BiTS Communication & Media Conference is a research conference with a large scope on communication theory and the practical application of the Social Web. Hosted
by BiTS (University of Applied Sciences) in Iserlohn, Germany, it directs both dedicated researchers as well as practitioning executives and managers from small and medium sized enterprises across industries.
The program committee invites scholars, young researchers, Ph.D. students, practitioners involved in various communication and media fields from all over the world to hand in high quality proposals according to the guidelines for contributors. Proposals for the conference will be blind peer-reviewed and evaluated based on relevance to the conference to ensure quality, originality, appropriateness, significance and readability. Contributors are solicited to submit proposals that illustrate research results, projects, surveying works and industrial experiences that describe significant advances in the Communication and Media Theory as well as Information Technology within the following scope.

SCOPE
The program committee invites proposals for contribution from a general field of Media and Communication, with a focus on the following fields:
• Theories and dynamics of communication networks
• Social and economic models for communication networks
• Small and Medium Sized Enterprises and the Social Web
• Marketing and PR in Social Media
• Social Commerce, Measuring Social Media efforts, Social Media Monitoring

CONFERENCE GOALS
In recent years, a trend can be observed in the way international companies make specific use of the new media. More and more companies cut their traditional marketing and communication budgets in favor of a digital word of mouth. The research conference intends to clarify, whether this trend leads to a paradigm shift in the use of the Social Web and how internal and external corporate communication will develop in the future.
Through research studies and accordingly prepared case studies, the topic of Communication and the New Media is presented and discussed. Particulary backlit with regard to corporate communications and social media, impact on business organization, legal aspects etc.

BENEFITS OF CONTRIBUTING
The conference is aimed at scholars, practitioners as well as young researchers (e.g. Ph.D. candidates) from various scientific disciplines.
Make your research available to a broad and dedicated public and benefit from the opportunity to discuss your oppinion and results with peers.

CONFERENCE LANGUAGE
The official language of the conference will be English. Therefore, authors are asked to hand in their proposals in English language.

PRESENTATIONS
Through research studies and accordingly prepared case studies, the topic of Communication and the New Media is presented and discussed. Particulary backlit with regard to corporate communications and social media, impact on business organization, legal aspects etc.
Presentations will be approximately 20 minutes, followed by a discussion session.

PAPER PROPOSALS
Paper proposals for presentation should not exceed 350 words and include a short description, the methodological approach and the outcome. As the proposals will be peer reviewed please add a separate cover page with all relevant personal information. Your proposal itself should not contain any of such information. Also references and literature that you mention and that could refer to you as an author should be deleted in order to secure an independent and anonymous selection process. Submission deadline is May 18, 2012

APPLICATION AND DATES
Submission deadline for proposals is May 18, 2012 online via the upload form at www.bits-iserlohn.de/conference.
Authors of successful proposals will be notified latest by June 29, 2012.
To make your contribution to the BiTS program and to be included in the conference proceedings, the contributor must be registered not later than August 16, 2012.

REVIEW METHOD
Proposals will be peer-reviewed by experts and scholars within the field. According to the review process, proposals must have a separate cover page.
You get notified about the acceptance of the contribution to June 29, 2012.

LOCATION
The conference will be held on Wednesday, September 12, 2012. The conference venue is located on the campus of BiTS, University of Applied Sciences in Iserlohn (Germany).
The registration counter will open at 8 a.m., the first presentation slot will start at 9 a.m. The last slot will end at 5 p.m. The night before the conference there will be an informal get-together close to the campus venues at own expenses.