals, rolling substitutions and increased physical contact. Fans believe that Soccer needs to adopt technology in order to help its officials but they also admire the traditionalism of the code. Surprisingly, fans show support for increasing the sizes of Soccer‟s goals in order to make it easier for teams to score. Fans show support for Twenty20 cricket and seem undeterred by recent match fixing scandals. There is also evident support for the introduction of Beach Cricket to New Zealand. Analysing fans' attitudes towards professional sport's product innovations has led to a final implication and conclusion for the administrators and governing bodies of professional sport. That is, it would be wise to keep the traditional codes and their formats as traditional as possible. However, evolve the same sport in to a completely separate format in order to financially capitalise on different markets. Twenty20 cricket is a perfect example of this.

text: Sports Fans' Evaluations of Sporting Code Innovations Today's professional sports are frequently evolving and changing their design, structure and format. Many such innovations have been spurred on by the opportunity to capitalise financially on new markets and increase profit. This study used both quantitative (survey) and qualitative (depth interviews) methods in order to examine fans' attitudes towards the current state of Rugby Union, Rugby League, Netball, Soccer and Cricket. The findings for Rugby Union concluded that the recent experimental law variations have succeeded in what they were introduced to do. Fans believe that Rugby is more exciting to watch than ever before and that it is now a faster and more attack-focused contest. Fans believe that Rugby League has improved following the introduction of the video referee and in particular by the use of two on-field referees. They believe that it is now a more exciting and faster game. Fans also believe that salary caps are good for Rugby League and help to increase competition and spread the wealth of talent among the teams. Netball fans are excited by possible new innovations and show support for the inclusion of power plays, two point goals, rolling substitutions and increased physical contact. Fans believe that Soccer needs to adopt technology in order to help its officials but they also admire the traditionalism of the code. Surprisingly, fans show support for increasing the sizes of Soccer‟s goals in order to make it easier for teams to score. Fans show support for Twenty20 cricket and seem undeterred by recent match fixing scandals. There is also evident support for the introduction of Beach Cricket to New Zealand. Analysing fans' attitudes towards professional sport's product innovations has led to a final implication and conclusion for the administrators and governing bodies of professional sport. That is, it would be wise to keep the traditional codes and their formats as traditional as possible. However, evolve the same sport in to a completely separate format in order to financially capitalise on different markets. Twenty20 cricket is a perfect example of this.

year: 2011

title: Considering 'The Professional' in communication studies: Implications for theory and research within and beyond the boundaries of organizational communication

authors: Cheney, George

subjects: professionalism

abstract: This essay positions contemporary "professionalism" as a contested term and a nexus of important theoretical and practical concerns for communication scholars, including, for example, those engaged in the empirical, interpretive, and critical examinations of culture and the self. We advance communication-based understandings of the meanings and practices of professionalism as a complement to the predominantly sociological conceptions of the rise and place of the professional in modern industrialized societies. We are deliberately playful with the term professionalism in demonstrating the power of its ambiguity for reflecting, shaping, and indexing particular kinds of social relations and expectations for them. Part of our argument concerns the complex interplay of symbolism and materiality in the domains of interaction and artifacts surrounding "the professional," and especially its embodiment in work and other settings. This brings us directly to an examination of the "intersectionality" of aspects of difference in the world of the professional (and by implication, the nonprofessional), including race, gender, and class, and to observe a broad-based cultural dialectic of the civilized and the primitive. Finally, we briefly consider extensions as relevant to domains of communication studies beyond the accustomed domain of organizational communication.

text: Considering 'The Professional' in communication studies: Implications for theory and research within and beyond the boundaries of organizational communication This essay positions contemporary "professionalism" as a contested term and a nexus of important theoretical and practical concerns for communication scholars, including, for example, those engaged in the empirical, interpretive, and critical examinations of culture and the self. We advance communication-based understandings of the meanings and practices of professionalism as a complement to the predominantly sociological conceptions of the rise and place of the professional in modern industrialized societies. We are deliberately playful with the term professionalism in demonstrating the power of its ambiguity for reflecting, shaping, and indexing particular kinds of social relations and expectations for them. Part of our argument concerns the complex interplay of symbolism and materiality in the domains of interaction and artifacts surrounding "the professional," and especially its embodiment in work and other settings. This brings us directly to an examination of the "intersectionality" of aspects of difference in the world of the professional (and by implication, the nonprofessional), including race, gender, and class, and to observe a broad-based cultural dialectic of the civilized and the primitive. Finally, we briefly consider extensions as relevant to domains of communication studies beyond the accustomed domain of organizational communication.

year: 2007

title: Traditional New Zealand Māori instruments, composition and digital technology: some recent collaborations and processes

authors: Whalley, Ian

abstract: This paper examines the integration of traditional New Zealand Māori instruments with digital music technology, and the use of these instruments in making new works. The focus is on the work of performer/composers Hirini Melbourne and Richard Nunns, as well as recent collaborations that Richard Nunns has undertaken with some composers and musicians in genres other than Māori music. Aesthetic, practical and cultural considerations in the composition process are explored.

text: Traditional New Zealand Māori instruments, composition and digital technology: some recent collaborations and processes This paper examines the integration of traditional New Zealand Māori instruments with digital music technology, and the use of these instruments in making new works. The focus is on the work of performer/composers Hirini Melbourne and Richard Nunns, as well as recent collaborations that Richard Nunns has undertaken with some composers and musicians in genres other than Māori music. Aesthetic, practical and cultural considerations in the composition process are explored.

year: 2005